Westfield High School - Prospectus Yearbook (Westfield, NY)

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per Company” which printed the first newspaper in western New York. With the rich na¬ tural surroundings of the country, set¬ tled by a hardy, progressive people, there was good rea¬ son for the outlook of the community to be bright. Ninety gallant sons of Westfield went forth to fight for the Union in the bloody battles of the Civil War—a fair number in pro¬ portion to the population of the town at that time. Since then Westfield has contributed nobly to our country’s need for fighting men in times of stress. The early farms of the community raised a variety of different crops, food that would feed the family throughout the yea r and enough extra grain that could be sold to buy the few necessities needed. The grape industry was not introduced here until the 1860’s. The soil and climate of the region were well-adapted to the cultivation of grapes and within a short period of time, grape-growing had increased to enor¬ mous proportions. It is now the leading source of wealth in the town. As the result of an experi¬ ment conducted by Dr. C. E. Welch, grape juice became a popular drink, whose fame was at first spread by the Welch Grape Juice fac¬ tory. Today Westfield is known as “the grape juice center of the world’’ and many of our soldiers overseas have tasted the juice of grapes grown in their own home town. Barcelona can hardly be excluded from the history of Westfield, as it has been very closely related to the town since its settlement. After it was made a port of entry, Barcelona was, for years, the most important place in the county. In 1828 Judge Thomas Campbell erected a lighthouse for the government, which was lighted by natural gas carried in wooden pump-logs from a spring nearby. In calm and storm the faithful light guided sailing ships to port where a j rofitable exchange of trade was carried on with the rich, productive country to the south. Its favorable location, with the absence of competing harbors, promised to give Barcelona even more commercial importance. In 1831 a steamboat was built to transport passsengers between Erie and Buffalo and it was thus that the Barcelona Company was formed. Today the settlement is one of the largest commercial fishing ports on Lake Erie, and handles many tons of fish each year. With the passing of time Westfield has ac¬ quired many lovely old buildings, among them the various churches which formed the back¬ ground for the town’s sons and daughters. However, the beautiful Patterson Library, endowed for J 100,000 by Hannah W. Patterson in memory of her parents, is one of the greatest objects of pride to the townspeople. Hewn with the axe from thick forests by its forefathers, Westfield, with its wide, well- shaded streets will long remain one of the loveliest, most pleasant of places in which to live. WESTFIELD SCHOOLS In the earliest days of Westfield, before its pioneer fathers had found time to build a schoolhouse, their children sought learning within the dreary walls of the old Presbyterian Church basement. Not until 1837 was the Westfield Academy erected, a three-story brick building perfectly capable of accommodating all the children in the then thinly-populated town. However, Westfield grew rapidly within the next thirty years and the old Academy was swollen almost to over-flowing with its ever- increasing enrollment of pupils. And thus, in 1868, the Westfield Union School, considerably more capacious than its predecessor, was con¬ structed for the purpose of housing and teach¬ ing the entire youth of the town, as well as many young men and women from other sections of the county who boarded out in private homes. Mr. John S. Fosdick came from Buffalo in 1869 to serve as the first principal in the new school. And later, Mr. Preston K. Pattison acquired a teaching position, and eventually the vacant principalship left by Mr. Fosdick. The out¬ standing services of these two men have long been remembered and beloved by hundreds of alumni. For many years the old building ac¬ complished its task very well indeed, until once again an over-abundance of school children bulged its sides and the rooms became too crowded for comfort. At the turn of the century the school board of directors finally agreed to the building of a high school and chose the piece of land direct¬ ly across the street from the Union School for the site of the new project. It was decided that the old building continue to be used for the lower grades. 6

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of communication and rude military highways leading from distant mili¬ tary posts in this then interminable western wilderness. In 1749 the French sent out from LaChine, Ca¬ nada, Captain Bien¬ ville de Celeron to take formal posses¬ sion of the disputed territory in the name of France and to warn English traders out of the country. The expedition ascended the Niagara River, entered Lake Erie, and coasted along its southern shore. It arrived at Chatakoin portage, now Barcelona, at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, marked upon Celeron’s map as the river “Aux Pommes” (Apple River). After a difficult journey Celeron and his men arrived at the mouth of the Great Miami. He then ascended the river and re¬ turned to Canada, burying leaden plates at the mouth of the Great Miami, at the famous rock below Erankhn known as “Indian God,” and at the site which is now Warren, Pennsylvania. One of these plates contains the earliest record that we have of the name, Chautauqua. The voyage of Celeron, the building of the Erench road from the site of Erie to that of Waterford, Pennsylvania, and the building of the Portage Road from the site of Barcelona to that of Mayville are important events in the history of Westfield and Chautauqua County. The Portage road was cut by the Erench twenty years before the battle of Lexington. It was the first work performed by civilized hands within the limits of Chautauqua County of which we are cognizant. The Marquis du Quense in the year 1752 dispatched from Montreal an advanced force of two hundred-fifty men under Barbeer for Chautauqua with orders to erect a fort there. They marched to Eort Niagara, then pursued their way by water along the shore of Lake Erie arriving at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek in April of 1753. Where the city of Erie now stands, the Erench built Eort Presque Isle. Eight days before the Erench departed from Presque Isle, Chevalier Le Crake arrived from Canada with orders from DuQuense to erect two forts in Chautauqua, one at Barcelona and the other at the end of the Portage Road on Chautauqua Lake. On October 30, 1753, a force of Frenchmen under Captain Deneman arrived at Barcelona and cut a wagon road over the carrying place from Barcelona to Chautauqua Lake. THE FOUNDING OF WESTFIELD With the scrutinizing eyes of a prospective settler, ambitious young James McMahan visited the region around Westfield early in 1801. Struck by the natural beauty and by the rich, fertile soil of the country, he purchased ten acres of land and thereby instigated the settlement of Westfield. McMahan eagerly set to work clearing his land and building a cabin at the crossing of the trail between Erie and Buffalo by the old Portage trail, which was known as the “Cross Roads.” Several years later when other homesteads had been estab¬ lished in the vicinity, McMahan also built the first post office at the crossing of the trails. Following closely in the footsteps of his pioneer friend, Edward McHenry built a home of logs at the crossroads, where he opened the first tavern in the county. It was there that the town’s earliest settlers gathered to discuss the foremost topics of the day and to hold their town meetings and elections. There, too, in 1802, John McHenry was the first white child to be born in the village. After the first few years settlers came rapidly to this paradise for farmers and trappers, many of them from Pennsylvania and the New England states. More and more land was cleared from the deep forests; gram became both plentiful and cheap. As the town itself sprang up quickly out of the wilderness, so also did the various, inevit¬ able enterprises of civilization rise. At first the only mills in Chautauqua County were crude “Hominy Mills,” but before very long Westfield was not without its own saw and gristmills— carding and cloth dressing mills. Most of these were built along the banks of the Chautauqua Creek, and the remains of one or two are still to be found, lying in the forgotten ashes of yesterday. A tannery and a granite and marble works were also erected not far from the stream. The latter was established by Samuel Nixon in 1846 and is still m operation under the control of his grandson bearing the same name. James McClurg built the Westfield House, where, in 1829, the first authentic town meeting was held. McClurg, with the aid of Thomas Campbell, also built up several of the town’s Important business blocks. In 1864, at consider¬ able expense, Allen Wright organized the “Westfield pa- 5

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and in this capacity it is still used. The present Westfield High School was completed in 1901, placed carefully in a beautiful setting. But there is a very interesting history concerning the site where our school now stands that cannot he overlooked. ears before, sometime in the 1860’s, the Holt mansion occupied that same location. Made of brick and stone with an elegant cupola towering above the roof, and supplemented by a coach house and stables, (which now house the Vine City Dairy) the mansion was at that time the show place of Westfield. Mr. Holt, who undoubtedly must have been a connoisseur of beauty, took much pride in his estate. At the front of the house he planted three beautiful trees, all of which are still standing; one is a graceful old copper beech, the other two are Japanese Ginkgos. The Japanese Ginkgo is a tree of long life and, geologically speaking, is said to be one of the oldest kinds of plants known to man, fossils of its leaves having been found which date to prehistoric times . A cir¬ cular drive led to the front entrance of the house and in the broad expanse of lawn between the drive and the street stood a graceful old fountain, fed by clear spring water which was carried through hundreds of feet of piping from natural springs far out on Academy Street. During the Civil War the Holt Mansion served as an underground railroad station for slaves escaping into Canada. It was the last stopping place between Dunkirk and the border and it IS not difficult to imagine tbe hundreds of black men, in constant terror of being dis¬ covered and returned to their southern masters, making their way slowly to the welcoming Holt stables and finally to the shores of Lake Erie where boats awaited them. There remains today a memento of the massiveness and in¬ terior beauty that the Holt residence must have con¬ tained—the exquis¬ ite mirror which now graces the high-ceilmged foyer of Eason Hall, and from which several feet had to be re¬ moved before it could be placed there. Under the guiding hands of long- remembered principals such as P. K. Pattison, Almon N. Taylor, G. Fayette Dickson, and our own belov¬ ed Professor Eaton, the school has ex¬ panded greatly in Its curriculum. Early in the annals of tbe high school, debating teams be¬ came a chief source of interest to the student body. Debating teams drilled by Professor Pattison, Rev. Alexander Thompson, Rev. George McClelland, and others won many a debate from such schools as Jamestown, Erie, and Lockport. The Rush-Rhees trophy, much coveted by all Western New York schools, was won by the silver-tongued youths of West- held more than once. The Delphic and Amalathean Societies sponsored all debating and writing activities. A school paper, “The Stylus,” later revived as “The New Stylus” in 1928, contained much material dealing with the literary attempts of the early nineteen hundreds. In more recent years, the early enthusiasm for debating has died out until now there are only the heated discussions on current topics in Social Studies 12 class and the annual D. A. R. Panel Discussion in active existence. Due to war conditions, the publica¬ tion of the “New Stylus” was omitted in 1943, to be continued later. For years before the hrst World War it had been the pleasure of the senior classes to make the annual trip to Washington at Easter time. Those trips were discontinued during the im¬ mediate years of war, but were again resumed after the war. From 1921 to 1941 the senior classes enjoyed trips to our nation’s capitol and other points of interest. Again, because of war restrictions the senior classes have faced the needed conditions and, accordingly, have changed their plans. The class of 1943 con¬ ceived the happy idea of editing an annual. As pioneers in this work they accomplished an excellent start. The “Porta-Via” has come into being and through the united efforts of the Class of 1944, the faculty, and alumni. It is sincerely hoped that all succeeding senior classes will further the idea until the yearly publication will become a tradition. 7