 Justus Fox, Isaiah Holmes, Nelson Dewey, Israel Jones (on land now occupied by the family of his grandson, Charles E, Jones), Hiram Hubbell (who died in Oswego), Ansel Brown (in 1816), E. M. D. Baldwin, Lucius B. Cole (for some time keeper of the lighthouse at Port Ontario), O. J. Douglass, Charles C. Dodge, Stephen H. Fellows, Frey and Gilbert Lane (in 1815), D. McChesney, George F. Mellen, Ira G. Fellows, De Witt C. May, E. D. Mowry, C. B. Pratt, C. R. Maltby, James A. McChesney, Chandler Salisbury, L. S. Weed, L. H. Slater, Abner Vorce, L. M. Tyler, William Tyler, M. L. Trumbull, Isaac Schermerhorn, and others.
Samuel Bragdon, father of George, was a Revolutionary soldier. He came to a farm north of Port Ontario and died November 22, 1852, His son's widow resides on the homestead, Charles Gurley, son of Artemas, was born in Connecticut in 1811, and died in Pulaski in May, 1890, Gilbert A Bradner came here in 1817, when seventeen years old, and died in July, 1890, Jonathan A. Burdick was born in Albany county in 1798, came to Richland about 1829, and died in 1865, Philip Minckler, a native of Columbia county, born in 1803, removed to this county about 1830 and died here in 1885. He had lived in New Haven some twenty years. Sewell T, Gates, one of the war supervisors of the town, was born in Herkimer county in 1815, removed to Richland in 1829, settled in Pulaski in 1861. and died there August 21, 1894. Shara Hardy, born in New Hampshire in 1800, lived for a time in Jefferson county, and in 1834 located at Port Ontario, where he died April 3, 1888, James A. Clark came to Mexico in 1844, but the same year removed to Pulaski, where he died June 13, 1887. He was born in Unadilla, N. Y., in 1821.
Daniel B. Meacham was born in Vermont in 1812 and removed with his brother Milo to Sandy Creek in 1827. Twenty two years later he came to Pulaski, where he died in June, 1891. Five families of the name came from Vermont to Sandy Creek at a very early date, and of their number John and Deacon Simon Meacham subsequently became residents of Pulaski. Thomas S., son of Daniel B. Meacham, is a merchant here and town clerk of Richland, succeeding his father in that office in 1881. Simon Meacham was prominent in local affairs and served as supervisor and town clerk many years, John Meacham opened the first store in the town in 1810.
John C. Pride was another very prominent citizen as well as an early settler, He came from Otsego county and located on lots 77 and 78, whence he subsequently removed to a farm near Holmesville. He was the second supervisor of the town and held the office in all thirteen years.
Capt. Ira Doane was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, June 10, 1807. His father, John Doane, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, enlisting immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill and serving until the close of the war, being confined as a prisoner eighteen months in a prison ship in New York harbor. In May, 1821, the family settled in Orwell, whence they subsequently came to Pulaski, where John Doane died January 9, 1831, and his widow in 1845. Their children were Mrs. Olivia Mason, Isaac, Harvey, and Captain Doane. The latter married, in 1830, Audria Vorce, and had seven children, of whom Henry G. enlisted in the 35th N. Y. Vols. and died in Elmira. Mrs. Doane died in 1853, and he married, in 1854, her cousin Julia, daughter of Col. William Vorce. Captain Doane was a farmer, a carpenter, a merchant in Pulaski, and a lumberman. He was president of the village, collector, jailor, undersheriff, and inspector of customs in New York city, and was a life long Jacksonian Democrat.
Robert Leroy Ingersoll, son of Ebenezer, was born in New Berlin, N. Y., June 5, 1819, and came to Albion with his father in 183o. Educated in Mexico Academy, he purchased his time (seven months) of his father for $50, and with Elijah Shumway commenced the manufacture of carriages in Sandy Creek, but five years later removed to Pulaski and engaged in the same business, which he conducted until 1872, when he sold out to Ingersoll & Suydam. In 1854 he established the Pulaski Bank, which continued until 1862, when he organized the bank of R. L. Ingersoll & Co. He married Caroline E. Clark and had six chidren.
Col. Henry H. Lyman, now of Oswego, was for several years a hardware merchant in Pulaski, where he was educated.
Charles H. Cross, the oldest of fourteen children of Moulton Cross, was born in Hamilton, N. Y., January 1, 1807, and came with his parents to Richland in 1814. Moulton Cross early settled on a farm in Albion; he was a miller, and assisted in the building of several saw mills. Charles H. Cross began business as a surveyor and conveyancer in 1827, and in 1850 was appointed agent of the Pierrepont estate, representing about 100,000 acres in the counties of Lewis, Jefferson, and Oswego. He was a director and one of the organizers of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg, and Syracuse Northern Railroad Companies. He married, in 1842, Melissa, a daughter of Gilbert Lane, and had five children.
In the vicinity of Holmesville Salmon Erskine, Avery Griffin, Lewis Conant, and the Perry family were early settlers. Capt. Robert Muzzy, sr., a soldier in the Revolutionary war, located in the town at an early day. His son, Lieutenant Robert Muzzy, jr., served in the war of 1812. Rev. Lawson Muzzy, son of Robert jr., is a superannuated Baptist minister and resides in Pulaski at the age of eighty two. His son. Lawson R. Muzzy, is the editor and proprietor of the Pulaski Democrat, to the files of which we are indebted for much valuable information.
The first tavern in town bore the striking appellation of the "Beehive," and was located on what is known as the Dewey farm. Another early public house was erected by Pliny Jones one mile south of Pulaski village, as previously noted. Many other pioneers are mentioned a little further on and more fully in Parts II and III of this volume.
The population of Richland increased from 947 in 1810 to 2,728 in 1820. In the latter year its agricultural interests were in a state of steady development. The population in 1830 was 2,733; 1835, 3,461; 1840, 4,046; 1845, 3,758; 1850, 4,079: 1855, 4,012; 1860, 4,128; 1865, 4,137; 1870, 3,975; 1875, 4,018; 1880, 3,991; 1890, 3,771.
Supervisors' statistics for 1894: Assessed valuation of real estate, 81,261,204; equalized, $1,468,749; personal property. $44,772; railroads, 21.25 miles, $205,500; town tax, 89,015.44; county tax, 88,475.72; total tax levy, $20,648.58; ratio of tax on 8100, $1.58; dog tax, $200. In the four election districts into which the town is divided 906 votes were cast in November, 1894.
The town contributed 277 men to the Union army and navy in the War of the Rebellion, several of whom attained commissioned offices, notably James T. Outterson, captain in the 184th Regiment; Henry H. Lyman, promoted to the rank of colonel in the 147th Regiment; and A. A. Fellows, captain Co. B, 110th N.Y. Vols.
The earlier settlers of Richland followed the precedent established by many other communities and consigned their dead to a plat set aside for the purpose on the family homestead. As the population increased and interments became more frequent, regular burial grounds were set apart to that use, one of the first, if not the very first, being a part of the beautiful cemetery in Pulaski. This originally consisted of three acres, to which three more were subsequently added, and afterward fifteen acres more were annexed. In February, 1893, the Pulaski Cemetery Association was incorporated with R. W. Box (president), G. W. Douglass (secretary), Thomas S. Meacham (treasurer), H. B. Clark, John Williams, and W. C. Peck as commissioners, who still retain their respective positions.
The first school in town was taught by Milly Ellis