Building date: 1843
Original use:
Corner structures: Square cut quoins of gray limestone. Tooled
Mortar application and content: Vertical heavy. Vertical pyramids. The vertical joints are pronounced, but are cut off so they do not touch the horizontal joints.
Types and uses of stones: Field cobblestones. Stones are irregular and rough, although some have rounded edges, and are laid four courses to the quoin in the front wall (south) and the east wall. There are three courses per quoin in the west side.
Types and choice of windows: Lintels gray limestone
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°45'16.32"N 77°04'24.38"W. Current owner of record, Holcomb as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Benton and Yates County Maps.
At 2492 Ferguson Corner Road, the large two story house has square cut quoins of gray limestone and window lintels of the same type of stone. Stones are irregular and rough, although some have rounded edges, and are laid four courses to the quoin in the front wall (south) and the east wall. There are three courses per quoin in the west side. The vertical joints are pronounced, but are cut off so they do not touch the horizontal joints. Roudabush Survey page 122
The Barden Home at 2492 Ferguson Corners Road was built in 1843, according to date stone over the doorway. Presumably the structure at the rear was built at the same time. It was built by George Barden of field cobblestones. Richard Palmer blog.
Geneva Gazette, Friday, June 22, 1883
At the reunion of the Barden and Witter families last week Thursday, there were nearly 150 present. They assembled at the house of Mr. George Barden in the town of Benton. This was the first reunion of the families, and they responded to the call from nearly every section of the State.
Grandma Dolly Barden, now 95 years of age, was the oldest representative of the families present. The reunion was held in a piece of woods that was purchased by the old lady 75 years ago.
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: George R. Barden, President; E.W. Prentiss, of Altay, Vice-President; George B. Barden, of Benton, and Warren B. Witter, Secretaries.
It was resolved that these reunions should be hereafter held annually, and in addition to the officers named above a committee of five was appointed to attend to the business of making the next meeting of the family a larger one than it was this year. It will be held on Thursday, the 14th of June, 1884, at the same place. Richard Palmer blog.
A Day with the Bardens and Witters, Geneva Advertiser, Tuesday, June 30, 1885
Fun In The Woods
The third annual run-on of the Barden-Witter families was held in the pleasant grove on the L.J. Barden farm (former residence of George Barden,) in the town of Benton last Wednesday, June 24th. There were assembled fully 250 persons, presumably all connected with these two families, either near or remote. The oldest one on the grounds was aged 92 years, the youngest about eight months.
The reunion of last year was said to have been more largely attended than this; but the funeral of an estimable gentleman from Stanley, and some sickness accounted for many absences. The men and women began to arrive at 11 o'clock in the morning, and they continued to come until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Several counties were represented, Ontario and Yates being the strongest.
Dinner was served at about 2 o'clock after the hand shaking was about over - for wherever one mets a Barden or a Witter, an open palm is always extended, and when that hand is clasped over yours, there's something substantial in it, and back of it, that seems to make one feel as if he wanted another shake. They are not soft, kid-gloved hands either, but hands at once hard and muscular, made by honest work.
And such a dinner! On Thursday of the week before we were of a large party feted and toasted by the rich banker Drexel, at a dinner of French dishes, and wines, and cigars, with a colored waiter at our backs to answer every conventional beck, and refill the surrounding empty glasses.
But this spread of cold meats, hot tea and coffee, and such dainties at the farmers' wives only know how to make palatable, and with makes a fellow feel as though he would like to be hungry all the time, was worth going a hundred miles for.
Will A. Barden, his wife and sister, and two other men rendered several nice pieces of music, and rendered them creditably. The music seemed to unlimber the throats of others, and five minute speeches were made by Warren B. Witter of Reeds Corners, E.W. Prentiss of Altay, John Smith, the man whose life was saved by Pocahontas on the banks of the Barden River, in Witter County, Virginia. Mr. Witter congratulated the families, that of their large numbers only four had been gathered home since the last meeting, Aunt Dolly Barden,* Otis B. Barden, and to others whose names we did not catch. We had enjoyed a pleasant reunion, and he trusted they would be kept up as the years rolled along.
(* Note: She died October 6, 1884).
Mr. Prentiss said he was charged with being the originator of these annual gatherings: if it were true he was not ashamed of it. He might not be able to meet with us another year, for age is creeping on to us; but if alive and in health, his presence might be looked for. He was gratified to see so many young people present, for that gave promise of a continuance of these meetings for all times.
They could not let the editor of this paper off without saying a word. He said that it was his fortune to be present at the first reunion two years ago, and listening closely to the address of Mr. Cleveland at that time, he was surprised and gratified to learn that a century or two go one of the Parker family had the good sense to take a Barden or a Witter under his or her wing. That learning this, he thereupon did adopt the whole of the Barden-Witter tribes.
The family name dated back to the creation of the world; for subsequent events have shown that the first name only was given and that his family name was Barden, for Witter, or - Here he was interrupted and his line of poetry broken upon by a man, who raised his finger and shouted "Smith!" It was our Pocahontas friend, who said that the first family was named Smith, and there were hundreds of their descendants who were called Smith until they cut up some caper that the family did not approve of, when they were driven out and other names given them, some of which have been mentioned here today.
This "knocked the stuffing out" of the other orators, but Smith was not lynched.
The organization was effected for another year. David C. Crozier was elected President; Sylvanus Barden, Vice President; William H. Witter, Secretary. The executive committee was named by President Witter - William H. Witter, Edgar Parker, J. Jay Barden, Millard F. Prentiss and Will A. Barden. The same place and the same time of year, the fourth Wednesday in June, were named for the meeting in 1886.
The last appointment was that of the venerable E.W. Prentiss, on obituaries. May his duties be the lightest of all; and may not one of those present last last meeting be reported as missing at the next gathering!
The following well-written poem was recited by Mrs. - Prentiss of Altay, Schuyler County, and we have reserved it as quite appropriate to close are mention of this gathering:
Time on his ceaseless journey another stride has ta'en;
And how, with heavy pleasure, we gather her again.
The bright June sun is shining, the day is calm and clear,
We meet with joyous feelings; the merry laugh rings out,
The maiden's silvery music with childhoods gleeful shout;
Yes e'en tho' saddening memories arise within each heart,
We meet with thoughts of pleasure, e'en tho' the tear-drops start.
Constructed of Cobblestones - House Built in 1843 Dominates Farm, by Bill deLancey, Geneva Times, Saturday, September 26, 1959
BENTON CENTER - The most interesting feature on the George L. Barden farm, Ferguson's Corners Road and Route 14-A, is the cobblestone house built in 1843 by an ancestor, another George Barden. The house stirs some research into this prominent Yates family who walked in from Massachusetts in 1789.
"None of my family have lived on the farm since I was a boy and we moved away from there in 1892," says the present owner, who lives at 218 Main St., Penn Yan. "Some of the stones for the house were picked up right there on the place, but most of them were drawn from Sodus, on Lake Ontario," he added.
"It was built by my great-grandfather, George, and his wife. Dolly Witter, who bought the farm in 1809. I can just remember great-grandmother Dolly. She had lived-in the brick house on Pre-Emption Road near Billsboro, opposite Dr. George C. Moore's house." This house belongs to the Moore farm and is said to have served as a store in the early days. Dolly Witter had moved here with her parents, from Lackawaxen, Pa., where she was born, according to Cleveland's "History of Yates County."
The present occupant of the Barden cobblestone farm house is Harvey Warren, the farm manager, who has lived there for 22 years and operates the 22-cow bay and 208 acres with the help of his bachelor brother, Ralph.
Harvey is also interested in the 116-year-old house and insisted that a reporter find out more about the history from the owner, "who likes the old place and has been fixing it up with a lot of recent improvements inside." It measures about 38 x 68 feet, with two stories along the front, or 38-foot length.
The manager finds it has "plenty of room" for himself, his wife, the former Waive Dillon of Penn Yan and son, Joel, 18, and daughter, Caroline, 15. The young people attend Gorham School.
Ralph Warren lives in a small stone house with a pre-fabricated addition, close behind and at one side of the main building. The two men have been building three long corn cribs, and for the last, uncompleted one, are using "cucumber and maple wood: from the 63 acres of woods. The wire-screened corn cribs are 40 x 4 1/2 feet, and are needed for the 54 acres of field corn. The farm also has 15 acres of wheat, 15 of oats, 30 in hay and 30 pasture.
The reporter's comment to Harvey about driving in to inquire about the unusual field of tall sorghum at the corner of Route 14-A and the Ferguson's Corners Road, forced Harvey to "tell one" on himself.
"It was my first try at seeding sorghum with the field corn, and I had 25 pounds of its spread on top, as I was instructed. It was supposed to work down through and seed evenly. But down in that cornfield I gave the seed a little stir with my hand and that's what happened. Half the sorghum came out right there!"
There is a good 110-foot water well on the place, and a 40 x 80-foot barn, built after the first one burned in 1870.
Historian Cleveland describes the primitive wilderness forests of Yates Co. when Thomas Barden, 25, and his brother, Otis, 19, hiked over from Attleborough, Mass., in 1789. Thomas had served in the Revolution, on the side of liberty.
The two men went directly to Caleb Benton's sawmill on Kashong Creek and helped Dr. Benton get out the lumber for the Geneva Hotel on Pulteney Park, was completed by Charles Williamson, in 1794.
We read: "Having first choice, they bought places to suit themselves in North Benton." There "the surface of the land was rolling, and waited with brooks and springs, the ridges of gravel or loam soil, interspersed with intervals of flat lands of muck soil; a heavy tall growth of timber, consisting largely of sugar maple, oak, elm, ash, basswood, beach, hickory, etc., with thick undergrowth, some swamp white oak that would hew from 60 to 65 feet, with scarcely a limb; hard maple from two to three feet, and basswood from three to four feet through, were specimens of the vast woodlands that determined their choice in selecting farms.
"In 1789 they struck the first blow and made the first clearing for their future home, changed works with each other in chopping down the heavy woods and clearing the lands, kept bachelor's hall, and ground and pounded their corn to samp on the top of a stump.
" 'Samp and milk,' and 'milk and samp,' " were principal articles in their bill of fare, and "they used to take a dish of samp and milk very often out every log, when they got on a large tree," as they said when recounting their early toils.
"It was a valuable discovery in those days that blazed trees did not only show the landmarks, but also showed the way from one neighbor to another."
Thomas Barden must have followed the right blazes, until they became a flame, for on Feb. 2, 1792, he married "Olive Benton, a worthy daughter of Levi Benton."
"The parents of Thomas and Otis later emigrated here from Massachusetts, with the remainder of their children, including George, named after an earlier George, who died in the Revolution." This George, born in 1788, became the great-grandfather of the present George Llewellyn Barden of Penn Yan.
The elders, according to Cleveland, set out on their long journey by preparing "two ox-sleds of capacious dimensions in which they packed their household goods.They put before each sled a yoke of large oxen, and one horse before each yoke as a leader.
"They arrived with much joy and cordial welcome at the home of their son Otis, in March, 1799. A new log house was soon built on a lot of 50 acres, appropriated by their son Thomas as their homestead, on the north side of his lot, and they all moved there."
In August, 1808, George married Dolly Witter, daughter of Elijah Witter, of Seneca. In 1810, George and Dolly Barden moved "on the farm where they now reside in the Town of Benton, it being the south half of Lot 49. Here they raised 13 children to adulthood," says Cleveland's history, written in the last century.
Four Barden Farms Remain in Families of Early Pioneers, Geneva Daily Times, November 14, 1936
The following history of the four Barden farms has been collected and prepared for the Geneva Daily Times by Miss Elsie Mead, the paper's correspondent in Hall.
Hall, Nov. 14 - One hundred years ago, a resume of the Barden family hereabouts would have covered a territory, says tradition, equaling, in length at least, one of the famous Phelps and Gotham townships. For from the Garden frontier on the north, they tell us, one could walk to Benton Center, about six miles, without stepping off Barden land.
Even in case there should be exaggeration here, such as a few long steps, still the extent of this pervasive family would be brought up to par by those Bardens who had settled on beyond, that is, west of the Benton Center parallel. They circled round the Hall area, on the east, south and southwest, and to this day, on each end of the arc lies "Barden land."
But although the Barden reunion, organized more than a half-century ago, draws 75 to 100 of the family annually, those who bear the original surname are not now the largest part of the gathering. Likewise, many of the old "Barden farms" have passed into other hands, but four, each more than a century in the family, still remain in their possession, and on two of them Barden descendants have made their homes continuously to the present time.
The year 1789 - being the same year in which George Washington was elected the first president of the United States, and the next year after Phelps and Hotham made their purchase - that year witnessed the appearance here of the family destined to become so widespread and enduring. Strong and virile were the brothers, Thomas and Otis Barden, aged twenty-five and nineteen years, who tramped westward from their home in Attleboro, Massachusetts. They came from healthy, fighting stock, whether it was to fight nature in the rough, a mother country seemed despotic, savages or what-not.
Thomas Barden, the elder brother, was at least the third in line to bear his name, his grandfather, Thomas Barden I, having come to Massachusetts from Plymouth, England, about 1720. The grandmother had been Elizabeth Tobet, and of their five children, Thomas 2nd, was the oldest. This Thomas 2nd won the hand of Susannah Riggs, niece of Gov. William Phipps, of Massachusetts, and already, when the Revolutionary War came on, they had several children.
Did Thomas the Second get an "exemption", because of being a farmer, with a dependent family? Not at all. Off to war went Thomas, also his father, and his two oldest sons, Thomas 3rd, and George. Otis, the next boy, stayed at home to help mother Susannah with the farm and the younger children. The war claimed two of the soldiers, Thomas the First, who died fighting in the ranks, and George, his grandson.
The Thomases, 2nd and 3rd, came back to the farm, 30 miles from Boston, in Bristol County. But the younger Thomas had tasted adventure, and Otis was itching for it - thus they started out for the promised land, as sighted by General Sullivan. The journey was made in late summer, a propitious season, as they left civilization behind, for it avoided the heavy snows that clogged new trails in winter, and to some extent mitigated the mosquitoes and similar pests that infested the well-wooded country of their desire.
Made Trip in Record Time
What enthusiasm filled young Otis, as he challenged the world! In the city of Hudson, gateway to the unknown, he prepared to make his memory immortal by an inscription. Discerningly, he purchased a New Testament in which to preserve his memoranda: "Otis Barden is my name," he wrote, "English is my nation, Attleborough was I born, and Christ is my salvation. Otis Barden, his book bought at Hudson, September 17, 1789."
What a record the intervening twelve days would show! But the wayfarers wasted no time in their 200 mile trek from Hudson. There were long stretches of solitary forest, marshes, streams to ford, perhaps a log house or two in a clearing, and a few little settlements, as at the infant Geneva, but extremely limited chances for hitch-hiking. However, they did make what seems incredible speed to the place known as Slab Hollow (Pinckneyville, Woods Hole, Bellona), where the enterprising Dr. Caleb Benton, then of Hillsdale, N.Y., had set humming his sawmill.
By astute dealings with Indians and whites alike, Dr. Benton now had interests in a large tract of land, including half-ownership of Township Number Nine, Range One, and, it seems, 400 acres outright where his sawmill was located, in Township Eight, on the banks of the "Kashong" creek.
The young Bardens were well pleased to get work at once in a sawmill. In their leisure, they did some exploring round the country, and thought they scarcely could have picked a more favorable locality for settlement, especially since they had first choice in an area of rolling, well-watered land, showing a variety of soil and timber almost beyond description. Sugar maple, ash, oak, hickory, basswood there or four feet through, and other deciduous trees with white pine, grew in abundance.
Soon the brothers made purchases, Thomas selecting a site in the Number Nine Township of Range 1, (now in the town of Seneca) and Otis choosing a lot to the south and west of Thomas. Lot 50 of Township Eight, also of Range 1. This now is a part of the Town of Benton, Yates County. The farms were corner-wise to each other, with one lot between, near enough to "change works," as they cleared the land for their future homes.
They simply threw together a shelter, and lived mostly on "samp and milk," varied with "milk and samp." About this time, a mill for grinding, probably the first in western New York, was put in operation by the "Friends," Jemimah Wilkinson's followers, who had arrived at Seneca Lake a couple of years before: but Thomas and Otis Barden were independent of such devices.
With a large round stone, in a hole in the top of a stump, they pounded and broke their corn into samp - and plenty of it. When working on the big trees, there was a halt after nearly log was felled and trimmed, for refreshments.
One of Early Weddings
The clearing, the log house, a crop in, then - the housewife! Even in this venture, the new land proved kind. Thomas' marriage was to Miss Olive Benton, daughter of Levi, or "Squire" Benton, called the "pioneer of the pioneers" in the township now bearing his name. Yet he had arrived less than a year earlier than this son-in-law. Olive's marriage, Feb. 2, 1792, followed that of her sister Polly, "the first bride in the town of Benton," when "everybody in town came to the wedding."
Meantime, Otis Barden had journeyed back home, returning with his brother James. But his heart had remained in the wilderness, for Elizabeth Parker, daughter of James Parker, of the "Friends Settlement," became Mrs. Otis Barden, in January, 1793. From Benton to "Hopeton," near Dresden, was a long way in those days to go courting, but Otis was equal to it. He had the house ready, of logs, twelve feet square, and in Geneva, for a total of 35 shillings, they purchased adequate cooking equipment, consisting of a pot, teakettle, skillet, bowl, and a broken kettle (a bargain at four shillings).
Good-bye to samp and milk! Otis Barden, later, after building and rebuilding several times with logs, built a large frame house still standing. It is solidly rectangular, with big high rooms, an attic with half-moon windows. The location is on the road just east of and parallel to the Hall-Penn Yan highway, the farm now known as the Thomas Murphy place.
Here the eleven children of Otis and Elizabeth Barden grew up, all reaching adult life. Hence descendants were, and are, numerous, some not so far from the old neighborhood. Thus, through the youngest daughter, Lois Emeline, who married Henry Harrison Gage, Mrs. Charles Robinson of Hall, her sister, Miss Mary Gage of Bellona, and their brothers in Rochester, also Amsden Gage of Corning, who owns property and often summers in Bellona, may claim descent.
As to the older of the pioneer brothers, Thomas Barden 3rd, a brief review of the Barden farms still in the family possession will contain his history insofar as it can now be obtained.
The Perry and William Barden Farms
The "Perry Barden farm" of 100 acres, half way between Hall and Bellona, now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Seward N. Transue, retains its local name from the long ownership of Perry Barden, Mrs. Transue's father. It contains a part of the tract, on the southern border of Township Nine, elected by the pioneer Thomas for his farm, and here he chose magnificently.
The present house and farm buildings, placed on the ridge well back from the highway, make a noteworthy picture from the road, but the attractiveness of the location is not to be fully appreciated until one has ascended the grade up the long drive, and turned to get the view over miles of countryside, with a glimpse of Seneca Lake, and the blue hills beyond that, and Cayuga Lake.
Down by the roadside is the "big elm," well over 100 feet tall in its prime, with a girth of 22 feet, four feet above the ground. Just across the road is the"David Beattie farm," on which the late Herbert Beattie lived and met his tragic death.
The part of Thomas Barden's holdings which has descended to Mr. and Ms. Transue was on what was described as "the north part of lot 46," (Township 9, Range 1); it was also at the northern end of Thomas' property, of which the southern edge joined Range 8.
As has been mentioned, Caleb Benton, with his fellow-schemer, John Livingston, had managed to get possession of all this No. 9 Township, and Thomas bought from them. It was because of an act of filial generosity that this portion at the north finally went to his younger brother, Sylvanus, Mrs. Transue's grandfather.
The story runs thus: ten years after the migration of the two young men from Attleborough the mother and father, now with three sons in "the west," were moved to transfer their hearth, home, and five unmarried progeny to the same place.
Thomas, their eldest, accordingly donated land for a house and an adequate farm. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas the second, and family, made the trip in the winter, and, not like their sons, on foot or with knapsacks. Two huge ox-carts carried their household goods, each drawn by a pair of large New England oxen, with a lead-horse ahead of each team.
Slowly they proceeded through the snow-filled wilderness over the meanest of roads, but in safety, and at last, in March, 1799, they were welcomed by the sons, the unknown daughters-in-law, the wide-eyed grandchildren. While their log house at Thomas' was being built, they stayed with Otis, whose family had long since outgrown the original twelve-foot cabin.
Of Thomas Barden 2nd's five children who came at this time, two were sons - Sylvanus, 20 years old; George, the youngest of the family. The latter who became owner of the "George Barden place," will have his own story, shortly. Sylvanus stayed on with the old people, an in 1805, there is a deed from his father, giving him title to "the south half of the one hundred acres of land conveyed to the party of the first part by Thomas Barden, Jr., known as north part of Lot 46, in Township 9."
In 1806 Sylvanus bought more land, from William Smith, and from Seth Mapes, on the north. About 1829, in two lots, he added 71 acres across the road, to the east.
Sylvanis Barden of Great Size
Sylvanis Barden, in common with the run of "Barde men," was of great size, and "strong as an ox." It is said he could lift up a barrel of cider and drink from the bung-hole, much as others would handle a jug, and that an interloper to his fields was tossed over the fence, with no more ado.
The wife of this man of prowess was Martha, known as "Polly," Ferguson, and by her he had one son, Sylvanus Perry, born in 1820. When the boy was six years old, Sylvanus Sr., died. His widow, in course of time, married a Mr. Atwater, their children living with them on the farm during the youth of Sylvanus Perry (always called by his second name).
The mother, Mrs. Atwater, made her home there until her death, surviving her second husband. She had the privileges of age, in later years, including her special cow, kept on the seventy acres across the road. In 1842, Perry Barden married Dorothy McFarland of Portage, N.Y., and they spent a long life together, affectionately known, far and wide, as "Perry and Dolly Barden." They celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary, and almost reached the 60th recurrence of the date, at the old home. Of their children, Agnes, William, and Addie, the youngest, Addie, or Mrs. Transue, survives. The older daughter married Isaac Ansley.
Excellent Dairy Farm
William, Perry Barden's only son, was settled on the "east seventy-one." His wife was Miss Agnes Rippey, of Seneca. The "William Barden farm" proved excellent for dairying, and a creamery was operated in connection with it for a number of years. It also produced crops of fine apples.
"Will" Barden is listed as trustee of his school district, in 1882, and both Mr. and Mrs. Barden were always "in" everything around the community, especially musical events; for from the days of the "singing-school," in Bellona, and on, the voices of the Perry Barden family added much to every occasion. Big-hearted as he was large in stature, Will Barden had a cheerful word for everyone he met.
The house on the William Barden farm has rather an interesting history, especially for any who attended school in the "little red schoolhouse," just north, for the east end of it consists of that very building, which was sold to the highest bidder, Perry Barden, when the present school was built.
The red schoolhouse was the second one in use in the district (now Number Five), but had become, by 1886, in considerable need of repair. So the following year it was moved the half mile down the road, and transformed into a dining room and kitchen for the farm-house. In the woodwork may still be seen scars from the battle for education which was waged by so many intrepid youth within its walls.
The heirs of William Barden, whose death in 1930 was followed by that of his wife within the past year, are Newton and George Barden, and a daughter, Jennie, Mrs. Wilbur Severinghaus. George Barden, in business in Geneva, married Miss Catherine Scott, of Bellona. Newton, whose wife was Miss Jennie Oughterson, of Billsboro, lives just north of Geneva, and has six children, Willard, Dorothy, Albert, James, Agnes and Robert. Mrs. Severinghaus has three children, William, Jordan and Mary Ellen. She is a teacher of music in Ithaca.
Although younger than the parent farm, up on the hill, nevertheless the William Barden farm has a family history of 107 years, which is not insignificant in our youthful and fast-moving civilization.
Built Large Square House
To return to the Transue farm - so far as is known, the log house built for the old people from Massachusetts sheltered the family until after Perry Barden's marriage, although, if it did, it must have been an unusually well-built one, or else fixed up from time to time, as it would have had to serve over fifty years. Enough to say that Mr. and Mrs. Perry Barden went to house-keeping in a log house, on or near the same site.
But after a few years of married life, Perry put his hand and his mind to it, and erected a large house, square with a "wing," well fitted to its commanding position on the crest of the ridge. All the timber, largely hard pine, was taken from his own woods, then sent to Prattsburg, 25 miles, to be sawed and planed. His step-brother, one of the Atwater boys, was the carpenter, and took plenty of time, 18 months, to build the house strong, true and well-finished.
This is the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Transue. The keynote of the interior, as well as the exterior of the house, is a dignified simplicity. Boards of a width and thickness only to be procured from the virgin forest provide handsomely paneled doors, with window-casings and curtain cornices of richly plain design. Eighty years have passed since the family moved into the new home, in 1856.
The large maple tree not far from the house, owes its existence to "Dolly Barden," Perry's bride. Soon after she came here to live, the little maple seedling in the garden was doomed to be pulled up and thrown away, but Dolly wanted to know why it couldn't be left a while longer, and her request was cheerfully granted. So now the tree, nearly 100 years old, is still offering its welcome shade.
In 1861, Perry Barden was elected trustee of the district school. Cash on hand when he took office was 27 cents. However, expenses of the year, duly met, included $30 for repairing the schoolhouse and buying a new stove. Wood that year, cost $1.25 a cord, going up the next year to $3.20 a cord. During his term, Mr. Barden hired a new teacher, Miss Jane Simpson (afterward Mrs. Bristol, mother of E.L. Bristol of Hall).
Miss Simpson taught the school, with marked success, for a number of years, having as many as 62 pupils. Her coming raised expenses slightly, however, as she requested an innovation, namely a wash basin and towel, for she averred that these articles had become an indispensable part of education.
In 1886, Mr. Barden was one of the committee of five to examine the fitness of the red schoolhouse, with its stove in the middle and benches round the side. Much repairing was needed. After a bit of stalling over the $1,200 needed for a new building, it was voted favorably, and the change made.
Presbyterian Church Members
Mr. and Mrs. Perry Barden were faithful supporters of the Presbyterian Church in Bellona. A silent testimony is the deed of a church pew, in the "First Presbyterian Congregation of Benton," in 1863. This was in the "old" church, preceding the Memorial Presbyterian Church, where the family had worshipped since it was built. It was during Perry Barden's lifetime that the graves of the two preceding generations were transferred from the family plot in the corner of what is now the dooryard, to the Bellona Cemetery.
The years that had intervened since the oldest was laid to rest, softening the rudeness of each, lent a passive interest, rather than shock, to the discovery of the old grandfather's neatly braided hair and shell comb.
Mr. and Mrs. Perry Barden were themselves separated five years by death. Mrs. Barden survived her husband, living until 1909, her 92nd year. She never lost her vivacity, and one of the "thrills" of her last years was the daring experience of an automobile ride with Dr. George Means, then practicing medicine in Bellona.
Mr. and Mrs. Transue, whose names have been the ones connected with the farm during this generation, have no children of their own, but see the Barden name perpetuated in their line, through Newton Barton's sons, in Geneva. They have always been active in the church, the Grange at Hall, and in all civic and neighborhood matters. Mrs. Transue is a member of Seneca Chapter, D.A.R., at Geneva.
The Vincent Barden Farm
Driving, in imagination, south through the so-called "Beattie road," that is, the road parallel and next west of Pre-emption, as it approaches Bellona, we have passed, let us say, the neat schoolhouse on the left, of District Number 5, long the "Brown District"; we have passed the "William Barden farm," also on the left, a half mile south; the "Perry Barden farm" on the hill to the right, and go on past the "bigger," coming shortly to an attractive cobblestone house near the road, on the right.
This is the "Vincent Barden," or as formerly known, the "Levi Barden" farm, and is owned and occupied by direct descendants of the first Thomas Barden to come to New York State, in 1789. We find him listed in the first census of the "town of Canandaigua," in 1790.
His first acquisition of land was from Caleb Benton, Lot 48, Township 9, Range 1, a matter of more than 200 acres. By adding to this from time to time, Thomas became quite a land-owner. Records show his possession of Lots 48, 46, and part of 23, in Range 1 - also 2 1-2 lots in Township 8, Range 1, and one Lot in Township 7, Range 2.
This is a total of at least 1,200 acres. Some of the land was evidently for investment purposes, and the farm given to his parents accounts for some, but over 400 acres was located in an irregular block as a personal estate.
The site of the first house on this property is at present shrouded in oblivion. It may have been that Thomas and his brother Otis had their "rude shelter," used while clearing their land, on the south side of Thomas' lot, for in Otis' journal he speaks of returning home "to Number Nine, in the first range," after his trip to Massachusetts in 1792. However, Cleveland, in his Yates County History, said that Thomas the fourth, eldest son of the landowner, was born in the first frame house at Bellona, built by Caleb Benton - this would be in 1793.
The house in question, standing until about 1870, was near Benton's sawmill, and back of where the present Presbyterian manse stands. Cleveland states he received many particulars of early Bellona history from Thomas fourth, then an old man (but not too old, presumably, to know where he was born).
The baby's mother was the daughter of Caleb's favored cousin, Levi Benton, and his father worked he sawmill. Moreover, the next year, it appears that Thomas third and his brother James leased the mill for four years, for "200 Spanish milled dollars, or the equivalent in gold or silver."
They were permitted to cut the whitewood and oak on Lot 4, Township 8, as well as 200,000 feet of pine. If necessary, the sale of pine could be made up from the land "on the north side of the creek on which the sawmill stands and on the west side of the road leading from the sawmill to Geneva."
The lease includes some logging equipment and a "tenement." The Bardens furnished lumber, during their lease, to Charles Williamson for the building of the old Geneva Hotel, (where the Pulteney Apartments now stand,) and the Mile Point House, floating it down "the Cushong," to Seneca Lake. "Lute Meeker," who was an old man in Bellona fifty years ago, used to tell about this, too.
Williamson's records show over $1,400 paid to James Barden for lumber for the hotel, in July, 1796. James finally settled in the Town of Seneca, marrying Miss Wolcott.
In a document dated 1806, Thomas Barden, it is stated, was living on the Lot, "lying in the north-east corner of the crotch of the roads leading north and south and east and west." This describes Lot 23, Township 9, of which Thomas bought half in 1804, and which is located across the road, east, from the present Willis Austin farm (also part of the Barden estate). It looks as if Thomas had reverted to the soil!
He and his wife had, in all, six sons and three daughters. The eldest, Thomas the fourth, grew up in time to see another war with England, and to enlist, serving in a cavalry regiment, in the War of 1812. He completed four generations of Thomas Bardens who withstood British domination before the young republic got on its feet. The father, Thomas the third, also took up arms again in the "unpleasantness" of 1812, becoming Captain in one of the militia companies.
Before leaving home, he made his will, dated 1812, which is still preserved. The Captain's death, though it occurred in his own county, rather than on the field of battle, was the result of his last military service. While marching with his company, under regimental command, at Old Castle, on June 11, 1813, his horse, in the confusion, crowded a blacksmith from Potter Center, by name, John Decker. Perhaps Decker had a name for touchiness, for the Captain took the first opportunity to ride back and make it right.
Coming up to Decker, he dismounted to assure him the jostling had been entirely accidental. As he held out is hand, Decker suddenly dealt him a violent blow under the left ear, which was instantly fatal. The body was taken to the home of Mr. Crittenden, near by, and thence removed to the family burial plot.
Decker stood trial at Canandaigua and was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to State's prison for 14 years. Thus ended the earthly life of one of the earliest white men to undertake the conquest of this land, now so civilized, as we think, but at that time no place for the weak or timid. He came five years before the Pickering treaty with the Indians was signed at Canandaigua, and all through this region the red man, dispossessed but not conquered, was a constant menace.
Wild animals, poisonous snakes, "fever and ague" and all the hardships of primitive living must be faced - but it was from accident, not exhaustion, that the gallant Captain's life was cut of at the age of forty-nine.
Widow Left With 7 Children
Olive, the widow, was left with seven children under 21 years of age, four under 14. With the older ones helping, she "raised" all, and the Captain's land furnished farms, finally, for three sons. The soldier's son, Thomas, to be known later as "Old Thomas," had his homestead on the present Russell Swarthout place, (south, then west, from the cobblestone house).
In time, his sons, Ezekiel and "young Thomas, occupied the present Walter Enos and Francis Goundry farms, respectively. "Old Thomas" lived to a ripe old age. His grandson is Willard Kelsey, of Bellona. Otis B., fourth son of the Captain, had the farm on the corner, now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Willis Austin.
Isaac and Richard, younger sons, moved to other localities, Isaac to the southern part of the state and Richard, who had married Betsy Kinne, to South Haven, Mich. They had two sons, Henry and James.
Levi, the Captain's second son, retained the site of the cobblestone house, and was the builder of it. This fine example of its type was several years in building, the round, smooth cobblestones being hauled from Lake Ontario. It was occupied in 1836, although not completely finished. Built in a classically reminiscent, Colonial style, it shows but slightly the ravages of a century of northern winters, having been always well kept up. Protected by the spacious white-pillared porch is the hospitable doorway, also with narrow windows at the top and sides, and ornamented with carved spool work and beading.
The door opens into a wide hall, quaintly papered, from which a really graceful winding stairway ascends. Living rooms are on each side of the hall, the one at the south being unmistakably designed as the "parlor," in its appointments.
Against a background of delightful sky-blue, the white woodwork is rather elegantly carved - fluted window and door frames, with a conventional lily design at the upper corners, and supporting the fireplace mantel, Doric columns. A fire screen, depicting a painted scene of long ago, and a number of oil paintings add interest.
The back part of the house "rambles," after the style of our fathers, but is staunch and neat as is the ornamental iron fence edging the lawn.
Levi Barden with his wife, Maria Bush, had two sons, Luther and Henry Vincent, and one daughter, Ruby Ann (McConnell). Early in the Civil War, Luther, the older son, was sent to New Orleans, with the 26th N.Y. regiment. His letters tell of common things - inspection, mosquitoes, sickness among the boys. He sounds a little homesick, although a sergeant.
Then in May, 1863, comes another letter, this time from an old neighbor, First Lieut. Adam Beattie. There is sad news. Luther was then suddenly ill - a slight fever, the hospital, an relapse - he discusses certain difficulties about sending home the remains - he is sympathetic, regretful. War is war.
At last, in July, the earthly part of Luther comes home. How plainly can imagination picture the flag-draped casket, borne out of the wide front door and down the walk, between rows of box now replaced by phlox and peonies, to start the winding way to a rest in Bellona Cemetery.
Becomes Owner in 1876
Henry Vincent Barden, born in 1837, became owner of the farm at his father's death in 1876. He continued to spend the more than 35 remaining years of his life in the management of his 200 acres, devoted to general farming and dairying. In 1883, he had the misfortune to lose an arm in a mowing machine accident.
One daughter, Vesta Perdita, had died as a child. The three remaining girls, Anna Weeks, Vesta Katherine, and Mary Perdita, live in New York, spending vacations at the farm, which is operated by their brother, Vincent Barden Jones.
Although born and "brought up" in the city, Mr. Jones seems to take naturally to country life and is keeping the homestead up to its usual high standard.
Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Johnson are assistants of long standing, living at the cobblestone house, where Mrs. Johnson acts as housekeeper. Among the numerous other buildings on the farm, the main barn, bearing the inscription, "L. Barden - 1848," is of the most historical interest.
If Thomas Barden, the founder, could come back and look at the land of his choosing, no doubt he would be pleased at the sight of the orderly, productive farms spread over the landscape; still he might feel a bit lonely, too, for the big oaks and maples, the giant basswoods, the abundant "tulip trees," and the whispering pines -gone now, with the sturdy men who contended with them so heartily for this corner of the earth.
The George Barden Farm
The final one of the four "Barden Farms" is located south of Hall village, about three miles, in the most westerly direction of the old Bardem holdings. This was the property acquired by George, youngest of the eleven children of Thomas the second and Susannah Riggs Barden.
George was named in remembrance of his brother George, killed in the Revolutionary War, and came as a lad of eleven with his parents, in the final migration from Attleborough. In August, 1806, at the age of twenty and a half, he married "Dolly"Witter of Seneca and bought a farm in what was first called the town of Vernon, then Snell, County of Ontario.
In 1810, the name of the township was changed to Benton and, in 1823, the farm was included in the newly set off Yates County. It is situated to the west of the Hall-Penn Yan state road, on the north side of the second four corners out of Hall (Note: Ferguson Corners Road today).
But in 1808 there was no road here in any direction- just an unbroken forest, we are told. Again a Barden, the youngest of his generation, had penetrated through the density of trees and fallen logs, bogs, etc., still moving westward, if only a few miles.
But George and his wife Dolly were quite adequate to the task of opening the wilderness and raising a pioneer brood. Their faces, revealed in excellent likenesses that have come down the years, show characters well balanced between kindliness and strength.
Mr. Barden's twinkling eyes and firm but humorous mouth are set off by "Dolly's" somewhat determined chin, and is sure that nothing of importune escaped the bright eyes behind her square spectacles.
George Barden built a double log house, whose consciousness was to be tested by the thirteen children who came to be worthy people.
This house was located near the present state road. After 35 years, a period that saw the change from forest to farm, from trails to roads, and from isolation to the cheery flight of a neighbor's chimney-smoke, a substantial stone house was built on higher ground to the west.
The stones are of the "cobblestone" variety and, in this case, were of local origin, largely gathered from Mr. Barden's own farm. In order to secure the regularity of size of which gives the distinctive appearance of this type of stone buildings, the round stones were graded by dropping them through a hole in a board. Above the windows and doors are set in two wide slabs of flat stones, with similar ones used as door-sills.
Flat stones, as was usual are used in a pattern to form the corners of the house. The contrasting stone work forms the only, and sufficient, decoration of this house, which is restful by reason of its plainness and excellent proportions.
The main entrance, bearing the date 1843 over the deep doorway, is toward the south. A side entrance and porch face the east, where there is a pleasing view over rolling farm land and distant blue hills. The whole grouping of buildings, in their prime, as shown by an illustration of about sixty years ago, was in quite the elegant manner.
In this view, a lower wing running south from the main part of the house, and other buildings, joined to this and adjacent, on the west, are all of stone matching the house. The substantial barn is a frame building with gambrel roof. Neat picket fences enclose the lawns.
In a family of the size of Mr. and Mrs. George Barden's, the years bring increasingly large gatherings of the children and children's children, and it was among this branch that the Barden family picnic was instituted in 1884. Since that time the date has been annually reserved by all good Bardens.
Remain in Home Locality
Several of the Barden-Witter off-spring remained in the home locally. The oldest son, George R. Barden, was established on a farm on the same road with his uncle Otis Barden's mansion, but farther south. The house built for him stands on the corner diagonally across from Warren Pulver's more recent home.
"George R.," as a young man, became very favorably disposed toward Miss Elmira Southerland of Potter, but determined not to marry until he possessed the deed to his farm. As the old gentleman, his father, also had a mind of his own and did not hand over the deed during his lifetime, it was not until after his death that the marriage could be consummated.
Up to that time, two of his sisters obligingly kept house for the bachelor farmer. George R. Barden served in the New York State Legislature during the year 1860. At one time, he and is son Ashley owned the stone gristmill in Bellona, at the location of Caleb Benton's old mill: - also a sawmill further up the creek, around the bend.
Of George R. Barden's four children, two daughters. Mrs. L.J. Barden of Arizona and Mrs. Theda Pangbourn of Penn Yan, are living. Elizabeth Barden, daughter of the first George, married William Nichols of Seneca and of their descendants, William Nichols of Newark, N.Y., George Nichols of Stanley, Lloyd Phillips of Hall (and Camden, N.J.,) and descendants of Mrs. Margaret Nichols of Rochester live relatively near. Others of this branch have settled at more distant points.
Sylvanus, second son of George, lived for a time on the old farm, after his father's death. One of his sons, the late John J. Barden, was well-known resident of Stanley. His widow now lives in Geneva.
Two other daughters of George and Dolly Barden left descendants in this locality - Minerva, wife of John W. Mapes of Gotham, whose children were Ella and Arlington Mapes, and Mary J., or Mrs. William Barnes, of whose four children, two, Mrs. Grace Black of Bellona and Arthur L. Barnes of Dresden, are living.
The son through whose line the farm still remains in the family was Martin W., next to the youngest of the family. With his wife, Margaret Brice of Gorham, he lived many years on the old place, having seven children. Of these, Llewellyn J., who married his cousin, Jennie Barden, became the owner the George Barden farm, living there until 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Barden and their daughter, Elmira, have now lived for a number of years in Arizona, and the farm is managed by their elder son, George L. Barden of Penn Yan. Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Barden's family consists of three sons, John, Richard and Brice, and one daughter, Miss Helen Barden.
Three other grandsons of Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Barden are Llewellyn, Monroe and Keith Barden, sons of Harold Barden.
Some descendants of the Barden family, not mentioned in these sketches, may chance to peruse them and may think, with some new interest, of the qualities that have distinguished their kin. Adventurous, but not adventurers, they established homes that have endured.
That they were quick in defense of these, and of their country, the recurrence of soldiers' names in each generation shows - as do also the nine graves of Barden soldiers in the Bellona Cemetery alone. Yet there appears too, an inbred love of the land, and of the wholesome ties of American family life. Richard Palmer blog.
"Historic Yates Area Homes", Geneva Daily Times, Monday, February 2, 1955.
"Permanent File of Cobblestone Structures".
"Gateways To Cobblestone Houses of Yates County", by Crooked Lake Yorkers, Penn Yan Academy, page 7, 1967.
"A Brief History of Cobblestone Architecture in Yates County, New York", By Richard F. Palmer.
The Cobblestone Society & Museum Tours:
Barden - Warren House 8th Annual 06/15/1968
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 Barden farm, 1873.jpg ¹ The Barden farm on Ferguson Corners Road. |  Barden closup.jpg ¹ |  Barden house 2.jpg ² Barden family portrait |  Ben-4 Parker 2.jpg ³ |
 Ben-4 Parker 3.jpg ³ c. 1968 |  Yat_7_1.jpg |  Yat_7_2.jpg |  Yat_7_3.jpg |
 Yat_7_4.jpg |  Yat_7_5.jpg |  Yat_7_6.jpg |  Ben-4 Parker 4.jpg 4 |
 Ben-4 2492 Ferguson Corners Rd 1.jpg 4 |  Ben-4 2492 Ferguson Corners Rd 2.jpg 4 |  Ben-4 2492 Ferguson Corners Rd 3.jpg 4 |  George Barden House 1.jpg ³ |
 2492 Ferguson Corners Road.jpg 5 |  George Barden House 2.jpg 5 |  George Barden house 3.jpg 5 Summer kitchen |  George Barden house 4.jpg 5 Living room |
¹ Old prints from Combination Atlas Map of Yates County, New York. Compiled, Drawn and Published From Personal Examinations and Surveys. Everts, Ensign & Everts, 714 & 716 Filbert St. Philadelphia. 1876, page 24.
² Image courtesy Richard Palmer blog. Attribution not provided.
³ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
4 Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
5 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
