Building date: Destroyed by fire around Christmas of 1945.
Original use:
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content:
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features: Unusual second story entrance.
Map views courtesy Google Maps street level view of where the cobblestone residence had been located. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°52'49.89"N 77°20'15.56"W.
Town of Canandaigua and Ontario County Maps
One cobblestone house in the town of Canandaigua no longer exists. It was located on what is now Route 5 and 20 at the corner of Cooley Road. The date that this home was built is unknown. The 1860 U.S. census shows Abijah Simons; his wife, Polly; and son, Warren. The Simonses lived here until well into the 1900s, the home being owned by Warren on the 1916-1920 maps. The home burned to the ground around Christmas of 1945. It appears to have been a very striking residence with its second-level main entrance. Richard Palmer blog.
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt, 1941. Reference the second paragraph on page 20.
The cobblestone was located on the NW corner of Cooley Rd. and Rts. 5&20 (Lot 71), Labeled "C.Johnson" on the 1852 map. Today's address is 3020 Cooley Rd and there is a house there, approximately in the same spot based on the topography shown in the old pictures of the cobblestone house.
The house is labeled "C Johnson" on 1852 map; "C P Johnson" on 1859 map; unlabeled on 1874 map; "A.M.Simons" on 1904.
In 1871 a bankruptcy auction was held on the "premises of C.P.Johnson, about 2 miles west of the village of Canandaigua" where livestock, wagons, cutters, plows, rollers, harnesses, and yokes were sold. I've found no record of when the cobblestone and property was acquired by Abijah Simons. Upon Abijah's death in 1907, the property passed to his son Warner. After Warner Simons' death in 1928, his wife Isabella (Belle), sold it to Clark T Cutting for $3000. At this point the trail grows cold. The 1940 census has Clark T. and Grace C. Cutting living in Pasadena. An obituary notice in the 6/28/1955 Daily Messenger reads: "Word has been received of the death of Mrs. Grace C. Cutting, wife of Clark T. Cutting, who died Thursday, June 9, 1955 in Pasadena, CA. after a long illness. Mr. and Mrs. Cutting had lived on the Centerfield Rd, Canandaigua prior to moving to California about 10 years ago." Centerfield is the hamlet in Canandaigua where the cobblestone house was, thus confirming the ownership trail.
I have found no records to verify Barbara Swartout's (late Ontario County Historian) research that the house was destroyed in a fire around Christmas in 1945. There is no evidence of where this information came from in any of her files. So we must take that information on faith.
Dorothy Wells Pease wrote about this property:
"West of Canandaigua is the W. H. Jameson manor house. The owner claims it was built in 1794, the oldest house in Ontario County, but those well versed in cobblestone lore deny this. However, it is a very interesting house with an elevated front entrance reached by a flight of stairs. The rooms are on several levels separated by a few stairs and are heated by fireplaces. The cobblestones, laid four courses to the quoin, are set in "post office box" style. The wooden ell was built at same time." Excerpt from "The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", page 20, compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease.
I have a couple pages of notes--executor notices for next of kin after the death of Abijah Simons, ancestry traces, cemetery records, owner tracking... but I've found no details that provide any meaningful information relative to the cobblestone or the personalities of the owners. Karen Crandall, cobblestone researcher, email 6/29/2021, revised email 7/2/2021.
"The Charm of Years", by Nancy Woodworth, Pages 7 - 9. Attribution not provided. Courtesy Cobblestone Museum. Editor's Note: A handwritten note accompanies this article: "There was no possible road for wagons from Canandaigua to Lake Ontario until circa 1810." This refers to the date and statements in the leftmost column, page Eight"...announced that he would build a manor house. That was in 1794. Operations began at once. Rocks were hauled through the wilderness from Lake Ontario, twenty miles away."
OO
 1852 Ontario County Map Can-9 Excerpt.jpg ¹ |  Can-9 Abijah Simons House 3.jpg ² Photography by Charles Hopkins, 1934 |  Can-9 Abijah Simons House 2.jpg ² Clark T. Cutting House, Pease Collection 1940-41. |  Can-9 Abijah Simons House 1.jpg ² Clark T. Cutting House, Pease Collection 1940-41. |
¹ 1852 Ontario County Map Can-9 excerpt courtesy Library of Congress.
² Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
