Early History of the Town of Bristol
When the Seneca tribe first roamed these hills and valleys, they walked through dense growth of maple and elm on the valley floor and oak, chestnut, pine, beech, hemlock, ash, hickory, butternut, and wild cherry on the hills. Wolves, bears, and cougars were competition for the Native Americans who stalked deer. The smaller wildlife, bobcats, fishers, raccoons, squirrels, and turkeys were also plentiful and came to drink from Mud Creek.
History records that the first white men to visit Bristol were the French explorer, Robert LaSalle, and the Jesuit missionary, Galinee, in August 1669. While waiting for an Iroquois escort to take them to Ohio, the explorers were shown “Burning Springs.” Galinee recorded, “In order to pass away the time, I went with M. de LaSalle, under the escort of two Indians, about four leagues (10 miles) to the south of the village (Victor) where we were staying (Ganondagan), to see the very extraordinary spring. Issuing from a moderately high rock, it forms a small brook. The water is very clear, but it has a bad odor, like that of the mineral marshes of Paris, when the mud is stirred with the foot. I applied a torch and the water immediately took fire and burned like brandy, and was not extinguished until it rained. The flame is among the Indians a sign of abundance or fertility, according as it exhibits the contrary qualities. There is no appearance of sulphur, or any other combustible material. The water has not even any taste and I can neither offer or imagine any better explanation than it acquires this combustible property by passing over some aluminous land.”
None realized that it was natural gas coming from underground and bubbling through the water that caused the water to burn. Probably set afire by lightning when the Native Americans found it for the first time, the flame was several feet high and burned until extinguished by heavy rains or high winds. More than 100 years passed before it was discovered that the gas could be used for heat and light.
When Walter Case owned the “Burning Springs” farm on Case Road, he and his wife cooked over the flame, which at that time rose to a height of 18 inches. The drilling of gas wells in the area has caused the flame to become smaller.
On September 11, 1779, General Sullivan’s troops marched through Bristol on what is now Vincent Hill Road, crossed Mud Creek, and followed the Indian trail to Honeoye. They burned the village near Flatiron Road, just as they had destroyed the Indian village at the top of “Arsenal Hill” in Canandaigua.
An amusing story told by Helen Herendeen, former Bristol Historian: “About a hundred years after Sullivan’s march, some young lads in Bristol had the idea from their reading of history that Sullivan’s army had buried some treasure along the trail near mud creek on my grandfather’s farm, so they came to ask his permission to dig. He gave them permission on condition that they fill in the holes when they were through digging. They spent the summer hopefully digging for treasure, but they finally tired of this unrewarding occupation and abandoned their efforts. When it came time for fall plowing Grandfather had to mount his saddle horse and make a number of house calls to remind the young men to return and keep their part of the bargain by shoveling back the dirt. It is also said that Sullivan buried cannons up on West Hill when the horses became exhausted hauling the heavy loads up the steep hillside, so they decided to bury the cannons before they had to bury the horses. I believe that someone is now trying to locate a cannon with a metal detector. If he should locate one, we would indeed have a memento of the American Revolution.”
One of the soldiers who received a land grant for service in the Revolutionary War was William Gooding, who with younger brothers James and Elnathan walked to Bristol from Dighton, Massachusetts (Bristol County) in the spring of 1788. They drove before them a flock of sheep, a herd of young cattle, and a cow for milk. Their claim established Lot No. 1, in the northeast section of the town near Vincent Hill. They cleared a few acres, sowed wheat and planted turnips, and built a rude log cabin for themselves, and a shelter for the animals. William and James returned to Dighton for the winter, leaving 17-year-old Elnathan to care for the animals. Elnathan was the first white man to winter in Bristol.
This story was told by Elnathan’s great-great-granddaughter, Ada Fisher Bliss: “One evening, not long after his brothers had left him alone, Elnathan was cooking his supper outside over a campfire, when the long shadow of a tall Indian fell across the fire. Elnathan did not panic, but ladled out a bowl of his stew and handed it back over his shoulder to the Indian who happened to be a hungry, young man. This act was the beginning of a long friendship between the two. Someone gave the Indian the name of Jack Kelly.”
Ada said it was not unusual to come into the kitchen in the early morning and find a number of Indians sleeping on the floor around the fireplace. The Goodings and the Fishers always made them welcome.
William and James Gooding returned with their families in the early spring of 1789 and soon built a larger and more substantial house and blacksmith shop. William was always kept busy shoeing oxen or horses, and repairing and making tools for other pioneers. His anvil was kept in steady use as Bristol continued to grow.
Deacon George Codding and his son George traveled over the Susquehanna route from Dighton to Bristol in 1788-89. He was soon followed by his sons John, Faunce, Burt, and William. The Coddings had drawn lot No. 3 in the lottery in Massachusetts.
The Town of Bristol was formed by the Court of Sessions, January 27, 1789, from Township 8 & 9 from the Phelps & Gorham Purchase. Bristol was one of the first thirteen townships to be formed in Ontario County. Many of the first settlers were from Dighton, Bristol County, Massachusetts and they named their town for that county. The first meeting to organize the town was held April 4, 1797. Gamaliel Wilder and George Codding presided. The following officers were elected: Supervisor, William Gooding; Town Clerk, John Codding; Assessors, Faunce Codding, Nathan Allen, and Nathaniel Fisher; Commissioners of Highways, James Gooding, Jabez Hicks, and Moses Porter; Constables, Amos Barber, Nathan Allen, and Alden Sears, Jr.; Overseers of Highways (pathmasters) Eleazer Hills, Peter Ganyard, Theophilus Allen, Elnathan Gooding, John Simmons, and Amos Barber; School Commissioners, Aaron Rice, Ephraim Wilder, and Nathaniel Fisher; Collectors, Amos Barber and Nathan Hatch.
In 1825 there was a published proposal to unite the south part of Bristol with part or all of other towns in Ontario, Livingston and Steuben Counties into a new county. This did not happen. However, in March of 1838 the town of South Bristol was formed, officially breaking away from the whole parcel of Bristol. The Town of South Bristol comprises the whole of Township No. 8, fourth range and part of No.8, third range.
There were 6 centers of activity in the early years and they were known as Muttonville, Bristol Center, Egypt, Baptist Hill as well as Cold Springs and Boswell Corners in the South part of the Town. Baptist Hill was once considered the center of the town and called Bristol.
The early government consisted of a Supervisor, Town Clerk, Assessors, Highway Commissioners, Constables, and Overseers of the Poor, Path Masters, Pound Master, School Commissioners, Collectors, Fence Viewers, and an Inspector of Lumber.
Town meetings were held regularly at the old Methodist Episcopal Church in Bristol Center as well as in taverns and homes of the early leaders of the community. Early on Bristol was a religious center with seven active churches throughout the town. Today there is only one active Church in Bristol and it is the United Church of Christ located on Baptist Hill. The first meetings of the Grange #1080 were held in the Methodist Church, but as membership grew they relocated in 1938 when the Bristol Amusement Club offered their hall (the Empire Knights of Relief Hall) and skating rink on Baptist Hill. In 1956 the Grange relocated to the Bristol Center Improvement Company hall located on County Road 32 and is now the home of the Bristol Town Hall.
Early Agriculture
Early farming included the raising of sheep as well as the slaughtering, processing and rendering of tallow for the making of candles. In 1797 records show 21 registered earmarks in the town and by 1850 there were 210 flocks of sheep. The Town kept this enterprise in check by mandating fences of 41/2' in height, creating holding pounds that the Pound Masters were responsible for, who, in turn, appointed the fence viewers to watch over them. In 1825 a fine of $5.00 for any rams running at large from late August to the middle of November was enforced.
With the passing of this industry came the advent of hop farming. This flourished from 1835 until blight and the Prohibition era caused the decline of this source ofrevenue for the town. Between 1880 and 1925 apples and berries took over as the next source of revenue for the farming community until modern practices of canning and drying of fruit became outdated and it was more efficient to truck the produce to the public market in Rochester, New York Some of the other farming operations were lumber, saw mills and grain mills; remains of them may be found throughout the town.
Early Roads
The number of Path Masters and road districts varied each year, from six in 1797 to fifty two in 1836. The number dropped to 33 in 1838 when South Bristol became a separate township.The Path Masters were elected for each road district and were provided with a list by the Highway Commissioners specifying who would be required to work on the roads. The work force consisted of every male over the age of 21 in the district (except for "ministers, priests, paupers, and idiots or lunatics"), every person owning land in the district, whether male or female resident or non-resident, and all corporations owning land in the district. They were responsible for removal of all noxious weeds, briars and brush on the highway, and for removing all loose stones on the beaten track of road once a month between April 1st and December 1st. They were expected to remove snow within 24 hours of being notified of their assignment and failing to do so resulted in a fine to be collected by the Path Masters.
Early Schools
In the early history of Bristol there were as many as 12 school districts. The first one, established at Baptist Hill in 1813, was the last to close in 1953, when it was centralized with the Bloomfield school district. The other schools were centralized with Naples, Canandaigua, and Honeoye, respectively, prior to the closing of School #1. In the early 1930's school districts 1 and 11 did not have electric light but did have natural gas wells nearby and that was a source for their heat and lights.
Recent History
In 1966, the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA) proposed using the lands of Bristol to create a public water supply reservoir similar in nature to their use of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes in Livingston County. The proposal made its way through State Senate and Assembly committees before the Town of Bristol or Ontario County had been notified of its existence. Letters were sent to Governor Rockefeller and Senator VanLare asking to have this stopped, and on June 2, 1966, the Bristol Town Board called a special meeting of the townspeople to make them aware of the proposal.
The Board advised the town that the only purpose of this "land grab" was that the MCWA Executive Director believed that it would "be less expensive than some additional facilities planned to pump water from Lake Ontario" for Rochester and that he felt "the creation of Bristol Lake is a boon for the entire area and it would not diminish the beauty of the valley." The proposed lake would cover over 1,800 acres of the 3,500 acre Town and would run 5 ½ miles in length and one-mile in width at its widest point.
The residents of Bristol, as well as other County Supervisors, did not agree with this "brazen land grab" and in December of 1966 drafted an opposition resolution calling for a public hearing and approval by the Town Board for any proposal set forth "for the purpose of taking lands in the Town of Bristol." Subsequently, this put an end to the formation of Bristol Lake.