Anonymous tales

Four Mile Creek Preserve sits at “the Point” that marked nine miles along the Lake Ontario coast from the Genesee River, and it has witnessed some stirring sights and interesting events since the first pioneers settled there in 1805. Nor is it lacking in stories that have been recorded from one generation to another. These are some of those tales.

This story was told many times by Mr. John Foster concerning the naval engagement to which his grandfather Abram Foster was an eyewitness. It was during the War of 1812 when he was returning home from his fields late one afternoon that he gazed out towards the lake and was surprised to see 12 sails in a peculiar formation. He turned to his sons and is reported to have said, “Boys, if I know anything about war, they are getting ready for a battle.”

And so they were, but it proved to be a slight affair after all.

Only a few shots were fired and then the two fleets outdid each other in seeing which could increase the space between them the faster.

Mr. Foster said later that it developed that the two rival commanders were brothers-in-law. Perhaps they feared family complications.

It was also in the War of 1812 that the “Pointers” were honored by a visit from General Winfield Scott. He was then only a colonel and apparently on some secret mission from Sacketts Harbor to Youngstown. He made the trip in an open boat accompanied by eight oarsmen. Being overtaken by darkness as he passed the “Point,” he put in at Four Mile Creek or nearby and sought shelter for the night.

He first inquired at the home of Robert Woodhull, now 1221 Lake Road. Mr. Woodhull hesitated and said, “Some of the men can stay, but there is hardly room here as it is for my wife and young’uns. Deacon Foster over there has a bigger house and maybe he can take you in.” Thus it came about that Winfield Scott, then only 26 years old, spent a night in the Deacon Foster house on the Lake Road, the oldest house in town.

When Scott left early the following morning, he thanked his host for his gracious hospitality, but he said the bed was far too short. He was a big man of six feet, five inches–far too long for the old short beds.

An anecdote of the period concerns one of the amusing incidents referred to as “Woodhull’s Folly.” It seems that Judge Woodhull wanted to try something different for operating his gristmill on the Foster property along Four Mile Creek. He erected a windmill with canvas wings which were so noisy that folks said they could be heard nearly to present Webster Village. After it once started going, there was no way to stop it, and so it finally whirled itself to pieces. Thereafter, it was always jokingly referred to as “Woodhull’s Folly.”

The water wheel rather than the windmill furnished the power for mills along the creek. A state historical marker on Lake Road near Phillips Road indicates the location of the first mills. One of these mills was 36 feet by 50 feet and did custom sawing. The logs were brought in from the countryside, for which the people paid by the thousand feet. In the summertime, when the mill was idle, old Captain Soper, a Civil War veteran, lived in the building.

A combination cider/grist mill was erected on the Lake Road before the Civil War. This was operated by Henry Tompkins and John Foster. It was a small, two-story unpainted building about 24 feet by 36 feet. Later fence pickets and small wood items were sawed there. When the mill was abandoned, it was used as a home for many years by Sam Banford.

Commercial fishing was important in this vicinity along the lake. Nets were used to catch great quantities of white fish and sturgeon. Since the channel was deep, fishing boats had no problem in anchoring there.

Getting food supplies was quite a problem for the early settlers. Fortunately, salmon came up several miles into Four Mile Creek every spring. Deer, bear, and other wild game were plentiful. Even raccoons were caught for food.

After farming became established and fruit trees began bearing, a great deal of fruit was loaded onto boats at the Creek for Canada. A pier extending into the lake was constructed for the shipping business. The point of land east of the basin formerly projected out about three-fourths of a mile farther than it does at present time. At the end was a big elm tree, which to the sailors and boat people, always looked like a big umbrella. When that was sighted, they knew they had about nine miles to go to Charlotte. Gradually, by common usage, the name Lyon’s Point was changed to Nine Mile Point.

When the Strowgers’ daughter May and her husband Hiram Wright first owned the property at the point, they had piers made of brush extending into the lake. The farmers would take the trimmings from their fruit trees to the shore and a temporary pier would be constructed. Of course, each year it had to be replaced.

Between 1900 and 1914, the Wrights dynamited the hill and filled in all the swampy area south of the shore and west of the creek. This provided an excellent baseball diamond where many amateur games were played. At this time a stone pier was also built which was replaced by a concrete one in 1920.

The Wrights’ hotel business at the Point started in a small way. However, as patronage increased, a larger hotel replaced the first small one. The new one had 12 bedrooms on the second floor; a dining area, bar, and kitchen on the main floor, and a large dining porch. It accommodated many large parties and banquets. Here the townspeople entertained a notable Chautauqua speaker William Jennings Bryan in 1920.