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The History of Eden begins with Deacon Samuel Tubbs as the first settler in what is now Eden township in southwestern Erie County. In 1808, Eden was a part of a huge township of Willink, which included all of Erie County south of the center of the Buffalo Creek Reservation. It was named for the four Dutch brothers who owned large shares of stock in the Holland Land purchase. Deacon Tubbs, his wife, and an unmarried nephew, James Welch, traveled along the lake shore from Buffalo with an ox team. He came up the 18-mile creek which was Tanunnogas, meaning "full of hickory bark."
Joseph Ellicott's map of 1804, following his survey for the Holland Land Company, shows several wagon roads and Indian trails in Willink. there was a wagon road extending from Buffalo all along the lake shore into Ohio. The Buffalo Road, which was an Indian trail improved by the Holland Land Company under Ellicott's direction, took travelers to Batavia, which was the county sea until 1808. Erie County was a part of Niagara County then. Apparently, there were no Indian trails or roads in what is now Eden prior to 1800. However, tradition has it that both Gowanda State Road and Jennings Road were originally Indian trails. Wagons, horsemen and ox teams using these trails had to ford all streams until the county or townships had enough money to appropriate for bridges. By 1829, these two roads had been established as county roads, one result of the rapid influx of immigrants to the area, mostly from New England. In 1809, young Welch persuaded his brothers, Elisha and John, who lived in New London, Connecticut, to join him. Dr John March, a graduate of Dartmouth college, and Silas Estee also located near the Tubbs and Welch families. In 1811, Elisha built the first gristmill, both at Tubbs Hollow, as Eden Valley was called then. It soon became a thriving mill community. The first child born in Eden was Hannah Tubbs in 1809. The first death was James Welch's in 1811. Other settlers in 1810-11 were Levi Bunting, Joseph Thorn, Calvin Thompson, James and Abraham Paxson, John Pound, and Josiah Gail. In 1813, Daniel, Samuel, William, and Edward Webster settled near Tubbs Hollow. The first resident in "Eden Center" was John Hill who came from Otsego in 1811. The town was called "Hill's Corners" until 1822. John Hill's wife was a sister of the Welch brothers, and her father, a Revolutionary War Veteran, accompanied them to Eden. Colonel Asa Warren, a veteran of the War of 1812, came to Eden from what is now East Aurora and built a gristmill on the site of the present Kromer's Mill at Toad Hollow. In 1815, he built a house on South Main Street near the "four corners" which is said to have been a "station" for the "Underground Railroad," an organization which aided slaves to escape from southern States before the Civil War. At certain secretly known houses, the slaves were guarded from their pursuers and hidden until they could be taken to the next station toward Canada and freedom. The old cellar in the Asa Warren house tells no tales, but its construction is well-fitted for the purpose. Also, Warren was a man of strong principle who would be likely to champion the unfortunate people born to slavery. |
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of Eden, Town Hall, 2795 East Church Street, Eden, New York 14057 Phone: 716 992-3408 Fax: 716 992-4131 Contact Us |