A Genealogy of an 1831 Farm Do you live in an old house? Ours was built in 1830. How do we know this? We did a house genealogy. This is fun and educational to do. It can add to the value of your home if you ever decide to sell it. Even if it was built in the early 1900s your home’s history is something to record and save for posterity. Here is what we found about the Johnson farm. 5380 Johnson Road, Canandaigua, New York The farm was originally part of the Famous Phelps and Gorham Tract , the purchase of 6,000,000 acres of land in western New York State by two Connecticut gentlemen in 1789. The land on which the homestead was to be built was part of a tract bought from Oliver Phelps for $697.50 by William and Judith Tuckerman of Boston and sold on Christmas Day, 1830 to a local Canandaigua builder Sheldon Baker and his wife Eunice. In the deed transfers for November 19, 1831, we found that Lewis (b10/14/1788 NJ d 6/16/1872) and Phebe (b12/8/1785 NJ d 12/19/1867) Johnson from the Township of Gorham across the lake, paid $1,502.08 for 61 ac. of the Baker tract and that included a home. The Johnsons had five children when they moved into the homestead, William (eldest), three daughters, Betsey, Phebe and Lelitia, and their youngest son John, who was born in 1820. The parcel the Bakers sold was half of their tract while the value increased by a factor of 2.5. A house was also mentioned in the deed in the transfer to the Johnsons and not mentioned in the original sale to the Bakers. So, if you find the value of the land increase quickly, then it is a good indication that the property was improved with a structure such as house. Less than three years later the Johnsons sold the farm to Dr. Alexander Murray and his wife Sarah. It appears that the Johnsons had extensive other land holdings in Cheshire and moved down the road to a new house . Murray was one of the first medical Doctors in the Canandaigua area. There appears to be a continuing relationship between Lewis Johnson and Dr. Murray as the year went on. In the years that followed we find that William became a Medical Doctor and moved to Michigan. It could be assumed that there was a relationship between Dr Murray and Lewis Johnson to teach medicine to William who was of age in that time period. Also, in 1854, when Dr. Murray retired to Atwater Place in the village of Canandaigua, the Johnson homestead is transferred into the ownership of Lewis’s youngest son John. No monetary transaction is record as was the custom. The property and house remains in the Johnson family for three more generations. On February 6, 1938, Thomas Jean Hargrave, securing a $6,000 note, purchased the property from the great grandchildren of Lewis Johnson for $5,000. Hargrave owned the farm for 18 years until February 7, 1956. He named it Bonnie View farm.
We know very little about the farm until the Hargrave years. Thomas Jean Hargrave was the successor to the Eastman Kodak Company after the sudden death of founder George Eastman. Jean Hargrave left a wonderful record of the farm and its activities. Being the President of the Eastman Kodak Company Mr Hargrave had available the latest photographic technology of the time. The farm was captured with many still photographic images and on 16mm Kodacolor film. Thanks to the generosity of the Hargrave family these images were made public. We would to share some of them with you. |
