| Nathaniel Dike,
Allegany County's first settler, was a native of Connecticut and a man of
whom all Alleganians can be justly proud. He was the descendant of
another pioneer, Anthony Dike, who came from England in the "Anne" in 1623
and served in the Pequot War.
Capt. Dike served at Bunker Hill, was on the staff of General Warren and
our county histories also state that he served on the staff of General
Washington. Catherine Schuyler Chapter D.A.R. marked his grave at
Elm Valley with a standard in recognition of his service to his country.
The story that he was
educated at Yale has been disproved although he had an education better
than average for the times. His early record book was written on
stamped paper dating to the Stamp Act and was owned in the town of Scio in
1895.
Dike followed the
west-ward tide of migrations to Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley after the
Revolution. He soon removed from there to Tioga Point (now Athens,PA)
where he remained for a time. There he became interested in the
Genesee Country and set out for what was then the far West. They
came to the Canisteo settlements for a brief stay. They then came up
Purdy Creek and over the hills into Allegany County. Their party
consisted of Nathaniel and his wife, Esther Burrill (Burrell) sons Isaac
and James, daughter Phebe and perhaps others. They located at what
is now Elm Valley and became known as Dike's Settlement. It was
later known as Shoe-maker's Corners.
They were followed very
closely by Stephen Cole who is referred to as "a relative" and may
possibly have been a son-in-law. The Coles' son, Daniel, born Feb.
18, 1797 was the first white child born in the county.
There is no known reason
why Nathaniel Dike came directly to this spot in the unbroken forests of
Allegany county and chose to spend the remainder of his life in that
particular location. There has been at least one published account
that states that Nathaniel spent some time here as a prisoner of the
Indians. If true it is possible that he remembered this location.
His wife was an Indian girl whose sister, Rachel, married Samuel Adams,
another early settler. Nathaniel was not a young man when he came to
Elm Valley.
Francis King, exploring
the country for the Ceres Land Co., in 1798 found the little settlement
and reported it as a settlement of three Dike families. A pack-horse
route was cut through that summer from Ceres to Dike's Settlement by way
of Marsh Creek, and the Honeoye. Almond was settled in 1796 and the
next summer a road was cut to Dike's Settlement but there is no record of
the road or path coming there from Angelica until 1805. Pennsylvania
histories tell of a blacksmith shop kept by the Dike's for those following
the route from Ceres through to the Canisteo Valley which was known to
them as the Dike's Settlement Road and later as merely the Dike Road.
The enterprising
Nathaniel erected a sawmill in 1803 and in 1805 had crude vats in which he
was tanning hides, thus, becoming Wellsville's first operator of a
tannery. The first religious services in the community were
conducted in his home in 1808 by the Rev. Silas Hubbard, a Presbyterian
minister.
James Dike, son of
Nathaniel was born in 1776 and died Feb. 8, 1844. He was a Captain
in the War of 1812 and "won his title by genuine and patriotic service in
the field." He married Phoebe Pritchard of a prominent family of the
Corning area. The first death was that of their daughter Zeriah who
died Jan. 21, 1798, at the age of two years and ten months. Of their
eleven children, five of whom were boys, only one boy survived infancy.
He, James Burrell Dike, was drowned in the Canisteo Creek at the age of
16. There are many descendants through the three daughters who grew
up and married.
Isaac Dike married
Pamelia Gibson. Their marriage in 1802 was the first in the town.
One of their children, a son, Nathaniel, married Mary, only daughter of
Judge Timothy Ives of Coudersport and live in Potter County.
Benjamin Brookings and
John T. Hyde came to the settlement in 1796 from Vermont. Hyde
settled on the adjoining lot and married Phebe Dike. They took up a
farm in Amity in 1803 or 1804 which was a half mile from Belvidere and
became the first settlers in the town of Amity. Their daughter
Hannah Hyde, was the first birth in that town. Their youngest son,
Thatcher Hyde married Polly Gorton. John Hyde was a brother of the
pioneer physician, Dr. Ebenezer Hyde. Their farm was acquired by
Ebenezer who sold it to a Nathaniel Hyde in 1824 for $900.
There are many
descendants of Nathaniel Dike, the Revolutionary hero and his Indian wife
Esther Burrell, scattered throughout the United States. He died at
his home in Elm Valley in 1813, according to records in the Adams family.
After his death his widow, Esther, went to Almond and lived with her son,
James, who was the proprietor of the well-known Dike's Inn. She died
there in 1814, 15, or 16 and is buried in the old Merwin Cemetery in the
village of Almond. Her marker still stands and with the first three
letters of the date 181., just as they were in 1895 when John Major
recorded it.
There is no record of
when Dike became Dyke but it is purely local and comparatively modern
spelling. All the old histories and records spell the name with the
"i" and it has always been the preferred spelling by the family and was
used throughout the New England States.
Nathaniel Dike's entire
life record as we know it, proves him to be well worthy of all honors paid
to his memory. |