The tavern at the crossroads

One of the most architecturally attractive houses in the Town of Gorham sits at the intersection of Routes 245 and 247, Blodgett and Baldwin roads. It would be hard for anyone bringing children back and forth to the Marcus Whitman Jr./Sr. High School to miss the house with the tall pillars.

It was part of the Baldwin farm that was purchased by the new school district when combining Gorham Central School and Middlesex Valley Central School. Not needing the old house, they sold it in 1972. It has had several owners, all of whom have loved it and worked hard to maintain it. This is the story of the beginnings of that house.

James Parker came to the area as an appointed agent for the “Universal Friend,” searching for land to purchase for their new settlement.  He was one of the original 25 settlers who came in 1788. He was a captain in the American Revolution and had a brother fighting in the British Navy. He would be appointed the first Justice of the Peace in Western New York.

There is a whole complex story that goes with the purchase of this land and land in the Town of Gorham that you can read about in the Frances Dumas or Robert Moody books both listed as references. In the end John Livingston deeded to James Parker a total of 1,643 acres, including Lot 49 in Township 9 Range 2 for $385. 

Pearly (Pearley/Perly/Parly/Parley) Gates, as we are going to call him, was born in 1767 in New London, Connecticut. His parents Daniel and Ziporah Leonard Gates and children were still in Connecticut in the 1790 census, so they came to Hopewell to settle after that.

Pearly went to the Universal Friend’s Settlement to purchase land from James Parker. Parker had five daughters, and one, Alice, seems to have caused him some embarrassment. Her family forced her to marry Pearly, who had in the meanwhile fallen in love with Orpha Scott. Alice and Gates lived in the same house, but never consummated their marriage; she bore a son named John whose father was Thomas Prentiss.

Orpha Scott was born Nov. 10, 1767 in Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Dr. Barnabas and Rebeckah Scott. After the death of her father, she came with her mother and sister, Margaret, to the Universal Friend Settlement in Yates County in 1790. Orpha was well educated and she taught at the first school in Starkey, Yates County, sometime before 1800.

On Jan. 13, 1794 Pearly Gates purchased 50acres on lot 49 for five times the amount that James Parker had paid for the land. There he built a log structure and opened a tavern (at the intersection of what we call Baldwin’s Corners today). When Orpha joined Pearly is unclear, but since the tavern had a wonderful reputation for “the quality of its food, cleanliness of its beds and rooms, and the cheerfulness and friendliness of its landlord” we would presume she was there by the beginning of business.  Sometime between 1802 and 1804 the log cabin was moved aside and a new one-and-a-half-story framed structure was built to replace it. “Gates Tavern” stands today as the western wing of the house. This section of the house is one of the oldest surviving residential buildings in our town.

On March 22, 1803 Orpha gave birth to a daughter Sabra. Parley Watkins Clark Gates, who was born in 1800, joined the family through adoption before 1810.

About 600 feet up the road from the tavern is the Baldwin’s Corners Cemetery. It was started as early as 1807, apparently on land once owned by Pearly.When Pearly died in Feb. 27, 1813 at the age of 46 this is where he was laid to rest. Family tradition, cemetery records, and War of 1812 records show that he was in the New York State Militia and died from injuries he received fighting on the Niagara Frontier.  Our historical society requested his War of 1812 records from the New York State Archives but none were found. We are still searching to verify his service record.

Chester Loomis of Rushville writes in his 1813 diary, “Sometime in the fall of 1812 an alarming epidemical disorder began among the troops on the lines. Its symptoms and appearances were like Pleurisy but the same medical treatment as for Pleurisy was unfortunately fatal.  It has prevailed in all the northern states during the winter. In this vicinity the following have died, Parley Gates of Gorham…..” 

An article in the Geneva Gazette states a Post Office was established in October 1812 in the Town of Gorham, and Pearly was appointed Postmaster. It would have been located at the tavern. According to the National Archives, on April 1, 1813 Orpha was appointed Postmaster for Gorham. In October 1813, Rodolphus Morse succeeded her. Orpha was the first female postmaster in the Town of Gorham if not in all of Ontario County. Perhaps being a single mother, operating the tavern and the post office proved too much for her.

Pearly’s will is dated Feb. 14, 1813 and gives his adopted son Parley W.G. Clark $100 and a note for $100 by Elijah Clark. He was to be brought up and schooled until 21 and then properly clothed from proceeds of the estate providing he was steadfast and a faithful son. Pearly selected Orpha as his sole executrix, and the remaining estate was divided in half between Orpha and Sabra. 

Chester Loomis writes about the local July 4, 1813 celebration. He says; “The day was peculiarly favorable. A very numerous concourse attended of Gentlemen and Ladies at Mrs. Gates Inn. Mr. Merrill made a prayer, Sen. Morse, Esq. read the Declaration of Independence and I delivered an Oration. The procession moved to a bower and partook of an excellent dinner.”

Sabra married Enoch Fobes (1787-1870) on May 3, 1821. He was a descendant of the Mayflower’s John Alden through his mother, Rosinda Alden Fobes.  In 1830 they were living with Orpha managing the farm (now 100 acres) and helping at the tavern. They would bury their children John, Mary and Alden in the cemetery with Pearly. In 1839 Sabra would die, leaving Enoch with Gates, 12, Ben, 10, Emma, 5 and George, 2. Family history states that Enoch and the children continued to live with Orpha. In 1850 we find Enoch recently remarried and living in Oakfield, New York with all four children and farming there. Adopted son Parley would marry Betsey Sabra (1800-1866) and have six children.  Parley would die in Michigan 1852.

Under the direction of Orpha in the 1830s, the two and a half-story main section of the house (tavern) was built. This addition is one of the most notable examples of a Greek Revival residence in the Town of Gorham, according to the Landmark Society Survey.

Besides running the tavern, Orpha would invest in real estate by purchasing land from several area men. In 1858 she would sell “Gates Tavern” to Abner Dwelle. At what point it was no longer a tavern has not been ascertained. In the 1860 census we find Orpha, age 92, living with her sister Margaret in the home of Margaret’s grandson, Samuel Botsford, in Jerusalem, Yates County. Orpha Gates died on July 19, 1864 at the age of 97 and was buried in Baldwin Corners Cemetery. She outlived Pearly by 51 years.

Chester Loomis would be the executor of her will. Her granddaughter, Emma Fobes, had correspondence with Chester Loomis during the time of the settling of the estate in April, 1865.

Emma writes, “What a week the one just past has been, how like a wondrous dream, or rather an awful reality, so sharp, so sudden, so appalling, the blow that has stricken the hearts of the Loyal North. But words are vain! How vain! Since they cannot restore the dead.” Again she writes, “Anxiously awaiting the arrest and speedy execution of John Wilkes Booth the Fiendish assassin.”

Orpha’s will directed the paying of her bills. Some of them follow:

I. Washburn for digging grave 2.00

Rev. Mr. Hill – Funeral Services 5.00

J.C. Robinson notifying relatives 3.50

W.W. Catlin – Coffin & c?? 42.00

Martha Allen – Washing bill 6.00

Emma Fobes – Marble Monument  50.00

French & Co. – Team and Carriage 5.00

M.I. Cobb – Physician Bill 5.25

Paid Surrogate fees on proving will 13.75

Abner Dwelle & Wife Witnesses to Will 2.60

T.R. Allen & wife taking care ofDeceased for 12 weeks 13.69

Fees of Executor  5.00

There were six transactions of money due to Orpha that needed to be settled totaling $3,069.80. The will basically splits the estate between Sabra’s four surviving children and  Parley’s children and widow. 

In 1866 the Baldwins purchased the house and the third section of the house was added in the 1880s. It signifies the economic prosperity that the Baldwin family was having during this time. It is a two-and-a-half-story hipped roof wing and one-story porch on the east side of the house. 

The reason that I chose to write about this topic is that our historical society plans to apply to the Pomeroy Foundation for a historical marker for Gates Tavern and we needed to research the Tavern. This article includes only a portion of the information that we found. If you have information, please email me at shcornelius@frontier.com.

Sharon Cornelius is museum curator with the Town of Gorham Historical Society.

Sources

Alan Ferris – Copies of Research. Present owner of the home. 

National Archives, Washington, D.C. (Thank you, Dennis Hogan)

"America’s First Rushville" by Robert E. Moody

"The Unquiet Word: The Public Universal Friend and American’s First Frontier" byFrances Dumas, Yates County Historian

"History of Yates County" by S. C. Cleveland, 1878

"The Rise and Decline of Gates Tavern and the Five Corners" by Robert Moody, updated by Don Blodgett

Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org

Frances Dumas – Yates County Historian

Preston Pierce – Educator at the Ontario County Historical Society 

"A War of 1812 Death Register" by Jack Bilow

"Know Military Dead During the War of 1812" by Ex Lieut. Clarence Stewart Peterson, M.A.

Town of Gorham Historian Files – "Delia Robinson Letter on Gates, Fobes, Blodgett Families"

Information from the Town of Gorham Historical Society Museum

Chester Loomis Diaries and Papers (copies from Olin Library at Cornell) 

"A Historical Resource Survey of Forty-Four Selected Sites in the Town of Gorham"conducted by The Landmark Society of Western New York. Inc.

Baldwin’s Corners Cemetery Records