Brustom, Jean. "The Old Prendergast Mansion in Kiantone," Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal,
30 November
1985, pp.4T-5T.
The Post-Journal website:
http://post-journal.com/
The Old Prendergast Mansion In Kiantone
By Jean Brustom
On the Old Kiantone Road opposite the end of
Sturdevant Road and adjacent to the Kiantone Creek is an historic landmark that
I never tire of looking at. It is the Prendergast mansion, or, more correctly,
what's left of it - and that's plenty. The white brick structure is set far back
from the highway, and yet it commands attention by its obvious antiquity and
mellowed grandeur.
Mr. and Mrs. Courtney Phillips are the present owners and
occupants. Both have an avid interest in history, especially in what relates to
their home. Mrs. Phillips has spent many hours in the library looking up and
reading about the history of the Prendergast homestead. She is the source of the
historical information in this article. She in turn acknowledges as her main
source of reference two books in the Prendergast Library: History of
Chautauqua County, New York, by Andrew W. Young (1875) and History of the
Town of Ellicott, by Gilbert Hazeltine (1887).
The story of the Prendergast Mansion begins with the history
of James Prendergast, founder of Jamestown, and how he came to settle here.
James' father, William, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb.
3,1727. James' mother was Mehitabel Wing, born March, 20, 1738, in Duchess
County, N.Y. Glens Falls, N.Y., was once named Wing Falls after her family.
The Post-Journal has several times told the story of
how Mehitabel saved her husband from hanging for treason. William had fought the
manor lords and led a rent rebellion, and as a consequence was arrested and
imprisoned. Mehitabel rode horseback for many miles to plead with the governor
for her husband's life. William was pardoned and freed, and the couple returned
to his farm in Pittstown, near New York City. Through the years Mehitabel gave
birth to seven sons and six daughters.
When the family decided to move west, they traveled through
Kentucky, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and Chautauqua County looking for a place
to settle. There were very few settlers here and provisions were scarce, so they
went on and wintered in Canada with relatives.
Not finding Canada to their liking, they returned in the
spring of 1806 by way of Batavia and purchased 3,337 acres of land near
Chautauqua Institution and settled there.
Their fifth son, James, studied and practiced medicine for a
time, was a judge and later became the first post-master in Jamestown, which was
named after him.
In 1807, James married Agnes Thompson. In 1809, he bought
1,000 acres which eventually became Jamestown. He accidentally came upon the
site one day while searching for some of the family's horses, which had wandered
away. In his quest for the missing animals, he found an Indian encampment at the
outlet and was impressed with the area's pine trees. He traveled through the
Conewango and Kiantone valleys looking and it was probably at that time that he
envisioned a settlement in the area. The horses were found in a grassy meadow
where Kennedy now is.
Also in 1809, on Feb. 3, James' son, Alexander, was born.
In 1811 William Prendergast, James' father, died. He is
buried near Stedman in the family cemetery.
James built a log cabin in Jamestown in 1811, but it burned
down in 1812. His mother, Mehitabel, died the same year, and is also buried at
Stedman, along with some of the children.
In 1814 James built a small home on the west side of Main
Street in Jamestown, then known as The Rapids.
From 1814 to 1832 James provided quarters for a school and
paid the teacher's wages. He bought cattle from Henry Clay in Kentucky about
1819. He also purchased three slaves, and they drove the cattle up to his estate
in Kiantone. There is no exact mention of when the house in Kiantone was built.
It must have been around this time or sometime between 1820 and 1830, certainly
before the '30s. The brick house was constructed in one large square section
(four rooms up, four rooms down, with a cupola) with a south wing of 12 rooms
extending back considerably beyond the main part.
The slaves were freed in 1820, but they had always been
treated more like servants then slaves. The Prendergasts were very kind people.
In 1836 James sold his real estate in Jamestown and moved to
Ripley in 1837. His wife died two years later at age 68.
In 1841 James Prendergast settled on the extensive and
magnificent domain which he had developed in Carroll, now Kiantone. He and his
son, Alexander, conducted a model farm. It consisted of more than 1,200 acres
and was the originating point for registered cattle in Chautauqua County. James
died here Nov. 15, 1846, at the age of 83.
In 1847, Alexander inherited the estate and lived there. He
married Mary Morton of Westfield in April 1847.
The large brick house was plainly furnished but Mary's great
love for flowers was responsible for the grounds being transformed into
"bowers of beauty and fragrant loveliness."
On June 18, 1848, a son, James, was born here. He grew up and
became a lawyer in the firm of Green, Prendergast and Benedict. He died at 31
from complications of minor surgery in Buffalo. The mausoleum at Lake View
Cemetery contains his ashes. The Prendergast Library was built in his memory,
paid for by rent from a property at Main and Third streets in Jamestown, with
the addition of $30,000 donated by his mother.
Also born to Alexander and Mary was a daughter, Catherine, or
Kittie, on April 2, 1854. Kittie was exquisitely beautiful, lively, cheerful and
apparently healthy. Yet she died young, at 10 years of age, in Marquette, Mich.
St. Luke's Church in Jamestown was built in her memory and her portrait hangs in
a room there. Her grandfather, James, was an ardent Episcopalian, but he also
helped other churches.
The estate in Kiantone had been the site of one of the
granaries of the Six Nations and also the site of an Indian village. Many
arrowheads have been found here, and also an iron tomahawk made by the French
and given to the Indians to scalp the British with. It was authenticated by
Gilbert Hagerty, director of the Rome, N.Y., museum.
At first, the Prendergasts were going to build across the
road from where the house now stands. When they started digging, they discovered
an Indian burial ground. Not wishing to disturb it, they built the house in a
different place.
Alexander also owned a large brick town house at 100 East
Fifth St., built in 1875. This is where he died suddenly of a stroke in 1885.
Mary, his wife, sold the estate in 1887 to Dan Griswold and
William Townsend, a distant cousin of the Prendergasts.
Mary died in Rochester in 1889.
In 1910 Dan Griswold sold the farm to Harry Griswold. In 1915
Harry Griswold sold it to Homer Preston, who in turn sold it to George Gesaman
in 1934. Gesaman sold it to Leon Johnson in 1947. Leon Johnson sold it to Alford
Hagberg. He then sold it back to Leon Johnson in 1962 and Leon Johnson sold it
to Courtney and Marian Phillips the same year.
Before Mrs. Preston sold the property in 1934, she wanted to
give it to ...[section missing]...
need for a larger school to be built and more teachers hired, with resulting
higher taxes and a big expense for the state. Mrs. Preston hired a lawyer,
Robert Jackson, but lost. This was a terrible disappointment to Mrs. Preston.
In 1939, the main part of the house was destroyed by fire.
Only the shell of the brick wall was left standing. The south wing was
water-soaked, but saved. The fire was blamed on defective wiring. The chimneys
were located on the opposite side of the structure from the apparent origin of
the fire in the cupola. The main fuse box was in the cupola atop the southwest
corner and all electrical lines leading to that point. There were fireplaces in
the rooms that burned. Fireplaces were the only source of heat in the early
days.
Other interesting facts about the house:
The bricks used to build the house were handmade on the
banks of Kiantone Creek.
Bars were put on the basement windows so that the sheep,
which did double-duty as lawn mowers, would not break the glass as they
grazed.
In 1938 a hired hand helped dig for the septic tank and
drain, and while doing so found the slave cemetery and had to divert the
project in another direction.
The walls of the house are three bricks thick, and the
foundation is built of hand cut stone. The window sills and the stones over
each window and the doors are also hand cut.
The original window glass was hand-blown, and there are a
few of the old panes left. Most of them have had to be replaced down the
years.
In a back shed that is now gone was an indoor
"outhouse" with accommodations for three.
The water system was put in by Homer Preston. He also had an indoor bathroom
installed.
The old spinning room was just one big room before the
Phillipses put in a new kitchen and a downstairs bathroom. The walls were
brick and in the walls were huge square nails and hooks for hanging the
flax, herbs, etc. The remainder of the spinning room were converted into a
utility room. The original
floor boards in this utility room are all sorts of widths.
The living room, the lovely staircase and the Italian marble
fireplace were in the part that burned.
The dining room was in the part remaining, and that is the
Phillipses' living room now, with a large fireplace on the north end of the
room. Some of the original floor boards have permanent scorch marks made
when hot embers flew over the fire. The finishings and wall paper are in
keeping with the period of the house.
The large pantry was made into two rooms- a bathroom and
den. The old kitchen is the present owner's dining room and also has a large fireplace. The servants of
yesteryear cooked in it, and the iron crane that held the cooking pots is
still there. The check drafts are plugged up. Marian's rollout table seats
20 guests. A tea cart is in one corner. This is the room where huge
cupboards once hung on the walls.
There are four bedrooms and bath upstairs and a long hall,
which was connected to the wing that burned. The door that led to this part
has been made into a window. The burned section was 30 feet by 30 feet,
while the south wing, which remains, is 24 feet wide and 85 feet long.
The hand-hewn beams are 9 by 12 inches, and the floor joists
are 3 by 10.
The Phillips painted the house to preserve the brick. The bricks cannot be sand-blasted because they would pulverize if the glaze should be removed.
When the Phillipses were removing the old
wallpaper in the stairwell, they found that Kittie Prendergast had printed her
name on the wall, probably as she sat on the stairs. She must have been quite
young, as she left out the "der" in Prendergast, making it read
"Kittie Prendgast". Marian says that when she repapered and painted
she carelessly painted over the little girl's writing, so it's gone forever,
much to her regret. A doll belonging to Kittie is in the Fenton Historical
Center.
A painting called the Prendergast Homestead made by J.W. Bell
in 1876 hangs in the James Prendergast Library as do portraits of all the family
and many beautiful paintings once owned by the Prendergasts and bequeathed to
the library by them.
The Phillipses have lived in their historic landmark for more
than 23 years and love the peace and beauty of their surroundings, as did James
Prendergast when he came looking for his runaway horses so many years ago.
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04/27/2004
jpl...missing section last paragraph on page 4T...