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Shays_Ossian Marian Graves, History&Oceanology_Shay Fam.jpg

Ossian history gilbertsonc1added this on 12 Nov 2012
j9bonfigoriginally submitted this to Janine Bonfiglio family tree on 14 May 2012
from History & Oceanology of the Shay Family of Ossian
by Marian F Graves

20260407GHLn-
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THE SHAYS OF OSSIAN Among the early settlers in the Town of Ossian was the Peter Shay family, who started out in New Jersey and arrived in Ossian Center in about 1812. In the year 1804, Richard and James Porter arrived from New Jersey and settled near what is now Ossian Center. They were followed by the Clendenins, Burrills, Coverts, Haynes, Gregorys, Lemens, Boylans, and others, many of whom also came from New Jersey. The land had originally been a part of the Phelps-Gorham Purchase and had been bought by Jeremiah Wadsworth who in turn sold it to Robert Troup. For a few years the area was known as Troupton or Trouptown. By 1810 some records were re- ferring to the area as Ossian. The 1820 census spells the name as Orcean. In 1808 it was a part of Allegany County. In 1857 it was "set-off" from Allegany and be- came a part of Livingston County. Life for the first settlers was very difficult. The land was rough and rugged, covered with a thick forest of mostly white pine. By 1806 Nathaniel Porter had established a sawmill. Shingle-making became the chief industry. Bundles of shingles were bartered to obtain the few necessities, such as meal and molasses, which were available. They soon became known as Ossian Bank Notes. For many years the homes were made of roughly cut logs and hand-hewn shingles. In the beginning, cattle were fed on the branches of basswood trees. About 1810 Mr. Wadsworth ran ads in New England papers offering to exchange lands in Troupton for improved farms in New England. He advertised as follows: "The township is situated on the Canaseraga about 12 miles above its confluence with the Genesee River--10 miles from Arkport. There is excellent wagon road from Geneseo, through Sparta to Troupton--Dansville, a flourishing village, where there is a merchant mill, two stores and a number of tradesmen is a mile from Troupton. A road has been made from the village through Troupton to Angelica." It was to such a land that Peter Shay brought his wife and eight children. It has not been determined when the Shay Family came to America. Family tradition says they came from Ireland. It is believed they were of Scotch-Irish descent since historians agree that most Irish who were in America at the time of the Revolution were of Scottish descent. They had left Scotland because of perse- cution for being followers of John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church. In Ireland they soon discovered that they were not welcome. As soon as the op- portunity opened for resettlement in America, they left. Many who came into New York Harbor went into New Jersey and gradually moved westward into western New York or western Pennsylvania. It is possible that the early settlers of Ossian were part of this migration. An effort has been made by some branches of the Shay Family to connect Peter Shay with Daniel Shays of Shays' Rebellion, claiming that Peter and Daniel were brothers. Neither Walter Shay or the present researchers have been able to sub- stantiate this claim. According to data found, Daniel Shays was born in Hopkin- son, Massachusetts, in 1744, son of Patrick Shays and Margaret Dempsey, fought during the Revolutionary War in western Massachusetts, fled to Vermont after the rebellion. He was pardoned in 1788, moved to Schoharie County, New York, and finally to Sparta in 1814 where he died in 1825. There is no indication that he was ever in New Jersey or that there was any connection between his family when they lived in Sparta and the Shay family of Ossian. His descendants have lived in the Lima-Conesus area, and there seems to have been no communi- cation between them and the Ossian Shays.

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