This had been the land of the Seneca Indians for many centuries. According to Seaver in The Life of Mary Jemison "The tradition of the Seneca Indians in regard to their origin is that they broke out of the earth from a large mountain at the head of Canandaigua Lake; and that mountain they still venerate as the place of their birth. Thence they derive their name, 'Ge-nun-de-wah,' or 'Great Hill,' and are called, 'The Great Hill People,' which is the true definition of the word, Seneca. This land had been purchased from the Indians by two developers named Gorham and Phelps. It was part of an agreement in which they purchased over two and a half million acres.

Life was extremely difficult for the early settlers. Albert Granger wrote in A History of Early Canandaigua "The early comers here were men of sturdy, sterling worth. There was too much danger in their lives for littleness; too much work to be done for intrigue; no time for scheming, nor hearts for fraud; but knit and bound so closely to each other by kindred cares and hopes and common interest, that the pleasure lay in giving comfort to each and in defrauding none."

By 1812 we know there was a Henry Overacker in the area, because in April of that year Henry and Almira Overacker buried their 11 year old son, Richard Mead Overacker in the Hawley Lord Cemetery in Gorham. This is where the mystery of the two Henry's begins for my cousin, Jim, and me. We know that our third great grandparents were Henry and Elizabeth Overacker, and we know they lived in this area. We also know that our ancestor, Henry, was the son of Michael J. and Catherine Vanderhoof Overacker. But there is a possibility that Adam and Cornelia also had a son, named Henry. So we continue to struggle with the dilemma of the "Mysterious Henrys."

This photo of the puzzling Richard Mead Overacker's gravestone in Gorham, New York, was taken by the courtesy of Floyd Gage living in Canandiagua.

The people of Canandaigua did not escape the dangers and fears of the War of 1812. The State Arsenal was located in that small town in 1808 and 1,000 stands of arms were ordered. When the war started every musket was used.

In the 1820 Canandaigua Census we see that Adam, son Michael, nephew Charles Bradt, and most of their families had left, but other Overacker families were living in Canandaigua. They were

*Henry Overacker, Anna Barbara Overacker Griffith, Eve Overacker Smith (Three of Michael J. and Catherine's children)

*Anna Barbara Overacker Gage (Adam's daughter married to Amasa Gage)

*Eve Overacker Stow (Adam's daughter married to William Stow)

*William Overacker (Grandson of Hans Jurgen, the emigrant)

*John Overacker (William's son)

They were surrounded by families of Garrison, Francisco, and Vanderoock, who they had probably known in Wells.

William and his wife, Maria, had come from the town of Minden, Montgomery County in the Mohawk Valley. They had eight children, but only two sons were still living with them by 1820. Their son, John, was living nearby with his new wife, Cornelia Gage. Her parents were Amasa Gage and Anna Barbara Overacker. William died in 1825 at the age of 56. He is buried in the Hawley Lord Cemetery next to his son, Cornelius, who died four years later at the age of 22.

A Henry Overacker lived nearby with his wife and two young sons. We are still trying to determine which Henry this was, and who he was married to at this time Almira, Elizabeth, or Girty Garrison?

In 1823 Yates County was created from Ontario County. We find John, Cornelia, and three children in Yates County on the 1825 state census. They were living in the town of Middlesex, which is not far from Canandaigua. It is just south on the east side of Canandaigua Lake. According to that census, John owned 30 acres of land, 5 head of cattle, 2 horses, 15 sheep, and 4 hogs. The women in his family had made 42 yards of cloth that year.

The living conditions in Middlesex were still quite primitive when John and Henry Overacker arrived. Richard Williams, an early supervisor, is reported to have said at a board meeting that "Middlesex was so poor that nothing but eagles and angels could subsist there." Since 1808 the home of Michael Pearce had been used as a town hall, post office, tavern, and for Methodist church services conducted by circuit riding preachers. A log church was finally built in 1810.

Both John and Henry are listed in the town of Middlesex in the 1830 federal census. By this time John has six children, his wife, and an older woman, probably his mother, Maria living with him. Henry has nine people living with him; five children and four other adults. We may never know who the other adults were.

Middlesex attracted many settlers because of its fertile soil. It consists of ridges up to about 600 feet in height and narrow valleys. The soil is a gravelly loam, and very fertile. The early settlers lived amidst a thick forest of oak, elm, birch, maple, and noble pines. Wolves, bears, catamounts (cougar, lynx, puma), and deer were plentiful. Wolves would often prowl near the homes.

This had been the home of the Seneca Indians for many generations, and they sometimes returned to hunt and fish. According to Frederick Harter, a Middlesex town historian, Chester Adams, one of Henry's neighbors, had an interesting encounter with some Indians "An Indian Chief and his family were staying along the river one winter when Mr. Adams came upon the Chief dipping his naked children in the icey waters of the river. Mr. Adams said to the Chief, 'They will all die.' The Chief replied, 'No stand it, No good.'"

Another interesting Indian story comes from the diary of Viola Salisbury. She wrote about her experiences on James Christie's farm, which was very near Henry Overacker's land. Mrs. Salisbury told of witnessing the burial of the mother of an Indian Chief. "This old squaw had been brought several seasons in a little sack on one side of a pony, balanced on the other side by the little papooses. In the wigwam she always lay curled up on tanned skins. Never saw her sitting up. When she died, she was sewed up in birch bark, and set upright in her grave. At her feet were placed dried venison, corn bread, and parched corn, a candle as large as a man's wrist made of deer's tallow, with flint and tinder, and a hatchet. Logs and brushes were piled many feet high, and set on fire as soon as she died. This pile was kept burning nine days and nights to light her way to the spirit world. If she had not reached that blessed country by the end of the ninth day, she could still continue her journey with the candle lighted by the flint and tinder. In the spring when the Chief went away for the summer the body was disinterred, placed in its sack on the pony, and carried with him."

From Ms. Salisbury and two other ladies related to Henry's neighbor, Mr. Christie, we get a little insight into the lives of our Overacker ancestors who lived nearby. They said, "These are of a generation that slept in houses when the moon and the stars looked at them through the chinks between the logs and the slabs of the roofs. In winter the snow sifted in upon them, and a covering whiter than any they could fashion."

She also said, "The man came on his farm of 272 acres with little land cleared. He rolled logs, tore up stumps and roots, piled rocks, burned brush heaps, and with his wife worked early and late. He exchanged the log house and barn for the more comfortable framed ones. He made the wilderness bring forth the sustenance for man and beast. He served his country without pay. In his town he helped to build roads and bridges, to organize schools and churches, and to lay righteous taxes. The women were taught early to catch horses and harness them, and ride long distances bareback or in the saddle. They tracked their cows by the sound of the bell on the leader, in a country infested by wildcats, panthers, wolves, and rattlesnakes."

One of the ladies also said "When I was a little girl, and the long rebs of cloth, sometimes 45 yards in a piece, and the hanks of linen thread for all our summer stockings had to be laid on the grass each morning, taken up at night, and laid in barrels of lye to be spread out again the next morning. I used to wish that bleaching day would never come again."

Henry Overacker bought six acres of land in Middlesex in 1825. In an 1830 census he is listed as head of household living with one other adult male, three adult females, and five children. His cousin, John, is not far away. John has eight people living with him, his wife, an older woman, (probably his widowed mother), and six children.

****The 1830 census index for the whole State of New York lists 28 Overacker and Overocker families in 10 different counties.

An 1835 New York State census listed Henry as head of household with three sons and two daughters. He owned just 6 acres of land, 1 cow, 3 horses, 10 sheep, and 8 hogs. The women in the family had produced 25 yards of flannel and wool cloth. At the same time John was supporting seven children, but appeared to be doing a little better than Henry. John had 60 acres of land, 12 head of cattle, 2 horses, 30 sheep and 5 hogs. The women in his family had produced 46 yards of cloth.

In 1834 Henry had given a small piece of his six acres to be used as a site for the building of a Methodist Episcopal Church. That church was built in 1836. Thanks to the members of the Middlesex Heritage Society, and the records of the United Methodist Church of Middlesex, I know quite a lot about that church on Henry's property. According to the church records, it was built in 1836 at a cost of $1,000. "It was an elegant frame church having family pews with doors and balconies on three sides. This became a strong society and was spoken of 50 years later as 'one of the old battle fields and a center of power for Methodism.'"

Henry's land and the adjoining area became known as the hamlet of Overacker's Corners. The church records include the following description of the hamlet in the year the church was built. "At this time Overackers Corners had 30 dwellings, a hotel, a schoolhouse, a tailor shop, a millinery and dress making shops, and a blacksmith shop, while at Middlesex Center there were only four log houses. " Unfortunately, I have no clue to my ancestor, Henry's, involvement in the development of this hamlet, but I do know that he was a blacksmith and owned the land at the center of it.

Henry and Almira sold their land to Benjamin Liscomb in 1837. He paid them $1,500. and also paid off a mortgage of $600. By 1840 the Overacker families had left Yates County, but they have never been forgotten there.

In 1948 a member of the Griffith family, who was related to the Overacker's, visited the area known as Overacker's Corners, where Henry and Almira had lived. He said that at that time houses and what appeared to be a mercantile establishment were still standing, but unoccupied and abandoned. He thought the residences all looked as if they had been large and substantial, but were by 1948 in a state of disrepair. He also saw a brick schoolhouse and cemetery that were still in use.

FOOTNOTE

Last May I visited the Finger Lakes area, and was particularly interested in seeing what was left of Overacker's Corners. One of the early homes is still standing. It is the Beckett House. which stands on the Southeast corner. There are differing opinions as to the date it was built, but probably in the 1780's. When the house was remodeled many years later, an old newspaper, The Genessee Register dated September 19, 1809 was found in a chimney.

Across the road and just a few hundred yards west of this home, I found the delapidated remains of a small, very old building and an outhouse. This would have been part of Henry Overacker's land. This little building could have been a small barn, or a blacksmith shop. In the deep grasses surrounding it, are old harness parts, pieces of handforged chain, and a broken wooden wagon wheel. No one in Middlesex could tell me anything about the origin of this building.

On the Northwest corner there is a well maintained brick schoolhouse. In 1874 it was built to replace the log schoolhouse which was there when Henry bought the property. The foundation was formed from crumbled bricks from a blacksmith shop. (I like to think that they may have come from Henry's blacksmith shop) In 1933 a photo and story of this school appeared in National Geographic magazine with the title "Color Highlights of the Empire State." In 1994 it was listed on the State Register of Historic Places. The schoolhouse is still open for visitors to see, and is frequently used for historically significant social functions.

Just northeast of the schoolhouse is The Overacker Cemetery, which is still in use, and well maintained. The earliest known burial was in 1805. Many members of families related to Overacker's are buried there, but not one Overacker. Veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Korea are also buried there.

The Middlesex Heritage Society is also keeping the memory of the Seneca Indians alive. They have been holding an annual celebration known as Seneca Heritage Days since 1953. Last year it was held at the Overacker Schoolhouse. There are still about 6,000 Senecas in the state of New York. The Heritage Group tries to bring the two cultures together and promote a greater understanding between them. They share the story of over 400 years of cooperation and conflict between the Seneca nation and the explorers, traders, and settlers.