Olean's First Mail Route

Henry Baxter, who was writing some interesting historical letters for the Friendship Register, touched as follows upon some facts, which proved interesting.

Written: April 1884---Olean Times

Olean’s First Mail RouteJoseph McClure was a man of uncommon enterprise, industry and resolution. Before the lands of Holland Company were surveyed into lots, he had discovered that flats of the Ischua Creek were above the narrow portion of that valley. Soon as the lands were run into lots, he contracted with two of his brothers and several others for such as he considered the most desirable. His company of settlers came up the Canisteo to Hornellsville, thence to the Genesee by way of Dyke settlement thence down the Genesee by the same road (the river) that had been traveled by Sanford’s of Caneadea and Chamberlin o Belfast to Transit Bridge. Then they made a road as they traveled by a route near the center line through the town of Belfast, which was not then surveyed into lots, west across the town of New Hudson to the valley road between Rushford and Cuba, at Bates’ stand, thence west through Lyndon to Franklinville. Here they established themselves and first called the place McClure and afterwards Ischua.

Through Belfast, their road was called the “Ischua Road”; this was in 1805. The year before, Major Adam Hoops had commenced his place in Olean. To make a road to Olean, a road was cut from McClure’s road at Bate’s stand, down Oil Creek to the Morgan place, at or near the head of the Cuba reservoir, thence west of Oil Spring to the old Hicks stand on Oil Creek, thence down Oil Creek, where was already a trail to Olean.

By this route soon after Slooman Rawson came in and settled in the valley of Oil Creek a little north of McClure’s road and he cut the road thence northeast to Rushford. But when McClure got himself established at Franklinville, he began to survey the country for the road leading to his place, and among others was the road running northeast through Franklinville, Fairview, Centerville, Pike and East Pike, to Castile and Perry, to which latter place a road was already made from Old Leicester.

The settlers, had at an early day, made a road to Centerville and another to Burrville on the river below Caneadea Center. Burrville used to be called Caneadea and Caneadea Center, was called Suckerville, at the mouth of the Caneadea Creek. The road from Rushford to Sim Hicks’ stand was called the “Allegany Road.” There was a trail from Friendship to Cuba and so on to Olean previous to this. But the road from Centerville to Rushford was the mail route. The mail also went to Franklinville from Centerville.

A mail route was afterwards established from Angelica to Warsaw through Cold Creek village and Mills’ Mills, Patches Corners, East Pike and Gainesville, crossing the route from Perry to Olean at East Pike then called Bloody Corners. But when the road from Angelica to Olean was opened, the mail route, or at least that part of it from Rushford to Olean, was abandoned, and a mail route was run from Rushford to Cuba, and the Warsaw mail from Angelica was run down the river as far as Burr’s Caneadea and then drove over the hill from there to Rushford. And that part of the Ischua road, east of Black Creek was abandoned, but from Black Creek through New Hudson Center west to Franklinville is continued to this day. (April 1884) It is but a late thing, comparatively, that a good road had been made down Caneadea Creek from Rushford, to the river.

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