Map from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Chautauqua New-York from actual surveys and records, published by F.W. Beers & Co., New York, 1881.

Israel Carpenter

Looking toward Panama, before paved roads

1881 property owners in Blockville:

Carpenter, F.
Carpenter, H. M.
Carpenter, R. J.
Carpenter, S.
Carpenter, Sarah Heirs
Dean, O. O.
Eames, J.
Frank, A.
Gates, E. L.
Green, Mrs. S.
Green, S. J.
Hosier, I
Knapp, J.
Hamilton, T.
Harrington, Wm.
Pier, A. C.
Powers, D.
Powers, Mrs. M.
Powers, Polly
Scofield, A.
Scofield, S. & H.
Scofield, Sophia
Smith, M.
Sweet, E.
Sweet, J.
Sweet, Julia
Truesdell, Wm.

 BLOCKVILLE
Historical Leaflet No. 7 

BLOCKVILLE 
Information about Blockville is taken from The History of the Town of Harmony by George C. Fowler and Irene B. Nagel published in 1976.

The Early Development of Blockville  
Any story of the early history of Blockville is closely connected with the Carpenter family. The Holland Land Company records show that the earliest settlements in the present Town of Harmony were in the vicinity of what later became known as Blockville. The earliest purchaser of land was Josiah Carpenter of Pottstown, Rensselaer County, New York. He traveled to the Holland Land Company's land office at Batavia, NY in the summer of 1808 and purchased a track of about 1,000 acres of land in Township One, Range 12 on lots 55, 56 and 57. This land was all in the vicinity of Blockville. He did not come to Chautauqua County at that time to see the land he had purchased, but returned to his home in Rensselaer County. 

In 1809, his son James Carpenter, and his wife came to the land his father had purchased and built a log cabin on the bank of Goose Creek. This was on lot 56. James Carpenter moved to the state of Texas about 1836 and was killed in the massacre at the Alamo. 

In 1811, Josiah Carpenter with his sons Daniel B. Carpenter, Isaac Carpenter, Josiah Carpenter Jr., and Timothy Carpenter came to the land. Josiah settled on lot number 64 and built a log cabin. His sons also selected their future homes on their father's land. Josiah Carpenter also had seven daughters: 
Phoebe — married Gilbert Ward
Hannah — married Israel Carpenter
Mary — never married
Jemima — married Orange Phelps 
Betsy — married Oliver Pier
Sally — married Samuel Green
Jane — married Henry Hosier 

Israel Carpenter, a cousin of the family, Oliver Pier and Samuel Green came in 1811 with Josiah Carpenter. A little later Orange Phelps and Henry Hosier came and then Gilbert Ward arrived. Silas Carpenter, Elihu Carpenter and Isaac Carpenter who were cousins of the Josiah Carpenter family also arrived. 

The Blockville Post Office was established on April 1, 1847 and was discontinued on September 13, 1902. Its name was changed to Janesville on February 8, 1849. The name was changed back to Blockville on August 16, 1849. 

Israel Carpenter was a very public spirited man and did much for the early development of Blockville. He was much younger than Josiah when they arrived in Chautauqua County in 1811; Josiah was 55 years old and Israel was only 26. He was a very energetic young man and was the leader in starting the village. That same year (1811), Israel bought a large tract of land at what became the village of Blockville and made plans for its development. In 1828, he set aside a plot of land for a burying ground, now the Pioneer Cemetery. In 1830 he deeded a plot of land on the southwest corner of the four corners for a school on which was built the block school house. It is thought that Blockville was named from this block shaped school house. In 1850, he deeded land for a site for the Methodist Church and also a site for a new school house just north of Goose Creek, on the west side of the road. In about 1820, he, with two partners, built the first saw and grist mill at Blockville. 

Israel apparently liked the name Harmony. It is thought by the Carpenter family and others, that he suggested the name "Harmony" for the Town of Harmony. He later named one of his sons Harmony. It is said he wished to have the post office at Blockville named Harmony, however Ashville had already selected that name for their post office. 

Early Telephone System  
The first local telephone system in the Town of Harmony was built at Blockville around 1898 by Mr. George D. Sweet with the help of Alva Wescott. The New York Telephone Co. (Bell System) some time before this had built a toll line from Jamestown to Panama with pay telephones at Lakewood, Ashville, Panama, Boomertown and Blockville. Anyone in the vicinity had to use the pay telephones to make phone calls. The telephone instrument at Blockville was damaged by lightning and the telephone company refused to replace it unless the residents would guarantee the company $60.00 per year in tolls. Mr. Sweet thought they should have a telephone system of their own in Blockville. He conferred with the other residents of the area and they were interested. 

Mr. Sweet, with the assistance of Mr. Wescott and others, installed wires in the village and had to make his own phone equipment. The Bell Company held the patents on telephone instruments and in the early days would not sell them to independent companies. Mr. Sweet also built a switchboard to connect with the Bell line to make long distance calls. 

It was decided that the neighbors south of Blockville on the Watts Flats road should have a line run along the road so they could telephone without having to come to Blockville. A line was built down the road, at first using the barbed wire fence along the road as a wire so that only a few poles had to be set. Where there was no fence, the wires were connected and made a line over which people could talk and be connected through the switchboard Mr. Sweet had made with the telephones in the village and also with long distance. They insulated the fence wire by pulling the staple and wrapping the wire with a piece of rubber cut from a rubber boot and then stapling the wire back to the fence post again. This was the first telephone system in the Town of Harmony and the beginning of what later became the "Ashville and Panama Telephone and Telegraph Co." 

Fatal Airplane Crash 
In more recent history, Blockville was the site of a fatal airplane crash on July 15, 1944. Mr. Floyd Darrow reminisced about the accident in History of the Town of North Harmony: Lt. Levine S. Nelson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar G. Nelson and husband of Mrs. Marian Nelson of Chautauqua, was piloting a four motored Army bomber over his home village. He had written in advance of his coming and his family was on the alert to see him pass. But, apparently flying too low, the plane chopped off the tops of trees just back of his own home, turned on one side, struck a number of electric wires and plunged into a 50 foot deep gully about a half mile beyond, just over the town line in North Harmony. With the crash was a terrific explosion and the plane went up in flames. There were ten men in the crew, six died, including Lt. Nelson. The plane had come to rest on the farm of B. J. Carpenter. Wreckage from the plane scattered over a wide area. On July 15, 2012, a memorial plaque located in front of the Matson House was dedicated in a ceremony attended by over one hundred people. The keynote speaker, Mr. Paul Densmore, donated the bronze plaque. Marion Nelson Barmore, widow of Lt. Nelson also attended. The Civil Air Patrol, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans,the Panama Fire Department and Pastor Grace Warren of the Blockville United Methodist Church also participated in the ceremony hosted by the Harmony Historical Society. 

For more information, contact the
Harmony Historical Society:
1934 Open Meadows Road Ashville, New York 14710
Phone:(716) 782-3074
Website: harmonyhistoricalsociety.org