source: Progressive Batavian December 29-1876 # 3 Oakfield. - District No. 8, was greeted Saturday evening with a Christmas tree, the first in the history of the district. The school house was filled at an early hour and the tree was well loaded with presents. After singing by the School under the directions of their efficient teacher, Mrs. Alice Hundredmark, Mr. A.H. Brown being called upon made a short address, reviewing the history of the district for the past fifty years. After this the presents were taken from the tree, all the scholars receiving a present. The whole being a pleasant affair, doing great credit to the teacher. The G.T. entertainment at Cary Saturday evening was well attended and all were well pleased, the actors acquitting themselves creditably. The Fall term of Miss Whitman's school closed on Friday with singing, recitations, etc. This School under the direction of Miss Whitman assisted by Miss S.A. Moulton, ranks with any of the kind in the country. * Darien.-The Church and friends of B.W. Cliff, of this city, gave him a donation visit on Thursday of last week, which profited him $150 worth. We are sorry to learn that Dr. Marsh is dangerously ill, and that little, if any, hopes are entertained of his recovery. Mr. Thomas Grant is quite severely ill. John B. Finch lectured on temperance in the Hall at North Darien, on Tuesday evening of last week. The Hall was well filled and the lecture was one of intense interest. At the close of the lecture a Lodge was Installed ... * South Batavia.-Our ice-men are storing a large amount of very fine "congealed fluidity." The old weather prognosticators predict, because of the serenity of the front end of winter, a mild last half. So mote it be. Mrs. H. Putnam is seriously ill. Mrs. Wm. H. Ware and hired girl are just recovering from diptheria. Emma, a little four year old daughter of Mr. Benton, of this place, died on the 22d inst. of dropsy. Mrs. D.R. West, of Carlton, Orleans Co., is visiting friends in this vicinity. Wm. H. Ware is getting hoggish-that is, he is now growing and fatting 100 hogs. G. Ranger. * Bergen.-Last Sunday morning, Pastor Woods, of the M.E. Church, preached a rousing temperance Sermon. He urged upon his hearers their duty as Christians to become out-and-out temperance men. In the evening the Rev. L.D. Ferguson delivered a lecture on the "relation of the Fine Arts to Christianity." Christmas was a quite day in the village. Mass was celebrated in the Catholic Church in the morning and in the evening there was a Christmas tree at the Baptist Church. Last Saturday evening James Brennan was knocked down and run over by George Knickerbocker's team. He was severely bruised, but no bones were broken. No blame is attached to George. The horses were frightened by some boys who jumped on the sleigh. A disturbance took place in the street near Bartlett's saloon last Saturday night, in which James O'Neil was knocked down. The blow cut a gash in this head about two inches in length. Last Monday night, in the Saloon, Bill Miller set upon and beat Dave Brown. The bar-tender came to the rescue and ejected Bill, who fled to his house and locked himself in. This Saloon is fast acquiring an unsavory reputation. The annual election of officers of the Congregational Sunday School took place last Sunday, with the following result: Superintendent, D.J. McPherson; Assistant, Rev. C.S. Stowits; Secretary, E.P. Green; Treasurer, S.K. Green; Librarian, Bert Hall; Chorister, E.P. Green; Assistant, C.N. Munger; Organist, Effa Elmore; Assistant, Hattie S. Ward. The music committee have selected "Brightest and Best" for a singing book, and it will be used for the first time next Sunday. A regular meeting of Wardville Lodge No. 198, I.O.O.F., held at Bergen, Dec. 19th, 1876, the following preamble and resolution on the death of our late brother Isaac Gifford, were unanimously adopted: Whereas, Our beloved Brother departed this life December 14th, 1876, therefore be it Resolved, That we therein recognize the "All-seeing Eye" as the emblem of authority both in life and in death; and while we bow in submission to the unerring hand of Providence, we also sympathize deeply with the widow of the deceased, and extend to her the feloship by which we are bound together as Odd Fellows. Henry S. Andrews, N.G. Wm. H. Lynch, Rec.. Secy. * Neighboring Counties. Wayne county horses are having the epizoot. Hornellsville has a free public reading room. Corning boasts of a library of 3,000 volumes. Wayne county hogs are dying of black tooth. Wyoming county is moving for a soldiers' monument. It cost $6,345.76 to run the village of Geneseo the past year. A car load of cotton was burned near Warsaw station a few nights since. H.J. Faulkner and H.A. Townsend, of Dansville, are wintering in Florida. The attendance at the public schools in Rochester is 9,703 against 8,758 last year. The attendance of scholars at the Seminary in Lima is larger than it ahs been for years. It is rumored that S.E. Filkins has been appointed Post Master at Median--giving Gates a jar. Within the past two weeks the carcasses of about one hundred deer have been shipped east from Olean. The amount of taxes levied upon the town of Avon for the present year is $13,970. Last year it was $15,205. An Orleans co. man has a turkey weighing forty-two pounds, which he intends to send to Governor Tilden. The ladies of Dansville, Livington county, have a benevolent society which does much good by looking after the destitute poor. Daniel Shaw, of Perry Centre, died of apoplexy on the 19th inst. He was about 70 years of age and one of the oldest settlers. Edward Webster, of Holley, sold an ox in Brockport last week that was between four and five years old and weighed 2,195 pounds. A census was recently taken in Buffalo by the police. It showed a population of 143,484--an increase of 9,021 over the census of 1875. Last week Thursday, a Buffalo lady sent Poormaster Level an order for 334 loaves of fresh bread for distribution among the deserving poor. Geo. Barcley was arrested at Bristol, Ontario Co., one day last week, on charge of having embezzled $28,000 from a western railway company. Five convictions have recently been made in Monroe county for the violation of the game law-$50 fine and cost shaving to be paid in each instance. Miss Mary Allen, daughter of S.P. Allen, of the Geneseo 'Republican,' and a very accomplished and attractive young lady, died suddenly on the 22d inst. An exchange says that small children are being picked up all over the country and returned to Buffalo, whence they were blown away by the recent terrific gale. The Baptist Church, of Wyoming, which was lately burnt to the ground, is to be rebuilt at once, and arrangements are being made now with that object in view. The oil fever is again raging in Yorkshire. Large tracts of land have been leased by oil operators and speculators, and test wells will be started again in various places. The Orleans county poorhouse has about 70 inmates, a large majority of whom are males. During the past season new barns and sheds have been constructed, at an expense of about $2,600. A Rochester man resisted the payment of a bill of $132 for laying a sidewalk. The various trials cost him about $500, and a few days since the premises were sold by the Sheriff to pay the expenses. Frank McGraw, the brakeman on the New York Central, who was sent to flag the train causing the accident at Looneyville, Erie Co., whereby Benjamin Woodworth lost his life, has been arrested, charged with manslaughter, the coroner's jury rendering a verdict charging negligence. At Niagara Falls, a "mum social" is advertised. A "mum social" is characterized as a social gathering at which all present are prohibited, under penalty of a stipulated fine, from speaking or whispering, until a certain time during the evening. It is quite obvious that such a restriction must inevitably work a most amusing state of affairs. submitted by Linda Web-Page Editor: BETHANY ~ Its Past and Present ~ "The Poor House and the People," ~The Lives of Those Who Lived at the Genesee County Almshouse in Bethany During the Nineteenth Century~ http://www.arkwebshost.com/family/bluebird/TownOfBethany.shtml