Wayne County History
You Are Here:
Early arrivals were Revolutionary War veterans
Wayne County, named in honor of General Anthony Wayne, was established on April 11, 1823 from parts of Seneca and Ontario counties.
The earliest inhabitants of the land now called Wayne County were members of the Algonkian Indian group. Artifacts found throughout the county, and especially in the town of Savannah, indicate that Indians at one time did have permanent or seasonal camps in the area. In fact as far back as 10,000 years ago, hunters following the retreating glacier moved into the area to hunt such animals as mastodon and moose elk. Once agriculture was introduced into the societies, permanent settlement moved to the south of Wayne County, into the area around the Finger Lakes. The Native Americans had an appreciation of their natural surroundings which has become part of our heritage in the names which they used: for example, Sodus, a shortened form of the Cayuga word meaning “silvery waters” and Ontario, meaning “pleasant lake.”
An artifact, found on Sodus bay at Charles Point in 1929, adds to the mystery of Wayne County before the settlement by our pioneers. The relic was identified as a Norse spearhead by the curator of the Royal Ontario Museum, who was well-versed in Norse culture. There is no written record of a visit by Vikings but the possibility is interesting to historians.
Surprising to some is the presence of one group of early settlers – Southerners from Maryland and Virginia. These Southerners from Maryland and Virginia came to the area at the urging of Charles Williamson, an enterprising land agent for the Pulteney Estates. Williamson extolled the virtues of the “Genesee County” and was able to convince these men to sell their large land holdings and move into the wilderness of Western New York. With them came slavery. The slaves brought to Wayne County in these early days formed the nucleus of a free black community area, initially concentrated in and around Sodus Point and Palmyra.
Many of the early arrivals were veterans of the Revolution who came to take up claims in the Military Tract. Untouched by the ravages of the Revolution, Wayne County was brought into the conflict in the War of 1812. At the time Sodus Point, or Troupsville as it was then called, was considered an important lake port and early in the war the Colonial government stored a considerable amount of military supplies in its warehouses.
When the United States and Spain went to war in 1898, two of Wayne County’s sons would play important roles during the conflict. Admiral William T. Sampson of Palmyra was in command of the North Atlantic Squadron which blockaded Cuba and Puerto Rico during the war. The ships under his command defeated the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Santiago Bay. William H. Brownson, brown in Lyons, was also present at the Battle of Santiago in command of the cruiser Yankee. In recognition for his service he was awarded the Spanish Campaign and Sampson Medals.
Wayne County section of the Erie Canal was completed in 1821 and the entire canal opened in 1825. The villages along the route especially experienced growth in population and economic development. A glass factory in Clyde and a pottery works in Lyons were just two new industries to locate in the county because of the access to the canal. Farmers also benefited from the canal construction as it provided a cheaper and quicker means of getting produce to market then had been available earlier. The 1820’s were exciting and changing times for all of New York State and the residents of the new county of Wayne were in the thick of it.
Traditionally the economy of Wayne County has been based on agriculture. The land – it’s topography and soil – have contributed to making the county a leader in agricultural production. Closely connected with the agriculture of the county are the many food processing plants. The lake exerts a moderating influence on the climate of the region which is reflected in the concentration of orchards in the northern section of the county and will continue to influence the county in the years to come.