History of Seward

The founding of the town is speculated about 1754, by the Haines. Seward’s land came from parts of Sharon, and was officially formed on February 11, 1840. Mainly, the town gained it’s political boundaries because of political parties and sentiment. The town’s approval came in 1840, with considerable debate about it’s name. One name proposed was “Seward”, in honor of the then current governor, and the other name that was proposed honored Texas. Seward, obviously, won in the end.

On July 4, 1780, Adam Crysler and seven Indians came to Seward and captured the Hynd family, who were taken to Niagara. On October 18, 1780, eighteen Indians and three Tories, led by Philip Crysler and Seths Henry, invaded Seward and killed several Merckleys, one of which was Catharine Merckley. Seth Henry said that he would not have killed Catharine if he had known that she was pretty. As the Indians and Tories moved on, they came across the France family, which was spared thanks to Philip Crysler. The party proceeded to capture slaves owned by the Haines’, then burned down the building owned by the Merckleys. A boy named “Fox” was also kill, although it struck me that the book said “murdered”. The survivors were brought to Canada. Many patriots accused the Hynds of faking being prisoners.

A church stood near where the Merckley massacre occurred. As such they were in grave danger, and with no way of escape, the congregation just prayed. The Indians never went to the church. God has his days, I suppose.

When the Indians finally retreated, they killed the neutral Hoffmans. On the hundredth anniversary of the massacre, descendants of those killed addressed a crowd of more than four thousand. During the commemoration, Revolutionary relics were shown. Also, in September, 1782, three Ottman children were captured and brought to Niagra.

There was a supposed gold and diamond mine in Seward, which was supposedly found by farmers. It turned out to be untrue. Adam Strobeck, a wounded patriot, kept a tavern in Seward. On one occasion, Strobeck threw a Tory named Monk into a fireplace, nearly killing him.

Little hamlets are scattered around Seward, like Hyndsville and Gardnersville, which were nearly killed off by railroads. The first gristmill in the town was built in 1765 by Henry Haines, who, as previously mentioned, was one of the first settlers of Seward. There were three churches in Seward, the Baptist Church of Seward Valley, the Seward Centre Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Gardnersville Lutheran Church.

You must raise an eyebrow at Philip Crysler, who came back to the valley to kill and plunder, and yet he spared the France family. I guess people can’t be all bad...