The history of farms on
Westwood Road, Alden, New York
This page presents information and stories about farm families who lived on Westwood Road in Alden, New York during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The first parcel of land on Westwood Road in Alden used for farming was acquired in late 1836. Gideon Kendrick purchased 50 acres from the Holland Land Company in lot number 36 for $292 on December 13, 1836. Kendrick worked that farm for twenty years. In 1837 the Holland Company sold no parcels on Westwood Road and in 1838 land speculators were the only buyers. Daniel H. Chandlar, Walter Seymour, and Orlando Allen were among the speculators of Westwood Road land. Farming on Westwood Road began in earnest in the 1840s.
The Town of Alden was established by an act of the New York State legislature in 1823. Alden land north of the Buffalo Creek Indian reservation was surveyed by the Holland Land Company using their second survey system. A normal survey lot would be three-fourths of a mile square and would thereby contain 360 acres of land. The lots could then be sold in parcels to suit purchasers. Of course, variations from the normal number of acres would arise due to streams, lakes, and other boundaries, both natural and artificial. (Henry Perry Smith, History of the city of Buffalo and Erie County, (1884), pp. 77-79)
In the early 1830s a number of New York City firms were interested in the Holland Land Company’s unsold lands, and the Company began to liquidate its business interests in western New York. One of the interested firms was the Farmers Land & Trust Company. In 1835 this firm purchased about 89,000 acres of land from the Holland Company in Niagara, Erie, Orleans and Genesee Counties. Payments were completed in the summer of 1838 and the Holland Company’s interests were closed in these four counties. (Paul D. Evans, The Holland Land Company (1924), pp. 393, 422-423.) Most of the land on Westwood road would be sold by the Farmers Land & Trust Company.
The western part of Alden is level land and in the nineteenth century the soil was very fertile. Lancaster, which is the town directly west, is similarly a level surface with fertile soil. Westwood Road extends from Pavement Road in Lancaster to Sandridge Road in Alden and cuts through the center of the most fertile land in these two towns. Town Line Road, which runs north and south, forms the boundary between Alden and Lancaster.
The stories presented here were written by Michael Nuwer, whose father lived on Westwood road between 1935 and 1955. His grandfather and great grandfather were both Westwood residents and farmers.
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| Lots on Westwood Road. |
| Lot 49 | Lot 43 | Lot 37 | Lot 31 |
| Lot 48 | Lot 42 | Lot 36 | Lot 30 |
| The data here include farms on Westwood Road. Currently data is up to 1880. |
Genealogies
Names of People. Heads of household who operated a farm on the Alden segment of Westwood Road. Spouses may also be included in the list.
Resources
- A collection of Westwood Road land maps
- Henry Perry Smith, "Survey and Settlement," Chapter XI from History of the city of Buffalo and Erie County, (1884)
- Henry Perry Smith, "History of the Town of Alden," Chapter XLII from History of the city of Buffalo and Erie County, (1884)
- Thomas Donohue, St. John the Baptist church, "History of the Catholic Church in Western New York, Diocese of Buffalo" (1904), pp. 266-267.
| John Roll and George Roll | 200 acres | lots 43 and 36 | 1867-1925 |
| Sebastian Gundy and Stephan Kagler | 63 acres | lots 43 | 1846-1874 |
| William Jehle and Theresia Nuwer | 63 acres | lots 43 | 1874-1912 |
| John G. Nuwer and Henry C. Nuwer | 125 acres | lots 36, 42, 49, and 43 | 1878-1960s |
| Joseph Anstett | 200 acres | lots 37 & 36 | 1864-1960s |
| Joseph Girard | 50 acres | lots 36 | 1857-1908 |
| Frank Staebell | 40 acres | lots 36 | 1848-1950s |