TOWN OF STAFFORD. Stafford is located east of the centre of Genesee county. It is bounded on the north by Elba and Byron, on the east by Byron, Le Roy and Pavilion, on the south by Pavilion and Bethany, and on the west by Bethany and Batavia. The surface of the town is gently undulating. The soil is very productive. Limestone underlies portions of the town, and this stone is much sought for building purposes. Black creek flows northward through the central portion; Bigelow creek flows through the northwest part into Byron. Four railroads pass through the town. The main line of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad runs northeasterly and southwesterly through the northeast corner. The Erie, the Lehigh Valley and the Canandaigua branch of the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad pass east and west through the central portion of the town. Stafford doubtless was the first town on the Holland Purchase to be. come permanently settled. James Brisbane, the earliest merchant on the Holland Purchase, came to the town in 1798, and opened a storehouse west of the creek in the present village of Stafford. This he called the Transit storehouse. Le Roy was settled prior to Stafford, but this earlier settlement was not on the Holland Purchase. Frederick Walther located there in 1800 and opened a tavern, in accordance with an agreement entered into with Joseph Ellicott, on behalf of the Holland Land Company. The name Transit was continued until 1841, when it was changed to Stafford. Col. William Rumsey, who came from Hubbardton, Vt., settled in 1802 on the Stafford Hill, the highest point of land in the town. He was a surveyor employed by Mr. Ellicott, a colonel of militia, and a representative of this county in the Legislature. Nathan Marvin came in 1803, Gen. Worthy Lovell Churchill in 1803 and John Debow in 1804. The first school was opened in 1806 by Esther Sprout. Jonathan Bemis, who conducted a tavern as early as 1804, was the first independent landlord, Walther being under the patronage of the Holland Land Company. The first church doubtless was the Christian church established in 1816 by the Rev. Joseph Badger. In 1810 Malachai Tyler had a wood-turning shop east of Beech creek. Three separate tracts are represented in the composition of this town. The first in order of settlement is the HoUand Purchase, forming the western part. Next comes the Craigie tract, in the southeast portion; then the Puitney lands of the Connecticut tract, in the northern and eastern parts of the town. The town was organized March 24, 1820, from parts of Le Roy and Batavia. The existing official records are incomplete. The supervisors since 1831 have been as follows: 1831-1836, Ebenezer Rich, jr.; 1837, Harvey Sweetlaud; 1838-1839, Ebenezer Rich; 1840-1841, Charles English; 1842-1843, Harvey Sweetland; 1844-1845, Charles English; 1846-1818, Stephen Griswold; 1849-1851, John Lathrop; 1852, Samuel March; 1853-1855, Washington T. S. Tyler; 1856-1858, Leander Douglass; 1859- 1862, Perry Randall; 1863-1865. Israel M. Peck; 1866-1868, Cyrus Prentice; 1869, Alexander H. Ruinsey; 1870-1871, Joseph F. Stutterd; 1872-1874. Warren J. Tyler; 1875-1877, John Sanders; 1878-1880, Joseph Vallett; 1881-1882, Joseph F. Stutterd; 1883. Jay Lathrop; 1884-1886, Edgar C. Rugg; 1887, Joseph F. Stutterd; 1888-1889, Jay Lathrop; 1890-1891, Russell Bissell; 1892-1893, John Simmons; 1894-1895, Archie D. Sanders; 1896-1898, John W. Mullen. There is no book of record dating prior to 1865 in the town clerk's office. Since that time the town clerks have been: 1865, Charles W. March; 1866, Henry P. Sanders; 1867, Charles W. March; 1868- 1869, George Crocker; 1870-1873, Frank L. Stone; 1874-1886, Edwin B. Sanders; 1887-1893, Edward W. Pamphilon; 1891-1898, Robert Seldon. The following have been elected justices of the peace since 1865: 1865, William Barrett, L t., Charles D. Sweetland, s. t.; 1866, Albert E. Sweetland; 1867, Joseph Remington; 1868, Oren DeWolf; 1869, Wm. Barnett; 1870, A. B. Sweetland; 1871, Joseph Remington; 1872, Oren DeWoif, L t., Israel M. Peck, s. t.; 1873, Wm. Barnett; 1874, Israel M. Peck; 1875, Joseph Remington; 1876, Oren DeWolf; 1877, Wm. Barnett, L t., Oren DeWoif, s; t.; 1878, I. M. Peck, 1. t., Charles W. Talmadge, s. t.; 1879, Joseph Remington; 1880, Oren DeWoif, Columbus Buell; 1881, Edward Y. Rugg; 1882, I. M. Peck; 1883. Joseph Remington; 1884, Oren DeWoif; 1885, Cyrus P. Bell; 1886, I. M. Peck; 1887, Joseph Remington; 1888, Oren DeWolf; 1889, Oren DeWolf; 1890, I. M. Peck, Joseph F. Stutterd; 1891, Anthony Waterman; 1892, John W. Mullin; 1893. John W. Mayne, I t., George M. Randall, s. t.; 1894, L. M. Peck, 1. t., George M. Randall, s. t.; 1895, Leonard Travis; 1896, G. M. Randall; 1897, J. W. Mayne; 1898, I. M. Peck. Stafford, located about a mile south of the center of the town on the Canandaigua branch of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, is the principal village. It contains two churches-Methodist Episcopal and Protestant Episcopal, a school, a store, a hotel, a fruit evaporator started in 1898, a grain warehouse, and a blacksmith shop. Its population is about two hundred and fifty. Morganville, which received its name from William Morgan of Masonic notoriety, lies about a mile and a half north of Stafford on Black creek. The Lehigh Valley Railroad passes through this hamlet. There is a valuable water power in the creek at this point. It has a church- Christian-built 1833, a school, a hotel, a grist mill, a wagon shop, a harness shop, and store. Roanoke is a hamlet in the southeastern part of the town. The Oatka creek, flowing through the southern part of the place, furnishes ample water power. Here are situated a roller mill, cooper shop, blacksmith shop, store, and one church-Methodist Episcopal.