I have a souvenir from Portville School District No. 3. The cover says Souvenir School District No. 3 Portville, Cattaraugus Co., New York 1896-1897. Presented by IDA KIBBE, teacher. GEORGE REYNOLDS, Director, FRANK CHAPIN ,Commissioner . Inside is a list of pupils: ALICE OAKLEY, (my grandmother) ALLAN BENHAM, CLARA RICE, CLAYTON BENHAM, EUGENE HARINON, GRACE KAYES, HARLEY DAKE, JOANNA FORD, LOTTIE REYNOLDS, MABEL HOSLEY, NELLIE BENHAM, ALTON HARMON,BERTHA RICE, CLARA REYNOLDS, DENNIS KAYES, FANNY ADAMS, HARRY DAKE, HARRY REYNOLDS, JAMES BURTON, MARY KAYES, MARGARET JOBE, AGNES KAYES, ALBERT REYNOLDS, CRYSTAL COLE, CHARLES MITCHEL, FRANK MANNING, HENRY LOCKWOOD, HARLOW BURTON, JAMES KAYES, LESLIE SCOTT, MANLEY ADAMS, PEARL COLE.

My grandmother was 17 years old at this time.

I have no close relatives in Portville now but that is where the family settled in 1850. There were quite a few of the clan up the Ubdam road area on various size farms. I was born in Olean but we moved to Greensburg, Pa. in 1927 so I only know Portville from visits to my grandmother's in the summertime. There are many family members buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, many more than the Enchanted list contains.

There are still many around the Portville area but not our immediate branch. The last of my relatives to go was Carl and his family (my uncle). He had an insurance business for many years and was town clerk. Jane Miller , who is Portville historian worked for Carl for many years. I could write all night about my happy memories of Portville

I don't have anything that would be of interest to the Portville writeup but some remembrances from quite a while ago. When I was about 13 or14 fishing was one of my main interests. My uncle used to drive me up the road between Portville and Ceres and I would go down and spend the day fishing on the Oswayo creek. He would come in late afternoon and blow his horn and we would go back to my grandmother's house on Temple street. We also fished the river as it flowed behind Parish's hardware store. Once I gathered a whole bushel of fresh water mussels and took them home and my mother made me throw them away. She didn't know what she was missing.

Portville was very level and the girl next door would lend me her bicycle and I would keep it all day. By the way, that girl was Rachel Hayes whose father was Clark Hayes who was the brother of Gabby Hayes, the character actor sidekick of many cowboy heros. He would visit once in a while and he was just a regular type of person. I never knew him personally but my sister once lent him her suitcase so he could take a trip

I guess I better quit as it must be boring to read so much, but Portville does bring back many fond memories. At that time I fished so much when I closed my eyes at night I would see a bobber jumping up and down in the water.

I wouldn't want my name used. I'm sure the one you should talk to is Jane Miller in Portville. She has been historian for many years.

My great grandmother Lillian Mae Willard married Frederic W. (Walter) Davis . She was born in New York. I believe Olean. He was born in England. On our Painted Hill site, I found the Mount View Cemetery. It list Fred W. Davis born 1870 and died 1920. I believe this to be my great grandfather from the census information that I have found. I also believe his parents to be the James W. and Harriet S. Davis that are listed in this same cemetery. I have not been able to find any information on where my great grandmother is buried. I also haven't found her as a child on the census records to confirm who her parents are.

Someone that I met online sent me a lot of information on the Willard side of the family. If I can find out who my great grandmother Lillian (Lillie) Mae Willard 's parents are, it will determine if this lady's Willard's are my same family. In her records there is a Lillie M married to a Fred W. Davis. It lists Charles O. Willard as her father and he was married three times, so I don't have any idea what my great grandmother's mothers name is either. The three spouses listed for Charles O. Willard are Sarah E. Daniels, Ida Close and Emma Holsom. It also says that Charles O. Willard resided in Caneadea, NY. It says he was born in Sandstone, Michigan.

My great grandparents, Ernst Johann August Schwedt (B. 2-26-1870 Dummerhutte, Germany) and Katherine (Kate) Fromm (B 11-10-1873 Marilla, NY) are both buried in Portville Cemetery. Ernest died 2-12-1933 in Cowlesville, NY and Katherine died 11-20-1936. Also Ernest's mother (my great great grandmother) Hanna (Henrietta) Friederike Marie Caroline Walter (Schwedt) (B. 4-7-1841 Lieblingshof, Germany) is buried in Portville Cemetery. Hanna died 6-8-1916 and was buried 6-11-1916

Schwedt is a very unusal surname. As I said previously, biological relatives that I have never met sent me this information. I would love to exchange information with anyone that has connections with this family. These are relatives from the Rice side of my family from the Buffalo and Holland, NY area.