Thomas Fenton of Ellicottville, NY: Son of an Irishman
Despite
the burning of the Fenton House (see post here) in 1895, Thomas Fenton
continued on in the hotel business. The 1900 Federal census shows Thomas Fenton
and his wife on Washington Street in Ellicottville (Cattaraugus County, New
York). (Note that all census information cited herein were accessed through Familysearch.org). Thomas was listed as a hotel keeper. His brother Timothy was in the same
household with the occupation of hotel bartender. Four servants and four
boarders are also listed, including Ashley Ditcher. The photograph below from the Ellicottville Historical Society dates the Hotel Fenton to 1898. The Ellicottville Post Newspaper dated August 15, 1900 mentions that "Landlord Thomas Fenton of Ellicottville has completed extensive changes and improvements in his hotel and has changed the name from Hotel Crawford to Hotel Fenton." This brick
structure was known successively later as the Hotel McKenzie, Hotel Ellicott, the
Lincoln Hotel, the Ellicottville Inn and in the year 2010 operated under Ellicottville
Inn Condominiums at 8-10 Washington Street.
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| Lizzie Fenton |
In the
years prior to the Fenton Hotel and the burning of the Fenton House in 1895,
Thomas was affiliated with another hotel: In the 1880 Federal census, Thomas
Fenton was listed in the household of Frank Crawford who was a hotel proprietor
as well. Mr. Crawford ran the Crawford House which stood on the site of the later
Hotel Fenton. The Crawford House burned in 1890 and replaced with the brick
structure (noted in the first photograph above).
Thomas was listed as one of the sons of Susan Fenton in the 1875
New York State Census as well as in Susan’s household during the Federal Census
of 1870 in Ellicottville. Also listed in both census records were siblings Elizabeth,
William, Francis (Patrick F. in 1870) and Timothy. Thomas’ birthplace was given
as Cattaraugus. His mother’s birthplace was given as Ireland. The family is not
readily found in the Cattaraugus County area in 1860 or 1865 [edit: it appears the family was indexed as "Kenton" in the town of Otto during the 1860 census.] Although most records
indicate Thomas was born in the year 1856, it appears that the two-month-old
infant Thomas listed in the household of William (born in Ireland) and Susan
Fenton in the town of Otto during the 1855 state census was one and the same. (It appears the family was in the town of
Dayton, Cattaraugus County, NY in 1850). Thomas had older siblings Margaret,
Daniel, John, Michael, Eliza and William. His brother Daniel was 13 and born in
Ireland according to this census which also showed his brothers John and
Michael, ages 12 and 9 respectively, born in Canada. A listing of burials in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Ellicottville provided by the Painted Hills Genealogy
Society indicate that William (died 1860) and
Susan were both buried there along with Thomas Fenton, his wife, his son
Raymond and a few others of that family.
A
website of information on civil war soldiers in the town of Otto in Cattaraugus
County
provides data on Daniel Fenton and John Fenton. According to this website,
Daniel was born 12 September 1841 in Ireland and John was born in Canada 20
March 1843. Although on that website their parentage is given as "Michael and
Catherine Keef," the other evidence suggests that these are actually two of
William and Susan’s sons.
Thomas
died in August of 1928. His obituary, published in the Ellicottville Post on
Wednesday, August 15, 1928, stated he had died on Friday and that he was
born in the town of Otto (further evidence that he was probably the son of William who
lived in Otto in 1855). Thomas' obituary also confirmed that he “For many years was
proprietor of the Whitney House here which later burned.” It went on to say
that he “then assumed proprietorship of the Crawford House which is now the Hotel
Ellicott [1928] and conducted this hostelry for many years.” His obituary noted
that after leaving Ellicottville, Thomas “assumed charge of the hotel in Great
Valley where he remained until he retired several years ago…” In addition, it was noted in 1904 and ’05 Thomas
Fenton was president of the village of Ellicottville and later was street
commissioner (he at one time ran for office of town superintendent of highways
but was defeated). He was survived by his wife, named as Catherine Jordan Fenton,
his son Raymond, a sister Elizabeth Fenton and a brother Timothy of the village. The obituary for Thomas Fenton's wife was published in the Ellicottville Post on Wednesday, December 31, 1947
and listed several nieces and nephews surviving her including Mrs. D.C. Flint. A
marriage record listed at familysearch.org indicates that Devere C. Flint, son
of Irving Flint and Ellen Congdon, married Myrtle Fenton, daughter of William
Fenton and – Reynolds in Cattaraugus County in 1911.(See my post here for information about Devere Flint and his sister Ada.)
Thomas and Catherine’s son Ray, who was carried out
in his nightclothes on the morning of the 1895 fire, was born Thomas Raymond
Fenton on January 8, 1885, according to his WWI draft registration card. At the time of registration in September of 1918, Ray was a
telegraph operator for the B. R. & P. Railroad on Mill Street in Ellicottville. His wife
Carrie L. Fenton of Elizabeth Street in Ellicottville was listed as his nearest
relative. He died in 1944 and his obituary stated that for the last twenty
years he had been the railroad station agent at Great Valley. His only named
survivor was his mother. In 1920, Ray and his wife Carrie lived with her
parents, John and Mary Ludwick, on Mechanic Street in Ellicottville. Ray was
living alone with his mother in Great Valley in 1930.
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| The Great Valley Station (courtesy of Ellicottville Historical Society) |
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