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The Benton Barn
by Stephanie Olsen, Benton Town Historian
and
Tricia Noel, Director/Curator, Yates County History Center
The Benton United Methodist Church formally closed during its final service on Sunday, December 29, 2024. Its dissolution as a congregation was a gradual process, made after much reflection by its few remaining members. Its closing stands in sharp contrast to its beginning, according to historical sources: the group of like-minded men and women in the early 1790’s who are said to have first met in a barn to worship, grew relatively quickly to form a church community.
What interests us at this point is
not the theological discussions that took place, also a worthy topic of interest, but where exactly in Benton the barn stood.
Throughout its history, people have believed that the barn is the wooden structure east of Benton Center, across from the Benton Rural Cemetery, on the farm that was known as the McAlpine farm at one time, and as the Glenn Andersen farm more recently. But the records we have today have some puzzling elements, and early this year we decided to do some background work in the records and to do a first-hand inspection of the structure in question.
First, a quick look at what we do know about the Benton barn: In 1793, when the structure was reputedly used as the first meeting-place for the growing Methodist flock, Benton wasn’t even Benton, though there were several people living there whose last name was Benton. Yates County didn’t exist, either; what became Benton was part of Ontario County.
Caleb Benton was one of the lessees of the original Phelps and Gorham purchase, and resided around what is now Geneva, as well as owning land along the Kashong Creek in what is now Bellona. His cousin Levi Benton was the first non-native settler in what became Benton, and it was he for whom the township was named, being deemed, according to Stafford Cleveland, “a justly popular and prominent citizen.”
According to a document written by Benton Town Historian Frederick Powers in 1985, Levi Benton built a rough log cabin, and then his barn and only then did he build a proper home for his family.
Mary Gardner, in the History of the Benton United Methodist Church from 1793, relates that “Levi Benton…had a barn he had built in the field adjacent to what is now Benton Cemetery. He was approached for permission to hold services in this barn. Consent was given and services were held with Ezra Cole preaching.” Source: New York Heritage Digital Collection
The words “adjacent to” are puzzling. The barn in question is across the road from the cemetery, but can that be called “adjacent”? Another issue is that none of the maps that show the lot numbers in the Town of Benton show Levi Benton as the owner of Lot number 35, which is definitely the location of the barn in question. Instead, Levi is noted as the owner of Lot 37 (on the south side of what is now Havens Corners Road}and both sides of the north end of where Flat Street meets the Havens Corners Road. He also owned Lot 13 toward the east of Havens Corners Road. With those questions in mind, on a crisp December day in 2024, we paid a visit to the barn. Here is Tricia’s report on what we found:
The barn is three stories, with a hayloft, a main floor, and a full basement dug into a slope. The shadow of an opening where hay used to be tossed from the hayloft is still visible over the western door. The barn is much larger than it looks from the road, with an additional ell that reaches out from the back of the original section of the building. The weathered boards on the exterior hide massive, hand-hewn beams that hold up the structure. Very wide floorboards were cut from old-growth trees, the size of which are almost impossible to locate now. Rose-headed nails crafted by blacksmiths and wooden pegs hold the barn together. Decorative trim edges the roofline. Large stones, probably dug out of the surrounding fields, form the walls of the barn’s basement.
While it is impossible to know for certain if the barn is the same one used for Methodist services starting in 1793, it is likely old enough, although some parts were added later. It is not, however, the barn that was built by Caleb Benton, which was claimed to be the first barn built west of Seneca Lake. That one would have been on his property in the hamlet of Bellona, and probably built in 1791.
And if the barn is THE Benton Barn, what about the word “adjacent” as applied to the barn’s and cemetery’s location? It could be that what we know as Havens Corners Road could have, in the late 1780’s, been little more than a path, at best a lane. “Adjacent” could have been used to denote that the barn and cemetery were close together.
But the more important concern was the lack of any proof that Levi Benton ever owned the property that the barn is standing on. As mentioned above, none of the maps we could find had his name on Lot 35 – but lo and behold, through the valiant efforts of Emily Page, Yates County Records Management Coordinator, these records were found: Grantor to Grantee:
Benton, Levi // Smith, Joseph – Book 2, page 601: NORTH HALF of lot 35 (2/5/1814)
Benton, Levi // Teall, Nathan – Book 3, page 512: PART of lot 35, part of lot 37 (6/12/1817)
Benton, Levi // Mailer, George – Book 3, page 526: SOUTH EAST corner of lot 35 (6/10/1817)
These records prove that Levi Benton did own lot 35 – otherwise he would not have been able to sell the lot - and he did so while dividing it into three parcels.
There is no 100% guarantee that the beautiful barn overlooking the valley is THE Benton barn. However, the recently acquired records AND Tricia’s findings when she inspected the barn make it more likely that what residents of Benton (and especially the members of the Benton Methodist Church) have always believed about the start of their congregation is very likely true!
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