Charles WEb / ainsworth House

The house, circa 1820, is illustrated on the 1859 hanging map of Ontario County and was more recently one of the homes illustrated in "The Victorian Era of the United States", written and published by Carl F. Schmidt in 1971.

Line of ownership: 1820-1846- Charles Webb, native of Connecticut  was the original homeowner.  1843-1893- Ainsworth bought the farm in 1843. By 1846 he had a flourishing nursery business with many greenhouses and orchards along Route 65. He continued the cultivation of fruit and ornamental trees until his retirement in 1871. Mr. Ainsworth also constructed artificial ponds on Route 65 and in 1860 he began to raise artificially hatched trout.

1893-1907- Susannah P. Ainsworth, Stephen's second wife.  190, - Annie Deacon Ayers, niece of Susannah and a native of Canada, inherited the home and along with husband William Parson Ayers took up residency. Their only child, Lester A. Ayers was born in 1895.  Following Annie Ayers death, William married a widow, Elizabeth H. Hamm who had two children, Margurite and Joseph.  1942-1953- William Parson Ayers. He died in 1942 and willed the home to his son Lester A. Ayers with the stipulation that Elizabeth Ayers be granted lifetime use of the property.  1963-1964-Betty Pottle Thomas, born 1899 in Maine. Lived here till her death in 1964.