The Founding of the Portville Free Library

Schoolteacher Marilla Clark married lumberman William French Wheeler on September 8, 1852 in Peacham, Vermont. She retuned with him to his home in Portville. On March 14, 1857 the Portville Library Association was formed, largely due to the efforts of Mrs. Marilla Wheeler who had discovered that life without a library was difficult!

Mrs. Wheeler called upon members of the community to donate books for the fledgling library. These were housed in various places including private homes, stores and, in 1885, at the Delaware House, a boarding house located at the current site of the Community Bank. The collection eventually found its way to a room in the home of the Wheeler’s coachman, John Phillips. Mr. Phillips was the grandfather of former Portville historian Jane Miller.

The Delaware House, circa 1905

New York State Library records show that the library was officially organized on November 11, 1901. The coachman’s daughter, Miss Gertrude Phillips, became the librarian in 1902. Her sister Jennie took over the job in 1906. Mrs. Wheeler bore the expense for heating and lighting the Maple Avenue home. Mrs. Wheeler passed away on January 21, 1907. Within two years of her passing the library that she nurtured took a major step forward.

In the spring of 1909 local businessman Edgar G. Dusenbury purchased the Smith Parish house and donated it to the village specifically as a home for the library’s books. He paid for extensive renovations to the 1847 building and on March 31, 1910 the present absolute charter was granted by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. He established an endowment fund for the library and also funded the addition of two new rooms in 1915. Mr. Dusenbury’s devotion to our library was also demonstrated by his work as a library trustee from 1910 until his death in 1920.

1909

Although Marilla Wheeler never had the opportunity to be a part of the library after it settled into its new home, her daughter Lilla Wheeler continued the tradition of her mother’s involvement when she became a library trustee in 1906. An exact number of her years of service could not be determined at this time but she was listed as a current trustee in a 1950 book A History of the Portville Free Library. This was just a year before her death at age 96. Over the years the Wheeler, Dusenbury and Parish families maintained their family links to the library in this way. Jane Miller, whose grandparents housed the books early on, was a long-time volunteer here at the library.

In 1930 Mr. Dusenbury’s nephews William A. Dusenbury, Duncan C. Dusenbury and George E. Vincent funded the addition of a room to serve as a museum for donated items from their uncle’s art and literature collections that were generously donated to the library. Today the Dusenbury Room houses many interesting historical items.