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OWEGO.
Some account of the early
settlement of the Village in
Tioga County, N. Y., called
Ah-wa-ga by the Indians,
which name was corrupted
by gradual evolution into
Owago, Owega, Owegy, and
finally Ovvego.
By LeRoy Wilson Kingman.
ruhli.-^Iifil at the t)\ve«o Ca/ettfc Office
Owejio. N. Y.
1907.
Only fifty copies of this book are
printed, of which this is number ^J
i^^Je
M-.^^"
PREFACE.
The i)u])licati()ii of the matter in
this book was begun hi the Owego
Gazette of May o(», 1907, and ran
through several successive issues.
Ft is reprinted here with the same
tyi)e that was used in the newspaper.
It corrects a few errors made by
previous writers and adds some
new hiformation relative to the
early settlers that has not before
appeared in ])rint. It contains infor-
mation obtained thirty years ago
from early residents, and may be
useful to some future historian who
may desire to write a complete and
satisfactory history of the village of
Owego.
EARLY OWEGO.
The Documentary History Relative
to the Burning of the Indian Vil-
lage in the Evening of August 19,
1779, by Soldiers of the United
Expeditions of Generals Sullivan
and Clinton, Previous to their
Combined Attack upon the
Indian Settlements in West-
ern New York, in One of Which
Regiments Was James McMaster,
Who Afterward Was the First
White Man to Settle Permanently
at Owego — Excerpts from the
Journals of the Officers in the Va-
rious Regiments Relating to Their
Sojourn at This Point.
The earliest event known in liis-
tory relating to the village of Owego
is its destruction by fire in 1779.
The village consisted of about twen-
ty substantial log houses, built by
the Indians. The coming into the
Susquehanna valley of the de-
tachment from Gen. Sullivan's
army in August of that year caused
the Indians to desert their homes
and when the soldiers came there
was not a red man in sight.
In order to break the power of
the Indians under Brant in this
state, the continental congress de-
cided to make the campaign a na-
tional one, and it was placed under
the direction of Gen. Washington,
who sent one division under Gen.
John Sullivan from Easton, Pa.,
across the country to the Susque-
hanna river, and thence to ascend
the river to Tioga Point (now Ath-
ens, Pa.) The other division was
commanded by Gen. James Clinton,
a brother of the then governor Geo.
Clinton. Gen. Clinton was at this
time in command at Albany. He
was directed to march up the Mo-
hawk river to Canajoharie, crossing
from there to Otsego lake, and going
thence down the Susquehanna river
to Tioga Point, where the expeditions
were to unite in a combined attack
on the Indian settlements in west-
ern New York.
Gen. Clinton had between 1,500
and 1,800 men, 220 boats, and pro-
visions for three months. When
Gen. Sullivan reached Tioga Point
August 13, 1779, Clinton had not
reached there and being apprehen-
sive that Clinton might be in dan-
ger, he detached Gen. Enoch Poor,
with 900 men and eight day's pro-
visions, to proceed up the river, as
a reinforcement to Gen. Clinton in
case of attack.
Gen. Poor's detachment reached
Owego (then called Owegy) August
17 at 2 p. m. The next day at 6:30
a. m. it proceeded up the river to
Choconut (now Union), where it en-
camped and waited until Clinton's
army arrived there at 9 a. m. Aug-
ust 19. At 11 o'clock that day the
march of the entire body of troops
began, and it arrived here at sunset.
The same night the soldiers set fire
to and burned the Indian village.
The next day the troops remained
here all day, as it rained violently,
and they suffered considerably, as
they had no tents.
3
August 21 the soldiers proceeded
to Tioga Point. Thence the entire
army marched to Newtown (El-
niira). where the battle of Newtown
was fought August 29 and the power
of Brant and his Indians was de-
stroyed.
It has always been believed, and
has been so printed, the authority
being some of the early residents
of this village, that the old Indian
village was situated on the north
bank of the Susquehanna river, be-
low William street. This is perhaps
incorrect, as there is documentary
evidence that the old Indian village
was on the west side of the Owego
creek in the present town of Tioga.
Among the officers of Gen. Clin-
ton's army was Lieutenant (after-
ward Major) Erkuries Beatty. In
his journal of the expedition, which
is in archives of the New York his-
torical society, he notes its arrival
Aug. 19 at Owego "about sundown
after a very fatiguing march of 22
miles." The journal continues as
follows:
"Friday 20 Rained a lit-
tle last night and Successively all
this Day therefore did not move:
Went a party down to Owego town
which lies one mile lower down and
burnt it consisted of about 20 houses.
"Saturday 21st — Clear weather
this morning but a very heavy fog,
niarchd of a little after 7 o'clock
forded Owego creek which is reck-
oned one third of the Susquehanna
at this place, it was about three feet
Deep & about 50 Yards Wide went
thro' the ruins of Owego town
crossed a pretty large brook went
12 Miles halted at a small Brook one
hour for refreshment."
From this it would seem probable
that the Owego creek was
wider at its mouth than it is now and
that the Indian village was on the
west side of the creek.
In Clinton's army Lieut. William
McKendry was quartermaster in Col.
Alden's Sixth Massachusetts regi-
ment. In his journal, which is in
possession of the Massachusetts his-
torical society, he writes under date
of August 19:
* * the army proceeded on and ar-
rived at Owago about sunset this is
a large Indian Settlement and fine
land — Encampt at this place, this is
the Indian town that Serjt. hunter
was carried to that was taken 10th
Novr. last below Cherry Valley on
this same River as he was returning
with his Scout — heavy rain this
night, the Genl. detached a party
and sent them and burnt the town
at this place About two miles up a
little Creek."
Major Beatty says that the troops
"marched through the ruins of
Owago town" after having crossed
the Owego creek on their way down
the river, while lieutenant McKen-
dry says the town was burned "about
two miles up a little creek." This
is a little confusing.
Many other officers in the armies
of Sullivan and Clinton kept jour-
nals in which were noted proceed-
ings of each day. Many of these
journals have been preserved and
deposited by the descendants of the
officers in the collections of various
historical societies. The following
are excerpts from some of these
journals relating to the events of
August 17-20, 1779, covering the
brief period of the sojourn of the
troops in Owego:
The following is from the journal
of Dr. Jabez Campfield, surgeon in
Spencer's Fifth New Jersey regi-
ment, owned by the New Jersey his-
torical society.
"17 Aug., 1779 — The detachment
marched [12 miles] to an Indian
settlement about 1 mile below Owe-
go and encamped on a beautiful
l)lain covered with grass: just be-
low we came on the plain, the de-
tach't crossed a stream of water, on
which Owego is situated a mile
above these places were all deserted
last spring, their inhabitants only a
few.
=;; * *
"Aug. 19 — Tills morning 9 o'clock
Cenl. Clinton joined us with upwards
of 200 Boats and about 700 Infantry,
who marched by land— 2 pieces of
cannon in ye boats; hisw hole number
it is said consists of 1,500 men. 11
o'clock we marched for Owego &
arrived there at sonset. A party
was sent out, who burned the town
of Owego. The few inhabitants, who
remained there had gone of the
day before we arrived"
"Genl. Clinton has burned all the
towns on or near the river in his
wa>- down
"Aug. 20 — A heavy rain came on
last night, which prevented our
march this day."
From the journal of Major Jere-
miah Fogg, of Col. Poor's New
Hampshire regiment:
"17 Marched, at 6 o'clock, i)assed
through exceedingly good land, and
at 2 o'clock arrived at Owegy, late-
ly inhabited by the savages, but on
the destruction of Onondaga it was
abandoned, as were all the settle-
ments on the river above Tioga.
This is a pretty piece of land through
which runs a creek about three
rods wide. A small party were sent
up to explore, and about a mile up
the creek found '' horses, but no
Indians."
* * *
"19th. Marcheu at eight o'clock.
but soon met a sergeant from Gen.
Clinton, with a letter informing us
that his army would be at Choco-
nut brook by five o'clock. Conse-
quently we countermarched, and be-
fore night arrived at Owegy, and
burnt 19 houses. Gen. Clinton had
about 1,800 men, 208 boats and one
month's salt provision, with two
Oneida Indians''
"20th. Rained violently, which
rendered it exceedingly bad for men
without tents. Remained on the
ground all day"
From the journal of Lieutenant-
Colonel Henry Dearborn, command-
ing the Third New Hampshire regi-
ment:
"17th We march'd early this morn-
ing proceeded 12 miles to Owagea
an Indian Town — which was de-
serted last Spring after planting.
About town is a number of fruit
trees & many plants & herbs that
are common in our part of the
country here is a learge body of
clear Intervale cover'd with grass
Our march to day has been very
severe & Fategueng especially for
the left Column (to which I belong i
as we had to pass several difficult
steei) hills & bad Morasses.
"19th Our troops ware put in
motion very early this morning af-
ter marching about one mile Genl.
Poor receiv'd an express from Genl
Clinton informing him that the lat-
ter expect'd to be here by 10 o'clock
a. m. in consequence of which we
retur'd to our old incampment
where Genl Clinton Joined us at
10 o'clock with 2,000 men including
Officers boatmen &c He has 208
batteaux with provisions Ammuni-
tion etc after mutuil congratulations
& Conii)lyments the whole pro-
ceeded down the river to Owagea
& incami)'d. This evening the
town of Owagea was made a bone
fire to grace our meeting Our gen-
eral course from Tiogea to Choco-
nut is about N. East.
"20th We have a very heavy
rain to-do & no tents but we are
obliged to ride it out"
From the journal of Captain James
Norris, of the Third New Hamp-
shire regiment, in possession of the
Buffalo historical society.
"17 We marched Early this
Morning Proceed 12 Miles to Owa-
gea an Indian Town which was De-
serted last Spring after Planting.
About the town is many Fruit Trees
and many Plants, and Herbs, that
are Common in our part of the
Country; Hear is a large body of
clear Intivale Covered with Grass.
Our March to day Very Survear
and Fatigueing Esspecelly for the
Left Colm (to which I belong) as
we had to pass Several Steap Hills
and Morasse? —
"19 Our Troops were put in Mo-
tion very early this Morning after
xMarching about one Mile Gen'l Poor
Received an Exspress from General
Clinton Informing him that the lat-
ter exspected to be hear by 10
o'clock a. m. this day in Conse-
quence of which we Rteurn'd to our
Old Incamjinient where General Clin-
ton .Joined us at 10 o'clock with
two Thousand Men — Including Offi-
cers, Boatsmen &c. he has two
hundred and Eight Beautoes with
Provisions Ammunition &c after Mu-
tural Congratulations and Comple-
ments the whole Proceeded down
the River to Owagea and Incampt
this evening.the town of Owego was
made a burnfire of to Grace our
Meeting."
It will be noticed that with the
exception of the si)elling the jour-
nals of Lieut.-Col. Dearborn and
Captain Norris are almost exactly
alike, word for word.
From the journal of Capt. Daniel
Livermore, captain in Third New
Hampshire regiment, owned by the
New Hampshire historical society,
the following is taken:
"Tuesday, August 17. This day
the troops march early. I march
on the flank guard. The country is
very mountainous, with some fertile
valleys. At 4 pm we arrive at a
considerable Indian town, called
Owago, 14 miles. Here is a very
good tract of land both sides of the
Fiver. The town consisted of about
twenty houses, which we destroyed, to-
gether with considerable Indian corn,
whch is in the milk just fit to roast
The town appears to have been
evacuated but a little time. 14
miles.
"Thursda, August 19. This monn-
ing we hear another gun up the
river, but, no intelligence arriving-,
the troops are ordered to march,
and proceed about one mile, when
our spies, sent off last evening,meet
us with intelligence of Gen. Clin-
ton's being near.
We then return to the place of
our last encampment. At 10 a. m.
Gen. Clinton arrives with about —
boats and 1,.500 men. We imme-
diately proceed on the march for
Tiego. At sunset arrive at the old
encampment at Owago, and encamp."
.James McMaster, who was the
first white settler in the village of
Owego, first came here as a soldier
m the Second New York regiment
in the Sullivan expedition. The
colonel of the regiment was Philip
VanCortlandt.
A Chronology of the Settlement of
Owego Village Previous to the
Year 1830, with Some Account of
Amos Draper, the Indian Trader,
Who Was the First Settler Here
in the Spring of 1787, and of His
Descendants and His Brother, Jos.
Draper.
The years in which some of the
earliest settlers came to Owego and
its vicinity are given below. This
includes the business and profes-
sional men who canie here as late
as 1830 and previous to that year.
The date of the arrival of many
others is not accurately known, so
they are not included in the list,
which is as follows:
1787. Amos Draper.
1788. .James McMaster, .John Mc-
Quigg, .lesse McQuigg.
1789. Ephraim Wood, .Joseph Gas-
kill.
1790. Capt. Lemuel Brown, Eman-
uel Duel.
1791. Col. David Pixley, Capt.
Luke Bates, Abuer Turner, Mason
Webster, Moses Ingersoll.
1792. Capt. Mason Wattles, Dr.
Samuel Tinkham, .John Hill.
1794. Joel Farnham.
1795. Dr. Elisha Ely.
1799. Stephen Mack, E])hraim
Wood, Nathaniel Sackett.
1800. Thomas Duane, Eleazer
Dana.
1801. .John Hollenback, Gen. .John
Laning, John H. Avery, Nathaniel
Catlin.
1802. John Pumpelly and his
sons, James, Charles, Harmon, and
William Pumpelly; Noah Goodrich,
Eliakim Goodrich, Gen. Ansel Good-
rich.
1803. Elizur, Geo. L., and Charles
lO
Talcott, Daniel Cruger, Jr., Cai)t-
Sylvenus Fox.
1804. Gen. Oliver Huntington.
.Joseph Berry.
1805. William, Nathan, Ausou.and
Hermon Camp, Major Horatio Ross,
.Jonathan Piatt.
1806. Caleb I^each, Ephraim
Leach, Stephen B. Leonard.
1808. Capt. David Fleming, Gen.
Robert Fleming.
1809. John R. Drake.
1810. Dr. Godfrey Waldo.
1811. Dr. .ledediah Fay.
1812. Richard E. Cushman.
1814. Isaac Lillie. .rohn Ripley,
Col. Henry McCorniick.
1815. Stephen Strong.
1816. George W. HoUeuback, Dr,
Joel S. Paige.
1817. Col. Amos Martin.
1818. Jjorenzo Reeves, Elisha
Bmidy, Abner Beers, David Beers.
David Turner.
1819. John Cannichael.
1820. Ziba A. Leland, Erastus
Meacham.
1821. Robert S. Bartlett and his
sons, Joseph , Isaac L., and Robert
S. Bartlett, Jr.
1822. James, Almon S., and Sam-
uel Archibald.
1823. Gurdon Hewitt.
1824. Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps, Cof.
Benoni B. Curry.
1825. Asa H. Tniman, Ezra S.
Sweet.
1826. John M. Greenleaf.
1827. Edward R. Warner.
1828. James Cameron, Thomas
Farrington, Francis Armstrong. Al-
anson Munger, PJdward Raynsford,
James N. Eldridge.
1829. Dr Ezekiel Lovejoy. Aaron
P. Storrs, John Dodd, Albert R.
Thomas, Charles C. Thomas, Jacob
Hand.
1830. Charles and Printice Ran-
.som, Lyman Truman, Chester Dana.
AMOS DRAPER.
The first white settler at what is
now the village of Owego was Amos
Draper, who came here as a trader
11
among the Indians and who by his
integrity obtained their friendship
and confidence and had great influ-
ence over them. He was a son of
Major Simeon Draper, who was one
of the "forty" settlers at Kingston,
Pa., in the Wyoming valley under
the Connecticut claim, and who set-
tled there in 176S.
Amos Draper had been living a
few years in a temporarily construct-
ed house on the south bank of the
Susquehanna river on the flat called
the old Mersereau flat at Choconut.
nearly opposite Union. His family
came there from Kingston in the fall
of 178(5.
During that year Mr. Draper
l)uilt a log house at Owego. it
stood on the eastern part of the lot
■on which (Jurdon H. Pumpelly's
house now stands in west Front
street and was about one hundred
feet from the bank of the river. It
faced south on the old Indian trail,
which then ran along the bank
l)retty closely. This Indian trail
struck the river about a mile above
the bridge where the river road runs
nearest to the river bank. Continu-
ing down the river it followed the
bank to the mouth of the Owego
creek. In building this house Mr.
Draper brought the boards for the
floor u]) the river by canoes from
Kingston, Pa.
In May, ITST, the Drapers removed
to Owego and began living in their
new house. While living here Mr.
Dra])er continued his business of
trafl[icing with the Indians at Cho-
onut. The first winter of their resi-
dence here a christianized Oneida
12
Indian chief and his wife, who bore
the title of Queen, lived in the
house with Mrs. Draper, and acted
as her protectors.
Mrs. Draper's maiden name was
Lydia Williams, and at the time of
her marriage she lived at Kingston.
Several years afterward the
Drapers lived in another log house
which stood a little back of where
Mrs. John Brown's residence now
stands at the northwest corner of
Main and Mc Master streets.
Amos Draper's brother, Joseph
Draper, was a later comer here. He
was a surveyor. The brothers were
entirely unlike. The late William
Pumpelly, who knew them well, in-
formed the writer that Joseph
Draper was a loud talker and very
self-assertive, while Amos Draper
was the reverse in every respect — a
quiet man and esteemed by every-
body.
Amos Draper's daughter, Selecta
Draper, was the first white child
born at Owego. She was born June
19, 1788. She became the wife of
Stephen WilMams.of Newark Valley,
in 1809. He was born at West Stock-
bridge, Mass., in 1783, and came
with his father, also named Stephen
Williams, to Newark Valley in 1801.
Amos Draper had two sons, Amos
and Benjamin Draper, and two
daughters, Selecta and Catherine
Draper. Amos Draper, Jr., died
near Victor, N. Y., and Benjamin
at Fairfax Court House, Va. Cath-
erine became the wife of Ewart
Williams. Selecta died April 2, 186;i.
at the home of her son, Lucius
Ewart Williams, at Newark vallev.
13
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Steplien Williams lived at Newark
Valley, then known as Brown's set-
tlement, where they pnrchased a
farm and built a house. At the
time of Mrs. Williams's death, in
1X65, the house was occupied by the
widow of Chester Patterson. Mr.
Williams died at Newark Valley
-luly 6, 1859. At the time of Mrs.
Williams s death six of of her ten
children survived her as follows:
Catharine Minerva, married Am-
l)rose Collins, of Berkshire.
Dr. Charles Draper, of St. Paul,
Minn.
Horatio Spencer, of Woodhull,
N. Y.
Myron Milton, of St. Paul, Minn.
.Josei)h Edwin, of Cleveland. Ohio.
Lucius Ewart, of Newark Valley.
Mary married Elisha Hurd, of
Aurora, Ohio.
Amos Draper died in this village
May 24, 1808. At that time the vil-
lage burying ground was at the
present corner of Main and Court
streets, and extended south to about
the east line of the lot on which the
new Tioga county clerk's office now
stands. Mr. Draper's body was
buried where the old clerk's offlce
stood, between the present jail and
the old academy buildings. When
men were digging for the founda-
tion wall of the first clerk's office,
in 1825, they cut through Mr,
Draper's grave.
Lucius E. Williams, of Newark
Valley, is a son of Stephen Williams
and the last survivor of ten children.
Joseph Draper was unmarried.
He died of consumption at the home
of Lucius E. Williams in 1832 or
1833, and his body was buried in
14
the Newark Valley cemetery. Mr.
Williams has an oil portrait of
Joseph Draper. A historical society
should be organized in Owego and
this portrait and other portraits of
early settlers should be gathered to-
gether for preservation.
JAMES MC MASTER.
James McMaster was the second
white man to settle permanently at
Owego. He first came here as a
soldier in Gen. Sullivan's army in
1779, and made his permanent set-
tlement here in 1788. the year fol-
lowing the coming of the Drapers.
It is erroneously stated by judge
Charles P. Avery in his "Susque-
hanna Valley" papers in the "St.
Nicholas" magazine (page 303) that
James McMaster's knowledge of the
general character of the valley was
acquired while a soldier in the army
of Gen. Clinton on its way down the
Susquehanna river to meet Gen.
Sullivan's forces. This error has
been copied in all the local histories
sin(ie written.
At the time judge Avery wrote
his papers the military records of
this state had not been printed. Mc-
Master had been dead thirty-fiv-e
years and judge Avery's information
seems to have been obtained from
some of his descendants whose
knowledge was traditional and un-
certain.
In "New York in the Revolution."
a large quarto volume compiled
from state records and published at
Albany in 1879 by James A.Roberts,
then Comptroller of this state, a full
list of the officers and men of the
various New York regiments, taken
15
from the records, was published. In
1898 a second and more complete
edition of the book was published
by Mr. Roberts.
On page 29 of the second edition
is the roster of the Second New
York regiment commanded by Col.
Philip Van Cortlandt, and on page
:'.5 James McMaster's name appears
as a private in this regiment.
On page 342 of the book on the
"Military Expedition of Major-Gen-
eral John Sullivan against the Six
Nations of Indians in 1779," compiled
by Frederick Cook, Secretary of
State and publisued in 1887, are
given lists of the regiments in both
Clinton's and Sullivan's armies in
this expedition, and the Second regi-
ment is among those in the army of
Sullivan. On page 327 of the same
))ook a list of the officers of the
Second regiment is ab'O given.
It ai>pears plain that McMaster
was in Gen. Sullivan's army instead
of Clinton's.
James McMaster was a farmer.
When he came to Owego with Sulli-
van's army in the summer of 1779
the flat land east of the Owego creek
seemed so desirable for farming pur-
poses that he determined to settle
here.
In 1784 he was living on a farm
(jwned jointly by himself and his
brother.David McMaster, in Florida,
Montgomery county, about fourteen
miles above Schenectady and a mile
and a half from the Mohawk river.
In April of that year he and another
brother, Robert McMaster, in com-
pany with 'William Woods and John
Nealy, and with William Taylor, a
16
boy eight years old, who had beea
indentured to James McMaster as a
"bound boy," started for Owego.
The previous winter a large boat
had been obtained at Schenectady
and taken thence to Canaj'oharie on
the ice and from there to the bank
of Otsego lake. There the boat was
launched and a part of the party
embarked with a wagon, provisions,
plows, farming implements and cook-
ing utensils, while another party
went with four horses by land, fol-
lowing the Indian trail to the foot of
the lake. Thence they all proceeded
together, following the Indian trail
to Owego. They met many parties of
Indians on their way, who seemed
|)eaceably inclined. but met no white
man.
They were fourteen days on their
jouniey, arriving here on the first
day of May, one party by boat down
the river and the other by land. At
night while on their way the boat
was moored uniformly at some jjlace
on the river, j)reviously appointed,
and thus the whole party, as well
for safety as for comfort, tooK their
evening meals and passed their
nights together.
On the flat west of what is now
McMaster street there was but lit-
tle forest, and the land had been cul-
tivated some by the Indians. Mc-
Master's party at once set fire to
the dried grass, and burned over the
entire surface of the ground, the
flames extending over the site of
Owego and for a considerable
distance beyond. They built a tem-
porary cabin of pitch pine logs on •
the flat, about fifty rods above where
17
the electric light plant now stands,
which sheltered them until their
com planting was done on about
ten acres in the vicinity of the pres-
ent Ta^cott street.
After the planting was completed
they erected a more substantial log
house near the bank of the river on
the lot where the residence of "George
W. Thompson now stands, and this
was the first building erected for
permanent use by the nands of white
men in this portion of the Susque-
hanna valley.
After the com hoeing season was
over the whole party returned with
three of their horses and a quan-
tity of beaver skins which they had
received from the Indians in ex-
change for their fourth horse to the
valley of the Mohawk, for the pur-
pose of attending to their harvest-
ing there. That having been accom-
l)lished they returned later and har-
vested their crop here, which had
not been molested by the Indians,
with whom they had established
friendly relations. The crop was
taken in boat loads to Tioga Point
(Athens, Pa.) and securely cribbed,
after which the party returned to
the Mohawk valley for the winter.
In 1785, the year after the corn
planting expedition, James McMaster
returned to Owego. It was in June
of that year that four agents of the
Massachusetts purchase, a body of
230,400 acres of land lying between
the Owego creek and the Chenango
river awarded to Massachusetts and
since known as the Boston Purchase
or Ten Townships, came here and
found McMaster in possession. Mc-
.Master clainied ownership of whai'
was subsequently known as the Mc-
.Alaster half township, on which the
village of Owego is now situated,
by contract with the Indians,
in which claim he was sus-
tained by Amos Draper; and their
influence was such with the Indians
that in order to conciliate them and.
obtain possession the agents were
compered to satisfy McMaster's claim-
by giving him eighteen square miles
of land extending from the Susque-
hanna river on the east side of the
Owego creek eighteen miles north,
and from the Owego creek on the
north side of the river eastward, a
distance of six miles. The particu-
lars of this transaction are fully
told in the "Susquehanna Valley"
papers in the St. Nicholas maga-
zine, page 301.
James McMaster did not settle
permanently here until 1788. Then
he and his family settled in a
house which stood near where the
main highway on the old Indian
trail ran along the river bank at
Its intersection with the old Cayu-
ga Lake trail which trail was iden-
tical with the present McMaster
street and extended down to the
river. This house faced the river
and stood near where Michael A.
Lynch's house now stands. The
house was afterward occupied by
Dr. Samuel Tinkham and later by
.lames Pumpelly.
The family of John McQuigg came
the same year from Massachusetts.
The late Lyman C. Draper, of
Madison, Wis., secretary of the
Wisconsin state historical society,
19
ipurchased in ISTtl of the heirs of
the late judge Avery the mami-
scripts containing interviews with
early residents ot southern New
York relative to the Indian history,
much of which was used in writing
the Susquehanna Valley papers. In
a letter to the editor of this pai)er
written in October of the following
year Mr. Dra])er wrote that he had
been for some time collecting ma-
terial for a new life of Brant, the
Indian chief, and that the Avery
papers had been purchased with
others to aid him in that purpose,
but that these papers did not con-
tain much concerning Brant, but
more of the local history of this
region. After Mr. Draper's death
the papers became a part of the
manuscrijit collection of the Wis-
consin historical society. The fol-
lowing is a list of the more im])ort-
ant of them:
Mrs. Whitaker's account of her
caiitivity among the Indians (1778.1
Dances and other Ceremonies of
the Iroquois: character of the In-
dians.
Mrs. Whitaker's reminiscenses of
Brant and other chiefs.
Memoirs of Sebastian Strope and
his family.
Narrative of Abel Hart.
Narrative of Way-way alias
Betsy Douglas.
Statements of the following pio-
neers (accounts of their own or
their parents' adventures): Jesse
McQuigg, John Gee, Mrs. Caty
Harris, Lawrence Merriman, Jona-
than Terry. Elisha Forsyth.
Mrs. Caty Harris, mentioned in
the last paragraph, was a daughter
of James McMaster. The Avery in-
terview with her was a very brief
one, and the following is a verba-
tlon copy of it, as copied from the
original in the Wisconsin historical
society's collection:
Statement of Mrs. Caty Harris.
June St--, 1853.
Maiden name Caty McMaster,
daughter of Jas. (patentee.)
Came to Owego when four or
five years old with my father's
family:
Oldest brother Jas.
Next Jeremiah.
David.
Oldest sister Jane Sackett, wife
of Caleb H. Sackett.
Sister Elida McMaster, dead.
Sister, Caty McMaster.
Sister, Ann Fish, dead.
Robert McMaster was a brother
of old James and moved on at
same time with Jas. He married a
Bates, a sister of Elisha Bates.
Thos. McM., another brother, came
on afterwards.
Electa Draper (now Williams)
first white child born at Owego.
Amos Draper's family first white
family at Owego.
Recollects the Indians used to be
there in bands; had wigwams near
iier father's house. They were
peaceable and friendly as could be.
My mother, Rachel, died .'!0 years
ago in Candor, my father died in
Candor. They are buried on the
farm now owned by Hiram Smith,
not enclosed.
My father was a tall man, not
fleshy, large boned, about six feet
high. He paid the Indians for their
land. He held the council with
them near where his house was.
(The particulars of this treaty have
never transpired. C. P. A.)
I was born on the Mohawk. I
iiave had 7 children.
These are my grandchildren.
(Pointing to two boys.)
My father built the house once
occupied by Jas. Pumpelly.
The first house he built was near
21
the river and in-etty nearly bacli
•of the Pumi)elly house.
I believe my father was in the
army under Genl. Clinton and
came down the river. In that way
I think he must have been ac-
fiuainted with the valley of the
river.
At the time of this interview Mrs.
Harris lived in the town of Cayu-
ta. Schuyler county. It was from
this interview that Judge Avery,
probably, obtained the misinforma-
tion that McMaster was in Clin-
ton's army. James McMaster's
wife's name was Rachel. Their
children were as follows:
.lames McMaster, .Jr.
Jeremiah McMaster. He married
Hannah Hill, a daughter of John
hill, one of the first settlers of the
town of Tioga. He died at Spen-
cer. His death followed the ampu-
tation of his leg on account of a
fever sore. His daughter, Eliza
McMaster, married Leonard Jones,
who came from Peekskill, N. Y.,
with his father, John Jones, and
settled at Spencer between ISOit
and 1805. John B. Jones, who lives
in East Temple street, Owego, is a
son of Leonard Jones.
David McMaster.
Jane McMaster. Married Col
Caleb H. Sackett and lived at
Candor. She died near Almond, Al-
legany county.
Elida McMaster was unmarried.
She died in 1843. aged 63 years.
Her body was buried at West Can-
dor.
Catherine McMaster. Married
James Harris, a blacksmith, who
was born in the north of Ireland.
Tliev lived near VanEtten, Che-
mimg county. Both were buried at
Spencer. She was 80 years old at
the time of her death.
Ann McMaster. Married a man
named Fish. It is said that she
died at the county poor house.
James McMaster was a man of
improvident habits, and although
the owner of property that with
judicious management would have
made him immensely wealthy, it
gradually passed from his hands
and he died thirty years after his
settlement here in reduced circum-
stances.
One day in ISIS, while living at
Candor, where his daughter, Mrs.
Sackett, lived, he borrowed a horse
of a neighbor to ride to Spencer to
visit one of his sons. He had gone
but a short distance when the horse
shied and he was thrown to the
ground, breaking his rios. He was
taken into Selah Gridley's house,
where he died a few days after-
ward. His body was buried on
the Caleb Sackett farm. Tlie
grave was plowed over many years
ago. The farm was subsequently
cut up into village lots and this
grave was on the back part of the
lot on which Mrs. Alvah Fullers
house now stands.
COL. DAVID PIXLEY.
The first settler of any import-
ance in the eastern part of the
town of Tioga was Col. David Pi.x-
ley, who came from Stockbridge.
Mass., in 1791. The same year
Abner Turner came from Massachu-
setts and settled at the confluence
of the Owego and Catatonk creeks.
Both Col. Pixley and Mr. Turner had
been here previously on exploring
tours.
Col. Pixley was born at Stock-
bridge, Mass., March 2t, 1741. His
father, whose name was also David
Pixley, was born at Westfield, Mass.,
in 1S14, and was a soldier in the ex-
pedition against Cape Breton in
1745. He settled at Stockbridge be-
fore 1749. Col. David Pixley fought
in the Revolutionary v,ar and had
a fine military record. His record
as obtained from Massachusetts ar-
chives by one of his greatgrandsons,
.losiah Collins Pumpelly, now living
in New York city, is as follows:
He was a first lieutenant, as by
Lexington Alarm Call Rolls, April
19, 1775, in Capt. William Goodrich's
company. Col. Patterson's regiment,
from Stockbridge to Cambridge.
Thirteen days service. Enlisted again
May 5, 1775, for eight months' ser-
vice from Stockbridge. Time of ser-
vice three months, four days. Com-
missioned May 27, 1775, captain in
col. John Brown's regiment. En-
listed June 30, 1777; discharged
July 26, 1777. Twenty days' service
in Northei-n Department.
In the lists of the officers and men
of the regiments in the line in the
United States service under Gen.
Washington, as given in "New York
in the Revolution," Lieutenant David
Pixley's name appears (page 61) as
in the corjjs of "Green Mountain
Boys." The colonels were Ethan
Allen and Seth Warner, and John
Brown was major. The editorial ex-
planation heading this list says:
"These muster-rolls are recorded
as "Major Brown's Detachment," and
that detachment is mentioned as in
"Gen. Arnold's Regiment." (The only
mention of Gen. Arnold found in
our records.) The fact that the
"Green Mountain Boys" were at
Quebec in 1776; that this detach-
ment was also at Quebec in 1776;,
that two of the officers on these
rolls-Captain and Commissary Elijah
Babcock and Captain Robert Coch-
ran — are identical in name and rank
with those on a list handed to the
{Provincial Congress of New York
by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, on
.Inly 4, 177.5, as officers for the
Green Mountain Boys; ana the fur-
ther fact that none of the men are
recorded in any other place, or witli!
any other organization, all confirm
the belief that the soldiers on its
rolls herewith were a part of that
historic band."
The muster roll of the men of Lieut-
tenant Plxley's company in the Mas-
sachusetts archives at the State
House in Boston contains the names
of twenty Indians.
David Pixley was commissioned a
colonel in the colonial army July 1.
1775. His commission bears the sig-
nature of John Hancock, President.
His regiment was in Gen. John Pat-
terson's command at Bunker Hill,
and he was under Gen. Montgomery
at the seige of Quebec.
There has been privately printed
a circular giving the genealogy of
Dr. Tinkham, Col. Pixley's son-in-
law, and showing Dr. Tinkham 's de-
scent from Miles Standish, who
came to America in the Mayflower
in 1620. In this it is said that
Lydia Patterson, Col. Pixley's sec-
ond wife was a "daughter of Col.
John Patterson, colonel of the in-
fantry regiment in which David
Pixley was first lieutenant in the
25
revolutionary army." This is an
error. She was a daughter of
.Joseph Patterson, who was born at
Waterbury, Mass., in 1810 and died
at Richmond in 1780.
Col. John Patterson (afterward
Gen. Patterson) was a man of
ability and prominence. He was
born in 1844 at New Britain, Conn.,
and was educated at Yale college.
He taught school, studied law, and
liecame a justice of the peace. In
1774 he removed to Lenox, Mass.,
where he became a member of the
jjrovincial congress. Just before the
Revolution he raised a regiment
among the neighbors of Berkshire
county, and on the day before the
battle of Lexington and Concord he
ordered his men to be ready to
ii:arch at sunrise the next morning.
He participated in the battle of
Bunker Hill, holding the fortifica-
tions at Somerville, which protected
the rear of the American forces,,
and shared the hardships and adven-
tures of the seige of Boston. In the
ill-starred expediti on toCanada under
Montgomery and Arnold he lost the
greater part of his men, and later
with the remnant of his command
he participated in the victories of
Trenton and Princeton, and as a
Ijrigadier-general in 1877 he had
charge of Massachusetts troops in
the campaign under Gen. Gates,
which ended with the capture of the
British army under Burgoyne.
He was a member of
the court-martial that tried and
condemned Major Andre. He was
afterward in command of West
Point, and even after peace was de-
16
dared he was retained there witi?
his brigade and was not mustered
out until December 8, 1783. Iii
1786 he assisted in the suppression
of Shay's rebellion. In 1791 Gen.
Patterson removed to Lisle, Broome
county, N. Y., which was then a
part of Tioga county. He was a
member of assembly in 1792-3, mem-
ber of congress in 1803-5, member
of the constitutional convention in
1801, and the first judge elected in
Broome county in 1806, the year
that county was set off from Tioga
county, and he filled the offlce until
his death in 1808 at Lisle. A mon-
ument was afterward erected in his
memory on the town square at
Lenox, Mass.
.Josiah Col' ins Pumpelly says his
researches have convinced him that
the company recruited by Patterson
and Pixley did not reach Boston
until a day or two after the battle
of Bunker Hill was fought. If his
conclusions are correct another idol
would appear to have been irrepar-
ably shattered.
Col. Pixley was one of the sixty
original proprietors of the "Boston
Purchase or Ten Townships." He
first came into this part of New
York state as one of the commis-
sioners appointed by the Boston
company to treat with the Indians
and obtain title to 230,400 acres of
land, between the Owego creek and
the Chenango river for which the
company had paid £1,500 to the
state. The commissioners met the
Indians two or three miles above
Hinghamton in the winter of 1787-88
The particulars of this treaty with
ttie Indians may be found in Wil-
kinson's "Annals of Binghamton"
(page 39-40) and in Judge Avery's
' riusquehanna Valley" papers in the
St. Nicholas Magazine, page 29!;».
By deed from Archibald Camp-
bell, of the city of Albany, dated
December 22, 1790, Col. Pixley ob-
tained title to 3,000 acres of land in
what was then known as "Campbell's
Location" in the town of Tioga,
bounded east by the Owego creek
and south by the Susquehanna
river , "consideration five shillings
and other good causes and consid-
erations." The amount originally
l)aid for this property is said to
have been fifty cents an acre.
Col. Pixley removed with his fam-
ily from Stockbridge to Owego Feb.
6, 1791, and settled on his property.
In May, 1791, he sold to Abner Tur-
ner, who came here that year, 49%
acres on the west bank of the Owe-
go creek where it meets the Cata-
tonk creek. March 17, 1802, he sold
4.j1 acres on the Owego creek, in-
cluding his own homestead, to Ca])t.
Eliakim, Noah, and Asa Goodrich for
$.5,000. He then removed to Owe-
go ana lived in the old farm house
which is still standing on the south
side of Main street, west of and
adjoining the Owego academy
grounds, and there he died in 1S07.
On the headstone of his grave in the
Presbyterian church yard in Tem])le
street is the following inscription:
"In memory of Col. David Pixley,
who departed this life Aug. 25. 1807,
in the 67th year of his age. He
was anofficerofthe Revolution atthe
seige of Quebec under Gen. Mont-
sionierv. He was the first settler
28
of Owego in 1790 and continued its
father and friend until his death."
When Col. Pixley settled on the
west side of the Owego creek that
town was known as Owego, and the
east side of the creek was known as
Tioga. The confusion arising from
having the village of Owego in the
town of Tioga on the east side of
the creek was so annoying that in
1813 the names of the towns of Owe-
go and Tioga were exchanged, the
one for the other, as they now ex-
ist.
Col. Pixley was county treasurer
of Tioga county from 1798 to 1803,
the only civil office he ever held
here.
Col. Pixley's first wife was Lois
Whittlesey, who was married to
him December 8, 1763. His second
wife was Lydia Patterson, daughter
of James Patterson. She was born
at Watertown, Mass., in 1745, and
died in Owego February 2, 1808.
Mrs. Lydia Pixley was a woman of
unostentatious piety and unbounded
hospitality. While living at Stock-
bridge. Mass., her house was a
home for strangers, especially for
the missionaries and ministers of
that early day. After her death an
extended sketch of her life and tri-
bute to her character was published
in the Connecticut Evangelical Mag-
azine tor October. 1808, at page 336.
When Col. Pixley came to Owe-
go from Massachusetts he brought
his wife and three children, David.
Amos, and Mary.
David Pixley, .Jr., was born at
Stockbridge in 1764 and was the
only son of Col. David Pixley by his
29
tirst wife. He married Drusilla
Bond. He was onl.v 3-". years old
wlieii lie died in the town of Tiogii
-Tune 6, 1799. His body was the
first one buried where the Tioga
cemetery now is, which was tlien in
the woods. His wife died June 1,
1822, aged 57 years, and her body is
also buried there.
David Pixley, Jr., was a surveyor.
He was one of tne most influential
of the proprietors of the "Boston
Ten Townships." His children
were Charles B., Jeremiah, Mary
Ann, David, and Jonathan. He lived
on the west side of the Owego
creek, a little less than half a mile
below Leach's mill.
Amos Pixley died previous to the
death of his father in 1807, leaving
a wife and one son, Walter. Wal-
ter died unmarried.
Mary Pixley was married to Dr.
Samuel Tinkham about the year
1793. Her second husband was
James Pumpelly.
One of the sons of David Pixley,
Jr., Col. Charles B. Pixley, was
l)orn in 1792, the year after the re-
moval of his father to this county.
He was at one time a hatter and
kept a store in Lake street where
he sold musical instruments, sta-
tionery, etc. He lived in Bingham-
ton several years, where he mar-
ried a sister of John A. Collier. He
died Aug. IS, 1S6.5, at the home of
his sister, Mrs. Alanson Goodrich,
in the town of Tioga.
Mary Ann Pixley, born in 179(;.
married Alanson Goodrich, son of
Capt. Eliakim Goodrich, and died
April 22, 1875.
30
Jeremiah, Jonathan, and David
Pixley all removed to Oakland
county, Mich. David Pixley's witV
was Fidelia Jones, daughter of dea-
con Solomon Jones.
At the time of Col. David Pix-
ley's death he was the owner of
nearly 9,400 acres of land all of
which except 130 acres were situ-
uated outside the village of Owego.
CAPT. JOHN MC QUIGG.
The families of both James Mc-
Master and Captain John McQuigg
settled at Owego the same year
(1788), the year after Amos Draper,
the first comer, settled here.
Captain John McQuigg was of
Scotch-Irish descent. The family
settled at Derry, N. H., coming
with the first Scotch people to New
England. He was one of eight
brothers, all of whom fought in the
Revolutionary war. The father was
a patriot, while the mother sympa-
thized with the tories. The conse-
quence was that while John and
three of his brothers enlisted in the
service with the revolutionists tiie
other four brothers fought on the
side of Great Britain. John Mc-
Quigg was captain of a company in
a New Hampshire regiment. One
brother died in the old sugar
house in New York, a prisoner of
war.
Capt. John McQuigg came from
Derry, N. H., with his family, then
consisting of his wife and eight chil-
dren, entering the Susquehanna val-
ley by the way of Otsego lake and
following the Indian trail to Owe-
go. What impelled him to come
with his large, family such a dis-
tauce through an unsettled country
into a wilderness no historian has
explained.
He built a log house on the site
of the Camp furnace, below Park
street. It fronted on the river, as
did also Draper's and McMaster's
houses, and the road ran along the
old Indian trail between it and the
stream. Its description, as given to
.ludge Avery by one of his sons,
Capt. Jesse McQuigg, who was five
years old when the family came
here, will be given further on in
taese papers.
The genealogical record of the
McQuigg family was written by Miss
Mary Hall, of Spencer, N. Y., and
printed in the Spencer Needle of
August 3, 1905.
.John McQuigg's first wife was
Mollie Gilmore. Their son was John
M. McQuigg. His second wife was
Sarah Coburn, of New Hampshire.
Her children were as follows:
1. Mary McQuigg born 8 Feb.,
1774. Married Abner Turner, of
the town of Tioga.
2. Daniel McQuigg born 23 Feb.,
1.7(3.
3. Elizabeth McQuigg born 23
March, 1778. Married Capt. Lemuel
Brown, of Owego.
4. Robert McQuigg born 9 No-
vember, 1780. Unmarried. Died in
Owego .
5. Jesse McQuigg born 24 May
1783.
6. Sarah McQuigg born 13 Aug.,
1785. Married George Lord Talcott,
of Owego.
7. Patience McQuigg born March
27, 1787. Married first Richard Den-
ton, of Danby, and second Peter
Yaple.
8. David McQuigg born 27 Nov.,
1791.
9. Rachael McQuigg born 5 Jan.,
52
179;J. Married Lieut.-Col. \Vm. HeurA'
and lived at Mineral Point, Wis.
10. Jane McQuigg born 15 Aug..
1795. Married Comfort Weeks, of
Owego, Removed to BulTalo and
(hence to Pittsfield, 111. Comfort
Weeks and his brother, Constant X,
Weeks, kept a shoe store in Owego,
11. Didama McQuigg bom 7 Oct..
1798. Married William Watson and
Jived at Pittsfield, 111.
John ^McQuigg died in Owego in
ISlo, twenty-five years after his set-
tlement here, and his body was one
of the first ones interred in the old
burying ground in Court street. His
wife, Sarah McQuigg, died Nov. 1«.
1832, aged 85 years. Her body was
buried in the Presbyterian burying
ground in Temple street.
When James Master, for a con-
sideration of £10, gave a deed of
land for a public park on which the
Tioga county court house now stands
to the village of Owego (then known
as Owego settlement) dated Febru-
ary 28, 1797, John McQuigg was
named in the deed as one of the
three trustees for the people. The
other trustees were Capt. Luke
Bates and Mason Wattles. Sept. 4,
1813, after the death of Bates and
McQuigg, a special election was held
and Eleazer Dana and John H.
Avery were chosen their successors.
John McQuigg's eldest son, John
M. -McQuigg, was bora Oct. 13.
1771, and he was seventeen years
old when the family came here. He
removed to Spencer about 1898.
where he became a prominent man
of the town. He died there Aug. 13,
1812. His wife was Lucy Lee, who
after his death was married to Rev.
Michael Burge, an itinerant Metho-
33
dist minister. John McQuigg. one
of the sons of John M. McQuigg,
represented Tioga county in the as-
semljly in 1S42, and died at Spen-
cer 29 Nov.. 1ST2.
Daniel and David McQuigg also
removed to Spencer about 17SS.
Daniel married Charlotte Hobart,
daughter of Edmund Hobart, of Con-
necticut, one of the first settlers of
Spencer in 1795. He died there in
1833.
David McQuigg removed in June,
1S04, from Spencer to Ithaca and
opened a store there. He dropped
a portion of his name and was
known the rest of his life as David
Quigg. His was the first store op-
ened at Ithaca. He was successful
in the mercantile business and con-
tinued in it the rest of his life.-
David Quigg's wife was Harriet
Pumpelly, a daughter of John Pum-
pelly.
Capt. Jesse McQuigg fought in
the war of 1S12. He was never
married. He and his mother, with
Lemuel Brown's widow, lived in a
house which was built in 1800 on
the Abram Brown farm, north of
Talcott street, which house was
n^oved away about sixty years ago
and converted into a barn when
Abram Brown's residence was built
there. When Abram Brown's
father, Capt. Lemuel Brown, the
tanner, who married Capt. Mc-
Quigg's sister, died Richard Brown
and Capt. Jesse McQuigg conducted
the tannery business. Capt. Mc-
Quigg died at the home of his
nephew, Abram Brown.
One of the most interesting of
the iiapers in the Wisconsin
state historical society's collection
obtained by Lyman C. Draper from
the heirs of Judge Avery is the
statement made by Jesse McQuigg.
to Judge Avery. Some of it was
published in the Susquehanna Vay-
ley articles, but most of it has-
never been printed. The statement,
is as follows:
STATEMENT OF JESSE MCQUIGG
MADE APRIL 1, 1851.
I shall be 68 years old the 24th
of May ensuing. I came to live at
Owego in March, I think 1788.
My father, John McQuigg, had
been on the year before in March-
and raised some corn and had put
up a house on the site of the build-
ing now occupied by Henn,' W.Camp
as a funiace. It was a log house
with two square rooms, hewed logs,
chinks filled in with bits of wood
between the logs and mudded, a
hole in each room in the place of
a window, no glass in them; we
didn't indulge in that luxui-j'- Split
pine logs, hewed off for a floor, a
chimney back built of stone with
a hole in the roof for the smoke
to ijass out and with a stick chim-
ney mudded from the roof up. A
wood fastening to the door with
the latch string hanging out as was
always the fashion. It fronted up-
on tile river. The highway ran be-
tween it and the river; not much
of a road, only what nature made.
My father came from the Merrimac,
in the state of Massachusetts; came
by the way of Otsego lake, down
to where Unadilla and Bainbridge
are now. Came with ox teams
and sleds. There was still snow
enough for slipping in that month
(March.) I presume we followed
the Indian trail.
James McMaster came on to live
here j)ermanently the next month
after my father come on. Wm.
Taylor came on to live permanently
here in three or four years after.
He had been here before.
Amos Draper's was the first white
family that came to Owego to re-
side permanently. They lived in
the house which had been put up on
the lot about where George Bacon
resider,. He came from Wyoming.
I heard of aji incident connected
with his moving into the house.
Two Indians came as had been in
■a quarrel about the time of the
Revolutionary war. One had killed
the other, and an old squaw, ttie
wife of the dead Indian, had dug
a hole under the floor and put him
under. This was the same house
Draper afterward moved into. It had
been previously occupied by the In-
dian family. Mrs. Draper would not
go into the house until the remains
of the Indian so buried had been re-
moved.
James McMaster's house was on
the bankofthe river, near where Chapel
street [now Academy street], if con-
tinued through to the river, would
strike the river. That was called
in olden times "the Lake road,"
from the fact of its leading toward
Cayuga lake on the Indian trail. The
road on the river bank between my
father's house and the river ran
until it intersected the Lake road,
McMaster's house was nearly in the
angle made by tne two roads.
Robert Mc Master was then a
young unmarried man and boarded
with his brother, James. Thomas Mc-
Master, another brother, lived in a
house standing near where Joel
Farnham's house n':w is. He did
not come on as eaily as the other
brothers.
Robert McMaster, after he mar-
ried a Miss Bates, a daughter of
Benjamin Bates, built his first log
house on what is now Draper's Res-
eration. It stood a few feet from
the Mansion house [on the west
side of North avenue, between West
avenue and Talcott street], a little
36
south of it. I Jived with him about
a year afterward.
There were three families by the
name of Bates lived in Owego.
Among the early settlers Elisha
Bates, a son of old Benjamin Bates,
was about six feet in height, un-
commonly active, could outrun any
man. We had games and ran to
test agility in those days. Hunting
was his business. He was a great
marksman.
The deer ran as plenty as sheep.
One might start from the river and
go as far up the creek as Turner's
and see on the way twenty or twen-
ty-five, and perhaps as many as that
in a drove. We killed them as we
wanted them. We could hear the
wolves howl in the night. In the
winter season w/ien they had driven
the deer into the river they would
stand upon the banks and howl.
The bears were plenty back upon
the mountains.
We used sometimes to see a dozen
Indians, sometimes fifty, and some-
times one hundred together, passing
from here to Tioga Point, Chenan-
go Point or Cayuga lake. Some-
times an interval of two weeks
when we would not see any but a
few families who still continued to
reside in this vicinity in their wig-
wams. Some of them were Onon-
dagas, some Cayugas, some Senecas.
They often used to speak of Brant.
He was their great man. There was a
treaty at Tioga Point (the year 1
don't recollect) between the agents
of the government and the Indian
tribes.*
*Note by Judge Avery.— The year was 1790. It
was held by Col. Timothy Pickering and Thomas
Morris, -son of Robt. Morris, the financier of the
Revolution, upon whose ability Botta has passed
a beautiful euloKy and to whose memory we owe
jrreat honor. At that treaty at Tioga Point, Red
Jacket. Sa-Koye-wat-ha, and Farmers' brother.
Hon-ne-ya-mus. and other distinguished chiefs
were present. The council fire was kept burning
one week. There were more than 1.600 Indians
present, representing all the tribes of the con-
federacy exceiJt the Mohawk, thoseof that nation
having after the war removed to Canada, The
object of the treaty on the part of our govern-
ment was to conciliate, there being at that time
The most of the 'lulians who as-
sembled thore came from the head
waters of this [the Susquehanna I
river. I saw them coming down in
their canoes, saw them first at the
the bend in the river above the vil-
lage. There were several hundred
canoes, some four to six Indians in
a canoe; a good many squaws and
young Indians among them. The
canoes were of bark.
It was a handsome sight as they
approached the village: they came
in such fine order. They came in
a solid body and with great regu-
larity and uniform movement, some
of them ornamented with feathers,
some with jewels, covered with
broaches generally of silver, gener-
ally with white woollen blankets
with heavy stripes. Some had broad
cloth blankets.
The Indian men were generally of
pretty good stature. They had their
rifles, tomahawks, and scalping
knives with them,pipes and their kind
of tobacco. They all landed here and
cooked and ate their breakfast.
They commenced landing at or near
my father's house (that is near H.
W. Camp's furnace), and so along
down as far as Jas. McMaster's
house. Between the two houses was
on open plain, beautiful and green.
They were very good natured. They
were there all for peace. Their de-
vices were cut in upon their orna-
ments, worked into their garments
with porcupine quills and painted
on. There ajipeared to be leaders
or chiefs among them.
Leggins, loin, cloths, blankets,
great danger of a war with the natives upon our
northwestern frontier. We were taking this
method of inducing the Iroquois not to throw
their weight into the scale against us. We were
in the main successful, although Col. Pickering
found great difficulty in allaying the hot blood
which Red Jacket had aroused by one of his
powerful appeals to their bitter memories of
wrong. This speech it is said was his maiden
effort in eloquence and alike astounding his red
as well as white listeners. It almost baffled Col.
Pickering's best efforts at conciliation, but he
did at length, after great exertion, succeed in
touching their sympathies for the young re-
public.
38
head dress, moccasins, and orna-
ments were their costume. The
women carried all the bundles and
did all the work. Saw their wam-
pum belts made of beads.
The Indian Nicholas and his squaw
lived on the other side of the river
on the flat by F. H. Pumpelly and
Jacobs Hand's mills. He claimed to
be the owner of the whole flat. He
raised cattle and corn, had quite a
stock of cattle, etc. He was a Dela-
ware Indian. As ^jon as the Dela-
ware settlers commenced moving in-
to the valley he moved off. He was
afraid they would take revenge up-
on him for some past occurrence.
He hau been a great warrior against
the whites on the Delaware. He was a
heavy man, nearly six feet high.
His squaw was fine looking for an
Indian woman. She made very
sweet butter. She -"vould not allow
herself to speak English. She did
so, however, once. There was a
man drowning and she informed a
white man on the bank where he
had sunk. Squaw island was named
from her.
The first shad we caught in the
river was at Squaw island and taken
with a brush net. I never knew
any other name for Nicholas than
that. He would authorize his name
to be signed ' Nicholas."
David Jones was the first lawyer
who settled at Owego. He came
from New Haven. He was a very
fine man and well esteemed (I was
pleased to discover, as you doubt-
less are, that our pioneer lawyer
bore that good reputation).
One season I fitted a couple of
acres of corn for an Indian family
to plant. It lay b<^tween my pres-
ent residence and the creek. The
name of the Indian was Peter. It
was well put in bv him and turned
out a crop of forty l)ushels to the
acre. I had one-half. They pre-
served their half i)) tracings, which
was done by stripping the husk
to the large end of the ear, braid-
ing the husks together. The In-
39
diaiis usually put about a bushel of
ears in one tracing. I found them
seed, but when it ripened I found
the Indian had planted seed of his
own, without my knowing it. of large
kernels, which we called "flour
corn," better adapted for Indian bread.
It was probably tb-^ species called
"Tuscarora." The great trouble with
the Indians was their appetite for
strong drink, as they called it "fire
water."
The Indians all looked up to Amos
Draper as a God. He had more in-
fluence with them than any other
man in the country. The Boston
purchasers had a conference at Nan-
ticoke with the Indians to procure
from them a cession of the land em-
braced in the fenTownships. They
could bring the Indians to no terms
until Draper came. He was sent
for to bring auout an arrangment.
The Indians called him "Qua-see"
(Big man.)
The treaty had to break up until
Draper had mingled with the In-
dians for three days. There was
then another treaty and the pur-
chase from the Indians was effected.
There was a great number of In-
dians there. The chiefs of the con-
federacy were all there, all the prin-
cipal men of that confederacy. This
account I had from Draper. We see
by the Resolve of Massachusetts
that it was June, 1786. t
There was near that house an
Indian wigwam. There was former-
ly a mound near where the home-
stead property of the late Eleazer
tNote bv Judge Avery.— Mr. McUuigg had the
account from Mr. Draper some few years of
course after the treaty, which was in June. 17H6.
and he mav not have reniemhered accurately the
place where the treaty was held. I have heard
from other sources and have read, but where
now I cannot recollect, that the council was first
opened near Binghaniton. No terms at first
agreed upon, then resumed at Chenango Forks,
where a treaty of cession was fully concluded.
I am however disposed to give credence to Mr.
McQuigg's versioti. Binghamton was not within
the Boston purcha.se. Nanticoke was, and it is
not probable that the purchasers woiUd liked to
have foregone the advantage which a treatx-
made upon the soil, of which they were purchas-
40
Dana [the lot on the north side of
Front street where the residence of
Lewis H. Leonard now is)
in area some forty by fifty feet,
rising gradually to the centre, at
which point it must have been ela-
vated above the surrounding sur-
face about some six or eight feet.
It was a beautiful spot before it
was disturbed. It was smooth and
beautiful. I have rolled down it
when I was a boy many a time.
. There were some young pines scat-
tered about, not far off.
There might have been fift.v or
sixty acres in the lower part of the
village that had been cleared and
tilled; some other portions partially.
The scattering trees which were left
growing along the bank were very
large oaks, elms, and maples.
The battle betw'?en Gen. Poor's
brigade and the Indians at the
Round Hill at Nanticoke I heard
of from the Indians who passed and
repassed here. It was a bloody bat-
tle, but the Indians were driven off
the eastern side of the hill, which
is stee]). into the river.
It was through the influence of
Amos Drai)er that -las. McMaster
was enabled to buy the title of the
Indians to this Half Township.
Joseph Knox also helped him. Knox
was an early settler here.
.las. McMaster, Draper, and Knox
held their treaty for the cession of
the Half Township, but before the
treaty made and sjjoken of above
by the Boston purchasers.
There was one Indian chief of the
Oneida tribe I remember well. His
iii>4 tile iM)-.srssoiy interest, would liave Kiven to
til" in It \\.i^ llie rivrlit of original occuiiancy, a
,M,v>, ^sMi\ iiitriest tliey were seekiiiK to pur-
i-li;i->( Tilt unveriiinent of New York and Mass"
achnseUs liavinK. respectively, the one exchisive
rivjhtof pre-emption and the other the jurisdic-
tion incident to sovereiiruty. a constructive title
ceded to us by Eunland by the treaty of 1783, it
havinx orivrinally vested in her. by discovery, a
kind of title con.sidered by the nations of Europe
in their practice as no way inferior to the risjht
by concpiest.
The purchasers were then extinguishinK a
piisscssory rijfht. and it would have been more
natural and i)erhaps safer to have done so on the
soil the.\' were then purchasing of the occupants.
41
name was Longstring. He remained
at this place some time a month.
He had a white boy with him at
this place, then upwards of twenty
years old. who had been taken a
captive when young and his friends
from the North riv^r came on here
to induce him to leave the Indian
chief and return to his relatives,
and were at length successful. He
always walked by the side of the
chief, dressed in the same mode and
with the same kind of medal or brooch
upon the breast, and the same or-
naments. The Indian chiefs son
had not the same privilege; he
walked behind. The Indian chief
appeared once a week in full dress
and with considerable parade.
I saw the interview when the
father of the young man came from
the North river to reclaim his son.
I saw the parting of the young man
with his Indian father and mother.
They were all bathod in tears,, and
it was very affecting. The young
man said that they had been as
kind as white parents could have
been to him, that h-^ had never even
had the burden of carrying a deer
skin from the hunting ground. His
arm was around his Indian mother's
neck and he wept bitterly.
The parting occurred near the
bank of the river where Paige street
intersects River street in the upjier
l)art of the village.*
*Note by Judge Avery. — The practice of the Iii-
tliaiis was to adopt youiiK captives into some
family of the tribes. It was Renerally done when
there had been a death in the family of some
favorite child, the foster child being received
into the place of the deceased and treated with
the ntmost kindness and attention. The ro-
mantic case of Mary Jamieson and that exceed-
ingly romantic and interesting case of Frances
Slocum, taken captive from the Susquehanna
valley, near Wyoming, are in point. Undoubt-
edly Queen Esther's was al.so a similar cast.
.\fter thus having adopted a child they con-
sidered it displeasing to the C.reat Sjiirit to suf-
fer a separation, which will account for the foster
parents clinging in this instance with such per-
tinacity to the ado])ted child.
42
DR. SAMUEL TINKHAM.
Dr. Samuel Tinkham was the first
man educated and graduated from a
college to settle in Owego. He was a
graduate of Dartmouth. He was born
at Middleboro, Mass., July 17, 1769,
and came to Owego in 1792. He was
the first physician to settle in this
vicinity. He settled in the town of
Tioga in what was later known as
Goodrich settlement. He lived in a
house which stood on the hillside
north of the highway which runs
parallel with the Erie and Lehigh Val-
ley railroads. It was a little above the
railroad crossing. He lived there un-
til 1804, a short time previous to
his death. All of his three
children were born there. When he
removed to Owego he lived in the
house on the south side of Front
street, which was built by .James Mc-
Master, which has already been men-
tioned in these papers. Dr. Tinkham
built an office on the opposite side of
the street, which was after his death
occupied as a land office by James
Pumpelly.
In addition to practising medicine
Dr. Tinkham kept a general country
store in a building on the bank of the
river, on the second lot west of where
the bridge now crosses at the foot of
Court street. This store stood on
land owned by Col. David Pixley, his
father-in-law. In 1803 Dr. Tinkham
purchased the property of Col. Pixley.
It occupied the ground on which the
aijproach to the bridge now is and
extended down the river below Acad-
emy street.
Dr. Tinkham ))urchased other real
estate much of which is within the
43
present limits of tliis village. One of
the largest pieces was lot Xo. 2 in the
old Owego town plot. Its north
boundary started from about where
the brick school building stands in
Temple street and extended west in
a direct line to the Owego creek
striking it at the head of the canal
which supplies the electric light
works with water. The south line be-
gan on the north bank of the Susque-
hanna river, a little below Academy
street, and ran parallel with the nortli
line of the lot to the creek. The
creek was the west line, and the east
line extended diagonally from the
Temple street school house directly
south to the northwest corner of the
park and thence on to the river be-
low Academy street. This land Dr.
Tinkham purchased in September,
1792, for about $250 of the loan offi-
cers of Tioga county. It contained
100 acres, less lo acres in the south-
east corner which had been sold by
Amos Draper to Mason Wattles.
Dr. Tinkham's store and a dwelling
house were side by side under the
same roof in a long building fronting
on the public square. While conduc-
ting the store Dr. Tinkham lived all
the time in the town of Tioga until
1804.
Dr. Tinkham died twelve years af-
ter his coming to tnis county. In
September, 1804, he went to New
York to purchase goods for his store,
and when he returned he found that
a malignant and contagious fever had
broken out, which other physicians
did not understand. He was called
to the house of Peter Wilson, two
miles above Newark Valley village,
on a |)rofessional visit. On his re-
44
turn he was taken ill with the fever
and was unable to sit in his saddle, so
he stopped at the log house of Ben-
jamin Sparrow (the first house below
the present north line of the town of
Owego, on the west side of the high-
way), where he grew rapidly worse
and soon died. The date of his death
was Sunday, Sept. 30, 1804. He was
only 35 years of age.
While living in the town of Tioga
he married Mary Pixley, the only
daughter of Col. David Pixley, about
the year 1793. At that time in this
sparsely settled country there were
few clergymen and no magistrates.
It is said that Dr. Tinkham and Miss
Pixley rode on horseback down the
river t6 Tioga Point (now Athens.
Pa.), where sitting on horseback the
marriage ceremony was performed by
a justice of the peace, who stood at
the door of his house. On April 7,
1805, six months after Dr. Tinkham's
death, his widow was married to
James Pumpelly, at Owego.
Dr. Tinkham was a descendant in
the fifth generation of Miles Standish.
who came to America in the "May-
flower" in 1620.
Miles Standish's son, Alexander
Standish.married Sarah Alden, daugh-
ter of John Alden, who also came in
the "Mayflower."
Their son, Ebenezer Standish, mar-
ried Hannah Sturtevant.
Their son, Moses Standish, of
Plympton, Mass., married Rachel
Cobb.
Their daughter, Sarah Standish. of
Halifax, Mass., married Ephraim
Tinitham, and their son was Dr. Sam-
uel Tinkham. The children of
Ephraim Tinkham were as follows:
45
1. Abigail Tinl^liam. l)oni 20 July.
175S. Married Caleb Leach, of Ply-
mouth, Mass., who came to Owego in
1806. She died July 2. 1818.
2. Samuel, died when two vears
old.
0. Joshua Tinkham.
4. Sarah Tinkham. b 11 Sei)t.,17<i;;.
Married Peter Wood and came to
Owego. Their daughter. Patience,
married Sylvester Farnham.
5. Ejjhraim Tinkham.
6. Susanna Tinkham.
7. Dr. Samuel Tinkham.
Mrs. Sarah E. Gibson, of this vil-
lage, a granddaughter of Dr. Samuel
Tinkham, owns her grandmother,Mrs.
Mary (Pixley) Tinkham's. family
bible. It was i)rinted in Edinburg.
Scotland, in 17;i:!. and contains the
record of her children as follows:
1. Sarah Emilv Tinkliain, born
Jan. 19. 170.").
2. Standish t'.eorge Tinkham, born
May 29. 179:).
:■!. David Tinkham. born Nov. 22,
180^!.
Sarah Emily Tinkham was the fir.st
wife of William Pumiielly to whom
she was married in June, isu. Slie
died in Owego March ?.l. 1822. leav-
ing one child. Emily S. Pumpelly. who
liecame the first wife of William H.
Piatt.
Standish George Tinkham was later
known as Samuel Standish Tinkham.
March 20, 1836, he married Lois Wil-
loughby, and died Nov. is, 1873. He
wa.s a merchant and a miller. He
left one son. Dr. James H. Tinkham.
a surgeon in the United States navy,
who died June 2, 1879, unmarried.
David Pixley Tinkham n^arricd
June 8. 1826, Harriet G. Drake, daugh-
ter of Judge John R. Dralce and
died in Owego August 10. is:;6, leav-
ing three children, Sarah V:.. who was
46
married to Edward G. Gibson ; Ari-
anna A., who became the wife of Gen.
Wm. P. Innes, and John F. Tinkhani.
Although a college graduate he fol-
lowed mercantile pursuits. He kept
a general country store in a wooden
building which stood at the northwest
corner of Front and Lake streets.
This store was moved to the west side
of North avenue, nearly opposite
South Depot street, where it was oc-
cupied for several years as a dwelling
house by Edward W. Raynsford, and
a few years ago was converted into a
hotel and called the European house.
In its place on the Lake-Front street
corner Rollin block was built, which
was burned in the great Are of 1S4^).
Dr. Samuel Tinkham has been de-
scribed as a man of upright character,
cordial and unassuming in his man-
ners. In 1803 he was elected treas-
urer of Tioga county and held that of-
fice at the time of his death.
CALEB LEACH.
Nearly all the earliest settlers of
Owe go had been soldiers in the revo-
lutionary war, and some of them •
were commissioned officers. Caleb
Leach who came here in 1806, saw
service in that war. He was born in
1755 at Plymouth, Mass., and was the
eldest son of Peter Leach, who is sup-
posed to have come from England
and who died at Halifax, Mass..
in 1744.
In early life Caleb Leach, who was
possessed of considerable inventive
genius, was apprenticed to a watch
maker. July 8, 1775, when twenty
years of age, he enlisted from Bridge-
water for eight months in Capt.
James Keith's company in the 28th
regiment, comiiianded by Col. Paul D.
Sargent. At the expiration of his
term of service he re-enlisted for one
year, and marched into Boston in
1776. He was taken ill with small
pox and sent to Brooklyn hospital.
Upon his recovery he marched to
Hell Gate, where his company had a
skirmish with the British troops. At
White Plains he was taken ill with
bilious fever and was sent to Stam-
ford hospital, and thence home on a
furlough. Sept. 10, 1777, he again en-
listed at Halifax in Lieut. .Tesse Stur-
devanfs company, marching to Al-
l)any, N. Y., to guard military stores,
and while there was transferred to
Capt. Amos Cogswell's company in
Col. James Wesson's Eight Massachu-
setts Continental line. They mar,ched
to near Trenton, N. J., then to White
Marsh, Pa., and thence to Valley
Forge, where they joined Gen. Wash-
ington's army and wintered. He
served three years in Col. Wesson's
regiment, the last ten months being
sergeant in charge of field armory,
and was discharged Sept. 10, 1780.
Upon leaving the army Mr. Leach
returned to Halifax and resumed
business as a watch and clock makei-.
While thus engaged he made the first
orrery that was ever made in America.
This orrery was presented to Brown
university by Dr. Fobes, who was
pastor of a church at Rayham, Mass.,
and at the same time a lecturer be-
fore the university.
In 17!:t6, with .Joshua Thomas and
others, he organized the Plymouth
aqueduct company and constructed
the works, which are said to have
l)een the first water-works construct-
4H
ed in America, and which continued
to furnish water to Plymouth until
1855. These works he built under
contract, using conduits, bored out to
from two to four inches in diameter.
For boring these logs he invented the
screw auger and the machine for
which he received a patent from the
United States, dated April 13. 1797, to
run fourteen years. The patent was
signed by .John Adams, president.
The first screw auger he invented is
preserved in Plymouth Hall, with the
name of the blacksmith who made it
for him attached.
In 1799, at the solicitation of Aaron
Burr, DeWitt Clinton and others, he
went to New York city and built the
^Manhattan water-works, upon whose
charter the Manhattan bank was
founded. He was superintendent of
these water-works until his removal
to Owego in 1806.
One day in the fall of 1906 some
laborers were excavating a trench at
the Intersection of Wall and Water
streets when they unearthed a black-
ened log of wood, with a hole bored
throught it. There was some specula-
tion as to what it had been used for,
but finally Guy Duval, of Brooklyn,
whose office was near there, inden-
tified it as one of the oak pipes of the
Manhattan water company. It was as
sound as when laid a century pre-
vious. He had it sawed into sections
and each section bound with brass,
one of which he gave to editor of the
Brooklyn Eagle, labelled as follows:
"Section of one of the first water
i)ipes laid in New York by the Man-
hattan company in 1779, dug up at
Wall and Water streets in 1806. Pre-
49
stilted to Dr. St. Clair McKelway by
Guy Duval." In James Parton"s "Life
of Aaron Burr" may be found an in-
teresting account of tlie l)itter par-
tisan fight between the Federalists
and Re])ublicans over the establish-
ment of the Manhattan bank, to ac-
complish which the water-works were
built.
In ISOO and 1801 Mr. Leach built
the first Fairmount water-works in
Philadelphia. In 1803 he was inter-
ested in the .Jamaica Pond Aqueduct
company of Boston. In constructing
water-works lAIr. Leach became pos-
sessed of what was considered hi
those days a handsome competence.
Mr. Leach and his brother-in-law.
Dr. Samuel Tinkham,who had settled
at Owego in 1792, had purchased land
here jointly, and Dr. Tinkham was,
probably, influential in inducing Mr.
Leach to come here. In a letter writ-
ten by him to Mr. Leach, dated Sept.
Tj, 1801, Dr. Tinkham writes: The
deed of your lot is made out and will
be completed in a few days. The
crops on the farm are tolerably
good. Wheat is likely to be plenty
in this country this season, and we
hear that it bears a good price down
the river. If you should think proper
to make sale of your farm I believe
there will be an opportunity within
a twelve month.
This farm of 253 acres in the town
of Tioga was sold by Col. David Pix-
ley June 30, 1800, to Polly Tinkham
(Dr. Samuel Tinkham'swife and Col.
Pixley's daughter) for a consideration
of $100. The same property was
deeded Aug. 7, 1800 by Dr. Tinkham
to Caleb Leach, consideration $l,r).")0.
April 2.J. 180G, Mr. Leach bought oi:'
Henry Stewart 140 acres of land on
the Owego creek, partly in the town
of Tioga, to which he added other
land in IS] 2. There he built in 1809
a grist mill, saw mill, woollen mill.and
a distillery. The distillery he soon dis-
mantled and abandoned. The saw
mill was burned later, and the wool-
len mill was burned in 1S.55.
When Mr. I^each came to Owego
he lived in the building on the south
side of Front street, opposite the
park, in a part of which was Dr.
Tinkham"s store, and remained there
until 1809 when he built the mills
and his residence in the town of Tio-
ga. The house stood on the west
side of the highway west of the mills.
It was rebuilt about 1822 and re-
mained there until this year (1907)
when it was torn down.
A few years after the death of his
wife Mr. l^each divided his property
among his children, reserving a
small income, and retired from busi-
ness. For his service in the army
he received a pension dated March
4, 1831, of $96.66 a year. At about
this time he went to Utica to live with
his youngest son. Dr. Ebenezer Leach,
where he died March 18, 1837, aged
82 years. His body was buried in the
Friends' burying ground at New Hart-
ford, about four miles from Utica.
Caleb Leach and Abigail Tinkham.
daughter of Ephraim Tinkham, of
Aliddleboro, Mass., were married Jan.
17, 1782, at Plympton, Mass. She died
July 2, 1818. Their children were as
follows:
1. Ebenezer Leach born 3 Sept.,
1782; died 31 January, 1796.
51
2. Abigail J.eacli born T.t March.
1785; died 24 Dec, 1795.
3. Dr. Caleb Leach. .Ir., born 17
Nov., 1786: married Harriet Duane. of
Owego.
4. Ephraini T^each born 10 Oct.,
1788 at Plymouth, Mass.; married
Sophia Jones, of Owego, 4 Jan., 181:i.
Died February 19, 1855. On the day
of his funeral the annual festival of
the Pioneer Historical Association of
the Susquehanna Valley was being
held at Ahwaga hall. Judge Avery an-
nounced his death and said that the
funeral procession would arrive fro:u
Tioga at the Presbyterian churcli
yard at o :'.',() o'clock when his ac-
quaintances and friends would have
an opportunity of paying the last tri-
bute of respect to his memor,\-.
Ephraim Leach was a man of scien-
tific attainments. He planned and
constructed the first bridge across
the river at the foot of Court street
in 182S and he designed and con-
structed the first fire engine used in
Owego, in 1S:1(), He conducted Leach's
mills until his death, after which one
of his sons, Stephen W. Leach, con-
ducted them until Stephen's death
in April, 1899.
fi. Samuel Tinkham Leach, born
19 Sept.. 1792; married Clarissa Hart,
of Candor; died 22 May, 1838.
7. Dr. Ebenezer Leach (2) born
IS March, 1797; married Olive Fos-
ter, of New Hartford, X. Y.; died at
Utica 21 July, 1861.
8. Abigail Leach (2) bf)rn 6 Oct..
1S(I2; died 5 August, ISo:!.
CAPT. MASOX WATTLES.
The first man to engage in the mer-
cantile business in Owego after the
coming of the white people from the
east was Cai)t. Mason Wattles. He
fame with his wife and two small
daughters from the town of Franklin,
Otsego county. X. Y., in 1792. the
same year that Dr. Samuel Tinkham
came from Massachusetts. He was
then forty years of age. and he had
52
accumulated considerable wealth. The
Wattles were refined and cultivated
l)eople.
Captain Wattles was born ilarch
3, 1752, in New Hampshire, but the
place of his birth i« not known. At
the time of his enlistment in the Con-
tinental army in 1775 he was enrolled
as a resident of Newcastle, Maine.
His military record, as obtained from
Massachusetts archives, as follows:
June 24, 1775, he was a member of
Capt. Samuel Cobb's company in Col.
Thomas Nixon's Fourth Massachu-
setts regiment of infantry. In August
he was a sergeant in the same com-
pany. In November he had been pro-
moted to ensign From Jan. 7, 1777, to
Dec. 31, 1779, he ranked as a lieutenant
in the Sixth Massachusetts infantry. He
was taken a prisoner of v/ar May 17,
1779. While thus a prisoner in the
hands of the British he was deprived
of any opportunity for further pro-
motion, but in June, 1781, having been
exchanged and having rejoined his
regiment, in which there was a
vacancy, he was promoted to captain,
liis api)ointment to date from April
13, 1780. His name last appears in a
return of officers entitled to the com-
mutation of five years' full pay in lieu
of half pay, agreeable to act of con-
gress of March 22, 1783; rank, caji-
tain Sixth Massachusetts regiment,
commanded by Col. Benjamin. Tupjx r.
After the revolutionary war he was
appointed major in a regiment of Mas-
sachusetts state militia. After his re-
moval to Otsego county, N. Y., he was
commissioned captain of a company
of light infantry in 1792. He resigned
this captaincy soon afterward upon
removing to Owego.
53
When Capt. Wattles came to Owegi)
he invested largely in real estate, and
at one time owned what is now some
of the most valuable land in the vil-
lage, occupied by brick blocks and
handsome residences. He was the
owner of the entire square now
bounded by Front, Main, Lake, and
Court streets, with the exception of
the ground occupied by the county
buildings and the old academy. He
also owned an acre lot at the north-
east corner of Main street and North
avenue, on which Otis S. Beach's
drug store and other buildings now
stand, and an acre at the northeast
corner of Front and Lake streets, now
occupied by \V. B. Partridge's drug
store and other buildings. The tier
of lots on both sides of Front street
extending from Church street to
Paige street was also his property,
and he owned many other lots in
other parts of the village, which are
now occupied by valuable residences.
The Wattles family lived in a house
which Capt. Wattles built on the
north side of Main street at what is
now the northeast corner of that
street and Central avenue. Tliis
liouse was afterward the residence of
.Judge Latham A. Burrows, and later
of David P. Tinkhani. It was occu-
liied by Mr. Tinkham's widow, Mrs.
Harriet G. Tinkham. until it was re-
moved in INIKi, when the Park hotel
was built in its place.
It is not known where Cai)t. \\':\t-
tles's store was situated, but it wns.
probably, on the bank of the riv( r
either opposite or below Court strec t.
His business investments proved un-
fortunate for him, and in P\'l)i-uar.\-.
54
1799, his real estate vvas seized by the
sheriff for a debt of £578 for goods
purchased from Jacob Conkline, a
New York merchant. In November,
1802, the property was all deeded by
Conkline and Captain Wattles to
Robert Bowne, another New York
merchant, who sold goods to other
Owego merchants of that time and
who was also, probably, a creditor.
Capt. Wattles remained in Owego
several years, during a portion of
which time he held the office of jus-
tice of the peace and also practised
law. He was an associate judge of
Broome county from 1807 to 1812.
Owego was at that time a
part of Broome county.
From March 28, 1806, to March 22.
1822, the present towns of Newark
Valley, Owego, Richford, and Berk-
shire were a part of Broome county.
Capt. Wattles was generally known
here as Judge \^attles. He also held
the office of clerk of Broome county
from Feb. IS, 1811 to Nov. 9, 1812.
In April, 1811, Capt. Wattles pur-
chased a farm of 128 acres in the
town of Nanticoke, Broome county,
and later removed there. He was liv-
ing there as late as Feb. 1, 1814,
when he made his will. Later he re-
moved to New York city, where he
died July 16, 1819.
The Wattles descent is as follows-
John Wattles married Judith Fitch
in 1722.
Their second son. Mason Wattles
(1), was born June 2.5, 1727; married
Irene Chandler June 29, 1747.
Their second son. Mason Wattles
(2), was born March 3, 1752.
Capt. Mason Wattles was married
about 1783-5 with Catherine Hough-
ton. They had two daughters. Eliza
55
A. Wattles, the elder, was the first
wife of Samuel j\I. Avery, of Naiiti-
eoke, w-ho died at Jenksville in 18S8.
Cornelia Wattles, the younger daugh-
ter, was married to John W. Oddie
about the year 1805.
There was another ^Mason Wattles
in Broome county, Col. Mason Wattles,
said to have been a nephew of Capt.
Wattles, and who derived his title of
colonel from his having been colonel
in the 20th regiment of artillery, to
which he was promoted from captain
in 1822. His only daughter, Sarah
Wattles, w^as married to Dr. .John W.
Knapp, of Harford, N. Y„ in 1844.
Col. Wattles lived at Lisle. He had a
son. Harry J. Wattles, whose widow
is still living at Killawog.
THOMAS DUANE.
Thomas Duane, who was one of the
first merchants in Owego, is su])-
posed to have been of French extrac-
tion. He came here from King-
ston, Pa., in 1800. His wife was the
widow of an officer in the continential
army who was killed in the massacre
at Wyoming by the Indians and
"tories" on July 3, 1778.
Obadiah Gore, one of the most
])rominent men of Wyoming, was one
of the aged men left in Forty Fort,
for its defence, while the settlers
marched out to meet the enemy.
Five of Gore's sons went out to the
conflict. Three were slain, as were
also his sons-in-law. John Murfee
and Timothy Pierce.
Timothy Pierce, who held a com-
mission as lieutenant in the regular
army, had ridden forty miles through
the Great swamp the night previous
and come to join his friends on the
56
battle field. His wife was Hannali
Gore, Obadiah Gore's daughter. At
the time of the massacre she, with
her two daughters, Clarissa Pierce,
who was three years and nine months
old, and Polly Pierce, who was only
nineteen months of age, had taken
refuge with the rest of the women in
the fort, while the men went forth to
meet the enemy.
Ten years subsequent to the mas-
sacre, March 12, 17SS, Lieutenant
Timothy Pierce's widow, Hannah
Pierce, became the wife of Thomas
Duane.
When Mr. Duane came in 1800 with
his family to Owego, he built his store
on a lot he had purchased on the
south side of Front street, extending
from the east line of Lake street one-
half the distance to Church street.
The lumber for the construction of
this store was brought up the river
from Wilkes-Barre in keel-bottomed
boats, which were polled up with long
setting-poles, placed against the shoul-
ders of the men who polled the boats.
This was tedious and laborious work,
and the boats were propelled very
slowly, but it was the only way of
transportation then. The family also
came in one of these boats.
The store was built on the bank of
the river. It was painted yellow and
had a lean-to in the rear. One side of
the building was occupied as a store
and the other side as a residence by
the family, as was customary in those
days. In the centre of the building
was a huge chimney. Here the Duanes
lived for several years.
Later in life Thomas Duane was
generally known as .Judge Duane. In
August, ISll, his step-daughter, Polly
Pierce, purchased of John Hollenback
two acres of land, a small portion of
lot No. 25, on the bank of the Susque-
hanna river in the eastern part of this
village and built thereon a hous:.'. The
house stood about where Victor P.
Decker's house now stands, a little
east of the small creek, known for
many years as Hollenback"s creek,
which em])ties into the river, This
house is worthy of some notice, for it
was then the most pretentious one in
Owego.
Nearly all the best of the early
houses were large rectangular build-
ings, with a wide hall throught the
middle from front to rear, with no
porches, sometimes with a small
stoop, but usually v/ithout any. This
house had the usual hall through the
centre, and it had also wings at each
side. There was a high double porch
at the front extending up nearly to
the roof. On the south side was a
high piazza, commanding a view of
the most beautiful part of the river.
Here .Judge Duane lived with his fam-
ily in good style for several years.
When Polly Pierce died in 181.5 she
left a will in which she devised this
property to her half-brother, Timothy
Pierce Duane, who the next year sold
it to John H. Avery. It passed through
the ownership of several ijersons af-
terward, and in 18.32 it again became
the property of John Hollenback.
This house was for several years
used as a tavern, where river raftmen
sometime stayed while their rafts and
arks were tied up in the Hollenback
eddy for the night. At one time it
was occupied by a canal boat captain
5S
named Butler. One night previous to
tlie day on which he was about to
leave Owego on one of his periodical
trips he dreamed that he fell over-
board from a canal boat and was
drowned. The dream made such an
impression upon him that in the
morning he narrated it to his wife.
She v/as considerably affected, and
endeavored to dissuade him from go-
ing away. He laughed at her fears
and went on his way. A few days af-
terward she received information of
his death, which had happened in
every respect exactly as it had been
presented to him in his dream.
The house was for several years
uninhabited, and was commonly
known as "the haunted house." Su-
perstitious people believed that it was
haunted by the ghost of Butler. Mys-
terious noises were said to have been
heard there at night and lights were
seen to flash from its windows.
Less credulous people avered that the
lights and noises which had been
seen by belated passers-by passing
along the highway, were caused by
])eople of not particularly reputable
character, who consorted there at
night.
The building had been deserted
about thirty years when it was
burned. The fire is said to have been
set by an incendiary, who wanted to
give the firemen a run. Mr. Hollen-
back offered a reward of $50 for the
arrest and conviction of the incen-
diary, but no one was arrested, al-
though a certain person was sus-
pected of having caused the fire.
Judge Duane later removed to a
farm of twenty acres, west of the lit-
59
tie Nanticoke creek, a part of the
farm now occupied by ]\Irs. Herman
M. Tilbury and her family, where he
died October 14, 1S21. His wife had
died a few days previous, on the oth
of the same month. Their bodies
were buried on this farm between the
highway and the river. The land has
been cultivated many years and there
is now nothing left to indicate where
the graves were made.
The genealogy of the Duune family
is as follows:
Thomas Duane, born IT'i'.i. .Married
Hannah Pierce 12 March, ITSS. Died
in Owego 14 October, 1821. His wife
was born in 1751 and died in Owego
5 October, 1S21. Their children were:
1. Henry W. Duane, commonly
known as Harry Duane, born 17 Aug.,
1789. Died in Owego 21 May, 1816,
unmarried.
2. Harriet Duane, born 19 May,
1792. Married Caleb Leach, .Jr. She
died 7 Oct., 1818. Their children were
Harry Leach, unmarried. Died and
was buried at sea. Mary T.,each mar-
ried Lucius Truman, of Owego. Har-
riet married George S. Leonard, of
Owego, and died 1 Jan. 1S74.
?,. Timothy Pierce Duane born 11
Sept. 1794. He was a farmer. Mar-
ried Laura Steele, daughter of Aaron
Steele, 20 Oct.. 1822. He died at
South Owego 11 August. 1872. She
died 13, Oct., 1775. Their children
were: Mary P. and En^ily Duane,
unmarried. Hannah Duane, married
William .Tune. Burr Duane, unmar-
ried. .Tohn Duane. Rebecca Duane.
married Jerome B. Richardson.
Henry Wm. Duane, Thomas Duane's
eldest son, was a clerk in his father's
store. He was in comjiany with Ca])t.
Jesse McQuigg in the mercantile
business in 1812 and for a few year-;
afterward. McQnigg & Duane's store
was in a wooden building on tlie west
60
side of T^ake street, two doors north
of Front street. They failed in busi-
ness.
Polly Pierce was born at Wyoming,
Pa., 14 Dec, 1776, and died in Owe-
go 19 June, 1815. Her sister, Clarissa,
was born at Wj^oming 11 Oct., 1774.
and died 26 Jan., 1805. Her husband's
name was White. They were married
about 1796. Their children were Ed-
win, Polly, Timothy Pierce, and John
P. White.
GEN. DANIEL CRUGER.
These sketches would be incom-
plete without the name of Gen. Daniel
Cruger being included. His sojourn
here was brief, but he was the first
editor and newspaper publisher in
this part of the state when much of
it was a forest, and he later became
one of the most prominent lawyers
in this state. He was of sufficient im-
portance to be included with William
L. Marcy, Daniel S. Dickinson and
thirty other prominent members of
the New York bar in L. B. Proctor's
"The Bench and the Bar of New
York," a volume of 779 pages, twenty
of which are given to Gen. Cruger.
(!en. Cruger's ancestors were
Huguenots, who after the massacre of
St.Bartholomew escaped from France.
The branch of the family from which
he descended settled in Holstein. His
father, whose name was also Daniel
Cruger, came to America in 1768 and
settled at Sunbury, Pa., where Gen.
Cruger was born Dec. 22, 1780. Soon
after his birth the family removed to
Newtown (now Elmira) where the
father engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness.
When young Cruger was thirteen
GEN. DANIEL CRUGER.
From a photograph from a painting owned by
Gen. Cruger's granddaughter, Mrs. Benjamin
Dorrance, of Dorranceton, Pa.
61
years of age. air. Webster, one of
the earliest printers in Albany, came
to Newtown to visit relatives. He saw
young Cruger, and was attracted to
him by the boy's lively intelligence,
vivacity, and activity. He induced
the elder Cruger to apprentice his son
to him for the purpose of learning the
printing business.
Having learned his trade and oli-
tained all that could be learned in the
printing business, young Cruger came
to southern New York with a rather
limited printing outfit, but one ade-
quate to the needs of his business,
and established a newspaper at old
Chenango village, a small settlement
which was at that time on the west
side of the Chenango river, about one
mile above the present city of Bing-
hamton. This settlement was com-
menced in 11',)?, or 1794, and no settle-
ment was thought of where Bingham-
ton now is before the year 1799.
The first number of the paper,
which was called "The American Con-
stUation," was, published Nov. 22,
1800, and at that time Gen. Cruger was
only nineteen years of age. Although
the paper was printed at old Che-
anngo, it was dated "Union," for the
reason that the post office at Union
was for a long time the only one in
that part of the country.
As in 1801 Owego had become the
only settlement in this part of the
state that had grown to any import-
ance young Cruger removed his news-
paper establishment here that year.
He established his office in a lean-to
in the rear of a house which stood on
the north side of Front street, where
Lewis H. Leonard's residence now
stands. The house was a double one.
62
occupied by Eleazer Dana, one of the
early lawyers in Owego, on one side,
and by Luke B. Winship on the other,
and he boarded with the Winships.
Here he printed the paper until Aug-
ust, 1803, when he sold it to Stephen
Mack and Henry Steward, who changed
tne name to "The American Farmer."
Young Cruger's father had in the
mean time removed to Bath, Steuben
county, and after the sale of his paper
the son went to Bath, where he worked
for a time at the printer's trade. It
was fortunate for his future prospects
that the work proved injurious to his
health, as he was compelled to re-
nounce it, and he entered the office of
Gen. S. S. Haight as a law student.
After he was admitted to the bar,
about the year 1806, he became Gen.
Haight's law partner. He soon be-
came one of the leading lawyers of
the Steuben county bar.
In 1806 Gen. Cruger was appointed
an adjutant in the Steuben county
regiment of militia which was com-
manded by Col. Geo. McCuIlock. In
1808 he was commissioned second
major in the regiment commanded by
T.ieut.-Col. Samuel S. Haight, his law
partner.
In 1812 he went with Gen.McClure's
brigade to the northern frontier. Soon
after he reached the seat of war. Gen.
McClure, understanding that certain
orders directed him to burn the town
of Newark, in Canada, he took the
necessary steps to obey. Major
Cruger and Mr. Spencer, another of-
ficer, however, dissented from the
view of the order taken by Gen. Mc-
Clure, and objected to burning the
town. About this time ]\Ir. Spencer
63
was called home by illness in his fam-
ily, and major Cruger stood alone in
his opposition. The general therefore
prepared to carry out his construction
of the order, and major Cruger was
ordered to enter the town with a flag
of truce and inform the "inhabitants
of the coming conflagration." He
obeyed the order, entered the town
with an orderly, and after giving the
usual notice, he and his orderly as-
sited the inhabitants in removing
their effects, and the town was soon
in flames.
In 1816 Col. Haight was promoted
to brigadier-general, and major
Cruger was made lieutenant-general
of the regiment In 1819 he was again
promoted to major general of the 2.5th
division of infantry. In 1822 he re-
signed.
In 1813 he was elected by the Dem-
ocrats of Allegany and Steuben
counties to the assembly, and he was
re-elected four times thereafter. In
1816 he was elected speaker of the
assembly, after a bitter contest, by a
majority of one vote. His popularity
as speaker was such that in the fall
of 1816 he was nominated to con-
gress in the Twentieth congressional
district and elected. He was a promi-
nent member of the house.
April 17, 1815, he was appointed
district attorney of the Seventh dis-
trict, consisting of the counties of
Steuben, Allegany, and Tioga. This
office was then one of the most im-
portant in the state, second only to
that of attorney-general. There were
at this time twelve district attorneys,
the state being divided into twelve
districts, each district embracing with-
64
in its jurisdiction several counties.
He was district attorney of the Sev-
enth district until June 11, 1S18, and
from that date he continued as dis-
trict attorney of Steuben county until
February 19, 1821.
Gen. Cruger's first wife was Han-
nah Clement, of Bath. They were
married about 1806. She died in 1828.
While in congress. Gen. Cruger be-
came acquainted with Mrs. Lydia
Shepard, -of Wheeling, Va., who was
in Washington trying to collect a
claim of - her deceased husband
against the government. He subse-
quently went to Wheeling, where
they were married in 1833. After his
marriage, he gave himself up entirely
to agricultural pursuits and the man-
agement of his wife's property. June
12, 1843, while attending a meeting of
the directors of the Wheeling bank,
he was stricken with apoplexy and
died within a few moments. His body
was buried in Stone Church ceme-
tery at Elm Grove, Ohio county, Va.
ST-EPHEN MACK.
Judge Stephen Mack, who during his
residence of fifteen years in Owego
was one of its most active and promi-
nent citizens, was born at New Marl-
borough, Mass., March 20, 176.5. He
was a son of Orlando Mack, of Hebron,
Conn., and great grandson of John
Mack, who came from Scotland to
America about 1680 and settled at
Lyme, Conn. Two older brothers of
Stephen Mack served in the Continen-
tal army and became distinguished of-
ficers. One died a prisoner of war in
a fortress in Canada.
In early life Judge Mack was a mer-
chant. In lino he kept a general
JUDGE STEPHEN MACK.
65
country store at Cooperstown, N. Y.
The particulars of his coming to Owe-
go, as given to the writer several years
ago by his son-in-law, John Carmi-
chael, were as follows:
While conducting his mercantile bus-
iness at Cooperstown, he made a con-
ract with the United States govern-
ment to furnish about 100,000 spars, to
l)e delivered at Baltimore, Md. He pur-
chased the timber in the winter, pay-
ing for it in goods from his store. In
March, 1799, while about to start it
down the river there came a great
freshet, carrying away and scattering
along the stream all of his timber. He
came down the river to Owego in quest
of his property, but ascertaining that
it would cost him as much to secure it
as it would be worth when gathered to-
gether again, he abandoned his search.
The loss of his timber made him a
bankru])t.
During his sojourn in Owego he had
liecome impressed with the beauty of
the Susquehanna valley and its ap-
parent advantages to settlers, and he
decided to come here to live. He was
a man of great vigor, enterinise, and
ability, and he at once became an
active and ])rominent citizen. He en-
gaged in the mercantile business, in
which he was successful.
In 1803 Judge Mack and Henry
Steward purchased of Daniel Cruger,
Jr., "The American Constellation," a
newspaper that Mr. Cruger had printed
here two years. He changed the name
to "The American Parmer," issuing the
first number under that name August
19, 1803. He published the paper
eleven years until his death.
Henry Steward was a printer and
66
conducted the mechanical department
of the paper. Judge Mack was the edi-
tor. His editorial duties were not par-
ticularly arduous, and did not interfere
with his duties as a public officer. The
printing office was for a short time in
a small building which stood near the
northeast corner of Front and Court
streets. In 1804 Steward sold his in-
terest in the paper to his partner and
bought land in the fork of the east and
west branches of the Owego creek at
their confluence at Fleraingville and
built a saw mill there.
Judge Mack at aoout this time re-
moved his plant to a little red house,
a story and a half high, which stood on
the north side of Front street, now the
tnird lot east of Church street, owned
by Dr. E. E. Bauer. The building was
on the west side of the lot and the
printing office- was in an unfinished
room in the southeast corner of the
house, up stairs. This house was torn
down in 1826. several years after Judge
Mack's death by John Carmichael, who
built a larger house on the lot, which
was later occupied by Geo. W. Hol-
lenback, and still later by Edward W.
Warner. The house was rebuilt in
190G by its present owner. Dr. Bauer.
Judge Mack during his residence in
this village held various town offices,
constable, assessor, commissioner of
highvvrays, and excise commissioner.
He was for several years a justice of
the peace and was supervisor in 1807,
1808, ISll, and 1812. He was appointed
First Judge of Broome (now Tioga)
county Nov. 9, 1812, by commission of
Gov. Tompkins, and served until his
death.
He died in Owego April 14, 1814,
aged 49 years. His body was buried
67
in the old burying ground in Court
street. Tiie remains were afterward
removed to the Presbyterian yard in
Temple street, and in 1875 to Ever-
green cemetery, where his second wife.
Mary (Serjants) Mack, is also buried.
In Judge Avery's "Susquehanna Val-
ley" papers he thus mentions Judge
Mack: "In all his official positions
Judge Mack brought to the discharge
of his duties unimijeached integrity of
character, and strong native powers
of discrimination, improved by a good
education. Nor should his good traits
of character, socially, be lost among
the forgotten things of the past. Some
yet live, now aged gentlemen, who
bear uniform witness to the generosit\-
of his disposition, his liberality to
every one in adversity, whom it was in
his power to help, and his marked
amiabiHty of character."
Judge Mack was twice married. His
first wife was Mary Chambers, who
died while they lived at Cooperstown.
Their children were as follows :
1. Elizabeth Mack, born in 17si.
Married Benjamin Benedict, of Delhi,
N. Y. Died 17 Dec., 1863, at the home
of her son-in-law, Putnam Mersereau.
2. Stephen Mack, born 19 Dec, 1784.
Graduated from Yale college in ISD!
and studied law at Delhi, N. Y. Re-
moved in 1S16 to Ithaca, where he
practised law until his death, 17 Jan.,
1857. He was never married.
3. Phoebe Mack, born 29 April, 1788.
She married a man named Crawford.
4. Ebenezer Mack, born 9 May,
1791.
All four of these children were born
at Kinderhook, N. Y.
Judge Mack and his second wife.
Mary Serjants, daughter of Lemuel
Serjants, of Bellows Falls. Vt., were
married in 1797 at Cooperstown. She
68
lived with her son-in-law, John Carnii-
chael, until 1837, and then went to
Ithaca and lived with her son, Horace.
She died 20 Feb., 1S62, in Owego while
visiting at Mr. Carmichael's, and her
body was buried in Evergreen ceme-
tery. Their children were:
1. Hoi-ace Mack, born 20 Jan., 1790.
at Cooperstown. Married Eliza Ann
Ferris, daughter of Judge Joshua Fer-
ris, of Spencer, 19 Jan., 1826.
2. Maria J. Mack, born in Owego
1 July, 1800. Married to John Carmi-
chael 25 Dec, 1824. Died in Owego 22
Sept., 1829.
Ebenezer and Horace Mack both be-
came prominent men in Tompkins
county. Ebenezer Mack learned the
printers' trade, and previous to com-
ing to Owego he was foreman in "The
Columbian" office in New York city.
At the time of Judge Mack's death
Stephen B. Leonard was his partner,
owning one-half of the "American Far-
mer" office. Mr. Leonard changed the
name of the paper to "Owego Gazette'"
and he and Ebenezer Mack became
partners in publishing it in June, 1815.
Mr. Mack remained here until 1816,
when he went to Ithaca and purchased
the "Seneca Republican," now known
as the "Ithaca Journal." He published
the paper with different partners until
December, 1833. He built a paper mill,
conducted a book store, and was for
several years and until his death a
member of the firm of Mack & Andrus.
He represented Tompkins county in
the assembly in 1830, and was senator
from the Sixth senate district from
1834 to 1837, inclusive. He was at one
time state printer. He was offered a
cabinet position by President Martin
VanBuren, but declined it. He wrote a
life of Lafayette, which was published
69
In 1841. He collected a large lil)rary,
which as a gift from him formed a
nucleus for the present ])ul)Iic library
of Ithaca. He died at Ithaca in August.
1S49.
Horace Mack was born at Coopers-
town 20 Jan., 17tt!i, the same year th^
family removed to Owego. He was an
aijprentice in the "American Farmer"
office until after the death of his
father. .Ian. 20, 1815, he w'ks appren-
ticed to Mayor Horatio Ross in the
mercantile business for five years.
He did not serve the full term of his
apprenticeshij), but in 1818 he wi^nt to
Ithaca, where he was a clerk in various
stores until 1825, when he began busi-
ness on his own account. He repre-
sented Tompkins county in the assem-
bly in 1832 and was county clerk from
1850 to 185o. He was president of the
village of Ithaca in 1851. He was a
director in the Toni]»kins county bank
from its organization in 18:!6 until his
death, 10 Sept., 1855.
CAPT. LEMUEL BROWN.
The first tanner in Owego was Caji-
tain Lemuel Brown. He was born at
Stockbridge, Mass., Feb. 1. 1775, and
was the youngest of five sons of
Abraham and Beulah Brown. Abra-
ham Brown was a caiitain of militia
and served in the early part of the
revolutionary war. He died Jan. N,
1777, of small pox, which was com-
municated to him by a letter. His wife
was a daughter of Joseph Patterson,
of Watertown, Mass., and she was his
cousin.
Mrs. Beulah Brown was one of the
si.xty associates in the purchase
of the tract of land known as
the "Boston ten townships.'" She
70
came in 1796 to Brown's Settle-
ment in tlie town of Berkshire
with her five children, when Lemuel
Brown was 21 years of age. Mrs.
Brown was a woman of strong mind
and great vigor. It is related of her
by D. W. Patterson that when she was
nearly eighty years of age she made
eighty cheeses and took care of them
with her own hands.
The local "histories" give the date
of the building of the first tannery in
Owego by Mr. Brown as 1795, but as
the Brown family did not come to this
county until the next year, this is ob-
viously incorrect. He probably
came here in 1797, and he was mar-
ried the next year.
By deed dated Dec. 21, ISOl, and
for a consideration of $75, Capt. Luke
Bates conveyed to Capt.Lemuel Brown
two pieces of land in Owego. One of
these pieces was on the south side of
the highway now known as Front
street and was east of and adjoining
Thomas Duane's house and store lot
and nearly opposite where the Tioga
national bank now is. It extended
about forty-five feet on the street.
The other piece contained one acre
of land and was on the west side of
the old Cayuga road, now known as
.Xorth avenue. It was a little north
of what is now the southeast corner
of George street and North avenue.
After coming to Owego Capt. Brown
married Elizabeth McQuigg, daugh-
ter of the pioneer, Capt. John Mc-
Quigg. He lived in part of a double
house on the Front street lot and
John Murphy, a barber, at one time
occupied the other part as a barber
shop and residence. The building
71
was several years afterward removed
to the lot which is now the north-
west corner of Main street and Spen
cer avenue. It was for several years
occuijied by undesirable tenants. The
last one. in spite of the protests of the
neighbors and the occasional inter-
ference of the village health authori-
ties, persisted in raising his pigs in
that part of the house which is
usually occupied as a kitchen. One
night, between 1852 and lSf)(i,
while the house was tempor-
arily unoccupied, several young men
with saws and axes partly dismantled
it, to prevent a new tenant from mov-
ing in, but the house was so strongly
built that their labor made little im-
pression, and a few nights afterward
some one set fire to the house and it
was burned to the ground, the fare-
men, who were in evident sympathy
with the purpose of the incendiary,
refusing to make any effort to ex-
tinguish the flames.
Capt. Brown's first tannery was
built of logs and is said to have been
on the bank of the river about where
Goodrich's & Co.'s store now stands.
The vats were in the open air.
Whether the tannery was built befor«^
he purchased the property or after-
ward is not known. The vats were
in the open air on the bank of the
river. The high water undermined
the bank and the side of the vats
broke and slid into the river.
At about this time Capt. Brown
built another tannery, a frame build
ing, on his one-acre lot. It stood on
the west side of where the railroad
tracks now are and on the south side
of the ])rivate driveway leading into
72
the Brown farm, and was a story and
a half high. The vats of this tannery
were also in the open air and they
were near whei'e the railroad tracks
are now, and covered with boards, to
keep out the rain.
After Capt. Brown's death, in 181.5,
the tannery was conducted until 1819
by his son, Richard Brown, and Capt.
Brown's brother-in-law, Capt. .lesse
McQuigg. The building was after-
ward used as a place in which to man-
ufacture oar stems for river rafts
during rainy weather, when men
'could not work out of doors. Capt.
Brown's son^ were all river raftsmen.
The building was subsequently moved
to another part of the premises and
converted into a tool house.
Lemuel Brown derived his military
title from his service in the state
militia. In 1800 he was adjutant in
Col. David Pixley's regiment. In 1802
he was promoted to Captain, and in
1807 he was again promoted to second
major in Col. Asa Camp's Broome and
Tioga regiment.
Capt. Brown's oldest brother, John
Brown, was the first man elected su-
pervisor of Owego upon the organiza-
tion of the town April 3, 1800, and he
was re-elected five times, serving six
successive years. Lemuel Brow^n was
also elected town clerk at this first
election and served seven yearsin suc-
cession. He also filled the offices of
l)ound master, fence-viewer, and com-
missioner of highways. In 1805 he
was appointed the first sealer of
weights and measures in Tioga coun-
ty, and he was one of the incorpora-
tors of the old Owego and Ithaca turn-
pike in 1807. .lohn Brown was one of
the first justices of tlie peace in this
town. In October, 1809, he was ap-
pointed a judge of the Broome county
court of common pleas, and held the
office until his death, October 14, 1813.
Lemuel Brown died Nov. 28, 1813,
aged 40 years, 8 months, and 28 days.
The date inscribed on his grave stone
in the Presbyterian church yard is Dec.
•"),1815, which is incorrect. Inscriptions
on tombstones are notoriously un-
truthful. A written obituary of Capt.
Brown, in the possession of his grand-
daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Chatiield,
signed by two of Capt. Brown's sons,
Richard and Abram Brown, and dated
"Owego Village, Dec. 2, 1815, gives the
date of death as Nov. 28, and this also
agrees with the family record.
Lemuel Brown was the first treas-
urer of Friendship lodge, F. and A.
M., of which Capt. IMason Wattles was
the first master, in 1804, and of which
.John Murphy was junior warden. He
was also one of the Royal Arch
masons named in the original war-
rant of New Jerusalem chapter,
granted Feb. 8, 1816.
The children of Capt. Lemuel and
Elizabeth (McQuigg) Brown were as
follows :
1. Richard Brown, born 10 Oct.,
1799. Died in Owego 2 Feb., 1879. He
was unmarried.
2. Abram Brown, born 20 Nov.,
1800. Married Catherine Geotschuis,
who was born 29 Dec, 1810. He died
24 Oct., 1878; she died 9 March, 1881.
Abram Brown was elected overseer
of the poor of the town of Owego in
1845 and served eighteen years.
.3. Robert Brown, bom 14 Aug.,
1802. Died in Owego 2 Feb., 1869.
He was unmarried.
4. Sarah Brown, born 29 March.
1804. Died 23 Dec, 1851. Unmarried.
5. Lemuel Brown, born 14 March,
1806. Died July 5. 1835. Unmarried.
In 1815 he and Dr. Jededlah Fay
formed a partnership in the mercan-
tile business and conducted a general
store in Owego and also established a
branch store at Spencer, which was
then the county seat of Tioga county.
Richard Brown was a clerk in the
Spencer store. They were unsuccess-
ful and failed in business.
6. Ransom Brown, born 22 Nov.,
1808. Was accidently killed while
hunting 13 Dec, 1837. Unmarried.
7. Horatio Brown, born 30 Nov.,
1810. Married Eunice Goodrich,
daughter of Alanson Goodrich. She
was born Nov., 1822. He died at Big
Rapids, Mich., 21 July, 1874, and she
6 June, 1852. His second wife was
Jane Mosher, daughter of Seth
Mosher, of Owego.
8. Eliza Brown, born 4 Feb., 1S13.
Married William Barnes. She died 4
Nov., 1894.
9. Frederick Brown, born 1 May,
1816. :\Iarried Charlotte McQuigg,
daughter of Daniel McQuigg. IS Oct.,
1842. He died in Owego 8 April, 1873,
and she 6 Jan., 1893.
The house built by Capt. Lemuel
Brown in 1801 still stands in a dis-
mantled condition and unoccupied on
the old homestead. It is the only one
of the old farm houses of the kind
now remaining in this village. After
Caiit. Brown's death his widow and
her mother, Mrs. John McQuigg, with
Capt. Jesse McQuigg and Capt.
Brown's children lived there, and
there most of them died.
ELISHA FORSYTH.
One of the first comers to Owego
in the days of its first settlement by
white people was Elisha Forsyth. He
was of Scottish descent, born at
Wyalusing, Pa.. Sept. 10, 1773, a son
of Jonathan Forsyth, of Connecticut,
who purchased land in the Wyoming
valley of Peinusylvauia uudtr the
Connecticut title, and who in the
Wyoming massacre lost everythinji
he owned, escaping with his own life
and the lives of his family. The fam-
ily subsequently returned to Wyom-
ing, where they remained until peace
was declared. Then they removed to
Towanda, Pa., and thence up the Sus-
quehanna river to Choconut, N. Y.,
which was a little distance above the
present village of Union on the
easterly side of the river. The For-
sythes afterward removed to Geneva,
where .Jonathan For.syth died in 178n.
The next year Elisha Forsyth, who
was now sixteen years of age, re-
turned to Choconut, where he attend-
ed school. He was living there in
1794 when he married Freelove Park,
daughter of Capt. Thomas Park, who
was the earliest settler at Park set-
tlement on the west side of the Owe-
go creek, near Flemingville. Previ-
ous to his marriage he worked eight
months at Catskill learning the car-
lienter's trade, and afterward came
to Owego. He assisted in framing
the first frame building erected here,
and he built the first ark made on the
Susquehanna river.
Cai)t. Thomas Park's father was
also named Thomas Park, and there
were four of that name in succession.
He was born in Connecticut March
111. 1744. He came with his family in
the summer of 17S7 to Catskill, N. Y.,
where he lived two years. In the fall
of 1789 he removed to Vestal, Broome
county, and in the spring of 1797 he
came to Park settlement, where he
settled permanently, building a saw
mill and clearing a farm. Capt.
76
Park's wife was Hannah Fiddis.
widow of Hugh Fiddis. They were
married in 1768. They had one son,
Capt. Daniel R. Park, and eight
daughters. When the family came to
Park settlement in 1797, Capt. D. R.
Park was twelve years old. He was
a soldier in the war of 1812. He died
in the town of Candor, April 7, 1874.
Capt. Thomas Park was a sea cap-
tain and privateeersman in the revo-
lutionary war. He died 19 Nov., 1838.
His wife, Hannah Park, was born 25
Jan., 1743, and died 25 June, 1828.
Elisha Forsyth spent the greater
l)art of his life lumbering and farm-
ing. He died at Park settlement
March 1, 1857. His wife, Freelove
Forsyth, who was born 19 Sept., 1775,
died Oct. 21, 1862. The children of
Elisha and Freelove (Park) Forsyth
were as follows:
1. Catherine Forsyth, born IS Sept.,
1795, at Union. Married Nathaniel
Webster. Died 21 Nov.. 1884.
2. George Forsyth, born 2 July.
1798. His first wife was Mary Chap-
man and his second Rachel Puffer.
He died in Owego 5 Oct., 1876.
3. Elisha Forsyth, Jr., born 14
Feb., 1801. Married Wealthy Law-
rence, of Newark Valley, 1 Feb., 1827.
He died in Owego 14 Feb., 1873; she
19 Dec, 1875. Elisha Forsyth, Jr., in
the civil war was fife major of the
50th regiment. New York engineers.
4. Azor Forsyth, bom 17 Oct.
1803. Died 20 April, 1863, in Elmira.
5. Experience Forsyth, born 17
Sept., 1806. Married Martin Smith.
Died at Sparta. Wis., 6 Dec, 1882.
6. Gilbert Forsyth, born 4 Oct.,
1808. Died 29 Nov., 1840.
7. Eldridge Forsyth, born 5 Aug..
1812. Died 26 Ai)ril, 1889. His first
wife was Mary A. Fisher, and his sec-
ond Eunice A. Tyler.
Gilbert and Azor Forsyth were por-
trait painters: the other brothers
were house painters. Gilbert For-
syth was ])ossessed of much talent
as an artist. In his youthful
days he and Thomas LeClere, who
later become one of the most ctle-
brated portrait painters in America,
were boys together at Park settle-
ment.
Thomas LeClere was a son of Louis
LeClere and was born in ISIS in a
small house, just above the Ovvego
creek bridge in the town of Candor,
about a mile below the Flemingville
church. When a child he exhibited a
taste for portrait painting. His first
productions were painted from paint
made by squeezing the juice of poke-
berries and green grass together, and
with this kind of pigment he painted
his first pictures. His first attempt
at portrait painting was made when
he was only nine years of age with a
mi.xture of lampblack, Venetian red.
and white on a i)iece of pine board.
Eldridge Forsyth assisted young I^e-
Clere in mixing his first colors. These
two painters afterward went in dif-
ferent directions. One came to Owe-
go and painted houses at from twenty
to fifty dollars a house; the other
went to New York city and painted
portraits at from five to ten thousand
dollars a head.
In 1832 Louis LeClere removed
with his family to London, Ontario.
In February, 1844, Thomas LeClere
returned to Owego and opened a
studio over the Gazette office in a
two-story wooden building, which
stood on the south side of Front
street, just west of Park street, where
he painted portraits and gave instruc-
tion in oil painting and pencil draw-
hig. He remained here only a short
78
time and went to New York. He
never returned to Owego but once.
In 1882 he came to visit his birthplace
and to call on some of the people he
had known in his boyhood days.
While he was living in Owego he
painted the portraits of various peo-
ple. The execution was rough, but
the likenesses were excellent. He
gained distinction after going to New
York. He painted the portraits of
Edwin Booth, Daniel S. Dickinson,
President Millard Fillmore, Bayard
Taylor, Chief Justice Taney, Wm.
Cullen Bryant, and many other men
of eminence, and at the time of his
death an almost finished portrait of
Gen. Grant, for which he was to have
received $10,000, was in his studio.
He was twice married. He died at
Rutherford Park, N. J., Nov. 26, 1882.
He left six children, one of whom, a
daughter, was the wife of Wm. H.
Beard, the famous painter of animals
in grotesque and humorous situations.
Gilbert Forsyth -went to New York
city, where he was employed as a
scene painter at Niblo's garden
theatre. While thus employed he
was engaged to go, in 1832, to the
Canary islands for the purpose of
making sketches of scenery and
painting them. He afterward went
among the Indians of Upper Canada
for the same purpose. Later he re-
turned to Owego, and subsequently
went to Elmira, where he was taken
ill. He returned to Park settlement,
where he died at his father's home
November 29, 1840.
An interesting paper in the Wis-
consin state historical society's col-
lection, obtained by Lyman C. Draper.
79
the historian, from the heirs of Judge
Chas. P. Avery, of Owego, is the
statement made in Owego in 1S54 by
FLllisha Forsyth. The statement is as
follows:
STATEMENT OF ELISHA FOR-
SYTH, MADE FEB. 20, 1S54.
"I live in the town of Owego. I was
born in 1776-1777 in Connecticut. My
father's name was Jonathan. My
grandfather was a full-blooded Scotch-
man frop. Edinburg. Three brothers.
John, Jonathan, and James, came.
My father lived below Shawnee, just
above Nanticoke falls, and kept a
public house. My first recollections
are of that place.
"My father was in the battle and
his house was burnt in the affair of
1778. His writings were then lost.
His and other families went aboard
of a Durham boat at the time of the
battle and pushed on down and after-
ward lived at Carlisle. My father
escaped and joined his family.
"I was quite a boy when we got
back to Wyoming; came back in a
boat. We emigrated from Wyoming
to Towanda and then to Choconut
in big boats. On the trip i
must have been six or seven
years old. We saw nobody but In-
dians. One white man; Patterson,
lived at Tioga Point and my father
let him have a quantity of provisions,
while he (my father) was living at
Towanda. My father left Wyoming
on account of the Pennamite war.
"We were on the premises, near
Gen'l. Stoddard's, before Amos Draper
came into the country. My father
gave the Indians seven barrels of
corn per year for the use of the land.
The Indians were settled all around
us. We were living there when Mc-
Master came in.
"Major Coe (from Wyoming) was
then living on- the south side of the
river, opposite Mersereau's flats. We
then removed above Binghamton, up
the Chenango.
'Amos Draper lived upon the flat
called the old Mersereau flat.
"Amos Draper was a nice man — one
of the finest men in the world. My
father moved next to Geneva, in three
or four years, and he died there in
1788, in the fall. We went from Union
in a boat to Tioga Point (some fam-
ilies were there then), thence up the
Chemung to Horseheads, to Seneca
Lake, and thence to Geneva, where
some people (Tuttle for one) lived.
He lives now on a corner of the farm
my father bought. I signed away a
quit claim for it after my father's
■death. My father's children were
Alexander, Elisha. William, Azor, liv-
ing in Michigan, in Prarie du Chien,
and Hannah, wife of Alexander
Hewitt.
"My mother married a man by the
name of John Gansen. He went be-
yond the Genesee and bought 600
acres of land with the money for the
land which had been deeded after my
father's death to my mother. I lived
there about one year after my father's
death and then came to Jabez Win-
ship's (then on the lower end of the
Mersereau flats.) I recollect being
caught at his house when the water
Vose and stayed all night with him,
and the next morning he took me on
his back to the woods and built a fire
and warmed us. His family was not
with him then. The next morning
my father took a canoe to look for me,
and Draper saw him and hallooed,
and he took me home. This was
called the 'pumpkin fresh.' He lived
at that place with his family but one
summer; he then came down here.
"The man Patterson who lived at
Tioga Point and whom my father
helped came down from the Che-
nango, where he had removed to, and
came down to a meeting at his
father's house; all the inhabitants of
the country gathered to it. The man
then ignored the charity of Mr. For-
syth and it ended in" an encounter
brought on by the insults of Patter-
son. There must have been a dozen
or more ])eople there to go to school.
81
The log school house was on the road
back of the flat, up toward the creek.
"From there I came to work at
Ovv^ego village at carpenter and
joiner's work. I helped frame the
first building for a jail on the west
side of the public square, not far
from where the church stands. Mr.
Laning moved it afterward and made
it a part of the old tavern house, and
it stood there when it was burnt
down. It was the bar-room part.
"There was a saw mill with the
grist mill just below Indian spring
put up by Pixley. I built the first
ark that was ever made on this river.
GO feet long, white oak timber, calked
and taned, for Judge Ashbel Wells.
He ran wheat in it.
"Old Captain Thomas Park helped
me build it and I was foreman. Judge
Wells had seen an ark on the west
branch and came up to my house and
chalked it out and explained it. I
went to work and built it.
"I was living at Winship's when I
got married. I went to Catskill for
eight months and learnt my trade,
then came back and married a daugh-
ter of Captain Parks; was married at
21 years of age. Sabin taught the
first school at Choconut (Union) and
was a surveyor.
"When we first started from Wyom-
ing we expected to stop at Towanda
and make a settlement. A family by
the name of Fox came up with us
from Wyoming. They had lived there
before the troubles several years, but
the Indians drove them away. But
we did not remain at Towanda long;
we went on further to Tioga Point,
and so to Choconut. When I came
back from Geneva I went down the
river as far as Towanda to see the
same people we came up with, but I
did not remain a great while. They
were not relations of mine and so I
came on up to Jabez Winship's.
"We ground our meal by a hand
mill. Some stones were used by Win-
chell on the other side of the river
on Choconut creek. That was the
first grist mill in this part of the
82
country. This was after I came back
from Geneva (not the first, the last.)
My father went first clear to Wilkes-
Barre to mill.
"When his father came back the
Shawnee Indians attacked him, burnt
his hay stack. He fled to his canoe,
sunk himself in the water from time to
time as they fired nine rounds at him.
Next day he could not swim. Frank-
lin's family were captured by the In-
dians. Sixty men went in pursuit and
overtook them just below Tioga Point.
Mrs. Franklin was shot through the
head, and the Indians dashed the
brains of the child out. The survivors
were brought to my father's house."
DR. ELISHA ELY.
Dr. Elisha Ely, one of the earliest
settlers in Owego, was bom at Lyme,
Conn., in 1748. His greatgrandfather
Richard Ely, a widower, who was
born in 1610, came from Plymouth,
England, 'to America between 1660
and 1663 with his sons, William ana
Richard, and settled at Lyme, where
he died in 1684. His eldest son,
William, had ten children, the fourth
of whom was Daniel Ely, the father
of Dr. Elisha Ely. Daniel Ely was
married four times and had in all
twelve children, five by his fourth
wife, Ruhama Turner. The twelfth
child was Dr. Elisha Ely.
Dr. Ely was a surgeon in the revo-
lutionary army, with the rank of cap-
tain. His record, as it appears in the
Historical Record of Officers of the
Continental Army, 1775 to 1783, is as
follows:
Elisha Ely (Conn.) Surgeon's mate,
10th Continental Infantry, 1 January,
1776. Surgeon 19th Continental in-
fantry, 19 July to 31 December, 1776.
Captain 6th Conn., 1 January, 1777.
Resigned 28 August, 1780.
S3
Dr. Ely married Susannah Bloomer,
of Rye, N. Y.. in 1781, the year fol-
lowing his resignation from the army.
He practised medicine at Saybrook.
Conn., until his removal to Owego.
He left Saybrook in the fall of 179S
v;ith 116,000 in his possession, with
which he purchased two townships of
land in northern Pennsylvania under
the Connecticut title. The title was
in dispute between Connecticut and
Pennsylvania and was finally decided
in favor of Pennsylvania, conse-
quently the purchasers under the Con-
necticut title lost all they had in-
vested.
When Dr. Ely came to Owego he
was a cripple from wounds received
while in the army. He came with his
wife and their eight children. They
came from New York city to Catskill
by water, and their trip through the
woods from Catskill occupied six
days. They came with a wagon, a
yoke of oxen, a span of horses, and
the first chaise ever seen in this sec-
tion, bringing all the household good.s
they could carry.
Dr. Ely had intended to stay in
Owego and practise medicine during
the winter and go on the next spring
to Wellsboro, Pa., where the land he
had purchased was situated. The loss
of this Pennsylvania land impover-
ished him. His health had been im-
paired while in the army, and in 1S01,
three years after his coming here, he
died of consumption.
After Dr. Ely's death his widow
lived in the north side of west Front
street in a house which stood where
the residence of .John .Tones now
stands, and she remained there until
her death on .luly 21, ISL';!.
84
The children of Ur. Elisha anti
Susannah (Bloomer) Ely, all of whom
except James Ely were born in Con-
necticut, were as follows:
1. Nancy Ely, born in 1782. She
was married to Archibald White, of
Owego. He died in New York of yel-
low fever in August, 1802. Her sec-
ond husband was Abner Murray, of
Athens, Pa., to whom she was married
in 1821. She died in 1862.
2. Susanah Ely, born 1783; died
1847.
3. Gilbert Bloomer Ely, born 17Sr>.
Married Elizabeth McClain in 1809.
He died in 1831 and she in 1825.
4. Elisha Ely, born 1788. Left
Owego and settled in California.
5. William Alfred Ely, born I'i
Oct., 17S9. Married Ann S. Gregory
in 1810. He died in Owego 27 Nov.,
1863, and she 20 Jan., 1884.
6. Edward Ely. born 1791. Mar-
ried Fanny Avery, of Trumansburg.
He died in Owego in 1844.
7. Harriet Ely, born 1794. Married
John Carmichael in 1835. She died
1 Sept., 1881.
8. Daniel Ely, born 1797. Married
I^ois Gridley Kelsey, of Hartford.
Conn., 1832. He died in Owego 2.")
Nov., 1844.
9. James Ely, born 1798. Married
Cynthia Bundy. He died in Grand
Rapids, Mich., 20 Dec, 1862.
Archibald \\ hite, who married
Nancy Ely, came to Owego about the
year 1800 and in the winter of 1800-
01 was a clerk in Thomas Duane's
store. He was from the north of Ire-
land, born in Belfast. When he came
to America he landed in Baltimore,
Md. Thence he went to Wilkes-Barre.
Pa., where he become acquainted with
Mr. Duane. When Mr. Duane came
with his family to Owego in 1800
White accompanied him.
White's mother and William Patter-
son, of Baltimore, the father of Eliza-
l)eth Patterson, Prince Jerome Bona-
S5
l)arte's wife, were brother and sister.
The only child of Archibald and
Nancy (Ely) White was Maria Patter-
son White, who was married to Elihu
Parmenter, of Owego. Mr. Parmenter
built and conducted the tannery in
the northern part of this village, later
known as the Dean tannery, and con-
ducted it until his death. He was
killed by the cars, near his home.
Sept. 30, 1S72. He was about 74
years of age at the time of his death.
Mrs. Parmenter died 17 .June. 1S6(),
aged 55 years.
The Ely brothers were all mer-
chants. William A. Ely was early in
life a clerk in Gen. Oliver Hunting-
ton's store. In December, 1S14, he
[)urchased for $300 the land on the
south side of Main street opposite
and east of North avenue. It ex-
tended from Lake street west to the
public burying ground. The old bury-
ing ground occupied all the land on
which the telephone office and the
sheriff's residence now stand in Main
street and extended south in Court
street to John L. Taylor's lot, south
of and adjoining the county clerk's
office.
On the lot he purchased Mr. Ely
built a two-story wooden building.
which stood opposite north avenue on
the ground where ,1. S. Houk's hard-
ware store is now. In this building
Wm. A. and James Ely conducted a
general mercantile business several
years. The store was afterward oc-
cupied by John HoUenback, then by
E. B. Hurlbert, and later by John
Cameron as a grocery. It was burned
Oct. 16. 1870.
In 1827, Wm. A., James, and Daniel
Elv formed a new ])artnership and
86
did a general mercantile business in
a new brick building on the south side
of Front street, two doors east of the
bridge. This partnership was dis-
solved in May, 1830, and Daniel Ely
continued the business. William A.
and James Ely at the same time
formed a partnership with Charles
and Printice Ransom, under the firm
name of Ely & Ransoms, which firm
continued in existence until the end
of the following June, when Charles
Ransom withdrew from the partner-
ship. Their store was east of and ad-
joining that of James Ely, who sold
his stock to Heggie & Mack, in June.
1831. James Ely was afterward a
partner of Jonathan Piatt. Their
store was on the south side of Front
street, opposite where Ahwaga hall
now is.
William A. Ely was at one time in
business alone in Caldwell Row, a
row of wooden shops, stores, and
dwellings, which was burned in the
great fire of 1849. It was on the
north side of Front street and ex-
tended from Lake street to the line
between Ahwaga hall and the Ah-
waga house block.
Elisha and James Ely at one time
kept a hat store in Main street, where
they bought furs and manufactured
fur and wool hats and caps from the
raw material. In the spring of 1819
they sold the business to Col. Chas.
B. Pixley. In manufacturing wool
hats Col. Pixley was accustomed to
dye them and then wash them in the
sluiceway of the old mill of his father.
Col. David Pixley, on the west side of
the Owego creek, near the Indian
spring, by putting them in the water
with tongs. Elisha Ely later had a
WILLIAM A. ELY.
S7
hat store above the bridge in Front
street.
William A. Ely built the brick
house on the north side of Front
street on the second lot east of Church
street now owned and occupied by
Mrs. Henry Young. Here he lived
until his death in 1863. Mr. Ely was
extensively engaged for several years
in the manufatcure of lumber, which
was the most important industry here
in his day. He was not only a promi-
nent business man but was also
active in ])ublic affairs. He was su-
pervisor of the town of Owego thir-
teen years between 1824 and 1840.
James Ely lived on the north side
of Front street, near William street.
He removed to Grand Rapids, Mich.,
where he died in 1862. He was super-
visor of the town of Owego in 1844,
1845, and 1852, and he represented
Tioga county in the assembly in 1851.
Col. Daniel Ely lived in the house
now occupied by Dr. J.T. Greenleaf in
Main street. He was postmaster of
Owego from Feb. 4, 1842, until his
death in November, 1844.
Gilbert and Daniel Ely were both
officers in the state militia. Gilbert
Ely was appointed ensign in Col.
Samuel Seymour's regiment of in-
fantry in 1807. In 1809 Jesse Mc-
Quigg was appointed ensign "vice G.
Ely, moved." Daniel Ely in 1822 was
captain of riflemen in the 145th regi-
ment.
88
GEN. OLIVER HUNTINGTON.
One of the earliest settlers In Owe-
go and the first druggist here was
Gen. Oliver Huntington, who came at
the age of 23 years with his wife and
two children to this village from
Ellington, Conn., in 1804, and lived
here during the rest of his life.
At the northeast corner of Front
and Lake streets stood a small
wooden building, in which Gen. Hunt-
ington established the first drug store
ever opened in Owego. An advertise-
ment of his store, published in the old
"American Farmer," may be of in-
terest here, as it is the first advertise-
ment of a drug store published in
this place.
DRUCS & MKUICINES, ETC.
Just received from New York and for fale by
the fubfcriber, a new and sreneral affortment of
URU(;.S & MEDICINES, confifting of Opium,
camphor, jallap. calomel, blue vitriol, fenni,
rhubarb, &c., with various others, too numerou.s
to be inferted in an advertifenient, and all the
Patent Medicines that are in moft efteem.
*E^"Practitioners of Phyfic, and others, may
be fupplied on as reafonable terms as can be
obtained at Catfkill, or other places on the North
river, Olivkr Hinti.n(;ton.
Oweao Village. July .n ft. hSJO.
Gen. Huntington lived in a little
red house which stood on the west
side of North avenue, a little north of
Main street. James A. Dean bought
the lot in the spring of 1866, tore
down the house and built a brick
store on the site. This is the third
store north of Main street and is sepa-
rated from the store south of it by
a narrow lane. In the old red house
Deacon Francis Armstrong lived for
many years.
In addition to his drug business
Gen. Huntington engaged extensively
in shipping produce of various kinds
down the Susquehanna river, which
stream was then the only outlet for
89
the products of this part of the
country.
In September, 1S04, Gen. Hunting-
ton had purchased property north of
this village, lying on the north side
of the small brook known as the Hunt-
ington creek, and which was so
named in honor of him. A little west
of the highway now known as North
avenue he built a few years before
his death a small house, which is
still standing, although somewhat al-
tered from its original proportions.
There he lived during the rest of his
life. This house was later owned
and occupied by John .James Beers,
and afterward the property was pur-
chased by Ephraim H. House.
Gen. Huntington was appointed
sheriff of Broome county Feb. 24,
1816, and held the office until June
10, 181 S. He was prominent in mili-
tary affairs. In 1809 he was ajv
pointed Second Major in Lieut.-Col.
Asa Camp's regiment of New York in-
fantry. The next year he was pro-
moted to Lieut.-Col. Commandant of
the 53d regiment, and in 1812 to
Brigadier-General of the 41st brigade. ■
Gen. Huntington was a descendant
of Simon and Margaret Huntington,
non-conformists, who left England on
account of religious persecution and
came to America in 1663 and settled
at Windsor, Conn.
Gen. Huntington was born Dec. 22,
1771. His first wife was Abigail Tal-
cott, daughter of Capt. Gad and Abi-
gail Talcott, of Hebron, Conn. She
died in Owego June 18, 1815, aged 43
years. Her body is buried in the
Presbyterian church yard. His second
90
wife was Mrs. Richards, a sister of
Samuel Avery.
Gen. Huntington died Nov. 13, 1823.
Although he was only .52 years of age
at the time of his death he had been
commonly known on account of his
venerable ai)i)earance as "old Gen.
Huntington." The children of Gen.
Oliver and Abigail (Talcott) Hunt-
ington were as follows:
1. Abigail Huntington, born 25
Sept., 1796. Married Henry Gregory
10 Feb., 1818. They lived at Ithaca.
2. Wait Talcott Huntington, born
at Ellington, Conn., 9 May, 1798.
Married Saphronia Carter, of Aurora,
N. Y., 11 March, 1840.
3. Orestes Lynde Huntington, born
at Ellington, Conn., 22 March, 1803.
Married Harriet Terrill at Ithaca, N.
Y. He was a cabinet maker.
4. Horatio Lord Huntington, born
at Owego, 14 Dec, 180-5. Married
Ann Turner at Adams, 111., 31 May,
1839.
5. Harriet Huntington, born at
Owego, 3 March, 1808. Married 5
May, 1833, to Wm. Townley. They
lived at Albany, 111.
6. George Oliver Huntington, born
at Owego 7 Oct., 1810. Married Cor-
nelia DeKrafft, of Washington, D. C,
at Quincy, 111., 21 May, 1840.
Wait T. Huntington, the eldest son
of Gen. Huntington, removed from
Owego to Ithaca, where he taught
school for a short time. Then he en-
gaged in the mercantile business and
conducted a brewery, and became a
man of considerable prominence. He
was elected clerk of Tompkins county
in 1837 and served three years. He
was clerk of the town of Ithaca in
1826 and 1832, and president of the
village in 1834 and 1835. He was also
elected a justice of the peace in 1859.
In 1860 he removed to Nevv York city,
where he engaged in the manufacture
91
of the now popular calendar attach-
ment for clocks, of which he was the
inventor. He for several years held
a position in the New York post of-
fice, which he resigned in March,
1878, in order to spend the rest of his
life in peaceful retirement. He died
at the home of his daughter at
Moravia, N. Y., .Ian. 8, 1881, aged 81'
years.
JOHN HOLLENBACK.
John Hollenback was one of the
early merchants of Owego. He was
a large owner of timbered property, a
manufacturer of lumber, and a man of
extensive business transactions. He
was a son of Geo. Hollenback, of Mill
Creek, a place situated about a mile
above Wilkes-Barre,Pa., and was born
November 2, 1780. He came to Owego
in 1801 or 1802 and began a general
mercantile business. His first store
was on the south side of Front street,
above Lake street. At night he slept
on a side sole leather on the counter
of his store.
Mr. Hollenback was successful in
all his undertakings. He invested
largely in real estate. In 1805 he
owned two hundred acres east of
Paige street, and in 1815 he was the
possessor of 856 Vo acres, comprising
nearly all the land bounded west by
a line east of Paige street and ex-
tending a little east of the Little Nan-
ticoke creek. At the time of his
death in 1847 he owned about 2.000
acres of land in a body in and near
Owego village, together with his
father's homestead at Wilkes-Barre,
Pa.
In 1813 or 1814 Mr. Hollenback had
the lease of the Onondaga and Mon-
teziima salt works. In 1814, at the
close of the war of 1812 he owned all
the salt that was in the market and
had it stored in arks on the Susque-
hanna river at Port Deposit, Md.
This salt was held from $16 to $20 a
barrel. Had the war continued a few
months longer he would have made a
clear profit of $40,000, but peace was
declared Dec. 24, and the price fell so
low that Mr. Hollenback lost about
$20,000 on his investment.
Soon after this Mr. Hollenback
opened a hardware and tin store in
James Pumpelly's two storj^ wooden
building, which stood on the north
side of Front street, a few rods west
of Paige street. The upper part of
the building was occupied by Stephen
B. Leonard as the publication office of
the Owego Gazette and as a post of-
fice, Mr. Leonard being the postmas-
ter. This store, which was then con-
sidered "out of the village," was af-
terward converted into a dwelling
house and is now occupied by A. C.
Burt.
About tne year 1832 Mr. Hollenback
moved down into Judge Drake's store,
which stood on the south side of
Front street, opposite Lake street and
was on the site of the present Central
drug store. There he remained three
or four years, and then removed to
the store that William A. Ely had
I)uilt and occupied on the south side
of Main street.opposite North avenue.
In 1840 he removed once more, this
time into the Camp store, which stood
on the south side of Front street, a
little west of Park street. A little
later he removed up the street to
Charles Pumpelly's old store, which
stood opposite where the Ahwaga
JOHN HOLLENBACK.
93
house now stands, and there he con-
tmued the mercantile husiness until
his death, June IZ. 1S47.
Soon after coming to Owego Mr.
Hollenback established a branch
store at Ithaca, in 1S04. which was
managed by a man named Isaacs.
Mr. Hollenback was a man of
strong determination and extraordi-
nary energy of character. In his cen-
tennial history of Tioga county, puli-
lished in ISTfi, William F. Warner
wrote of Mr. Hollenback as follows:
"Had this gentleman lived at a
time when military leadership was
demanded, he would unqestionably
have made one of the ablest com-
manders who ever led an army. He
dealt largely in the purchase and
manufacture of lumber. His impaired
hearing forced him to withdraw from
social life, and he devoted himself
assiduously to his extensive business.
Those, however, who had access to
him in his home circle, found him a
genial man and an accomplished con-
versationalist. He was well in-
formed, and kept abreast with the
foremost in all matters of general in-
terest, although seemingly absorbed
in business matters."
While conducting the Ithaca store
Mr. Hollenback had some trouble
with Eleazer Dana, one of the early
lawyers in Owego. In order to annoy
Mr. Hollenback Mr. Dana waited un-
til he had left town and got nearly to
Ithaca, when he served a summons
upon him and caused his immediate
return to Owego. Mr. Hollenback
was so infuriated at this summary
action that he attacked Mr. Dana with
a cowhide. Mr. Dana sued him for as-
sault and recovered $300 damages.
When Mr. Hollenback began busi-
ness in Owego he could not agree
with one of his rivals in the mercan-
94
tile business. He employed many
men in making arks and rafts of lum-
ber, but for some unknown reason the
men would leave his employ abruptly
when he most needed their services,
and would make no explana-
tion for their course. Finally
one man was candid enough to
inform him that his rival in busi-
ness was the cause, he telling the
men that Mr. Hollenback was irre-
sponsible and they would not receive
their wages. Mr. Hollenback, with
his rawhide, went to his business
rival and threatened to use the whip
over his shoulders should there be
any repetition of the trouble. It is
needless to say that he was subjected
to no further annoyance.
Mr. Hollenback was a hard worker
himself, and would employ none who
was idle or lazy. It is related of him
that when an applicant for work came
to him he v/ould examine the seat of
his trousers. If it was patched or
worn, he would give him no employ-
ment.
Mr. Hollenback lived in a house
which stood on the north side of
Front street, on the third lot west of
Paige street, later owned by his
brother-in-law, William Pumpelly.
The house stood so near the street
that when Front street was regularly
laid out and straightened by a sur-
veyor, the house was left close upon
the sidewalk. This house, which was
a large one, was several years after-
ward cut in two, moved away, and
converted into tenant houses.
Mr. HoUenback's wife was Susan
Welles, daughter of George and Pru-
dence (Talcott) Welles. They were
married Sept. 24, 1805. She was
95
born Jan. 10, 1783, and died in Owego
J'eb. 7, 186."). Geo. Welles was a na-
tive of Connecticut, who settled at
Athens. Pa., about the year 1800.
The portrait of Mr. Hollenback,
which illustrates this article, is from
a photograph taken by Mr. LaSon
from an oil painting. The painting is
the work of Mrs. Hollenback's sister.
Miss M. A. Welles, who afterward be-
came Mrs. Wm. Pumpelly. The paint-
ing was owned by the family of Geo.
W. Hollenback for many years, and
it is now the property of Frank M.
Baker, of Owego.
Some time previous to his death
Mr. Hollenback had expressed his in-
tention of founding some kind of a
public institution in Owego, by which
his name would be handed down to
posterity, and he had made a partial
will to that effect; but he was taken
ill while his nephew, Geo. W. Hollen-
back, who for many years had had
almost entire charge of his extensive
lumber business, was down the river,
and, at the last moment, being un-
able to carry his intention into effect,
he devised the greater portion of his
large estate to his nephew, at the
same time leaving a portion of the
property in trust for the support of
his widow during her life.
At the time of his death Mr. Hol-
lenback had one brother, Matthias
Hollenl)ack, living at Wilkes-Barre.
96
GEORGE W. HOLLENBACK.
The first Hollenback in this countiT
of whom there is any record was
George Hollenback, a sturdy Dutch-
man, who settled in Wyoming county,
Pa. He had a son, John Hollenback
(1), who was born about 1720, whose
wife was Eleanor Jones. Their chil-
dren were George, Matthias H., and
.John Hollenback (2).
George Hollenback was the father
of John Hollenback, the Owego mer-
chant.
Matthias H. Hollenback, a promi-
nent business man of his day in Penn-
sylvania, had three children as fol-
lows:
Eleanor Jones Hollenback, who
married Charles F. Welles, of Athens,
Pa.
John Welles Hollenback.
Mary Ann Hollenback, who married
Gen. John Laning, one of the early
merchants of Owego.
The third brother, John Hollenback
(2) had a son also named John Hol-
lenback (3), who was the father of
Geo. W. Hollenback, of Owego. This
.John Hollenback (3) was born Oct.
14, 1775, at Martinsburg, Va., under
the rule of King George HI., but the
family were not enthusiastically loyal
subjects.' In 1783, after the declara-
tion of peace, his parents removed to
Morgantown, West Virginia, and in
1793 to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He was
engaged for his uncle, Matthias Hol-
lenback, in trade along the Susque-
hanna river in 1796. The next year
he came up the river in a Durham
boat and established a shad fishery
at Wyalusing, the first in that part of
the country. He soon afterward re-
turned down the river with his boat
heavily laden with salted shad. In
97
1801 he opened a store at Wyalusing,
which was considered a marvel at the
time, as he brought 2,400 pounds of
goods from Philadelphia in wagons
to Middletown, where they were
loaded on boats and pushed up the
river. Mr. Hollenback died at Wya-
lusing March 13, 1S67, aged 91 years.
Geo. W. Hollenback who was the
oldest one of John Hollenback's fif-
teen children, was born Aug. 2.5, 1806,
at Wyalusing and came to Owego to
attend school in 1816, at ten years
of age, and remained here during the
summer. December 5, 1828, he came
again to Owego to live, and was a
clerk in his uncle, John Hollenback's,
store until August, 1831. In Decem-
ber, 1838, he again returned to Owego
to resume his duties as his uncle's
clerk, and he lived here all the rest
of his life.
From si.\ to nine months each year
his time was occupied up and down
the Susquehanna river attending to
his emi)loyer's lumber business. In
the fall of 1847, after John Hollen-
back's death, he entered into partner-
ship with William H. Bell in the mer-
cantile and lumber business and the
partnership continued twenty years.
Wm. H. Bell was a son of William
Bell, a farmer, who lived on the West
Owego creek, about six miles north
of Owego, where he was born, Nov.
18, 1811. At an early age he entered
the store of Martin & Andrews at
Wysox, Pa., as a clerk. He afterward
came to Owego and was for three
years a clerk in David P. Tinkham's
store. He was next employed in the
same capacity in the stores of John
Hollenback and Piatt & Ely.
98
In 1S37, Jlr. Bell in company with
Daniel G. Taylor and W. C. Taylor,
l)urchased the store of Piatt & Ely
and conducted the business under the
firm name of Taylors & Bell until Jan.
2o, 1839, when Mr. Bell sold his in-
terest to his partner, who continued
under the name of D. G. & W. C. Tay-
lor. Their store was on the south
side of Front street, the third store
east of Lake street. Mr. Bell after-
ward became teller of the old Bank
of Owego. Sept. 20,1841, he left the
bank to return to the mercantile busi-
ness, having purchased W. C. Taylor's
interest in the store. The new firm
of Taylor & Bell continued until Nov.
15, 1847, when Mr. Bell purchased his
partner's interest.
January 5, 1848, Mr. Bell, Mr. Hol-
lenback, and Jacob Hand formed a
partnership and began a general lum-
ber business in connection with their
store under the firm name of William
H. Bell & Co. They owned a large
saw mill on the south side of the
river, a little below the mouth of the
Owego creek, and a large timber tract
in the southern iiart of the town of
Owego. After the burning of their
store in the great fire of 1849 they
erected a three-story brick store — the
sixth one above the bridge — into
which they removed in December,
1850. The firm was dissolved Oct. 16,
1855, Mr. Hand retiring, and Albert
Newell was received into the partner-
ship. Sept. 1, 1866, Mr. Newell re-
tired from the firm. Jan. 10, 1867, the
firm of Wm. H. Bell & Co. was dis-
solved and their property was divided.
Mr. Hollenback took the store and ^Mr.
Bell the mill and lumber tract. In
August, 1870, Mr. Bell was stricken
99
with paralysis and rendered entirely
helpless and incapaciated for busi-
ness. He died at the home of his
brother, Charles T. Bell, in east Main
street, April 20, 1876.
Mr. Hand came to Owego in ISl'li
from Otsego county and entered the
lumber business with John R. Drake,
later purchasing judge Drake's in-
terest. He died in Owego April 27.
1874, aged 73 years.
Upon the dissolution of the partner-
ship of William H. Bell & Co. Mr.
Hollenback continued the mercantile
business with two of his sons, Geo.
F. and John G. Hollenback, until the
fall of 1871, when they sold their
stock and directed their attention to
the sale of crockery exclusively. In
October, 1873, they sold their stock to
D. C. Tuthill and retired from busi-
ness.
For many years and until 1856 all
the ground on the south side of Front
street east of Paige street was one
vast lumber yard, where lumber was
l)iled for shipment down the Susque-
hanna, while on the river it was being
continuously made into rafts for ship-
ment down to a market upon the first
rise of the water.
Mr. Hollenback married Miss Jane
Gordon, of Bradford county. Pa., in
1837. She died in Owego April 14,
1881. The family lived several years
in the house which John Carmichael
built on the Stei)hen Mack lot in
Front street. In the summer of 185J!
Mr. Hollenback built the large brick
house on the south side of Front
street, east of John street, where he
lived until his death on December 30,
1878.
100
Mr. Hollenback was three years a
member of the board of village trus-
tees and president of the village of
Owego in 1854. He was supervisor of
the town of Owego in 1850, 1851, and
1855. He was a man of public spirit
and did much to improve the eastern
part of the village, laying out new
streets and contributing to the gen-
eral improvement.
Mr. Hollenback's children were Wil-
liam H., George F., Charles E., and
John G. Hollenback, and Misses Alice
and Mary H. Hollenback.
The Taylors came to Owego from
Florida, Orange county, N. Y. Col.
Wni. C. Taylor entered Dr. Jedediah
Fay's drug store as a clerk in 1833.
Daniel G. Taylor came in 1836 and the
brothers the next year entered into
the mercantile partnership with Wm.
H. Bell. Col. Taylor was for many
years station agent for the New York
and Erie railroad company at Jersey
City. He died April 9, 1892, in Brook-
lyn, aged 78 years. In 1861 when
Gen. D. C. McCallum was appointed
military superintendent of the rail-
road of the United States, Wm. C.
Taylor was ap])ointed manager of all
the military railroads, to attend to
their construction, repair, etc., with
the rank of colonel.
Daniel G. Taylor lived during the
latter part of his life in Chicago, 111.,
where he died April 28, 1898, aged X<»
years.
101
THOMAS COLLIER.
Thomas Collier came to Owego with
his family about the year ISOS. He
was born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 20,
1761. His father, Richard Collier, was
a brazier. He began an apprentice-
ship at the printer's trade in the of-
fice of his uncle, Thomas Draper, who
printed one of the earliest newspa-
pers in Boston. His aunt. Margaret
Draper, an English woman, after the
death of her husband, Thomas Dra-
per, conducted the newspaper estab-
lishment in her own name until the
beginning of the revolutionary war.
when, being a royalist in her senti-
ments, her paper was made the medi-
um of royal denunciations against the
"rebels." She suffered some pecuni-
ary loss on account of her loyalty to
the king and was compelled when
Boston was evacuated by the British
to leave some of her effects behind,
and among them her printing estab-
lishment, which fell into the hands of
the "Yankee rebels." On her return
to England she was rewarded with a
liberal pension from the crown.
John Trumbull.the poet of the revo-
lution, in his famous "modern epic
poem," McFingal, written in Hudl-
brastic verse and published in 1775,
immortalized Mrs. Draper, speaking
of her as "Mother Draper" in the
first canto of the poem. The lines
read as follows:
■■ Did not our grave judffe Sewall hit
The .summit ot newspaper wit.
Filled everv leaf of every paper
Of Mills and Hicks, and Mother Draper,
Drew proclamations, works of toil,
In true sublime, of scare-crow style.
Wrote farces, too, 'gainst sons of freedom.
All for your good, and none would read em.
Denounced damnation on their frenzy.
Who died in Whig impenitency ? "
102
Thomas Collier did not favor the
cause of the rebels, so he left Boston
with his father, under the permis-
sion given by Gen. Gage after the bat-
tle of Lexington. He soon entered
the printing office of the "Norwich
Packet," a newspaper published at
Norwich, Conn., by Alexander and
.lames Robinson and he later com-
pleted his apprenticeship in the office
of the "Gazette" at New Haven, which
was published by Thomas Greene and
was then the oldest newspaper, with
one exception, in Connecticut.
While living in Boston, before the
outbreak of hostilities, he witnessed
some of the most exciting events.
He was present when the tea was
thrown overboard into the harbor,
and he became personally, acquainted
with many distinguished officers.
Mr. Collier went from New Haven
to Litchfield, where he conducted the
"Litchfield Monitor," a good old-
fashioned, orthodox, federal paper,
until 1807. Several writers of a high
order of talent were among its cor-
respondents, and the paper ranked
among the leading journals of the
union.
At this time Rev. Azel Backus, of
Bethlehem, afterward president of
Hamilton college, who was a contribu-
tor to the paper, was indicted with
Mr. Collier at the same term of the
district court for libelling Thomas Jef-
ferson, then president of the United
States. They were arrested soon
after Jefferson's election by a mar-
shal and taken to Hartford, one for
preaching and the other for publish-
ing "false, scandalous, and defama-
tory matter." Mr. Collier took his
presses and type to the jail at Har-
103
ford, where with Dr. Backus as col-
laborator, he issued a paper which
made the air of the nutmeg state blue
with his denunciations of Jefferson.
Dr. Backus was the grandfather of
Charlie Backus, the famous negro
minstrel and comedian.
While still conducting the "Litch-
field Monitor" Mr. Collier established
the "Gazette" at Troy, N. Y., which
passed into the hands of Wright
Goveneur & Stockwell. One of the
members of this firm, John C. Wright,
married a daughter of Thomas Col-
lier.
When the Colliers came to Owego
they at first lived in a red house,
which stood where F. C. Hewitt's
residence now is, near the southeast
corner of Front and Church streets.
The Collier children were John A..
James, Daniel, Hamilton A., ^Mar-
garet, and Nancy Collier. They af-
terward removed to a house which
stood on the north side of Main
street, where Dr. D. S. Anderson's
house is now, and there Mrs. Collier
conducted a private school for chil-
dren. James and Daniel Collier re-
moved to Ohio.
Thomas Collier removed with his
family to Binghamton about 1827.
That year John A. Collier built a
housQ in Franklin street in that city
in which his parents lived the rest of
their lives. In 1828 he became asso-
ciated with Abial C. Cannoll in the
publication of the "Broome County
Republican," which had been estab-
lished in 1823 by major Augustus
Morgan. Cannoll & Collier published
this paper until 1830, when Mr. Col-
lier was succeeded by Edwin T.
104
l^:vans, Mr. Collier died in Binghain-
ton in 1S42.
John A. Collier, who became the
most prominent of Thomas Collier's
sons was born Nov. 13, 1787, at Litch-
field, Conn. He was graduated from
Yale college, studied law at Troy, and
came to Owego for the purpose of
practising his chosen profession, but
there were at that time fewer law-
yers in Binghamton than in
Owego, so he went to Binghamton hi
1809, where he became one of the
foremost lawyers in this part of the
state. He was district attorney of
Broome county in 1818, and in 1830
he was elected to Congress. In 1844
he was elected comptroller of the
state. During the presidency of Mil-
lard Fillmore he was offered the col-
lectorship of the port of SanFran-
cisco, but declined it. He died in
Binghamton March 24, 1873.
When Mrs Margaret Draper went
to England she took with her her
niece, a sister of Thos. Collier, then
a little girl. The niece lived with her
aunt in London until she was grown,
and then married a man named Ham-
ilton, who was for some time clerk of
the house of lords. It was in honor
of him that Hamilton A Collier re-
ceived his name.
Hamilton A. Collier opened a gen-
eral county store in the fall of 1823
in the white store at the northwest
corner of Lake and Front streets.
The next spring he removed to the
south side of Front street opposite
where the Ahwaga house now stands.
He later removed into judge Drake's
building, opposite Lake street. In
1827 he removed to Binghamton and
began the study of law in the office
MAJOR HORATIO ROSS.
105
of his brother, John A Collier. In
1829 he was admitted to the bar. He
was district attorney of Broome
county from April 10, 1833, to the
20th of the following May, and again
from Dec. 1, 1837, to Feb. 12, 1842.
He was appointed surrogate in Feb-
ruary, 1840, and held the office four
years. He subsequently removed to
Oberlin, Ohio, where he died in 1865.
MAJOR HORATIO ROSS.
Major Horatio Ross, a bachelor,
was fifty years old when he came to
Owego in 1805. He was accompanied
by his two maiden sisters, Misses
Margaretta A. and Nancy Ross. They
came from Frederick, Maryland, with
ninety thousand dollars in their pos-
session, of which sum each owned
.$30,000. The father of the Rosses
owned one of the largest iron works
in Virginia and was a man of great
wealth.
Major Ross and his sisters brought
two slaves with them. He began a
general mercantile business here and
made large investments. He pur-
chased land on the south side of
Front street, west of the west line of
Lake street. On the lot how occupied
by the fifth store west of the Lake
street line he built a large wooden
store and painted it red. The build-
ing was two stories high in front and
three stories in the rear, and back of
it on the river was a wharf, where
produce, etc., were loaded into ai'ks
and shipped down the Susquehanna
to a market.
Major Ross was unsuccessful in
business and in 1818 he failed, losing
all his own money and that of his
two sisters also. His real estate was
106
all sold on a mortgage foreclosure
in February, 1819. His store was
subsequently occupied by W. T. Coit,
dealer in dry goods, groceries, and
crockery. In the winter of 1826-27
the building was burned.
Among Major Ross's clerks were
Charles Talcott, who afterward be-
came one of the most successful mer-
chants in Owego; Chas. Trowbridge,
who went from Owego, to Detroit
Mich., and John J. McDowell, who in
1830 and 1831 represented Tioga
county in the assembly. After his
failure in business Major Ross con-
tinued his residence here. He had
charge of the Tioga county clerk's of-
fice as deputy clerk from 1823 until
his death in 1828.
Major Ross was a polished south-
ern gentlemen of the old school, and
he lived in a manner commensurate
with his wealth. With his sisters he
occupied a large white house which
stood on the north side of Main
street, nearly opposite Park street.
This house was later owned and occu-
l)ied by the widow of Gen. John Lan-
ing.
In June, 1805, Dr. Samuel Barclay
purchased the lot on the northwest
corner of Front and Ross streets of
.John Hollenback. There was no
Ross street there then. Dr. Barclay
gave a mortgage for a part of the
purchase. The mortgage was fore-
closed Oct. 10, 1807,. and Major Ross
purchased the property for the third
one of his sisters, Mrs. Arianna Steu-
art. The house that Dr. Barclay had
built thereon was occupied by Major
Ross and his sisters, and when Ross
street was opened it was named Rosa
street in his honor. This house was
107
for many years after Major RossV
death the residence of judge Thomas
Farrmgton and is now owned and oc-
cupied by Mrs. Benj. W. Loring.
While living in this house Miss
Nancy Ross died in July, 1817, aged
45 years, and her body is said to have
been the first one buried in the
Presbyterian burying ground in Tem-
ple street. After her death Mrs.
Steuart came from Maryland and
lived with Major Ross and his sister.
Miss Margaretta Ross. Mrs. Steuart
was a woman of wealth and practi-
cally supported the whole family un-
til Major Ross's death in November.
1828, at the age of 73 years. His
body is buried in the Presbyterian
churchyard.
■ In February, 1829. after major
Ross's death, Mrs. Steuart sold the
Ross house to Charles Talcott. and
then removed with her sister. Mar-
garetta, to Washington.
Mrs. Steuart's only child. Arianna
Steuart, became the wife of Gov.
Smith, of New Hampshire. It is said
that there was a fourth sister, who
became the wife of an English earl.
The portrait of Major Ross accom-
panying this article is from a photo-
graph made by Mr. LaSon from a
water color owned by Wm. H. Ellis.
The painting was given by Major
Ross to Charles Talcott and by him
to Geo. B. Goodrich. It is not known
who the painter was, but he was an
artist of good ability, as the portrait
is a finely executed one.
108
ELEAZER DANA.
The first practising lawyer in Owe-
go was Eleazer Dana, who came here
in 1800 and who was the youngest
son of Rev. Anderson Dana, who lost
his life in the massacre of Wyoming.
Rev. Anderson Dana was a grand-
son of Richard Dana, who was born
in France April 15, 1612, and who
died at Cambridge, Mass., in 1690.
Jacob Dana, his son, who was born
in 1664, had a son also named Jacob
Dana, who was born in 1698. Rev.
Anderson Dana was a son of Jacob
Dana (2) and was born in 1733. His
wife was Susanna Huntington.
Rev. Anderson Dana was a lawyer
of handsome attainments. He removed
in 1773 from Ashford, Conn., to
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where he became
a clergyman and was active in estab-
lishing free schools. In April, 1778,
he was elected a member to the gen-
eral assembly, which met at Hart-
ford, Conn., in May. The Wyoming
massacre was on July 3, 1778.
Mr. Dana had just returned from
his duty as a member of the Hart-
ford assembly. He mounted his horse
and rode from town to town, arous-
ing the people for the coming con-
flict. Although exempt by law from
military duty, he entered the ranks
with his neighbors and rushed into
the fray. He fell dead early in battle,
brained by an Indian's hatchet. His
son-in-law, Stephen Whiton, a young
schoolmaster from Connecticut, who
had but a few weeks previous married
Mr. Dana's daughter, also fell.
Soon after the massacre Mrs. Dana,
with Mrs. Whiton, and Mrs. Dana's
seven young children, on foot and suf-
109
feriug many hardships, returned to
her former home at Pomfret. Conn-
after an absence of five years.
Rev. Anderson Dana had five sons.
One of them. Daniel Dana, vi'as in
school at Lebanon, preparing to enter
Yale college, at the time of his
father's death. He afterward lived in
this state and was a judge of the
courts.
Anderson Dana. Jr., was nine years
old at the time of the massacre. He
afterward returned to Wyoming to
take charge of his father's estate and
lived on the homestead until his
death.
Another son, Sylvester Dana, lived
at Concord, N. H.
Eleazer Dana, the youngest son,
studied law in the office of Vincent
Matthews at New Town (now El-
mira) and after his admission to the
bar, in 1800, came to Owego, where
he became distinguished in his pro-
fession.
In September, 1806, he purchased
the lot on the north side of Front
street, on which the residence of
Lewis H. Leonard now stands. This
property extended narth to Main
street, which was then known as "the
back street," and contained two acres
of land. There was a barn on the
west end of the lot and a small yel-
low house, in which Mr. Dana lived
several years. His law office was in
a small building on the bank of the
river on the opposite side of the
street. Mr. Dana later built in the
place of the yellow house a large
white house, in which he lived until
his death in 1845.
Thomas I. Chatfield several years
afterward became owner of the Front
110
street part of the property. He built
the present large brick residence on
the lot, after the Dana house had
been removed to the west side of Cen-
tral avenue, where it was for several
years the large double house in the
row of old wooden buildings, a monu-
ment to the architectural taste and
thrift of Dr. James Wilson.
Mr. Dana was a leading spirit in all
public affairs. He was one of the in-
corporators of the old Ithaca and
Owego turnpike company in 1807, and
one of the first commissioners of pub-
lic schools in 1813. He was chosen
to succeed Capt. Luke Bates as one
of the trustees of Owego settlement
in 1813. He was the second postmas-
ter of the village, appointed April 28,
1802, and he held the office until May
11, 1816. During his incumbency the
office was kept at his law office. He
was one of the original trustees of
the Presbyterian church in 1810, and
held the office during his life. He
was the first secretary of Friendship
lodge, F. & A. M., in 1806. He was
one of the first trustees of Owego
when it was organized as a village in
1827 and was also one of the trustees
of the old academy from 1828 until
his death. He was supervisor of the
town of Owego in 1814, surrogate of
Broome county in 1806, member of
assembly in 1808-9 and district attor-
ney of Tioga county from 1823 to
1826.
In the centennial history of Tioga
county (1876) William F. Warner
says of Mr. Dana: "His tall and
commanding figure and benignant
features would have rendered him a
noticeable person in any community.
He was, above all, a just man, and his
Ill
life was marked by constant acts of
beneficience."
Eleazer Dana was born Aug. 12,
1772. In October, 1801, he married
Mary Stevens. The children of
Eleazer and Mary (Stevens) Dana
were as follows:
1. Cyrus Dana, born 30 Sept., 1805.
Married 20 Sept.. 1827, Elizabeth Col-
lins Stockwell, who was born 1 Sept.,
1806, and died at Owego 27 July, 1847.
He died 7 Dec, 1847, at Niles, Mich.
Cyrus Dana was a lawyer and was
admitted to the bar of Tioga county in
1827.
2. Alexander Hamilton Dana, born
4 July, 1807. Married Augusta Rad-
cliff 27 May, 1832. He removed to
New York city, where he died 27
April, 1887.
3. Susan Huntington Dana, born 4
.July, 1807. Married Henry S. Wal-
bridge 2.5 Dec, 1829, and died 15 Aug.,
1834.
4. Laura Smith Dana, born 18
July, 1810; died 14 July, 1828.
5. Eleazer Stevens Dana, born 20
July, 1812; died 1 Jan., 1818.
e". Mary Stevens Dana, born May
10, 1814. Married Edward Radcliff 14
May, 1834. Died 9 Jan., 1841.
7 Charlotte Julia Dana, born 19
March, 1816. Married George H.
Jerome 9 July, 1847. Died 25 Aug.,
1893. „^ ^ ^
8 Helen Jane Dana, born 2< Sept.,
1817 Married William Fiske Warner
7 May, 1846. Died 31 Dec, 1885, at
Waverly, N. Y.
William F. Warner was for several
years one of the most prominent resi-
dents of Owego. He was born Jan.
18, 1819, at Hardwick, Vt., and came
to Owego in 1834 and entered William
Pumpelly's store as a clerk. He lived
with Mr. Pumpelly's family and soon
became manager of Mr. Pumpelly's
business. Later he studied law in Col.
N. W. Davis's office and was admitted
to the bar in 1843. He was for nine
Hi
years Col. Davis's law partner and
later a member of the law firms of
Warner, Tracy & Walker and Warner
Tracy and Catlin. Mr. Warner was a
lover of good literature, a student,
and a man of fine culture and taste.
He travelled through Europe and
wrote entertainingly of his travels.
He was one of the most public
spirited men in Owego. He organized
the Owego gas company, of which he
was president, superintendent, and
treasurer many years. He was clerk
of the village from 1848 to 1854, and
was the first president of the village
elected direct by the people in 18.54
under the new charter. He was re-
elected in 1856 and 1857.
Mr. Warner was an interested
student of the history of this country,
particularly of the Indian history of
this vicinity. In 1876 he wrote by re-
quest the centennial history of Tioga
county. This was a remarkable un-
dertaking. The time in which to ac-
complish the work was necessarily
limited, yet the work was successfully
accomplished within the time pre-
scribed. Mr. Warner was also the
leading spirit in organising the cele-
bration of the battle of New Town
and erecting a monument in com-
memoration thereof in 1879. He died
at Waverly Nov. 7, 1890.
One of the law students in Eleazer
Dana's office was his nephew, Amasa
Dana, who afterward removed to
Ithaca and became one of the most
prominent men in Tompkins county.
He was a son of Aziel Dana, who was
a son of Rev. Anderson Dana.
When Gen. Sullivan had driven the
Indians from the Wyoming valley,
Mrs. Anderson Dana and her children
113
returned from Connecticut to her
lonely home, near Wilkes-Barre.
There Aziel Dana married Rebecca
Cory, who had escaped the massacre,
and there Amasa Dana was born in
1792.
In 1805, after his father's death and
when only twelve years of age, Amasa
Dana walked from Wilkes-Barre to
Owego with his shoes hanging over
his shoulder and his bundle of shirts,
stockings, etc., over the other shoul-
der, to the home of his uncle, Eleazer
Dana, He afterward studied law in
his uncle's office. He held the office
of district attorney, first judge, and
member of assembly of Tompkins
county, and president of the village
of Ithaca. He was a member of the
26th and 28th congresses. He died at
Ithaca Dec. 24, 1867.
Eleazer Dana died in Owego May 1,
1845. His wife died Nov. 16, 1860,
aged 82 years.
CAPT. ISAAC BARTLETT.
Among the mechanics who settled
in Owego in the early part of the
eighteenth century were Capt. Isaac
Bartlett and his sons Joseph and
Robert S. Bartlett, blacksmiths and
gunsmiths. They came from Salis-
bury, Conn. They are said to have
come in 1813.
The family in America is descended
from Robert Bartlett, who came from
England to Plymouth, Mass., in the
ship "Ann" in 1623. One of his de-
scendants, Sylvanus Bartlett, was a
soldier in the revolution, and the lat-
ter's son, also named Sylvanus, was
the father of Capt. Isaac Bartlett.
Capt. Bartlett was born at Ply-
mouth, Mass., and later lived at Sails-
bury. Conn., where his children were
born. He was a blacksmith anJj
wagon maker, and two of his sons,
Joseph and Robert S. Bartlett, were
gunsmiths. The children were
Joseph, Alvin, Robert S., Isaac L.,
William B., Charles, Eliza, Abigail,
and Jerusha Bartlett. All of the fam-
ily did not come to Owego. One of
the daughters became the wife of
James Weed, who removed to Wi-
nona, Minn., and another married
Chester J. Manning, who was land-
lord of the old Owego hotel from 183S
to 1849, and who removed to Water-
loo, N. Y.
Capt. Bartlett's blacksmith and
wagon shop was on the west side of
Park street, near Main street. In
.Tune, 1829, Joseph Bartlett had pos-
session of the shop and tookas a work-
ing partner Benjamin N. Johnson,
whom Capt. Bartlett recommended in
an advertisement as "a gentleman re-
cently from New England of irre-
proachable character, a first-class
workman, of industrious habits."
In October, 1830, Joseph and Robert
Bartlett purchased the lot on the east
side of Lake street between the pres-
ent post office building and the new
Owego hotel, which they had occu-
l)ied a few years. This lot had a
front of fifty feet on Lake street and
was 115 feet deep. On the south end
of this lot was a blacksmith shop,
said to have been the oldest one in
the village, of which they had pos-
session. The same month they pur-
chased of Charles Pumpelly the lot on
the south side of Main street, on
which they built a house.
This house stood where the Central
house barn was afterward built and
115
where the new theatre is now being
constructed. James Conklin's wagon
shop was between this house and the
old tavern at the Lake street corner.
There was in those days plenty of
wild game in the woods, which cov-
ered much of the country, and there
was a good demand for guns, particu-
larly rifles. The barrels for the guns
were mostly imported from Germany.
The process of drilling the barrels of
a rifle by hand was a slow and tedious
one, usually taking two days. The
stocks were cut into shape with a
drawing knife, filed, polished, orna-
mented with brass or iron work, and
varnished.
Joseph and Isaac Bartlett engaged
in the manufacture of guns. They
removed to Binghamton in 1829.
where they continued the manufac-
ture of fire arms. The engraving on
the gun barrels was done by Isaac L.
Bartlett, who was born in 1813, the
year his father and brothers came to
Owego, and to perfect him in this
work he was sent abroad by his
older brothers to receive instruction.
There was not a sufl!icient home de-
mand for all the guns manufactured
by the Bartletts, and many were sold
elsewhere. Joseph Bartlett some-
times loaded them in a stage and
drove with them to Cincinnati, Ohio,
the trip occupying several weeks"
time. There they were shipped in
boats and sent down the Ohio and
Mississippi river to New Orleans.
This was in the days when cash was
scarce and exchange of goods and
commodities the rule, and the rifles
were sometimes exchanged for west-
ern horses, which were brought to
Binghamton and converted into cash.
116
When the Barlett brothers removed
to Binghamton their father remained
in Owego and conducted the black-
smithing business until the fall of
1833, when the Owego property was
sold, and then Capt. Isaac Bartlett
removed also to Binghamton.
The business of manufacturing
guns by hand was discontinued be-
tween 1850 and 1855, as the manufac-
ture of guns by machinery had so
greatly reduced the cost as to make
hand work unprofitable. Joseph and
Robert S. Bartlett purchased a farm
at Port Dickinson where .Joseph and
Capt. Isaac Bartlett lived the rest of
their lives.
Joseph Bartlett was sheriff of
Broome county from 1844 to 1847 and
was at one time superintendent of the
southern division of the old Chenango
canal. One of his sons was Rev. Wm.
Alvin Bartlett, who was one of the
first pastors of the Owego Congrega-
tional church. As a boy in school he
was gifted as an elocutionist. His
career as a clergyman was remarka-
ble. During his pastorate here the
old church in Park street which was
much larger than the present one,
was filled with large congregations,
particularly on Sunday evenings, to
listen to his sermons, which were
preached with rare eloquence. He
preached here from Sept., 1857, to
Aug., 1858, and then went to Brook-
lyn as pastor of the Elm Place Con-
gregational church. He was after-
ward pastor of churches in Chicago,
Indianapolis, and Washington. He
has since retired from the ministry,
and spends much of his time abroad.
Another son. Gen. Joseph J. Bart-
lett, was promoted from captain to
117
major-general in the civil war, and
was afterward United States minister
to Norway and Sweden.
Robert S. Bartlett died July 21.
1S81, in Binghamton, aged 72 years.
After the closing of the gunshop he
was for more than twenty-five years
a government mail agent on the Erie
railroad. Isaac I.. Bartlett, who was
born at Salisbury. Conn., .Tune 2u.
1813, and who was associated with
his brothers in the gun factory, died
in Binghamton Dec. 20, 1888.
SAMUEL AVERY.
Samuel Avery from whom all the
Owego Averys were descended came
here with his family in 1803. He was
born at Groton, Conn., Oct. 17, 1731.
He purchased land in Pennsylvania
under the Connecticut title, and, like
many others, lost it.
His brother, Christopher Avery,
settled at Wyoming, Pa., as early as
1770. In 1774 Christopher Avery
was appointed one of the four agents
in behalf of the company of
settlers to attend the Hartford
(Conn.) convention. At the time of
the massacre, in 1778, although ex-
empt by law% he took post beside his
neighbors, went into the battle, and
was killed.
Samuel Avery was educated for a
lawyer and soon afterward removed
to Westminister, Vermont. In Febru-
ary, 1801, he removed with his fam-
ily to Tioga Point (Athens), Pa.
While living there, in 1802, he was
one of the committee to settle the dif-
ferences between Connecticut and
Pennsylvania land companies. Here
he purchased a large quantity of land
and began improvements, but was
lis
soon brought into ligitation with
those who had purchased of the heirs
of William Penn. This was a long
and costly suit, in which Mr. Avery
was defeated, losing not only his land
but his money also. It was from this
experience that he wrote the same
year a pamphlet relating to the con-
flicting titles of Connecticut and
Pennsylvania under the title of "The
Susquehanna Controversy Examined,
Done with Truth and Candor."
The next year he removed to Owe-
go. Three years later, August 4, 1806,
he died here and his body is buried in
the Presbyterian burying ground in
Temple street. Samuel Avery's wife
was Mary Ann Rose, who was born at
Westminister, Vt. Their children
were as follows:
1. Samuel W. Avery, born 22
.lune, 1779. Married Eliza A. Wattles,
daughter of Capt. Mason Wattles, at
Owego Dec, 1806. She died 10 Sept..
1814. He died at Nanticoke, N. Y., 7
Dec, 1828.
2. Mary Ann Avery, born 4 May.
1781. Died in Vermont, unmarried.
3. .lohn Humphrey Avery, born 4
.\ov., 1782. Died at Owego 1 Sept.,
1837.
4. Frances Avery, born 9 Sept.,
1785. Married Charles Pumpelly, of
Owego. Died 21 Oct., 1848.
.5. Susan Avery, born 31 March,
1787. Married Nathan Camp, of Owe-
go. Died 4 Aug., 1813.
6. Isabella Avery, born 24 .lune,
1789. Married Levi Leonard, of
Ithaca. Died 20 Aug., 1842. Mr. Leon-
ard was a man of some prominence in
Ithaca. He was president of the vil-
lage in 1831 and 1832 and was after-
ward a justice of the peace.
Samuel W. Avery lived at Owego
several years but removed to Nanti-
coke, Broome county, where he kept a
tavern. After the death of his first
119
wife (Eliza A. Wattles) lie married
Emily C. Avery, daughter of Daniel
Avery, of Aurora, N. Y. She died
Sept. 18, 1S22, at Nanticoke, aged 29
years.
Samuel W. and Eliza (Wattles)
Avery had a son, Samuel Mason
Avery, who was born Aug. 25,1807,and
who about 1840 married his cousin.
Mary C. Richards, at Owego. She
was born in 1S09 and died in 1S51.
He lived for many years at Jenks-
ville where he was postmaster twen-
ty-one years and a justice of the
peace from 1870 to 1882. He died
.January 1, 1888.
The children of Samuel W. and
Emily (Avery) Avery were Eliza, who
was married to Richard Morgan, of
Aurora; Walter Oddie Avery, who
went to Louisville, Ky., to live, and
Daniel Avery.
Rev. K.M. Dwight, registrar of pedi-
grees of the New York Geneological
and Biographical society, in January,
1904, compiled a record of the Avery
line of descent, showing that Samuel
Avery was a descendant of Richard
Neville (1428-1471), Earl of Salisbury
and Warwick, who is known in his-
tory as "The King Maker."
The Earl of Warwick's daughter
was Isabel Neville, of Warwick cas-
tle, who married George Plantagenet,
Duke of Clarence, who was executed
in 1478 in the Tower of London.
Her daughter was Margaret Planta-
genet, who married Sir Richard Pole.
She was beheaded by Henry VIIL
Their son was Henry Pole, Lord
Montague.
His daughter was Catherine Pole,
who married Francis Lord Hastings,
third earl of Huntington.
120
Their daughter was Catherhie Has-
tings, who married Henry Clinton,
second earl of Lincoln.
Their son was Thomas Clinton,
eighth earl of Lincoln and Lord Clin-
ton.
His daughter was lady Susan Clin-
ton, who married Gen. John Humph-
rey, who in 1641 was appointed major
general of the Massachusetts Bay
colony. He lost his property and re-
turned to England.
.John Humphrey's daughter was
Ann Humphrey (or Humfrey) who
was born in England and who mar-
ried William Palmes at Salem, Mass.,
in 1G42.
Their daughter was Susanna Pal-
mes, who married Capt. Samuel
Avery at Swanzy, Mass., in 1686.
Their son, Humphrey Avery, who
was the father of Samuel Avery, of
Owego, was born July 4, 1697 at Gro-
ton, Conn., and died there March 28,
1786.
JOHN H. AVERY.
The second resident lawyer to set-
tle in Owego was John H. Avery, son
of Samuel Avery. He was nineteen
years of age when he came here from
Westminister, Vt., in 1801. He studied
law in the office of Gen. Vincent Mat-
hews at New Town (now Elmira.)
Gen. Matthews was the first lawyer
of any importance in this part of the
state. He was born in Orange county,
N. Y., in 1766. He began the study
of law in 1786 in New York city in
the ofRce of Col. Robert Troup, the
friend of Aaron Burr. He was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1790 and came to
Elmira in 1793. He was the first law-
yer to settle there. He was a mem-
121
ber of assembly in 1904-5 from Tioga
county (tlien composed of the present
counties of Chemung and Tioga) a
state senator, and in 1809 was elected
to congress from the Fourteenth dis-
trict, then composed of Cayuga, Sene-
ca, Steuben, and Tioga counties. He
removed to Bath in 1S16, and thence
to Rochester in 1821. He represented
Monroe county in the assembly 1i
1826, and was appointed district at
torney in 1831.
In 1806 Mr. Avery purchased the
lot on the north side of Front street
(lot No. 12 in the old village plot), on
which in 1809 he built the large house
now owned and occupied by Dr. E. D.
Downs. This lot also included the lot
on which J. C. Kenyon's residence
now stands and extended back its full
width to Main street. On the Main
street end, occupying about one-half
of the entire lot, was the Avery or-
chard, the object of occasional preda-
tory raids of the apple-hungry small
boys of the neighborhood in those
days.
This property was a portion of the
lands of Elihu Chauncey Goodrich,
which were seized upon July 21, ISOO,
by Wm. Woodruff, sheriff, at a suit of
Jabez Beers for a debt of $47,000 and
sold to Mr. Avery.
Mr. Avery's law office was on the
river bank on the south side of
Front street and was on land in-
cluded in the purchase. This office
was several years ago converted into
a dwelling house and still stands
there.
Mr. Avery practised law most of
the time alone, but he had various
partners. In 1813 the firm was Avery
& Collier, and in 1818 it was Avery &
122
Piatt, Wm. Piatt being then his jmrt-
ner. He was later in partnership with
Ziba A. Leland.
Mr. Leland was a college graduate,
who came to Owego from Vermont,
where he was born, and formed the
law partnership with Mr. Avery May
1, 1820. He was appointed a justice
of the peace in April, 1822. He re-
moved to Bath in November, 1822,
where he served two terms in the
legislature, and he also served several
years as first judge. Later in life he
removed to Auburn and thence to
Saratoga county, where he died.
Mr. Avery represented Tioga county
in the assembly in 1814. He con-
tinued the practice of law in Owego
until his death, in 1837. His wife was
Stella Hinchman, daughter of Dr.
Josejih Hinchman, of Elniira, whose
father and grandfather were both phy-
sicians and were both named Joseph
Hinchman. At sixteen years of age
Dr. Hinchman was a soldier in the
revolutionary army. He afterward
studied medicine and removed to El-
inlra in 1793-4. In February, 1795, he
was appointed sheriff of Tioga county,
which then comprised within its
limits Chemung, the present county of
Tioga. Broome, and a portion of Che-
nango. He died in July, 1802.
The children of John and Stella
(Hinchman) Avery were as follows:
1. John Humphrey Avery, born 13
July, 1808. Died 27 July, 1831, at
Petersburg, Va.
2. Stella Hinchman Avery, born 12
Feb., 1810. Married Wm. H. C. Hos-
mer.
3. George Waitsall Avery, born 12
Feb., 1812. Died 23 Dec, 1849.
4. Susan Palmes Avery, born 29
Nov., 1813. Married Robert D. Pieron-
net, of Friendsville, Pa.
123
5. Emily Eliza Avery, born 10 Oct..
1815. Married Thomas Farrington in
1835. Died at Owego 5 Aug., 1899.
6. Charles Pumpelly Avery, born ''>
.luly, 1817. Died at Owego 31 Aug.,
1872.
7. .Joseph Hinchman Avery, born
29 Nov., 1819. Died 9 March. 1821.
8. Mary Anna Avery, born May 1.
1S22. Died at Joliet, 111., 4 .June, 1901.
9. Fannie Catherine Avery, born
25 Nov., 1823. Died 16 Oct.. 1825.
10. I^esbia Piatt Avery, born 2 Oct..
1825. Married Isaac Newton Jerome.
11. Guy Hinchman Avery, born 3o
Aug., 1829. Died in New York city 14
May,' 1903.
None of .John H. Avery's sons was
married.
William H. C. Hosmer in early litV
enjoyed considerable celebrity as a
poet and was Imown in literature as
"The Bard of Avon." He was born
May 25. 1814. at Avon. N. Y. His
father. George Hosmer, was one of the
most prominent lawyers in the state,
and Proctor's "The Bench and the
Bar of New York" devotes sixteen
pages to his history. Geo. Hosmer
practised law at Canajoharie and af-
terward at Avon. His wife was a
woman of rare accomplishments,
spoke several Indian dialects, and was
deeply interested in the history and
traditions of the red men.
Wm.H.C. Hosmer was also a student
oflndianlore and travelled extensively
aip-ong the tribes of Florida and Min-
nesota. He was a lawyer. His first
poem was "Yonnondio, or the War-
riors of the Genesee," an Indian tale
in seven cantos, published in 1844.
His poems were published in 1854 in
two volumes. He held a position in
the New York custom house several
years. He died at Avon May 23, 1877.
Isaac Newton Jerome was principal
of the Owego academy from 1844 to
124
1847. He came here from Pompey
Hill, Onondaga county, N. Y.
Thomas Farrington was born Feb.
12. 1799, at Delhi, N. Y. At the age of
thirteen years he acted as orderly on
the staff of his father. Gen. Putnam
Farrington, who was a colonel in the
United States service in the war of
1812. At the age of 22 he was prin-
cipal of the Delhi academy. He was
graduated from Yale college in 1826.
studied law, and began practice in
Owego in 1828. He was a trustee of
the Owego academy from 1829 until it
was incorporated in the union free
schools of the village. He represnted
Tioga county in the assembly in 1833
and 1840, and was surrogate from
1835 to 1840. He was appointed State
Treasurer in February, 1842, and
served until 1845. In January. 1845.
he was appointed Adjutant-General by
Gov. Wright and served until 1846.
In February, 1846, he was again ap-
pointed State Treasurer and held the
office until November, 1847. He was
judge of Tioga county from 1859 to
1871. He died in Owego Dec. 2, 1872.
Charles P. Avery, born at Owego.
studied law in judge Farrington's of-
fice. At thirty years of age lie was elec-
ted judge of Tioga county, and he was
the first county judge elected under the
constitution of 1846, making the office
elective. He held the office two terms
from 1847 to 1855. He was greatly in-
terested in Indian history and wrote
the Susquehanna Valley papers, which
were published in the St. Nicholas
magazine in 1853 and 1854. He
gleaned his information from early
settlers and was the means of pre-
serving much valuable matter relat-
ing to the early history of Tioga
125
county that would have been other-
wise lost. He organized an associa-
tion of the pioneers of the Susque-
hanna valley, which in 1852 and a
few subsequent years held annual
meetings at Elmira. Owego, Bingham-
ton, Ithaca, Montrose. Pa., and other
places. He later removed to Flint.
Mich. While living there his interest
in Indian history continued, and in
June, 1863, under the title of "Treaty
of Saginaw" he wrote a history of
various Indian tribes for the Detroit
Free Press. His health became im-
paired by the climate of Michigan,
and in the spring of 1872 he returned
to Owego, where he died Aug. 31,
1872, aged 54 years. In the centennial
history of Tioga county Wm. F. War-
ner pays this handsome tribute to
Judge Avery:
"Few men of the county have been
gifted by nature with qualities so
genial and brilliant as those of judge
Avery. Having a fine, manly person
and an exceedingly pleasing and win-
ning address, he was a general favor-
ite. Nor have many started in life
with such brilliant prosjjects of suc-
cess and long and useful life. His
sudden failure of health and prema-
ture death were felt as a calamity to
a large circle of warm friends. He
will long be remembered for his ex-
cellent qualities and useful labors."
John H. Avery died in Owego Sept.
1, 1837, aged 54 years. His wife died
Dec. 15, 1871, aged 83 years.
126
ELIZUR TALCOTT.
Elizur Talcott, a son of Col. Ellzur
Talcott, was born at Glastenbury,
Conn., Dec. 17, 1750, and came to
Owego with his family in 1803. He
was a direct descendant of John Tal-
cott (the first of the name of whom
there is any record), who lived at
Colchester, England, and died there
in November, 1606. His grandson,
also named John Talcott, came to
America from Braintree, England, in
June, 1632, and settled at Hartford.
Conn. All the Talcotts in America
are his descendants.
Col. Elizur Talcott was a man of
wealth and note in Connecticut. He
was one of the purchasers of lands in
Pennslyvania under the Connecticut
title and lost his investment. He held
a commission as colonel of a troop of
horse previous to and during the war
of the revolution, and 'served with the
Connecticut forces on Long Island in
command of his troop. He was in
New York city while the British army
was marching in, and thence was
taken home ill on a litter, and did not
again join the continental army.
His son, Elizur Talcott, came with
his sons, George Lord Talcott, then
aged 18 years, and Elizur Talcott, Jr..
aged 22 years, in 1802 to Elmira.
where they were employed in build-
ing a dwelling house. The next year
they came to Owego. In 1803, he pur-
chased of Jared Goodrich of Glasten-
bury.Conn., two pieces of land in Owe-
go, one containing fifty acres and the
other 67 acres. The western bound-
ary of this land was the Owego creek.
The eastern boundary was a line
which passed diagonally across North
avenue and ran about parallel with
127
McMaster street. The south bound-
ary was a little below Fox street and
the north boundary was near where
George street now runs. This land
had been sold for $2,500 June 28, 1902,
by Capt. Luke Bates to Jared Good-
rich, who sold it for the same amount
to Mr. Talcott Jan. 31, 1903. In Sept..
1S05, Mr. Talcott sold the northern
part of this farm to his son, George
Lord Talcott.
Elizur Talcott lived in a large
frame house, which stood on the east
side of McMaster street, midway be-
tween Fox street and the Erie rail-
road. It was similar to all the large
farm houses of that time, with a wide
hall extending from front to rear in
the middle. Geo. Lord Talcotfs
house was at the southeast corner of
Talcott street and the Lehigh Valley
railroad. It was occupied after his
death by his son, George Talcott, and
after George Talcotfs death it be-
came the property of Wm.H. Thomas,
who reconstructed it and lives in it
now.
The Talcotts were farmers all their
lives. The land they purchased had
been partly cleared by the Indians,
but most of the land from the Owego
creek east was at that time a forest
wilderness of lofty pines, gigantic
oaks, and a dense undergrowth of
bushes.
Elizur Talcott took little part in
])ublic affairs, but in April, 1X2",, when
the legislature passed an act consti-
tuting a commission to build a county
clerk's office in Owego, he was ap-
pointed one of the commissioners.
Mr. Talcott died Nov. 28, 1831. His
wife. Dorothy (Lord) Talcott, died
April 14, 1839, aged 86 years. The
128
children of Elizur and Dorothy (Lord)
Talcott were as follows:
1. Lucy Talcott, born 26 Dec,
1777. Married George Burton. Died
29 Oct., 1858.
2. Elizur Talcott, Jr., born Feb. 1,
1780. Married Betsy Bliss March 1,
1803. Died 27 Jan., 1867, at the home
of his son, Wm. H. Talcott, near
Flemingville.
3. Prudence Talcott, born 4 Nov..
1781. Married David Lord, died 15
Jan., 1836.
4. George Lord Talcott, born 3
Jan., 1784. Married Sarah McQuigg,
daughter of John McQuigg, one of the
first settlers at Owego. Died Nov. 30,
1873.
5. Hope Talcott, born 10 May,
1785. Married Erastus Goodrich 27
Feb., 1812. Died 13 Feb., 1865.
6. Dolly Talcott, born 23 April,
1789. Married Jesse Truesdell 15
March, 1812. Died 17 April, 1856.
7. Solomon Talcott bom 10 Aug.,
1790. Died 18 Nov., 1795.
8. Charles Talcott, born 11 March,
1795. Died 28, Oct., 1861.
Charles Talcott, the youngest son
of Elizur Talcott, was for many years
a prominent Owego merchant. He
was born at Glastenbury, and came to
Owego in 1803, the year following the
removal of his father and brothers
from Connecticut. He was then 18
years of age. He entered Major
Horatio Ross's store as a clerk, where
he remained until 1816, when he be-
gan a general mercantile business on
his own account in Cauldwell Row,
near the northeast corner of Front
and Lake streets. About the year 1818
he sold his store to David Turner and
built a two-story wooden store, which
was for many years known as "the
yellow store," it being painted yellow.
This store stood on the south side of
Front street where Dr. J. B. Stan-
brough's stove store now stands, o])-
129
posite the Ahwaga house. This store
was burned in the great fire of Sep-
tember, 1849.
In May, 1831, George B. Goodrich, a
nephew of Mr. Talcott, entered the
old yellow store as a clerk, and in
1837 he became Mr. Talcott's partner.
The firm was known as G. B. Good-
rich & Co. After the fire they built
the building now occupied by Dr.
Stanbrough on the site of the old yel-
low store, but did not occupy it.
They sold it to Walter Ogden in 1851
and bought a store which the Odd
Follows had just built. This store is
the first one east of Lake street, and
is still occupied by the firm of Good-
rich & Co. as a dry goods store. Mr.
Talcott died Oct. 30. 1861.
Mr. Goodrich was born Dec. 1, 1816.
in the town of Tioga, and was a son
of Erastus Goodrich, who represented
Tioga county in the assembly in 1848.
In 1864 his son-in-law, William H.
Ellis, and his son, James W. Goodrich,
were admitted to the partnership,
which is still in existence and is the
oldest business house in Owego. Mr.
Goodrich was for several years a di-
rector of the First and Tioga national
banks and was president of the Owe-
go national bank from its establish-
ment until his death. He died Janu-
ary 8. 1886.
The children of George Lord and
Sarah (McQuigg) Talcott were as fol-
lows :
1. Mary Talcott, born 24, Feb.,
1807. Died in Owego 19. Sept., 1882.
2. George Talcott, born April 21,
1809. Died in Owego 5 June, 1896.
3 Hope M. Talcott, born Sept. 12,
1811. Married Charles Ransom, 2
Oct., 1832. Died 1 May, 1863.
130
4. Fanny B. Talcott, born 14 Feb.,
1.S14. Married John J. Sackett, t>
Sept., 1836. Died 7 Dec, 1863.
5. Sarah C. Talcott, born March 6,
1816. Married Geo. B. Goodrich. She
is still living in Owego.
6. Lucius I^. Talcott, born 19 June,
1819. Married Ellen Noyes in May,
1847. He married second Harriet
Noyes, 5 Oct., 18.54, sister of his first
wife. In early life he was a clerk in
the store of his uncle, Chas. Talcott.
In 1849 he went with a party of Owe-
go men to California and thence to
Olympia, Wash., where he died 20
.luly, 1898.
7. Charles Talcott, born 6 Jan.,
1S22. Married Eliza A. Raymond, 17
Aug., 1863. Died 13 Dec, 186.5.
8. Charlotte Talcott, born 20 July,
1S24. Married Thomas H. Cook 10
June, 1851. Died at Spencer, X. Y., 2
March, 1879.
George Lord Talcott died in Owego
Nov. 30, 1S73. His wife died June 1.5,
IS 42.
GEN. JOHN LANING.
Gen. John Laning, one of the early
merchants of Owego, was born at
Lambertsville, N. J., in October, 1779.
His father at one time kept a ferry at
Washington's Crossing, New Jersey.
He is supposed to have come to Owe-
go in 1801, as in August of that year
he entered Thomas Duane's store as
a clerk. In 1803 he began a general
mercantile business on his own ac-
count.
He was a young man of unusual
force and business ability. He was
the first Owego merchant who made
a contract for plaster in the Cayuga
lake country, and he increased to
such an extent that he is said to have
had as many as five hundred teams
on the road at one time drawing plas-
ter from Ithaca to Owego. In 1806
he was also a partner of David Mc-
131
Quigg, the first Ithaca merchant, in
bnsiness at Ithaca under the firm
name of Laning & Qulgg.
Mr. leaning had a large storehouse
on the bank of the Susquehanna
river, which stood on the ground
where Truman & Jones's feed store
now is, the fourth store above the
bridge. From this storehouse plaster
was loaded into arks in the water be-
low in the rear for shipment down
the river. There was no railroad in
these parts and an immense trade was
done in shipping plaster, salt, and
lumber by the Susquehanna river to
the Philadelphia and Baltimore mar-
ket.
About the year ISOo Gen. Laning
formed a partnership in the lumber
manufacturing business with Guy
Maxwell, of New Town (now Elmira),
under the firm name of Maxwell <.^'
Laning. They purchased considera-
ble land on the east side of the Owe-
go creek, northwest of this village,
and engaged in the manufacture of
lumber. This partnership continued
until the spring of 1811 when Mr.
Maxwell sold his interest in the real
estate to Gen. Laning, together with
the sawmill thereon.
Mr. Maxwell was a son of Alexan-
der Maxwell, of Claverack, England.
In June, 1770, Alexander Maxwell and
his wife embarked from a Scottish
port for America, but were ship-
wrecked in the Irish channel and
landed on the coast of Ireland, where
Guy Maxwell was born July 15, 177(i.
He was two years of age when he
came to Virginia with his i)arents.
who settled at Martinsburg. He was
apprenticed to the mercantile trade
(as was the custom in those days) at
132
Pittsburgh, Pa., his term of appren-
ticeship expiring in July, 1788. In
company with Samuel Hopkins he
opened a store at Tioga Point
(Athens) in the following September
and sold goods in a store building
owned by Matthias HoUenback. In
August, 1796 he removed to New
Town (Elmira), where he had bought
one hundred acres of land in what is
now the most valuable business part
of that city.
In 1790 he acted as secretary to
Col. Timothy Pickering, the principal
negotiator on the part of the govern-
ment when Red Jacket, Cornplanter,
BigTree,and about 1,200 other Indians
were gathered at New Town in No-
vember, 1790, for the purpose of hold-
ing a treaty with the United States.
He was appointed sheriff of Tioga
county by Gov. Clinton and served
from February, 1800 to January, 1801.
He built the first flouring mill at New
Town. He died February 14, 1814.
Guy Maxwell was the father of
William Maxwell, of Elmira, who was
district attorney and surrogate of
Tioga county, and of Thomas Max-
well, who was clerk of Tioga county
and afterward postmaster of Elnpra.
Thomas Maxwell was the father of
Mrs. Abram H. Miller, of Spencer,
later of Owego.
Mr. Laning's store was in a room
that was afterward the barroom of
the old Franklin house, which stood
on the north side of Front street, east
of Court street. This store stood
where the third brick store east of
Court street now stands. Gen. Lan-
ing bought the property in February,
1804. The lot was just one-fourth of
133
the present square bounded by Front,
Lake, Main, and Court streets.
Gen. Laning was only forty-one
years old when he met with his death
by accident. February 12, 1820, he
fell through a trap door in his store-
house to the cellar below and was
killed.
Among Gen. Laning's clerks were
Jonathan Piatt, Benjamin Durham,
and Asa H. Truman, all of whom
afterward became successful mer-
chants.
The old storehouse was torn down
about 1835 by Gen. Laning's widow,
who erected a store on its site for her
son, Matthias H. Laning. This store
was afterward occupied by Rayns-
ford, Drake & Co.. and later by John
Bassett, who in February, 1839, set it
on fire for the purpose of defrauding
an insurance company, and who,
when he was about to be arrested for
the crime committed suicide by cut-
ting his throat with a razor.
Gen. Laning derived his military
title from his service in the state
militia. In 1811 he was adjutant in
the regiment of which Gen. Oliver
Huntington was the colonel com-
mandant. In 1817 he was colonel of
the 53d regiment of infantry. In 1819
he was promoted to brigadier-general
of the 41st brigade of infantry and
held this commission at the time of
his death.
Mrs. Laning was Mary Ann Hollen-
back, daughter of Matthias Hollen-
back, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. After her
husband's death she continued to live
in a large white house which stood on
the north side of Main street, nearly
opposite Park street, and there she
died March 1, 1854, aged 71 years.
134
The children of Gen. John and
Mary Ann (Hollenback) Laning were
as follows:
1. Augustus C. Laning, who re-
moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
2. Mathias H. Laning, who re-
moved in 1835 to Wysox, Pa., where
he kept a store and built a large sec-
tion of the North Branch canal. He
died there 3 May, 1890.
3. Mary Ann Laning, who married
,Tohn S. Rosette, of Philadelphia.
4. Sarah Laning, who was the first
wife of Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps and who
died at Owego 3 Nov., 1842.
5. Ellen H. Laning, who married
Mr. Picking.
6. Emily G. Laning, who married
John J. Taylor in 1837 and died in
Owego 25 Nov., 1879.
7. John C. Laning, who lived at
Owego and died here 18 May, 1897.
Mr. Picking and Mr. Rosette were
business partners and conducted a
wholesale dry goods store in Phila-
delphia.
John J. Taylor was one of the
ablest lawyers of his time in Owego.
He was born April 27, 1808, at Leo-
minster, Mass., and was graduated
from Harvard university in 1829. He
studied law in Troy, N. Y., and came
to Owego in 1834, where he soon
ranked as one of the ablest lawyers
in southern New York. He was dis-
trict attorney of Tioga county from
1841 to 1843. In 1846 he re])resented
Tioga county in the constutional con-
vention, and was also a supreme
court commissioner. He was a mem-
ber of the 27th congress in 1852-4,
where he gained some distinction as
a speaker, particularly on account of
his speech on the Kansas-Nebraska
bill. In 1858 he was the Democratic
candidate for lieutenant-governor of
this state on the ticket with judge
135
Aniasa J.Parker for governor. He was
prominent in securing the construc-
tion of tlie Southern Central railroad
from Owego to Auburn, and was one
of the original directors of the road
and vice-president. In September,
1S69, he was chosen president, and
was re-elected several times there-
after. He was also president of the
the old National Union Bank of Owe-
go. He died at Owego July 1, 1892.
JOHN PUMPBLLY.
John Punipelly, the father of James,
Charles, William, and Harmon Puni-
pelly, all of whom became distin-
guished citizens of Owego, was born
in 1727.
The name Pumpelly, is of Italian
origin, and at different periods it has
been spelled Pompili, Pompilli, Pum-
pilly, Pompilie, Pumpely, and in va-
rious other ways. The name is said
to be a corrupted form of the name
Pompilie, or Pompilly, which are
French forms of the very ancient sur-
name of Pompili, and the last way of
spelling the name is found in the ar-
chives of the city of Spoletto, near
Rome, one Signer Pompili having dis-
tinguished himself in the defence of
one of the gates of Spoletto when Fred-
erick Barbarossa laid seige to that
city. The traditions of the American
branch state that the family came
from Avignon, France, and becoming
Protestants emigrated to the French
kingdom and afterward fled to Cana-
da.
Jean Pompilie, the French Hugue-
not, who emigrated to Canada, had a
son, John Pompily, who came from
Canada to Massachusetts in the early
part of 1700. He is said to have run
136
away with and married a Miss Mun-
roe, a young girl with some fortune
and much beauty, who after his death
married a clergyman named Glover.
His only son, .John Pumpely (so he
himself wrote the name), the subject
of this sketch, was born in 1727, one
month after the death of his father.
He was brought up in the household
of Mr. Glover, and at the age of
eleven or twelve years ran away and
enlisted as a drummer In Capt. John
Loring's company of the king's ser-
vice. He served through the whole
French and Indian war as a member
of Capt. Rogers's rangers and was
promoted as sergeant for distin-
guished bravery while bearer of dis-
patches for the relief of Fort William
Henry, carrying the dispatches safely
through a country infested with hos-
tile Indians. The last few miles of
this dangerous expedition were made
in a dead run, chased by three In-
dian warriors. It is said that he
stood near Gen. Wolfe when Wolfe
was mortally wounded at Quebec and
that he himself was wounded at the
same time. He also served as a revo-
lutionary soldier and was commissary
to Gen. Israel Putnam at the time of
Burgoyne's surrender, and traditon
says that he was the means of saving
the life of that distinguished officer
when Putnam fell into a lake during
a skirmish.
.lohn Pumpelly was twice married.
His first wife was Eppen Hillebrantz
Meijer (called in this country Appy
Meyers,) a young woman of Dutch
descent, whom he married in 1759 at
Halifax, Novia Scotia, while he was
in the army. She died in 1809, aged
0:? years.
137
The five sons and two daughters of
John and Eppen (Meijer) Pumpelly
were as follows:
1. Bennet Pumpelly, born 16 June,
1761. Married Mary Irish in the town
of Turner, Maine, 23 March, 1815.
2. Betsy Pumpelly, born 13 Sept.,
1763.
3. Appv Pumpelly, born 20 Dec,
1764. Married Daniel Merrill, Jr., in
1821.
4. John Pumpelly, born 8 Jan.,
l'?67. ^ ^ ,
5. Ruel Pumpelly, born 16 Feb.,
6. Barnard Pumpelly, born 4 May,
1770. He was killed in St. Clair's de-
feat.
7. Capt. Samuel Pumpelly, born
10 Sept 1773. He was married twice.
His first wife died 19 Dec, 1820. He
married second, Hannah Doten.widow
of Holmes Doten, and daughter of
John Bess, of Paris, Maine. He died
10 Nov., 1819.
Bennet Pumpelly served in the con-
tinental army during the revolution
and was a personal friend of Lafay-
ette,who when in Boston, in 1824, sent
a special invitation to Mr. Pumpelly
to visit him. He was a sergeant ma-
jor in Col. Weissenfield's regiment,
and served through the whole war.
John Pumpelly lived first at Pem-
broke, Mass., and afterward at Salis-
bury, Conn. His second wife was
Hannah Bushnell, daughter of Capt.
Samuel Bushnell, of Salisbury, Conn.
The children of John and Hannah
(Bushnell) Pumpelly were as follows:
1 James Pumpelly, born 20 Dec,
1775 at Salisbury, Conn. Married
Mrs Mary (Pixley) Tinkham, widow
of Dr Samuel Tinkham, of Owego,
7 April, 1805. He died at Owego
4 Oct., 1845, and she 4 June, 1848.
2. Jerusha Pumpelly, born in the
state of New York in 1778. Died 22
Nov., 1793, at Salisbury, Conn.
138
;;. Charles Pumpelly, born 18 Dec,
1779, at Salisbury, Conn. Married
Frances Avery, daughter of Samuel
Avery, of Owego. 2 Sept., 1803. He
died at Owego 6 Jan., 1855, and she 21
Oct., 1848.
4. Maria Pumpelly, bom 14 — ,
1785, at Salisbury, Conn. Married
Abner Beers. She died at Owego 3
Dec, 1858.
5. Mary Pumpelly, born 23 Nov.,
1786, at Salisbury, Conn.
6. William Pumpelly, born 17 .lune,
1788, at Salisbury, Conn. Married
Sarah Emily Tinkham, daughter of
Dr. Samuel Tinkham, in June, 1814.
She died 31 March, 1822. His second
wife was Mary H. Welles, daughter of
George Welles, of Athens, Pa., whom
he married 20 Oct., 1824. He died at
Owego 16 Nov., 1876. and she in Paris,
France 14 Dec, 1879.
7. Harriet Pumpelly, bom 10 Nov.,
1791, at Salisbury, Conn. Married
David McQuigg. who was a son of
Capt. John McQuigg, one of the earli-
est settlers at Owego. He was one of
the earliest merchants at Ithaca.
8. Harmon Pumpelly, born 1 Aug.,
1795, at Salisbury, Conn. His first
wife was Delphine Drake, daughter of
judge John R. Drake, of Owego. His
second wife was Maria Brinkerhoff,
daughter of Peter Brinkerhoff, of Al-
bany, N. Y., whom he married in 1841.
He died 29 Sept., 1882, at Albany, and
she 22 Ai)ril, 1887.
John Pumpelly, with his second
wife and five of their children came
from Salisbury in May, 1802 to the
state of New York. They crossed the
Hudson river at Catskill and came
thence through a wild country, with
now and then a clearing, to Owego.
The settlement here then was small,
composed of a few unpainted frame
houses, with occasionally a log one,
and mostly scattered along on each
side of the then crooked highway,
which is at present known as Front
139
street. What is now the village was
then covered with woods.
William Pumpelly, who was but
thirteen years old at that time, in-
formed the writer a few years before
his death that when the party turned
from Front street into the road which
extended north and ran about where
Lake street is now they passed
through ])ine woods, the trees in
which were of such great size that in
his youthful imagination they seemed
to touch the sky. The family pro-
ceeded on their way north to their
destination, then known as Beers's
settlement, in the town of Danby.
Tompkins county. At that time the
only house where Ithaca now stands
was a log hut, hardly suitable for a
pig pen.
John Pumpelly lived at Beers's set-
tlement in the old house, which is
still standing, imtil his death on July
11. 1819, aged 92 years. His wife,
Hannah Pumpelly, after his death
came to Owego to live and at her
death on Dec. 31, 1832, his body was
brought to Owego. Their remains are
interred in the Presbyterian burying
ground in Temple street. A portrait
of John Pumpelly is in the possession
of the Albany branch of the family.
140
ABNER BEERS.
Abner Beers, who married John
Pumpelly's daughter, Maria, was born
at Stratford, Conn., Dec. 7, 1777. He
was a descendant of James Beers,
who lived in Gravesend, Kent, Eng-
land, where James's brother, Richard,
also resided. James was a mariner
and died in 1635. He had two sons,
James and Anthony, who in that year
came with their uncle, Richard Beers,
to Watertown, Mass., where Richard
was a representative to the general
court thirteen years and a captain in
the military service. He was mor-
tally wounded in King Philip's war at
Westfield, Mass., and died Sept. 4,
1675.
Anthony Beers, son of James, of
Kent, removed from Watertown to
Fairfield, Conn., in 1659. He was lost
at sea in 1676. He had nine children,
of whom Barnabas, the youngest, was
born Sept. 6, 1658. Barnabas also had
nine children, of whom the youngest
Abner Beers (1) was born Dec. 6,
1736. He married Hannah Beardslee
Oct. 6, 1761. They had eight chil-
dren, of whom Abner Beers (2), the
youngest, was born Dec. 7, 1779.
Three brothers of Abner Beers (2),
Nathan, Jabez, and Rev. Lewis Beers.
M. D., came from Stratford, Conn.,
and settled at Beers's settlement
(now Danby), in Tompkins county,
in 1797. Abner Beers (2) came there
later, in 1804, and in 1806 he opened
a store in a log house. When the
brothers had become fairly settled
they brought their father, Abner
Beers (1) and their mother from
Stratford to Beers's settlement, they
later removing to a farm in the town
of Spencer, in Tioga county, where he
141
was living in July, ISOS. when he
made his will. He died Jan. 3, ISIG.
and she April 10, 1S17.
When Dr. Lewis Beers, who had
been a practising physician at Strat-
ford, came to Tompltins county he
bought two hundred acres of land and
his brothers bought one hundred acres
each adjoining. Dr. Beers added by
other purchases until he was one of
the largest land owners in the county.
He was the first postmaster and the
first justice of the peace in the town
of Danby, receiving his appointment
m 1S07 from Gov. Tompkins. He was
later appointed judge of the court of
common pleas. He was the first and
only president of the Owego and Ith-
aca turnpike company from 1812 to
1841. He was a physician, farmer,
minister of the gospel, and merchant.
He was 81 years of age at the time of
his death in 1849.
Jabez Beers was a justice of the
peace and succeeded his brother as
judge. He was a member of assembly
in 1812-1813. He was a carpenter and
erected the first frame building at
Ithaca.
About the year 1812 Abner Beers
(2) kept a tavern five or six miles
this side of Ithaca. Later he removed
to the town of Candor, where he en-
gaged in farming and lumbering. He
came to Owego to live in 1818. He
lived on the south side of Front
street, west of McMaster street. His
house was on the lot now owned
by Mrs. Eliza J. Pride and stood about
tw^enty feet back of the well which
supplied the family with water and
which well is still in use and is near
the sidewalk.
142
Mr. Beers was a carpenter and
builder. He built the first Tioga county
clerk's office in 1825 and the old
Owego academy in Court street in
1827. The next year he also built the
first bridge across the Susquehanna
river at the foot of Court street from
the plans of Ephraim Leach, and he
died the same year.
His children were Harmon. Eli.
David, Mary, Abner, Charles, Frances,
and John James Beers.
Dr. Eli Beers was a physician at
Dan by.
Col. Abner Beers was born June 24,
1812, at Beers's settlement. In 1846
he went to Yazoo, Mississippi, where
for many years he was a planter. He
came to Owego in 1878 and died here
May 30, 1881.
David, Charles, and John James
Beers lived at Owego. Charles Beers
was born June 4, 1819, in this village
and lived here all his life.He was en-
gaged in the livery business and farm-
ing several years. His livery barn
was on the east side of Lake street
where the post office now stands and
was burned in 1872. He died Dec. 29,
1891.
John James Beers was a farmer and
lived on the farm which after his
death became the property of E. H.
House on the north side of the Hunt-
ington creek and west of the old
Owego and Ithaca turnpike. He died
May 2, 1880.
David Beers was for many years a
merchant at Owego. He was born
April 20, 1809, at Beers's settlement.
In 1820, two years after his coming to
Owego, when he was only twelve
years of age, he began business on his
143
own account by permission of liis
father.
His first speculation was tlie pur-
chase of shad of the river fishermen.
At that period there were no dams
in the Susquehanna to prevent shad
from coming up the stream in the
spring, and the fish were tal<;en here
in large quantities during the shad
season. He purchased shad of the
net-owners and went every other day
to Ithaca with a load of these fish,
finding a ready sale for them at the
many taverns on the road and in
Ithaca.
With the proceeds of these sales
Mr. Beers was enabled to begin busi-
ness in a small way as a grocer in one
of the stores in Cauldwell row, on the
north side of Front street, a little
east of Lake street.
His first stock of goods was bought
for him in New York by William Pum-
pelly, who forwarded them with his
own goods to Catskill, whence they
were brought by teams to Owego. Af-
ter a time he removed to the south
side of Front street, adjoining judge
Drake's store. Later he went to Apa-
lachin, which was at that time an im-
portant lumbering point, where he
built a store and conducted a general
mercantile business two years. His
goods, which he then received by the
way of Ithaca, he sold in exchange for
long shingles, which he shipped down
the river in arks to market. He sold
his store and stock of goods to Aaron
Steele and returned to Owego.
John Kinney, a tailor, owned a
house and lot on the west side of
Lake street, the same lot on which
M. A. Lynch's saloon now stands. Mr.
Beers bought the property and opened
144
a meat market. He subsequently con-
verted the lower part of his house hi-
to a store, where in company with
his brother-in-law, Albert R. Thomas,
he conducted a general country store
until the building was burned in the
great fire of 1849. He immediately
rebuilt. Two years later he pur-
chased Mr. Thomas's interest in the
store and continued the business
alone until September, 1866, when he
sold the property to Martin Ashley.
A short time previous to the fire of
1849 the general country stores grad-
ually discontinued the sale of many
articles of merchandise such as are
now found only in crockery, hard-
ware, and grocery stores, but Mr.
Beers continued to keep the stock of
a general country store the same as
during the early mercantile days of
Owego, until he retired from business.
He removed to Brooklyn, where he
died Dec. 27, 1890, at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Charles O. Anderson.
Abner Beers (2) died at Owego
Sept. 7, 1828.
JAMES PUMPELLY.
145
JAMES PUMPELLY.
James Pumpelly, the eldest son of
John Pumpelly, was one of the most
progressive men that ever lived in
Owego. He was a self-made man.
His enterprise and public spirit were
manifested when the village was at
its formative period, and it is largely
due to him that its advancement was
so rapid. He was foremost by reason
of his wealth in every public enter-
prise. He was a leading spirit in es-
tablishing turnpikes, in building the
old Ithaca and Owego railroad, in
building the first steamboat on the
Susquehanna river built for commer-
cial purposes, and in preparing the
way for the construction of the New
York & Erie railroad to Owego. At
the convention at Owego Dec. 20 and
21, 1831, of the people from all along
the line, representing fifteen or six-
teen counties, to advocate the applica-
tion to the legislature for a charter
for a railroad from New York to Lake
Erie, he was one of the vice-presi-
dents.
When the Pumpelly family came to
Beers's settlement from Connecticut
in 1802 James Pumpelly was
28 years old. He rode the entire dis-
tance on horseback. He was a sur-
veyor, as was also his father. The
family was not in prosperous circum-
stances. There was an old story that
when James Pumpelly came to Owego
to engage in surveying he had only
fifty cents in his possession, with
which he purchased a hatchet to cut
away the brush while surveying in the
woods. This story was not exactly
correct, but it had some foundation
in truth.
146
One of Mr. Pumpelly's early ac-
quaintances was Zelotes Robinson,
who lived within twenty miles of
Salisbury, and they knew each other
before coming to Owego. Mr. Robin-
son for five years from 1818 con-
ducted Mr. Pumpelly's saw and grist
mills at Jenksville, and for five years
afterward he conducted one of iMr.
Pumpelly's farms. It was while thus
engaged that Mr. Pumpelly told Mr.
Robinson how he came to Owego with
a party of surveyors, having obtained
a job of surveying, and all the money
he had was five New England shil-
lings. While sitting with an impe-
cunious friend on the bank of the
river, near where the Court street
bridge now is, Mr. Pumpelly divided
the five shillings equally with this
friend.
Mr. Pumpelly began his work here
with a surveying party an an axe-
man. One of the party was the father
of Gov. Hawley, of Connecticut. Mr.
Pumpelly later became agent for the
owners of large tracts of land in the
"Twelve Townships," and with the
aid of his brothers, William and Har-
mon Pumpelly, he surveyed that im-
mense territory. He was agent for
lands on both sides of the Owego
creek its entire length, and estab-
lished a land office in Owego. He
purchased lands in large tracts on his
own account and sold portions of
them from time to time at a hand-
some profit. As is usually the case,
many purchasers failed to make their
payments in full and forfeited what
they had already paid, allowing the
land to go back into Mr. Pumpelly's
possession, to be sold again.
147
Mr. Pumpelly and Joshua Ferris, of
Spencer, surveyed the several sec-
tions knowii as Watkins & Flint's
purchase. This laaid comprised about
363,000 acres, including the present
towns of Candor and Spencer. A de-
scription of this tract may be found
on page 20 of Gay's "Historical Gaz-
eteer of Tioga County," published in
1S8S.
Mr. Pumpelly's real estate trans-
actions were extensive, and he soon
became the largest land owner in this
part of the state.
On the north side of Front street,
opposite Dr. Samuel Tinkham's house,
was Dr. Tinkham's office. This office
was after Dr. Tmkham's death occu-
pied by James Pumpelly as a land of-
fice and it remained there until No-
vember, 1880, when it was removed to
the east side of Academy street and
converted into a small dwelling.
Mr. Pumpelly married the widow of
Dr. Samuel Tinkham April 7, 1808,
six months after Dr. Tinkham's death.
She was the daughter of Col. David
Pixley, who died in August, 1807, leav-
ing much real estate. The property
of both Dr. Tinkham and Col. Pixley
naturally came under control of Mr.
Pumjielly.
Dr. Tinkham was living at the time
of his death in the house built by
James McMaster on the south side of
Front street, east of Academy street,
on the lot where M. A. Lynch's house
is now. There is a well on this lot.
The house stood on the west side of
the well and a carriage house on the
east side. After his marriage Mr.
Pumpelly moved into the house and
lived there until 1829, when he built
us
the large brick house which stands
at the northeast corner of Front and
Chapel (now Academy) streets.
The lot on which this house stands
then comprised all the land west of
the lot on which Mrs. A. Chase
Thompson's residence stands and was
bounded by Front, Chapel, and Main
streets. When this house was built it
was the largest and most expensive
one anywhere in this part of the coun-
try and created widespread comment.
It was predicted by the knowing ones
that the investment of so much money
in a house would ultimately cause
the financial ruin of the owner.
Mr. Pumpelly moved into the house
when it was completed and lived
there until his death on Oct. 4, 1845.
At the time of his death he was the
largest land owner and wealthiest
man in Owego. His wife survived him
nearly three years, dying June 4, 1848.
While living in the McMaster house
Mr. Pumpelly is said to have reared
his own children and those of Dr.
Tinkhamwith strict impartiality. Two
of his sons, George J. and Frederick
H. Pumpelly, and one of Dr. Tink-
ham's sons, David P. Tinkham, were
sent to college and were graduated,
George J. Pumpelly from Yale and the
others from Union. The other chil-
dren did not aspire to a higher educa-
tion and received their instruction at
the village schools and the Owego
academy.
Mr. Pumpelly by reason of his
wealth and prominence, was at the
head of nearly every public enter-
prise. He was president of the old
bank of Owego, treasurer of the Owe-
go and Ithaca turnpike company, pres-
ident of the Owego turnpike company.
149
president of the Owego academy from
its construction in 1S27 until his
death, president of the old Ithaca and
Owego railroad company, president
of the Susquehanna steam navigation
company, which built the first steam-
boat on the Susquehanna river for
commerciai purposes in 1835, and the
first president of the village of Owego
from its incorporation in 1827, holding
the ofhce five consecutive years by
re-election. In 1810 he re])resented
Brome (now Tioga) county in the as-
sembly of this state.
The children of James and Mary
(Pixley) Pumpelly were as follows:
1. George James Pumpelly, born
11 Dec, 1815, at Owego. Married
Susan Isabella Pumpelly, daughter of
Charles Pumpelly, 24 April, 1822. He
died at Owego 9 May, 1873, and she
30 July, 1864.
2. Lydia Abby Pumpelly, born 13
Feb., 1808, at Owego. Married Dr.
Ezekiel Lovejoy. Died 28 Nov., 1881.
3. Frederick Henry Pumpelly, born
13 Jan., 1810, at Owego. Married
Sarah Hewitt, daughter of Gurdon
Hewitt, of Owego. He died 15 May,
1867, at Owego, and she 28 June, 1881,
in Paris, France.
4. Mary Eliza Pumpelly, born !i
April, 1814, at Owego. Married, first.
Robert Charles Johnson, from whom
she obtained a divorce. She married
second, William H. Piatt. She died
24 Jan., 1884, at Metuchen, N. J.
In his centennial history of Tioga
county William F. Warner says of Mr.
Pumpelly:
"Prominent among the citizens of
the county, not only by reason of his
wealth and the magnitude of his deal-
ings in real estate, but by his upright-
ness of character, his genial mannez-s,
and many otner excellent qualities,
this gentleman had no suiierior. . . .
He was a splendid specimen of the
gentleman. He had an erect and com-
150
manding figure, open and genial fea-
tures, and a cheerful and winning
voice. In addition to his agency for
others, Mr. Pumpelly became the
owner of large tracts of land in this
and adjoining counties, and accumu-
lated a large estate. He used his large
means in a most generous manner,
and his unexpected death produced a
deep gloom throughout the county
and saddened the hearts of a large
circle of friends outside."
George J. Pumpelly, the eldest son
of James Pumpelly, after his gradu-
ation from Yale college, was educated
as a lawyer. He did not practise law
but devoted his time to the manage-
ment of his father's property. His
sons were James K., Charles F., Jo-
siah Collins, and George B. Pumpelly.
His only daughter, Mary Pumpelly,
was married to Wordsworth Thomp-
son, who attained considerable celeb-
rity as a painter, his subjects being
generally revolutionary and colonial
scenes.
Josiah C. Pumpelly has lived for
many years in New York city. He is
a graduate of Rutgers college and the
Columbia college law school. He was
admitted to the bar of Tioga county
in December, 1863. He has travelled
extensively abroad and has devoted
much of his time to discussing and
writing upon historic, social, eco-
nomic, and philanthropic subjects.
He is a member of various societies,
before the members of which he has
delivered addresses, some of which
have been published.
Dr. Ezekiel Lovejoy was born July
G, 1803, at Stratford, Conn. He was
graduated from Union college, in the
state of New York in 1823. He
studied medicine in New York city
under Drs. Mott and Hosack. After
151
taking his degree of doctoi' of medi-
cine he was for a time a surgeon iu
the navy of the republic of Buenos
Ayres. He came to Owego in Septem-
ber, 1829, and opened an office over
Charles Pumpelly's store on the south
side of Front street, opposite where
the Ahwaga house is now. He was
the first physician in Owego to prac-
tise Homoeopathy. He lived many
years in the large white house, which
was built about 1836 or 1837 and
which still stands on the south side
of Front street east of Academy
street, and the building he occupied
as his office still remains at the west
end of the lot. Dr. Lovejoy held but
one. public office, that of supervisor of
the town of Owego in 1854. He died
in Owego August 15, 1871.
The portrait of James Pumpelly,
illustrating this article, is from a paint-
ing made at the studio of Waldo &
.Jewett in New York city and is owned
by Mrs. Lydia A. Fordham, of Owego.
whose first husband, .James P. Love-
joy, was a grandson of Mr. Pum-
pelly.
152
CHARLES PUMPELLY.
Charles Pumpelly came to Owego
in 1803, a short time subsequent to
the coming of the rest of the family.
He was then 24 years of age. Feb. 7,
1803, he and George Stevens, of Ca-
naan Mills, Mass., purchased the old
Bates tavern property which included
the land now occupied by the Ahwaga
house and the south end of Church
street, together with the land opposite
on the bank of the river. The tavern
stood where the Ahwaga house now
stands, and in a wing at the east end
of it was a store.
Soon after making this purchase
Mr. Pumpelly returned to Salisbury,
but came back to Owego about a
year afterward. He brought back
from the east a stock of goods, prin-
cipally hats, and occupied the store in
the tavern building. He was a shrewd
trader, a man of great geniality, and
was very successful in his business.
The year after opening his store he
purchased Mr. Stevens's interest in
the hotel property. Later he built a
store on the south side of Front
street, where he dealt in all kinds of
merchandise, and purchased lumber,
salt, and plaster, which he shipped
down the river in arks and i-afts. At
this time he owned a saw mill three
and one-half miles north of Owego.
On the first of December,1829, his son-
in-law, Ceorge Bacon, became his
l)artner in the business, and the firm
of Pumpelly & Bacon continued sev-
eral years.
In the summer of 1815 Mr. Pum-
pelly built a new house on the lots
now occupied by the residences of
judge H. A. Mead and Miss Anna M.
Dean on the north side of Front
153
street. This was a large and elegant
mansion, painted white. It stood at
the west end of the lot, about twenty
feet back from the sidewalk, and the
large yard east of it was covered with
a small grove of pines and other
trees. It was the largest and finest
house that had been built in Owego
up to that time. The lot extended
back its full length to Main street.
In 1829 Mr. Pumpelly's brother,
Harmon Pumpelly, built the hand-
some brick residence now owned by
-James Forsyth in west Front street.
When Harmon Pumpelly removed to
Albany in 1841 Charles Pumpelly pur-
chased the property of him and re-
moved thereto. The old residence
was afterward converted into a semi-
nary for young ladies and was con-
ducted by various teachers until 186.5,
when it was torn down.
Mr. Pumpelly was born at Salis-
bury, Conn., Dec. 18, 1779. He was
supervisor of the town of Owego sev-
eral years and held other town offices.
In 1811 he was appointed paymaster
in lieutenant-colonel Oliver Hunting-
ton's regiment. He was paymaster of
Col. Elijah Shoemaker's 53d regiment
at the time of his resignation in 1819.
In 1821 he was a delegate from
Broome county (this county being
then within the limits of Broome
county) to the convention which
framed the state constitution that
year. In 1825 he was member of as-
sembly. After the death of his
brother, James Pumpelly, he suc-
ceeded him as president of the Owego
academy. He died at Owego Jan. 6,
1855. Mr. Pumpelly has been de-
scribed as a man of great energy of
character, possessed of a pleasant
,154
teniperameiit, and highly respected
for his many excellent qualities.
The children of Charles and Fran-
ces (Avery) Pumpelly were as fol-
lows:
1. John Charles Punipelly, born 2S
Oct., 1804. Died at Ov/ego 9 March.
1830.
2. Mary Ann Pumpelly, born ol
Dec. 1806. Married George Bacon
16 Nov., 1826. Died at Owego 11
Feb., 1845.
3. Susan Isabella Pumpelly, born
24 April, 1807. Married George .1.
Pum])elly 24 April, 1832. Died at
Owego 30 .July, 1864.
4. Frances Eliza Pumpelly, born
19 March, 1811. Married Joseph S.
Bosworth 17 Sept., 1833. Died in New
York city 30 March, 1879.
5. Catherine Ann Pumpelly, born
28 Feb., 1813. Married John M. Par-
ker 18 Sept., 1835. Died at Owego 30
Dec, 1845.
6. Harriet Amelia Pumpelly, born
27 June, 1815. Married Theodore
Freelinghuysen, of New Jersey, 14
Oct.. 1857. Died 8 Feb., 187G, in Troy,
N. Y.
7. Stella Avery Pumpelly, born 19
Sept.. 1817. Married John M. Parker
1 March, 1854. Died at Owego 2S
Sept., 1894.
8. Caroline Augusta Pumpelly,
born 6 Feb., 1820. Died at Owego 24
Oct., 1901.
9. James Pumi)elly, born 23 Sept.,
1822. Died at Owego 3 Dec, 1823.
10. Lydia Abby Pumpelly, born 26
June, 1827. Married James Forsyth,
of Troy, N. Y., 25 July, 1860. Died in
Troy 12 Aug., 1874.
Joseph S. Bosworth, who married
Frances Eliza Pumpelly, was born at
Lisle, Broome county, and practised
law at Binghamton. He went to New
York, where he became eminent as a
lawyer and advocate, and was elected
a justice of the sui)reme court.
Thtodore Freelinghuysen, who mar-
ried Harriet Pumpelly, was a distin-
155
guished man of his time. lie was
born in 1787 at Franklin, N. J., and
was graduated from Princeton col-
lege in 1804. In the war of 1812 he
raised and commanded a company of
volunteers. In 1817 he became attor-
ney general of New Jersey, and in
1829 a United States senator. In 1858
he was made chancellor of the uni-
versity of Nevv' York. In 1844 he was
the Whig candidate for vice-president
of the United States. In 1850 he re-
signed from the university and re-
moved to New Brunswick, N. J.,
where he was president of Rutgers
college from 1S50 until his death,
April 12, 1861.
George Bacon, who married Mary
Ann Pumpelly, was born at Wood-
burn, Mass., March 21, 1804. Three
years subsequent to his marriage, Dec.
1, 1829, he became a partner of his
father-in-law. Charles Pumpelly. in
the general mercantile business in
the Front street store under the firm
name of Pumpelly & Bacon. Several
years afterward he became sole pro-
prietor of the business, which he con-
ducted until the store burned in the
great fire of 1849, when he retired
from active business.
In March, 1829, Mr. Bacon bought
of Elisha Coit the lot containing three
acres of land on which Gurdon H.
Pumpelly's residence now stands on
the south side of Front street, west
of Academy street and built thereon
a large and handsome house in which
he lived several years. He sold the
property to Lewis C. England in
April, 1858. John R. Chatfield pur-
chased it in September, 1862, and
lived there until 1902, when he sold
it to Mr. Pumpelly. who tore down the
156
house and built his present residence
on the site.
During the latter part of his life Mr.
Bacon lived at the Ahwaga house,
where he died April 3, 1862, aged 58
years. His children .were Col. Geo
Albert Bacon, who was colonel of a
cavalry regiment during the civil war
and afterward for many years assist-
ant doorkeeper of the house of repre-
sentatives at Washington. He died
March 6, 1905, at Carlyle, 111., aged 73
years. His other son, Charles P.
Bacon, died at Iowa City, Iowa, April
20, 1884, and his daughter, Fanny S.'
Bacon, who became the wife of
Charles T. Ransom, died Jan. 7, 1897,
in Washington, D. C.
John M. Parker was born at Gran-
ville, Washington county, N. Y., where
his father, John C. Parker, was a dis-
tinguished lawyer, June 14, 1805. He
was graduated from Middlebury col-
lege in Vermont in 1828. He and
John J. Taylor were fellow students
• and friends in the law office of John
P. Cushman at Troy, N. Y. Mr. Tay-
lor came to Owego in 1834. He in-
duced Mr. Parker to also come here
and he came in 1835, and became the
law partner of William Piatt. He was
a sound lawyer and attained the front
rank in his profession. In 1854 he
was elected to congress and re-
elected in 1856. He was elected a jus-
tice of the supreme court in 1859 and
held the office at the time of his death
on Dec. 16, 1873. During a part of his
service as a judge he sat as a member
of the court of appeals. He and his
son, Charles E. Parker, enjoy the dis-
tinction of having been the only two
men ever elected to the supreme
court bench from Tioga county. In
157
his centennial histoi'y of Tioga county
William F. Warner, himself a promi-
nent member of the bar, writes as fol-
lows in praise of John Parker:
"He possessed ripe scholarship and
a high order of intellect His learn-
ing as a jurist was exact and pro-
found, and his habits, manners, and
culture emmently fitted him for the
honorable and resijonsible positions
he so long filled. His life was marked
by invariable uprightness. By quiet
habits he escaped unpleasant col-
lisions which most professional men
encounter. His even temper seemed
never to be disturbed. Whatever his
emotions, there was no outward si^i
of them. He always enjoyed the
highest respect of the bench and the
bar. Few equalled him in marshal-
ling the facts of a case, and the clear
analysis and application of the law\
He was a severe student, and indefat-
igable in the preparation of his de-
cisions, and it is not improbable that
by the severity of his labors of this
kind he hastened his death, which
was sudden and untimely."
Charles E. Parker was elected
judge of Tioga county in 1S83 and
served until Jan. 1. 1888, when he re-
signed, having been elected a justice
of the supreme court. In 1895 he w^as'
appointed presiding justice of the ap-
pellate division, and served until Aug-
ust, 1906, when he resigned his office,
having reached the age of seventy
years, beyond which the law does not
permit a judge to serve.
Another son of John M. Parker was
Col. Francis H. Parker, who was edu-
cated at the West Point military acad-
emy and graduated therefrom in 1861.
He served through the civil war in
the ordnance department. He was
chief ordnance officer of the army and
department of the Tennessee under
Gens. Grant and Meade until the sur-
158
render at Appomattox. In 1865 he
was appointed commanding officer of
Charleston, S. C. He was afterward
successively in charge, either as com-
manding officer or assistant com-
manding officer of the arsenals at
Rock Island, 111., Detroit, Mich. ,For-
tress Monroe, Va., Watertown, Mass.,
San Antonio, Texas, Watervliet, N.
Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa. He died at the
Allegheny arsenal at Pittsburgh Feb.
12, 1897.
WILLIAM PUMPELLY.
Wiliam Pumpelly was born June
17, 1788, at Salisbury, Conn., and was
nearly fourteen years old when he
came with his parents in the spring
of 1802 to Beers's settlement.
He came to Owego in 1805 and en-
tered the land office of his brother,
James. He spent the summer in the
woods, surveying Watkins & Flint's
purchase. He was employed in sur-
veying until 1812, when he went to
Ithaca, which had then grown into a
a small settlement, where he pur-
chased a general country store that
had already been established there,
and went into the mercantile busi-
ness. In 1814 he sold his stock of
goods and returned to Owego.
Two men from Montreal — Sparrow
and Crocker — had previous to this
time come to Owego and built a large
square building, painted white, on the
west side of Park street where Rob-
ert Handler's house now stands. This
land was a part of the Dr. Samuel
Tinkham estate. They had come to
Owego direct from Montreal, bring-
ing their stock of goods with them.
At that time there was a pond of
water in front of the store in the
159
present village park. This store
building was afterward the property
of James Pumpelly and was burned.
Mr. Pumpelly purchased Sparrow &
Crocker's stock of goods and con-
tinued the business until 1816 or 1817.
Then he removed into a store on the
bank of the river, below where the
bridge now is, where he remained
until he purchased a store on the
south side of Front street, opposite
Church street.
This store was a red wooden build-
ing and stood on the ground on which
is now the brick building occupied by
the Tioga club. Charles Pumpelly's
store adjoined it on the east. Where
Defiance hook and ladder company's
building now stands on the west side
was then a vacant lot, and George
Bacon's store stood west of and ad-
joining this space. There was a base-
ment under Charles Pumpelly's store,
to which access was had by doors on
the east side of the building, which
was occupied by Wm. Gregory, a mar-
ble cutter, and by John Arnold as a
saloon. These buildings were all
burned in the great fire of Sept. 27,
1849.
Mr. Pumpelly conducted the mer-
cantile business in this store until
1844, when he retired from business
with a handsome competence. He
was for several years president of
the old bank of Owego, now the First
National bank of Owego.
Mr. Pumpelly lived for many years
in a house which stood on ground
now occupied by the Exchange hotel
barn on the north side of Front street
• and west of Park street. The house
was afterward occupied by Robert
Cameron and was burned Oct. 5, 1867,
160
in a tire which burned many other
valuable buildings in that part of the
village. He afterward built and lived
until his death in the house which is
still standing on the north side of
Front street, the third house west of
Ross street, now occupied by T. B.
Oakley.
Mr. Pumpelly's first wife was Sarah
Emily Tinkham, daughter of Dr. Sam-
uel Tinkham. They were married in
June, 1814. She died at Owego
March 31, 1822, aged 27 years. They
had one daughter, Emily Pumpelly,
who was the second wife of William
H. Piatt.
Mr. Pumpelly's second wife was
Mary H. Welles, daughter of George
and Prudence (Talcott) Welles, of
Athens, Pa., where she was born May
G, 1803. They were married Oct. 20,
1824. Her brothers, George Henry
Welles, of Athens, and Dr. Charles F.
Welles, of Wyalusing, were two of the
most distinguished men in Bradford
county in their day. They were sons
of George Welles, a graduate of Yale
college, who came from Glastenbury,
Conn., in 1799 to Tioga Point, where
he became land agent for Charles
Carrol, of Carrolton, and where he
died in 1813.
Mrs. Pumpelly was a lady of cul-
ture and refinement, an artist and a
l)oet of considerable ability, and was
educated in Philadelphia. She ac-
companied her youngest son, Raph-
ael, to Germany, where he pursued
his studies in the universities, and
she became an excellent German,
French, and Italian linguist and
scholar. In 1852 a volume containing
three of her poems, "Belshazzars
Feast," "Herod's Feast," and "Pilate's
161
Wife's Dream," was published in New
York She also contributed poems to
the "Atlantic Monthly" and the "Gal-
axy." After the death of Mr. Pum-
pelly, Nov. 17, 1876, she went abroad
and died in Paris, France, Dec. 14,
1S79. Her body was brought to Owe-
go in February, 1880, and buried in
Evergreen cemetery.
The children of William and Mary
H. (Welles) Pumpelly were as fol-
lows:
1. John Hollenback Pumpelly.born
16 Aug., 1826. Married Mary Ann
Foote, daughter of Dr. Lyman Foote,
a surgeon in the U. S. army, 28 Feb.,
1868. She died in 1877. He died at
Waltham, Mass.. Dec. 6, 1907.
2. Susan Welles Pumpelly, born 2.5
May, 1828. Died 9 Nov., 1830.
3. Marie Antoinette Pumpelly,born
3 March, 1832. Married Jeremiah
Loder, of New York city, 28 Jan.,
1852. Mr. Loder's father, Benjamin
Loder, was president of the New
York and Erie railroad from 1845 to
1853.
4. Josephine Pumpelly, bom 3
Aug., 1835. Died 20 March, 1838.
5. Raphael Pumpelly, born 8
Sept., 1837. Married Eliza F. Shep-
ard, of Dorchester, Mass., 20 Oct.,
1869.
Raphael Pumpelly has attained em-
inence as a geologist. He was educa-
ted at the Owego academy and in
Paris, Hanover, and Frieberg-'in-Sax-
ony. He returned to America in 1860
and became interested in silver min-
ing in Arizona and other parts of the
far west. In 1861 he was employed
by the Japanese government, to de-
termine the mineral resources of the
island of Yesso, and in 1863 was em-
ployed to survey the coal regions of
Northern China. In 1866 he became
professor of mining engineering at
Harvard university. In 1870 he made
162
a survey of the co])])er regions of
Michigan and the next year became
State geologist of Missouri. In Aug-
ust, 1879, he was appointed director
of the United States geological sur-
vey of all territory east of the Miss-
issippi river. In September, 1881, he
resigned this position, having been en-
gaged by the Oregon transcontinential
company to make a full survey of
the region traversed by the Northern
Pacifiic railway and navigation com-
I)any, embracing a territory 1,500
miles in extent from east to west and
500 miles from north to south and
containing more than 500,000 square
miles. In 1900 he was engaged by the
Andrew Carnegie company of Pitts-
burgh, Pa., to locate iron mines in
the northwest and Canada. In 1904
lie headed an expedition, backed by
Andrew Carnegie, to make archaeo-
logical researches in the buried cities
of western Afghanistan and the Cri-
mea.
Mr. Pumpelly is the author of
"Geological Researches in China,
Mongolia and Japan During the
Years 1862 to 1865," published at
Washington in 1866, and "Across
America and Asia," an account of an
overland journey from Japan through
Mongolia, Siberia, and Russia, pub-
lished in New York in 1869.
163
HARMON PUMPEI.LY.
Harmon Pumpelly, the youngest son
of John Pumpelly, was born at Salis-
bury, Conn., and was a little less than
seven years of age when the family
came to Beers's settlement. He came
to Owego when he was twenty years of
age and with his brother. William
Pumpelly, and was employed by their
oldest brother, James Pumpelly, in sur-
veying lands. Later he engaged in
the mercantile business and lumber-
ing. Like his brothers he was very
successful and became a large land
owner.
He married Delphine Drake, daugh-
ter of judge John R. Drake. After his
marriage he lived with the family of
judge Drake until 1829, when he pur-
chased the lot on which James For-
syth's house stands, on the north side
of Front street, west of and adjoining
the lane extending from Front to
iVIain streets and known for many
years as Camp alley and later as Par-
ker's lane. ihis lot extended back
to Main street. The property had
been owned by Nathan Camp, who
had intended to build a residence for
himself on it but he died in 1819 be-
fore he could begin the work. After
his death his son, Frederick M. Camp,
of Ulysses, Tompkins county, as
guardian for Nathan H. Camp, sold the
lot in September, 1829, to Mr. Pum-
pelly, who built thereon the large
brick house which still stands there.
In 1841 he sold the property to his
brother, Charles Pumpelly, who lived
there until his death m 185.5. The
house was afterward owned and occu-
pied by Charles Pumpelly's daughter,
Mrs. John M. Parker, until her death
164
ill 1894, and it tlien became tlie prop-
erty, by devise, of her nepliew, James
Forsyth.
Harmon Pumpelly was active in
public affairs. He was a member of
the first board of village trustees and
was re-elected four times. He also
served as an officer in the state
militia. In 1821 he was appointed
lieutenant of a company of riflemen
and in 1822 was promoted to captain
in the 201st regiment of infantry,
which was organized May 16 in that
year.
In 1841 Mr. Pumpelly removed from
Owego to Albany. He was already
possessed of considerable wealth. He
embarked in large financial opera-
tions, which invariably proved suc-
cesful. He became prominently con-
nected with the Albany savings bank,
the Albany gaslight company, and the
Albany insurance company, all of
which he was president. He lived in
elegant style in that city for forty
years. He lived in a large house,
which he loved to fill with genial and
cultured people. His entertainments
were always in the best of taste, and
his dinners were noted for the good
wines, costly plate, and fine glass at a
time when such things were not as
common as they are to-day.
The children of Harmon and Del-
phine (Drake) Pumpelly were Adeline
Jerusha Pumpelly, who was born in
Owego and who was married to Col.
James Kidd, of Albany, a prominent
man, who was county treasurer, post-
master, etc., and Mary Delphine Pum-
pelly, who was also born in Owego
and who became the wife of Gen.
165
John Meredith Read, of Philadelphia,
Pa., April 7. lS5^i.
Mrs. Harmon Pumpelly died at
Owego Feb. 21. 1S39. After her death
Mr. Pumpelly travelled in Europe un-
til his removal to Albany in the fol-
lowing year. His second wife was
Maria Brinckerhoff, daughter of Peter
Brinckerhoff, a representative of one
of the old Dutch families of Albany.
They wtre married in 1841. She was
a granddaughter of Rutger Bleecker,
mayor of Albany from 172G to 172N.
She died in Albany April 23, 1887,
aged 82 years. Harmon Pumpelly
died in Albany Sept. 29, 1882. He left
an estate valued at $1,000,000.
Gen. John Meredith Read was a
grandson of George Read, of Dela-
ware, one of the signers of the decla-
ration of independence, and his father
was chief justice .John Meredith Read
of Pennsylvania. He was born in
Philadelphia and was admitted to the
bar in Albany. He was adjutant-gen-
eral of the state of New York in
1860-66. Gen. Grant when president
offered him a commission as major in
the regular army and also the post of
minister to Spain, both of which he
declined. In 1869 the new post of
consul-general to France and Algeria
was created for him.
Mrs. Read, by reason of her great
beauty, tact, and intelligence, soon be-
came one of the most noted beauties
of the court of emperor Napoleon III.
at that time the most brilliant court
in Europe.
During the Franco-German war
Gen. Read was consul-general for Ger-
many as well as consul-general for
the United States. In November,
166
1873, he was appointed United States
minister to Greece and served until
September,1879, when he resigned. He
died at his home in Paris, France,
December 27, 1896. Mrs. Read also
died in Paris, May 29, 1902.
Their daughters were Mrs. Edwards
Spencer, of England, and Marie Del-
phine Read, who in November, 1895,
was married in Paris, France, to the
Count Max de Foras, son of Count
Amedie de Foras, of Savoy, France.
Gen. Read's sons were major Harmon
Pumpelly Read and Col. John Mere-
dith Read, who commanded the Al-
bany rangers during the Spanish-
American war and who married the
Countess Alix deForas, a sister of his
sister's husband, in March, 1901.
LORENZO REEVES.
Lorenzo Reeves was born March
25, 1792, near the southern boundary
of Vermont, where his father, Ezra
Reeves,owned a ferry on the Connecti-
cut river. His grandfather. Rev. Ezra
Reeves, was for more than fifty years
pastor of a church at Holland, Mass.
Rev. Ezra Reeves was a cousin of
judge Tapping Reeve, who was chief
justice of Connecticut and who mar-
ried Sarah, only sister of Aaron Burr,
vice-principal of Princeton college,
and a granddaughter of Jonathan Ed-
wards.
When he was about twenty-six
years of age Lorenzo Reeves came on
horseback from Vermont into the
wilds of New York. Attracted by the
beauty of the Susquehanna valley
and the pleasant manner in which he
was received by the early residents,
he decided to settle in Owego. He
opened a general country store on the
167
west side of Lake street, a little north
of Front street, opposite where the
Owego national bank now stands. He
also built an ark yard below his resi-
dence at the west end of Front street
and carried on a lumber business. He
continued the mercantile busines un-
til his death January 31, 1S.39.
Mr. Reeves's character as a busi-
ness man was that of sterling integ-
rity. He was universally known as
"deacon" Reeves long before the
church had conferred upon him that
title. He was the first merchant in
Owego to banish intoxicating liquor
from his store and take his stand as
a consistent temperance man. He
would not under any circumstances
transact business on Sunday nor al-
low it to be done for him.
It is related that on one occasion
when on his way down the river with
a shipment of lumber, he gave orders
Saturday night to pull into shore and
tie up the rafts. His men remon-
strated — the water was falling rapidly
and it would be impossible to go any
further if they should lose a day. Mr.
Reeves was deaf to every remon-
strance, and every man left him and
returned to Owego.
The next day he attended church,
spending Sunday as if at his home.
He arose early Monday morning with
some anxiety, feeling that, although
he had done right, he could illy afford
to wait until the next freshet to re-
alize on his lumber. Fortunately,
while at breakfast, a man came on
board and purchased the entire raft,
paying a good price for it.
For a short period after his first
coming to Owego Mr. Reeves was as-
168
sociated with Elisha Buiidy in the
mercantile business. Their store was
still on the west side of Lake street,
one door north of Rollin block.
Mr. Bundy, who was commonly
known as "judge" Bundy through his
having presided at the mock trials
in that travesty of the courts known
as the "moral society," came to Owego
from Vermont in 1815. He removed
to the town of Catherine, Schuyler
county, in 1826, and thence four years
later to Elmira, where he became
landlord of the old Mansion house
and where he died in 1838. He also
kept another hotel known as the
Bundy house during his residence in
Elmira.
While living in Owego Mr. Bundy
was also in partnership with Joseph
Berry and kept a meat market on the
west side of Lake street, about where
the Chamberlain brick block now
stands. Bundy & Berry also con-
ducted one of the several distilleries
then existing in this vicinity.
Mr. Berry was an early settler in
Owego. He came from the east about
the year 1804. In 1822 he was in com-
pany with one of the Ely brothers in
a general mercantile business in
■'Cauldwell row." The same year he
filled the office of coroner. He was
the commissioner who had charge of
building the first county clerk's office
in Court street.
One of Mr. Berry's sons was Joseph
Berry, who was successively a rail-
road brakeman, a moulder, a photog-
rapher, and at the time of his death in
April, 1897, a member of the firm of
Sporer, Carlson & Berry, piano manu-
facturers. His wife was the daughter
of Capt. Eliakim Goodrich, one of the
169
early settlers of the town of Tioga.
Another son was Frank Berry, who
was engaged in the liquor business
in Owego. Joseph Berry in the spring
of 1826 bought a farm in the town of
Newark Valley, upon which he moved
and where he was living at the time
of his death in 1830.
Mr. Berry built and lived in the
house on the north side of Front
street, east of William street, which
was later occupied by Dr. .J. H. Ar-
nold and is now owned by W. N.
Richards. Mr. Bundy lived in the
next house west of it, now occupied
by Mrs. Caroline Rounseville. These
lots were owned by Mr. Bundy, who
sold them for $500 to Mr. Reeves in
August, 1826.
At the time of his death Mr. Reeves
owned the ground on the west side
of Lake street on which Hill & Par-
ker's brick block now stands. His
widow, Maria L. Reeves, who had con-
ducted a millinery business several
years, afterward became the second
wife of Col. Benoni B. Curry. Col.
Curry was a tailor. He came to Owe-
go from Orange county in 1840. He
died at Pleasant Valley, N. .T., Jan.
19, 1875.
On this lot, a little back from the
sidewalk, was Mr. Reeves's house,
which Col. Curry in 1848 enlarged and
converted into a temperance tavern
and called it the Croton house. Col.
Curry was landlord of the hotel when
it was burned in the great fire of Sep-
tember, 1849.
When the debris left from the fire
had been removed Col. Curry caused
to be built on the back part of the
lot, near the Owego academy yard,
a small one-story house, about 40 by
170
'■'>0 leet iu size in which he lived.
This house was mounted on wheels
taken from a railroad freight car and
placed on an iron track which ex-
tended out into Lake street. Col.
Curry's idea was that in case his
unique structure should be endan-
gered by fire it could be run out of
danger by pushing or drawing it along
the track to the street. The building
stood there, the subject of some curi-
osity and much comment, until the
property was sold in 1862 to Martin
Ashley, who built Ashley hall thereon.
Dr. James Wilson purchased the prop-
erty in 1867 and in April, 1868,the hall
was burned. It was rebuilt the same
year as a theatre and again burned
in February, 1904. The brick block
erected by Chas. E. Parker and F. C.
Hill in 1904 now occupies the site.
The children of deacon Lorenzo
and Maria L. (Clark) Reeves were
Ezra Warren Reeves, Edward Payson
Reeves, Tapping Reeves, Jane Lucin-
da Reeves, and David Wallis Reeves.
Tapping Reeves was born March 7,
1-832, at Owego. He went to Califor-
nia in 1856. He died at Reeves's
Mills, Cal., July 9, 1885. His mother
and sister went also to California in
1867. Mrs. Maria L. Reeves died at
JJttle River, Cal., April 28, 1870, aged
70 years.
Ezra Warren Reeves was born April
3, 1826, at Owego, where he was for
many years engaged in the book and
news business. He married Caroline
A. Slosson, daughter of Franklin Slos-
son, Dec. 16, 1851. Mr. Slosson kept
a book store in Owego several years.
Mr. Reeves removed to California in
187.''.. He purchased a ranch in Men-
171
dicino county. Cal., and died there
Sept. ;!(), 1SS2.
David Wallis Reeves became fa-
mous as a musician and bandmaster.
He was born Feb. 14, 1838, at Owego,
less than a year previous to his
father's death. He received his musi-
cal education under Thomas Canham,
of Binghamton. a celebrated band
leader of his day. At the age of lit
he was the leader of a circus band,
and later was a member of the famous
Dodworth's band in New York city.
In February, 1866, he became the
leader of the American band at Provi-
dence, R. I., which under his leader-
ship ranked as one of the greatest
bands in America, and he was its
leader at the time of his death on
March 8, 1900. D. W. Reeves may
have inherited his musical talent
from his father, for deacon Lorenzo
Reeves is said to have been proficient
as a player of the bass viol, an instru-
ment much in use in church choirs
before the introduction of the organ.
CAPT. SYLVANUS FOX.
Capt. Sylvanus Fox was born May
G. 1797, at North Glastenbury, Conn.,
and came to Owego in 1803 with the
Talcotts, when six years of age. He
learned the carpenter's trade, which
he followed all his life. He lived at
the southeast corner of North avenue
and Fox street. The house still stands
there but its appearance has been en-
tirely changed by the building of a
store thereto on the North avenue
side. Capt. Fox died in this house
Aug. 24, 1871. Fox street was so
named in his honor in February, 1821.
It had been i)reviously known as
Fourth street.
172
Capt. Fox was a prominent and use-
ful citizen. He was an active member
of the fire department and was chief
engineer in 1847, 1856, and 1857. He
made the first hook and ladder equip-
ment in 1847. Between the years 1832
and 1862 he was eleven times elected
a member of the village board of trus-
tees and he was president of the vil-
lage in 1840.
Capt. Fox married Nancy Ann Tay-
lor, of the town of Tioga, Dec. 23,
1821. She died Aug. 13, 1875, at the
home of her son, George Fox, at To-
wanda, Pa. Their children were as
follows:
1. George Edward Fox, born 5
N6v., 1822, at Owego. Married Sarah
Ann Leonard 14 Jan., 1843.
2. Eleazer Taylor Fox, born 8 Aug.,
1825, at Owego. Married Lydia Soi)hie
Hornet, daughter of Charles Homet, of
Asylum, Pa., 7 Feb., 1847. He died at
Towanda, Pa., 13 Dec, 1887.
3. Charles Sylvanus Fox, born 19
March, 1831, at Owego. Married his
cousin, Harriet M. Porter, at Glasten-
bury. Conn., 19 Se])t., 1853. He died
9 March, 1876, in Jersey City, N. J.
4. Frederick Fox, born 13 Dec,
1837, at Owego. Married Mary Schu-
nunburger, of Warren, Ohio, 24 Nov..
1864. He died in 1865 and his widow
married S. Allen Richards, of Struth-
ers, Ohio.
George E. and Eleazer T. Fox re-
moved from Owego to Towanda, Pa.,
about the year 1841, where Eleazer
Fox engaged in the business of buying
and shipping lumber down the Sus-
quehanna river in rafts. His brother,
George assisted him. Later Eleazer
Fox engaged in the grocery business,
and became one of the leading spirits
in Towanda's enterprises.
Charles S. Fox was the station bag-
gage master for the Erie railroad com-
pany at Jersey City many years.
173
Frederick Fox was a telegraph oper-
ator. He was a soldier In the civil
war, serving as first sergeant in Co.
H, Third New York volunteers, mus-
tered in May, 1861. After the war he
lived at Leavettsburg, Ohio, where he
was train dispatcher on the Mahoning
division of the Atlantic & Great
Western railroad. He died in 1S65.
RICHARD E. CUSHMAX.
Richard English Cushman came to
Owego in 1812 from Pomfret, Conn.
He was born .June 2, 1782, at Strat-
ford, Conn., and was a carpenter and
cabinet maker by trade. He was of
the seventh generation in descent
from Robert Cushman, who was born
between 1580 and 1585 in the north
of England and removed to Holland
in 1608 to enjoy religious freedom.
Robert Cushman came to America in
1621 in the ship "Fortune," which was
the next vessel that arrived after
the "Mayflower," and landed at Ply-
mouth, Mass., in' November of that
year. He crossed the Atlantic for t.ie
purpose of joining those already here
in a mutual effort to establish and lay
deep the foundations of civil and re-
ligious liberty in the new world.
Robert Cushman's son. Thomas,
born in England in February, 1608,
also came to America in the "For-
tune." His son, Isaac Cushman, was
bom Nov. 15, 1676, at Plympton,Mass.,
Isaac's son, Nathaniel, was born at
Plympton, May 28, 1712. His son,
whose name was also Nathaniel, was
also born at Plympton Sept. 2, 1738.
He was the father of Richard English
Cushman.
Richard B. Cushman's father, Na-
thaniel Cushman, had explored this
valley at an early day, having de-
174
scended the Susquehanna river from
Otsego lake to Wyoming in a batteau
on a tour of exploration in 1784, the
next year after the proclamation of
peace and immediately upon the close
of our border warfare, carrying back
to his neighbors and friends an ac-
count of the fertility of the valley
as compared with the thinner soil of
Connecticut. His representations
caused many in the vicinity where he
lived to leave home and friends in
New England to become pioneers
here. His son, partaking of the spirit
of adventure and emigration, came
here in 1812.
Mr. Cushman's carpenter shop was
at one time on the north side of Main
street opposite where St. Paul's rec-
tory now stands. He lived below the
bridge in Front street. He afterward
bought the lot at the southeast corner
of Main and Paige streets where he
built and lived in the house still stand-
ing there. He sold the property in
1850 to his son-in-law, John Cameron,
and removed to Speedsville on a farm*
Later he returned to Owego and in
March, 1859, purchased the land on
the south side of Main street, east of
St. Patrick's church and built thereon
the house now owned by H. Austin
Clark, the second house east of the
church, in which house he lived. He
sold this property later and built the
house which is now the second house
east of Paige street on the south side
of Main street and died there Aug.
19, 1863.
Mr. Cushman was twice married.
He first married Hannah Reed, of
Plainfield, Conn., March 19, 1806. She
was born Jan. 30, 1783. She died at
Owego Jan. 21, 1846. His second wife.
175
iMrs. Martha Hill, was born at Athol,
iMass., Aug. 5, 17S7. She was married
to Mr. Cushman at Speedsville, N.
Y., Aug. 26, 1847. She died in Owego
•July 30, 1S77.
The following were the children of
Richard E. and Hannah (Reed) Cush-
man:
1. Rev. Marcus Knight Cushman,
l)orn at Sangerfield (now Waterville),
N. Y.. 25 Oct., 1806. He entered the
ministry of the Protestant Episcopal
church in 1836. He joined the Pres-
byterian denomination and was re-
ceived into the Presbytery of Tioga
county 24 Sept., 1846. Married Mi-
nerva Kenada 8 Sept., 1835. Died at
Waverly, N. Y., 8 March, 1881.
2. Sarah Maria Cushman, born 19
May, 1808. Married Houghton But-
ler' 25 January, 1831. Died 5 Nov.,
1838.
3. Eliza Cushman, born 8 Decem-
ber, 1810. Died 14 March, 1812.
4. Eliza Ann Cushman, born 15
.Jan., 1816. Died 11 Aug., 1905, at
Owego.
5. Mary Jane Cushman, born 9
Feb., 1818. Married John Cameron
17 May, 1841. Died 25 Nov., 1897, at
Owego.
6. William R. Cushman, born 20
Aug., 1821. Died in Cincinnati, Ohio,
21 June, 1887.
WILLIAM CAMP.
William, Nathan, Anson, and Her-
mon Camp came to Owego from New
Milford, Conn., in 1805.
Their grandfather was William
Camp, who lived at New Milford.
His four sons were Dr. Elisha Camp,
and Daniel, Enos, and Nathan Camp.
They were all farmers. Nathan Camp
was born at New Milford in January,
1746, and married Esther Bostwick,
daughter of Arthur and Eunice
(Warriner) Bostwick Dec. 10, 1772,
Their children were as follows:
176
1. Anna Camp, born 28 May, 1775,
at New Milford. Married Lemau
Stone in 1798. Died at Trumansburg,
N. Y., 1 Aug., 1866.
2. William Camp, born 1 Sept.,
1777, at New Milford. Married Abi-
gail Whittlesey 27 June, 1801. They
came to Owego in 1805. She was born
at Kingston, Pa., 30 April, 1777. He
died March 5, 1826. . She married,
second, judge Stephen Strong 10 July,
1838, and died at Owego 29 Oct., 1858.
3. Martha Camp, born 22 Sept.,
1779, at New Milford. Married Isaac
Stone in 1799.
4. Nathan Camp, born 11 Feb.,
1782, at New Milford. Married Sus-
anna P. Avery, daughter or Samuel
Avery, of Owego. She died at Owego
4 Aug., 1813. His second wife was
Fanny Collier, a niece of Thomas Col-
lier. She died 21 Oct., 1819, and he
19 May, 1819.
5. Gen. Anson Camp, born 17
Oct., 1784, at New Milford. Died at
Owego 22 March, 1838. He was un-
married.
6. Hermon Camp, born 6 Oct.,
1787, at New Milford. Married (1)
Mary C. Cook 4 April, 1827. She was
born 7 Oct., 1799, at Geneva. N. Y.,
and died at Trumansburg, in 1840.
Married (2) Catherine Cook 1 Oct.,
1840. She died at Trumansburg in
1848. Married (3) Sarah (Piatt)
Camp, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, 20
Sept., 1848. She was born 10 May,
1811, at Nichols, N. Y., and died at
Trumansburg 23 Jan., 1894.
Nathan Camp died at New Milford
Oct. 26, 1792. His widow married
Jared Sperry in 1796. They had one
child, Esther Henrietta Sperry, who
was born Sept. 6, 1798, at New Mil-
ford, and married Stephen B. Leon-
ard, of Owego, Feb. 22, 1818. Mrs.
Sperry died at Owego Sept. 2, 1840,
aged 85 years and Mrs. Leonard April
5, 1879.
When the four Camj) brothers came
to Owego their mother and half-sister
accompanied them. When they came
177
here they lived at first in a log house
which stood on the lot at the south-
east corner of Main and William
streets, this being the only vacant
house in Owego at the time. This
property they afterward purchased.
In 1S14 William, Anson, and Nathan
Camp purchased the property on the
north side of Front street between
the lot on which the Dugan house
barn now stands, which was owned
by William Pumpelly, and Camp's
lane, now known as Parker's lane.
William Camp owned the west one-
third of the lot, Nathan the lot at the
east end, and Anson Camp the lot be-
tween the lots of his brothers. These
lots extended back to Main street.
William and Anson Camp also owned
the property on the south side of
Front street opposite their lots, ex-
tending to the river.
William and Nathan Camp upon
coming to Owego began a general
mercantile business. Their store was
on the south side of Front street
where Camp's furnace now stands
and was in the northwest corner of
the lot then owned by Caleb Leach.
The building was for many years
known as the"white store." Mr.
Leach sold the property in July, 1813,
to William and Nathan Camp. Na.-
than Camp died May 19, 1819, and
William Camp continued the business
the rest of his life.
William Camp was fatally injured
by the explosion of the boiler of the
steamboat "Susquehanna" in the af-
ternoon of May 5, 1826. The boat
was coming up the river on her trial
trip and while ascending the rapids
at Nescopeck Falls, opposite Berwick,
Pa., she struck a rock and the
178
explosion hapijened. Mr. Camp died
a few hours after the accident. Wil-
liam Camp was known as judge
Camp, having been in 1812 appointed
an associate judge of Broome (now
Tioga) county, and he was reappoint-
ed in 1817.
William Camp's wife was Abigail
Whittlesey, one of twin daughters of
Capt. Asaph Whittlesey, who was
killed in the massacre of Wyoming.
Capt. Whittlesey was a son of Eli-
phalet Whittlesey, of Newington,
Conn., and was born there May 12,
1753. He was one of the Connecticut
settlers in the seventeenth township
of the state of Pennsylvania, of which
Wilkes-Barre was the centre and
principal town. In May, 1777, he
was commissioned a captain in the
third company of the 24th Connecti-
cut regiment of infantry. This com-
pany was raised at Plymouth for the
state service in theWyoming valley.
He was killed in the battle at the
head of his men July 3, 1778.
Capt. Whittlesey was scalped by an
Indian and afterward crawled to his
home and was found dead on the
doorstep. He had three daughters,
Anna, Abigail, and Laura, who be-
came the wives respectively, of Joel,
William, and Enos Camp.
About a week before the massacre
Mrs. Whittlesey started for Connecti-
cut with a party of women, with her
infant child, Laura, in her arms, rid-
ing on horseback. They were in
charge of Rev. Mr. Wattles, the cler-
gyman of the Wyoming valley, who
carried Mrs. Whittlesey's daughter,
Anna, then nearly three years of age,
on horseback.
179
Abigail Whittlesey, who was then
fifteen months old, was left with htr
father, Capt. Whittlesey. The night
before the massacre he put her on a
raft in charge of an old man and his
wife, with instructions to take her to
Baltimore, if possible. They floated
down the river at night and tied up
the boat during the day until they
reached Havre de Grace, Md. The
man and his wife both died afterward
of small pox. A year later her grand-
father came from Connecticut, found
her, and took her to her mother in
that state.
William Camp and Abigail Whittle-
sey were married five years previous
to their coming to Owego.
The children of William and Abi-
gail (Whittlesey) Camp were as fol-
lows:
1. Eliza Minerva Camp, born 13
Oct., 1802, at New Milford. Married
Joseph Clizbe. They had no children.
She died Jan. 29, 1871.
2. Henry William Camp, born 11
Feb., 1805, at New Milford. Married
Lucy Ann Warren, of Woodstock, Vt.,
27 Aug., 1837. He died at Owego 11
Jan., 1874, and she 29 Aug., 1900.
3. Juliette Maria Camp, born 8
April, 1807, at Owego. Married
Joseph Merrick Ely at Owego 7 Aug.,
1834. He died at Athens, Pa., 1 Jan.,
1872, and she 28 Dec, 1888.
4. Abigail Whittlesey Camp, born
1.5 Oct., 1808, at Owego. Married
Charles C. Noble. He died at Owego
13 June, 1851, and she 13 July, 1890.
5. Susan Laura Camp, bom 8
Sept., 1810, at Owego. Married Dr. Eze-
kiel B. Phelps. She died at Owego 15
Jan., 1863.
• 6. Charlotte Caroline Camp, born
27 June, 1814, at Owego. Died 24
April, 1819.
7. George Sidney Camp, born 5
Feb., 1816, at Owego. Married Kate
Cecil. They had no children.
180
8. Frances Augusta Camp, born
9 Dec, 1817, at Owego. Married
Aaron P. Storrs 15 Nov.. 1842. She
died at Owego 11 Feb., 1891.
9. Charlotte Caroline Camp, born
5 Dec, 1820, at Owego. Married
Jared C. Gregory at Unadilla, N. Y.,
5 March, 1848.
DR. HENRY CAMP.
Dr. Henry Camp for many years
conducted an iron foundry and fur-
nace in Owego. His first foundry was
on the southeast corner of Main
street and Parker's lane on the spot
where Mrs. J. A. Goodrich's house
stands. The first steam engine ever put
up in Tioga county was in the foundry.
It had a six-inch cylinder, and was
used to drive the machinery. Previ-
ous to the introduction of this engine
the work had been done with a horse
and tread-wheel. This furnace was
burned in June, 1836. Dr. Camp af-
terward built a much larger furnace
on the south side of Front street
where the "white store" of his father
had stood. This furnace he conducted
until it was burned in the night of
Oct. 5, 1867, when all the buildings on
both sides of Front street from the
bridge west to Parker's lane were
swept away by the flames. Dr. Camp
afterward built a much smaller fur-
nace on the site of the old one, which
is still conducted by his son, Herman
H. Camp. Mr. Camp studied medi-
cine and practised Homoeopathy sev-
eral years previous to his death. He
died January 11, 1874.
DR. EZEKIEL B. PHELPS.
Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps was born
April 12 , 1800, at Hebron, Conn.,
where he studied medicine and was
graduated from the New Haven medi-
181
cal college in March, 1823. He prac
tised medicine at Manchester, Conn.,
with Dr. Samuel C. Cooley until Sej)-
tember, 1S24, when he came to Owego
and lived here until his death on June
2, 1892. Dr. Phelps's first wife was
Sarah Hollenback Laiiing, daughter of
Gen. John Laniug. They were mar-
ried May 12, 18?,?,. She died Nov. ?,.
1S42. His second wife was Susan
Laura Ann Camp. They were married
Sept. 12, 1852.
Dr. Phelps lived and had his office
on the north side of Front street on
the lot west of and adjoining the First
national bank on the ground where G.
O. Steele's grocery store now stands.
He lived there until he built the house
now occupied by Wui. A. Smyth at the
northwest corner of Front and Paige
streets, where he lived all the rest of
his life.
AARON P. STORKS.
Aaron P. Storrs was born Sept. 18,
1812, at Mansfield. Conn. He was a
son of Rev. Samuel Porter Storrs, who
was born at Mansfield and preached
many years at Sherburne. N. Y.,
where he died. He came to Owego in
December, 1827, with his mother's
brother. Rev. Aaron Putnam, who had
adopted him. Mr. Putnam came here
to assume the pastorate of the Pres-
byterian church, and he was pastor of
the church until his death, Dec. 28,
1831. Mr. Putnam's father was also a
clergyman and preached fifty years in
the church at Pomfret, Conn.
In September, 1835, Mr. Storrs. in
company with Dr. Lucius H. Allen, be-
gan a general mercantile business in
the David P. Tinkham store, a wooden
building known as Rollin block, which
stood at the northwest corner of Lake
182
and Front streets. In May of the next
year Allen & Storrs removed to the
south side of Front street, the first
store east of Wm. A. Ely's brick store.
This store had been occupied several
years previous by Gen. Ansel Good-
rich. At this time P. Halsey Ball, of
Berkshire, vi^ho had been a clerk in
Gurdon Hewitt's store, was in the
mercantile business with Daniel Ely
in the brick store west of the store oc-
cupied by Allen & Storrs. In March,
1838, Allen & Storrs purchased Mr.
Ely's interest in the store and took
Mr. Ball into their partnership. A
year later Mr. Ball retired from the
firm. He removed to Erie, where he
died. Dr. Allen afterward sold his in-
terest in the business to Frank L.
Jones, who had conducted a branch
store for them at Sheshequin, Pa.
Their Owego store was burned in the
great fire of September, 1849, and
they did not resume business.
In the spring of 1852 .lohn R. Chat-
field came to Owego from Great Bar-
rington, Mass., with some capital to
invest in business. He applied to Dr.
Allen to recommend to him some
good business man as a partner, and
Dr. Allen recommended Mr. Storrs.
In April, 1852, the firm of Storrs &
Chatfield opened a hardware store in
the brick store at the northeast cor-
ner of Front and Lake streets under
the firm name of Storrs & Chatfield.
Frank L. Jones was a partner in the
business until February, 1860. In
May, 1855, they bought the hardware
store of R. Woodford & Co. at the
northwest corner of Lake and Front
streets and removed across the street
thereto. In the spring of 1886 A. P.
1S3
Storr.s, Jr., and Geo. S. Chatfield be-
came members of the firm.
Mr. Storrs died Sept. 9, 1SS8. He
was one of the organizers of the Owe-
go gas light company in March, ISoG,
and was for many years president of
the company.
.Joseph M. Ely was born Jan. l.J,
1802, at West Springfield, Mass. The
Elys came originally from Wales and
were among the earliest emigrants in-
to New England. He was a son of
Richard Ely, who was a sergeant in
the revolutionary war. He came to
Owego in 1830 and was the second
principal of the Owego academy from
1830 to 1835. From Owego he went to
New York city, where he engaged in
the wholesale grocery business. About
the year 1857 he came to Waverly,
where he was station agent for the
New York & Erie railroad. In 1859
he went to Athens, Pa., where he es-
tablished a select school. He died
there 15 Nov., 1873.
Judge Charles Curtis Noble was
born at Unadilla, N. Y., and was a
graduate of Union college. He came
to Owego soon after having com-
pleted his professional education and
formed a partnership with judge
Stephen Strong, which continued sev-
eral years. On the death of his
father he returned to Unadilla, and
practised law there. He was first
judge of Otsego county several years
and up to 1847, when a new constitu-
tion was adopted. That year he was
elected to represent Otsego county in
the assembly. Judge Noble was one
of the three persons who organized
St. Paul's Episcopal church in Owe-
go. He died at the home of judge
184
Strong in Owego June 13, 1851, aged
41 years.
George Sidnej' Camp was born in
Owego February 5, 1816. He was one
of tlie first pupils at the old Owego
academy, from which he was gradu-
ated in 1832. He entered Yale col-
lege, but at the end of his sophomore
year he .left there and entered the
University of the city of New York.
At the close of his junior year he left
college and became a law student in
the office of Stephen Strong. Later
he went to New York city and com-
pleted his law studies in the office of
Gerardus Clark. He was admitted to
the bar May 18, 1838. He practised
law three years in New York. He re-
turned to Owego in December, 1841,
where he practised law all the rest of
his life. He was appointed district at-
torney of Tioga county in 1845. He
died at Owego Feb. 14, 1888. Mr.
Camp was one of the ablest lawyers
of his time in Owego.
Joseph Clizbe was a New York law-
yer and a man of property. He came
here late in life in feeble health and
died here. He lived in the house
which is still standing on the south
side of Main street, the second house
east of Parker's lane.
Jared C. Gregory was born at But-
ternuts, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1813, and
studied and practised law there until
in the sixties when he removed to
Madison, Wis., where he died Feb. 7.
1892.
NATHAN AND ANSON CAMP.
Nathan Camp was a religious man,
fond of literature, and he founded the
village library in 1813. He was one
of the incorporators of the Owego and
Ithaca turnpike company in April.
1S5
1S07, and was one of the board of in-
spectors of schools m 1815-16. In
1807 he was appointed cornet in the
second squadron, fifth division, troop
of cavalry, and in 1816 he was ap-
pointed second lieutenant of the 8th
regiment of cavalry.
The following were the children of
Nathan and Susanna (Avery) Camp:
1. Frederick Mortimer Camp, born
3 July, 1813, at Owego. Married Sarah
Piatt, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, of
Owego. He died at Ithaca 16 March,
1848, and she at Trumansbnrg 23 Jan.,
1894.
2. George Avery Camp, born at
Owego. Died 10 July, 1827.
The only child of Nathan and Fanny
(Collier) Camp was Nathan H. Camp.
He was unmarried.
When Gen. Anson Camp came to
Owego he began the pottery business,
but later went into business as a
hatter. His store was on the south
side of Front street, a short distance
east of the "white store" on Dr. Tink-
ham's land. He made and sold hats
there.
Gen. Anson Camp was active in
military affairs. In 1809 he was ap-
pointed a lieutenant in Capt. Ansel
Goodrich's company in Col. Asa
Camp's regiment. The next year he
was promoted to captain, in 1811 to
second major, in 1812 to brigade
major and inspector of the 18th bri-
gade of infantry, with rank from May
23, 1812. In 1816 he was appointed
lieutenant colonel of the r)3d regi-
ment of infantry, and in 1820 he was
promoted to brigadier-general of the
41st brigade.
Gen Camp was also active in pub-
lic life. He was one of the incorpora-
tors of the Owego academy. He was
1S6
suinrvisor of the town of Owego iiit
1815, 1816, 1819, 1820, and 1831. He
was president of the village in 1832
and 1833, and he represented Tioga
county in the assembly in 1825. In
1814 he was appointed one of the
three trustees of "Owego settlement"
in place of Capt. Mason Wattles, who
had removed from the village. He was
also one of the three commissioners
who built the old court house at the
comer of Main and Court streets in
1823.
Anson Camp was never married but
lived all his life at the home of his
brother, William Camp. He died
March 22, 1838.
HERMON CAMP.
Hermon Camp was not long a resi-
dent of Owego. Two of his brothers,
William and Nathan Camp, has estab-
ished a branch store at Trumansburg,
Tompkins county, in 1805. In Decem-
ber of that year when Hermon Camp
was eighteen years old he was sent
there by his brothers to manage the
store, and he lived there all the rest
of his life. He was for many years a
prominent man of Tompkins county.
In military life he became lieutenant-
colonel of a regiment of cavalry. In
1809 he was appointed adjutant in
lieutenant-colonel Hugh Graham's regi-
ment,and in 1810 captain of acompany
of cavalry in the first squadron, 9th
regiment. In 1812 he was captainofthe
only volunteer company of cavalry in
western New York, which he had uni-
formed, armed, equipped, and mount-
ed on fine horses at his own expense.
Within five weeks after the war was
declared this company marched to the
headquarters of Gen. Stephen Van-
187
Rensselaer at Lewiston, on the Ni-
agara frontier. In 1820 he was ap-
pomted lieutenant-colonel of the 10th
New Yorlv cavalry, with rank from
July 8, 181 'J.
He was sheriff of Seneca county
from Jan. 28, 1817, to the 17th of the
following A)>ril. In April, 1817. upon
the formation by the legislature of
Tompkins county out of a portion of
the territory belonging previous to
that time to the counties of Cayuga
and Seneca, he was appointed sheriff
of the new county. In November.
1319, he was elected member of as-
sembly for Tompkins covmty. He was
president of Tompkins county bank at
Ithaca several years. He was a firm
temperance man and w^as the first
merchant in Tompkins county who
discontinued the sale of liquor. He
was president of the state temi)erance
society in 1851-2.
Mr. Camp was thrice married. His
first wife was Mary Caroline Cook.
His second wife was her sister, Cath-
erine Cook. His third wife was Sarah
Piatt, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, of
Owego. She was first married in 1832
to Frederick M. Camp, a nephew and
employe of Hermon Camp. In 1848,
after Frederick M. Camp's death, she
was married to Hermon Cami), who
was then 61 years old. She died at
Trumansburg Jan. 28, 1894, aged 82
years.
The children of Hermon and Mary
Caroline (Cook) Camp were as fol-
lows:
1. Caroline Cam]).
2. Clinton Camp.
3. Henrietta Camp.
4. Anna Sarah Camp.
5. Charles Camp.
188
6. Mary Catherine Camp, born IN
Jan., 1840, at Trumansburg. Married
Henry W. Swanton 29 Sept., 1864.
Died at Bath, Maine, 17 Nov., 1873.
The children of Hermon and Cath-
erin (Cook) Camp were as follows:
1. Edward Camp, born 13 June,
1842. Married Susan J. Winfield 28
Jan., 1862.
2. Hermon Camp.
Hermon and Sarah (Piatt) Camp
had one daughter, Alice Hermoine
Camp, who was born 23 March, 1851.
at Trumansburg. She married Frank
Hackley Griswold, of Auburn, 13 Oct.,
1870. Hermon Camp died at Trumans-
burg June 8, 1878.
STEPHEN STRONG.
Stephen Strong was born Oct. 11,
1791, at Lebanon, Conn. He was a
descendant of John Strong, who came
from England and settled in Massa-
chusetts.
John Strong, Jr., lived at Northam])-
ton, Mass. His son, Jedediah Strong,
was born in 1637 and died in 1733.
Jedediah Strong, Jr., was born in 1667
and was killed by Indians.
His son, Stephen Strong, was born
in 1690 and died in 1785.
Stephen Strong's son, Daniel
Strong, of New Lebanon, Conn., was
born in 1719 and died in 1806.
His son Adonijah Strong was born
in 1760 and died in 1815. He was a
soldier in the revolution from 1780 to
1783 and was at the taking of York-
town. He married Hepzibah Bliss.
Judge Stephen Strong was a son of
Adoni.iah Strong. His parents remov-
ed to Jefferson county, N. Y., when he
was a child. He received his princi-
pal education at Oneida academy,
Clinton, N. Y., now Hamilton college.
He came about 1814 to Owego, where
189
he at first taught school. He was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1822. He was dis-
trict attorney of Tioga county from
July, 1836, to July, 1838, and from
1844 to 1S47. He was appointed first
judge of Tioga county April IS, 1838,
and held that office until Feb. 2, 1843,
He was elected county judge in No-
vember, 1855, and served four years.
He was the representative of the 22d
district in the congress of 1845-7.
Judge Strong was one of the incorpo-
rators of the old bank of Owego in
183G. His law office in 1828 was on
the banlv of the river, a little below
Paige street. In May, 1838, his step-
son, George Sidney Camp, was ad-
mitted to the bar and in the following
October they became law partners.
Soon afterward Mr. Camp removed to
New York city, and in January, 1840,
judge Alanson Munger became judge
Strong's law partner. Mr. Camp re-
turned to Owego in December, 1841.
and resumed his partnershij) with
judge Strong, which partnersliip con-
tinued until judge Strong's election
to the office of county judge in 1856.
The law office of judge Strong and
Mr. Camp was on the south side of
Front street on the lot now occupied
by the Standard butter company's
creamery. It was afterward removed
to the north side of the street. Mr.
Camp later built a large addition to it
as a residence and lived there until
it was burned in October, 1867. He
immediately rebuilt an office and resi-
dence on the same site and lived there
until his death. It then became the
l)roperty of A. P. Storrs, Jr., who made
changes and im])rovements and now
lives there.
In July, 18(;i. judge Strong removed
190
back to Jefferson county and settled
at Watertown. There on June 19,
1861, he married Roxanna Terry
Woodruff, widow of N. M. Woodruff, a
hardware merchant, and daughter of
Eli Bush, of Perry, N. Y. Mrs. Wood-
ruff was the mother of tlae wife of
governor Roswell P. Flower.
Judge Strong died at Watertown
Apri 15, 1866. In the centennial his-
tory of Tioga county Wm. F. Warner
writes at considerable length of judge
Strong whom he considered "one of
the most remarkable men of the
period." Mr. Warner says:
"For upwards of fifty years judge
Strong was among the foremost men
of his profession, and for many years
was the leading jury advocate of this
county, and of the counties of Sus-
quehanna, Bradford, and Luzerne in
Pennsylvania: his business extended
largely into the latter three counties.
In the prime of life he found few
equals, esi)ecially in the trial of crim-
inal cases, on which account his ser-
vices were sought in almost every im-
l)ortant case for many years. To a
tall and commanding person he added
elegance and grace of manner, and a
pleasing address. His features were
strongly marked and bore a firm and
decisive expression, while his eyes
were full and dark, with dark brows.
Amid a crowd of a thousand persons
he would have been selected as a
I)rominent figure His social
qualities were of the highest or
der As a judge he possessed a
rare firmness that enabled him to re-
main unbiased by public clamor
The general judgment of his character
was that in ability he had few equals,
and that, with an over-generous na-
ture, he possessed untarnished in-
tegrity."
In the "Strong Genealogy." the au-
thor, Benj. W. Dwight, writes as fol-
lows of judge Strong:
191
■'He was an eminent advocate,
famous not only for his technical
knowledge but for his great tact and
ingenuity and wonderful resources of
his own in handling of cases, and for
his inspiring and magnetic powers of
eloquent speech, which was always
more powerful than polished. He was
stinctively polite, and free with both
hand and heart everywhere, and re-
markably frank and reserved on all
occasions and made alike warm
friends and bitter enemies. He had
an inexaustible fund of good spirits at
all times. He was a great reader,
rather than a close student. He was
very tall, about six feet in stature, of
dark complexion, high and prominent
cheek bones, a large mouth, and
marked but interesting features."
Aaron P. Storrs, Jr., of Owego, owns
a fine portrait of judge Strong. It was
painted by .Tames Bogle, a member of
the National Academy and a noted
portrait painter of his day. Mr.
Bogle painted portraits of Calhoun,
Clay, Webster, Gen. .John A. Dix, and
other prominent Americans.
JOHN R. DRAKE.
John R. Drake, who came to Owego
in 1809 and who was for many years
one of the most enterprising business
men and public spirited citizens of the
village, was a descendant of Robert
Drake, who was born in Devonshire,
England, about 1599, and who was a
nephew of Sir Francis Drake.
Robert Drake's son, Abraham Drake,
came to America in the "Mayflower"
and settled at Hampton, Conn. Abra-
liam's son, Robert Drake, was bom in
1664 and died in 1743 at Hampton.
Robert's son, also named Robert, was
the father of Rev. Reuben Drake, who
was born April 23, 1745, and who was
a Baptist clergyman at Pleasant Val-
ley (now called Plattekill), near New-
19-^
burgh. X. Y. Rev. Reuben Drake was
very wealth.v and owned a mile square
of land, on which he built a stone
church, in which he preached free of
charge to his congregation. The
church was afterward torn down and
the material was used In building a
school house. Rev. Reuben Drake had
several sons, the third of whom was
John Roland Drake.
John R. Drake was born Nov. 28,
1782. at Pleasant Valley. In early life
he was a clerk in the store of judge
Stanley at Catskill. While thus em-
jjloyed he was sent to Painted Post,
X. Y., to do some collecting. When
he reached Owego he stopped at the
old tavern, which stood at the north-
west corner of Front and Church
streets. When he started on his way
from Owego some one purposely mis-
directed him, so that instead of cross-
ing the Owego creek and going west-
ward, he went north toward Ithaca.
He soon met some one who informed
him of his mistake. It was at this
time he first saw the land on the flats,
which he afterward induced his
brother, Reuben Drake, to buy. After
Reuben had made the purchase his
wife would not come out here into the
wilderness to live, and John R. Drake
took the property off his hands. This
l)roperty judge Drake purchased about
the year 1S14. It extended from the
west line of Evergreen cemetery to
the Owego creek. The north bound-
ary was Drake's lane, now Talcott
street, and the south boundary was
the north line of Elizur Talcotfs farm.
When judge Drake came here with
his family in October,1809,he lived be-
low and adjoining where the river
193
bridge now is in Front street in a
building, which he rented of Dr.
Samuel Tinkham as a store and resi-
dence. Here he lived until he bought
the farm in the north part of the vil-
lage. On this farm, on the west side
of North avenue, midway between
where Talcott and Adaline streets
now are, was a farm house. This
house he enlarged, and he lived there-
in. Later he again enlarged the house
and converted it into a tavern for
Seth Mosher. After the construction
of the New York and Erie railroad to
Owego he still further enlarged it. It
was then kei)t a few years by judge
Drake's son-in-law, A. B. Gere, as a
hotel and was known as the Mansion
house.
.ludge Drake in February, 1829 pur-
chased the house on the south side of
Front street, west of Park street, now
owned by Mrs. Emily Gere. This
house had been built for Albert Bacon.
Judge Drake died in this house March
21. 1857.
When judge Drake came to Owego
the only merchants in business here
were the Camp brothers. Gen. John
Laning, major Horatio Ross, Gen.
Oliver Huntington, and Charles Pum-
l)elly. Judge Drake was in the gen-
eral mercantile business in the Dr.
Tinkham store until 1S14. In August
of that year he purchased for $1,200
of James Caldwell the lot on the south
side of Front street directly opposite
Lake street, on which he built a
wooden store, two stories high. It oc-
cupied the ground on which the Cen-
tral drug store now stands.
In the rear of this store was a large
storehouse with a long dock. Here
he stored and loaded into arks for
194
shipment down the river salt, plaster,
and wheat. This merchandise was
shipped on the spring and fall freshets
lo WilkesBarre, Columbia, and other
l)oints on the way to Baltimore. A
great amount of lumber, shingles, and
staves was also shipped in arks and
rafts. Judge Drake is said to have
had a larger number of arks and rafts
on the river every year than any other
Owego shipper.
He employed men to manufacture
shingles and staves of pine and oak
in the forest on lands five miles from
Owego on the Montrose turnpike.
The men camped in cabins in the
woods at all seasons while doing this
work. At that time the country was a
wilderness along the Montrose turn-
pike from the river bridge to the
Pennsylvania line, a distance of nine
miles. During the war of 1812 judge
Drake had a contract for making
tent pins for the United States gov-
ernment.
In front of his store judge Drake
laid the first stone sidewalk ever put
down in this village. The stones
were quarried in this vicinity. They
were square, of irregular sizes, and
were laid flat on the ground. Other
such sidewalks were afterward laid
by other property owners. The stones
were heaved out of place by the frosts
and the walks were consequently ir-
regular and had to be occasionally re-
laid.
.Judge Drake was also the first Owe-
go merchant to introduce lamps in
place of candles to light his store at
night. He sold everything usually
sold in the general country stores of
those days except intoxicating liquor.
In 1830 he sold that ))ortion of his
195
stock, which was of a kind now kei)t
ill drug stores, to Dr. Jedediah Fay
and not long afterward closed out the
rest of his stock of goods and retired
from the mercantile business. The
Front street store he sold in .July,
1845, to Joshua L. Pinney and his son,
Hammon D. Pmney, who under the
firm name of J. L. Pmney <k Son con-
ducted a drug store there many year.-;.
.Judge Drake became the owner of
much property in the business part of
the village. He built Rollin block,
which occupied the northwest cornei-
of Front and Lake streets. In the
third story of this olock was Concert
hall, where all public entertainments
and shows were given. In the fire of
September, 1849, judge Drake owned
nine stores, all of which were burned
and on which he had only $2,000 in-
surance. He built and owned the
mills on the south side of the river,
opposite the Owego creek, which were
afterward known as the Hand mills,
and which he subsequently sold to
James Pumpelly, who was his partner
in the lumber manufacturing business.
When the New York and Erie rail-
road was built to Owego judge Drake,
who was one of the projectors and
who had used all his influence to have
it built through this village, gave the
railroad company nine acres of land,
comprising the grounds where the
station and railroad yards now are.
This land was bounded north by what
is now the north line of E. H. Miller's
hay press, the line extending eastward
along south of Erie street. The west
line was a little west of McMaster
street, and included the ground on
which the old bridge shop stood. The
south line was South Depot street,
196
the I.enox hotel and the north Ime of
the vacant lot at the southeast corner
of McMaster street and the railroad.
In 1847, two years previous to the
completion of the New York and Erie
railroad to Owego, judge Drake
opened a land office. At about this
time he caused a survey and map of
this village to be made. This map
was lithographed in New York and
was entitled "A Map of Drake's Reser-
vation in the Village of Owego, N. Y."
The map shows the line of the old
Ithaca and Owego railroad as it ex-
tended down through the village into
Front street, the proposed line of the
New York and Erie railroad through
the then northern part of the village,
and the situation of all the residences
and stores.
Judge Drake's farm on both sides of
the railroad was laid out into village
lots on this maj), with streets, several
of which streets were opened after-
ward and are now in use. They were
generally named in honor of members
of his family. Delphine, Charlotte,
and Adaline streets were opened and
still bear those names. Theodore,
Harriet, Jerushg,, and Arianna streets
do not appear on the latest maps.
.Terusha street on the Drake reserva-
tion map is now known as West
avenue.
When judge Drake gave the nine
acres of land to the N. Y. & E. rail-
road company there was some kind of
an agreement whereby he was to have
had the rent of the dining room at the
station and that all trains were to
stop here, but at about this time he
was stricken with paralysis and the
person who attended to this business
for him allowed the arrangement to
197
be changed and he did not receive the
benefit of it.
It is related of judge Drake that
some time before the old Owego and
Ithaca horse railroad was built he
was present at a public meeting in
this village to consider the question
of public improvements. Among other
things discussed was a proposed sur-
vey for a canal from Ithaca to Owego.
At this meeting judge Drake said that
if it was found that the building of a
canal would not be a profitable in-
vestment, perhaps the line might be
used for a railroad. Thereupon an in-
credulous citizen contemptuously re-
marked, "What wont the d— d old
fool be at next?" Yet the railroad
was built. And several years later
when the New York & Erie railroad
was completed to Owego and the first
train came to the station judge Drake,
who was then helpless with paralysis
and was sitting in his carriage on the
hill above, looking at the arrival of
the train, the man who made the dis-
paraging remark at the public meet-
ing stood by his side.
Judge Drake was prominent in pub-
lic as well as in business affairs. He
was supervisor of the town of Owego
in 181.",. He was appointed first judge
of Broome county April 8, 1815, and
served until 1823. He was reappointed
first judge of Tioga county March 27.
1833, and served until April 18, 1838.
He was a member of congress from
1817 to 1819; member of assembly, in
1834, and president of Owego village,
from 1841 to 184.^), inclusive. In 1823
he was one of the three commis-
sioners appointed to supervise the
construction of the first Tioga county
court house built in Owego at the
198
southeast corner of Main and Court
streets.
Judge Drake married Jerusha
Roberts, daugliter of Josepli Roberts,
of Catskill, N. Y. She was born 6
July, 1780, and died at Owego 27 April.
1867. They were married 4 Sept.,
1803, at Catskill. The children of
John R. and Jerusha (Roberts) Drake
were as follows:
1. Harriet Gould Drake, born 22
Aug., 1805, at Newburg. Married
David P. Tinkham 7 July, 1825. He
died at Owego 10 Aug., 1836, and she
12 Sept., 1901.
2. Adeline Beebe Drake, born 5
May, 1808, at Newburgh. Married
Isaac Bradford Gere 12 August, 1834.
He died 16 Feb., 1860, at Owego and
she 21 March, 1888.
3. Delphine Drake, born 11 April,
1811, at Owego. Married Harmon
Pumpelly 16 November, 1830. She
died 27 Feb., 1839.
4. Theodore Drake, born 16 Jan.,
1814, at Owego and died here 25 Aug.,
1888. He was unmarried.
5. Charlotte Marsh Drake, born 5
Nov.. 1816, at Owego. Married Ed-
ward Raynsford 17 July, 1837. He
died 27 Nov., 1881, and she 26 Sept.,
1898.
William F. Warner in his centennial
history of Tioga county writes as fol-
lows concerning .iudge Drake.
"Judge Drake for many years before
his death was i)aralytic, but in earlier
years few men surpassed him in vigor
of mind and body. He was a keen ob-
server of men and things and a right
royal talker. Like Mr. Jonathan Piatt
he found in the ordinary affairs of life
abundant amusement, and was dis-
posed to make the most and best of
everything. Although he may have
sometimes held his neighbors up in a
somewhat ludicious view, yet Mr.
Drake, though gifted with great
powers of sarcasm, generally aimed to
be just . . . Judge Drake held a
prominent place among the leading
199
men of the county, and had much in-
fluence in shaping the public affairs of
the village in which he resided, and of
this county as well."
David P. Tinlvham, a son of Dr.
Samuel Tinkham, was born Nov. 22.
1808, at Owego. His father dying
when he was less than a year old, he
was reared by his step-father. .James
Pumpelly. He was graduated from
Union college. He afterward con-
ducted a general mercantile business
in 1827 and later in a wooden store,
which stood at the northwest corner
of Front and Lake streets. When
Rollin block was built on this corner
the old store was moved to the west
side of North avenue, nearly opposite
South Depot street and converted into
a dwelling house, where it was occu-
pied many years by Mrs. Edward
Raynsford. A few years ago it was,
with additions, converted into a iiotel
and called the European house, and it
is now a tenement. David P. Tink-
ham lived in a house which stood at
the northeast corner of Main street
and Central avenue. He was only 33
years of age at the time of his death,
in 1836 and his widow continued to
live there until the property was sold
to Dr. P. S. Stearns and Mrs. James
Wilson in November, 1865, and the
Park hotel built thereon.
Isaac B. Gere was a son of Luther
Gere, who came from Connecticut and
settled in the town of Genoa, Cayuga
county. Luther Gere was a carpenter
and assisted in building the first
bridge at the north end of Cayuga
lake. This bridge was more than a
mile in length. He removed to Ithaca
about 1807, where he kept a tavern.
He built the old Ithaca hotel, the old
200
Columbian Inn, and other buildings at
Ithaca. He owned 1,400 acres of land
near Ithaca, and In one year he had
800 acres of wheat in harvest. He
was president of the old bank of
Ithaca, and was twice a judge of the
court of coiijmon pleas. A. B. Gere
was his only son. After his marriage
A. B. Gere came to Owego and lived
here all the rest of his life.
Edward Raynsford was born in 1812
at Montrose, Pa. At the age of seven-
teen years he came to Owego and en-
tered judge Latham A. Burrows's
store as a clerk. He was afterward
employed in David P. Tinkham's
store. In company with Edward R.
Warner he later conducted a general
mercantile business in a store on the
south side of Front street, nearly op-
posite Lake street. This partnership
was dissolved July 27, 1836, when Mr.
Raynsford and his father-in-law, judge
Drake, formed a partnership and con-
ducted a store just above the bridge
on the same side of the street, remov-
ing a few years afterward to the store
opposite Lake street. When the New
York and Erie railroad was completed
to Owego in 1849 he built a large store
at the southwest corner of North ave-
nue and the railroad property, with a
large storehouse in the rear, and con-
ducted business there several years.
'1 -.e store was later converted into a
public house and known as the Cort-
right house, later as the Birdsall
house, and is now called the Lenox
hotel. Mr. Raynsford died at Sayre,
Pa., Nov. 28, 1881.
201
DR. JEDEDIAH FAY.
Dr. Jedediah Fay came to Owego in
ISll. He was born at Hardwick,
Mass., Jan. 30, 1786. He was a de-
scendant in the fifth generation of
.John Fay, who was born in England
in 1C48 and embarked from Grave-
send in the "Speedwell." He died at
Marlboro, Mass., Dec. 1.5, 1690. He
was one of the proprietors of the
Ockoocangensett plantation, which
was purchased of the Indians in 1684.
Dr. Jedediah Fay was a son of Daniel
Fay who was born at Hardwick,
Mass., in 17.52 and died at Randolph,
Vt, in 1810.
December 7, 1811, soon after his
coming to Owego, Dr. Fay formed a
partnership with Dr. Samuel Barclay
and practised medicine. Dr. Barclay
was an early resident here. In June,
1805, he bought of John Hollenback
the lot at the northwest corner of
Front and Ross streets and built
thereon the house which still stands
there. It was afterward successively
owned by Major Horatio Ross, judge
1 nomas Farrington, and Lieut. B. \V.
I.oring. When Dr. Barclay bought
the property he gave a mortgage on
it, and as he did not pay the claim
the property was sold at mortgage
foreclosure in October, 1807. Dr.
Fay's partnership with Dr. Barclay
was dissolved Aug. 12, 1812.
Dr. Barclay was clerk of the town
of Owego from 1811 to 1814, inclusive.
Little is known of his history. Dr.
Lucius H. Allen once informed the
writer that when he (Allen) came to
Owego in 1832, Dr. Barclay was still
living here, old and broken down
through intemperance, and he died
here not long afterward.
202
111 December, 1812, Dr. Fay, in com-
company with Joseph L. Lynde began
a general mercantile business under
the firm name of J. Fay & Co. in a
frame building which stood on the
northwest corner of Front and Lake
streets. This store was afterward
burned and on its site Dr. Fay built
another store, which was later occu-
pied by David P. Tinkham.
Dr. Fay continued in business with
Mr. Lynde until 1815, when Lemuel
Brown became his partner. They con-
ducted an extensive business and
opened a branch store at Spencer,
which was then the county seat of
Tioga county. Mr. Brown's son,
Richard Brown, had charge of the
Spencer store. They failed in busi-
ness. While in the mercantile busi-
ness Dr. Fay was elected clerk of the
town of Owego in 1814 and served
three years thereafter by re-election.
Dr. Fay afterward took charge of
judge John R. Drake's business and
conducted it for several years in a
store which stood on the south side
of Front street, oi)i)osite Lake street.
In 1830 he purchased judge Drake's
stock of drugs, medicines, paints, etc.,
and removed to the store adjoining
judge Drake's on the east, on ground
now occupied by Goodrich & Co.'s
store. It was at that time the only
drug store in Tioga county.
In 1835, Dr. Fay built a handsome
three-story brick building on the
north side of Front street, the fourth
brick building built in Owego, which
occupied the ground now covered by
the Ahwaga hall block. The ujjper
portion was occupied by him as a resi-
dence. One of the stores below was
DR. FAY'S DRUG STORE.
203
used by the old bank of Owego and
into the other Dr. Fay moved his drug
store in January, 1836. There he con-
tinued in the drug business until hi.'^
death. He died April 23, 184S.
The cut of Dr. Fay's drug store illus-
trating this article is from a daguerro-
type taken soon after the building was
erected in 1835. The daguerreotype
was photographed by Mr. Cortwright
and the cut made from the photo-
graph. It is, probably, the only pic-
ture of any of the buildings taken be-
fore the great fire of 1849 now in e.\-
istence.
While with judge Drake, in May,
1820, Dr. Fay was appointed postmas-
ter of Owego, and he held the office
by reappointment twenty-two conse-
cutive years. Judge Stephen Mack
was for some time his deputy. At the
time of Dr. Fay's appointment he
lived with his family in a little red
house, one and one-half stories high,
which stood near the sidewalk on the
north side of Front street, east of
Church street. Judge Mack owned
the lot which then comprised the two
lots now owned by Mrs. Henry Young
and Dr. E. E. Bauer. The house stood
near the west part of the lot, and in a
part of it judge Mack had his printing
office. The post office was afterward
removed to judge Drake's store, and
when Dr. Fay built his brick block
where Ahwaga hall now is, the office
was removed thereto and was kept
there until he was succeeded by
Daniel Ely as postmaster in 1841.
Dr. Fay was for several years in
the state military service. July 15,
1815, he was appointed captain of a
troop in the 8th regiment of cavalry
by Gov. Tompkins. He subsequently
204
resigned his commission and Gov.
Clinton appointed him surgeon of the
53d regiment of infantry, 41st brigade.
19th division, Feb. 14, 1820. He held
this position until June 15, 1822, when
he resigned from the service.
In his centennial history of Tioga
county William F. Warner thus
speaks of Dr. Fay:
"Methodical in his habits, he kept
for many years a record of atmos-
pheric changes, which is, probably.
still preserved by his family. He was
a man of wide intelligence and of re-
fined and agreeable manners, and was
held in high esteem by the people of
Owego."
Dr. Fay's wife was Caroline Roberts.
a sister of Mrs. John R. Drake. They
were married July 2, 1812. the year
after Dr. Fay came to Owego. She
was born May 30, 1794, in Connecticut
and died at Owego March 1. 1879.
The children of Dr. Jedediah and
Caroline (Roberts) Fay were as f ol-
io w.s:
1. Mary Ann Augustina Fay, born
December, 1813. Died June, 1814.
2. George W. Fay, born 10 Aug..
1815. He was unmarried.
3. Charles Pumpelly Fay, born i:!
June, 1818. Married Sarah H. John-
son, of Albany, Sept. 20, 1845. She
was born 25 Dec, 1823, and died in
1863. He married second the widow
Caroline Lawrence, daughter of Louis
C. CouFtantine. He had ten children
l)y the first marriage.
4. Frances Delphine Fay. born 12
April, 1821. Died at Owego 23 Sept.,
1895. She was unmarried.
5. Frederick J. Fay, born 12 May.
1824.
6. Theodore M. Fay, born January.
1828, and died March, 1828.
7. Caroline E. Fay, born 28 May.
1829. Married Augustus B. Brown, of
Geneva, N. Y., 21 July, 1858.
8. Mary J. Fay, born 16 Feb.. 1833.
She is stiil living.
205
After Dr. Fay's death two of his
sons. George W. Fay, who had been a
clerk in the store, and Fredericlt J.
Fay, continued the drug business in
the brick block. When this block was
burned in the fire of September, 1849,
they temporarily occupied part of a
wooden building on the north side of
Main street, opposite Lake street.
They immediately built the brick
building which still stands on the
north side of Front street the second
door east of Lake street, in the third
story of which they had a public hall,
known as Fay's hall. This was the
first brick building erected after the
fire and in the hall all the shows and
public entertainments were given un-
til T. P. Patch built his brick block
and hall in Lake street.
The Fays moved their drug store in-
to their new building in May, 1S.5(I.
They afterward built the Ahwaga hall
block on the site of their father's
drug store, and when it was com-
pleted in May, 1853. they moved their
drug store into tne east part of it.
The firm of G. W. Fay & Co. was
dissolved March 31, 1855, and Geo. W.
Fay continued the business alone un-
til the following December when he
sold the business to Angell &. Mackey.
of Cooperstown, who subsequently
failed in business. Geo. W. Fay was
engaged until 1899 in the manage-
ment of Ahwaga hall and the insur-
ance business. He died May 14, 1902.
Frederick J. Fay studied law in
Farrington & Avery's office. After
the death of his father he engaged in
the drug business. In 1853 he sold
his interest in the business to his
brother, Geo. W. Fay, and removed to
Columbus, Ohio, where he engaged in
206
the real estate business and where he
died Nov. 19, 1890.
Charles P. Fay was in early life a
clerk in his father's store. In 1842 he
removed to Albany to take the posi-
tion of deputy clerk in the office of
Thomas Farrington, of Owego, who
was then state treasurer. He went in
1844 to New York city, where he was
employed as cashier in Peter Loril-
lard's tobacco works. In 1872 he was
stricken with paralysis and was un-
able to do any work thereafter. He
was retired on a pension of $1,000 a
year. He died in Brooklyn October
29, 1882.
ELIAKIM AND NOAH GOODRICH.
Eliakim Goodrich and judge Noah
Goodrich, cousins, came in 1802 from
Glastenbury, Conn., and settled in
what has ever since been known as
Goodrich settlement, in the town of
Tioga. Some of their sons and grand-
sous were business men at Owego and
many of their descendants still live
here.
Eliakim and Noah Goodrich were
descendants of William Goodrich, who
with his brother, John Goodrich, came
to this country from near Bury St.-
Edmunds, county Suffolk, England,
where they were born, and settled at
Wethersfield. Conn., about the year
1643. One of William Goodrich's
sons, Ephraim Goodrich, was born in
1663. Ephraim's son, William Good-
rich, born in 1697 at Rocky Hill, Conn-
was the grandfather of Eliakim and
Noah Goodrich. Eliakim Goodrich's
father was Elisha Goodrich, of Glas-
tenbury, and Noah's father was
Elisha's brother, Ephraim, also of
Glastenbury. Ephraim married Pene-
207
lope Tryoii, of Glastenbury. She died
at Goodrich settlement Nov. 15, 1S2G,
aged 87 years.
Eliakim Goodrich was l)orn Nov. 28,
17G2, at Glastenbury. He married
Sarah Leland Jan. 13, 1781. She died
in Goodrich settlement Sept. 11, 1824.
Noah Goodrich was born Aug. 30,
1764, also at Glastenbury. He was
twice married. His first wife was
Prudence Goodrich, daughter of David
Goodrich. She was bom April 14.
1754, and died Jan. 30, 1813. They
were married Nov. 23, 1786. His sec-
ond wife was Rutli Goodrich daugh-
ter of Jeremiah Goodrich. She was
born Sept. 5, 1771, and married Wil-
liam Stratton June 11, 1788. Her hus-
band died and she married Asa Good-
rich. He died and she was married
to Noah Goodrich Oct. 31, 1813. She
died Aug. 22, 1846.
Eliakim and Noah Goodrich came
with ox teams and sleds through the
wilderness, arriving here July 2, 1802,
and settled on the property they had
bought of Col. David Pixley. This
property they purchased March 17,
1802. It consisted of 451 acres of
land, and the purchase price was
$5,000. The land was covered with
woods, which they cleared, owning all
their farming tools in partnership.
As fast as the trees were made into
lumber, the lumber was taken in rafts
down the river to market, the rafts-
men walking back.
Noah Goodrich lived in the Pixley
homestead, a small house which was
for many years known as the Pixley
tavern and which is the only one of
the early houses in the settlement
still standing. It is at the right hand
208
side of the road as one goes from
Owego toward "Gleiimary" and a few-
rods north of the highway as it turns
westward toward the Erie railroad.
Eliakim Goodrich built a large
frame house with a wide hall in the
middle, similar to most of the other
farm houses built in this vicinity at
that time. It stood on the north side
of the highway, a short distance east
of where the railroad now runs. It
was torn down a few years ago. Dr.
Samuel Tinkham lived in a house
which stood between this house and
the Pixley house. This house was
also torn down about the year 1863.
Noah Goodrich was a member of
the board of supervisors in 1810-12.
He was also one of the members of
the first masonic lodge organized in
Owego, of which he was the master
in 1811 and 1812. In 1816 he was
appointed a justice of the peace. He
died in the Pixley house .July 19, 1834.
Eliakim Goodrich was also ap-
pointed a justice of the peace in 1819.
He died Oct. 11, 1824. The children
of Eliakim and Sarah (Leland) Good-
rich were as follows:
1. Gen. Ansel Goodrich, born 27
Oct., 1782, at Glastenbury, Conn. Mar-
ried xMary Strickland 14 Oct., 1804.
He died 15 .luly, 1819, at Owego, and
she 18 Aug., 1860, at Athens, Pa.
2. Ira Goodrich, born 18 April.
1784, at Glastenbury. Married Fear
Potter. They lived at Rochester, N.
Y. He died in 1825.
3. Cyprian Goodrich, born 21 May,
1786, at Glastenbury. Married Abigail
Giles.
4. Lucy Goodrich, born 10 .lune.
1778. at Glastenbury. Married .loseph
Berry, of Owego. She died 7 May,
1829.
5. Alanson Goodrich, born 4 Se])t.,
1790. at Glastenbury. Married Mary
209
Pixley, daughter of David Pixley. Jr.
He died G Nov., 1854, and she 23 April,
1875.
6. Silas Goodrich, born 15 Jan.,
1793, at Glastenbury. Married Mary
Ann Goodrich, daughter of Jeremiah
Goodrich, 11 March, 1828. He died 11
July, 1863, and she 4 May, 1871.
7. Sarah Goodrich, born 9 Oct.,
1795, at Glastenbury.
8. Betsy Goodrich, born 13 Aug.,
1797, at Glastenbury. Married Jona-
than Piatt, of Owego. He died 16
Jan., 1857, at Owego, and she 27 Nov.,
1878.
9. Anna Goodrich, born 27 May,
1799. Died young.
10. Jasper Goodrich, born 5 Sept.,
1801, at Glastenbury. Marrier Betsy
Thorn.
11. William Warren Goodrich, born
26 Jan., 1804, at Goodrich settlement.
Married Mary Fox, of Towanda, Pa.,
25 Oct., 1830. He died at Wysox, Pa..
27 May, 1872.
12. Fanny Goodrich, born 9 June,
1806, at Goodrich settlement. She was
unmarried.
Gen. Ansel Goodrich derived his
military title from his service in the
state militia. In 1807 he was commis-
sioned first lieutenant of a company in
lieutenant-colonel Asa Camp's regi-
ment of infantry, and in 1809 he was
promoted to captain. The next year
he was second major in Col. Oliver
Huntington's regiment, and in 1811
first major. In 1812 he was promoted
to lieutenant colonel commandant of
the 53d regiment, succeeding Col.
Huntington, who was promoted to
brigadier-general of the 41st brigade
of infantry. Gen. Huntington was ap-
pointed sheriff of Broome county in
1816, and Col. Goodrich succeeded him
as brigadier-general. In June, 1818,
he was promoted to major general of
the 19th division of infantry, 36th and
41st brigades, and held that rank at
the time of his death in the following;
year.
When a young man Gen. Goodrich
became a partner of his brother-in-
law, Jonathan Piatt, in the general
mercantile business at Owego. Their
store was on the south side of Front
street, below Lake street, and he was
engaged in business there at the time
of his death in 1819. He built and
lived in a house now standing in
Goodrich settlement, where Ephraini
Goodrich afterward lived. Later he
lived in a house on the north side of
Front street west of Park street,
where his mother, Mrs. Eliakim Good-
rich, also lived. After his death the
property was owned by Jonathan Piatt,
wno tore down the house and erected
in its place the house now owned and
occu])ied by Mrs. A. Chase Thompson.
The children of Noah and Prudence
Goodrich were as follows:
1. Erastus Goodrich, born 1.5 June.
1788, at Glastenbury, Conn. Married
Hope Talcott. daughter of Elizur Tal-
cott, of Owego, 27 Feb., 1812. He died
27 June. 1854. at Buffalo. N. Y., and
she 13 Feb., 1865, at Owego.
2. Aner Goodrich, born 30 Sept.,
1789, at Glastenbury. Married Ruth
Stratton 1 Oct., 1813. He died 15
July, 1871.
3. Norman Goodrich, born 30 Dec,
1792, at Glastenbury. Married Eliza
True 20 Jan., 1820. He died 9 Feb., 1861,
and she 10 March, 1872. Norman
Goodrich was a commissioned officer
in the state militia. In 1816 he was
ensign of a company in the 53d regi-
ment of infantry, and was promoted
to lieutenant the next year. He re-
signed from the service in 1822.
4. Roxa Goodrich, born 16 Sej)t.,
1798, at Glastenbury. Married David
Nealy 3 Sept., 1824. He died 8 March,
1871, and she 21 Dec, 1824.
5. Prudence Goodrich, born 25 Jan.,
211
1S05, at Goodrich settlement. Died
March 31, 1805.
fi. Anna Goodrich, born .'io Apr.,
1807, at Goodrich settlement. Died
13 Jan., 1808.
7. Penelope Goodrich, born 3 Jan.,
1812. Died 6 Jan., 1812.
Erastus Goodrich was a prominent
member of the family. He was super-
visor of the town ofTioga in 1828,1841,
and 1843, and represented Tioga county
in the assembly in 1848. He was the
father of George B. and David Good-
rich, both of whom were Owego mer-
chants. Three of his sons-in-law,
Daniel G. Taylor, George Truman, and
Thomas I. Chatfield. were also mer-
chants here. He died June 29, 1854,
at Buffalo, while on his return from a
visit to his son, Erastus, at DeKalb,
Illinois.
David Goodrich the eldest son of
Erastus Goodrich, was bora Jan. 3,
1813, in the town of Tioga. At about
15 years of age he entered the employ
of John Hollenback, the Owego mer-
chant. In 1837 he entered L. Truman
& Brothers' store as a clerk. Four
years later he and George Truman en-
gaged in the dry goods business, and
in July, 1841, he married Mrs. Tru-
man's sister, Frances A. Truman,
From 1863 to 1872 he was in the mer-
cantile business with various partners.
Later he engaged in farming. He
died at Owego July 3, 1896.
George B. Goodrich, another son of
Erastus Goodrich, was during all his
business life a dry goods merchant at
Owego. Mention has already been
made of him in an account of the Tal-
cott family.
212
STEPHEN B. LEONARD.
Through the accurate care and in-
dustry of Mr. Lansing, of Rochester,
the genealogy of the Leonard family
from the year 580 A. D., has been
carefully prepared. It was an old and
interesting race, and its sons and
daughters held high office and rank in
England. Sufficient for this article to
indicate that Lady Margaret Fienes
married Sampson Leonard, eleventh
baron Dacre, in 1605. Their son was
Sir Henry Leonard, whose younger
brother, Henry, was the father of
Thomas Leonard, of Pontipool, Wales,
and brother of Francis, fourteenth
baron Dacre.
About 1623 James and Henry Leon-
ard, younger sons of Thomas Leonard,
of Pontipool, settled in Massachusetts,
first at Lynn, and later at Taunton.
To them belongs the great honor of
having established the first iron
works in America, at Saugus, near
Lynn. They were the founders, there-
fore, of the great steel and iron in-
dustry of this country.
The following is the exact geneal-
ogy of the Owego Leonards:
James Leonard, of Taunton, died in
1691.
His second son was captain James
Leonard, born about 1643, died No-
vember 1, 1726.
His son was Stephen Leonard, judgc
of court of common pleas at Taunton.
His son was Joshua Leonard, who
emigrated to New Jersey, living at
Parsippiney. He died in 1760.
His son was Silas Leonard, born in
17.")6at Parsippiney, and died at Owego
in 1832. He married Johanna Gregory,
of Bridgeport, Ct. He removed from
STEPHEN B. LEONARD.
213
New Jersey to the city of New York
early in liis young manhood, and was
engaged in the leather business in
what is now designated "the swamp";
and which, probably, was known by
the same name in that day. His resi-
dence was in Wall street, and occu-
pied the place where the United
States custom house has stood for so
many years. Immediately opposite
his house was the city hall. The
sons of Silas and Johanna (Gregory)
Leonard were as follows:
1. Seth G. Leonard, Havana. New
York.
2. Milton Leonard, of Marlborough,
died unmarried.
3. General Harry C. Leonard, of
Reading, New York. He died at
Friendsville, Pa., 20 Feb., 1S44, aged
44 years.
4. Stephen Banks Leonard, born in
Wall street. New York city, IT. April,
1793.
Silas Leonard removed to Owego
with his family in 1803. He was blind
during the last part of his life. He
died at Owego Sept. 29, 1832, aged 76
years. His wife died also at Owego
Sept. 27, 1816, aged 55 years.
Stephen B. Leonard was ten years
old when the family removed from
New York city to Owego. Three
years later, in 1806, he entered judge
Stephen Mack's printing office as an
apprentice to learn the printer's trade.
Judge Mack was publishing "The
American Farmer." His office was in
the second story of his house in Front
street. When the term of his appren-
ticeship expired Mr. Leonard pur-
chased an interest in the office and
soon afterward went, in 1811, to Al-
bany, to perfect himself as a job prin-
ter in the office of Solomon South-
wick.
214
Mr. South wick was a man of con-
siderable prominence in political life
in this state for several years. He
visited Owego in 1834 and wrote a his-
tory of the village, which he published
in i)amphlet form, but no copy of this
pamphlet is known to be in existence
now. While Mr. Leonard was em-
ployed in Southwick's printing office
Thurlow Weed was also a journeyman
printer there.
From Albany Mr. Leonard went in
1S1?> to New York city, where he
worked in the book printing establish-
ment of the Messrs. Wood. While
there, in April, 1814, he picked up a
piece torn from a newspaper, in which
mention was made of judge Mack"s
death. He returned at once to Owego
and assumed possession of the news-
paper establishment. Two months
afterward he changed the name of the
paper to "The Owego Gazette." Mr.
Leonard was editor and publisher of
the paper, some of the time with va-
rious business partners and the rest
of the time alone, until 1835, when he
was elected to congress, and then the
office was sold to Shurtleff & Bull.
As editor of the Gazette Mr. Leon-
ard was naturally brought into politi-
cal affairs, and he became active and
prominent, not only in local politics
but in state politics also. In 1832 and
1833 he was a member of the village
board of trustees and was supervisor
of the town of Owego in 1854 and
1856. He was elected to congress in
1835 from the district then composed
of Chemung, Cortland, Tompkins, and
Tioga counties. He was appointed
postmaster of Owego in 1816 and held
that office four years. He was again
appointed postmaster in 1844 and
215
served four years more. During presi-
dent Buchannan's administration iie
was a United States marshal. Mr.
Leonard was one of the original trus-
tees of the old Owego academy and
remained a member of the board
forty-one years and until the institu-
tion was merged in the free school
system in 1SG4.
While publishing the Gazette Mr.
Leonard was a member of the stale
militia. In 1815 he was appointed sec-
ond lieutenant of a company of the
Eighth regiment of cavalry. In 1S21
he was ai)])ointed quartermaster of
the Forty-first brigade of infantry.
When Mr. Leonard began the publi-
cation of the Gazette he at first de-
livered his papers by carrying them
on horseback to various points.
Later, while postmaster, he estab-
lished post-routes about the country
and afterward secured contracts for
carrying the mails, which mails were
delivered by post-riders, who rode on
horseback and carried them. It was
by these post-riders that Mr. Leonard
delivered his newspaper to his sub-
scribers. His routes extended to
Binghamton, Norwich, Penn Yan,
Bath, and other points. In 1S16 Mr.
Leonard also established the first
stage route from Owego to Bath, and
a few years later he established an-
other stage route from Owego to
Montrose, Pa., which he conducted
until 1823, when he sold it to a stage
company.
Mr. Leonard married Esther Hen-
rietta Sperry, daughter of Jared ana
Esther (Bostwick) Sperry, who was
born Sept. 6, 1798, at New Milford,
Conn. She was a half-sister of Wil-
216
liam, Ansou, and Xathan Camp. She
was a woman of fine education, a
graduate of Mrs. Pearces celebrated
school at Litchfield, Conn., and taught
a select school at Owego. She was
married to Mr. Leonard Feb. 22, 1816.
After his marriage Mr. Leonard
lived several years in a large house
which had been occupied as a tavern
by Ira Deforest and which stood at
the northeast corner of Front ana
Paige streets. When Arba Campbell
purchased the property he built a
brick house which stands there now.
He moved a part of the old tavern
building back and used it for the
kitchen part of his new house. There
was a large double house on the lot
between the tavern building and Mrs.
Betsy Truman's house. This house
Mr. Campbell moved back on the east
side of Paige street where it remained
until 1900, when it was torn down and
Lyman T. Stanbrough built a double
house in its place.
When Paige street was first opened
as a public street from Front to Main
street it was called Leonard street in
honor of Mr. Leonard, and it was so
called as late as 1837.
Mr. Leonard purchased the farm of
seven acres east of this village, known
as "The Locusts," now owned by
.James Archibald. There he lived un-
til 1869. In April, 1866, Lyman D.
Durphy bought sixty feet of the east
end of the lot on which Ezra S.
Sweet's house stood, on the north side
of Main street, east of Paige street,
and built a brick house thereon. This
house he sold to Mr. Leonard in ex-
change for the farm. Mr. Leonard re-
moved to the Main street house and
lived there the rest of his life. He
217
(lied May S, 1S76. Mrs. Leonard died
Aijril 5. 1879.
In an obituary notice of Mr. Leon-
ard, published at the time of his death
In the Gazette, Hiram A. Beebe, the
editor of the paper, wrote the follow-
ing just tribute to Mr. Leonard's char-
acter and worth:
'We think we may safely say that
Mr. Leonard was the oldest printer
and news])aper editor In the state, and
no person who knew him will dis-
pute the assertion that a more per-
fect gentleman never heard. Intelli-
gent and well informed upon all sub-
jects of public Interest, polite, and
agreeable in his manners, with strong
predellctlons for the right, yet never
offensive in the utterance of his views,
he was a model of courtesy and gen-
tlemanly bearing, and was very justly
held In the highest estimation by his
fellow citizens down tothe very time of
his death. . . Often honored with
high official positions, he never be-
trayed a public trust, nor, in all his
life, forfeited his claim to a most un-
iiuallfied confidence in his integrity of
character."
In the centennial history of Tioga
county Mr. Warner says of Mr. Leon-
ard:
"Mr. Leonard was held in high esti-
mation by his associates in congress,
and even his political opponents, after
the strife and turmoil of the campaign
were over, bore testimony to his
worth and integrity. The lives and la-
bors of such men as Mr. Leonard are
those elements which make the choic-
est treasure of our county. Their in-
fluence remains and is felt long after
the lives themselves are ended. A
century hence the name of Mr. Leon-
ard will be recalled as that of a man
who helped to educate and elevate
the peoi)le of his day and give wise di-
rection to the public affairs of county,
state, and nation."
The children of Stephen B. and
21 S
Esther Henrietta (Spen-y) Leonard
were as follows:
1. William Boardman Leonard,
born 17 June, 1820, at Owego. Mar-
ried Louisa D. Bulkley, of Southport,
Conn., 6 July, 1847. He died 2 July,
1893, at Owego, and she 11 March,
1900, in Brooklyn.
2. Hermon Camp Leonard, born 31
Jan., 1823, at Owego.
3. George Stephen Leonard, born
9 April, 1827, at Owego. Married
Harriet A. Leach, daughter of Caleb
Leach, Jr., 15 Ai)ril, 18.56. She died
at Owego 1 Jan., 1874, and he 20
March, 1907.
4. Henrietta Leonard, born 20 May,
1830, at Owego. Married Oliver Bulk-
ley 28 June, 1854.
5. Emily Caroline Leonard, born
28 Sept., 1832, at Owego.
6. Washington Irving Leonard,
born 12 March, 1835, at Owego. Died
at Owego 17 May, 1874.
7. Laura Ann Leonard, born 23
April, 1839, at Owego.
Wiliam B. Leonard was from the
age of 16 to 21 years a clerk in Her-
mon Camp's store at Trumansburg
and afterward a clerk in the state
comptroller's office at Albany. Thence
he went to New York city, where after
some experience as a salesman he en-
gaged in the dry goods business, which
he conducted with various partners
for many years and until 1869, when
he established a banking house, which
he conducted until 1881, when he re-
tired from active business. He was
afterward president of the Kings
county bank in Brooklyn, of which he
was one of the founders. He was one
of the founders of the American sur-
ety company, president and one of the
founders of the Homoeopathic hos-
l)ital in Brooklyn, and one of the
Brooklyn bridge trustees.
219
One of Mr. Leonard's sons, Rt. Rev.
William A. Leonard, Bishop of Ohio, was
rector of the Church of the Redeemer
in Brooklyn nine years until 1881,
when he accei>ted the rectorate of St.
John's Episcopal church at Washing-
ton. He has been Bishop of Ohio
since 1891.
George S. Leonard lived all his life
in Owego. He was engaged several
years in the clothing business and
later in the insurance business. He
held various local offices, among
which were town auditor and excise
commissioner.
Hermon C. Leonard went early in
life to Portland, Oregon, where he be-
came eminently successful in business
and where he still lives, one of the
citv's most iirominent citizens.
220
JONATHAN PLATT.
The first man named Piatt who
came to America was Richard Piatt,
who came from Bovingden, a village
near Hertford, England, and settled in
1638 at New Haven, Conn., where he
became the owner of 85 acres of land
in and around the city. His second
son, Isaac Piatt, settled at Huntington,
L. I. Benoni Piatt, a grandson of
Isaac Piatt, settled at North Castle.
Westchester county, N. Y., as early as
1730. He was the father of Capt. Jon-
athan Piatt, who came to the town of
Nichols in 1793.
There were three Jonathan Platts.
The first was Captain Jonathan Piatt,
who lived near Bedford, Westchester
county, on a farm on the east side of
Byrum's lake, which farm is now
owned by Richard Harding Davis, the
author. He was a member from West-
chester county of the Third provincial
congress, in 1776, and of the Fourth
provincial congress the same year,,
and was one of the distinguished pa-
triots who constituted the committee
of safety at White Plains in 1776.
In 1779 he was a captain in the
Fourth New York regiment of infantry
in Gen. James Clinton's brigade, which
met Sullivan's army at Choconut.
This regiment was commanded by
lieutenant-colonel Frederick Weissen-
fels. It was, probably, the knowledge
of the country obtained in this march
down the Susquehanna valley through
Owego that induced him to settle
fourteen years later with his family
at Nichols, then known as Wappa-
senah.
The second Jonathan Piatt, who
was known as major Piatt, was born
221
at Bedford. N. Y., April 20, 1764. He
married Anna Brush. He came witli
his father to Nichols in 1793. He died
there in December, 1824, and his body
was buried in the lot on the old
Lounsberry farm, near Nichols.
The third Jonathan Piatt was only
ten years of age when his father and
grandfather came to Nichols. He af-
terward became one of the most prom-
inent business men in Owego.
The children of .lonathan and Anna
(Brush) Piatt (2) were as follows:
1. Jonathan Piatt (3), born 13 Oct..
1783, at Bedford, N. Y. Married Betsy
Goodrich, daughter of Eliakim Good-
rich. He died 16 Jan., 1857, at Owego
and she 22 Nov., 1878.
2. Mary Piatt, born 20 May. 1785.
3. Benjamin Piatt, born 5 June,
1787.
4. Edward Piatt, born 19 Aug., 1789.
5. William Piatt, born 29 Oct.,
1791, at Bedford. Died at Owego 12
Jan., 1855.
6. Brush Piatt, born 6 Aug., 1795.
7. Nehemiah Piatt, born 25 July,
1797. Died in 1851.
8. Charlotte Piatt, born 25 Jan.,
1800. Married Gurdon Hewitt 17 May,
1S21. He died 24 Dec, 1871, and she
16 Jan., 1876.
9. Benjamin Piatt, born 2 April.
1803.
10. Deborah Piatt, born 6 Aug.,
1805. Married David Turner. He
died 30 April, 1842. She married sec-
ond Dr. John H. Arnold in 1845. He
died at Owego 29 July, 1876. She died
3 Aug., 1885, at the home of her son,
Edward C. Turner, at Flint, Mich.
11. Charles Piatt, born 11 May,180S.
12. Sarah Piatt, born 9 May, 1811.
at Nichols. Married Frederick M.
Camp in 1832. Her second husband
was Hermon Camp, of' Trumansburg.
N. Y., to whom she was married 20
Sept., 1848. She died at Trumansburg
23 Jan., 1894.
Major Jonathan Piatt (2), with his
family and his parents, caiitain and
222
Mrs. Jonathan Piatt, settled on a farm
a mile above the present village of
Nichols, where he built a house which
he kept as a tavern and in which he
lived until his death in 1824. He was
sheriff of Tioga county from February,
ISIO to February, 1811. He was reap-
pointed in March, 1813, and served
until 1815.
His title of major was derived from
his service in the New York state mi-
litia. In 1797 he was commissioned
lieutenant. In 1802 he was promoted
to captain in lieutenant-colonel David
Pixley's regiment. In 1805 he was
commissioned second majorin lieuten-
ant colonel Samuel Seymour's regi-
ment, and in 1807 was promoted to
first major.
Major Piatt's son, Jonathan Piatt
{?,), was ten years of age when the
family settled at Nichols. William
Piatt was two years old. A third son,
Nehemiah Piatt, was a merchant at
Nichols and lived there all his life.
He was a prominent and prosperous
man of his town. He began the mer-
cantile business there in 1825. He was
supervisor of Nichols from 1825 to
1827 and was a state senator from
1841 to 1844. He died March 29, 1851.
Jonathan Piatt (3) came to Owego
in 1805 and entered Gen. John Lan-
ing's store as a clerk. He was after-
ward for a short time a clerk in
judge Gere's store at Ithaca. In 1810
he began a general mercantile busi-
ness on his own account in a store in
the old Laning tavern, known for
many years as the "Goodman coffee
house," on the north side of Front
street, a little east of Court street,
where he continued business until
1819. He was for a time thereafter
in company with Iiis brother-in-law,
Gen. Ansel Goodrich, and afterward, in
1823, in company with another brother-
in-law, Gurdon Hewitt. Tnis partner-
ship lasted only a year. In 1825 he
formed another partnership with still
another brother-in-law, David Turner,
which existed several years.
Mr. Turner began business in Owe-
og about the year ISIS, when he pur-
chased Charles Talcott's stock of
goods. Mr. Talcott was at that tim^
in business in one of the stores in
'Caldwell row."
Piatt & Turner became extensive
dealers in lumber and grain. They
built a double brick store, which stood
on the south side of Front stret, about
half way between Church and Lake
streets and opposite where Ah-
waga hall now is. When completed
one-half of the building was occupied
by Gurdon Hewitt and the other half
by Piatt & Turner. This was the first
brick building erected in Owego.
At the time of its construction no
other brick building had been built
in this part of the state, and doubts
were expressed by some people con-
cerning its safety when it should h-^
finished. It was looked upon as a
doubtful experiment, for it was be-
lieved that the severity of the climate
was such that the frosts would heave
it from its foundation and that there
would be danger of its tumbling down
upon its owners" heads. As time
passed along and the building con-
tinued to stand solid, all became con-
vinced of its stability, and other brick
stores were afterward built, but th-'
greater part of the stores were or
wood and they were all swe])t away
in the great fire of 1849.
224
In December, 1825, Piatt & Turner
bought of Abner Turner for $250 four
or five acres of land two miles north
of this village, on which stood a mill
and a distillery. There they built the
flouring mills known ever since as the
"red mills," together with a plaster
mill.
The firm of Piatt & Turner was
dissolved about the year 1835 and
.James Ely became Mr. Piatt's part-
ner. In that year Piatt & Ely con-
ducted an iron foundry in company
with Ephraim Leach at Leach's mills
in the town of Tioga.
Mr. Turner was a son of Abner Tur-
ner, who came from New Hampshire
in 1791 and was one of the earliest
settlers on the Owego creek, north of
this village, in the town of Tioga.
David Turner lived on the north side
of Front street, a little east of Wil-
liam street, in a white house now
owned by W. N. Richards. He died
there April 30, 1842, aged 48 years.
His widow married Dr. John H. Ar-
nold, wJio died in 1876, and after his
death she lived in the same house the
rest of her life and until a short time
bi^fore her death.
.William F. Warner says of Mr. Tur-
ner.
"Mr. Turner was a man of great
energy, but became badly crippled by
a wound, on account of which he was
for many years before his death un-
able to transact business. In the
years of his retirement from business
he became very conspicuous by rea-
son of his white complexion and gray
hair, and their contrast with the fa-
mous black horse of immense size on
which he rode daily. This horse and
his master semed to be inseparable
comiianions, and the writer cajinot
remember David Turner and his
horse as disconnected in any circum-
stance — they almost realized the
mythological Thessalian centaur."
After the fire of 1849 Mr. Piatt re-
tired permanently from the mercan-
tile business. He was one of the most
public spirited men in Owego. He
was president of the village in 1834
and one of the village trustees from
the organization of the village in 1S27
for several years. He was also for
several years president of the old
bank of Owego.
Mr. Piatt lived a few years at "Ves-
per Cliff," on the west side of the
Owego creek in the town of Tioga,
near the Main street bridge, which
property he purchased In November,
1842, of Horace Frizelle, and which he
sold, in March, 1854, to Rev. Samuel
Hanson Cox, who was pastor of the
Owego Presbyterian church in 185o
and 1856. He afterward lived at the
northeast corner of Main and Church
streets in the house which still stands
there. This house was sold in Decem-
ber, 1862, after his death, to Mrs.
Emily M. Daniels. Some time before
his death he purchased the house and
lot in west Front street where Gen.
Ansel Goodrich had lived. He tore
down the house in 1855 and built in
its place the house now owned and
occupied by Mrs. A. Chase Thompson.
Mr. Piatt lived there at the time of
his death in 1857 and his widow died
there also.
Mr. Piatt served In the state militia.
In 1815 he was appointed first lieuten-
ant of a company of the Fourth regi-
ment of artillery, in which Dr. Jede-
diah Fay was captain and Stephen B.
Leonard second lieutenant. In 1817
he was appointed quartermaster of the
226
:>M regiment of inl'antry. He resigned
from tlie service in 1822.
Jonathan Piatt married Betsy Good-
rich, daughter of Eliakim Goodrich, of
the town of Tioga, Aug. 13, 1797. He
died at Owego Jan 16, 1857, and she
Xov. 22, 1878. The children of Jona-
than and Betsy (Goodrich) Piatt were
as follows:
1. Charlotte Piatt, born 7 Aug.,
1817, at Owego. Married George Un-
derwood, a lawyer at Auburn, N. Y.
•He was a graduate of Hamilton col-
lege, was a member of assembly in
1850-52, and mayor of Auburn in 1854.
He died 25 May, 1859, and she 15 July,
1900.
2. Mary A. Piatt, born i7 Septem-
ber, 1819, at Owego. Married Henry
Morgan, of Aurora, ?, Sept., 1845. He
died 30 Jan.. 1887, and she 22 Nov.,
1893.
3. Charles Paltt, born 19 March,
1822. Married Nancy H. Ely, daugh-
ter of Col. Oliver Ely, of Binghamton,
10 May, 1848. He died IS Jmie, 1869.
She married second Frederick E.
Piatt, Charles Piatt's cousin. She died
July 16, 1902.
4. George Piatt, born 18 April, 1824,
at Owego. Died 8 Nov., 1855, at
Owego.
5. Frances Sarah Piatt, born 24
April, 1831, at Owego. She was un-
married and lived with her mother un-
til her mother's death. She afterward
lived with her sister, Mrs. Underwood,
in Auburn, where she died 10 June,
1883.
6. Caroline Elizabeth Piatt, born 6
June, 1833, at Owego. Married Silas
Condit Hay, Sept., 1858. Mr. Hay w^as
a son of Rev. Philip C. Hay, pastor of
the Presbyterian church from 1847 to
1855. He was for a few years agent
and manager of the United States ex-
press company in New York city until
January, 1867, when he engaged in the
banking business and became an ac-
tive member of the Stock Exchange.
He is now connected with the New
York insurance department.
7. Edward Jonathan Piatt, born ;i
Sept., 1838. Married Emma Antoi-
nette Ketchnm. He died at Owego 14
May, 1891.
In his centennial history of Tioga
county Wm. F. Warner writes as fol-
lows concerning Jonathan Piatt.
"He was for many years one of the
most thorougli and successful busi-
ness men of the county. A man of
great energy, he possessed a bound-
less humor, which not the vexations,
troubles, and ills of life, even when
supplemented by the weight of years,
could suppress. He was one of the
foremost men in adopting and carry-
ing forward the public improvements
of his day, and possessed a sterling
integrity of character."
Charles Piatt, the eldest son of
Jonathan Piatt, began his business ca-
reer as teller of the old Bank of Owe-
go, of which his father was the presi-
dent. In May, 1846, he and his brother.
George Piatt, formed a partnership in
the general mercantile business.
Their store was on the south side of
Front street, directly opposite Dr.
Jedediah Fay's drug store, which stood
where the village library now is in
the Ahwaga hall block. The partner-
ship was dissolved in May, 1849, and
the business was closed. Charles
Piatt was afterward cashier of the old
bank of Tioga, which was organized
in 1856. This bank was converted in-
to the National Union bank, of which
he was president at the time of his
death in 1869. Mr. Piatt was jtresi-
dent of the village of Owego in ISGM
and 1864, and treasurer of Tioga
county in 1848-1851.
Henry Morgan was a descendant of
James Morgan, who was born in 1607
in Wales.
James Morgan's son was Capt. John
22S
Morgan, born in 1645, whose son was
William Morgan, born in 1693.
William Morgan's son was Capt.
William Morgan, who was born in
1723 and married Temperance Avery,
daughter of Christopher Avery, of
Groton, Conn., who was a brother of
Samuel Avery, who came to Owego
with his family in 1803.
Capt. William Morgan's son. Col.
Christopher Morgan, was born in 1747.
Col. Morgan's son, also named Chris-
topher Morgan, was born in 1777 at
Groton, Conn., and removed in 1800 to
Aurora, N. Y., where he died in 1834.
He was a merchant and at the time of
his death had acquired one of the lar-
gest estates in western New York.
Henry Morgan, who married Mary A.
Piatt, of Owego, was his son.
WILLIAM PLATT.
Wiliam Piatt, the fourth son of Jon-
athan Piatt, was born at Bedford, N.
Y., and when his father came to
Nichols he was only two years old.
When a young man he removed to
Owego and studied law in John H.
Avery's office. He was admitted to
the bar in 1814 and began practice in
Owego that year.
Mr. Piatt married Lesbia Hinch-
man, daughter of Dr. Joseph Hinch-
nian, of Elmira, in 1814, the same
year he began his law practice here.
For a few years he was Mr. Avery's
law partner. He was for many years
agent for the tract of land known as-
Coxe's Patent. A description of this
"patent" or "manor" may be found
in "Gay's Gazetteer of Tioga County,"
published in 1888 at page 24. He was
clerk of the town of Owego in 1818
and i/ 1820 and 1824. inclusive. He
229
was also a village trustee in 1841.
These were the only public offices he
ever consented to fill.
Mr. Piatt lived in a house on the
north side of Front street, west of
Lake street, which house stood on
ground now occupied by W. L. Hos-
kins's jewelry store. In 1819 he
bought the land on the north side of
Main street, where the new graded
school building was built in 1907 and
built thereon a house which was re-
moved when the property was sold to
the village for school purposes. He
lived there at the time of his death.
Mr. Piatt's law office was at an
early day in a small building which
stood at the northeast corner of
Front and Church streets. When he
Iniilt his house in Main street he also
built an office at the southeast corner
of the lot, which office remained there
until after his death.
Mr. Piatt was an elder of the Pres-
byterian church many years and until
his death. He was a lawyer of marked
ability and a man of great worth of
character. Wm. F. Warner, in his
centennial history, says of him:
"Few men have lived of whom it
could be so justly said that 'his was
a blameless life— a man without
guile.' Mr. Piatt was occupied through
his business career as agent for the
land known as 'Coxe's Manor' or
'Coxe's Patent.' and, as in the case of
purchasers from James Pnmpelly, the
purchasers of lands in that patent
had the good fortune of dealing with
a man of kind and gentle spirit and
unflinching uprightness."
Mr. Piatt died Jan. 12, 1855, at
Owego. His wife died May 2, 1859,
also at Owego.
The children of William and Les-
230
bia (Hinchnian) Piatt were as fol-
lows:
1. William Hinchman Piatt, born
^.'■] Sept., 1815, at Owego. Married
Sarah Emily Pumpelly, daughter of
William Pumpelly, of Owego, 17 Sept.,
1839. She died in New York city 20
.Jan., 1856. He married second Mary
Elizabeth Pumpelly, daughter of
James Pumpelly, of Owego, 24 Feb.,
1S59. He died 23 Jan., 1883, at Me-
tuchen, N. J., and she also at Me-
tuchen 24 Jan.. 1S84.
2. Stella Avery Piatt, born 3 June,
1818. Married Joseph Kirkland Rugg
28 Feb.. 1839. He died 24 Jan., 1857,
at Flint, Mich. She married second
Frederick Leach, of Owego. She died
16 Aug., 1879, at Owego, and he 14
Feb., 1884, at Morrison, 111.
3. Frederick Edward Piatt, born 2
Sept.. 1819, at Owego. Married Ade-
line E. Huntington daughter of Jared
Huntington, of Owego, 4 Sept., 1821.
She died 14 Jan.. 1873 He married
second Nancy (Ely) Piatt, widow of
his cousin, Charles Piatt. He died
22 April, 1906.
4. Edward Piatt, born 26 Oct., 1821.
Died 18 March, 1823.
5. Susan Catherine Piatt, born 3
Jan., 1824. She was married to Isaac
Benedict Headley 9 Sept., 1847. He
died on St. Thomas Island in the
West Indies, 20 Jan., 1854, and she at
Owego 27 Feb.. 1851.
6. Anna Piatt, born 26 Oct., 1826.
Died June 24, 1829.
7. Emily Elizabeth Piatt, born 28
A])ril. 1829. Married Charles Phillips
Skinner, of Massilon. Ohio, 14 Oct.
1852. He died 10 June, 1882, at Owego.
Mrs. Skinner is still living in this vil-
lage.
8. Humphrey Piatt, born 8 July,
1831. Died 24 Jan., 1834.
9. Thomas Collier Piatt, born 15
July, 1833.
William H. Piatt was a graduate of
the Owego academy and from Yale
college in 1835. From 1836 to 1840 he
was engaged in the general mercan-
tile business in Owego. He removed
231
to New York city in 1840, where he
was a commission merchant. From
1875 until his death he held a clerk-
ship in the New York post office.
.Joseph K. Riigg studied law in
Joseph S. Bosworth's office at Bing-
hamton. He was a mechanic, skilled
in the art of carving wood. After hi.s
admission to the bar, in 18:34, he mar-
ried the eldest daughter of .John A.
Collier, of Binghamton. She died a
few years after their marriage. He
was appointed surrogate of Broome
county Feb. 12, 1836, and held that
office four years. He married Stella
A. Piatt in 1839. He was later cash-
ier in a bank at Massilon, Ohio,
whence he removed to Flint, Mich.,
where he practised law and lived until
his death.
Frederick E. Piatt was for many
years in the mercantile business. He
opened a general country store at
Owego in 1836 when only 17 years of
age in company with his brother,
William H. Piatt. From 1847 to 1851
he was in the commission business in
New York city, and from 1851 to 1854
he was bookkeeper in the bank at
Massilon, Ohio, of which his brother-
in-law, Joseph K. Rugg, was cashier.
From 1854 to 1865 he was in the cloth-
ing business in Owego. The rest of
his life he was engaged in banking,
and at the time of his death, in 1906.
he was cashier of the Tioga national
bank, which position he had held
forty-one years.
Isaac B. Headley was a colleg->
graduate and was most of his life en-
gaged in the banking business. He
came to Owego when 27 years of age,
and was from 1837 to 1844 principal
of the Owego academy. He died Jan.
232
20, 1854, in the island of St. Thomas,
where he was living for the benefit of
his health, aged 44 years. He was a
brother of Joel T. Headley, the his-
torian, who was also a teacher at the
Owego academy, as well as their sis-
ter, Mrs. Irene Headley.
Charles P. Skinner was born Aug.
5, 1827, at Massilon, Ohio. At an
early age he became interested with
James P. Gay, of Milan, Ohio, in a
line of transportation vessels plying
the great lakes. He came to Owego
in 1859 and engaged with Frederick
E. Piatt in the clothing business.
From 1862 to 1866 he was in partner-
ship with Thomas I. Chatfield in the
grocery business. When the extension
of the Chenango canal was built to
Owego from Binghamton he built a
portion of it by contract. Later he
engaged in railroad construction at
Portland, Oregon, in Canada, and else-
where. He was cashier of the Na-
tional Union bank of Owego and had
charge of closing its affairs in 1870.
Thomas Collier Piatt has attained
wider prominence than any other na-
tive of Owego. The history of his life
has been so fully published in the
local histories that a repetition in de-
tail here would be superfluous. When
23 years of age, in 1857, he was elect-
ed supervisor of the village of Owego.
Less than two years later he was
elected clerk of Tioga county. In
1872 he was elected to congress and
re-elected in 1874. He was a quaran-
tine commissioner in New York city
from 1880 to 18S9. He was chosen
United States senator in January,
1881, but resigned the office in the fol-
lowing May. In 1897 he was again
chosen United States senator, and
233
was re-elected in 1903 for six years.
Ill 1879 he was appointed agent for
the United States express company in
New York city, and was later made
president and general manager, which
position he still holds. As leader of
the Republican party of the state of
New York for a quarter of a century
his reputation has become national
and has extended throughout the land.
CHARLES AND PRINTICE RANSOM
Charles and Printice Ransom came
to Owego in 1830 from Tioga Centre
and began a general mercantile busi-
ness. They were grandsons of Capt.
Samuel Ransom, who was killed at
the massacre of Wyoming.
Samuel Ransom was born at Ip-
swich, England, about 1787. He came
to South Canaan, Conn., about the
year 1756, when he was nineteen
years old and married Esther Law
rence on May 6 of that year. After
his marriage he is said to have seen
service in the French war and was
in the campaign at Ticonderoga and
Crown Point in 1758 with Capt. Zebu-
Ion Butler, of Lyme, Conn. In the
summer of 1773 he sold his real estate
in Litchfield county and removed to
the Wyoming valley.
In August, 1776, he was elected cap-
tain of one of two companies ordered
to be raised in the town of Westmore-
land. He and his son, George Palmer
Ransom, with their independent com-
pany from Wyoming, joined the conti-
nental army at Morristown, N. J. The
first time he was under fire after join-
ing the army was Jan. 20, 1777, at
Millstone, N. J., and he afterward
fought in the battles of Brandywine,
234
Gerniantown, and in other engage-
ments.
In June, 1777, he resigned, in order
to return to his home and defend it
against the British and Indians who
were advancing down the valley
under Col. John Butler. In the battle
at Forty Fort when every captain of the
six companies was killed, Capt. Ran-
som's dead body was found at the
front of the line, with a musket shot
through the thigh, his head severed
from his shoulders, and his whole
body scarred with gashes. His name
heads the list of killed, engraved on
the tablet of the granite monument
erected a few years afterward in
memory of those who fell in the
battle.
Capt. Ransom's widow afterward
married Capt. James Bidlack, Sr., and
is supposed to have moved back to
.\orfolk. Conn., and to have died there.
The oldest sou of Capt. Samuel
Ransom was also named Samuel Ran-
som and was later known as major
Ransom. He was only 14 years old in
1733, when his father moved into the
Wyoming valley. Peck's history says
that he "was in the battle of Wyom-
ing, had his arm broken by a ball, and
escaped by swimming the river and
diving when the savages shot at him
from the shore." In Wright's "Ply-
mouth Sketches" it is related that in
the night of March 10, 1781, when he
was twenty-two years old, the house
was surrounded by Indians. He took
his gun and walked out in the moon-
light. An Indian fired, breaking one
of his arms. He coolly and deliber-
ately rested his gun against the house.
and with his remaining arm fired and
brought down his num. The Indians
fled, leaving their dead comrade.
About 1787 Samuel Ransom and his
brother, William, bought land on Pipe
creek at Tioga Centre. William built
a house on the west bank of the creek,
about one hundred rods from its
mouth, while Samuel settled two
miles below Pipe creek, on the bend
of the Susquehanna. He built on his
land the first tavern and the first
school house in the town of Tioga.
Major Samuel Ransom derived his
military title from his service in the
New York state militia. In 1789 he
was appointed ensign in a company of
light infantry. In 1792 he was pro-
moted to cajjtain. In 1797 the militia
of Tioga county was formed into a
brigade and he was ])romoted to first
major. He served until 1802, when he
was succeeded by PrinceAlden. Major
Ransom was drowned in the Susque-
hanna river by the upsetting of a
skiff in the summer of 1807 or 1808.
William Ransom was also known as
Major Ransom from his service in the
state militia. He was appointed an
ensign in a company of light infantry
in 1792, and in-omoted to captain in
1802. In 1808 he was promoted to
first major in Lieut.-Col. Asa Camp's
regiment. He became a large land
owner and shipper of lumber.
William Ransom was born at Ca-
naan, Conn., March 26, 1770. In 1792
he married Rachel Brooks, daughter
of James Brooks, at Tioga Centre.
He died Jan. 8, 1822, and she May 29,
1857. The children of Wiliam and
Rachel (Brooks) Ransom were as fol-
lows:
1. Ira Ransom, born 4 Dec, 1792.
at Tioga Centre. Married Sarah For-
236
man at Nichols 22 Jan., 1814 He died
at Wysox, Pa., 1 June, 1848.
2. Sybil Ransom, born 14 Aug.,
1794, at Tioga Centre. Married Henry
Light at Smithboro 1 Feb., 1816. Died
15 April, 1877, at Smithboro.
3. David Ransom, born 14 Oct.,
1796. Died 9 May, 1827, at Philadel-
phia, Pa. He was unmarried.
4. Benjamin Ransom, born 26 Sept.,
1799, at Tioga Centre. Married Lucy
Frost at Tioga Centre 7 July, 1821.
Died 18 Jan., 1830, at Tioga Centre.
5. William Ransom, born 9 April,
ISOl, at Tioga Centre. Married Ange-
line Martin at Owego 14 Sept., 1831.
He died at Tioga Centre 7 Feb.. 1883.
She died four days afterward, 11 Feb..
1883.
6. Rachel Ransom, born 23 Aug..
1803, at Tioga Centre. Married David
Wallis at Tioga Centre 23 Jan., 1823.
Died 13 Nov., 1889.
7. Charles Ransom, born 19 Sept.,
1805, at Tioga Centre. Married Hope
Maria Talcott, daughter of George
Lord Talcott, at Owego 2 Oct., 1832.
He died 12 Aug., 1860, at Tioga Cen-
tre, and she 1 May 1863.
8. Printice Ransom, born 17 Sept.,
1807, at Tioga Centre. Married Fanny
Thurston, daughter of David Thurs-
ton, at Owego 19 Oct., 1830. He died
15 Oct., 1889, at Iowa City, Iowa, and
she 18 July, 1902, at Iowa City.
9. Harriet Ransom, born 15 Aug.,
1809, at Tioga Centre. Married Asa
Guildersleeve, Jackson at Tioga Cen-
tre 19 May, 1840. Died 4 June, 1847,
at Tioga Centre.
10. Charlotte Ransom,born 13 April.
1811, at Tioga Centre. Died 26 June,
1811.
11. Mary Johnson Ransom, born 24
Nov.. 1812, at Tioga Centre. Married
Gilbert Strang at Tioga Centre 29
Jan., 1833. Died 9 June. 1872, at
Tioga Centre.
When Charles and Printice Ransom
began business in Owego in May,
1830 they were aged respectively 24
and 22 years. Having formed a part-
nership with William A. Ely under
237
the firm name of Ely & Ransoms they
contmued the general mercantile bus-
iness that had been established by
James, Daniel, and Wm. A. Ely in a
store on the south side of Front street
below Lake street. Charles Ransom
did not remain long in the firm but
withdrew in June, 1830, and the name
of the firm was changed to Ely & Ran-
som. This firm was dissolved April 1,
1833, Charles Ransom having pur-
chased Mr. Ely's interest. C. & P.
Ransom continued the business in the
same store. Later they removed to
the west side of Lake street into a
wooden store which stood opposite
where the Owego national bank now
is. After the fire of 1849, in which
their store was burned, they built the
brick store on the south side of Front
street now occupied by Buckbee,
Peterson. Wood & Co., and into which
they moved in January, 1851. On the
30th of the following September
Charles Ransom who had lived both
at Tioga Centre and Owego while in
business here, retired from the mer-
cantile business altogether and spent
the remainder of his life at Tioga
Centre, where he died nine years
later.
Upon the dissolution of the firm of
C. & P. Ransom, Printice Ransom and
his brother-in-law. Col. James S.
Thurston, formed a partnership and
continued the business under the firm
name of P. Ransom & Co., until Dec.
9, 1856.
In November. 1857, Mr. Ransom re-
moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where his
son Charles T. Ransom, was practis-
ing law. About ten years later he re-
turned east and engaged in the dry
goods business in Binghamton, but in
238
March, 1S71, he disposed of his stock
of goods and returned to Iowa City,
where he lived the rest of his life.
Mr. Ransom held but one public
office. He was elected sheriff of Tioga
county in 1837 and served three years.
He was one of the organizers of the
Owego gas companny in 1856.
The children of Charles and Hope
M. (Talcott) Ransom were as fol-
lows:
1. George E. Ransom, born 1!)
Sept., 1833, at Owego. Died 12 .Jan.,
1835.
2. Charles Edmund Ransom, born
7 Dec, 1835, at Tioga Centre. Mar-
ried Georgiana Anderson at Port De-
posit, Md., 21 Oct., 1862. He died 30
April, 1877, at Tioga Centre.
3. William Ransom, born 3 July,
1839 died 18 Nov., 1841.
The children of Printice and Fanny
(Thurston) Ransom were as follows:
1. Charles Talcott Ransom, born
27 Sept., 1831, at Owego. Married
Fanny Sarah Bacon, daughter of
George Bacon, at Owego 23 June,
1859. He died 5 April, 1888, at Iowa
City, Iowa, and she 8 Jan., 1897, at
Washington, D. C.
2. Chester Printice Ransom, born
31 Aug., 1833, at Owego. Died 2 Feb.,
1842.
3. Fanny Clarissa Ransom, born
8 April 1837, at Owego. Married
James B. Edmonds 6 Dec, 1859, at
Iowa City, Iowa. She died 9 Jan.,
1864, at Iowa City, and he Dec. 29,
1900, at Washington, D. C.
4. Elizabeth Rachel Ransom, born
26 Sei)t., 1841, at Owego. Married
Thomas Fanning Goodrich at Iowa
City, Iowa, 16 Dec, 1861. He died 8
Nov., 1904, at Owego.
5. Mary Neal Ransom, born 30
Nov., 1845, at Owego. Married Hel-
muth George Wullweber 30 May, 1877.
at Iowa City, Iowa. He died 4 May,
1879, at Dubuque, Iowa.
239
ASA H., LYMAN. AND AAROxN
TRUMAN.
The first member of the Truman
family who came to America was
Joseph Truman, who was born in
Nottinghamshire, England. The first
record of him is at New London,
Conn,, where in 1666 he was a tanner,
conducting two tanneries. He died
there in 1697. His eldest son, also
named Joseph Truman, was also a
tanner. He had two sons, Shem (born
in 1760) and David. Capt. Shem Tru-
man was the father of Asa H., Lyman,
and Aaron Truman, who settled in the
town of Owego.
Capt. Shem Truman was born about
1760 at Sheffield, Mass. He saw some
military service both in Massachu-
setts and New York. He enlisted in
the continental army Aug. 20, 1777,
for nine months, while living in
Massachusetts. He married Abigail
Spellman of Sheffield. They removed
to Canaan, Conn., where she died in
1785. They had three children as fol-
lows:
1. Levi Truman. He died young.
2. Lyman Truman, born in 1783, in
Berkshire county, Mass. Married Lucy
Barlow, of Candor, in 1809. He died
2 Nov., 1822, in Candor.
3. Aaron Truman, born 27 July,
1785, at Granville, Mass. Married Ex-
perience Park, daughter of Capt.
Thomas Park, in 1805. He died 13
Jan., 1823, and she 16 May, 1844, at
Owego.
The same year in which his wife
died Capt. Shem Truman came with
his sons to Jefferson county in New
York state, where he married Sarah
(Barto) Rose and where he lived sev-
eral years. He removed afterward
to Genesee, N. Y., and thence to the
240
town of Sparta, Livingston county,
where his second wife died. His third
wife was Lucy Remington. She died
in October, 1831.
While living in northern New York
he enlisted in the light infantry, and
in 1797 was promoted to lieutenant.
In 1802 he was promoted to captain.
He resigned his commission in 1804.
The children of Shem and Lucy
(Remington) Ti'uman were as fol-
lows:
1. Asa H. Truman, born 26 Feb.,
1793, at Sparta. Married Betsy S.
Dean 1 Jan., 1815. He died 6 Feb.,
1848, at Owego and she 21 June, 1882.
2. Lucy Truman, born at Sparta.
Married Henry Williams, of Newark
Valley. She died 25 Feb., 1829.
3. Ann Truman, born at Sparta.
Married Charles Kellogg. He removed
to Yazoo, 111.
4. Lovisa Truman, born in 1802.
Married Ebenezer Porter.
5. David Truman, born 17 May,
1799. Married Phebe M. Pryne 18
Oct., 1832. He died 18 Dec. 1844.
6. Lydia Truman. Married
Scott, of Sparta.
Lyman and Aaron Truman and their
half-brother, Asa H. Truman, all set-
tled at Park settlement, in the town
of Candor — Aaron in 1804, Lyman in
1806, and Asa H. in 1810.
Asa H. Truman, the youngest of the
three, who was 17 years old when he
came to Park settlement, taught
school there for a time. From 1816 to
1825 he kept a store and tavern at
Flemingville. The building stood there
until March, 1885, when it was burned.
There were two taverns at Fleming-
ville for several years and this one
was known as the "lower tavern." In
1825 he came to Owego and began a
general mercantile business in a
wooden store which stood on the
241
south side of Front street, nearly op-
posite I^ake street on tlie ground
where Henry Ripley's boot and shoe
store now stands. About the year
1840 he took into partnership one of
his sons. Edward D. Truman, and his
nephew, Stephen S. Truman. The
firm was known as A. H. Truman &
Co. The partnership existed until
\Ir. Truman's death, in 1848.
Asa H. Truman lived at the time of
his death in a house which stood on
the north side of Front street, the
third house east of Paige street. Af-
ter his death his widow lived there
until she died, in 1882. After her
death the property was purchased by
Mrs. J. B. Stanbrough. The house was
torn down and the lot on which it
stood was added to Mrs. Stanbrough's
grounds.
The children of Asa H. and Betsy
(Dean) Truman were as follows:
1. .Juliett Truman, born 29 Oct.,
1815. Married John C. Laning 15 July,
1839. He died 18 May, 1897, at Owego,
and she 7 April, 1900.
2. Lucius Truman, born 2 April.
1818, at Flemingville. Married Mary
P. Leach, daughter of Caleb Leach,
Jr., 11 Aug., 1840. She died at Owego
in July, 1862. He married second
Mary D. Doumaux, of Charleston, in
1873. He died 26 May, 1890. at Wells-
boro, Pa.
3. Edward D. Truman, born 19
May, 1820, at Owego. Married Eleanor
M. Soule 10 Nov., 1843. He died 6
.Tune, 1862, at Dixon, 111.
4. Aaron Truman, bom 29 Jan.,
1823. Died 14 Oct., 1825.
5. Charles L. Truman, born 24
March, 1825, at Owego. Married Anna
Thurston Dexter, daughter of Stephen
Dexter, of Exeter, R. I., at Owego 12
July, 1849. He died Sept. 20, 1863.
6. Laura H. Truman, born 4 Sept.,
1829. Died 5 Jan., 1832.
242
7. Aaron Truman, born in 1827
Died 14 Oct., 1830.
8. William H . Truman, born 2
March, 1842, at Owego. Married Mary
Palmer. She died 13 Jan., 1873. He
married second Sarah Wild, of New
York city, 21 March, 1877. He died 5
Sept., 1895, in New York.
Lucius Truman was seven years old
when his father removed from Flem-
ingville to Owego. After leaving the
Owego academy he entered into the
grocery business with his father in
Rollin block. In 1840, the year of
his first marriage, he formed a part-
nership in the general mercantile bus-
iness with William P. Stone, who had
been a clerk in Asa H. Truman's
store, under the firm name of Truman
& Stone. Their store occupied the
ground on the south side of Front
street where Frank M. Baker & Son's
hardware store is now and was known
as the "Empire Store." Charles L.
Truman was afterward received into
the partnership and the firm of Tru-
man, Stone & Co. continued the busi-
ness until 1851, when it was dissolved.
Lucius Truman removed to Wellsboro,
Pa., where he engaged in lumbering
in company with John R. Bowen.
When the civil war broke out he en-
listed and was mustered into the ser-
vice as first lieutenant of Co. E of the
First rifles (old Bucktails) on May 15,
1861. Four years afterward, July 28,
1865, he was mustered out as quarter-
master of the 109th regiment of Penn-
sylvania infantry. Then he resumed
the lumber business. In 1883 he was
appointed a United States deputy col-
lector of internal revenue, and in 1887
he was elected county auditor. He
died at Wellsboro May 26, 1890. Lu-
cius Truman built the house on the
243
south side of Main street, midway be-
twen Paige and Ross streets. Tlie
house was afterward for many years
owned and occupied by S. S. Truman
and later by Chas. C. Thomas, and is
now owned by .James J. Wallter.
Edward D. Truman, who was five
years old when the family removed to
this village, was a clerk afterward in
his father's store. About the year
1840 Asa H. Truman took Edward U.
Truman and his nephew, Stephen S.
Truman into partnership in the gen-
eral mercantile business, which part-
nershi]) continued until the senior
Truman's death in February, 1S48.
Then E. D. & S. S. Truman continued
the business until their store was
burned in the fire of 1849. They re-
sumed business after the fire in a
wooden building which stood on the
west side of North avenue. The front
of this store was painted in diamonds
of different bright colors and the store
was called the "Diamond Store."
When a brick store was built on the
ruins of the Front street store the
new store also had a diamond front,
similar to that of the North avenue
store. E. D. & S. S. Truman occupied
the new store until February, 1855.
when a new firm composed of E. D.
Truman, Gurdon G. Manning, and C.
E. Schoonmaker was formed under
the firm name of E. D. Truman & Co.
The name was changed later to Tru-
man, Manning & Co. In 1857 E. D.
Truman sold his interest in the busi-
ness to his partners and removed to
Dixon, 111., where he died June 6, 1862.
Charles L. Truman entered the vol-
unteer service of the United States as
a first lieutenant in the 18th regiment
of infantry March 6, 1862. He was
244
brevetted captain Sept. 19, 1863, for
gallant and meritorious service in the'
battle of Chickamauga. He was killed
in battle Sept. 20, 1863.
William H. Truman, who was only
six years old when his father died, was
employed for several years by the
United States express company. For
several years previous to his death,
in 1895, he had been collector of sta-
tistics of domestic receipts at the
Produce Exchange in New York city.
AARON TRUMAN.
When Aaron Truman came in 1804
from the town of Sparta to Owego he
came to teach school. The next year
he married Capt. Thos. Park's daugh-
ter. Their children were as follows:
1. Lyman Park Truman, born 2
March, 1806, at Park settlement. Mar-
ried Emily M. Goodrich, daughter of
Aner Goodrich, of Goodrich settle-
ment, 10 Jan.. 1838. He died 24
March, 1881, at Owego, and she 9
April, 1896.
2. Charles E. Truman, born 11
Nov., 1807. Married Harriet Webster
26 May. 1836. He died 21 July, 1897,
at Flemingville, and she 21 Oct., 1887.
3. Dorinda M. Truman, born 24
Feb., 1809. Married John Gorman 7
Sept., 1841. He was captain of Co.
C, 109th regiment, N. Y. Vols., in the
civil war and was killed in the battle
of Cold Harbor, Va., 31 May, 1864.
She died 12 Sept., 1895, at Owego.
4. Orin Truman, born 17 Feb.,
1811. Died 30 Sept.. 1885, at Owego.
Unmarried.
5. Francis W. Truman, born 13
Dec.. 1812. Died 20 Jan., 1893. Un-
married.
6. Charlotte Truman.born 12 Sept.,
1814.. Died 20 Sept.. 1815.
7. George Truman, born 16 June.
1816, at Owego. Married Eunice A.
Goodrich, daughter of Erastus Good-
rich 19 Nov., 1842. He died 14 Feb.,
1907, at Owego, and she 6 Oct., 1897.
245
8. Fanny Truman, born 1 April,
1818. Married to David L. Goodricli
13 July, 1841. He died 3 .July, 189G.
at Owego, and she 10 Jan., 1892.
9. Mary E. Truman, born 18 June,
1820. Married to Alfred Dodge 9 Jan.,
1859. He died 13 March, 1900. and she
3 Oct., 1907.
10. Adeline Truman, born 17 June,
1822. Died 13 Feb., 1823,
LYMAN PARK TRUMAN.
When Aaron Truman died, in 1823.
his eldest son, Lyman P. Truman, was
17 years of age, Aaron Truman's farm
of sixty acres was so encumbered as
to almost preclude any possibility of
retaining it. With the remarkable
energy which characterised him
through life Lyman P. Truman set
himself resolutely at work and
through hard labor and the greatest
economy he finally liquidated every
claim against the farm. He confined
his attention almost exclusively to
raising potatoes which he shipped
down the river in arks, and it was
from this i)roduct that he realized,
during his management of the farm,
a sum sufficient to pay all debts and
leave a handsome balance with which
to begin a mercantile business.
In 1830 he came to Owego and en-
tered the general country store of his
uncle, Asa H. Truman, as a clerk, to
leara the mercantile business. Three
years later he formed a partnership
with John M. Greenleaf and began a
general mercantile business in a store
which stood on the east side of Lake
street on ground now occupied by the
Owego national bank building. This
partnership continued three years.
Having established himself secure-
ly in business here he brought three of
his brothers, Orin, Francis, and George
246
Truman, to Owego and in May, 1837,
established the firm of L. Truman &
Brothers, which existed nearly thirty
years. The brothers conducted an ex-
tensive mercantile and lumber busi-
ness. In 1839 Lyman P. Truman pur-
chased the ground on the south side
of Front street where Wicks &
Leahy's shoe store now stands, the
third store west of Lake street, where
he built a wooden store, into which
the firm removed its stock of goods
from Lake street. When the store
was burned in the fire of 1849 it was
immediately replaced with the pres-
ent brick store, where the brothers
continued the mercantile business un-
til 1865. In 1852 Lyman Truman and
Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., made large in-
vestments in lands in the state of
Illinois, from the sale of which they
made a large amount of money.
Mr. Truman was active in public
life. He held various town offices —
constable, commissioner of highways,
etc., and was supervisor in 1849 and
1857. He was a village trustee in
1835. In 1857 he was elected state
senator and was re-elected in 1859
and 1861.
After the great fire of 1849, which
swept away all the stores in Front
and Lake streets, there was a great
depression in the business commun-
ity. Many of the insurance companies
failed and the loss to many property
owners was a total one. Mr. Truman
was one of the most active men in re-
building the business portion of the
village. It was largely through his
efforts that the Ahwaga house was
built. In recognition of his public
spirit and enterprise a dinner was
given in his honor at that hotel in the
247
evening of July 6, 1852, at which
many of the prominent citizens and
their wives were present, on which
occasion a silver pitcher was pre-
sented to him. Mr. Truman was pres-
ident of the old bank of Owego and of
its successor, the First national bank
of Owego from 1856 until his death.
While his brothers went into mer-
cantile life in Owego, Charles E. Tru-
nina remained on the farm all his life.
He served twenty-eight years as a jus-
tice of the peace and was also for
many years and until his death post-
master at Flemingville.
Before coming to Owego Orin Tru-
man taught school. From May, 1880,
until his death he was cashier of the
First national bank.
George Truman after the dissolu-
tion of the firm of L. Truman &
Brothers continued the mercantile
business in company with his son-in-
law, A. Chase Thompson, until January
1873, when he retired from the dry
goods trade. He succeeded his
brother, Lyman P. Truman, as presi-
dent of the First national bank in
1881 and held the position until his
death. He was a trustee of the state
hospital at Binghamton from June,
1880, to March, 1892.
LYMAN TRUMAN.
Lyman Truman was 21 years of age
when his father, Shem Truman, set-
tled at Park settlement. He married
Lucy Barlow, of Candor, in 1809. He
was a farmer all his life. He saw
some military service, as did also
nearly all the able-bodied men of his
day, having been commissioned first
lieutenant in the Sixteenth New York
248
regiment of artillery. He died Nov.
2, 1822.
The following were the children of
Lyman and Lucy (Barlow) Truman:
1. John L. Truman.
2. Levi B. Truman, born 11 Sept..
1809, in Candor, xN. Y. Married Lx)uisa
Lawrence 23 Oct., 1834. He died 21
May, 1879, and she 20 Oct., 1881.
3. James Truman.
4. Stephen S. Truman, born 28
April, 1816, in Candor. Married Cor-
delia Belknap 2 Nov., 1843. He died
25 April, 1895, at Auburn, Cal., and
she 29 June, 1902, at Salt Lake City,
Utah.
5. Sybil Truman, bom 23 Nov.,
1812, in Candor, N. Y. Married Wil-
liam P. Stone 5 Nov., 1836. He died
June 28, 1890, at Owego, and she 4
Aug., 1900.
6. Eliza Truman, born 30 April,
1818. Married Frank R. Weed, of
Flemingville, 15 Aug., 1844. She died
6 Sept., 1864. He married second Lucy
Truman, daughter of Levi B. Truman,
6 June, 1867. He died 1 April, 1882.
7. Benjamin L. Truman, bom 23
June, 1822, in Candor. Married Maria
Dean 15 Nov., 1852. She died 30 May,
1882. He married second Susan So-
phronia Long 28 Feb., 1884. He is the
only survivor of the family and is
still living at Owego.
Stephen S. Truman, William P.
Stone, and Benjamin L. Truman were
all Owego merchants. Stephen S.
Truman left his father's farm in 1837,
the year following the setting off of
Chemung county from Tioga, and
worked in the Tioga county clerk's
office copying the records of lands
lying in Chemung county for use in
that county, in company with Wm. P.
Stone, Dr. John Frank, and others.
He was afterward a clerk in Henry
Camp's store, and later in Gen. John
Laning's store. In 1840 he went into
partnershij) with his uncle. Asa H.
Truman and Asa's son, Edward D.
249
Truman, in the mercantile business.
Particulars of this partnership have
already been given in these articles.
In February, 1855, he retired from
the firm and opened a dry goods and
grocery store in T. P. Patch's block,
which stood on the west side of Lake
street on the ground now occupied by
the L. N. Chamberlain block.
William P. Stone was born at Still-
water, Saratoga county, N. Y., June
26, 1810. In 1817 his father, Luther
Stone, came to Tioga county with his
wife and seven children and lived in a
log house on Colonel David Fleming's
farm at Flemingville. In 1823 they
settled on a farm at Park settlement.
In 1830 he left the farm to travel
about the country selling clocks,
which were manufactured at a factory
which stood on the east bank of the
Owego creek, about two miles north
of this village. In 1834 he began a
general mercantile business in Owego
with Sheldon Osborne in a wooden
store which stood east of the bridge
in Front street on the ground where
Truman & Jones's produce store now
stands. They were unsuccessful in the
business. In 1837, after having fin-
ished his work for about a year copy-
ing the records of Chemung county
lands in the Tioga county clerk's
office, he entered his uncle, Asa H.
Truman's, store as a clerk. In 1839
he went into the general mercantile
business in company with Lucius
Truman. The firm of Truman &
Stone occupied a store which stood on
the south side of Front street on the
ground where Frank M. Baker &
Son's hardware store now stands.
Their store was known as "The Em-
l)ire Store." Charles L. Truman was
250
afterward received into the partuer-
sliip. Later Mr. Stone purchased his
partner's interest in the business
which he transferred to his nephew,
Ezra S. Buckbee. The firm of Stone
& Co. was subsequently composed of
Messrs. Stone, Buckbee, Stephen S.
Truman, and Benjamin L. Truman
and occupied the block of two stores
opposite Ahwaga hall, then known as
the Empire block. When the block
was burned in March, 1860, the firm
occupied the store now occupied by
Buckbee, Peterson, Wood & Co. The
Trumans had withdrawn from the
firm Feb. 1, 1860, and Stone & Buck-
bee continued in business until 1874
when Mr. Stone sold his interest in
the store and retired from active
business.
Upon their withdrawal from the
firm of Stone & Co., S. S. and B. I..
Truman formed a new partnership
and began the mercantile business in
the store now occupied by Henry C.
Ripley as a shoe store. In 1868 B. L.
Truman retired from the firm and S.
S. Truman and his son, John B. Tru-
man, continued in the business three
years. In 1876 S. S. Truman removed
to Nevada and thence in 1880 to
Auburn, Cal., where he died April 25,
1895.
Benjamin L. Truman in March,
1855, formed a partnership in the dry
goods business with Gurdon G. Man-
ning, who had been a clerk in Stone
& Co.'s store, and C. E. Schoonmaker,
who had been a clerk in E. D. & S. S.
Truman's store, and E. D. Truman
under the firm name of E. D. Truman
& Co. Three years later this partner-
ship was dissolved. From 1878 to
251
1900 he conducted a grocery business
in Front street.
DR. GODFREY WALDO.
One of the early physicians at Owe-
go was Dr. Godfrey Waldo, who came
here from Plymouth, N. H., in the
summer of 1810, and who lived here
29 years. He was a descendant of
Cornelius Waldo, who came from the
Netherlands to America in 1634 and
settled at Chelmsford, Mass. His
father was Daniel Waldo, who was
born in 1737 and died in 1792, and who
was a man of no particular account,
an itinerant, living in various places.
Dr. Godfrey Waldo was born June
10, 1773, at Pomfret, Conn. He married
Elizabeth Carpenter .Jan. 3, 1805. She
was born May 6, 1783, at Portsmouth,
N. H. They removed to Owego five
years after their marriage. They lived
in the little red house which stood at
the northeast corner of Front and
Church streets. The house was oc-
cupied several years afterward by
Luther Johnson, an eccentric negro
barber and fiddler, as a barber shop.
Dr. Waldo did not practise medicine
much, but was engaged in other busi-
ness the nature of which is not known
now. He was unsuccessful and was
advertised as an insolvent debtor in
October, 1811, and again in March,
1826. In 1839 he removed to Birming-
ham, Mich., where one of his sons,
Charles C. Waldo, had settled. Thence
he removed in ISir, to Pontiac. Mich.,
where he died Sept. 16. 1848. Mrs.
Waldo was 93 years of age at the time
of her death at Holly, Mich., March
18. 1877. Dr. and Mrs. Waldo were
the parents of thirteen children, the
ottlv survivors of whom at the time of
252
her death was a son, C. C. Waldo, and
a daughter living in Nebraska.
JOHN CARMICHAEL.
One of the first men to engage in
the jewelry business in Owego was
John Carmichael, who was of Scotch
descent, and was born Aug. 12, 1795,
at Johnstown, N. Y. He began an ap-
lirenticeship at the trade of a watch-
maker at Albany when he was sixteen
years of age. He came to Owego in
October, 1819 and opened a jewelry
store and repair shop in one of the
wooden stores in Caldwell row in
Front street. In 1835 he built a store
on the ground where the Tioga na-
tional bank now stands, where he con-
ducted a successful jewelry business
until his store was burned in the Sep-
tember, 1849, fire. As he was in poor
health at this time he did not resume
business.
Mr. Carmichael was lame many
years previous to his death and was
compelled to walk with a crutch. He
was the first collector of taxes of
Owego from the time of its incorpora-
tion as a village in 1827 until 1834, in-
clusive. He was also for several
years a village assessor, and was
treasurer of Tioga county in 1837.
Mr. Carmichael's first wife was
Maria Mack, daughter of judge
Stephen Mack, whom he married Dec.
25, 1824. She died Sept. 22, 1829. He
married second Harriet Ely, daughter
of Dr. Elisha Ely, June 10, 1835. She
was born Sept. 11, 1794, at Saybrook,
Conn., and died Sept. 1, 1881, at
Owego. Mr. Carmichael died April
24, 1878, at Owego.
The children of John and Maria J.
(Mack) Carmichael were as follows:
253
1. Charles Ste])hen Carmichael,
born 22 Jan., 1826, at Owego. Married
Margaret Caraj), daughter of Adolphus
Camp, 23 Sept.. 1863. He died 12
June, 189;;, at Owego, and she 15 Nov..
1907, at Binghamton.
2. Horace Mack Carniichael, boru
S Feb., 1829. at Owego. Died 24 Sept.,
1866. He was immarried.
Both Charles and Horace Car-
michael learned the watchmaktr".-.
trade in their father's shop and after
the fire of 1849 continued the business
in a wooden store which their father
built on the west side of Lake street,
the fourth store north of Front street.
They sold the business in the fall of
1852 to Horatio N. Greene. In Nov.,
1854, Mr. Greene sold the business to
the Carmichael brothers and reniovi d
to Mansfield. Ohio. C. S. &H. M. Car-
michael continued the business sev-
eral years. In April, 1864, C. S. Car-
michael purchased a spoke, sash, and
blind manufactory in Adaline street,
which he conducted six year.s. In
1876 he built on the site of his jewelry
store the three-story brick block now
occupied by A. W. Bunzey and Cuneo
&- Bonugli.
JOHN R1PI>EY.
John Ripley was born March 17,
1792, at Coventry, Tolland county.
Conn. He was, probably, the descend-
ant of William Ripley, who came to
Hingham, Mass., in 1683 from England
with his wife, two sons, and two
daughters. Many of the descendants
of William Ripley settled in Tolland
county.
After coming to Owego .lohn Ripley
was a clerk in Charles Pumpelly's
store. From 1823 to 1832 he wa-
under-sheriff of Tioga county and
lived in the old court house, which
254
stood at the southeast corner of Main
and Park streets. He was the first oc-
cupant of the building. The second
story of this building was the court
room, in which gospel services were
held on Sunday and performances
sometimes given in the evening of
other days in the week, when court
was not in session. On the lower
floor was the jail, the jailor's living
rooms, the sheriff's office, and two jury
rooms. Mr. Ripley's son and one of
his daughters were born in this build-
ing.
Mr. Ripley was a man of great force
of character, detei'mined, and one who
carried out any undertaking fearlessly
and regardless of any consequences to
himself. It is related that at one time
while deputy sheriff he pursued a
criminal into Canada in the winter
and without going through the formal-
ity of obtaining extradition papers,
seized the fellow by main force, loaded
him into his cutter, and drove back
into this state and eventually lodged
his prisoner in Owego jail.
Mr. Ripley held the offices of con-
stable, town collector, and assessor.
He was elected a justice of the peace
in 1853 and held the office by re-
election until his death, with the ex-
ception of one year (1858.)
After leaving the court house he
lived in a small red house owned by
Charles Pumpelly, which stood on the
south side of Main street close to the
sidewalk at the northeast comer of
the lot on which Charles P. Storrs's
residence stands, near the foot of
Spencer avenue. There he lived at
the time of his death, Jan. 2, 1860.
Mr. Ripley married Diana Westfall,
of Warren Pa., Feb. 4, 1817. She was
255
born in Orange county, N. Y., May 23.
1796, and died at Owego Dec. 29, 18GS.
The children of John and Diana
(Westfall) Ripley were as follows:
1. Eliza Smith Ripley, born 24
April, 181S, at Owego. Married Bben-
ezer Woodbridge, of Candor, 20 Sept.,
1840. He died in 1896 at Lee Centre,
111. Mrs. Woodbridge is still living at
Dixon, 111.
2. Sarah Pierce Ripley, born 11
Sept., 1820, at Owego. Died 15 .June,
1894, at Owego.
3. Charles Pomeroy Ripley, born
28 Dec, 1823, at Owego. Married
Sarah Merrick in Kentucky in 1849.
He died 31 Dec, 1863, at Sterling, 111.,
and she 27 Nov., 1907.
4. Frances Clarissa Ripley, born 23
Aug., 1827, at Owego. Married Ezra
S. Buckbee 16 Oct., 1849. at Owego.
He died 10 Aug., 1883. Mrs. Buckbee
is still living in Owego.
EZRA S. SWEET.
Ezra Smith Sweet, for many years
a prominent member of the bar of
Tioga county, came to Owego in 1825.
He was a grandson of Silas Sweet,
vvho was born in 1745 and who lived
at New Bedford, Mass., where h^-
worked as a blacksmith, forging an-
chors for whaling and other vessels,
from 1770 to 1800, when he removed
to Bradford, Vt., where he purchased
a farm and where he lived the rest of
his life. He was a soldier in Captain
Thomas Sawyer's company of Ver-
mont militia, raised for the defence
of the northern frontier of the United
States. He entered the service June
20, 1779, and was discharged Aug. 20.
1779. He died at Bradford, Vt, Nov.
25, 1822.
Silas Sweet had four children, one
of whom, Paul Sweet, was the father
of Ezra S. Sweet. Paul Sweet was
born at New Bedford April 1, 1775.
256
He was a merchant and held the office
of justice of the peace. His first wife
was Rebecca Chadwick, whom he mar-
ried Sept. 11, 1794, and his second
wife was Sarah Ford. Paul and Re-
becca (Chadwick) Sweet were the pa-
rents of seven children, of whom Ezra.
S. Sweet was the oldest.
Ezra S- Sweei was bom, June 3„
1796, at New Bedford. His parents re-
moved to Bradford, Vt., where his
father died April 27, 181 r>, when Ezra
S. Sweet was nearly 19 years old.
Ezra S. Sweet was a school teacher a
few years. In 1819 he married Janet
McLaren Clow, daughter of Peter
Clow, at Schagticoke, X. Y., and soou
afterward removed to Salem, N. Y.,
where he studied law.
fn December, 182.5, after his admis-
sion to the bar, he came to Owego.
He began law practice here in part-
nership with William Piatt. In 1832,
his business connection with Mr.
Piatt having been dissolved, he formed
a law partnership with Col. Nathaniel
\V. i:)avis, which existed about nine
years. He afterward practised law
alone until his eldest son, Charles H.
Sweet,was admitted to the bar in July,
LS.'JO. The partnership of the father
and son continued until tne breaking
out of the civil war, when Chas. H.
Sweet enlisted in the federal service.
Ezra S. Sweet continued the practice
of law until his death, Oct. 16, 1869.
Mr. Sweet was a leading member of
the old Whig party and was active in
political affairs. He was the first
clerk of the board of village trustees
from its organization in 1827 until
1832. He was district attorney of
Tioga county from July, 1838, to June,
1841, and from 1847 to 1851. He was
257
a member of assembly in 1849. He
was later nominated to congress by
the Whigs and defeated. He was
twice nominated for county judge and
in each instance defeated, first by the
Whigs, in 1851, and second by the
Democrats in 1863. He held the office
of justice of the peace several years.
Esquire Sweet (as he was generally
known) was noted among the lawyers
for many years as the best after-din-
ner speaker and stump orator
in Owego. For a long and sus-
tained effort he was not re-
markable, but for a short speech,
pithy, eloquent sententious, and some-
times sarcastic, such as he was often
called upon to make at a public rece])-
tion, a political gathering, or a ban-
quet, his sparkling wit and bril-
liant phrases charmed his hearers.
William F. Warner, who knew him
well as a fellow member of the bar,
mentions him in his centennial his-
tory, as follows:
"He possessed many fine qualitie.s
as a jury lawyer. He was brilliant,
witty, sarcastic, and full of anecdote.
Jurymen were not apt to dose, nor
even become inattentive, while Ezra
Sweet claimed attention. Like judge
Strong, he had as a lawyer more suc-
cess with a jury than at the bar. As a
political speaker he was very popular
for many years."
The children of Ezra S. and .Janet
(Clow) Sweet were as follows:
1. Maria Sweet, born Nov., 1820.
Died Aug., 1821.
2. Maria Louise Sweet, born '>
March, 1822, at Salem, N. Y. Married
Ben. .Johnson 31 Oct., 1843. He died
19 Aug., 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss. She
married second Gen. Henry Martyn
Whittelsey 12 July, 1866. He died 8
Aug., 1873, at Washington and she
also at Washington 14 April, 1878.
25S
o. Charles Henry Sweet, bom 1<?
Feb., 1S2G, in Saratoga count.y, N. Y.
He married first Rosalia Laura
Barnes, daughter of Charles R..
Barnes, of Owego. She died 9 May,
1857. at Owego. He married second
Prancelia E. Hubbard, daughter of
Henry N. Hubbard, of Owego, 2!>
Sept., 1859. She is now living at Al-
bany. He died 29 Feb., 1892, at
Owego.
4. Harriet Elizabeth Sweet, born
12 Jan.. 1829. at Owego. Married Ed-
ward Hamilton Truex 9 Nov., 1853, at
Owego. She died in New York citv
17 Nov., 1893.
5. Paul Sweet, born 1 May, 1831, at
Owego. He was a civil engineeer. He
died in Texas 17 May, 1881.
6. Alary Delphine Sweet, born :)()■
Jan., 1841. at Owego. Married Linus
Edwin Post, of Owego, S Feb., 1871.
Ben. Johnson was a son of Haynes
Johnson and was bom at Enfield, New
Hampshire, March 25, 1809, and was
reared from the age of nine years in
the family of his uncle, also named
Ben Johnson, a prominent lawyer at
Ithaca, N. Y. He was graduated from
Union college in 1830. He studied
law with his uncle at Ithaca and after
his admission to the bar lived at
Vicksburg, Miss., where he practised
law twenty years. In 1820 he sold his
residence and slaves, retired from
practice, and travelled in Europe in
1850. coming later to Owego. During
the civil war in 1862 he was employed
by the United States government in
aid of the revenue department on the
Mississippi river, and was a short
time -before his death appointed post-
master at Vicksburg by president Lin-
coln. He died at Vicksburg Aug. 19.
1863.
Gen. Henry M. Whittlesey was born
Aug. 12, 1821. He was a son of Rev.
Samuel Whittelsey, of New Preston,
259
€oini., who in ISIT took charge of the
deaf and dumb asylum at Hartford.
Conn. Later he and his wife con-
ducted large seminaries at Utica and
Canandaigua, X- Y. Gen. Whittelsy
was educated at Yale college and was
admitted to the bar in 184o. He re-
moved to Detroit.Mich.jn 1851. He en-
tered the volunteer military service of
tlie United States as a captain in the
civil war and rose to be chief quart' r-
master of the army of Georgia with
the rank of colonel in August, 1865.
He was chief quartermaster of the de-
partment of Mississippi in September,
1866, and was mustered out with the
rank of brigadier general by In-ever
.Tuly 17, 1869. He was appointtd
colli ptroller of the city of Washington
in 1870. He died at St. Elizabeth ho.-
pital, near Washington, April 14. 1S7S,
Charles H. Sweet was admitted to
the bar of Tioga county Feb. 10, 1S.')I).
He practised law in company with his
father until the breaking out of the
civil war when he enlisted and was
quartermaster's clerk under Cai)t.
Ransom of the regular army. After
his discharge from the army he con-
ducted the business of a planing mill
in Owego a few years, going later to
Elmira whei'e he was in the service of
the Erie railway company in the com-
pany's offices for more than stvintetn
years.
Edward H. Truex was a son of
David Campbell Truex, of AUjany, and
a great grandson of Isaac .Taco1» Trues.
a Huguenot, who was born at Druex,
France, and who came to America
with his parents in the ship "Anna"
in 1623. He came to Owego in 1851
and opened a drug store in the store
at the west end of the Ahwaga house
260
block. He sold the business in Octo-
ber, 1854, to Thomas C. Piatt and re-
moved to New York, where he for
many years conducted a wholesale
drug business and where he died.
NATHANIEL AND CALEB H.
SACKETT.
Two of the early settlers at Owego
and who afterward removed to the
town of Candor were Nathaniel and
Caleb H. Sackett, twin brothers, who
came here from Westchester county,
N. Y., in 1793.
They were descendants of Simon
Sackett, who sailed in the ship,
"Lyon" Dec. 1, 1630, from Bristol,
England, and settled at Boston, Mass.
The descendants of Simon Sackett in
consecutive order were Simon
Sackett, Jr., Capt. Joseph Sackett,
Rev. Richard Sackett, Nathaniel
Sackett, and Col. Richard Sackett.
Col. Richard Sackett, who was the
father of Nathaniel and Caleb H.
Sackett, lived in the town of Bedford,
Westchester County, N. Y., and after-
ward in New York city. He was a com-
missioned officer in the war of the
revolution, serving almost contin-
uously from the beginning to the end
of the seven years struggle for inde-
pendence. In May, 1776, he was com-
missioned first lieutenant of grena-
diers in the Second Midland regiment.
and two years later was promoted to
captain. He was captured by the
British in a road which is now within
the limits of New York city and im-
prisoned several months. Immediately
after the disbandment of the conti-
nental army he was commissioned
lieutenant-colonel commandant of the
Westchester county regiment of mill-
261
tia and served until 17!:)2, when he re-
moved to New York city and resigned
his commission. The next year he
purchased a tract of land at Owego
and settled his son. Nathaniel Sackett.
on it.
Col. Richard Sackett was taken ill
and died in 1799, while on a visit to
his real estate here and his body was
buried in the old burying ground at
the southeast corntr of Main and
Court streets.
There were two Richard Sacketts
who purchased land in Tioga county.
The second Richard Sackett was born
in Westchester county June 7, 1754.
He was a son of Joseph Sackett and
grandson of Rev. Richard Sackett,
who was the grandfather of Col. Rich-
ard Sackett. The second Richard
Sackett was a man of wealth, who re-
moved in the summer of 1793 from
the town of Bedford to the western
part of the town of Nichols, where he
had purchased of Robert Lettis
Hooper, the original patentee, a square
mile of land for £SUS. Some account
of this Richard Sackett may be found
in Gay's "Gazetteer of Tioga County,"
published in 1888, on page 274. He
died in 1827.
Col. Richard Sackett married Racht 1
Holmes. Their children wnv as fol-
lows:
1. Nathaniel Sackett, born 9 Ajjri],
1770. Married Sarah VVarrtn 24 Jan.,
1796. He died 7 Nov., 1817. at Cata-
tonk, N. Y.
2. Col. Caleb H. Sackett, born 9
Ai)ril, 1770. Married Jane McMaster.
daughter of James McMaster, the first
settler here and the original owner
by purchase from the Indians of all
the land on which the village of
Owego is situated.
3. Betsy Sackett. Married William
Holmes.
4. Polly Sackett.
Richard Sackett left a will in which
he bequeathed to his wife, in trust,
one-third of his estate and to his two
sons the other two-thirds. At her
death her third was to become the
property of the two sons. Small
amounts were left in trust to the two
daughters.
In August, 1798, Nathaniel Sackett
purchased of James McMaster, Jr.,
lot No. 21 on the east bank of the
Owego creek in the north western part
ofthe town of Owego, near the Newark
Valley town line, containing 100 acres,
together with the village lot on what
is now the southwest corner of Main
and Church streets, extending one-half
the distance south to Front street and
one-half the distance west to Lake
street. The south half of this lot was
owned by Luke Bates, who had a tav-
ern on the Front street end, which
Bates sold in 1803 to Chas. Pumpelly
and George Stevens.
In 1799 Nathaniel Sackett pur-
chased of James McMaster 100 acres
of land for $2,450 in the western part
of this village, bounded south by the
Susquehanna river and west by the
Owego creek. The north line of this
land was at a point a short distance
south of where the Erie railroad now
crosses the creek and extended east-
erly and diagonally across Main street
to a point about one-half way between
Park and Academy streets on the Sus-
quehanna river. This was known on
the original town map as Lot No. 1.
The eastern portion of this proi)erty
was afterward laid out into village
lots. As early as September, 1804.
263
that portion of it wliich is now bound
ed south by the Susquehanna river,
west by William street, north by Main
street, and east by Academy street
was laid out into village lots, with the
exception of a strip on the Main street
end on which Col. David Pixley after-
ward lived.
Nathaniel Sackett lived at Owego
until 1803, when he removed to Cata-
tonk, where he built a saw mill and
conducted a tannery. He became one
of the influential men of the town oi
Candor. At the first town meeting in
March, 1811, he was elected a com-
missioner of highways. He was thp
second supervisor elected in the town
after its organization, serving from
1812 to 1817. He was one of the first
commissioners of schools in 1813.
Col. Caleb H. Sackett purchased
land at what is now Candor village.
It is noted in one of the local histories
that "after the disastrous fire which
swept the settlement [Candor] in
1813, Caleb Sackett erected a grist
mill." He also built a saw mill at about
this time and kept a tavern. It was on
this farm that the body of his father-
in-law, .James McMaster, was buried.
About the year 1832 he removed to
the town of Ward, Allegany county, N.
Y., where he was a farmer and wher-
he died. His wife died at Almond.
N. Y.
The twin brothers, Nathaniel and
Col. Caleb H. Sackett were both so!
diers in I.ieut.-Col. .Jacob Swartwood's
regiment of infantry in brigadier-
general Coe's Tioga and Broome brig-
ade. Nathaniel Sackett was ap-
pointed quartermaster April 27, 1810.
Caleb H. Sackett's name also appears
in the military records as paymaster
264
of the same regiment the same year.
In 1SI7 he was adjutant in the 95th
regiment. In 1820 he was promoted
to major of the same regiment and
in IS21 to lieutenant-colonel of a new^
regiment of infantry, which was that
year foniied from a part of the 95th
regiment and denominated the 199th
regiment.
The children of Nathaniel and
Sarah (Warren) Sackett were as fol-
lows:
1. Capt. Richard H. Sackett, bom
5 Dec, 1796, at Owego. Married
Eunice Hollister. He died 15 Aug..
1876, at Owego.
2. Polly Sackett, born 8 .Ian.. 1799.
Died 19 Feb., 1799.
.■'.. Betsy Bush Sackett, born 1
April, 1800, at Owego. Married Wil-
liam Walter Hunt, of Camden, N. J.,
10 Sept., 1818. She died 7 Oct., 1885.
4. William H. Sackett, born 2'J
Sept., 1802, at Owego. Married first
Pluma Woodford, daughter of Ozias
Woodford. 1 Nov., 1827. He married
second Mary .lane Payne Clark, of
Newark, N. J., 18 April, 1867. He died
?,0 May, 1878.
.>. Nathaniel Lord Sackett, born
15 Oct., 1804, at Catatonk. Married
lAicv Smith in 1828. He died 22 .luly,
1855.
6. Polly Teresa Sackett, born 24
Aug., 1807. Married .lames Clark, of
Ithaca, N. Y. She died 2 Aug., 1848.
7. .John James Sackett, born 10
Nov. 1809, at Catatonk. Married first
Adelaide Stanley. He married second
Fanny B. Talcott, daughter of George
Lord Talcott, of Owego, 6 Sept., 1836.
He died 9 Dec, 1879, at Candor, and
she 7 Dec. 1863.
8. Sarah Warren Sackett, born 14
April, 1812. Married Ira Keeler. of
Candor, 11 Feb., 1836. She died 9
March, 1886.
9. Susan Mead Sackett. born •>
Feb., 1815. Married Elias Richardson,
of West Newark. He died 10 Sept.,
1892, at McGrawville. N. Y., and she
4 Mav, 1874, at Ottawa, 111.
265
10. Rachel H. Sackett, born 23
Oct., 1817. Married Robert E. Joslin,
of Candor, November, 1841. She died
17 Oct., 1882.
Elias Ricliardson was born at Attle-
boro, Mass., March 3, 1802, and came
to West Newark in 1819. He removed
in 185.5 to Ottawa, 111., where he bought
and sold grain and cattle. In 1880 he
returned to this state and lived with
his daughter. Miss Adell Richardson,
at McGrawville, N. Y., until his death.
He was a justice of the peace of th-^
town of Newark Valley continuously
for twenty-four years and until his re-
moval from West Newark in 1855.
In 1818, when Richard H. Sackett
was about 21 years of age, he was ap
pointed quartermaster of the 95th reg-
iment of New York state infantry, of
which his uncle, Caleb H. Sackett, was
adjutant, and in 1821, when the 199th
regiment was formed from a part of
the 95th regiment, and which his
uncle commanded as lieutenant-
colonel, he was made adjutant. Mr.
Sackett and his sons, Charles R. anl
Samuel H. Sackett, conducted the Ca-
atonk tannery under the firm name oi
Richard H. Sackett & Sons for many
years and until it was purchased by
G. Truman & Co. in 1864.
Richard H. Sackett and his brother.
John .J. Sackett, built and conducted
for many years a woollen mill at Can-
dor, where John J. Sackett also kept
a general store for a long time. John
J. Sackett was sheriff of Tioga county
in 1846. He died at Candor.
Richard H. Sackett removed to Ow^-
go in 1864 and purchased the hou^-^
built by Henry L. Bean on the south
side of Front street, opjiosite Ross
street, now owned by Fayette S.
Curtis, and he died there in 1876.
266
LATHAM A. BURROWS.
Latham A. Buri'ows, who was for
several years a leading citizen of the
village of Owego, was a son of Rev.
Roswell Burrows and was born Aug.
'M), 1782, at Groton, Conn.
The first member of the Burrows
family in America of whom there is
any record was Robert Burrows, who
was at Wethersfield, Conn., in 1641,
and afterward at New London. His
son. John Burrows, had a son also
named .John Burrows. A son of the
last named John Burrows was Rev.
Silas Burrows, who was pastor or
the Second Baptist church at Gro-
ton, Conn., where he labored sixty-
three years and where he died in 1818.
Rev. Roswell Burrows, son of Rev.
Silas Burrows, was born at Groton
Sept. 2, 1768. At the age of 17 he
joined the Second Baptist church of
Groton. At 38 years of age he was or-
dained to the ministry. He soon after-
ward made a missionary tour through
western New York, travelling on horse-
back about 1,300 miles and finding
what is now Buffalo, where there was
not then a soul professing religion of
any name. He preached afterward at
Preston, Conn., and Rocky Point, R.
1., and later succeeded his father at
Groton, Conn., in 1818, as pastor of the
Second Baptist church.^ His wife was
Jerusha Avery, daughter of Latham
Avery. She died Nov. 3, 1838. In her
reminiscences, published not long
since in the Gazette, Mrs. Harriet G.
Tinkham mentions Mr. Burrows as the
first Baptist minister she remembered
ever hearing preach in Owego.
Latham A. Burrows served for a
time as an officer in the war of 1812-13.
267
He studied law and was admitted to
the bar in 1816. He married Sarah
Lester, daughter of Christopher I^es-
ter, of Groton, in November, I.SIC.
She died Nov. 11, 1860, in Buffalo.
In 1819, judge Burrows came to Owe-
go. From Feb. 14, 1821, to .Tan. 1, 1822,
he was county clerk of Broome county,
which county Included Owego and
other towns now in Tioga county from
1806 until 1822. From 1824 to 1827, in-
clusive, he was an associate judge of
Tioga county. In 1S27 he was elected
first judge of the court of common
pleas, and he was the first i)rofessional
lawyer who sat on the commion pleas
bench in this county. He was the rep-
resentative of the sixth district in the
state senate from 1824 to 1828.
In December, 1828. judge Burrows
engaged in the general mercantile bus-
iness. His store was in the old leaning
tavern, which had been occupied by
Col. Amos Martin. His store was af-
terward on the south side of Front
street, whf re Buckbee, Ptterson,
Wood & Co.'s store is now. In 18;'.!)
he removed into one of the stores in
the RoUin block.
.Judge Burrows at one time lived on
the west side of Park street. In 18:;l
he purchased the lot at the northeast
corner of Front and Church streets,
on which he built the brick residence
now owned and occupied by Frederick
C. Hewitt.
During his mercantile caret r judge
Burrows was president of Owego vil-
lage from 1836 to 1S39, inclusive. He
saw some military service, having in
1817 been commissioned captain of one
of the companies in the 53d New York
regiment of infantry. He was one of
the first trustees of the Owego academy
26S
in 1S2S. He removed in 1839 to Roch-
ester, where he engaged m the bank-
ing business. In 1844 he removed to
Buffalo, where he was in the real es-
tate business all the rest of his life.
He died Sept. 25, 1855.
The children of Latham A. and Sarah
(Lester) Burrows were as follows:
1. Latham A. Burrows, Jr., born
.June 5, 1819, at Owego. He was grad-
uated from Brown university and
studied law in New York city. He
died 7 Sept., 1847, at Buffalo. He was
unmarried.
2. Roswell L. Burrows, born March
12, 1821, at Owego. Married Maria W.
French 6 Jan., 1848. He died 15 Feb..
1897, at Buffalo. She is still living in
that city.
3. Sarah Ann Burrows, born 2 Feb.,
1823. at Owego. She lived in Buffalo
and died Aug. 6, 1848, at Parma, N. Y..
where she was visiting. She was un-
married.
4. Jerusha A. Burrows, born 9 Sept.,
1825. Married W. H. H. Newman, of
Buffalo, in 1849. They are both still
living in Buffalo.
5. Mary J. Burrows, born 14 May.
1827, at Owego. Married D. K. Robin-
son, of Buffalo, in 1849. He died in
Nov., 1887, at Ashville, N. C, and she
26 .Jan., 1907, at Buffalo.
6. George W. Burrows. born 22 Feb..
1830, at Owego. Died 14 May, 1830.
7. Lucy Burrows, born 13 Feb..
1833, at Owego. Married W. R. Cop-
pock, of Buffalo, in April, 1858. He
died 9 Sept., 1897, at Marshalltown,
Iowa, and she is still living at Buffalo.
8. Margaret W. Burrows, born 15
June, 1837, at Owego. Died Feb. 11,
1838.
DAVID THURSTON.
One of the early residents at Owego
was David Thurston, who came here in
1812 from New Hampshire. He was a
grandson of Benjamin Thurston, who
was a descendant of Daniel Thurston,
of Newberry, Mass., and son of David
269
Thurston, who was one of the first set-
tlers of Marlboro, N. H., as early as
1777 and who lived several years at
Leominster, Mass.
David Thurston, the son, was born
Oct. 17, 1768, at Leominster. He mar-
ried Fanny Barling, daughter of Rev.
David Darling, of Keene, N. H. He
was a farmer and when he came to
Owego he lived on the south side of
the river on the farm which lies w^est
of the highway which goes over the
hill to the Montrose turnpike and
south of the road from Owego to Nich-
ols. Later he lived in the house
known as the "haunted house," near
the mouth of the Hollenback creek and
later on the north side of North
avenue, where he conducted a board-
ing house for twenty-five years or
more. He was one of seven persons
who united to form the first Methodist
church at Owego. He died Jan. 16,1858,
aged 90 years. His wife died Jan. 3,
1860. His father, David Thurston,
came to live with him at Owego, and
he also died here Aug. 6, 1826, and he
was also 90 years old at the time of his
death.
The children of David and Fanny
(Darling) Thurston were as follows:
1. Fanny Thurston, born 27 June.
1809, at Marlboro, N. H. Married
Printice Ransom, of Owego, 19 Oct.,
1830. She died 18 July, 1902, and he
15 Oct., 1889, at Iowa City, la.
2. Nancy Thurston, born 4 Dec,
1812, at Marlboro, N. H. Died 9 May,
1814, at Owego.
3. Nancy Darling Thurston, born
24 March, "l814, at Owego. She was
graduated from Cazenovia seminary
and taught school many years in New
York, Mississippi, and Mobile, Ala-
bama, where she was married 6 Feb.,
1864, to Drury Thom|)son, a grandson
of Gen. Elijah Clark of Revolutionary
270
history. She died :',l Aug., 1886, at
Mobile, Alabama.
4. Geo. Waldo Thurston, born ID
April, 1816, at Owego. Married Mary
Ann Collins of New York city. He
died 6 Aug., 1895, at Owego, and she
31 Dec, 1897.
5. Rev. David Whitney Thurston,
born 8 April, 1818, at Owego. Married
Elizabeth S. Brown. He died 21 Dec,
1900, in Syracuse. N. Y.
6. John Metcalf Thurston, born 16
Oct., 1820, at Owego. Married first, in
1850, Sarah Wood, and second, 30
April, 1860, Persis Wright. He is still
living at Utica, N. Y.
7. Mary Almeda Thurston, born 10
Feb., 1823, Married first Anson Gar-
rison, of Cold Spring, N. Y. He died 7
Feb., 1851, at Owego. She married
second, 28 Jan., 1878, Rev. Benjamin
Pomeroy, of the Troy, N. Y., M. E. con-
ference.
8. Col. James Sidney Thurston,
born 14 Oct., 1825, at Owego. Married
Phebe Ann VanBunschoten. She died
5 Jan., 1899, at Albany, N. Y.
Rev. David Whitney Thurston in
early life received a license to exhort
and was afterward ordained a min-
ister. He preached twenty years. He
was an evangelist thirty years, sta-
tioned at Asbury Park, N. J., and was
for several years presiding elder.
George W. Thurston was a cabinet
maker. He learned his trade in Isaac
B. Ogden's shop in Main street. He
for many years conducted a furniture
and undertaking store in a wooden
building on the east side of north
avenue which stood where the brick
building occupied for several years by
D. Beach & Co. now stands. During
the civil war he was engaged about a
year with a construction corps, build-
ing bridges on the military railroads.
Later he conducted a planing mill and
lumber yard at Owego.
271
Col. James S. Thurston was actively
engaged in business at Owego and
later was prominent in public affairs.
He was in the grocery business from
1856 to 1S62. When the civil war
broke out he went to the front as quar-
termaster of the 109th regiment, in
August, 1SG3, he was appointed an
army paymaster with the rank of ma-
jor and assigned to the department of
the west. In November, 1865, he was
l)romoted to lieutenant-colonel, and af-
terward received the rank of colonel.
In 1868 and 1870 he was business man-
ager of the Elmira Advertiser. He
was afterward publisher of the South-
ern Tier Leader in Elmira. During
his sojourn there he was twice elected
an alderman. He was treasurer of the
Southern Tier savings bank and super-
intendent of the Nobles manufactur-
ing company. In 1880 Col. Thurston
was appointed superintendent of the
banking department of this state. In
August, 1883, he resigned and became
secretary of the American loan and
trust company of New York city.
In .lanuary, 1886, he was again ap-
pointed deputy superintendent of the
banking department of this state. In
October, 1901, he resigned this position
and retired from public life. He has ,
lived ever since on his farm on Lake
Keuka, near Penn Yan.
272
JUDGE ZIBA A. LELAND.
One of the early lawyers at Owego
was Ziba A. Lelaiid, who was born in
Vermont. Soon after his graduation
from college he came here and formed
a law partnership with John H. Avery
May 1, 1820. In 1822 he was ap-
pointed a justice of the peace. Soon
afterward he removed to Bath,
where in 1825 he obtained some pro-
fessional prominence for his untiring
zeal and ability shown in the defence
of a man named Douglas, who was
tried for the murder of one Ives, who
had attempted to arrest Douglas for a
felony that he was suspected of hav-
ing committed, and who, while strug-
gling to escape, stabbed Ives with an
ordinary pocket knife, fatally wound-
ing him. Ives had no warrant for
Douglas's arrest, neither was he an
officer nor acting in aid of an officer.
Douglao was a member of a gang of
burglars and thieves living near the
Canisteo river, not far from Addison.
The gang had become a terror to the
whole region between Big Flats and
llornellsville, and the excited inhabi-
tants thirsted for vtngeance. Notwith-
standing the ability with which Doug-
las was defended he was convicted
and hanged. In 1838 Mr. Leland was
elected first judge of Steuben county
and served until 1843. He represent-
ed Steuben county in the asembly in
1842 and 1843. Later in life he re-
moved to Auburn, where he practised
law several years, and thence to Sar:i
toga county, where he died.
J.\MES, JOHN, AND ROBERT
CAMERON.
.lames, John, and Robert Cameron,
brothers, were sons of John Cameron,
a farmer, and were born in Chance-
273
ford township, York county, Pa.—
James in 1S07, John June 25, 1S14,
and Robert Feb. 3, 1817.
James Cameron came to Owego
about the year 1829 and was clerk in
Alanson Dean's tavern. This tavern
stood at the southeast corner of Main
and Lake streets. It was burned in
1845 and the Central house was built
on its site. Mr Dean kept the house
from 1829 to 1831. He also had a
store at the southwest corner of the
same streets, and Mr. Cameron soon
went there as a clerk. About seven
years afterward he began a grocery
business on his own account in a
wooden store which stood at the
northeast corner of Main street and
North avenue. In 1838 he purchased
the corner property and erected a
store and dwelling house adjoining
thereon. His property was burned in
February, 1854. Mr. Cameron was
elected a justice of the peace in 1846
and served several years. His office
was in the front part of his house in
Main street. He also held the office
of supervisor of the town of Owego
in 1843.
In January, 1851, James Cameron
and Charles T. Bell opened a gro-
cery store in Dean & Perkins's
wooden building at the southwest cor-
ner of Lake and Main streets. The
partnership was dissolved in Decem-
ber, 1852, Mr. Cameron withdrawmg
from the firm. He died May 31, 1865,
at Owego. He was twice married.
His first wife,Adelia Dwight, died May
27, 1847, aged 38 years, and his second
wife, Diana Merchant Nov. 11, 1865,
aged 53 years. Mr. Cameron had one
son Rev. James Gibson Cameron, who
was born Oct. 4, 1852, at Owego and
274
who is now living at Baltimore, Md.,
where he is in charge of Cavalry mis-
sion.
John and Robert Cameron both
came to Owego in 1831. John Came-
ron worked at the carpenter's trade
in Owego until 1834 and afterward in
Xew York city until 1838, when he re-
turned and entered into partnership
with his brother, James, in the gro-
cery business. In 1840 he opened a
grocery store which he called "The
Farmers' Exchange" on the west side
of North avenue, a few doors north of
Main street. The next year. May 27,
1S41, he married Mary Jane Cushman,
daughter of Richard E. Cushman, and
lived for several years in a double
house, painted red, which stood on the
east side of North avenue, and which
occupied the ground on which Sporer,
Carlson & Berry's piano store and the
store south of it now stand. This
house had been previously occupied
by Daniel Armstrong. The family af-
terward lived over the grocery store
on the other side of the street.
Mr. Cameron continued the grocery
business here until the great fire of
September, 1849. While the fire was
raging T. I. Chatfield, whose store in
Front street had been burned, came
to Mr. Cameron and purchased Mr.
Cameron's store and all his stock of
goods except the liquors and took im-
mediate possession. Later Mr. Cam-
eron resumed business in Briggs's
cooper shop, which stood where Ray-
mond & Emery's carriage shop is now
at the northwest corner of North
avenue and Temple street. Later he
bought and removed to the store
which Wm. A. Ely had built in 1814
on the south side of Main street at the
275
foot of Xorth avenue, where he con-
tinued in business until 1869, when he
sold the store to Anson Decker and his
goods to John Welch. The store
which Mr. Chatfield had purchased
from Mr. Cameron was burned in
April, 1873, and on its site X. T. Bur-
ton built a block of two stores, which
stands there now. Mr. Cameron spent
nearly all the rest of his life in Owego
and died here Sept. 28, 1905, at the ad-
vanced age of 91 years. His wife died
Nov. 2.5, 1897, at Owego.
The children of John and Mary J.
(Cushman) Cameron were all born
at Owego as follows:
1. George F. Cameron, born 12
March, 1842. Married Mary E. Keeler
at Waverly, N. Y.. 28 Nov., 1865. He
died 6 Sept., 1902 at Paterson, N. J.
2. Charles A. Cameron, born 12
Dec, 1843. Married Mary P. Hurlburt
at Ithaca, N. Y., 8 Oct., 186.5. She died
in Brooklyn, N. Y., 17 Nov., 1876.
3. Calphurnia T. Cameron, born 1
Aug., 1845. Died 11 Feb., 1859, at
Owego.
4. John D. Cameron, born 18 April.
1847. Married Mercy D. Dutcher at
Catskill, N. Y., 3 Sept., 1872.
5. Sarah Adelia Eva Cameron,
born 16 May, 1851. Died 3 June. 1857,
at Owego
6. Frederick H. Cameron, born 5
Aug., 1861. Married Lizzie M.
Wheaton, of Binghamton, N. Y., 29
Oct., 1893. He died 2 June, 1899. at
Owego.
Robert Cameron when he came to
Owego became a clerk in James Cam-
eron's store, and was afterward his
brother's partner. The i)artnershi])
continued until 1838. In 1840 he
opened a grocery store in a
wooden store owned by S. S. Tinkham,
the first door below the bridge in
Front street. He afterward purchased
property above the bridge and con-
276
tinned business there until the fire of
1849. He rebuilt with brick on the
same site and resumed business there.
He afterward built a brick store at the
northwest corner of Front and Park
streets where he conducted the gro-
cery business from Nov., 1859, until it
was burned in October, 1867. The
present brick building was subse-
quently built on its site. Mr. Cameron
continued the grocery business with
success until compelled to retire in
the summer of 1891 on account of ill
health. He died March 17, 1896. Mr.
Cameron married Julia E. Merchant, a
sister of his brother, Robert's wife.
She was born 27 Feb., 1819, and died
6 Oct., 1889, at Owego. Their children
were as follows:
1. Larue J. Cameron, born 2 Nov.,
1843. Died 1 Nov., 1894, at Owego.
2. DelRey A. Cameron, born 7 May,
1848, at Owego. Married Bessie Ryan
24 Aug., 1871.
3. Leila Inez Cameron, born 29
Nov., 1858, at Owego. Married first
Charles J. G. Lapersonne and second
James E. Webster. She died 28 Aug..
1906, at Owego.
COL. HENRY McCORMICK.
Col. Henry McCormick, who came
to Owego to live in 1814 was a grand-
son of Joseph McCormick, who lived
and died near the Giant's Causeway in
Ireland. Joseph McCormick's widow,
a Scotch woman named McDowell,
came to America in 1760. Col. Henry
McCormick's father, Henry McCor
mick, came to America as a lieutenant
in the British army at the beginning
of the revolution. He was captured
by the Americans and held as a pris-
oner of war. Learning that his brother
was serving in Washington's army, he
found him, enlisted with him, and hav-
ing received an officer's coiiimissloii
he fought valiantly with the conti-
nental army against King George and
his former comrades in arms until
the colonies were made free. He was
taken a prisoner at the storming of
Quebec, but made a most desperate
and daring escape. Soon after the
close of the war he settled at Painted
Post, N. Y., where he became an ex-
tensive land owner and was elected
to various important offices.
Col. Henry McCormick was one of
four brothers, all of whom served as
officers in the war of 1812. He was
born in the town of Painted Post,
Steuben (then Ontario) county. N. Y..
March 5, 1791. In 1808 he came to
Newtown (now Elmira) where in 1812
he volunteered as a soldier in the war
with Great Britain and did gallant ser-
vice on the Niagara frontier. He
crossed the Niagara river in command
of a transport scow several times
just before the disastrous battle of
Queenstown, the grape shot from the
British cannon on the heights strik-
ing almost as thick as hailstones in
and around his scow so long as it was
compelled to be within the range.
It is related of Col. McCormick that
he killed an Indian chief, who was
shooting the colonel's men from his
hiding place behind a fallen tree. The
chief was very brave and refused to
surender. Col. McCormick took the
chief's leather pouch, in which he car-
ried his bullets and flints, as a trophy,
and many years afterward presented
it to a nephew at Ithaca.
In 1814, at the close of the war. Col.
McCormick came to Owego to live.
His brother, Jacob Miller McCormick,
came with him, and they began busi-
278
iiess here as gunsmiths. Their shop
was on the south side of Main street
where the rectory of St. Paul's Epis-
copal church now is. There they
made guns, the barrels of which they
bored and finished at Matson's mills
in Canawana.
Col. McCormick lived in a house
which stood on the north side of Main
street, about where Mrs. Asa N. Pot-
ter's house now is. The house was
several years afterward removed to
the northwest corner of Liberty and
Temple streets. About the year 1837
Col. McCormick sold the business to
Jehiel Ogden, who had learned the
gunsmith's trade in his shop.
The guns manufactured here before
1834 were flint lock guns. After he
began making rifles with "half-stocks"
Col. McCormick employed laborers,
who dug out the stumps of black wal-
nut trees, which had been felled years
ago on the flat north of the present
Tioga county fair grounds. From
these stumps were made the half-
stock, a new style of gun of that time.
The roots that branched out from the
base of the trees in the ground
formed a natural bend, suited to the
form of the breech part of the gun,
without cutting across the grains of
wood to form a crook, which would
have rendered the breech very liable
to break.
Jacob M. McCormick removed to
Ithaca. Col. Henry McCormick pur-
chased a farm on the south side of the
river on the hill overlooking Owego
village. He lived the rest of his life
in a small house which still stands
there and which was occupied for sev-
eral years after his death by his
daughter, Mrs. Belinda Shaw. Col.
McCormick died May 22, 1S74, at the
home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward
Livermore, at St. Peter, Minn., where
he had spent the winter.
Col. McCormick was sheriff of Tioga
county from 1828 to 1831. He was
also a member of the board of trustees
of Owego village in 1832 and 1833. He
served in the state militia, having
been commissioned captain of a com-
pany in the Sixteenth regiment of ar-
tillery.
.Jacob Miller McCormick was born
at Big Flats, Chemung county, in 1793.
He enlisted and served in the war of
1812, leaving the army at the close of
the war with a major's commission.
At Ithaca he became a man of promi-
nence. He owned oil, grist, and plas-
ter mills, large farms, a foundry, a
hardware store, and much merchan-
dise. He owned the Ithaca hotel. He
owned and conducted a stage route be-
tween Owego and Ithaca. He was post-
master many years. He was a vil-
lage trustee from 1836 to 1840, and
president of Ithaca village in 1840.
He was the first chief engineer of the
Ithaca fire department, in 1838. He
died Sept. G, 1855, at ithaca, aged 62
years.
While living in Owego, in 1821, he
was appointed captain of a company
of riflemen in the 53d regiment of
state infantry. His wife was Cath-
erine Conrad, of Lansing, N. Y., who
was called the "Lady of the Lake" on
account of her personal beauty and
social graces.
One of Col. Henry and Jacob M. Mc-
Cormick's brothers was Major Joseph
McCormick, who was born April 18,
1787, in the town of Wyoming, Pa.
Two years later the family removed to
280
Painted Post. In March, 1806, he mar-
ried Mary Hatfield, of Newtown. In
1812 he enlisted in the government
service as a captain of infantry. He
fought in the battles at Tippecanoe,
Queenstown Heights, Lundy'sLane,and
at the blowing up of FortErie.and was
promoted to major. He resigned his
commission in the army hi 1816 and
engaged in the lumber and mercantile
business at Lawrenceville, Pa. In
1829 he removed to Louisville, Ky.,
and thence in 1832 to Covington, Ind.,
where he engaged in farming. Later
lie became commander and owner of
the steamer "Detroit," plying between
Louisville and St. Louis and the south-
ern Mississippi ports. He was after-
ward elected a member of the Indiana
legislature, and in 1840, 1841, and 1842
he was re-elected. He subsequently
lived at Rob Roy, 111., Manitowoc,
Wis., and Forestville, and Ahnapee,
Wis. In 1870, when 84 years of age,
he was elected to the Wisconsin legis-
lature and enjoyed the distinction of
being the oldest person occupying a
seat in that body. He died at Alma-
pee Aug., 26, 1875, aged 88 years.
Col. Henry and Elizabeth McCor-
mick were the parents of two daugh-
ters. The eldest, Belinda McCormick,
was born at Owego May 2, 1822. She
was married to William James Shaw,
of Ithaca, Oct. 29, 1844. He went to
California hi 1849 and never returned
to Owego. He died at San Francisco
a few years ago. Mrs. Shaw's father
and .lohn Arnot, of Elmira, were both
of Scotch descent and strong friends.
After Mr. Arnot's death Mrs. Shaw-
went to Elmira and lived with Mrs.
Arnot until her death and after that
she remained in the Arnot home with
281
the family of Mr. Arnot's son, Matthew
H. Arnot, and where she died Jan. 4,
189^1.
Col. McCormick's younger daughter,
Mary Steward McCormick. was born
Feb. 13, 1828, at Owego. She was the
second wife of Rev. Edward Liver-
more, to whom she was married Oct.
2G, ISjjIJ. He was twenty-three years
rector of the Church of the Holy Com-
munion at St. Peter's, Minn., and later
chaplain of Kemper Hall at Kenosha,
Wis., where he died May 28, 1866. She
died Feb. 16, 1906, at Phoenixville, Pa.
GURDON HEWITT.
One of the most successful business
men that ever lived at Owego was
Gurdon Hewitt, who was a resident of
the village 48 years. He was born
near New London, Conn., May 5, 1790.
When he w-as six years old his parents
removed to a farm, near the village of
Oxford, Chenango county, N. Y. His
early life was spent on the farm, and
he received his early education at the
Oxford academy. His father having
been ruined financially through en-
dorsing some notes for a friend, Gur-
don Hewitt when less than 21 years of
age went to New York city in search
of a clerkship, without funds and with
no acquaintances in the city.
It is related that in making the trip
he arranged with a man who was go-
ing to Newburgh on horseback to go
on the "ride and tie" plan. By this ar-
rangement the owner of the horse
would ride a few miles ahead and
then hitch his horse at the roadside
and proceed thence on foot. Mr.
Hewitt would walk until he reached
the place where the horse was tied,
unhitch the animal, and ride for sev-
282
eral miles past where he overtook his
companion. Then dismounting he
would proceed on foot while the
owner of the horse would ride ahead
in his turn. Thus they proceeded to
Newburgh, whence Mr. Hewitt made
the rest of his journey by boat to New
York.
Mr. Hewitt obtained a clerkship in
a store, where he remained about a
year and then entered the employ of
a celebrated bridge builder named
Burr as a bookkeeper. Mr. Burr was
then constructing a bridge over the
Susquehanna river, near Northumber-
land, Pa., and Mr. Hewitt went there
as his assistant. When this bridge
was completed, in 1819, he left Mr.
Burr's employ and went to Towanda,
Pa., where he began a general mer-
cantile business, in which he was
very successful. He also engaged in
lumbering at Monroe. He built a
store and a I'esidence at Towanda.
While living at Towanda he was
treasurer of Bradford county from
1S21 to 1822. He married a daughter
of Williams Means, of Towanda. She
died, leaving no children. May 17,
1S21, he married Charlotte Piatt,
daughter of Major .lonathan Piatt, of
Nichols, N. Y.
In the spring of 1823 he removed to
Owego and lived here all the rest of
his life. He formed a partnership
with his wife's brother, Jonathan
Piatt in the general mercantile busi-
nrss. Their store was in a wooden
building, which stood on the bank of
the river a little above where the
bridge is now. Their partnershij)
lasted about a year, when Mr. Piatt
formed a partnership with David Tur-
ner and Mr. Hewitt continued the
283
business alone initil 1837. That year
he and John M. Greenleaf formed a
partnership in the same business.
Their store was on the east side of
Lake street. The firm of Greenleaf &
Hewitt existed until their store was
burned in the great lire of September.
1849.
Mr. Hewitt did not resume the mer-
cantile business, but devoted his en-
tire attention to banking, in which he
was remarkably successful, laying the
foundation for the largest fortune
ever accumulated in Owego. He was
the first president of the old bank of
Owego. now the First national bank,
and was for several years its cashier.
He was one of the trustees of the old
Owego academy from its foundation,
and most of the time president of the
board. The only elective office he
held was that of village trustee in
1830 and 1831.
Wm. F. Warner says of Mr. Hewitt:
"He had an intellect of remarkable
power, which had it been directed to
scientific or professional pursuits,
would have placed him among the
first in the land."
In February, 1833, Mr. Hewitt pur-
chased of Jonathan Piatt a lot on the
north side of Main street nearly op-
posite the Baptist church and built a
house thereon. The house still re-
mains there and is the second house
from the Church street corner. Mr.
Hewitt lived there until 1856 when he
l)urchased the property at the north-
east corner of Front and Church
streets, where he lived until his death.
He died Dec. 24, 1871, and his wife
Jan. 16, 1876.
The children of Gurdon and Char-
lotte (Piatt) Hewitt were Gurdon
284
Hewitt, Jr.; Sarah Hewitt, who mar-
ried Frederick H. Pumpelly, of Owe-
go; Charlotte Hewitt, who married
Stephen T. Arnot, of Elmira, and still
lives in that city, and Frederick C.
Hewitt, who still lives in this village.
Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., was born March
29, 1826, at Owego. He was educated
as a lawyer and admitted to the bar of
Tioga county in 1847, but never prac-
tised law. He entered the store of his
father and was associated in his busi-
ness affairs during the rest of his
father's life. In 1852 he and Lyman
Truman, as equal partners, made
large investments in lands situated
near Dixon, 111. They purchased
many acres of land at a low price,
realizing a great profit on their invest-
ment. The partnership continued un-
til 1857. During the civil war Mr.
Hewitt lived in New York city.
Through his management of his
father's estate it was greatly increased
and at the time of his death it was
the largest estate ever accumulated
in Owego.
Mr. Hewitt married Mrs. Frances
Augusta Gillett, widow of Col. Daniel
W. Gillett, of Elmira, in 1881. He
died Sept. 10, 1900, at Atlantic City.
N. J., and she Feb. 7, 1906, at Lake-
land, Fla.
JOHN M. GREENLEAF.
John M. Greenleaf came to Owego
in 1826 and lived here until his death
fifty-five years later.
The Greenleafs in America are de-
scended from Edmund Greenleaf. who
was born in 1573 and who died In
Boston, Mass. One of his sons.
Stephen Greenleaf (born about 1628)
had a son, also named Stephen Green-
leaf, born at Newbury, Mass., in 1652.
285
Stephen's son, Rev. Daniel Greenleaf.
was born at Newbury in ir>7!i and
died in 1763 in Boston. His son. Dr.
Daniel Greenleaf, was born at Cam-
bridge, Mass., in 1702 and died in
1795. Dr. Greenleaf's son. Gen. William
Greenleaf,was the grandfather of .John
M. Greenleaf and was born in 17o8. He
died at Lancaster, Mass., 1793. He
was several years sheriff of Worces-
ter comity and a brigadier-general in
the state militia.
One of Gen. Greenleaf's sons was
.John Hancock Greenleaf. who was
born April 30, 1775, at Lancaster,
Mass. He was a cabinet maker and
house joiner in Boston. He removed
to Granville, N. Y.. where he married
Mary Norton Feb. 1, ISOl. In March.
1817, he came with his family to this
county and settled first at Smithboro.
Four years afterward he removed to
Padlock in the town of Richford. In
the fall of 1S26 he removed to Owego
and died here Jan. 28, 1852. His wife
also died here Sept. 28, 1860.
The children of John Hancock and
Mary (Norton) Greenleaf were as fol-
lows:
1. Betsy Gardiner Greenleaf, born
about 1803 and died in infancy.
2. John Matthew Greenleaf born
19 May, 1806, at Granville, N. Y. Mar-
ried Lucv Talcott, daughter of Elizur
Talcott, Jr., of Owego, 20 June. 1837.
She was born 24 March, 1809. and died
at Owego 4 July, 1842. He married
second Emeline Wilbur, daughter of
Ismond Wilbur, 27 Sept.. 1843. She
died 3 Dec. 1907. at Owego.
3. Martha Norton Greenleaf. born
17 April. 1809. at Granville. Married
William Gordon, who died about 1843.
She died 15 Oct., 1890.
4. Betsy Gardiner Greenleaf. born
25 Sept., 1811. at Granville. Married
George W. Allen, who died about 1853.
5. William Josephus Greenleaf.
286
born 25 Sept., 1815, at Granville. Mar-
ried Mary L. Ford 2 Dec, 1817. He
died 22 March, 1869.
6. Amos Canfield Greenleaf, born 8
March, 1818. at Smithboro. Married
Mary Dougherty 22 Oct., 1840. He
was associated with dry goods firms
in New York city several years and
died 1 Aug., 1894, at South Orange,
N. J.
John M. Greenleaf was 20 years of
age when his father, John Hopkins
Greenleaf, removed to Owego. In the
fall of 1826 he entered Col. Amos
Martin's store as a clerk. He re-
mained with Col. Martin three years
and then became a clerk in Gurdon
Hewitt's store. After six years of
service with Mr. Hewitt he became a
partner, in 1833, of Lyman Truman in
the general mercantile business.
Their store was in a brick building
which occupied the ground on the
east side of Lake street where the
Owego national bank building now
stands. This partnership was dis-
solved in July, 1836. In 1837 he
formed a partnership with his for-
mer employer, Gurdon Hewitt, and
the firm of Greenleaf & Hewitt ex-
isted twelve years. Their store was
on the south side of Front street, the
third store east of Lake street. This
store was burned Sept. 25, 1849, in
the big fire. The firm did not re-
sume business. Mr. Greenleaf having
been very successful as a merchant,
retired from all active business. He
died Aug. 23, 1881, at Owego.
The only son of John M. and Mary
(Norton) Greenleaf is Dr. John T.
Greenleaf, who has been since 1867 a
Homoepathic physician and still lives
in this village.
287
COL. AMOS MARTIN.
Col. Amos Martin, one of the early
merchants of Owego, was born Feb. 8,
1785, at Salisbury. Mass. He was a
son of Noah and Hannah Martin. In
1814 he removed from New Marlboro,
Mass., with his wife (nee Amanda
Hart) and two daughters, Malinda an<l
Angeline.and a large load of household
goods to Tioga county and settled at
Candor, where he began a generrl
- mercantile business.
In 1816 the family removed to Ow>f
go. He moved into a house which
stood on the west side of Park street,
where Robert Handler's residence
now stands. The front of this house
he occupied as a store. This was the
same building that had been previ
ously occupied as a store by Williara
Pumpelly.
In 1819 Col. Martin leased the old
•Goodman Coffee House," a tavern
owned bv Gen. John Laning and later
known as the Franklin house, which
stood on the north side of Front
street, a little east of Court street. In
addition to conducting the affairs of
the hotel Col. Martin continued the
mercantile business in the west end of
the building, which had been occupied
as a store by Jonathan Piatt. Lewis
Manning succeeded Col. Martm as
landlord of the coffee house in 1823,
but Col. Martin continued to occupy
the west end of the building as a
store.
In the spring of 1827 Col. Martin
removed his store into a two-story
wooden building, which stood at the
northwest corner of Front and Lake
streets. This building had been oc-
cupied by J. Fay & Co. In 1833 he re-
moved to the south side of Front
2S8
street, oi)i)osite Lake street, where he
continued in the mercantile business
until his death, which was caused by
hasty consumption. He died May 14,
1835. His wife survived him ijiany
years, dying April 11, 1878, . at the
home of her daughter, Mrs. W. C.
Taylor, at Tioga Centre at the ad-
vanced age of 89 years. She was born
at New Marlboro, Mass., Dec. 28, 1788,
and was married in 1807.
Col. Martin in 1827 built the old
Academy building in Court street by
contract. He was a member of the
first board of trustees of the academy.
He built and lived many years in a
house which stood on the west side of
Park street south of the Congrega-
tional church, on the ground on which
L. B. Terbush's brick house now
stands, and which house was buruied
Dec. 3, 1877, when the first Congrega-
tional church was burned.
The children of Col. Amos and
Amanda (Hart) Martin were as fol-
lows:
1. Malinda Martin, born 27 Jan.,
1811, at New Marlboro, Mass. Mar-
ried Harvey Coryell, of Nichols, in
1830. He died 3 Oct., 1864, at Nichols,
and she in .July, 1888.
2. Angeline Martin, born 13 Sept.,
1812, at New Marlboro. Married Col.
William Ransom, of Tioga Centre, 14
Sept., 1831. He died 7 Feb., 1883, at
Tioga Centre, and she 11 Feb., 1883.
3. Maria A. Martin, born 7 Feb.,
1815. at Candor. Married Col. William
C. Taylor, of Owego. 9 Sept., 1836.
He died 9 April. 1892. in Brooklyn, N.
Y., and she 16 .Jan., 1905.
4. Jay H. Martin, born 14 Dec,
1816, at Owego. Married Frances
Johnson in 1835. Removed to Tioga
Centre, where he still lives.
5. John S. Martin born 18 Sept.,
1818, at Owego. Married first Harriet
Manning and second Ada Chambers.
2S9
He died 16 Oct., 1904. at Kansas City,
Mo.
6. Elizabetli L. Martin , born 7
Sept., 1S27, at Owego. Married Ronieo
Woodford, of Owego. 6 Aug., 1846.
She died in 1850 at Owego. He mar-
ried second Augusta E. Sackett,
daughter of Capt. Richard H. Sackett,
of Candor. He died 8 July, 1856. at
Owego.
Col. William C. Taylor was born
.June 12, 1813. at Florida, Orange
county, N. Y. He came to Owego in
1833 and entered Dr. Jedediah Fay's
drug store as a clerk. In October.
1836, his brother, Daniel G. Taylor,
came to Owego and the brothers, in
company with William H. Bell, began
a general mercantile business under
the firm name of Taylors & Bell in a
store which stood on the south side of
Front street, east of Lake street. The
Taylors purchased Mr. Bell's interest
in the store two years afterward. A
year later Col. Taylor sold his interest
in the business to Mr. Bell.
In 1843 Col. Taylor went to Pier-
mont. N. Y.. which was then the east-
ern terminus of the New York & Erie
railroad, where he w-as the station
agent until the completion of the road
to Dunkirk. Then he went to Dunkirk
as superintendent of the western di
vision of the road. A few years later
he removed to Jersey City, where he
was the company's agent until 1861.
When the civil war broke out. D. C.
xMcCallum, who had been general su-
perintendent of the road, was ap
pointed military superintendent of the
railroads of the United States, with
the rank of general. He appointed
Mr. Taylor to take charge under him
of all the military railroads, to attend
to their construction, repair, etc., with
the rank of colonel. He served all
290
through the war and then went to E!-
luira, where he remahied until 1869,
when he removed to Brooklyn, where
he lived with his daughter, Mrs
Alexander Robb, until his death.
John S. Martin was for many years
a salesman in Storrs, Chatfield &
Co.'s hardware store. In 1869 he re-
moved to Kansas City, Mo., where he
lived all the rest of his life. He was
for many years and until about twelve
years before his death a travelling
salesman, selling agricultural machin-
ery and implements. There were few
railroads in the west when he went
there, and he did most of his travel-
ling with a horse and buggy.
EDWARD S. MADAN.
Edward Shearson Madan was a car-
l)enter and builder, who was born
Sept. 20. 178.5, at Sing Sing, N. Y., and
who came to Owego in 1824.
His father, Thomas D. Madan (or
de Madan. as the name was originally
written), was of French descent, lived
in Virginia, and fought in the revolu-
tionary war. He was born in 1762
and died Dec. 30, 1804. His wife was
Charity Odell, daughter of Abraham
Odell. She was drowned Nov. 30,
1805, together with her daughter,
Eliza, while on their passage from
Newburgh to New York city. She was
born Feb. 13, 1756.
Edward S. Madan and his four
brothers and a brother-in-law all
served in the war of 1812. When E.
S. Madan was a child his parents re-
moved, to New York city, where he
later learned the trade of a cabinet
maker. At the age of 22 he went to
Florida, Orange county, N. Y., where
Sept. 20, 1810. he married Lydia
291
Curry, daughter of Beiijaniiii Curry.
In 1822 they removed to Newark Val-
ley, where they lived until 1824, when
they came to Owego, where they lived
the rest of their lives. Mr. Madan
died Oct. 11, 1868. His wife was born
Feb. 15. 1790, in New York city, and
died at Owego May 17, 1842.
Mr. Madan was thrice married.
His second wife was Lucy Allen, who
was born in May, 17S8, at New Haven.
Conn. They were married May 5.
1844. She died March 20, 1856, at
Owego.
His third wife was Mrs. Elizabeth
Terry, of the town of Candor. She
died in that town three or four years
after Mr. Madan's death.
The children of Edward S. and
J.ydia (Curry) IMadan were as fol-
lows:
1. Anna Eliza Madan, born 6 Jan.,
1812, at Florida, N. Y. Married Gil-
bert Williams 26 Feb., 1834. She died
13 Nov., 1877, at Warner, Onondaga
county, N. Y.
2. Sarah .Jane Madan, born 9 May.
1S14, at Florida, N. Y. Married Hiram
G. Williams 13 Aug., 1843. She died at
Susquehanna, Pa., in December, 1883^
3. Mary Louisa Madan, born 27
Feb., 1816", at Florida, N. Y. She died
13 Nov., 1838, at Owego.
4 Harriet Emilv Madan, born 2
Sept., 1819, at Florida, N. Y. Married
first James Hill 4 April, 1839. He died
5 Jan., 1887, at Owego. She married
second Nehemiah E. Neal, of Nichols.
She died 9 June, 1906, at Owego.
5. Caroline Amelia Madan, born
29 Oct., 1821, at Westtown, Orange
county, N. Y. Married Henry J.
Hodge in 1848. She died in June,
1899, at Susquehanna, Pa.
6 Andrew Jackson Madan, born
15 April, 1824, at Newark Valley.
Married first Phoebe Sears 24 April,
1857. He married second Mv«. George
A. Dodd (nee Sarah Searles) 16 Jan.,
292
1887. He died 3 Dec. 1895, at Owego.
and she 23 June, 1908.
7. Frances Melinda Madan, born
30 April, 1827, at Owego. She lives at
Warner, N. Y.
8. Benjamin Curry Madan, born 24
April, 1829, at Owego. Married Jennie
Nixon, of Owego. He died 21 Dec,
1871. at Owego.
Mr. Madan was a member of a long
lived family. His grandmother, Per-
silla (Priscilla?) Odell, was in her
120th year at the time of her death in
1788. Mr. Madan was active in the
temi)erance cause and an enthusiast
in masonic affairs. He was the first
master of Friendship lodge, F. & A.
M., in 1849 and 1850 when the lodge
reorganized and resumed work after
its discontinuance by reason of the
Morgan excitement. He was tiler of
the lodge from 1856 to 1864, inclusive.
He was also the first high priest of
New Jerusalem chapter. Royal Arch
Masons upon its institution in 1852
and 1853. He is said to have filled all
the offices in both the "blue lodge"
and the chapter.
Mr. Madan lived many years in a
small house, which is still standing
on the east side of Central avenue,
the first house south of the brick
building at the Temple street corner.
This street was at that time a narrow
lane through which the tracks of the
old Ithaca and Owego horse railroad
extended down through the village
park into and up Front street to
Church street.
293
DR. JOEL S. PAIGE.
One of the most highly esteemed of
Owe go's early residents was Dr. Joel
Sin:onds Paige, who lived here thirty-
four years. He was fifth in descent
from Nathaniel Paige, who came to
Roxbury, Mass., from England in IGS.'
with his wife and three children. Dr.
Paige's father was Moses Paige, a far-
mer, at Hardwick, Mass.. where Dr.
Paige was born Jan. 2.^. 17!>o.
Dr. Paige was educated as a physi-
cian at Troy, X. Y., receiving his
diploma in June, 1S16. July 1 of the
same year he married Jane S. Fair-
child, of that city, and very soon af-
terward they came to Owego. They
lived in a small house, which was on
the north side of Front street, the
second house west of Paige street
w^here A. C. Burt's house now stands.
Later he built and lived in the house
now owned by Frederick O. Cable at
the northeast corner of Main and
Paige streets. •
All of Paige street from Main street
north to Fox street, its northern limit
then, was called Paige street in honor
of Dr. Paige. All of the same street
from Main street south to the river
was called Leonard str3et, in honor of
Stephen B. Leonard, who lived at the
northeast corner of that street and
Front street. Some time after ISoT
the name of Leonard street was no
longer used and the entire street has
since been known as Paige street.
That part of the village in which Dr.
Paige lived was at the time of his
residence there commonly known as
"Paigeville."
In 1819 Dr. Paige was appointed as-
sistant hospital surgeon of the 41st
294
brigade of state infantry, wliich was
commanded by brigadier-general John
J.aning, of Owego. In 1825 he held
the office of clerk of the town of Owe-
go. He was a member of the village
board of trustees In 1828 and in 1839,
and in 1839 he was also president of
the village. He was a prominent
member of the masonic fraternity.
He was master of Friendship lodge,
F. and A. M., from 1824 to 1827, in-
clusive and was master when it tem-
porarily suspended its meetings at the
time of what is known as the Morgan
excitement.
Dr. Paige's first wife died Dec. 24,
1830, at Owego. His second wife was
Ann Eliza I>imbrick. She was born in
1811 at Catskill and while visiting her
brother at Owego she met Dr. Paige,
to whom she was married June IS,
1833. At this time Dr. Paige owned
and lived in the house at the Main
and Paige street corner.
In 1850 Dr. Paige removed to Alex-
ander, Genesee county, N. Y., where
he died July 10, 1855. His wife also
died there Oct. 17, 1889.
The children of Dr. Joel S. and Jane
S. (Fairchild) Paige were as follows:
1. Margaretta Augustina -Paige,
born 15 Sept., 1818. Married Ham-
mon D. Pinney at Owego 26 May, 1840.
She died 12 Jan., 1860 at Owego.
2. Anson Fairchild Paige, born 31
May, 1822, at Owego.
Hammon D. Pinney was born June
2, 1814, at Clarksville, Albany county,
N. Y., and at 14 years of age went to
Albany to work as clerk in a dry
goods store. He came to Owego in
June, 1835, with his father, Joshua L.
Pinney, and opened a drug store in
judge Drake's wooden building, which
295
stood on the south side of Front
street, ojiposite Lake street. In that
building and the one which was built
on its site after its destruction by fire
in 1S49, J. 1.. Pinney & Sons conducted
the drug and book store known as the
"Owego Arcade" forty-one years.
Patrick Henry Pinney, .1. 1^. Pinney"s
youngest son, was a partner in the
business until his death in August,
18C5. H. D. Pinney was a leader in
the movement for the abolition of
slavery and a strong advocate of tem-
perance. He was one of the thirty orig-
inal organizers of the Baptist church
in 18;il, was thirty years leader of th-^
church choir, and was also thirty
years superintendent of the Sunday
school. He was a member of the first
board of school commissioners in
1864, the only public ofRce he ever
held. His second wife was Mr^.
Eunice J. Harris, of New York city.
He died Feb. 24, 1898, at Owego.
Anson F. Paige was deaf and dumb.
He was a bookbinder. His bindery
was for several years in the third
story of the brick buildings on th^^
northeast corner of Main street and
North avenue, which were built by
Franklin Slosson in 18.54 and known
as Franklin block.
The children of Dr. .Toel S. and Ann
Eliza (Limbrickl Paige were as fol-
lows:
1. Thomas Limbrick Paige, born .".I
March, 1834, at Owego. Married Alzoa
N. Wilbur, daughter of Ismond Wil-
bur, 4 June, 1862, at Owego. He died
lU Dec, 1867, at Owego.
2. l>ucy Bonner Paige, born 4 Oct.,
1840, at Owego.
3. Lucy Aiken Paige, born 30 Aug.,
1842. at Owego. She was married to
Elijah Ransom Page 10 Aug., 1804, at
Alexander, N. Y.
296
4. Mary Paige, born 4 Feb., 1846, at
Owego. She was married in 1863 to
Norton Smith at Alexander.
Thomas L. Paige learned the
printer's trade in Owego, but aban-
doned type-setting for a clerkship in
Goodrich & Co.'s dry goods store. In
May, 1864, he formed a partnership in
the dry goods business with Abram
H. Miller, buying the stock of Henry
N. Hubbard and continuing the busi-
ness in the store now occupied by E.
E. Strait on the south side of Front
street until his death in 1867.
JARED HUNTINGTON.
.Jared Huntington came to Owego
from Hebron, Conn., in 1813, and lived
here until his death, forty-eight year.s
later. His father, Solomon Hunting-
ton, was a saddler and a son of John
Huntington, who was born Nov. 14,
1700, at Norwich, Conn. Solomon
Huntington was also born at Norwich
August 6, 1738. He married Dimis
Fuller. He lived at Hebron, where he
died June 4, 1798.
Jared Huntington was born at
Hebron Dec. 22, 1784, and followed his
father's occupation of a saddler and
harness maker. His first wife was
Ellvira Bliss, of Columbia, Conn. She
was born in 1782 and died at East
Haddam, Conn., in 1809. Four years
after her death he removed to Owego,
where he worked at his trade. In
1818 he married Martha Draper,
whose father was a blacksmith and
whose dwelling house and blacksmith
shop were at the northwest corner of
North avenue and Main streets.
Mr. Huntington lived for many
years in a house which stood near the
sidewalk on the west side of Lake
297
street on the ground now occupied by
the two brick stores known as th^
Hooker block. His house was at th<^
north part of the lot and his harness
shop adjoining at the south end of it.
At the time of the great fireinSepteni
Ijer. 1S49, all the buildings on th-»
west side of Lake street were burned
from Front street to the Huntington
])roperty, where the progress of the
fire was stopped. Another fire in
October, 1870, burned all the wooden
buildings from the Main street corner
south, including the Huntington house
and shop. The old well between the
two buildings, which for many years
furnished the water for several house-
holds in the neighborhood, was in
u.se, until the Hooker block was built.
Mr. Huntington was clerk of the
town of Owego from 1826 to 1834, in-
clusive, and assessor from 1841 to
1846, inclusive. He was for many
years a justice of the peace. He was
also superintendent of the poor of
Tioga county from 1832 to 1837. H'^-
died at Owego .Tuly 2, 1861. Mrs.
Huntington, who was born in 1795,
died April 11, 1877, at Cazenovia, N.
Y., at the home of her daughter, Mrs.
Phelps.
The children of .Tared and Martha
(Draper) Huntington were all born at
Owego, with one exception, as fol-
lows:
1. Jared Bliss Huntington, born
May 2, 1809.
2. Elvira M. Huntington, born 10
.Tuly, 18] 9. Married James M. Swift,
son of Thomas Swift, of Falmouth,
Mass. She died 27 Feb., 1854, i3i
Brooklyn, N. Y.
3. Adeline E. Huntington, born 4
Sept., 1821. Married Frederick E.
Piatt, of Owego, 4 Sept., 1821. She
died 14 Jan., 1873.
29S
4. Emily Catherine Huntington,
horn 9 Aug., 1S23, at Owego. Married
Dr. Jared F. Phelps in 1842.
."). Martha A. Huntington, bom 12
Oct., 1825. Married Milton W. Han-
chett, of Syracuse. N. Y., in 1848.
6. William Silliman Huntington,
born 14 Dec, 1827.
7. Harriet Laura Huntington, born
30 Jan., 1830. Married James M.
Swift, who was the husband of her
siser, Elvira M. Huntington. She died
10 Sept., lyOl, at Cazenovia, N. Y.
8. George Milnor Huntington, born
8 August. 1832. Married Louise Den-
ton, of Binghamton, 1 Oct., 1857.
9. Charles T. Huntington, born 16
Nov., 1834. He was a telegraph oper-
ator. He died 11 May, 1899.
Geo. M. Huntington learned tele-
graphy in 1847. In 1853 he was di-
vision operator and train dispatcher
on the Susquehanna and Western
divisions of the New York & Erie
railroad until 1862, when he was
called to Washington and appointed
superintendent of military railroads
under Gen. D. C. McCallum. At the
M -SR3. Cyl bqx.clpdO klellrmpU
close of the war he was in charge of
all the captured roads leading into
Richmond. These were turned over
to their owners in 1865. In 1868 he
was agent in New York city for the
Great Southern mail route. In 1873
he went to St. Paul, Minn., as general
[)assenger and ticket agent of the
West Wisconsin railroad. The next
year he was ap])ointed general eastern
agent of the Virginia Midland rail-
road.
ERASTTS MP:ACHAM.
Erastus Meacham was a black-
simth, a son of Silas Meacham, and
was bom Feb. 9, 1798, at Cornwall,
Conn. He was only seven years old
when his parents removed to Bain-
299
bridse. N. Y. When fourteen years of
age he was apprenticed to learn the
blacksmith's trade and eight years
later, in 1S20, he came to Owego, ma-
king the entire journey on foot. He
worked as a journeyman blacksmith
for a short time, but in July, 1821, he
formed a partnershii) in the black-
smithing and wagon making business
with Daniel Chamberlain, a wagon
maker, who lived in the first house
north of the Congregational church in
Park street, which was afterward
owned by John L. Matson and which
still stands there. Mr. Chamberlain
at one time conducted a bakery in the
cellar of this house. His wagon shop
was at the side of the house. It was
in this wagon shop that the Baptist
church of Owego was organized in
1831. Mr. Chamberlain sold the prop-
erty to Mrs. Henry H. Wells, of
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., about the year 1830
and removed to Choconut, Susque-
hanna county. Pa., and died there.
In October, 1823, Mr. Meacham pur-
chased of James Caldwell two village
lots on the west side of Lake street,
north of and adjoining the ground on
which the Owego national bank now
stands and fronting 100 feet on the
street. There he conducted a black-
smith shop several years. In August,
1838. he opened a general country
store in John Carmichael's building,
which stood on the north side of Front
street and east of Lake street. He
continued in business there several
years, a part of the time in company
with his son, Myron E. Meacham.
Then he removed on the Ott farm on
Germany hill in the town of Tioga,
where he engaged in farming thirteen
years. He afterward returned to
300
Owego. where he resumed work at his
trade of a blacksmith, which he fol-
lowed all the rest of his life. He died
at Owego Jan. 25, 1890, at the ad-
vanced age of nearly 92 years'.
Nov. 9, 1820, Mr.'Meacham married
Betsy Lake, daughter of Truman
Lake, of Spencer. She died at Owego
Aug. 29, 1892, aged 89 years. They
were two of the forty original mem-
bers of the Congregational cnurch of
Owego. Their children were Myron
E. Meacham, who removed to Hor-
nell; Mary A. Meacham, who married
Henry Shipman; Maria and Milton H.
Meacham, both of whom died in in-
fancy, and Melinda Meacham, who
married John M. Head.
JAMES ARCHIBALD.
James Archibald, a tanner, came to
Owego with his wife and six children
from Caldwell, Warren county, N. Y.,
on Lake George. His father, Robert
Archibald, came to America from
Scotland and fought in the revolution-
ary war.
James Archibald was bom on the
day of our national independence,
July 4, 1776, in the town of Bolton.
Warren county, N. Y.. and he arrived
at Owego on Washington's birthday.
Feb. 22, 1822.
According to the state military
records James Archibald was in 1804
promoted to ensign in Simon DeRid-
der's regiment of the brigade in the
county of Washington, which county
adjoins Warren county. The next
year he was promoted to lieutenant,
and in 1808 he was reported as
"moved."
The family settled on a farm owned
by James Pumpelly on the south side
30]
of the river. In 1824 Mr. Pumpelly
l)uilt a small tannery there. It stood
on the south side of the road leading
to Nichols, between that road and the
river, and was a little west of where
the Nichols road leaves the highway
running from Owego to the Montrose
turnpike. Mr. Pumpelly leased this
tannery to Mr. Archibald. The water
to run the tannery was supplied from
a little run (dry now for many years),
which came down from the hill to the
river, a little east of the tannery. The
[)Ower to grind the tanbark was sup-
plied by a horse. Nearly all the vats
were out in the field in the open air.
In June, 1830. Elihu Parmenter, who
conducted a tannery on the Hunting-
ton creek, in the northern part of the
village of Owego, and James Archi-
bald purchased the exclusive right for
a term of fourteen years for the use
of a patent for handling hides and
skins, which patent Samuel Rogers.
Jr., of Philadelphia, had obtained in
January, 1829. The purchase was
made of James Brown, who owned the
right to sell in Tioga and Tompkins
counties. It provided for vats 31/2
feet deep, SVz feet wide, and from 7
to 8 feet long. This introduced new-
methods of tanning here.
This tannery was abandoned about
theyear 1844. The building was moved
five or six rods down the river and
converted into a barn. Many years
later it was used by Gurdon H. Pum-
pelly as a part of a large tobacco
shed, now standing there.
In May, 1832, three of Mr. Arch-
bald's sons, Alvah B., Almon W., and
Samuel A. Archibald, purchased lots
13 and 16 in Coxe's patent of John
Redman Coxe, of Philadelphia. These
302
lots contained one hundred acres each
and were on the side of the hill south
of this village, . and the road which
passes over the hill to the Montrose
turnpike passes diagonally through
them. The same month they also
purchased lot No. 176, which is south
of and adjoining the other two lots
and contained 270 acres. This in-
cluded the present farm of James For-
syth and the small farm sold to Col.
Henry McCormick in September, 1832.
While engaged in tanning Mr.
Archibald and these three sons
cleared much of the woods from the
farms. Their sawmill stood on the
north side of the creek known as the
Pumpelly creek and on the east side
of the road. The ruins of the old mill
stood there until a few years ago.
They engaged extensively in lumber-
ing and purchased and shipped a
great amount of lumber down the
river in addition to that produced
from their own farm.
The three sons were not only en-
gaged in lumbering, but they also
engaged in the tanning business, in
the sale of boots and shoes, and in the
manufacture of deer skin gloves and
mittens. Alvah B. Archibald con-
ducted a leather and shoe store on the
south side of Front street, a little be-
low Park street. He was elected a
justice of the peace in January, 1862,
but was prevented by ill health from
assuming the duties of the office. He
died in the following June.
The second tannery built by the
Archibalds was in 1838. It stood on
the bank of the river just below the
bridge. It was about 90 by 50 feet in
size. It was burned in the fire of
Jan. 31, 1860. It was replaced the
303
same year by a larger tannery, 114 by
oO feet, with a brick engine house 50
by 22 feet, and a bark house 22 by 36
feet. It was composed of four build-
ings, all attached. This tannery was
twice burned, in January, 1860, and
September, 1878. It was rebuilt on a
smaller scale. In 1881, when the
[>ackawanna railroad was built to
Owego, the company bought and oc-
cupied the ground on which the build-
ings stood for its tracks. The tannery
building was cut in two. Part of it
was used as an ice house for a few-
years and finally the whole was torn
down.
Almon W. Archibald retired from
the lumbering business in 1852 and
engaged in farming. He removed to
this village six years previous to his
death and lived tn west Front street.
Samuel Archibald conducted the tan-
nery for several years alone until he
discontinued the tannery business al-
together.
Allen C. Archibald, the youngest
son of James Archibald, was a civil
engineer. He went south and lived at
Louisville, Ky. At one time he was
employed in the survey of the Panama
canal.
James Archibald followed farming
all his life. He died Feb. 8. 1857, at
Owego. His first wife was Mary Wil-
son, of Bolton, who died in 1814. His
second wife, Elizabeth Chase, was a
Quakeress and was born in the colony
of Rhode Island in 1774. She died
May 31, 1860, at the home of her son,
Allen C. Archibald, in Louisville, Ky.
The children of James and Mary
(Wilson) Archibald were as follows:
1. Martha Archibald, born in the
town of Bolton, Warren county, N. Y.,
304
in 1S03. Married Samuel Babcock, of
Owego. He died in 1839, and she in
1851.
2. Alvah Bosworth Archibald, boni
in the town of Bolton in 1805. Mar-
ried Jane McQuigg, daughter of
Daniel McQuigg. Jr., of Spencer. She
died in 1S56 and he June 8, 1862.
Their only son, Frederick Archibald,
was killed in the battle of Gettysburg
in 1863.
3. Almon Wilson Archibald, born 5
;\ov., 1807, in the town of Bolton.
Married Abagail Bates, of Owego, 3
Aug., 1828. She died 8 Jan., 1862. He
married second Valeria A. Babcock, of
Windham, Pa., daughter of Benjamin
Babcock. 30 April, 1864. She died U*
July, 1896, and he 17 Feb., 1892, at
Owego.
4. Anson Samuel Archibald, born
at Caldwell, N. Y., 11 June, 1810.
Married Adaline Ma:-on. daughter of
James Mason, of Kelloggsville, N. Y.,
22 Feb., 1828. She died 28 Jan.. 1887.
and he 25 Nov., 1891. Both died at
the old homestead.
5. Maria Baldwin Archibald, born
at Caldwell, X. Y., 27 June, 1812. Mar-
ried Ralph Manning, of Berkshire, X.
Y., 31 Jan.. 1849. He died 22 Sept..
1872, in Berkshire. She died in 1897.
at the home of her daughter, Mrs.
Mary l.abrec. at Big Foot. 111. Mr.
Manning was the father of Gurdon G.
.Manning, who was a dry goods mei--
chant in Owego.
The only son of James and Eliza-
beth (Chase) Archibald was Allan
Chase Archibald, bom 15 Jan., 1818.
at Caldwell, N. Y. He married Mary
A. Pinney, daughter of Joshua L.
Pinney, of Owego, in 1840. He
died in 1862 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and
she 29 Nov., 1892, at the home of her
daughter. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Cline, in
Wilmington, Del.
When James Archibald came to Owe-
go Richard Brown was conducting a
small tannery, mention of which has
been made in these articles. At that
305
time a man named Wicks was con-
ducting the tannery on the Huntington
creek, which tannery he subsequently
sold to Elihu Parmenter.
Samuel Archibald was a member of
the board of village trustees in 185S,
1859, 1868. and 1869. He was also a
commissioner of highways of the town
of Owego. He was a commissioned
officer in the state militia, serving as
lieutenant, captain, and major.
Samuel Babcock, who married Mar-
tha Archibald, was a blacksmith. He
came to Owego from Bolton, N. Y., in
1823. He lived on the west side of
North avenue, south of Temple street.
He owned three village lots. On one
of them was a blacksmith shop, on an
other a carriage shop, and between
them was his dwelling house. Samuel
and Martha (Archibald) Babcock had
four sons, Edward, George W., David,
and Alvah Babcock, and two daugh-
ters, Elizabeth and Emily Babcock.
Elizabeth Babcock was the first
wife of Albert A. Baker, a son cf
Lemuel Baker. He was a stone cutter
and went south to work on a contract
on the state capitol of Tennessee at
Nashville, and died at Huntsville,
Ala., July 25, 1901. He returned north
just before the breaking out of the
civil war and lived on a farm he had
purchased two miles south of Newark
Valley. From March, 1874, to Decem-
ber, 1877, he was engaged in the dry
goods business at Owego. He after
ward returned to Alabama, where he
engaged in the marble business. He
was a brother of James R. Baker, who
is still living at Owego.
Emily Babcock married Mr. Elliott,
of Alabama. Both the sisters died at
Huntsville.
306
George W. Babcock now lives at
Ithaca. He was for many years in the
charge of the repair shops of the Erie
railroad at Owego and later in charge
of the repair department of the
Geneva, Ithaca. & Sayre branch of the
Lehigh Valley railroad.
Alvah Babcock was a tinsmith. He
went to Huntsville, Ala., a short time
before the breaking out of the civil
war and served in the Confederate
army. He died at Huntsville in Octo-
ber, 1865. Edward Babcock also died
at Huntsville about three weeks after
Alvah's death.
CALDWELL ROW.
Mention has been made in these
|)apers of Caldwell Row. This was a
block of wooden buildings one and
one-half stories high and painted yel-
low. It extended on the north side of
Front street from Lake street to the
present Ahwaga house block. The
row was occupied as stores, shops,
and dwellings. The owner, James
Caldwell, who lived at Albany, was a
wealthy tobacconist. He invested
largely in lands in this part of the
state. He acquired this property in
.lanuary, 1797, by purchase from Win.
Rhodes and .lohu McGregor, New
York merchants. The purchase in-
cluded seven Owego town lots con-
taining about 1,108 acres and eight
other lots in the village of Owego, for
all of which he paid £800.
Three of ti.e village lots comprised
all the land on the north side of Main
street including the M. E. church
property and the lot on which the new
graded school building now stands
with all the land between them, in-
3n7
eluding the part through which Spen-
cer avenue now extends.
Another of these lots was the west
one-half of the present square bound-
ed by Lake, Main, Church, and Front
streets, and included the land oppo-
site on the south side of Front street
to the bank of the Susquehanna river.
Still another of these lots was at
the northeast corner of Front and
Church streets, now owned by F. C.
Hewitt and extended back to Main
street. All this property had been
originally owned by James McMaster,
who sold it to his brother, David Mc-
Master, from whom it was purchased
by Rhodes and McGregor.
Among Caldweirs other investments
in lands in southern New York was
the purchase in July, 1804, for $4,000
of nineteen village lots containing 1,936
acres in what is now the business part
of the city of Elmira. Mr. Caldwell
never lived at Owego, but came here
occasionally to look after his property.
He died in 1831, aged about 70 years.
The ground on which Caldwell
Row stood became the property of
Caldwell's daughter, Mrs. Stephen
Sewell, of Montreal, who sold it in
May, 1832, to James Ely, Jonathan
Piatt, and George Bacon. This piece
had a front of 128 feet on Lake street
and 115 on Front street. It was
divided by agreement, Ely taking the
lot on which Ahwaga hall now stands,
Piatt the lot now occupied by the Ti-
oga national bank and the store ad-
joining west of it, and Bacon the cor-
ner lot on which the Partridge drug
store stands. Mr. Bacon also received
in the division the part on the east
side of Lake street where the brick
308
front building now occupied by the
Owego national bank stands.
The lot between the Tioga national
bank and the corner drug store in
Front street was sold in September,
1832, to James W. Taylor and Nelson
B. Skeel, who erected thereon a three-
story wooden building, which was so
narrow and towered so high above all
the others that it was commonly
known as "the lighthouse" and "the
shot tower." John Carmichael bought
the bank lot, on which he built a
three-story brick store in 1835. The
"lighthouse" leaned on Mr. Car-
michael's property so that he had to
cut away the rafters to build his
walls. Dr. Jedediah Fay bought the
lot on which Ahwaga hall stands in
1835 and built a three-story building
thereon, with two stores, one of which
he occupied as a drug store.
Taylor & Skeel were tailors and
occupied their building as a tailor's
shop. Taylor removed to Ohio about
the year 1840. Skeel came here from
one of the eastern states and after re-
maining here a few years went west,
where he became captain of a Missis-
sippi river steamboat and died while
running a steamboat on that river.
VINE KINGSLEY.
Vine Klngsley, one of the earliest
settlers at Owego, came in 1790. He
married Esther Wright. At the first
election for officers of the town of
Owego on April 3, 1800, he was elected
to three offices— overseer of the poor,
poundmaster, and fence-viewer. The
offices of overseer of the poor and
fence-viewer he held by re-election
four years. He was also appointed a
justice of the peace. In 1805 he re-
309
moved to Scipio, N. Y., where he died
hi 1811. aged 44 years. He had three
.sons, .Tosiah Wright Kiiigsley, born in
1796 at Owego, and Elias and Eliada
Kingsley (twins), born about 180'>.
The three brothers removed to Perry,
Wyoming county, where .losiah W.
died in 1885 and Eliada in 1856.
ELIAS AND EBENEZER ALLEN.
Elias Allen was an early settler
here. He was a shoemaker, but did
not work at his trade, but dug wells
and built cellars. He lived on the
east side of North avenue adjoining
the Presbyterian church property.
His son, Ebenezer Allen, was also a
shoemaker. His shoe shop and resi-
dence, a small building one and one-
lialf stories high, was on the north side
of .Main street at the North avenue cor-
ner, then known as the Tinkham cor-
ner. In 1823 his shop was on the
south side of Front street, a little west
of Church street. Later he purchased
a lot near Leach's mills and built a
house there, and there he died Jan.
20, 1867, aged 73 years.
Mr. Allen was an expert river pilot
and made trips down the river with
rafts and arks during the rafting sea-
sons. He was many years bellringer
and sexton of the Presbyterian
church. He was also for many years
and until his death crier of the courts
of Tioga county. He was an expert
fisherman and owned the eel rack
which was in the Susquehanna river
opposite the mouth of the Owego
creek, which remained in use several
years after his death. One of his
daughters, Mary Ann Allen, was a
nurse and matron at St. Lake's hos-
pital in New York 32 years. She died
in that city Dec. 20. 1904. aged 80
310
years. Another daughter, Frances
Allen, became the wife of Watson L.
Hoskins, of Owego. She died July 5,
1905. at Owego, aged 74 years. A
third, Miss Adeline Allen, lived at La-
fayette, 111.
GEN. ISAAC B. OGDEN.
Gen. Isaac B. Ogden was a cabinet
maker. He was born in New Jersey
in 1805. His mother died when he
was very young and he was reared by
his grandmother, Mrs. Canfield, of
Smithboro. He learned his trade of a
cabinet maker at Owego. He after-
ward went to New York city, where
he spent several years, and upon his
return here he formed a partnershij)
in the cabinet making business with
Dana & Kingsley.
At that time all the furniture in use
was made by hand, and the demand
hereabouts was largely supplied by
his firm. In 1834 Mr. Ogden pur-
chased the interest of his partners in
the business, and the next year he
married Priscilla G. Goodman, daugh-
ter of Phili]) Goodman, who was for
several years landlord of various pub-
lic houses at Owego and an early
comer here.
Mr. Ogden 's cabinet shop stood on
the north side of Main street opposite
where the new Owego hotel now
stands. This cabinet shop was
burned Aug. 5, 1841. The fire burned
all the wooden buildings to the North
avenue corner, and up North avenue
to the old Tioga house, a hotel which
stood about where Sitorer, Carlson &
Berry's piano factory is now. This
fire burned Gen. Ogden's dwelling
house, which stood east of the cabi-
net shop, together with James Conk-
311
lin's wagon shop, and Gad Worthing-
ton's residence.
The cabinet shop was immediately
rebuilt on a larger scale. The new
manufactory was a large two-story
wooden building, painted red. which
stood on the north side of Main street
opposite where the new Owego hotel
now stands. The factory was in the
rear part. The front part, which was
used as a salesroom, was so large
that it was also used sometimes as a
Ijlace for holding public meetings and
for the performances of travelling
theatrical companies, etc.
There has of late been a craze in
these parts for collecting old furni-
ture, which after having been re-
paired and revarnished by a more
modern cabinet maker is made to do
new service in the parlors and sitting
rooms of our citizens. Much of this
stuff, which its happy possessors rank
with the masterpieces of Sheraton,
Chippendale, and Heppelwhite, was
turned out at Gen. Ogden's factories
and was the workmanship of Gideon
O. Chase, Abram B. Elston, Ossian E.
Dodge (afterward the principal singer
in his travelling concert company,
known as "Ossian's Bards," which
gave concerts throughout the coun-
try), and many other good workmen
of the time, whose names some of our
"oldest inhabitants" still remember.
This cabinet factory was also
burned in the night of February 16,
1854. This fire swept away all the
wooden stores and houses to the
North avenue comer. At the time of
this fire the factory was occupied by
J. L. Matson as a furniture store.
After Gen. Ogden's house in Main
street was burned he lived in a house
312
which still stands on the soutii side'
of the Susquehanna river and is the
seventh house east of the Court street
bridge.
Cen. Ogden was a public spirited
man, and was greatly interested in
the welfare and improvement of Owe-
go. He was a member of the village
board of trustees eleven years between
the years 1831 and 1849 and was
president of the village from 1S46 to
1849, inclusive. He was active in or-
ganizing the first hook and ladder
company in 1835. He died at Owego
April 14, 1868, aged 63 years.
Gen. Ogden's eldest sou, Rev.
Charles Ezra Ogden, was an Epis-
copal clergyman and preached at Bel-
lows Falls, Vermont. His daughter,
Mrs. .Jennie Locey removed to i.a-
Salle, 111.
ROx\IEO WOODFORD.
Romeo Woodford was one of the
earliest merchants in the hardware
and tinware trade at Owego. He
came here from Candor in 1814. He
was the father of Bissell and Romeo
Woodford, who were engaged in the
tame business several years.
They were descendants of Bissell
Woodford, of Farmington, Conn., a
soldier of the revolution, four of
whose sons removed to Tioga county
in 1S04. Chauncey, the eldest son.
and Ira Woodford settled at West
Candor. Cyrus settled in east Spen-
cer, where he died Nov. 6, 1878, aged
SO years. Romeo lived at Candor until
his removal to Owego. Chauncey
Woodford was a farmer. Bissell
Woodford, the father, came about the
year 1825 from Farmington to Can-
dor, where he died Sept. 3, 1835, aged
81 years.
313
]ra and Romeo Woodford were tin-
smiths. Romeo Woodfora carried on
the business at Owego and Ira at
West Candor. In. those days business
was conducted on an extensive scale
at many small country villages. At
West. Candor Ira Woodford's manu-
factory was a large one, and he sent
l)eddlers out with wagons all over the
country. The peddlers sold tinware
and whiplashes, taking in exchange
furs.
Aftej- the death of Romeo Woodford
at Owego, in 1819. his widow, Rhoda
(Hulburt) Woodford, removed to
West Candor with her two sons, Bis-
sell and Romeo Woodford, Jr., where
Bissell Woodford learned the tin-
smith's trade in his uncle's shop.
In the spring of 1838 Mrs. Woodford
and her sons returned to this village,
where Ira Woodford opened a branch
of his West Candor manufactory in
company with Bissell Woodford.
Their shop was the first building be-
low the bridge in Front street. Soon
afterward the Owego business passed
into the hands of the brothers, Bissell
and Romeo Woodford. In July, 1839,
they removed into the. brick store
which had been occupied by L. Tru-
man & Bros., in Lake street where the
First national bank now stands. They
increased the business rapidly, and
carried the largest stock of any tin-
ware establishment in this part of the
country. At the time of the great fire
of September, 1849, their store was
burned.
After the fire the brothers con-
tracted with John R. Drake for the
purchase of the Rollin block property
at the northwest corner of Lake and
Front streets. This lot extended 54
314
feet west on Front street to Dr. E. B.
Phelps's property and 94 feet north
on Lake street to l>orenzo Reeves's
store. The brothers built thereon the
four-story building that now stands
there, and which they occupied as a
hardware and tin store, ihe firm of
R. Woodford & Co. conducted the
store until May, 1855, when the
brothers sold it to Storrs & Chatfield
and retired from business.
Ira Woodford, who was known as
Captain Woodford, was in 1821 ap-
pointed lieutenant of a company in
the 199th regiment of infantry, which
was organized that year from a part
of the 95th regiment, and was later
Ijromoted to captain.
The elder Romeo Woodford's first
wife was Mary Gridley, of Candor.
His second wife was Rhoda Hulburt.
Bissell Woodford, the eldest of the
two sons of Romeo and Rhoda (Hul-
burt) Woodford, was born 23 Oct.,
1816, at Owego. He married Mandana
Fortner, daughter of Lewis Fortner,
of Danby, 15 Oct., 1845. He died 19
May, 1897, at Owego and she 29
March, 1891.
Romeo Woodford was born 3 Jan.,
1820, at Owego. He married Eliza-
beth Martin, daughter of Col. Amos
Martin, of Owego, 6 Aug., 1846. She
died 30 Jan.. 1850. at Owego. He
married second Augusta E. Sackett,
daughter of Richard H. Sackett, of
Catatonk. He died 8 July, 1856, at
Owego. and she Dec, 1855.
Bissell Woodford was a member of
the board of trustees of the village of
Owego in 1848. 1852, and 1857.
315
JOHN DODD.
John Dodd was a carriage maker,
born July 29, 1782. He lived at New
Haven, Connecticut, and removed
thence to Goshen, N. Y., in ISIO. He
came to Owego in 1829 and lived here
all the rest of his life. His carriage
shop was on the west side of North
avenue, and the house in which he
lived was further up the same street,
opposite Chestnut street. The house
still stands there, but it was recon-
structed after his death by elevating
it and building a basement beneath
it.
Mr. Dodd lived an uneventful life
here and died Sej)t. 3, 1854. He mar-
ried Susan Potter, who was bom
March 1, 1785. She survived him
twenty years, and died here Dec. 17,
1874. The children of John and Susau
(Potter) Dodd were as follows:
1. Hannah Dodd, born 24 Dec,
1804. at New Haven, Conn. Died 8
Jan., 1805.
2. Maria Dodd, born 3 Feb., 1806,
at New Haven. Died 16 March, 1861,
at Owego. Unmarried.
3. John S. Dodd, born 11 Sept..
1808, at New Haven. Married Lucy
Hatch in 1831. He died 21 Feb., 1870,
at Ithaca, N. Y.
4. Caroline Dodd , born 20 Oct.,
1810, at New Haven. Died 30 Aug.,
1884, at Owego. Unmarried.
5. Edward D. Dodd, born 11 Jan.,
1813, at Goshen, N. Y. Married Sarah
A. Lacey, of Laceyville, Pa., 2 Feb.,
1840. He died 1 Sept., 1894, at El-
mira, N. Y., and she 18 Jan., 1908,
also at Elmira.
6. Jane Dodd, born 20 Aug., 1815,
at Goshen. Married Otis W. Liver-
more, of Owego, 7 Nov., 1853. She
died 17 Oct., 1900, in Athens town-
ship. Pa., and he 21 March, 1895, at
Owego.
7. William Dodd,born 24 Sept,1818,
316
at Goshen. Died 26 July, 1839, at
Owego.
8. Thomas A. Dodd, born 2 March,
1822, at Goshen. Married Harriet E.
Freeman, of Goshen, 2 Oct., 1851. He
died 18 Jan., 1900, at Owego, and she
died at Elnilra.
9. Louise L. Dodd, born 16 April,
1825, at Goshen. Married Dr. Elias
W. Seymour, of Owego, in Oct., 1850.
He died 26 June, 1893, at Owego, and
she 26 Feb., 1900.
10. George A. Dodd, born 12 May.
1827, at Gosheti. Married Sarah
Searles, of Owego. 23 Nov., 1848. He
died 14 Jan., 1864, at Owego, and she
23 June, 1908.
Edward D. Dodd was an iron
moulder. He removed to Laceyville,
Pa., in 1840, aod thence to Elmira.
Thomas A. Dodd was from 1849 to
1 867 a conductor on the New York &
Erie railroad.
Elias W. Seymour was born at
Windsor, N. Y., Feb. 7, 1823. His
father, judge William Seymour, was
a prominent man in Broome county
and was a brother of governor Hora-
tio Seymour. William Seymour was
a lawyer. He was appointed first
judge of Broome county in 1833 and
was elected to congress in 1834. Elias
VV. Seymour came to Owego when IS
years of age. He studied medicine in
1866 and began practice in 1870. He
died June 26, 1881, at Owego.
ABRAHAM GREEK.
Another of the early residents of
North avenue was Abraham Greek.
He and captain Sylvenus Fox were
"bound boys" and were brought here
by p:iizur Talcott and his sons
from Glastonbury, Conn., in 1803.
Both learned and worked at the car-
penter's trade. Capt. Fox bought the
lot at the southeast corner of Fox
street and North avenue and built a
317
house thereon, in which he lived the
rest of his life. Mr. Greek bought
land on the west side of North ave-
nue, a little south of Fox street and
Ijuilt thereon two houses and lived in
one of them imtil he died March 14,
1S62.
Mr. Greek's wife, Mrs. Harriet
Greek, was an eccentric woman
whose vocabulary was more extensive
and comprehensive than accurate.
She was a combination of Smolletfs
Tabitha Bramble, Sheridan's Mrs.
Malaprop, and Shillaber'g Mrs. Part-
ington, and her sayings created much
amusement for her neighbors. She
once described an iron safe as a
"bugle proof safe with a revolt in
it," and she expressed her opinion
pretty emphatically of some of the
good people of the village who were
outside of her social circle as 'put-
ting on altogether too much codfish
aristocracy." To a neighbor this
cheerful old lady once said that she
had always had a "resentment" that
she would "die in a prance." but her
presentiment proved to be unfounded
in anything but vague surmise, for
instead of lingering in a trance she
passed away suddenly on the 23d of
December, 1863, at the not very ad-
vanced age of 60 years.
ISAAC IJLLIE.
Isaac Lillie, a school teacher and
civil engineer, came to Owego in 1814.
His father, Abraham Lillie, came at
an early day from England to Boston.
Mass., and engaged in ship building.
Isaac Lillie was born at Scotland,
Windham county, Conn., Oct. 19, 1788.
He lived at one time at Butternuts.
Otsego county, N. Y., and later at
Montrose, Pa.
31S
After coming to Owego Mr. Li Hie
surveyed much of the land in Coxe's
patent. He taught school several
years in the old school house which
stood on the south side of Main street,
near where the rectory of St. Paul's
ahurch now stands. When the Owego
academy was built in 1828, he was
asked to take charge of the school as
principal, but declined to do so. He
was much interested in the cause of
temperance and the abolition of
slavery, and he co-operated in forming
the first anti-slavery society in Tioga
county in 1839. As a surveyor he was
naturally conversant with land values
and was elected an assessor of the
town of Owego in 1851 and 1854.
Mr. Lillie was twice married. Of
his first wife we have no record. His
second wife was Rachel Nealy. She
was a daughter of .John Nealy, who
came to Owego in April, 1785, with
James and Robert McMaster and
William Woods from Florida, N. Y.
Her brother, David Nealy, is said to
liave been the second white child born
in Owego. He died March 8. 1871.
aged 78 years.
Mr. Lillie lived during the last
twenty years of his life in a house
which stood on the north side of Front
street, east of William street. He
purchased the property in April, 183:;.
from John Mack, of the town of
IHysses, Tompkins county. After his
death this property, together with the
drug store building at the northeast
corner of Front and Lake streets.
passed into possession of his daugh-
ter, Mrs. Deming. The dwelling house
in west Front street was subsequently
torn down and in its place she built
319
the house now owned and occupied by
John Jones.
Mrs. Lillie died at Owego Feb. 2,
1849, aged 54 years. Mr. I^illie died
Sept. 23, 1854.
The children of Mr. Lillie and his
first wife were Susan Lillie, who mar-
ried Mr. Muar and lived at Scottsville,
N. Y., and John Hoyt Lillie, who was
born 13 April, 1813, at Montrose, Pa.,
and married Charlotte B. Curtis, of
Montrose. She died at Rochester, N.
Y., and he 30 March, 1903, at Los-
Angeles, Cal.
The children of Isaac and Rachel
(Nealy) Lillie were as follows:
1. Sarah Lulie, born 4 Jan., 1827,
at Owego. Died 4 July, 1838.
2. Catherine B. Lillie, born 4 Oct.,
1828, at Owego. Married Horace R.
Ueming 18 Sept., 1858, at Owego. He
died 7 April, 1882, at Waterbury,
Conn.
3. James Edward Lillie, born 11
Sept., 1833, at Owego. Married Lucy
Ketchum, of Corning. He died 27
May, 1901, at Washington, D. C.
James Edward Lillie was a ma-
chinist. He lived at Corning, N. Y.,
and at Susquehanna, Pa., and was
later and for many years employed in
the government machine shops in the
ordnance department at Washington,
D. C, in which city he died May 28,
1901.
Catherine B. Lillie married Horace
R. Deming, of Owego, and still lives
in this village. Mr. Deming was born
May 1, 1829, at Bennington, Vt. He
came to Owego in 1843 and learned
the tinner's trade. He was for many
years engaged in the hardware and tin
business with various partners, and
was afterward in the grocery business
with Michael Bergin. Later he con-
ducted a wholesale butter and cheese
320
business in Xew Haven, Conn., and
still later he engaged in the same
business in Newark, N. J. He died
April 7, 1882, at Waterbury, Conn.,
where he was conducting a wholesale
flour, grain, hay, and butter business.
Dr. .John Hoyt Lillie had a some-
what remarkable career. In May.
1832, he accompanied an uncle on a
trip to Illinois, which was then in the
•far west." He volunteered to take
the census of Chicago, and did so, the
tnumeration showing the population
to be 1,650 people. Later he returned
to Owego, where he remained until
is;jii.
Mr. Lillie was a man of great in-
genuity, and had learned the trade of
a watchmaker. In 1839 he built a
steamboat, the second one ever con-
structed at this village. In the fall of
that year he and Gilbert Forsyth, with
their families, started down the river
in the boat, intending to go to Cincin-
nati, Ohio. The boat was wrecked
near Wyso.x, Pa., and the rest of the
journey was made overland. In Cin-
cinnati Mr. Lillie studied medicine
and obtained a physician's license to
practise.
In 1841 he settled at Joliet, 111. He
had become interested in the study of
electricity, and he built a circular
railroad, twelve feet in diameter, on
which a miniature locomotive, de-
signed by him, was driven by elec-
tricity. In order to obtain money with
which to patent his invention, he ex-
hibited his model and delivered public
lectures. At Peoria he attracted the
attention of senator Thomas H. Ben-
ton, of Missouri, who gave him letters
to Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian in-
stiute, and other prominent men in
321
Washington, who assisted him finan-
cially.
In 1S50 Dr. Lillie obtained his first
1 latent for the first electric motor, but
not without some difficulty. An oflficer
in the patent office tried to steal Dr.
I.illie's claim to the invention, and he
might have succeeded had not Prof.
Henry made dire threats of exposure
and disgrace.
In order to raise money with which
to develop his invention toward the
point of commercial value, Dr. Lillie
engaged in further lecturing tours, in
one of which he met P. T. Barnum,
the showman, who paid him $250 for a
model of the new motor for exhibition
in Barnum's New York museum. This
proved unfortunate for the inventor,
as the public looked upon the model in
the museum more as a freak toy than
as the beginning of immeasurable
commercial achievements.
Dr. Lillie's circular electric railroad
was exhibited by the inventor at his
old home in Owego in 1851. His lec-
ture was delivered in Patch's hall,
which occupied the third story of a
brick block on the west side of Lake
street, where the Chamberlain block
now stands.
On a wooden framework, suppoi'ted
by posts about four feet high and
standing on the floor Dr. Lillie had
constructed a circular track of two
continuous rails in the form of a large
hoop, twelve feet in diameter
over which a miniature four-wheeled
truck was run. On this truck was a
galvanic battery and a combination of
wheels. Electric power was applied
by the battery to the wheels causing
them to revolve, sending the cars
round and round on the circular track.
In 1850 Dr. Lillie removed to Hor-
nellsville, N. Y., where he continued
his experiments. In 1860 he travelled
through the country exhibiting Miss
I3ollie Button, a dwarf, and in 1863, he
travelled giving exhibitions of nitrous
oxide, or laughing gas. In 1868 he
removed from Rochester to San Fran-
cisco, Cal., and thence in 1873 to
Santa Rosa. In 1876 he conducted a
car of tourists to the centennial ex-
position at Philadelphia and in 1878
and again in 1886 he visited Europe.
Upon his return in the latter year he
became a resident of Los Angeles,
where he lived until his death.
When he settled in Los Angeles he
possessed only a modest competence,
b\it this he judiciously invested in the
business of buying and selling real
estate, until at the time of his death
he had amassed a fortune of $250,000.
Ur. Lillie's death was the result of
an accident. In the night of March
2G, 1903, he inadvertently stepi)ed off
the back porch of his house and
I)lunged six feet to the flagging. His
skull was fractured and he died four
days afterward on March 30.
.lOSEPH OGDEN.
.I()sei)h Ogden. whose sons, Jehial
Walter, and Charles Ogden, were gun-
smiths, came to Owego from Orange
county, N. Y., about the year 1810,
driving the entire distance with a
team, and settled on a farm three
miles east of this village, known as
the John Camp farm. Several years
later he removed to Owego and
worked as a stone mason and also as
a watch repairer.
It may seem a little singular in
these days but two trades so entirely
323
different — one requiring patience and
skill and the other strength and en-
durance — should have been learned
l).v the same man. The explanations
is simple. There was not sufficient
work in small communties in those
days to keep a man employed at one
trade all the year round, and while
mason work was readily obtained in
the summer season, masons were idle
in winter, so two trades were learned
by one man. in order that he could be
employed at one while there was no
employment to be had at the other.
His eldest son, Jehial Ogden,
learned the trade of a gunsmith hi
Col. Henry McCormick's gun shop,
and became foreman of the shop.
Walter Ogden was born on the farm
Dec. 2, 1819, and was fifteen years of
age when he became an apprentice to
learn the trade in Col. McCormick's
shop. In 1837 Jehial Ogden built a
gun shop at the northwest corner of
Main and Liberty streets where St-
Paul's Episcopal church now stands,
and he and Walter Ogden conducted
the business there until April, 1839,
when Walter Ogden bought the lot on
the west side of North avenue on
which the brick store owned by Geo.
Snyder and the two stores adjoining
it at the north now stand, and built
thereon a gun shop. In 1848 Charles
Ogden became a partner in the busi-
ness. Several years afterward they
purchased of Charles Talcott the
brick store now occupied by L. T.
Stanbrough's plumbing store opposite
the Ahwaga house in Front street,
where- they conducted a gun shop and
variety store.
Charles Ogden died Dec. (!, 1868,
aged 46 years. Walter Ogden died
324
Feb. 23, 1879, aged 59 years. Jehial
Ogden died Feb. 21. 1S80, aged 68
years.
Joseph Ogden had three daughters.
Rebecca Ogden died July 20, 1880.
aged 58 years, and unmarried. Sarah
Ogden married John Gardiner. Selina
Ogden married Ambrose Townsend.
Mr. Townsend was a carpenter. He
was born Sept. 27, 1810, in the town
of Burn, Dutchess county, N. Y., and
died in Owego April 17, 1859. His
wife died June 21, 1876, aged 62 years.
Mr. Townsend built the house on the
north side of Main street, the fifth
house east of Paige street, which was
owned by Thomas A. Dodd after his
death and is now owned by Mrs. Mary
Chesbro.
Joseph Ogden died Sept. 19, 1855, at
Owego, aged 63 years. His wife,
Sarah Ogden, died Jan. 10, 1864. aged
75 years.
FRANCIS ARMSTRONG.
Francis Armstrong was born at
Florida, Orange county, N. Y., Dec. 4.
1788. In February, 1821, he came to
the town of Newark Valley, where he
purchased a farm, near the Owego
town line and where he followed farm-
ing seven years. In 1829 he came to
Owego to take the office of deputy
sheriff under Col. Henry McCormick.
At that time Tioga and Chemung were
half-shire counties, and one sheriff
was elected for both counties. Mr.
Armstrong lived in the old court
house at the southeast corner of Main
and Court streets, which building was
occupied as a sheriff's residence and
jail on the first floor, and as a court
room on the second floor. Here Mr.
Armstrong lived nine years as deputy
325
under Col. McCormick and Col. Mc-
Cormick's successors In office. In
1830 he was elected a justice of the
Ijeaceand served eight years. His first
wife was Elysiaii Poppino, who died
in Newark Valley, in 1821. His sec-
ond wife was her sister, Huldah Poii-
pino. They were married Jan. 1'),
1823. Mr. Armstrong's children were
Rev. Anizi Armstrong, who was pas-
tor of the Presbyterian church of
Dutch Neck, N. J.; Francis Arm-
strong, who was a bookkeeper and
who lives in Pittsburg, Pa.; Mrs. Han-
nah Inslee and Mrs. Harriet Eaton,
who removed to Washington, D. C:
Mrs. Elysian Fassett, who removed to
Rockwood, Minn., and Mrs. James H.
Board, who removed to Canaseraga,
N. Y. Mr. Armstrong died Nov. 26,
1881.
Daniel Armstrong also came to
Owego from Orange county, where he
was born. In early life he was a
school teacher and later a bookkeeper
and accountant. He died at Owego
Jan. 25, ISSG, aged 79 years.
James Conklin and his sons, wagon
makers, were early residents here.
They came from Orange county, N.
Y., in 1820. He died at Owego Jan.
(>, 1855, aged 92 years.
One of his sons was Jacob Conklin,
whose wagon shoji was for several
\ears on the southwest corner of Main
and Park streets. In 1837 Francis
Armstrong purchased the property,
turned the building partly around and
converted it into a dwelling house. It
was afterward owned and occupied
several years by Charles C. Thomas
and is now the i)roi)erty of Mrs. C. R.
Heaton.
326
The wagon shop of another son,
James Conklin, Jr., was on the north
side of Main street, a little east of
North avenue, and it was burned with
several other buildings Aug. 5, 1841.
He died here Sept. 24, 1865, aged 65
years.
James Conklin lived on the west
side of Church street, between Main
and Temple streets. This street was
for many years a small lane.
Asa Dearborn was a shoemaker.
He removed from Candor to Owego in
1S26 and worked at his trade here un-
til his death. He died May 23, 1873,
aged 73 years. His wife, Pluma
Dearborn, died Jan. 3, 1873, aged 78
years.
This concludes the sketches of the
early residents of Owego and they in-
clude those only who came here pre-
vious to 1830. Had it been considered
expedient to extend them over a later
period they would have included Dr.
Lucius H. Allen, judge Alanson Mun-
ger. Dr. Hiram N. Eastman, Col. Na-
thaniel W. Davis, Henry N. Hubbard,
.Joshua L. Pinney, Franklin Slosson.
Timothy P. Patch, James and John W.
I/Amoureux, Arba Campbell, Thomas
I. and John R. Chatfield, Dr. John
Frank, and many others who came
here subsequent to that year.
Some Account of John Gee, Who
Fought nearly Seven Years in the
Revolutionary War and Came to
Owego with Gen. Clinton's Army in
1779 and afterward Fought in the
Battle of Newtown, Dying Several
Years Later on a Farm in the Town
of Barton When Past Ninety-two
Years of Age.
Among the papers of Judge Charles
P. Avery, now owned by the Wiscon-
sin state historical society, is an in-
terview with John Gee, a revolution-
ary soldier who came to Owego in
1779 with Gen. Clinton's army, and
who died many years later in the
town of Barton. Mr. Gee"s statement
as as follows:
JOHN GEES STATEMENT.
June 8, 1853.
John Gee in his 91st year. Served
in revolutionary war. Entered the
army at Ft. Montgomery (near An-
thony's Nose) the year Burgoyne was
taken, then in his 15th year.
1 was with Gen'l. Clinton's right
wing of the army. I was at Otsego
lake when the dam was made. Part
of us went by land down the river,
and part in isateaux. We laid still
awhile at Oquaga, some hours, till
the boats came along. From there
some of us went across the country,
and not around the "bend." An
Oneida Indian was our guide. There
were the hills where the corn had
grown at Owego, and Oquaga and
Choconut.
We made the junction with Sullivan
at Tioga Point. Gen'l. Clinton came
with the boats. We met Gen'l. Poor
at Choconut.
I was in the battle atNewtown under
Gen'l. Clinton, belonged to the right
wing, ascended the hill, and drove
the enemy from that quarter. The
next morning took a vote in the army
to go on with half allowance. We de-
cided to go on. At Catharine's Town
32S
Indians had fires there all burning-.
iic... destroyed their huts. Squaw
Catharine with a young squaw 14 or
15 years old was there.
I lived in Orange county after waj".
There was a clearing at Owego.
farge trees scattered around, but used
as corn g^round. Some huts, &c.,
there.
[ was at Yorktown at Coniwallis's
surrende?-.
I was bona at Peekskill, N. Y., in
the year 1763, 13th Jan'y. Saw Wash-
ington frequently.
Large trees along the bank at Owe-
^o. Extensive corn plains at Tioga
Point, Oquaga, Owego, and Choconut.
John Gee was a soldier in the
Fourth regiment of infantry com-
manded by Lieut. -Col. Frederick Weis-
senfels in Gen. James Clinton's New
York brigade of 1,500 men, which
came to Owego August 17, 1779. Join-
ing Sullivan's army of 3,500 men the
combined forces marched from Tioga
Point to Newtown (Elmira), where on
Aug. 29 they fought and defeated the
British and Indian forces numbering
1,500 men under Butler and Brant.
Mr. Gee was with Clinton's right
wing, which ascended the hill upon
the right of their centre, dislodging
the Indians, who were there contest-
ing every inch of ground under
Brant" leadership. The severest of
the engagement was along these
heights, where Brant had taken his
l)Osition, and here Mr. Gee was in the
thickest of the fight. He was after-
ward a participant in the engage-
ments which ended with the surren-
der of Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown.
He served in the army seven years
lacking only one month.
In 1795 Mr. Gee drew lot No. 21 in
the military tract, just north of Owe-
go hill in the town of Harford, Cort-
329
land county, and settled thereon. He
came there with two other men from
Chenango Point (now Binghamton),
guided by marked trees. They cut
down the trees on a small spot and
built a little log house about 12 by 16
feet in size, with only an axe, without
a board, a nail, or a pane of glass, and
returned whence they came. The
next year Mr. Gee removed his fam-
ily, consisting of his parents, his wife,
and six children, from Wyoming, ar-
riving .Tune 17, to live in this small
building.
One of his sons, John Gee, Jr., af-
terward settled in the town of Rich-
ford, where some of his descendants
are still living. He later in life re-
moved to the town of Barton, where
he died. Judge Avery mentions him
in his Susquehanna Valley papers
(St.- Nicholas, page 381) as "living in
a remote part of this town, westerly
from Halsey Valley, in the 92d year
of his age."
The state military records show
that John Gee was at different times
a member of Col. Philip Van Cort-
landt's Second regiment, of Col. James
Holmes's Fourth regiment, of Col.
Lewis DuBoys's Fifth regiment, of the
Dutchess county militia (regiment of
minute men), commanded by Col.
Jacobus Swartwout, and of the Fourth
Ulster county militia, commanded by
Col. Johannes Hardenburgh in 177.5-
1782.
The name of Jno. Gee again appears
in the list of members of the Second
regiment of Dutchess county militia.
Col. Abraham Brinkerhoff.
The name of John Gee also appears
in the list of persons suspected of be-
330
iiig torics. airJ also in the list of those
whose estates were confiscated by the
govtrnment. (See New York in the
Revolution Supplement, pages 231 and
255.) There may have been more
than one man in the continental army
named John Gee.
Some Account of the First Grist Mills
Guilt at Owego by Col. David Pix-
ley, Thomas Matson, Jr., and
Charles Frederick and Robert
Charles Johnson.
It is related in judge Avery's "Sus-
quehanna Valley" papers that in
Aiiril, 1785, James and Robert Mc-
Master, John Nealy, and William
Woods, with William Taylor, a bound
l)oy, who were the first of the white
men to settle here, came to Owego.
They planted ten acres of corn on the
fiats, north of where the Erie railroad
now runs. After it was harvested in
the fall "it was gathered and taken.
I)y boat loads to Tioga Point and se-
curely cribbed." As soon as it was
thus secured the party set out on their
return to their "winter quarters" in
the valley of the Mohawk.
To transport this corn down the
Susquehanna river dead pine trees
were cut. on the bank of the Owego
creek and felled into the water, where
they were bound together with withes,
forming a raft.
On this the corn was floated down
the river and finally taken to the
nearest mill, at Wilkes-Barre, to be
ground.
The first grist mill built in this part
of the state, according to Wilkinson's
"Annals of Binghamton," was built on
331
Fitch's creek, tour miles above Bing-
hamton. in the present town of Kirk-
wood. This creek took its name from
Jonathan Fitch, an early settler there,
who was the first representative of
Tioga count.y in the state legislature,
in 1792. He came from Wyoming,
Pa., when the troubles which resulted
in the massacre commenced, where he
had been a merchant and high sheriff
of Westmoreland county.
The pioneers at Owego found no
mill nearer than Wilkes-Barre, which
they reached by canoes, until Fitch's
mill was built in 1792. The same year
a mill was built at Milltown. In 179:'.
Col. David Pixley built a mill near
this village, the first one erected here.
Among the Avery papers in the Wis-
consin state historical society's col-
lection is a "statement and narrative"
of Laurence Merriam, taken l)y Guy
Hinchman Avery, judge Avery":;
brother. Merriam settled three miles
above Union. Merriam s^ays, among
other things:
"We' were very much straighten* d
for food when we first came into the
country; have ground corn all night
in order to have something for break-
fast: used wooden trenchers and
wooden forks; had to go in canoes
down to Shepard's mill for grist. The
first grist mill that was built in the
country was built up the Squires
creek, four miles above Binghamton.
It ran only in high water."
This was doubtless the Fitcli mill.
The Pixley mill stood on the we;;t
bank of the Owego creek, near the
Indian spring, and about forty rods
above the present Main street bridge.
It was built of logs. To get to it
from the village it was necessary to
ford the creek. The old mill stood
332
close under the bank, and the tail
race ran close at the base of Vesper
cliff. The entire course of the creek
has been changed by the floods of many
years, and in some places where the
old stream ran are now stones, grass,
and weeds. Until a few years ago
remains of the flume could be seen,
some of the timbers sticking out of
the bank, showing where they had
been cut and joined together. The
old flume was just east of the Indian
spring.
This spring was a peculiar one, and
was one which was resorted to by
the Indians. The water never freezes
and preserves tne same temperature
all the year round. It still contains
water, but is in a neglected condi-
tion, used only for the watering of
cattle. Before the springs were made
dry by the clearing away of the
woods, the water from this spring
used to flow down to the south side
of the old dam into the creek, or
what w^as known as the old race.
The water in the spring is very cold.
On the high ground south of the
spring have been found many arrow
heads, hatchets, etc., from which it is
inferred that the Indians were accus-
tomed to camp there. From the mill
the road extended west up a slight
rise of ground to Col. Pixley's house,
known for many years as the Pixley
tavern, which house still stands there
— the only one of the old houses now
remaining in the town of Tioga.
This house was built by Col. Pixley
in 1791. The course of the old road
from the mill to the house may still
be seen. It has been for many years
only a cow path. The bed of an old
creek runs along the road on the north
side. This creek lias been dry tor
many years. It rises from springs in
tlie woods nortli of Glenmary on tlie
old Ephraim Leacli property. Tlie
Pixley mill was washed away by high
water in 1824 or 1825.
There was another grist mill at an
early day further down the Owego
creek. In September, 1801, when
Thomas Matson, .Jr., purchased of
various owners a large amount of land
on both sides of the creek north and
south of where Maiji street now ex-
tends, a saw mill and grist mill are
mentioned in two of the deeds from
Col. Pixley and Ashbel Wells to Mat-
son as being on the east side of the
creek and "standing in the meadow,
near the mouth of the Owego creek,
formerly held in .ioint ownership with
James McMaster."
Thomas Matson, .Jr., came to Owego
from Simsbury, Conn. He had three
sons, William, George, and Reuben
Matson. A daughter, Rachel Matson,
n^arried Daniel Goodale and lived in
East Hartford, Conn. Another daugh-
ter, Ruth Matson, married James
Buck, of the town of Chatham, Middle-
sex county, Conn. Still another daugh-
ter, Fanny Matson. died at Owego
May 4. 1811.
Thomas Matson, Jr.. built a grist
mill in Canawana. It stood about
half way between the Owego cretk
and the present hydraulic canal, or
race, which supplies the electric light
works with water power. It stood on
the south side of the street now
known as Main street, but then known
as "the lake road."
Col. Wm. Ransom, of Tioga Centre.
once informed the writer that the Mat-
son mill was built when he was five or
334
six years of age. As Col. Ransom
was born in 1801, the date must have
been 1806 or 1807. The mill was built
of hewed logs and had but one run of
stone. It was one story high and open
to the roof, with no loft. An iron
screen was suspended above the hop-
per and the miller went up on a lad-
der and poured wheat in, to screen it.
Traces of the old race which sup-
plied the mill with water can still be
seen, although almost obliterated by
the floods of many years, and where
it crossed the street the highway was
filled in and raised several years ago.
After the property was sold to Charles
Frederick and Robert Charles John-
son, in the spring of 1833, the mill
was converted into a plaster mill and
it was burned in March, 1838. The
plaster mill was afterward rebuilt.
When the Matsons came here they
bought about 400 acres of land on the
west side of the Owego creek and
lived thereon in log houses. As they
accumulated money they tore down
these houses and built better ones,
framed from sawed lumber. George
Matson lived west of the Owego creek
where the Meadowbank farm house
stands, which house was for many
years the residence of Charles Frede-
rick .Johnson. Reuben Matson lived
on the north side of the road. His
house stood near the highway and was
just west of the present gate to the en-
trance of the "Vesper Cliff" grounds.
The house was afterward moved back
and was made a part of the large
house built on the place by Robert
Charles Johnson. Wm. Matson lived
west of his brother, Reuben's, house,
in the farm house which still stands
there.
335
West of the Matson grist mill was a
pond known as Matson's pond, which
extended nearly to the creek. It was
crossed by a wooden bridge, sixty or
seventy feet long. This pond was sub-
sequently filled with earth by the
Johnsons.
When the hill west of the creek was
cut through to extend Main street
west up the hill into the town of
Tioga, to make the ascent easier, a
large quantity of human bones was
dug up. This part of an Indian bury-
dug up. This was part of an Indian
burying ground. Of this ground
.Judge Avery says:
"An Indian burying ground extended
along the brow of the cliff, on the
westerly bank of the Owego creek
upon the homestead premises of
Messrs. J. Piatt and C. F. Johnson. It
was a favorite burial place. Mr.
Whitaker narrates that upon the death
of Ka-nau-kwis .... he was
brought to this place. Where he died
she does not state, but Mrs. Williams
recollects to have heard her father
[Amos Draper] say that he received
his death wound at Tioga Point. His
remains must therefore have been
transported from that place to this
favorite spot of interment, a distance
of twenty-one miles. Although many
Indian graves have been found upon
the site of Owego, no indications have
been there exhibited of an appropria-
tion so exclusive for Indian burial in
its ordinary mode, as the extended
brow of this cliff."
Thomas Matson, Jr., died March 12,
1818, aged 73 years. His wife, Abiah
Matson, died Dec. 26, 1820, aged 72
years. Their bodies were buried in
the Tioga cemetery.
After Thomas Matson's death the
property all passed into the hands of
the three sons, George, Reuben, and
William Matson. In May, 1833, they
.v>6
sold all their ijroperty on both sides?
of the Owego creek to Charles Frede-
rick Johnson and his cousin, Robert
Charles Johnson, and removed to Con-
neannt, Ohio.
Robert Charles' Johnson was born at
Stratford, Conn., and came to Owego
Feb. 27. ISoC. He was a lawyer and
became the law partner of Thomas
Farrington. Charles Frederick John-
son also came from Stratford. In
May, 1833, they purchased of the Mat-
son brothers the land between the
Owego creek and the present mill race
of the electric light company's work
on both sides of Main street, and
much land on both sides of the same
street on the west side of the creek.
The Matson mill was afterward con-
verted into a plaster mill and con-
ducted by Charles Frederick Johnson.
The cousins built a larger gi-ist mill
on the ground where the electric light
company's power house now stands
and in the summer of 1833 built the
hydraulic canal, seven-eighths of a
mile long, to supply it with water
|)()Wer.
The year previous to the building of
this canal had been a cold season and
the corn crop was killed. Everybody
was in a semi-starving condition, and
the building of the canal was a God-
send to many of the farmers. Two or
three hundred of them were employed
in digging the ditch and building the
dam and mill. Money was paid for
the work on the spot. Shanties were
erected along the work, in which the
men slept, and in some of them their
wives cooked their meals. Stables
were also erected to house the teams
employed on the work.
Corn was selling at $1.25 a bushel,
and the price advanced to about $2.
Wheat sold at $2 a bushel. Rice could
be bought for 8 and 9 cents a pound
and was used largely by the people,
on account of the scarcity and high
price of grain. Silver change was also
scarce, and Robert Charles Johnson
and the Trunians issued "shinplaster"
currency, which was circulated in
making change.
The Johnson cousins built in addi-
tion to the grist mill a large sawmill
at the foot of the race, near the Sus-
quehanna river. This sawmill had
four upright saws and three circu-
lar saws and was considered then
one of the best ones in the state, but
it would be looked upon at the present
day as a rather old fogy affair. The
machinery for the mill was made in
New York city and transported to
Binghamton by canal, and thence by
teams to Owego. This mill was
burned.
In the days of the Matsons the
country was covered with woods.
Every available place along the creeks
was selected as a site for a saw mill.
No lath was made at that time and
the slabs were thrown into the creek,
where they floated ashore further
down the stream and were gathered
by people living there and used for
firewood.
The Johnsons contemplated the
building up of a manufacturing centre
in Canawana, and to that end estab-
lished various manufacturing inter-
ests there. On the west bank of the
canal was a sheepskin tannery con-
ducted by Arba Campbell and Thomas
I. Chatfield. This tannery was burned
in December, 1860. Another tannery
338
was built on the same site, and it was
also burned in December, 1879.
On the west bank of the canal, sev-
eral rods north of Main street, was an
axe factory. There were also a pail
and tub factory, which was afterward
converted into a wooden match box
factory; a shoemaker's last factory,
conducted by John Camp and Ezekiel
Noble; a clock factory, Tinkham &
Blanchard's soap factory, Daniel
Ruggs's match factory, John G. Crane's
wool and carding mill; Warren Kim-
ball's carpet weaving looms, and other
industries.
At the corner of Main and Division
streets Robert Charles Johnson built
a store in the fall of 1838. This store
was kept at various times by Frede-
rick E. Piatt, E. W. Warner, and
others. It was afterward converted
into a tavern and was burned in 1868.
East of this was another store known
as the "Indian Spring grocery," which
was also burned. Between this store
and the canal were two houses occu-
pied by the millers and their families,
which houses are still standing.
The failure of the manufacturing
project was largely owing to the
gradual decrease in the water supply,
owing to the country being cleared of
Its woods.
Charles Frederick Johnson lived in
the house on his farm in the town of
Tioga, known as Meadowbank farm,
which house still stands there and is
owned by Lewis H. Leonard, who pur-
chased the farm of the Johnson heirs
in June, 1900.
Charles Frederick Johnson was the
seventh in descent from Robert John-
son, who was born in Rutlandshire.
England, in 1599. He was one of the
339
Toimder.s of New Haven, Conn., and
died there in IGGl.
His son, William .lohnson, died at
Guilford, Conn., in 1702. William's
sson, Samuel, also died there in 1727.
Samuel's son, also named Samuel,
was born at Guilford in lG9(i and died
at Stratford, Conn., in 1772. He was
.graduated from Yale college and was
afterward president of Kings college
in New York city. He was the fir.st
Episcopal clergyman ordained in Con-
necticut.
Samuel's son, William Samuel John-
son, was horn at Stratford in 1727 and
died there in 1819. He was graduated
from Yale college and became a law-
yer. He was a member of the Stamp-
Act congress of 1765, a member of the
Federal convention in 17S7 which
framed the constitution of the United
States. He was United States senator
from Connecticut and president of
Columbia college in New York city.
His son, Samuel William .Tohnson,
who was the father of Charles Frede-
rick .lohnson, was born at Stratford
Oct. 23, 1761, and died there Oct. 25.
1806. He also was graduated from
Yale college and became a lawyer.
He was judge of iirobate, member of
the Connecticut legislature, and mem-
ber of the governor's council. He
married Nov. 27, 1791, Susan, daugh-
ter of Pierrtpont Kdwards.
Charles Frederick .lohnson was born
at Stratford in 1S04. His parents both
died when he was an infant and he
was brought up by his grandfather.
William Sanmel .lohnson. After hi.-
graduation from Union college he
spent three years studying in France.
In 1835 he married Sarah Dwight
Woolsey.youngest daughter of Willia..i
340
Walton Woolsey, an old-time merchant
of New York city, some account of
whom is given in the second volume
of "The Old Merchants of New York,"
by Walter Barrett. Mr. Woolsey was
a descendant of Thomas Woolsey, a
near relative of the Thomas Woolsey
who was better known in history as
cardinal Woolsey. She was born in
New York city in 1805 and died in
Paris, France, Feb. 24, 1870. Her
brother was president Thomas Wool-
sey of Yale college. Mrs. Johnson was
on a tour through Europe at the time
of her death and died of pneumonia.
Mr. Johnson lived at his Tioga
home until 1876 when he removed to
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Will-
iam Bellamy, at Dorchester, Mass..
where he died July 6, 1882. The
fathers of both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
owned much land in Tioga county,
which was the reason for their com-
ing here.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were people
of refinement and fine culture, and
were highly educated. Mr. Johnson
remained a student during his entire
life, giving most of his attention to
the Latin language and literature. In
1874 he published a metrical transla-
tion of the great poem of Lucretius,
"De Rerum Natura," which was re-
ceived with favor in both America
and England. He also possessed
marked inventive powers, although he
lacked the practical sagacity neces-
sary to render new ideas pecuniarily
remunerative. He was the inventor of
what is known as the atmospheric
dock for raising vessels, now in use in
every seaport in the world, and of the
circular tumbler combination lock,
which may be seen on most American
341
safes, and of several other inventions,
which came into general use after he
had abandoned them.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Frederick Johnson were Charles Fred-
■erick .Johnson, .Jr., who has been for
several years professor of English lit-
erature in Trinity college; William
VVoolsey Johnson, who is professor of
draughting in the United States naval
academy at Annapolis, Md.; Anna M.
Johnson, who married William Bel-
lamy and lives at Dorchester, Mass.,
and Katharine Bayard Johnson, who
died in Paris, France, in February.
1906.
Robert Charles Johnson's father was
also named Robert Charles John.son,
and was a brother of Samuel William
Johnson, whose father was William
Samuel Johnson, president of Colum-
bia college. The brothers, Samuel C.
and Robert C. Johnson became great
speculators in the wild lands of south-
ern central New York and in other
states, even as far south az North
Carolina. One or both of the brothers
were in the Watkins and Flint syndi-
cate which bought of the state the
great track of land, then wholly in
Tioga county, called the Watkins and
Flint Purchase. This tract was thirty-
five miles in length east and west and
about eight miles in width.
In the division of the property of
the younger Robert Charles Johnhon
and his cousin, Charles Frederick
Johnson, the proi)erty of about sixteen
acres known as "Vesper Cliff" in the
town of Tioga became the home of
Robert Charles Johnson, and the next
year he became owner of the mill
property. He moved the Reuben Mat-
son house back on the grounds and
342
built the large mansion, which t^till
stands there. The place was known
as "Tioga Terrace."
Mr. Johnson sold the property in
1841 to Horace Frizelle, of Horace-
town, Pa., for $11,500. Frizelle also
bought of R. C. Johnson property on
the east side of the creek at the cor-
ner of Main and Division streets, 32
feet front by 100 feet deep, on which
stood the store.
In November, 1842, Frizelle sold the
Tioga property for $5,000 to Jonathan
Piatt, who, following the example of
the poet, N. P. Willis, who had named
his home "Glenmary" in honor of his
wife, changed the name of his new
purchase to "Glenbetsy," in honor of
his wife, her name being Betsy.
In March, 1854, Mr. Piatt sold the
property for $6,500 to Rev. Samuel
Hanson Cox, a noted Presbyterian
clergyman, who in his old age had
come to Owego as pastor of the Pres-
byterian church. Mr. Cox changed
the name of his new home to "Vesper
Cliff," which it has ever since re-
tained.
In April, 1859, after Dr. Cox had re-
moved to LeRoy, Genesee county, he
sold the property for $7,000 to Cai)t.
John B. Sardy, of Brooklyn, who had
become wealthy in the business of
importing guano from South America.
Capt. Sardy and his family occupied
the property as their summer home
eight years. In Nov., 1867, he sold the
property for $12,000 to Thomas C.
Piatt, who in April, 1869, sold it for
the same amount to Samuel S. Wat-
son, of Newark Valley. Mr. Watson
subsequently failed in business and in
February, 1883, the property passed
into the ijossession of John Hardman.
343
he imrchasing it at referee's sale for
$4,000.
While Mr. Watson owned the prop-
erty the cliff was practically ruined
and the value of the property perma-
nently impaired by the cutting of a
road along the side of the cliff, for
the purpose of obtaining easy access
to a sand bank.
Robert Charles Johnson was born
at Stratford, Conn., June 6, 1806. He
married Mary Eliza Pumpelly, daugh-
ter of James Pumpelly. He removed in
18.51 to Westfield, Chautauqua county,
N. Y., where he purchased a farm at
Long Point on Chautauqua lake, on
which he built a magnificent resi-
dence, commanding a beautiful view
of the lake, which residence was the
pride of the town for years. The
house was elegantly furnished and
the Johnsons were lavish in enter-
taining their friends. Johnson's
friends, however, were convivial
ajjirits and he gradually become dis-
sipated, and to such an extent that
his wife left him and obtained a di-
vorce from him, afterward becoming
the wife of William H. Piatt.
In the division of the family prop-
erty, following the divorce, Johnson
came into possession of the Long
Point residence. Here, freed from
the restraints of marriage, he gave
himself up to a life of revelling. His
fortune rapidly dwindled, and after a
time he was thrown on his own re-
sources. He went to Washington,
where he obtained an appointment as
inspector of timber for the Norfolk
navy yard. He was afterward trans-
ferred to the treasury department,
where he remained until 1881, when
344
he retunied to Jamestown, N. Y.,
where he lived quietly on an annunity
furnished by a nephew, who was in
Paris. In December, 1885, when he
was 80 years of age, he was injured
by a fall down stairs, from the effects
of which he died June 10, 1886.
Thomas M. Nichols purchased the
sawmill at the foot of the race in 183f>
and the grist mill two or three years
afterward. In company with Francis
A. Bliss he conducted the mills from
1848 to his death in May, 1878. In
January, 1885, William E. Dorwin pur-
chased the property and afterward, in
comiiany with George L. Rich and
.James T. Stone, supplied the mill with
new machinery at a cost of about
$25,000. The mill was bunied March
19, 1889, and was not rebuilt.
On the north side of Main street,
extending from William street to the
mill race is a row of sycamore and
elm trees. These trees were set out
by direction of James Pumpelly in
1827 and were placed sixteen feet
apart, on which to build a fence. The
sycamores have nearly all died, but
the elms are still standing, which
shows that the elm is the best tree to
l)lant for permanence as a shade tree
in a village.
The young elm trees were taken
from the island in the Owego creek.
There was an insufficient number of
elms,and when the supply of elms was
exhausted sycamores were used. The
trees were planted by Deacon Perry, a
blacksmith, who lived in a house in
Main street where the convent of St-
Patrick's church now stands. His
shop was also in Main street and oc-
cupied the spot on which the second
house east of the Baptist church now
345
stands. Eldridge Forsyth, who was
then a boy of fifteen years of age and
worked for Mr. Pumpelly, assisted
Deacon Perry in the work of obtaining
and i)lanting the trees.
The Indian Trails at Owego, Which
Were Used as Public Roads by the
First White Settlers and until High-
ways Were Regularly Laid Out —
The Streets as Established by the
Village Trustees.
When the soldiers of Clinton's and
Sullivan's armies passed down the
Susquehanna through where the vil-
lage of Owego is now the land was
all covered with pine, hemlock, and
other trees. It was all woods except
a natural clearing on the flat east of
the Owego creek. There were no
roads whatever; nothing but Indian
trails. When the first white settlers
came here in 1785 from Montgomery
county the Indian trail was the only
feasible path for the whole distance,
.ludge Avery says:
"It generally ran along the bank,
near the river, but from the Round
Hill at Nanticoke, it left the river and
did not strike it again until near the
farm of the late Col. Camp at Camp-
ville. Below the 'narrows' it also
diverged and came upon the bank
again near the homestead of Mr.
Leonard [Stephen B. Leonard, now
the property of James A. Archibald],
a little more than a mile above Owe-
go. From that point it followed the
river bank to Owego.
"Upon the other side of the river,
the trail was uniformly directly upon
the bank, except where, to avoid
curves, the distance was shortened by
following a more direct line. Both
trails are described as having been
wide enough for the passage of horses,
346
with packs, cattle, etc., and in many
places interiiosing no obstacles to
wheeled vehicles."
The Indian trail on the north side
of the river extended along the river
bank down to the Owego creek at its
mouth, crossing the creek and follow-
ing the river bank down through the
town of Tioga to the "narrows" at
Tioga Centre." The mouth of the
Owego creek is now about three times
as wide as it was then, and it was
easily forded.
This Indian trail was the first road
used by the earliest settlers at Owego-;
who built their houses on the north
side of the trail, with woods in the
rear of their dwellings. The houses
fronted on the river and the Indian
trail was between them and the
stream. After Front street had been
laid out as a road west of where the
river bridge is now the Indian trail
remained and was for several years a
beautiful walk.
Along this trail on the river flat in
the town of Tioga farm houses were
built and the places where they stood
are indicated by the shallow wells
which supplied the families with
water and which still remain.
Another Indian trail was the "Cay-
uga lake trail." It entered the north
part of the present village of Owego
and extended direct to the river. It
was nearly identical in its course with
the street now known as McMaster
street. The two trails met each other
on the bank of the river, near where
Mrs. Eliza J. Pride's residence is now.
it is in this vicinity that the skeletons
of many of the aborigines have been
disinterred at various times.
347
As the country became settled this
trail was gradually used as a public
highway and it was known as the
Lalie road, and the name was also
applied later to that part of Main
street as it extended from McMaster
street west across the Owego creek
on its way to Athens, Pa. As late as
1833 in deeds of property along this
road in the town of Tioga it is men-
tioned as 'the lake road."
The highway uj) McMaster street
was later called the Cayuga road, and
it was also known as Cayuga street
as late as 1837. It was originally
opened to accommodate lumbermen,
who reached the river at its foot.
Gen. Anson Cam|) owned at an early
day an ark yard at the foot of this
street, where vast quantities of lum-
ber were shipped down the river.
The Cayuga road was regularly laid
out as a highway by Lemuel Brown
and Abijah Foster, commissioners of
highways, in ISOf). That portion be-
tween Main and Front streets was
subsequently known as Chapel street.
(so called because the old Methodist
church, then known as "the chapel,"
stood on the southeast corner of it
and Main street. After the academy
was built in this .street, in 1883, the
name was changed to Academy street.
McMaster street received its name
in honor of James McMaster, the orig-
inal owner of all the land on which
the village is situated, who lived on
the south side of Front street, near
the lower end of Academy street.
The old village plot com])rised the
greater portion of lot number twenty-
three in James McMaster's "half
townshij)." It was surveyed by
Amaziah Hutchinson, in 1788 and
348
1789, and the survey was completed
by David Pixley, Jr., in 1789 and 1790.
The western limits of the village ex-
tended but a short distance west of
the present village park; its eastern
limits were a little east of Paige
street. The northern tier of lots was
south of where Temple street now is.
When Amaziah Hutchinson sur-
veyed the village plot the present
Lake street was a narrow road
through the woods. In 1802 Henry
Steward and Solomon Williams, com-
missioners of highways, laid out a
liighway extending from the north end
of Lake street north. It extended in
a direct line a little east of and nearly
parallel with the present North ave-
nue (where there was then no street)
to a point a little north of Talcott
street at the south line of Joseph and
Lemuel Brown's lot. Thence it ex-
tended north where the present high-
way runs. Lake street was then nar-
rower than it is now, and on each
side of it was a rail fence.
When Hutchinson's survey was
made. Front street was known some-
times as "the main street," sometimes
as "Water street," and also as "the
river road." In 179.'), it was made into
a highway, and not a particularly
straight one.
The street now known as Main
street first extended from Lake street
west to McMaster street. It was
sometimes known as "Second" street
and also as "Hack" street, it being
back of P'ront street, the main high-
way. Main street and its extension as
a highway into and through the town
of Tioga was not then in existence,
and its present course was then cov-
ered with woods and brush. When
:>49
William Puinpelly surveyed the ex-
tension of this street east the ground
was so covered with thick underbrush
that he had considerable difficulty in
cutting his way through it.
The only streets at Owego at that
time were the road along the river
bank, the Cayuga lake trail (McMas-
ter street), Back street, and the high-
way from Lake street north.
When Amaziah Hutchinson made
his survey of the village in 1788-9 a
street, or lane, was laid out between
the lots in Front street now occupied
by the residences of Howard J. Mead
and J. C. Kenyon. This lane crossed
Back street and extended as far north
as where Temple street is now. The
street now known as Paige street, ex-
tending from Front street north as
far as the present Temple street, was
also laid down on this map as a lane.
These lanes and the streets already
mtntioned were the only ones in the
settlement previous to the year 1800.
In 1802 the road extending from the
north end of what is now Lake street
to near Talcott street was discon-
tinued as a public highway and a new
road was opened, which afterward be-
came successively known as the Owe-
go and Ithaca turnpike, Ithaca street,
and North avenue. The next year a
bridge was built across the Owego
creek, and all the travel from Owego
west went by Back street, the old
river road having been abandoned.
The old "Owego and Ithaca Turn-
pike Road Comi)any" was incorporated
by an act of the legislature, passed
April 6, 1807. Its directors were
•Vlason Wattles, .lohn Hollenback,
Lemuel Brown, Eleazer Dana, Charles
Pumpelly, John H. Avery, Nathan
350
Camp, Jabez Brown, John Smith.
Archer Green, Eleazer Smith, and
others. The turnpike was surveyed
bj' Richard W. Pelton and laid out by
Gen. John Tillotson and Col. Henry
Bloom, two of the commissioners ap-
pointed by the governor of the state
for that purpose. The date of the
survey was April 18, 1808. The stock
of the company consisted of 2,000
shares of $20 each. Mr. Dana, Mr.
Avery, and John Smith were appoint-
ed by the act a committee to receive
subscriptions.
The rates of toll established were
as follows: For every wagon with
two horses, or oxen, twelve and one-
half cents, and three cents for each
additional animal; for every one
horse cart, six cents; for every coach,
coachee, phaeton or curricle, with two
liorses, twenty-five cents; for every
sulky, chair, chaise, or other one
horse pleasure carriage, twelve and
one-half cents; for every cart drawn
by two oxen, eight cents, and four
cents for each additional ox; for
every horse and rider or led horse,
tour cents; for every sleigh or sled,
six cents; for every score of horses,
cattle or mules twenty cents, or of
hogs or sheep, six cents; and for
every two horse stage or wagon,
twelve and one-half cents.
The Owego terminus of the turn-
pike was Main street, now the foot of
-Vorth avenue. The original intention
of the turnpike company had been to
enter Owego by the Cayuga lake road
( McMaster street.) At that time
there were two taverns in Owego.
One — the Bates tavern — occupied the
site of the present Ahwaga house; the
other, the Laning tavern, afterward
351
known as the Franklin house, stood
on the north side of Front street, near
the Court street corner, Capt. l.uke
Bates and Gen. John Laning were the
respective jiroprietors of the two
taverns. There was great rivalry ai
that time between the two houses,
and each landlord wanted the road to
terminate in the vicinity of his house.
The contest became so bitter that the
turnpike directors finally compro-
mised by fixing upon the present foot
of North avenue, which was about
equally distant from each of the two
taverns, as the terminus.
The first turnitike gate was three
and one-half miles north of this vil-
lage, in the town of Tioga. The next
was Smith's gate, at the "half way
house," in the town of Candor, About
the year 1832, Geo. Bacon, of Owego;
Horace Giles, of Spencer, and Lucius
Humphrey, of Candor, were the high-
way commissioners, appointed by the
governor of the state.
At that period the turnpikes had be-
come in bad condition. A resident of
the Montrose turnpike, living six
miles south of Owego, complained to
the commissioners of the bad state of
that turnpike. and called upon them to
examine it. The result was that the
commissioners tore down the gate of
the Montrose turnpike, which gate
was four miles south of Owego, and
soon afterward threw the gates of the
Owego and Ithaca turnpike open free
to the public, and they were never
afterward closed.
After the great fire of September,
1849, an effort was made to have
North avenue extended down to Front
street, but there was such a bitter op-
position on the part of those owning
352
property in Lake street, who knew
tliat such extension would greatly de-
preciate the value of their lots, that
the project was abandoned.
The next street opened was the one
now known as Ross street, which was
laid out by Asa Camp and John R.
l-rake, commissioners of highways,
November 18, 1812, and was for sev-
eral years known as the "upper cross
street," it being then in the extreme
eastern limits of the village.
On the 26th of Februar>-, 1821, a
street known as Fourth (now Fox)
street was laid out by William Pum-
pelly and Elisha Bundy, commission-
ers of highways. As surveyed it
crossed where Paige street is now
and continued on east for some dis-'
tance, and finally turned olT diagonally
across the lots until it intersected
Main street.
In 1810, Lemuel Brown and Abijah
Foster, commissioners of highways,
had laid out a road running from the
river road to Back street, near where
Paige street now runs. The road was
abandoned in 1820, and that portion
of the street now known as Paige
street extending from Front to Main
street was surveyed and laid out.
The village of Owego was incor-
porated by an act of the state legisla-
ture April 4, 1827. On the 4th day of
the following June, a meeting of free-
holders was held at the old court house
for the purpose of organization.
William Piatt and Eleazer Dana, jus-
tices of the peace, held the election,
and Ezra S. Sweet was appointed
clerk. James Pumpelly, Eleazer Dana.
William A. Ely, Harmon Pumpelly.
and .lonathan Piatt were chosen trus-
tees.
353
The trustees at once took measures
to put the streets in good order. On
July 3 a meeting of the taxable in-
habitants was again held at the court
house, when the trustees presented an
exhibit of the improvements which
they deemed it expedient to make,
and the sum of $300 was voted for the
purpose of improving the streets and
making sidewalks.
The few streets that had been laid
out were crooked and but little better
than lanes. Houses, which had been
built before the street lines were
surveyed, were in some instances
standing where the sidewalks were to
run. These houses had to be removed,
usually against the wishes of the
owner, and frequently not until after
the aid of the law had been invoked —
and in more than one instance while
their work was in progress, builders
were stopped, they having set their
buildings beyond the street line. The
village streets were designated as fol-
lows:
The river road from William street
to Ross street was named Front
street. The street which had been
variously known as Back street. Sec-
ond street and Main street was called
Main street. It extended from Mc-
Master street to Ross street.
The street at the east end of the
village, which had been known as
"the upper cross street," was named
Ross street. It was so named in
honor of Major Horatio Ross, a mer-
chant, who lived in the house, which
is still standing on the southwest cor-
ner of Front and Ross streets. At the
time the street was first opened, in
1812, the house was occupied by Dr.
Samuel Barclay. This house was built
354
!),\ Ur. Barclay, and was successively
uwned by Major Ross, Charles Tal-
cott, Thomas Farringtoii, and Lien-
tenant B. W. Loring.
That portion of Paige street ex-
tending from Front to Main streets
was named Leonard street, in honor of
Stephen B. I^eonard. who lived in a
house which stood on the southeast
corner of that street and Front street,
and it was so called as late as 1837.
From Main to Fox streets, the same
street was called Paige street, in
honor of Dr. Joel S. Paige, who lived
on the northeast corner of Main and
Paige streets.
Dutch alley now known as Church
street, was a narrow lane. It extended
only from Front to Main street, and
was named Church alley by the trus-
tees.
The old Ithaca and Owego turnpike
road, now called North avenue, was
not then a street.
The street now called Lake street
was named Ithaca street. The latter
name was afterward given to the
street now called North avenue.
There was for many years an ark
yard on the bank of the river near
the foot of the street now known as
William street, on which account,
probably, the trustees called that
street Ark street.
These were the only thoroughfares
recognized as streets by the board of
trustees. There were no sidewalks,
with the exception of narrow wooden
ones in front of some of the stores,
and the pathways, which were fre-
quently on but one side of the street,
were uneven, ungraded, and followed
the natural course of the ground.
The first sidewalks laid l)y order of
the trustees were as follows: The en-
tire length of the north side of Froftt
street; on the west side of Church
alley; on the west side of Ithaca (now
Lake) street; on the west side of the
public square; on the north side of
Main street from where the lot on
which the new grade school building
now stands to Mrs. John Laning's
house, which stood near the present
corner of Main street and Central
avenue, and on the west side of the
turn]nke to the Presbyterian meeting
house, which stood where the jiresent
church now stands. But little atten-
tion was paid to the order of the
trustees, and but few sidewalks were
laid. The only ones built were in
front of the business places, and they
were narrow and constructed of
planks, laid lengthwise.
Front street, from Church to Court
street was first iiaved with cobble
stones in the summer of 1S39, by
James Erwin, of Smithville, Chenango
Co.. who also paved Lake street in the
fall of the next year.
In the fall of 1S;16, the board of
trustees decided to have a new sur-
vey and map of the village made.
Stephen Dexter came from Ithaca for
th&t puri)ose and made the survey
and ma]). In running his lines, Mr.
Dexter cut off in many instances land
from the door yards of some of the
property owners, which caused some
dissatisfaction. But his survey was
correct and the street lines as now
existing are in accordance with his
map. The map was filed in the county
clerk's office, whence it was borrowed
or stolen, many years ago. Mr. Dex-
ter always believed that it was de-
356
stroyed by some property owner who
had suffered by his survey.
Church alley was private property
until 1836, the land being owned by
Charles Pumpelly and Latham A.
Burrows. They deeded the property
to the village as a public street in
September of that year, and in con-
sideration were exempted from all ob-
ligations to make sidewalks or flag
the street. The name of the alley was
at the same time changed to Church
street. The extension of Church
street from Main street to the Pres-
byterian church yard was afterward
agitated, but it was not made until
1846. The street was surveyed and
laid out by Charles R. Coburn, who
was afterward a teacher in the Owego
academy, and subsequently state su-
lierintendent of schools in Pennsyl-
vania.
Main street did not for many years
extend farther east than its present
junction with Spencer avenue. East
of that point the land was covered
with scrub oak trees. It was after-
ward extended past Paige street to
about where the Catholic church now
is, and when the village was incor-
porated its eastern termination was
at its junction with Ross street. It
was proposed, in 1837, to widen it to
66 feet from Church street east, but
as that would necessitate the removal
of some of the houses owned by
Charles Pumpelly and others, between
Church and Paige streets, it was made
only 64 feet wide.
Main street was extended through
G. W. Hollenback's lots to .lohn
street, .lune 17, 1850, and from John
street to the east bounds of the cor-
l.oration, in April, 1854, and a street
357
was at the same time ordered to he
laid out from the east termination of
the extension to the Lisle road. Main
street from McMaster street to the
Owego creek bridge was not regularly
laid out as a highway until June, 1838,
by the commissioners of highway of
the town of Owego.
In May, 1837, the trustees decided
to open a street three rods wide from
North avenue to Paige street. Tht^
land was owned by Charles Pum])elly,
who objected to having a street
opened through his property and re-
fused to move his fences. Owing to
his opposition, the street was not
opened until .June, 1838, when the
l)athmaster, in pursuance of orders,
tore down the fences and Temple
street was opened to the public.
This street was for several years
known as Third street. Its name was
changed to Temple street in honor of
.lotham Temple, a blacksmith, who
lived a little west of where the brick
school house in Temple street now
stands. Temple's shop was on the
west side of North avenue, a little
south of Temple street.
Temple was evidently something of
a humorist. In an advertisement in
the Gazette, dated April 25, 1839, an-
nouncing that he had purchased
Samuel Babcock's blacksmith shop, he
signs his advertisement, "Jotham
Temple, Anvil Organist for the Peo-
ple."
Temple street was extended from
North avenue west to McMaster
street Jan. 24, 1853. At that time the
land from North avenue to Central
avenue was like a deep ditch and it
required much filling to bring the sur-
358
face up to a level with the rest of the
street.
The old Ithaca and Owego turnpike,
which was for a time commonly
known as Turnpike street, was, as has
already been mentioned, called Ithaca
street. In reciprocation, one of the
principal streets in Ithaca was called
Owego street. March 3, 1842, Ithaca
street was surveyed by Stephen Dex-
ter, and on the 8th of the same month
its name was changed to North ave-
nue. In retaliation for the change,
the authorities of Ithaca a few years
afterward changed the name of Owego
street in Ithaca to State street.
In 1878, the board of trustees, to
gratify a whim of Dr. James Wilson,
who was the owner of several brick
stores in North avenue, changed the
name of the street to Broadway. This
absurdity was displeasing to nearly
everybody, and the street continued to
1)6 called North avenue. The village
newspapers invariably mentioned the
street by its old name. March 28,
1881, a petition, requesting the restor-
ation of the name of North avenue to
the street, was presented to the board
of trustes, and granted.
Fox street was so named in honor
of Capt. Sylvenus Fox, who lived at
the southeast corner of that street and
North avenue. In May, 1841, Stephen
Dexter surveyed the street and re-
duced its width from four to three
rods. The street, as then surveyed,
extended from Paige street to the old
Cayuga and Susquehanna railroad
track, which extended down througli
the village a little east of where Cen-
tral avenue now is. In 1851 an un-
successful effort was made to have
the trustees extend Fox street east to
359
(ireen street. The street was not ex-
tended west to Mc Master street until
1S57.
Dog alley, sometimes known as
Hickory street, was a "cul de sac" ex
tending from Main street a few rods
north. It was also sometimes called
Duncan street from the house oi
William Duncan being in the street.
The name of Dog alley was naturally
unpleasing to the residents of the
street, and in February, 1S4S, they ap
plied to the village trustees to have
the alley regularly laid out as a
street. In connection therewith they
wanted another street opened, to ex
tend from the north end, which was
then where the Temple street corner
now is, east to the old railroad ( now
Central avenue). Nothing was done
in the matter until November, 1850,
when the alley was widened to 43 feet
and its name changed to Liberty
street. The street was extended north
to Fox street in August, 1857.
John street from Main to Front
street was opened June 17, 1850,
through lands of George W. Hollen-
back, who named the street in honor
of his uncle, John Hollenback, who at
the time of his death was the owner
of much of the land in that part of
the village. When Main street was
extended from John street east, April
17, 1854, Fulton street was opened.
Farm street was laid out in May,
1858. Walnut street, now known as
Division street, was opened in Sep-
tember of the same year. The land
for these streets was given to the vil-
lage by George W. Hollenback. There
is, or was, another Division street in
the western part of the village, ex
tending from Main street near the
360
electric light plant north and nearly
•parallel with the canal that supplies
the plant with water power.
Tinkham street was opened from
North avenue to Spencer avenue in
May, 1855, and so named in honor of
Samuel Standish Tinkham, who lived
at the corner of that street and North
avenue. April 28, 1856, the name was
changed to Chestnut street.
Forsyth street was a lane twenty-
four feet wide. When it was laid out
as a street xVIay 4, 1857, it was wid-
ened to forty feet. At the time the
street was laid out Elisha Forsyth
had a crop of corn growing on a part
of the land which was required for the
street, which land he had rented for
two years. He released his claim to
the land on condition that the street
should be named Forsyth street, and
it was so named.
Spencer avenue at its south end
covers what was for many years a
large pond of water, supplied by a liv-
ing spring. There had been a lane
from Main to Temple street, a little
east of the present avenue, which lane
was closed several years before the
avenue was opened. The land was
owned by Charles Pumpelly. The
portion of the present avenue extend-
ing from Temple to Fox streets was
for many years a lane two rods wide,
known as Furnace lane. This lane
was so called as it led to an iron
foundry, or furnace, which stood in
Main street in the southwest corner
of what is now the M. E. church
property. This furnace was known as
the Owego furnace and was conducted
by Joel Smedley & Co. Furnace lane
was surveyed by Stephen Dexter in
361
.Inly. IS 53, and accepted as a street
Aug. 16. 185S.
At the north end of the lane lived
several Irish Catholic families, and
the street was named St. Patrick
street, in honor of their patron saint.
St. Patrick street was extended south
from Temple street to Main street in
May, 1863, and was made forty feer
wide. At a meeting of the village
trustees in 1870 there was some talk
of changing the name of the street.
VVakely Spencer, the street commis-
sioner, happened to be present, and,
as a joke, Ira A. Post, one of the trus-
tes, moved that its name should be
changed to Spencer avenue. His
motion was seriously considered and
adopted, and the street has ever since
been known by that name.
Previous to the completion of the
New York and Erie railroad to Owego.
in 1849. John R. Drake owned a large
amount of land on both sides of the
railroad extending from east of North
avenue to the Owego creek. He had
previously had a map made and litho-
graphed, which was called, " A Map
of Drake's Reservation in the Village
of Owego." On this map his entire
property was laid out into squares
and streets. It was his intention to
build up the village on what is known
as "the flats," taut his design was
frustrated by a stroke of paralysis,
which rendered him incapable of
carrying his intentions into execution.
To all these streets except one he
gave the names respectively of his
son, his daughters, and a granddaugh-
ter. The streets on this map extend-
ing north and south were Arianna,
Theodore, and Charlotte streets.
Those running east and west were
362
Adtiline and Deli)hine streets and
West avenue. All of these streets ex-
cept Harriet, Arianna, and Theodore
streets were subsequently accepted
and laid out by the village trustees.
Adaline and Charlotte streets were
released to the village by judge
Drake's heirs May. 12, 1864. West
avenue was accepted July 11 of the
same year, and Harriet street July
:;i, 1ST6.
A quit claim deed of Delphine street
(named in honor of Mrs. Harmon
Funipelly) was made by Theodore
JJrake to the village in August, 1863.
The street was regularly laid out in
May, 1872.
This street, as surveyed began at
North avenue a little south of the
United States hotel and crossed the
U., L. & W. railroad track. In June of
the same year a petition, signed by
22 taxpayers, was presented to the
board of trustees, praying that that
part of the street between McMaster
street and North avenue might be
opened to travel. The trustees, ac-
cordingly,passed a resolution authoriz-
ing the opening of the street across
the railroad track. To prevent the
carrying into effect of this resolution
and in order to retain possession ot
the land, the railroad company ob-
tained an in.iuuction prohibiting such
extension until the matter might be
legally settled. Soon afterward the
company caused an engine house,
large enough to contain a locomotive,
to be built in the centre of the pro-
posed extension of the street. The
street from North avenue to McMas-
ter street was, consequently, not regu-
larly opened as a public street, but
several years later the engine house
363
was removed, and the street is now
open for public use.
East Temple street was originally
known as Patch street, so called on
account of Timothy P. Patch, an
Owego merchant owning Jand in that
street. Later its name was changed
to Bell street, in honor of Joseph C.
Bell, who lived on the northeast cor-
ner of that street and Paige street
and who was a member of the board
of village trustees in 1840. It was
regularly laid out as a street as far
as Green street in August, 184;j,
(ireen street was laid out at the same
time. In February, 1S5;>, Bell street
was extended from Green street east
forty feet, and thence across the Erie
railroad tracks to Erie street in April,
1880. The name of the street was
changed to East Temple street in
1884, a majority of the residents of
that street having presented a peti-
tion to the trustees asking for such
change.
Erie street was laid out in .January,
1859, and South Depot and Nortli
Depot streets in May, 18.')!. Little
•John street named in honor of judge
Drake and so called to distinguish it
from John street — was also laid out in
May, 1851. It has been for many
years generally known as John R.
street.
Central avenue occupies the ground
where the old Ithaca and Owego rail-
road ran previous to 1850, It was
widened, surveyed, and laid out as a
street in May. 1862.
Talcott street, so named in honor of
George Talcott, who lived on its north
side, near North avenue, and who
owned the land through which it was
opened, was laid out in August, 1862.
364
Hill street takes its name froiu
James Hill, the owner of the land
through which it was oi)ened in May,
1870.
East avenue was known as "the
mountain road." In 1840 it was laid
out as a highway by the commission-
ers of highways of the town of Owego.
The road was cut in the side of the
hill by Patrick Geary. All that por-
tion of this road lying within the vil-
lage limits was recorded as a street in
February, 1872, and named East ave-
nue.
The land through which Franklin
street extends was owned by Gurdon
Hewitt the elder, who sold to Hiram
A. Beebe the first building lot on the
east side of the street when it was
opened. Mr. Hewitt asked Mr. Beebe
to give the street a name, and as Mr.
Beebe was editor of the Owego Ga-
zette and a printer, he named the
street Franklin street, in honor of that
illustrious member of the craft, Ben-
jamin Franklin.
365
The Military History of the Village
for Sixty Years from the Organiza-
tion of Tioga County in 1791 to
1850, with Some Account of the
Commanding Officers from Col.
Samuel Tubbs to Col. Nathaniel W.
Davis, together with Notes of the
Days of the Old General Trainings.
I'he first act creating a state militia
in the state of New York was entitled
an act "for the better regulating the
militia of the colony of New York"
and was passed by the legislature and
became a law April 1, 1775. This act
required all able-bodied male citizens
between the ages of 16 and .50 years
to be enrolled from and after the first
day of the following May under pen-
alty of five shillings for any person
who should not be so enrolled and
three shillings additional for every
month such person should remain un-
listed.
A New England shilling was equiva-
lent in value to twelve and one-half
cents. In Owego business men gener-
ally kept their accounts in shillings
and sixpences and marked the selling
l)rices of their goods in this currency.
This continued until the breaking out
of the civil war in 1861, when the
great amount of pai)er currency in de-
nominations of from five to seventy-
five cents issued by the government
placed a premium on silver causing
it to be withdrawn entirely from trade
and most of it went into the melting
pot. In those days half dimes, dimes,
and quarters were few in comparison
with the sixpences, shillings, and two
shilling pieces, which by continuous
use had become worn so thin that the
lettering, etc., on them had been ob-
366
literated and they resembled small
discs of white metal more than money.
The act of 1775 provided that militia
companies should be ordered out for
exercise once in each year, and that
the number of troops to each company
should be fifty. At that time much of
this state had not been settled by white
people and there were only sixteen
counties in the state.
From 1777 until 1822 nearly every
civil, military, and judicial officer of
the commonwealth in this state was
appointed by a body of four men,
known as the Council of Appointment.
This council was composed of one sen-
ator from each of four districts,
known, respectively, as the southern,
middle, eastern, and western district.
The senator from each district was
openly nominated and appointed each
year by the assembly, no senator be-
ing eligible two years successively.
The governor was a member of this
council and authorized to act as gene-
ral and commander-in-chief of all the
militia and also as admiral of the
luivy. Immense power was wielded by
this body and it became an irrespon-
sible, powerful, and offensive political
machine. It finally became so unpop-
ular with the people that it was
abolished in 1821 by the constitutional
convention without a dissenting voice.
The rank of colonel was abolished
in 1782 by act of the legislature and
provision made that each regiment
should be commanded by three field
officers, a lieutenant-colonel com-
mandant and two majors. The lieu-
tenant-colonel commandant continued
as the ranking officer all through the
war of 1812 and until 1816, when a
new law was passed specifying that
367
fach regiment should be commanded
by a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, and
one major. Under the new law the
lieutenant-colonels became colonels,
and the first majors became lieuten-
ant-colonels.
The next act, passed in 17S6, "to
regulate the militia" provided that
every able-bodied white male citizen
between 16 and 45 years, with certain
exceptions, should be enrolled for mili-
tary duty within three months and
must provide himself at his own ex-
pense with "a good musket and fire-
lock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, a
pouch with a box therein to contain
not less than twenty-four cartridges,
two spare flints, a blanket, and knap-
sack and shall appear so armed, ac-
coutred when called out to exercise
or duty, except when called out to ex-
ercise only, he may appear without
blanket and knapsack." Commissioned
officers were required to be armed
with "a sword or hanger and an
espontoon."
The militia was required to rendez-
vous four times a year for training
and discipline, twice by companies,
once by regiments and once by bri-
gades. For non-appearance at a gen-
eral training a non-commissioned offi-
cer or private was fined twenty shil-
lings for each day of neglect to appear
at the brigade rendezvous, and eight
shillings at a regimental or company
parade, and if not armed and equipped
according to law, one shilling for every
deficiency, and for appearing without a
musket four shillings. Quakers were
exempt from military duty on ])ayment
of forty shillings a year.
The uniforms of general officers
were dark blue coats with buff fac-
368
ings, linings, collars, and cuffs; yel-
low buttons, and buff underclothes.
Regimental officers wore dark blue
coats with white linings and white
buttons.
Non-commissioned officers and pri-
vates wore dark blue coats with white
linings, and staff officers dark blue
coats with buff collars and linings and
yellow buttons.
Tioga county was erected in 1791
from Montgomery county. May 8,
1792, congress passed an act establish-
ing a uniform militia throughout the
United States for the national defence.
The law provided that within one year
after its passage every free able-
bodied white male citizen of the sev-
eral states and resident therein of the
age of eighteen years and under the
age of forty-five years, must be en-
rolled by the commandant of the
company in whose company district
he might reside. The law also made
it the duty of the commanding officer
that every muster, whether by bat-
talion, regiment, or single company, to
cause the militia to be exercised and
trained agreeable to the rules and dis-
cipline approved and established by
congress. All subsequent state militia
legislation was for many years based
on this act of 1792.
Soon after the passage of this act
Gov. George Clinton formed the mi-
litia of Tioga county into one regiment
and two battalions and appointed Sam-
uel Tubbs lieutenant-colonel com-
mandant. Col. Tubbs had in 1789
been major of three companies of mi-
litia in the town of Chemung, then in
Montgomery county and in 1791 in
Tioga county.
369
Oringh Stoddard, of the town of
Union, Broome county, was appointed
major commandant of one of tlie bat-
talions and Benjamin Hovey of the
other. In major Stoddard's battalion
one of the companies was composed
of Owego men under captain Luke
Bates and another of residents of the
town of Tioga under captain Samuel
Ransom.
In 1793 major Hovey's battalion
was formed into a regiment, compris-
ing the militia residing easterly of the
Chenango river and the Tioughnioga
branch thereof north of the town of
Chenango. Major Hovey was pro-
moted to lieutenant-colonel command-
ant of the new regiment.
In 1797 the militia of Tioga county
was formed into a brigade, of which
Col. Oringh Stoddard was appointed
brigadier-general. David Pixley, of
the town of Tioga,succeeded Col. Stod-
dard as lieutenant-colonel command-
ant of Stoddard's regiment.
In 1802 Col. Pixley resigned his com-
mission and Samuel Seymour was ap-
pointed lieutenant-colonel command-
ant in his place.
In 1807 Col. Seymour resigned and
was succeeded by Asa Camp, of Camp-
ville. In 1809 Col. Camp resigned and
Jacob Swartwood was appointed his
successor.
This i-egiment was in 1812 known as
the 95th regiment. Col. Swartwood
was promoted to brigadier-general of
the 18th brigade of infantry in 1819
to succeed Matthew Carpenter, who
had been promoted to major general
of the 20th division, composed of the
50th and 18th brigades. George
Fisher, of Spencer, succeeded Col.
370
Swartwood as colonel of the 95th regi-
ment.
Col. Asa Camp, in whose honor
Campville was named, was born in
Rhode Island and came from Columbia
county, N. Y., in 1789 to the town of
Vestal, Broome county, and in 1792
removed to Apalachin. Thence he
went to Campville, where he built the
first tavern in 1800. He was a sei--
geant in the revolutionary war, and is
said to have been a witness to Andre's
execution and to have assisted in dig-
ging his grave. Wilkinson's "Annals
of Binghamton," published in 1840
mentions Col. Camp as one of the first
settlers between Union and Owego. It
says :
"Asa Camp is still living, where, it
is believed, he first settled; now very
aged. He served in the revolutionary
war, in the capacity of sergeant, four
years; commanded at Fort Frederick,
on the Mohawk; and with fifteen men
in the fort effectually re])elled two
hundred Indians and tories. When a
flag was sent in for them to surrender,
sergeant Camp sent word back, 'that
Yankees lived there, and if they got
the fort they must get it by the hard-
est.' He was in the battle at White
Plains; was in one battle on the sea,
near the banks of Newfoundland, and
was also at Valley Forge."
In "New York in the Revolution,"
Asa Camp's name appears in the list
of men in Col. Philip VanCortland's
2d regiment and also in Col. James
Holmes's 4th regiment.
Col. Camp was supervisor of the
town of Owego In 1817 and 1818 and
held the office of justice of the peace
and other town offices. He died at
Campville July 17. 1848.
In 1821 a new regiment was organ-
ized from the 95th regiment. In
March, 1810, Oliver Huntington, of
371
Owego, who had been quartermaster
and afterward second major in Col.
Asa Camp's regiment, was appointed
Meutenant-colonel commandant of a
new regiment. This regiment was
known as the 53d regiment and was
commanded by Tioga county men du-
ring its existence. It was a part of the
41st brigade in the 19th division, state
infantry.
In 1812 Col. Huntington was pro-
moted to brigadier-general of this bri-
gade, and lieutenant-colonel Ansel
Goodrich, of Owego, was promoted to
succeed him as colonel. In 1816 Gen.
Huntington was appointed sheriff of
Tioga county and resigned his com-
mission, and Col. Goodrich was ap-
pointed to succeed him as brigadier-
general of the 41st brigade. Gen.
Goodrich was in 1818 promoted to ma-
jor general of the 19th division, which
was composed of the 36th and 41st bri-
gades, and served until his death in
1820.
John Laning, of Owego, succeeded
Gen. Goodrich as colonel of the o3d
regiment, and Anson Camp, also of
Owego, was api^ointed lieutenant-
colonel. In 1819 Col. Laning was pro-
moted to brigadier-general of the 41st
brigade, to succeed Gen. Goodrich, and
Elijah Shoemaker, of Nichols, became
colonel of the 53d regiment. When
Gen. Laning died, in 1820, Col. Camp
was appointed to succeed him as
brigadier-general.
Extended mention has already been
made of Gens. Huntington, Goodrich,
Laning, and Camp in the biographical
part of these papers.
Elijah Shoemaker was a son of Dan-
iel Shoemaker, an early settler of the
town of Nichols in 1797, and was born
372
July 28, 1789. He was a farzner. He
became a man of some importance in
his town, and when he was appointed
colonel he held the offices of justice
of the peace and commissioner of
deeds. He was sheriff of Tioga county
in 1825-8, and in January, 1832, he be-
came a judge of the Tioga county
court. In 1844 he sold his farm and
removed to Illinois, where he died the
next year.
In January, 1828, a new militia law
was passed by the legislature. The
age for military duty was fixed at
from 18 to 45 years, as before. The
uniforms prescribed by the law were
the same as United States uniforms,
but round hats with feathers and the
American cockade were deemed a
part of the full uniform for a captain
or a subaltern, and blue pantaloons at
all seasons of the year were consid-
ered a part of the full uniform.
The time for "training, discipline
and improving in martial exercise"
was fixed for companies on the first
Monday in September at 9 a. m. and
for regiments or separate battalions
between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15. The
fine for non-appearance on a company
I)arade was $2 for non-commissioned
officers, musicians, and privates, and
for a regimental or battalion j)arade
not less than $.2 nor more than $5.
For failure to appear when called into
actual service the penalty was not
more than twelve months' pay nor
less than one month's pay.
Joseph Belcher, of Berkshire, was
appointed to succeed judge Shoe-
maker as colonel of the 53d regiment
in January, 1832. In August, 1833,
Samuel Rockwood, of Owego, who had
been lieutenant-colonel of the regi-
373
inent, was promoted to colonel. Col.
Rockwood commanded the regiment
until July, 1837, when he was suc-
ceeded by Elijah Belcher.
Joseph and Elijah Belcher were
brothers, sons of Joseph Belcher, and
were born at New Preston, Conn.,
Joseph in 1794 and Elijah m 1800.
The family removed from Comiect'icut
to Berkshire in 1805. In early life
Elijah Belcher was a wool-carder and
cloth-dresser and when 21 years of
age owned one-half of a mill in Berk-
shire. He afterward engaged in lum-
bering and built and operated a tan-
nery and sawmill. In 1834 he began
a general mercantile business at New-
ark Valley. Later he manufactured
friction matches, and still later he
made barrels, butter tubs, etc. He
served three terms as a justice of the
peace. His first military appointment
was received from Gen. DeWitt Clin-
ton, who appointed him cornet of
cavalry in 1827. He rose by promo-
tion to captain in 1829, to lieutenant-
colonel in 1833, and to colonel in 1837.
In September, 1840, he became briga-
dier-general of the 41st brigade of in-
fantry. He died at Newark Valley
Dec. 11, 1879. His brother, Joseph
Belcher, was supervisor of Berkshire
in 1831.
Col. Samuel Rockwood came from
Glastonbury, Conn. He owned and
conducted the red mills, north of this
village. He sold the proi)erty to
Jonathan Piatt some time previous to
1850 and removed to Belvidere, 111.,
where he engaged in farming. His
first wife was Augusta Goodrich, a
daughter of Jeremiah Goodrich. She
was one of the organizers of St. Paul's
374
Episcopal church. She died Sept. 17.
1839.
May 24, 1840, while Elijah Belcher
was still colonel of the 53d regiment, a
new militia law went into effect. By
this act the fine upon conviction for
non-appearance on general training
day was fixed at not to exceed $1 and
at a regimental or battalion parade at
not more than $2.
Benoni B. Curry, lieutenant-colonel
of the 53d regiment, succeeded Gen.
Belcher as colonel in March, 1841.
Nathaniel W. Davis was lieutenant-
colonel under Col. Curry. Samuel A.
Archibald was major, Hammon D.
Pinney adjutant. Dr. Cornelius H. Cole
quartermaster, and Dr. Horatio X.
Eastman surgeon.
Dr. Cole was an army surgeon in
the civil war in Gen. Howard's 11th
corps. He afterward lived at She-
.shequin, Pa.
Col. Curry was a tailor. He was
born in Orange county in 1799 and
came to Owego in 1824. In 1854 he
removed to Manitowoc, Wis., and
thence in 1866, to Pleasant Valley, X.
.1., where he died Jan. 19. 1875.
Dr. Hiram N. Eastman was born in
Herkimer county, N. Y., Aug. 17, ISld.
He graduated in 1838 from Fairfield
medical college and began the prac-
tice of medicine at Candor. In Jan-
uary, 1840, he removed to Owego. He
lived here until December, 1861, when
he went to Geneva, N. Y., to become
professor of Materia Medica at Ge-
neva college. In August, 1870, he was
appointed lecturer on Materia Medica
and Hygiene at the University of Buf-
falo. In Oct., 1874. he returned to
Owego where he lived until his death
on Oct. 7, 1879.
375
Xathaniel W. Davis succeeded Col.
Curry as colonel of the 53d regiment
in July, 1842, and commanded the
regiment during the rest oif its ex-
istence as a military body.
Another militia law was passed by
the state legislature May 13, 184G,
dividing the state into eight military
divisions districts, according to popu-
lation, and providing that the major
general highest in rank residing with-
in the bounds of any such division
should divide the division into two
brigade districts, according to popula-
tion, and each brigade district into
four regimental districts, each regi-
mental district to be divided by the
colonel highest in rank into eight co n-
pany districts. Officers then in com-
mission were to be commanding of-
ficers and when there was any
equality in rank lots were to be drawn
to decide who should remain in com-
mand. Every officer and private was
required to provide himself with a
complete uniform.
One parade was established in every
year for six consecutive days, by bat-
talion, regiment, or brigade, and all
other company and regimental pa-
rades required by the previous law
were by this act abolished. The pa-
rades were to be held between Aug.
15 and Nov. 1 in each year, on any
Monday therein. The penalty for
neglect to appear was the forfeiture
of annual pay and also the payment
of $2 for every day for such neglect.
The number of men for each com-
pany was fixed at not more than 65,
including all officers, musicians, and
privates. Commanding officers were
authorized to prohibit the sale of
liquor within one mile of the parade
376
and also hucksters, auction sales, and
gambling.
The act provided that every person
who should pay 75 cents to the col-
lector of taxes on or before the day of
the annual parade should be exempt
from military duty during the year
for which the amount was paid. The
pay, when engaged in full uniform,
was fixed as follows: Non-commis-
sioned officers, musicians, and pri-
vates $1 each day; commissioned of-
ficers below the rank of captain $1.25;
commanding officers of companies
$1.50; field officers below colonels
$1.75, and commanders of regi-
ments $2.
In 1847 the 20th brigade in the 5th
division was commanded by brigadier-
general Ephraim Robbins, .Jr. The
43d regiment in that brigade was
commanded by Col. J. C. Robie. of
Union, and the 44th regiment by Col.
Nathaniel W. Davis, of Owego.
In August of that year Gen. Rob-
bins established the following bounds
of the 44th regimental district: "The
county of Tioga and all that portion
of the county of Broome south of the
Susquehanna river and west of the
Chenango, and all that portion of the
town of Greene in the county of Che-
nango west of the Chenango river."
In September, 1848, Col. Davis
divided his regimental district into
eight company districts, according to
poi)ulation, as follows:
Co. A. The town of Owego, except
that portion of the town stiuated east
of the Apalachin creek and south of
the Susquehanna river. George May-
hew, of Apalachin, captain.
Co. B. The towns of Tioga and
377
Nichols. Stephen Hollister, of Tioga,
captain.
Co. C. The towns of Barton and
Spencer. John !>. Sawyer, of Barton,
Ca]5tain.
Co. D. The towns of Candor and
Newark Valley. Lewis Strong, of
Candor, captain.
Co. E. The town of Union and that
part of the town of Chenango situated
west of the Chenango river and north
of the Susquehanna river. Marshall
Delano, of Maine, captain.
Co. F. The town of Vestal and
that part of the town of Conklin west
of and south of the Susquehanna
river, and all that part of the town of
Chenango situated south of the Sus-
quehanna river and all that part of
the town of Owego situated east of
the Apalachin creek and on the south
side of the Susquehanna river. John
Rounds, of Vestal, captain.
Co. Ct. The towns of Richford,
Berkshire, Lisle, and Nanticoke.
Ezekiel D. Smith, of Berkshire, cap-
tain.
Co. H. I'he towns of Triangle,
Barker, and all that part of the town
of Greene situated west of the Che-
nango .river. Myron A. Hollister, of
Chenango Forks, captain.
This regiment continued in exis-
tence until 1S54. The disbandment of
the militia at this time was largely
due to the provision of the act of May
13, 1847, which exempted from mili-
tary duty every man who should pay
on or before August first in each year
to the town collector seventy-five
cents. The escape from military duty
was so cheaply purchased that nearly
every one availed himself of the op-
portunity to shirk what had become a
37S
dfsagreeable task and the days of the
general trainings were soon at an end.
An ineffectual attempt to organize a
company of militia at Owego was-
made in 1858. A meeting was held at
the Ahwaga house for the purpose of
organization. Gilbert C. Walker, who
after the civil war became governor
of Virginia, was president, James C.
Wright secretary, and Gurdon G. Man-
ning treasurer. Col. Chas. W, Warren
was appointed drillmaster and Dr.
.John B. Stanbrough assistant drillmas-
ter. The Owego Gazette of July 22,
1858, mentions this revival of the mili-
tary spirit as follows: "A military
company has already been foi-med and
will soon appear in their beautiful
equipage, properly officered and ready
for martial glorj'- A roll list for an
artillerj' company is about full and
will soon organize and become a per-
manent institution among the military
forces of the state." These companies
progressed no further than the for-
mative period.
Col. Davis was born May 10, 1807, at
Weston, Conn. His father, who was
a miller and farmer, removed to the
town of Catherine, Schuyler county,
N. Y., in 1820. Col. Davis studied law
in David Woodcock's office at Ithaca
and began practice at Owego in 18o2
in partnership with his brother-in-law,
Ezra S. Sweet. He was a village
trustee in 1839, 1842, and 1847; presi-
dent of the village in 1859 and 1860;
chief engineer of the Owego fire de-
])artment in 1846, 1858, 1859, and 1860;
surrogate of Tioga county from 1840
to 1844, and member of assembly in
1844 and 186;^. He died at Ow^ego July
:U, 1874.
During the civil war Col. Davis was
379
active in raising volunteers, although
he took no part in field operations. He
recruited more than 1,500 volunteers.
May o, 1865, after the close of the
war, he was appointed colonel to raise
a jegiment of infantry of the national
guard in the county of Tioga, to be
known as the 46th regiment, 28th bri-
gade, 6th division. The county was
divided into ten districts. Of these
districts the town of Owego was
divided into districts 1, 2, and 3. The
town of Barton comprised district No.
4. .Candor No. 5, Berkshire and Rich-
ford No. 6, Spencer No. 7, Nichols No.
8, Newark Valley No. 9, and Tioga
No. 10.
As this was at the close of a great
war it was su])posed that much in-
terest would be manifested in organ-
izing a military company, but the
companies were not filled and the
regiment was not raised.
In his centennial history of Tioga
county, William F. Warner says of
Col. Davis:
"His assiduity in behalf of his
clients was remarkable. Once having
entered upon a case he was untiring
in its prosecution. To him there was
but one side to a case, nor did defeat
by a court or .jury convince him that
there might possibly be another. H-e
took his case to a higher court, all
bristling with points of exception, and
his brief contained full citations of
all the cases directly or remotely
bearing ui)on the points. As a law-
yer he stood equally well before the
court and the jury, commanding the
respect and attention of both."
In an obituary written by George
Sidney Camp and published in the
Owego Gazette after Col. Davis's
death, Mr. Camp says:
"No lawyer was ever truer to his
clients. He only espoused their cases
380
^ith too much zeal — a zeal so exces-
sive that it sometimes served to blind
his own perception and judgment. . . .
There was nothing small-featured nor
diminutive about him. He came up
wholly self-educated and self-trained,
with an energy and force of will and
character that subdued the opposing
force of early disadvantages. . . He
was an exceedingly violent hater; a
bitter and rather remorseless enem\ —
but a very slight advance toward con-
ciliation often converted him, at once,
from the position of antagonism and
hostility, Into as ardent a friend."
In April, 1798, a new troop of horse
was formed in Tioga county in briga-
dier-general Oringh Stoddard's bri-
gade, composed in equal proportions
from the regiments commanded by
Cols. Thomas Baldwin and David Pix-
ley and from the battalion commanded
by major Wm.- Whitney. Vincent
Mathews, of Elmira, was appointed
captain.
Some account of Col. David Pixley
has been given in the biographical
I)art of these papers. Gen. Oringh
Stoddard settled one mile east of
Hooper, Broome county. He was one
of the five commissioners appointed
in 1779 by the Boston company to
treat with the Indians hi regard to
the tract of 230,400 acres of land
known as the Boston ten townships, of
which purchase he wa:s one of the pro-
prietors. He was a brother of judge
.lames Stoddard, who came to this
part of the state at about the same
time and settled in the town of Lisle,
and who was appointed first judge of
Broome county in 1811. Gen. Stod-
dard's son, Briant Stoddard, was an
associate judge of Broome county and
a member of the assembly in 1825.
Col. Thomas Baldwin was born Feb.
23, 1755, at Norwich, Conn. At the
381
breaking out of the revolutionary war
he joined the American army as a i)ri-
vate in Gen. Morgan's command and
served seven years, particii)ating in
many battles aiid skirmishes. He was
present at the surrender of Corn-
wallis at Yorktown. After the war he
emigrated with his father's family to
the Wyoming valley in Pennsylvania,
whence they were driven at the time
of the massacre. After the massacre
he joined Gen. SuMivan as a scout, was
breveted ensign for meritorious ser-
vice, and fought in the battle of New
Town, where he was womided. He
died at Elmira, Jan. 14, 1810. Col.
Baldwin in 1789 was appointed a cap-
tain for the town of Chemung in lieu-
tenant-colonel Samuel Tubbs's regi-
ment, and in 1792 was promoted to
first major. In 1797 he was appointed
to succeed Col. Tubbs as lieutenant-
colonel commandant and served until
1S03.
Gen. Vincent Mathews came from
Orange county, N. Y., to New Town
(Elmira) about the year 1789, and was
the first lawyer there. He represent-
ed Tioga county in the asembly of
1794-5. He was the first state sena-
tor chosen to represent the western
district of New York and served from
1796 to 180?,. He was also district at-
torney of the seventh district from
1813 to 1815. In 1809 he was elected
to congress. In 1820 he removed to
Rochester, where he died. In 1792 he
was adjutant in lieutenant-colonel
Samuel Tubbs's regiment. In 1798 he
was appointedcaptain of the new troop
of horse, and in 1800 was promoted to
major of the second squadron of cav-
alry in the counties of Ontario, Steu-
ben, Tioga, Onondaga, and Cayuga.
382
In 1809 he became lieutenant-colonel
commandant of the 10th regiment, and
in 1814 brigadier-general of the first
brigade of cavalry, and remained in
command until his death in 1820.
In April, 1800, an act of the legisla-
ture arranged the military of the state
into five divisions. Tioga was one of
the nine counties in the fifth division.
The cavalry in the Fifth division was
divided into two squadrons, the second
of which was composed of Ontario.
Steuben, Tioga, Onondaga and Cayuga
counties, commanded by major Vin-
cent Mathews.
The following is the roster of a cav-
alry company organized in Tioga
county in 1807, copied from the origi-
nal, which is still in existence:
"We whose names are hereunto sub-
scribed do enlist ourselves and hereby
l)ecome members of the troop in the
Second squadron of the Fifth division
in the cavalry of the state of New
York, commanded by Capt. Joshua
Whitney, and in all things conform
ourselves to the rules, regulations, and
restrictions pointed out by the act of
the Legislature of the state of New
York organizing the militia of the said
state.
Ocfr 3d A. D., 1807.
Aiisoii Camp Kclimnid Paleiiiere
James PumpeHj- Joel C.aylord
Caleb Leach. Jr. Joseph Berry
Elias Shipman William Bell
Elijah .Shoemaker Daniel Huiiliimtoii
Andrew Purdy Joel Rich
Charles Taylor W. M. Horton
John Shoemaker Jno M. Roe
James Herrick Slephen Ferris
Benjamin Shoemaker .Alfred Scofield
Jos. B. Nutter. Trumpeter
Cai)t. Joshua Whitney came in 1786
from Hillside, Columbia county, N. Y.,
to Binghamton with his father, whose
name was also Joshua Whitney. Capt.
Whitney was a merchant at Bingham-
ton. In 1798 he was appointed first
lieutenant of the cavalry company of
which Vincent Mathews was captain.
3S3
In 1SU7 he became captain of the
troop in the Second squadron of the
Eighth regiment of cavah-y. He was
promoted in 1810 to colonel of a new
regiment of cavalry known as the loth
regiment.
In ISIO when Joshua Whitney was
promoted, John H. Avery, of Owego,
succeeded him as captain of the cav-
alry company and served until 1817,
wiien he was appointed major of a
new regiment of cavalry, to be organ-
ized from part of the Eighth regiment
and consisting of the troops in the
counties of Broome, Chenango, Cay-
uga, and Cortland and to be denomi-
nated the Thirteenth regiment of cav-
alry.
The cavalrymen wore dark gray
coats, and caps with leather sides and
bearskin tops and tht'^y carried swords
in steel scabbards.
The first company of artillery in
Tioga county was organized at Owego
in 1810. It was the first battalion of
the Sixth regiment. David Fleming,
of Flemingville was captain, Samuel
W. Avery, of Owego, first lieutenant,
and Noah Lyman second lieutenant.
In 1812 Capt. Fleming went to fight in
the army and Mr. Avery succeeded
him as captain and served until 18.15,
when he resigned and was succeeded
by Daniel Brown.
Capt. Fleming came from Newton,
N. J., and settled in the town of Nich-
ols in 1806, removing thence two yeaVs
later to Flemingvile. In the war of
1812 he was captain of the third com-
pany of the Third regiment of heavy
artillery, and established a recruiting
rendezvous at Owego.
The company was encamped in the
village park under tents, awaiting or-
384
ders. There was some complaint
among farmers because the soldiers
stole their chickens at night. Some
chickens were stolen from the hen
house of Jacob Swingle, a blacksmith,
who lived on the east side of the Owe-
go and Ithaca turnpike, a few rods
south of the Huntington creek. The
second time that some soldiers visited
his premises he shot at them as they
were climbing a fence. One soldier
was shot through the abdomen with
buckshot, and when the company went
to join the army the injured man died
at Binghamton while on his way.
In an advertisement signed by Capt.
Fleming, dated Oct. 5, 1812, in the
"American Parmer," the name of
which paper was a few years later
changed to the Owego Gazete, he of-
ferred a bounty of $16 for every able-
bodied man from 18 to 45 years of age
who would enlist in the United States
service, in addition to monthly wages
and clothing, and when discharged af-
ter having served five years the sol-
dier was to receive three months' pay
additional and 160 acres of land; and
the comforting assurance was also
given that in case of death the heirs
of the soldier would be entitled to re-
receive the extra pay and land.
Capt. Fleming fought in several bat-
tles, the last of which were those of
Fort George and Erie. His son, Robert
I J. Fleming, was 12 years old and ac-
companied him as his waiter, and he
was a witness of these battles and
those at Sackett's Harbor. He also
drove a team in his father's company,
and was sometimes sent in pursuit of
deserters.
Robert L. Fleming was in 1835 elec-
ted by a vote of the field officers briga-
3S5
dier-general of the tttli brigade of .\e\v
York state artilkry, composed of regi-
ments in Broome, Cortland, Chemung,
Madison, Tompkins, and Tioga coun-
ties, and he held command nine years.
In the civil war he assisted Col. Kane
in raising the Bucktail regiment in
Elk county. Pa., and accompanied the
regiment to Washington. Gen. Flem-
ing was sheriff of Tioga county in
1840. He died Feb. 26, 1877, at Flem-
ingville.
Capt. David Fleming"s wife was a
sister of Gen. John Laning. He died
Feb. 4, 1862, at Flemingvile.
The uniforms of the gunners of the
artillery company were black coats
and high hats, with brass plate and
feather.
Several years after the war of 1812
Ira Johnson, a miller at the Canawana
flouring mill, was captain of an inde-
pendent artillery company. The uni-
forms were blue, trimmed with yellow
and red. Frank Truman was a lieu-
tenant in this company.
The first cannon made at Owego was
cast at the old furnace in Main street,
near where Spencer avenue now is.
There had been a cannon here owned
by the state, but it was taken back to
Albany. As the time was near the
fourth of July and there was no big
gun with which to celebrate, some
men and boys raised funds to have a
new cannon cast. This gun was a
three-pounder, about four and one-half
feet long, with a three or four inch
muzzle and about eight inches in di-
ameter at the butt end. It was not
mounted on wheels, but was fixed on a
block.
At about this time the powder used
at Owego was kept in a small pow^der
/
3S6
house about eight feet s(iuare, which
stood in a field forty or fifty rods north
of Main street and oi)j)Osit.e the north
end of Ross street.
Another and larger cannon, whicli
was used for firing salutes on public
occasions for many years was drawn
by breast straps that went around the
shoulders of the men who drew it.
Samuel Winship and Elisha Forsyth
were gunners for an artillery com-
l)any and had charge of the gun.
The cannon was used for firing sa-
lutes on the fourth of July and other
public days and also at political gath-
erings. In ISoR the cannon was
claimed by both Democrats and
Whigs. The Whigs were preparing to
fire it on the village park and the
Democrats tried to prevent them. Dr.
Ezekiel .Lovejoy placed himself at the
muzzle of the gun and dared the
Whigs to fire. The Whigs finally suc-
ceeded in driving the Democrats away
and fired the cannon, while Ezra S.
Sweet, one of the Whig leaders, stood
on it.
There are not many people now liv-
ing who remember the old days of
general trainings at Owego, for the
last general training was held more
than sixty years ago. A general train-
ing was the great holiday of the year,
exceeding in interest the celebration
of the fourth of July.
The officers of each regiment were
required to have a three days' drill in
the month of August and the com-
panies had a day's "company training"
after the officers' drill. Then came
the "general training" . in September.
The company trainings were held at
different places about the county, near
where the members lived.
3S7
• The regiments were formed of eigiU
ur ten companies — -each company
numbering from sixty to a hundred
men. About one-half of the companies
were uniformed rifle comiianies^the
other half ununiformed militia, with
rifles or muskets. These militia com-
l)anies generally appeared dressed
with the best they had. without re-
gard to tit or color.
The first general trainings were
held in the western part of this vil-
lage where the electric light powel
house is now. This was long before
the hydraulic canal, or race, was built.
Later the trainings were held where
the Tioga county fair grounds and
the land east of it are now. In those
days there were no houses between
William street and the Owego creek.
Still later general trainings were held
on judge Drake's flats, north of where
the Erie railroad now runs and on
Gen. Fleming's flat at Flemingvile and
in the town of Tioga where St.Joseph's
cemetery is now.
The last trainings were held on the
ground in east Main street where St.
Patrick's church and the buildings
west of it now stand and the lots east
of the church nearly to Ross street,
on all of which lots there were then
no houses. At that time Col. N. W.
Davis was commander of the 44th regi-
ment. The last general training of
Col. Davis's regiment was at Ihiion
in October, 1851.
General training day was the ex-
citing military event of the year
Xearly every one abandoned his occu-
pation to be iiresent. All men
between the ages of IS and 4.'
years were comi)elled to go through
388
military drill or else pay a
poll tax. Clergymen, men holding
civil offices, drivers of mail coaches,
ferrymen, college and theological stu-
dents, and professors were exempt
from military duty. The trainings
were in September and October, when
the cider season was open. Farmers
brought barrels of new cider, tapped
them, and did a rushing business,
while hucksters gathered to sell cider,
gingerbread, apples, honey, etc., to vis-
itors, many of whom brought their
lunches. Hawkers also sold razors,
tinware, etc.
At these trainings there were a few-
companies of uniformed riflemen, but
the great mass of soldiers appeared
in whatever garb they pleased, but
were required to carry a musket or a
rifle. Sometimes young fellows would
carry broomsticks and pitchforks in-
stead of guns, in order to make them-
selves ridiculous, which resulted in
their paying fines, but they did not
mind that so long as they had their
fun. Sometimes fellows from the ru-
ral districts calling themselves "Raga-
muffins" and the "Slab Raft company"
would burlesque the whole thing,
dressed in all sorts of tattered cloth-
ing and dilapidated hats, carrying old
l)itchforks, rakes, scythes, brooms,
and dilapidated umbrellas, with some-
times a flintless musket. They
marched in awkward order, some
bare-footed, in a go-as-you-please way.
and went through military evolutions
in a manner suitable to their ai)pear-
ance. A day of hilarious skylarking
was generally ended in an evening of
still greater hilarity, in w^hich the
"fiowing bowl" was "tossed" ad lil)i-
tuni.
3S9
. At a general training in 1834 or
1835 a sham battle was fought on the
field east of where the Tioga county
fair grounds now are between a com-
pany of gray coats and an artillery
company. The two companies were
drawn from the regiment and the rest
of the regiment were spectators.
The review at general training was
made by the reviewing officers riding
down the front of the regiment from
the right to the left, the troops stand-
ing in single file, the regimental offi-
cers in front, the cavalcade passing to
the left of the line and turning to the
rear of the line returned to the right
and to the centre of the line and
formed in single file facing the sol-
diers, the generals advancing a short
distance in front of their staffs.
The soldiers were then formed into
platoons and marching from the right,
passed the reviewing officers, the mu-
sic leading. Each ofiicer saluted with
his sword as he passed the generals —
and each platoon presented arms.
The review being completed, the col-
onel performed several evolutions with
the regiment to show that it had
been properly trained. The regiment
acted as escort to the reviewing offi-
cers on their return to headquarters
in the village.
When the review was finished ranks
were broken and soldiers and specta-
tors swarmed into the village, the busi-
ness streets of which were filled with
a solid mass of peoi)le and peddlers'
carts.
There were no brass bands for regi-
ments in the country in those days.
The music was furnished by a martial
band, composed usually of about eight
390
hass-druins, fifteen snare-drums, and
fifteen fifes.
One of the independent rifle com-
panies in Owego was organized in tlie
spring of 1825 from young men in the
53d regiment by Stephen T.Smith, who
came here from Orange county and
who was landlord of the old Franklin
house in Front street that year. He
had a fencing school, and fencing ex-
ercises were held in the village park.
He also excelled as a snare-drummer.
The uniforms of his rifle company
were green. The advantage in joining
an independent company was that
members were excused from serving
on juries, and after fifteen years' ser-
vices were exempt from all military
duty.
Capt. David Nutt was for ten years
captain of the company whose green
coats were trimmed with yellow.
Charles Deuel, of Catatonk, also
raised an independent rifle company.
The uniforms were blue coats and
white trousers trimmed with yellow.
About the year 1840 the general
trainings practically ceased, the mili-
tary having been converted into a na-
tional or state guard. Under the new
arrangement difficulty was exp-
.trienced in filling the companies, and
when later exemptions from military
duty could be obtained upon payment
of seventy-five cents, company train-
ings also ceased.
In 1856 the soldiers of the war of
1812 in Tioga county became active in
an effort to obtain pensions. On Feb.
2 in that year a meeting was held at
the old court house at the corner of
Main and Court streets when an or-
ganization was formed called the
"United Brethren of the War of 1812."
391
Capt. David Fleming was chairman
and Col. Henry McCormick secretary
of the meeting. The war veterans
present were twenty-three in number,
as follows:
David Fleming. Adrian Ryer.son.
Ezra S. Madan, Stephen Uutler,
Jolin ("dltner, Janie.s Segar,
William Hyde. Reuben Coe.
Marshall Anderson, Peter Jones,
Anthony M. Tyler. Jared Foote,
Henry McCormick, Thomas Humphrey,
Robert t,. Fleming, Henry Primrose,
Jo.seph Walcer, Solomon .Stewart,
James Ireland, Moses Shoemaker,
John .Shelman, Daniel Armstrong,
James Baker.
Col. McCormick was chosen presi-
dent of the association. At the next
.meeting in the following July resolu-
tins were adopted, asking the mem-
ber of congress to use his influence in
favor of the enaction of a law grant-
ing pensions to soldiers and officers of
the war of 1812.
Four years later, Jan. 5, 1860, at
another meeting, of which Col. Mc-
Cormick was chairman and Thomas
Farrington secretary, resolutions were
adopted "expressive of the sense of
the meeting in regard to the claims of
the soldiers of the war of 1812-15 in
this state and in the United States."
The old soldiers present at this meet-
ing were as follows:
Daniel R. Park, Lyman Perry,
John Shelman, Silas Dodge.
Thos. Humphrey. F:zra S. Madan,
Daniel Armstrong, Abel B. Fuller.
Jared Foote, Joseph Watrous,
Anthony M, Tyler. Stephen Butler.
I<yman Bradley, W. Hutchings.
Resolutions were adopted asking
congress to pass a pension law "ap-
plicable to the soldiers of the war of
1812-15, similar in its effects to the
pension law existing in regard to the
soldiers of the revolution."
Tn March, 1867, the Owego Gazette
published a list of the survivors of
39Z
the war of 1812 then living in Tioga
county, with their ages, as follows:
Henry McCormick . 76 Capt. Whitney . . SO
Ezra S. Madan ... 82 Henry Priniro.se . . .SO
Lyman Bradley ... 76 Nathaniel Ketchuni . 77
Ezra Hall 75 Salmon Stewart ... 78
Jared Foote 78 John Giltner .... 77
J. Thornton 81 Billings Hodge ... 93
Edgar Eldridge ... 79 Joel Gould 89
Jame-s Baker .... 71 Wilbur Gould .... 67
Daniel R. Park ... S3 Daniel Wait 82
Peter Ross 73 Henry Jacobs .... 83
The Gazette said: "These men
served their country at their own ex-
pense even to the extent of furnishing
their own uniforms and muskets and
have never received a cent of remun-
eration from the government. They
are now old, many of them are poor,
and all are entitled to pay for their
services and liberal pensions."
Survivors of the war of 1812 were
not pensioned until 1871, fifty-six
years after the close of the war.
393
Early Steamboating on the Susque-
hanna River — The Cadorus, the Pio-
neer, and the Two Susquehannas
Are Built for Commercial Purposes
and to Run between Wiikes-Barre,
Pa., and Owego — Later, the Picnic,
the Lillie, the Owego, the Lyman
Truman, the Marshland, and the
Glenmary Are Built for Pleasure
Boats, Running from Owego to Hia-
watha Island.
In the early days the Susquehanna
river was the outlet for products of
southern central New York to a south-
ern market, and Owego the point to
which vast quantities of lumber, plas-
ter, salt, and other merchandise were
brought from all over the territory
north for shipment in arks and on
rafts to Philadelphia and Baltimore.
An immense amount of merchandise
was brought down Cayuga lake in
boats to Ithaca and conveyed thence
to Owego by teams.
James Pumpelly, who was in those
days not only one of the wealth-
iest men in this part of the state but
also one of the most enterprising in
public matters, was a leader in the
project of building a railroad from
Ithaca to Owego, to relieve the ex-
pense of traffic by teams, and also in
the project of building steamboats to
run from Owego to southern points,
to carry merchandise.
Owego was then the highest navi-
gable point for any steamboat that
might be built to transport merchan-
dise up the river, but in unusually
high water the trip could be made as
far as Binghamton. The first steam-
boat was built in 1825, but the railroad
was not opened until 1833.
394
The first steamboat in America was
built only a little more than one hun-
dred years ago. It was constructed in
1804 by John Cox Stevens, of New Jer-
sey, on the Hudson river. It had a
bladed screw propeller, which was
driven by a Watt engine, with a tubu-
lar boiler of Stevens's own invention.
The same year Oliver Evans had a
stern-wheel paddle boat on the Dela-
ware and Schuylkill rivers. It was
driven by a double-acting high pressure
steam engine, which was the first of
its kind, and was geared to rotate the
wheels, by which the boat was moved
on land and driven in the water when
the power was transferred to the pad-
dle wheel at the stern.
The paddle wheel boat was invented
by Robert Fulton in 1803, as an experi-
ment. The experiment proving satis-
factory he set in operation the first
successful paddle-wheel boat propelled
by steam in 1807. In August of that
year he made a trip in his boat, which
was named "Clermont," from New
York to Albany, making the distance
of 150 miles in 32 hours. The return
trip was made in 30 hours, a rate of
just five miles an hour. The boat was
of 160 tons burden and was the first
one that was used for commercial pur-
poses.
In 1825 there was much rivalry be-
tween the cities of Philadelphia and
Baltimore, each seeking to divert the
trade of the Susquehanna river valley
from the other city. In that year three
steamboats were built for the express
purpose of experimenting on the Sus-
quehanna river, to establish, if pos-
sible, the practicability of its naviga-
tion by steam. The "Cadorus," built
at York Haven, Pa., by John Elgar, a
395
Quaker, was constructed mostly of
sheet iron. It was sixty feet long.witli
nine feet beam with a stern wheel,
which was driven with a ten-horse
power engine, capable of sending it
against the current at a speed of four
miles an hour. With fifty passengers
on board she drew but eight inches of
water.
In the spring of 1826 Captain Elgar
made his first trip from York Haven
to Owego. He reached Wilkes-Barre
April 12. His arrival was greeted with
the ringing of bells and the firing of
cannon. The next day an excursion of
Wilkes-Barre citizens was made, by
invitation of Capt. Elgar, to Forty
Fort. The boat arrived at Towanda
May 8, and her coming was received
with firing of cannon and the ringing
of bells. A public dinner was given
for Capt. Elgar the next day, at which
the judges of Bradford and Dauphin
counties presided. Speeches were
made, in which Capt. Elgar was com-
plimented for his enterprise. A few
days afterward he came to Owego and
continued his trip to Binghamton.
Upon his return he remained at Owego
several weeks.
Capt. Elgar experienced much diffi-
culty in running his boat, for want of
wood. His fuel was dry yellow pine or
pitch knots which he bought of far-
mers along the route, and some of it
was drawn to the river for several
miles. While at Owego the "Cadorus"
was tied up in Hollenback's eddy,
above Ross street.
Capt. Elgar returned to York Haven,
after, an absence of four months. In
his report to the company he declared
his opposition to any further attempts
to navigate the Susquehanna river by
396
steam, as he believed it to be entirely
impracticable, as the river was too
shallow except during a few months in
each year.
The second steamboat, the* "Sus-
quehanna," was built at Baltimore,
Md., in 1825-6 by a stock company,
which was anxious to secure the trade
of the Susquehanna river to that city.
She was commanded by Capt. Collins,
of Baltimore. Her entire length from
stem to stern was eighty-two feet and
her stern wheels were each four and
one-half feet in diameter. With an en-
gine of thirty-horse power and with a
hundred passengers on board, she
drew twenty-two inches of water —
fourteen more than the "Cadorus."
The state appointed three commis-
sioners to accompany the boat on her
trial trip. She started on her trial
trip up the river, arriving at Nesco-
peck Falls, opposite Berwick, Colum-
bia county, Pa., in the afternoon of
May 5, 1826,. The ascent of the rapids
at that point was looked upon as a
difficult and hazardous undertaking.
The three commissioners and all ex-
cept about twenty of the passengers
left the boat there and walked along
the shore.
A quantity of rich pine wood had
been procured as fuel. With a full head
of steam the boat slowly began the as-
cent of the rapids. When she had
reachde about the middle of the falls
she struck a rock, and the boiler im-
mediately burst with a tremendous ex-
plosion. It was said that the engineer
was dissatisfied with the slow pro-
gress of the boat, so to increase the
force of the steam he sat down on the
safety valve, whereupon the boiler ex-
ploded.
397
Two of the passengers were in-
stantly killed and others were serious-
ly injured. William Camp, of Owego,
was one of the injured passengers
and he died a few hours after the acci-
dent. The engineer was also fatally
Injured. There was a tradition among
river raftsmen that Mr. Mayiiard,
the engineer, had said that he would
"run the boat up the falls or run her
to hell," but this appears improbable,
for Stewart Pierce's "Annals of Lu-
zerne County," says of Mr. Maynard's
death: "He died in the triumph of a
Christian faith. He was a resident of
Baltimore and a class-leader in the
Methodist Episcopal church."
The "Pioneer," the third steamboat,
made its experimental trip on the west
J)ranch of the Susquehanna river. Her
officers made an adverse report, and
for nine years no further attempt was
made to navigate the river by steam.
The next steamboat intended for
commercial purposes, and the first one
built at Owego, was constructed here
in 1835 and she was also called the
"Susquehanna." The object of her
construction was to transport goods
and passengers to Wilkes-Barre and
intermediate villages, and to tow back
coal from the mouth of the Lacka-
wanna river.
July 16, 1834, a committee, com-
liosed of .John R. Drake, Stephen
Strong, William A. Ely, Henry W.
Camp, Stephen B. Leonard, and
Thomas Farrington, met at the old
Owego hotel and appointed Mr. Camp
and Mr. Ely a sub-committee to obtain
subscriptions for stock. Three days
later a similar meeting of citizens of
Wilkes-Barre was held in that city for
the same purpose, and a committee
398
composed of Col. John L. Butler and
six other men was appointed to meet
the Owego committee at Towanda "for
the purpose of consulting in regard to
such measures mutually as might be
considered beneficial to the citizens
of the two places respectively." The
meeting of the two committees was
held Aug. 11, and the "Susquehanna
Steam Navigation Company" was or-
ganized.
A meeting of the stockholders was
held at the Owego hotel in this village
August 21 and a board of managers
was elected, which was composed as
follows: James Pumpelly, William A.
Ely, Henry W. Camp, Latham A. Bur-
rows, Thomas Farrington, Jonathan
Piatt, Amos Martin, George J. Pum-
I)elly, and George W. Hollenback, of
Owego, and Samuel D. Ingham, Ed-
ward Lynch, Henry Colt, and Henry
Pettibone, of Wilkes-Barre. James
Pumpelly was chosen president of the
board, William Piatt treasurer, and
judge Burrows secretary.
The same month John Hopkins, a
civil engineer, made an examination
of the river between Owego and
Wilkes-Barre, for the purpose of ascer-
taining its susceptibility of improve-
ment for the purposes of steamboat
navigation and to estimate the expense
of making a channel fifty feet in
width (except in rocky places, where
80 or 100 feet was considered the
proper width), with at least two feet
depth of water at low water. Mr.
Hopkins began his examination at
Owego on Aug. 8. The distance from
Owego to Wilkes-Barre is 120 miles,
and the cost of removing obstructions
and making the channel, as estimated
by him was $10,254. It was the in-
399
tention of the coiiu»any, after having
built its boat, to ascertain if a good
business could be done at the time of
high water, and if so, to improve the
river so that boats could run in time
of low water as well.
Correspondence was opened with
Thomas Blanchard relative to the con-
struction of a steamboat, to be built
upon his patented plan. Mr. Blanch-
ard was a Connecticut man, who had
gained some celebrity as the inventor
of the lathe for turning gun-stocks,
shoe-lasts, and other irregular forms
by a self-directing operation. He had
built boats on the Connecticut river.
He had also built the "Genesee," a
stemboat on the Genesee river, run-
ning between Rochester and Avon, 86
feet in length, 16 feet in breadth, and
drawing 18 inches of water. She was
used as a towboat and cost $7,500.
In the winter of 182y-;!0 he built at
Pittsburgh a steamboat for the navi-
gation of the Alleghany river on the
same plan of his Connecticut river
boats. She was named '"Alleghany"
and was the first boat to ascend the
river to Olean. She was 90 feet long
and 17 feet wide. The boat was
launched in March, 1830.
On her third trip, while between
Warren, Pa., and Olean, N. Y., she ar-
rived opposite the Indian village of
Cornplanter. Here a deputation of gen-
tlemen waited on this ancient and
well-known .chief and invited him on
board this new. and to him wonderful
visitor, a steamboat. He was, in all
his native simplicity of dress and man-
ner of living, lying on his couch, made
of rough pine boards, and covered
with deer-skins and blankets. His
habitation, a two-story log house, was
400
in a state of decay, without furniture,,
except a few benches, and wooden
bowls and spoons to eat out of. He
was a smart, active man, seemingly
possessed of all his stren^h, mind,
and perfect health. He with his son,
Charles, 60 years of age, with his son-
in-law, came on board the boat and
remained on board until she passed six
miles up, and then returned in his own
canoe, after having expressed great
pleasure.
When James Pumpelly made in-
quiry relative to Mr. Blanchard, Wil-
liam B. Calhoun, of Springfield, Mass.,
then speaker of the Massachusetts
house of representatives, in a letter,
commended him as a successful
builder of steamboats on the Connec-
ticut, Alleghany, and Kenebeck rivers.
"I have been for many years person-
ally and even intimately acquainted
with Mr. Blanchard," writes Mr. Cal-
houn. "He is a thorough, practical
mechanic, possessing great ingenuity
and sagacity, and no visionary. His
early education was deficient, but the
powers of his mind are, in my estima-
tion, of high character and vigor. He
is also a man of excellent heart, tho'
sometimes eccentric and queer in his
ways. . . I can furnish you, if
necessary, as many certificates as you
could wish from our very best citizens
of Mr. B's undisputed merits in refer-
ence to steam navigation on our
river."
Mr. Blanchard came to Owego and
on Sel)t. 17, 1834, contracted to build
a boat 100 feet long and fourteen
feet wide, with his patent arches on
each side, for $12,500. These arches
were wooden ones, running fore and
aft and sustained the principal weight
401
of the boat's machinery. The boat was
to be provided with four steam en-
gines. Two of them were to be ten-
inch cylinder and four feet stroke, to
propel a thirteen-foot wheel, with
buckets ten feet long, at the stern of
the boat. The other two engines, of
ten-inch diameter and two and one-
half foot stroke, were to propel two
paddle-wheels, one at each side of the
boat, eleven feet in diameter, with
buckets four feet long. The boat had
two boilers, and was to draw not to e.x-
ceed eighteen inches of water. The
boilers were of the construction
known as the "log boiler," flue boilers
being then unknown. The whole
power of the engines was to be not
less than fifty-horse power. The pro-
pelling power was to exceed twice that
required on a lake boat of the same
size — that is the paddle-wheel pro-
l)elling power was to be two or more
times equal to that required on lake
waters and the steam power in like
proportion. It was believed that such
a boat run in shallow water by extra-
ordinary propelling power could navi-
gate the Susquehanna river from
Owego anywhere below.
The side wheels were exactly equal
in power to the stern wheel. When in
still water the side wheels were turned
in an opposite direction from the
stern wheel the boat stood still, mov-
ing in neither direction. The passen-
ger cabin, which was near the bow of
the boat, was fourteen feet wide and
sixteen feet long. The boat was near-
ly a flat-bottom one.
The coiitract required the boat to be
finished and put into operation on
May 1, 1835. Mr. Blanchard bound
402
himself not to build any other boat
with his patent improvements to run
on the Susquehanna. George J. Pum-
pelly, judge Burrows, and William A.
Ely were appointed a building com-
mittee, and the construction of the
boat was begun in the latter part of
September, 1834. It was built on the
bank of the river, back of where Gur-
don H. Pumpelly's house now stands
under the superintendence of Capt.
John J. Tobey, of New York. The iron
work and machinery were made in
New York and shipped by canal in Oc-
tober.
Capt. Tobey began work Oct. 1, 1834.
The boat was built under the superin-
tendence of Mr. Bampton, a ship car-
penter from New York, with a force of
from five to ten hands. The winter
was a cold one, with much snow, and
the boat was not fully completed when
she was launched in April, 1835.
There was some ceremony incident
to the launching, which was witnessed
by many spectators, and George J.
Pumpelly christened her the "Susque-
hanna" by breaking a bottle of wine
over the bow, in accordance with a
time-honored custom. The bottle was
attached to the end of a piece of rope
and swung over his head. Then the
boat was towed up to an old plaster
dock, near the foot of Court street,
where the arch and boilers were
placed in. The cabin and the painting
and glazing were not completed until
two months later.
May 5, 1835, the "Susquehanna" was
run about five miles up the river and
performed well. The next day she
was run two or three miles down the
403
river through swifter water and came
up in good style.
At 6 : 40 o'clock in the morning of
May 7 the boat started on her first
trip to Wilkes-Barre with James Pum-
pelly, Jonathan Piatt, judge Burrows,
and other prominent men on board,
stopping at Athens, Towanda, and Me-
shoppen, and arriving at Wilkes-Barre
at 4:40 p. m. She was welcomed by
large crowds of people, who lined the
bank at the various places where she
stopped.
She started the next day on her re-
turn trip with about twenty passen-
gers on board. She arrived at Tunk-
hannock at 5:30 o'clock. The next
day while passing through a rapid
Iniown as "horse race," it was found
that the shaft attached to the stern
wheel had become nearly twisted off,
and the boat was compelled to lie at
Meshoppen two or three weeks for re-
pairs. The forward wheels were ren-
dered almost entirely useless, the
packing of a cylinder having blown
out by force of the steam, owing to the
cylinder covers being too thin. Capt.
Tobey was compelled to come to Owe-
go (a distance of seventy miles) for a
blacksmith. They made a forge and
repaired the shaft. The side wheels
being useless, the rem.ainder of the
trip to Owego was made by using the
stern wheel alone.
Capt. Tobey was captain of the boat
on her first trip. James Springsteen
was engineer and Ebenezer Allen
pilot. The passenger fare from Owego
to Wilkes-Barre was $2.50 and the re-
turn fare $3.50. The boat carried but
fifty passengers.
In June Capt. Tobey made his sec-
ond tri]) to Wilkes-Barre and returned
404
two days afterward without any diffi-
culty. He brought up a cargo of
twenty barrels of flour and between
twenty and thirty passengers. That
year there was a great scarcity of pro-
visions, particularly of flour, which
was selling here for ten dollars a bar-
rel, which was a very high price for
those times. This was the most im-
portant service rendered to Owego by
tlie boat during her existence. These
were the only two trips made by Capt.
Tobey to Wilkes-Barre, although when
the boat was building he expected to
be the captain permanently.
The fourth of July in 1835 was cele-
brated at Owego with a military pa-
rade, the usual exercises, and a dinner
at the "bowery" of the old Owego
hotel. That day the "Susquehanna"
took an excursion party up the river
six miles to Whitney's dam. The ex-
cursion was liberally advertised and
25 cents were charged for the round
trip. There were about 200 passen-
gers on board, crowding her to her
fullest capacity.
The bottom of the boat was so flat
that when the pasengers congregated
at one side she rocked over, thus tip-
ping the boilers in a position that ren-
dered the steam dangerous and the
boiler liable to explode. The requests
of Capt. Tobey's to so divide the crowd
that about an equal number should be
on each side of the boat to preserve
its equilibrium were not heeded until
he rushed on deck saying, "If you
don't stop flocking on to one side 111
blow you to the devil." After return-
ing to Owego a second excursion was
made with a load of children.
The side wheels of the boat had been
made smaller than the contract speci-
405
fied. It was found on the first trip to
Wilkes-Barre that they did not dip
deep enough into the water. They
were accordingly enlarged after the
second trip down the river, and the
wheel-houses were also enlarged to
correspond. It was believed that the
steamboat could be used as a tugboat
to draw arks, but it could not be done,
for the strain was so great that the
rudder would not guide the boat.
In January, 1835, the company de-
cided to build two tow boats and the
work was placed in the hands of Capt.
Tobey. These barges were thirty feet
long and twelve feet wide and were
built at Owego. They were intended
for the transportation of coal up the
river, and were constructed of planks
secured together by half inch rods on
a patent plan of Mr. Blanchard. The
boats had no timber in them. When
the planks shrunk, the nuts at the end
of the rods were turned and the planks
drawn tightly together. The barges
were used but once, when they were
loaded with coal at Lees creek, a few
rods below Nanticoke dam and nin<-
miles below Wilkes-Barre. They were
taken to Wilkes-Barre and left there.
While the steamboat was in opera-
tion on the river a bill was introduced
in the state legislature incorporating
the company under the name of the
Susquehanna Steam Navigation Com-
pany. The bill became a law May 1.
1835. James Pumpelly and others
were constituted a body corporate for
the purpose of constructing one or
more steamboats and navigating them
on the Susquehanna river, for the pur-
pose of transporting passengers and
property and trading and dealing in
mineral coal. The capital stock was
406
fixed at $50,000, divided into shares of
$10 each.
The company was managed by nine
directors, one of whom was president
of the board. The first board of di-
rectors was composed of James Pum-
pelly, Jonathan Piatt, Amos Martin.
Henry W. Camp, William A. Ely,
Latham A. Burrows, George J. Pum-
pelly, Thomas Farrington, and Har-
mon Pumpelly. All persons interested
in the boat already constructed were
deemed stockholders to the amount of
their subscriptions. The company
was authorized to improve the naviga-
tion of the Susquehanna river from
Owego south to the Pennsylvania state
line by the removal of all obstructions,
natural and artificial, and the erection
of wing and side dams. James Pum-
pelly was elected president of the
board.
In the lall of 1835 the water was not
suflicientlv' high to run the boat and no
tri]) was made down the river. In
March, 18.36, a third trip was made to
Wilkes-Barre. Henry W. Camp was
captain, having succeeded Capt. Tobey.
Mr. Camp was captain of the boat du-
ring the remainder of her existence.
An empty barge was taken for the pur-
pose of bringing up a boat load of coal.
In returning, when about half way u\)
the river, the forward connecting or
main shaft broke. It was brought to
Owego and repaired. Three or four
days later the boat reached Owego
with a boat load ot coal in tow. This
is believed to have been the first coal
ever brought to this village.
The "Susquehanna" started April 18
on her fourth trip. The proprietors
had determined to run her down the
407
river for the purpose of selling lier.
At this time N. P. Willis, the poet,
was living at "Glenmary" and writing
his "Letters from Under a Bridge,"
which added much to his literary
fame. He was invited to accompany
others in the trip and dia so. The in-
cidents of his journey were entertain-
ly and graphically described in the
fifteenth letter of the series.
About thirty-one miles below Owego
the same shaft broke again in another
place. The boat returned at once to
Owego using her stern wheel. The
boat was tied up at her landing at the
docks, which were under the old
wooden stores in Front street, and an
entire new set of shafts was procured
in New York at a cost of about $700.
In the fall of 1836 there was no high
water for boating. A fifth trip was
made, however, the boat leaving Owe-
go Oct. 19 at 8:30 a. m. in charge of
Capt. Camp. Returning a boat load of
coal was brought up as far as Athens,
where all was sold except two wagon
loads, which were brought to Owego
from that point by wagon. The river
was too low to make another trip that
season.
In the spring of 1837 the boat did
nothing. She was forced ashore by
the ice near the mouth of the Owego
creek and was not got off and repaired
until low water. In the fall of the
same year a trip was made down the
river. A crank got out of order and
was repaired at Wilkes-Barre. She
soon afterward got adrift in a freshet
and floated four or five miles down
the river and went ashore on one of
the small islands opposite Plymouth.
The man who had made the repairs at
Wilkes-Barre attached the boat and
408
sold her for his pay. She was struck
off at auction for $60 to Augustus C.
Laning, who subsequently used the en-
gine for his foundry.
In July, 1835, Mr. Blanchard, by his
attorney, John M. Parker, of Owego,
began an action at law against the
steamboat company in the supreme
court to recover the sum of $5,000, the
balance unpaid on his contract for
building the boat with interest.
Thomas Farrington defended the case.
The defence was that the boat was not
completed; that she was defective in
materials and construction, and con-
sequently worthless and unfit for the
purposes for which she was built; that
she drew twenty, instead of eighteen
inches of water; that the wheels and
wheel-houses had to be made over; that
the machinery was of inferior quality,
and that the woodwork of the boat
was of poor material.
The suit was tried at the City Hall
in New York city before Ogden Ed-
wards, circuit judge, on the first Mon-
day in October, 1837. The jury gave a
verdict of $5,240.31 for the plaintiff.
This case was of such importance to
the legal fraternity that it was re-
ported in Wendell's Reports, Vol. 21,
page 342.
The case was appealed and a new
trial granted. It was again tried in
New York in May, 1839, and the judg-
ment of the previous court was af-
firmed. Each of the stockholders sub-
sequently paid $428.48, his proportion
of the judgment obtained by Blanch-
ard.
In May, 1835, Blanchard had as-
signed his contract for building the
steamboat to James Pumpelly as se-
curity for the payment of $500, bor-
409
rowed money. This also resulted in a
suit at law, the particulars of which
may be found by any one interested in
Lalor's Supplement to Hill & Denio,
page lOS.
A representation of the "Susque-
hanna" was engraved on the first of-
ficial seal used by the village of Owe-
go, which seal was made of brass by
Sewall J. Leach in July, 1835.
The "Susquehanna" was the first
and last boat built in Owego for com-
mercial purposes. All the large boats
built since have been for pleasure
only. The steamboats built here since
that time are as follows:
1839. The Lillie.
1857. The Picnic.
1873. The Owego.
1876. The Lyman Trumar.
1884. The Marshland.
1884. The Glenmary.
The construction of the second
steamboat built in Owego was begun
in 1838 and it was completed at a
cost of $2,500 and launched in June,
1839 by John H. Lillie, an ingenious
mechanic, concerning whom some ac-
count has been already given in these
papers. It was built on the bank of
the river a little below where the Sus-
quehanna was launched. It was built
as a pleasure boat, but more especi-
ally to test the qualities of a boiler of
Mr. Llllie's invention. The hull was
thirty-five feet long. The cabin ac-
commodated about fifty passengers.
Gilbert Forsyth.a painter, took a small
share In the investment and did the
painting of the boat. The form of the
boat was a compromise between that
of a yawl and a flat-bottomed boat.
The boiler was an upright one of
five or six-horse power and presented
410
a grettt extent of Are surface. Fronr
cold water sufficient steam could be
generated to start tlie boat in about
five minutes. Its form was a series
of alternate circles of fire and water
flues, and the fire flues were separa-
ted near the top so that the firebox
was built under only one-half of the
boiler. The fire passed up on one side
and down the other and then around
the whole boiler up to the steam
chamber. The water flues were only
one inch thick and the fire flues two
and one-half inches thick. This ar-
rangement gave a strong fire on each
side of the one-inch water flues, and
it was a powerful heater. The boiler
was made in Auburn state prison un-
der Mr. Lillie's direction. The objec-
tion to it was its large diameter, which
rendered it a weak boiler. Similar
boilers are used in many houses for
generating steam for warming pur-
poses.
The engine and machinerj' were
manufactured at the foundry of Henry
\V. Camp at Owego in the fall of 1838.
The boat was a side-wheeler and the
engine was near the stern. There was
an awning over the deck in front, and
another deck in the rear, with seats.
The "Lillie" was used as a pleasure
boat during the summer of 1839, mak-
ing trips six or eight miles up the
river, and particularly around Big
island, which was then sometimes
known as Crater's island from Philip
Crater living thereon, and now known
as Hiawatha island. The boat proved
to be a paying investment.
In the fall of 1839 Mr. Lillie and Mr.
Forsyth, with their families started
down the river with the boat for Cin-
411
'cinnati, Ohio, to which city they were
about to remove. They had their
household goods on board. The boat
ran in safety until it reached what
was known to raftsmen as Pompey's
rift, about three miles above Wysox,
Pa., where it was wrecked on a sunken
log in the rift. The wreck was sold at
auction by the owners, who preceded
by the way of Hollidaysburg and
Pittsburgh to their destination.
The next steamboat that made its
appearance in Owego was called the
"Knterprise." She was built at Bain-
bridge, Chenango county, and came to
Owego Nov. 17, 1851, on her way to
Tunkhannock, Pa. She had been sold
to a company there and her owners
were on their way down the river to
deliver her to the purchasers.
The third boat built in Owego was
called the "Picnic." She was built in
the spring of 1857 by Stephen Decatur
Gibson, a sign and ornamental painter,
who died here in 1860. She was con-
structed in Sidney Calkins's ark yard,
which was in the rear of the property
now owned by Frank D. Philes, about
a mile east of the court house.
In the fall of 1856 Mr. Gibson laid
the bottom of his boat, which was flat
and shaped very much like a common
row boat. The bottom was built in
the manner of an ark and turned over
after one side was finished. Mr. Gib-
son did the carpenter work himself,
with a little assistance. When com-
pleted the interior was exactly like
that of an ordinary skiff, without any
deck, and the cabin floor was laid on
the bottom of the boat.
The "Picnic" was sixty feet long
and twenty feet wide at its widest part.
412
and drew fourteen or fifteen inches
of water. An ice cream and lemonade
counter was placed just forward of
the shaft. There was a row of seats
around the inside of the boat, which
were furnished with cushions, taken
from the Odd Fellows' hall. The
wheel-house was a wooden frame, cov-
ered with canvas. The boat was
painted red.
In April, Mr. Gibson, with the assist-
ance of some friends and neighbors,
slid the boat off into the river. She
was floated down and tied up near the
foot of Church street, where an engine
of about fifteen-horse power and a
boiler, which had been used in
Thomas Kyle's chair factory in Chest-
nut street, were placed in the bottom
of the boat, back of the shaft.
The trial trip was made July 3.
With a party of men on board she
started from the foot of Paige street
and with ninety pounds of steam made
the trip to Big island and back, a dis-
tance of about seven miles in an hour
and a half. The trial trip having been
successful, announcement was made
that daily trips would be made at 4
and 7 o'clock p. m. during the rest of
the season.
An event of some note in the his-
tory of the "Picnic" was her trip to
Towanda, Pa. She started from oppo-
site the Ahwaga house in the morning
of Aug. 13 with a party of about thirty
prominent men on board and made
the trip in six hours. Its coming to
Towanda was unexpected, but a crowd
soon gathered and the reception was
an enthusiastic one. Speeches were
made, and the party was escorted to
the Ward house. The next day at noon
413
a banquet was given by tbe Towanda
people for the visitors at the Means
house.
In the afternoon the "Picnic'" made
an excursion as far as Gibson's island,
for the purpose of starting the visiting
Owegoans on their return home. The.\-
were accompanied by several promi-
nent Towanda men and a brass band.
On the trip speeches were made ac-
knowledging the attentions and hospi-
talities paid to the excursionists by
the people of Towanda. At Gibson
island teams, which had been sent
from Towanda, took the Owego men
to Athens, whence they came to Wa-
verly by stage. The steamboat re-
mained at Towanda nearly two weeks.
She was then towed back to Owego.
reaching here Aug. 22.
The boat was run occasionally the
next year. The fourth of July was
celebrated in Owego in 1858 and at
night she was anchored opposite Paige
street and a display of fireworks was
made from the boat. Later in the sea-
son the boat was run up into the
mouth of the Little Nanticoke creek
and left there for the winter, and her
engine and boiler were returned to the
chair manufactory.
Spring came and the freshet of ISoit
carried the ice down the river. When
the water had fallen somewhat Capt.
Gibson's son, Don Gibson, went up to
tow the boat down the river to the
village. She was logged with water
which had accumulated during the
winter, and was heavy. He succeeded
in towing her safely down as far as
his father's house, in the eastern part
of the village, but when he attempted
to snub the rope around a tree it
broke and the "Picnic" floated, at first
414
lazily and then rapidly down the
stream. She struck on one of the
piers of the Court street bridge, swung
around, and quickly drifted out of
sight. In due course of time she
reached Nichols and running sideways
on Wappasening bar, opposite the
mouth of Wappasening creek, ground-
ed. Her owner, who had gone down
the river in pursuit, removed the shaft
and everything else that was worth
carrying off and then abandoned her
to the natives, who speedily converted
her into firewod.
No other attempt to construct a
steamboat of any size was made until
1873, when the "Owego" was built.
The "Owego Steamboat Company"
was organized in August 1873. The
moving spirits in the project of build-
ing a new pleasure steamboat were
George A. King, Frederick K. Hull.
George Truman, Jr., and a few others.
The directors were Charles M. Hay-
wood, George A. King, Joseph S. De-
Witt, Oscar R. Stone, George Strat-
ton, Eli W. Stone, and George Tru-
man, Jr. Mr. Haywood was chosen
president, E. W. Stone treasurer, and
Mr. King secretary. The capital stock
of the company was $2,500.
The boat was built under a shed
70 by 26 feet in size constructed for
the purpose on the bank of the river
below the bridge on Robert Cameron's
land. The boat was planned by an
Ithaca boat builder by the name of
\\an Order. It was 75 feet long and 26
feet wide and capable of carrying 200
l)assengers. When empty it drew
eight inches of water and when loaded
twelve inches. The work of building
the boat was begun Oct. 13 under the
superintendence of Alonzo W. Spring-
415
stead, of Geneva, and it was launched
sideways with about forty persons on
board in March, 1874. The cost of the
boat, when furnished, was about
.$3,000.
The boat was named in a novel way.
In Aiiril, 1874, $2, 500 of stock had been
taken, $170 additional had been do-
nated for purchasing furniture, and it
was necessary to raise $500 more to
complete the furnishing of the boat.
A public meeting was held at Ahwaga
hall, when a vote was taken to decide
who should name the boat. The price
of votes was ten cents each and there
were seven contestants for the honor.
The canvass was a hotly contested
one. The total amount realized was
$377.50 and Joseph S. DeWitt was the
successful contestant, he having re-
ceived 1,453 votes. Mr. DeWitt named
the boat "Owego."
Another election was held April 11
at Ahwaga hall to choose a captain.
A vote was taken at ten cents a vote,
$116 were realized, and George Tru-
man, Jr., was elected. George A. King
was afterward chosen superintendent
and he was superintendent of all the
boats built by the company from 1874
to 1884.
A trial trip of the boat was made
April 22. She ran up to within about
three miles of Binghamton, making
the round trip in ten hours. The next
day the boat, with an excursion party
and Prof. Raff's cornet band on board,
went through to Binghamton.
The plan of the steamboat company
had been to lease a portion of Big
island, which was owned by Cyrenus
M. LaMonte, for a pleasure resort for
picnic and excursion parties, and to
run the steamboat in conjunction
416
therewith. To that end the company
had in October, 1873, leased the small
grove at the upper end of the island,
and the next spring cleared the ground
of brush, graded it.made gravel walks,
and built a large dancing pavilion, ar-
bors, and a building for a billiard
room and a bowling alley. The total
cost of the steamboat and the fitting
up of the grounds was $7,818. With
excursions, picnics, clambakes, etc.,
the season was a remarkably success-
ful one, the net earnings of the boat
being .$2,692.96.
At about 10:oO o'clock in the even-
ing of Nov. 2 an attempt was made by
an incendiary to burn the boat while
sue was tied up at her wharf above
Paige street. A passer-by gave an
alarm and the fire was extinguished,
after it had caused damage to the
amount of $200.
During the winter changes were
made in the boat, to increase her
speed. The engine was replaced with
two new ones of forty-horse power,
made at the Bristol iron works in
Temple street, and the paddle-wheels
were made two feet larger in diam-
eter, with buckets eighteen inches
wider than the old ones. The upper
deck, which was too low, was raised
eighteen inches. The work was done
by a boatbuilder named Canby from
Geneva. A barge was built at a cost
of about $600. It was 75 feet long and
18 feet wide, and drew about 14 inches
of water. February 28, 1876, the re-
constructed "Owego" started for Bing-
hamton on her trial trip with about
fifty passengers on board. Near
Campville the 700-pound mortice
wheel broke, disabling the boat, and
417
the passengers were compelled to re-
turn by railroad.
In the sprhig of 1876 Capt. Eugene
B. Gere.who represented Tioga county
in the state assembly that year, ob-
tained the passage of a bill through
the legislature authorizing the Owego
steamboat company to remove all
dams, rocks, etc., in the channel of
the Susquehanna river between Owego
and Binghamton, for the purpose of
deepening the channel. The bill be-
came a law April IS. The object of
the law was to provide a channel of
water deep enough so that the steam-
boat might make trips between Bing-
hamton and Owego regularly. It was
the intention of the company to build
landings and docks at different points
along the river, but nothing was done
in the matter and the various boats
were used for transporting excursion
and picnic parties to and from Big
island. Some of the largest excursion
parties that ever visited Owego came
here while the island was conducted
as a summer resort.
In the spring of 1S76 the steamboat
company built a hotel at the northeast
part of the island among the trees,
which had been named Hiawatha
grove, and the hotel was known as the
Hiawatha house. The building was 80
feet long, 40 feet wide, and two stories
high. It was later made into a four-
story building.
The first manager of the hotel was
R. W. Decker. He was soon suc-
ceeded by B. J. Davis, the proprietor
of the Central house at Owego, and he
by Warren Hooker. In April, 1881,
Capt. E. J. Richardson, proprietor of
the Clinton house in Brooklyn, pur-
chased a one-third Interest In the hotel
418
and the little steamboat "Clara" aiicf
assumed personal charge of the hotel.
This year the dock, near Paige street,
was abandoned, and a new one con-
structed at the foot of Church street.
In the following July E. G. Brown and
E. J. Cunningham, of Brooklyn, pur-
chased controlling shares of the Owe-
go navigation company and assumed
the management of the hotel and is-
land, Capt. Richardson remaining as
manager. About forty rods west of
the hotel a new building two stories
high and 60x26 feet in dimensions, was
built, which was used as a barroom,
billiard and bowling alley. The hotel
was of sufficient capacity to' accommo-
date 150 guests.
In 1884 W. W. Dllts became mana-
ger of the hotel for E. G. Brown, and
the next year Mr. Dllts and George A.
Smith, of Owego, conducted it. In
1886 Stephen Paris conducted the
house. In August, 1887, Mr. LaMonte
purchased of the E. G. Brown estate
the lease of the Hiawatha house, which
had ten years yet to run, together with
all the personal property and six
shares of steamboat stock for $1,750*,
and then sold the island, which con-
tains 112 acres of land, together with
evei-ything on it for $13,750 to Dr. A.
S. Kilmer and Jonas M. Kilmer, of
Binghamton. The proposition of the
Kilmers was to establish a sanitarium
there on a large scale, but after hold-
ing the property five years A. S. Kil-
mer sold his one-half interest to his
brother for $9,000. In August, 1900,
J. M.Kilmer sold the island for $11,000
to Mrs. Elizabeth Ransom Goodrich, of
Brooklyn, who exi)ended a consider-
able amount In improving the build-
419
ing and the premises and established
her summer home there.
ihe steamboat business was so
|)ros])erous that the "Owego" was
found too small for the purposes in-
tended and it was decided to seU her
and build a larger boat. She was ac-
cordingly t:old in the summer of 187")
to J. B. Shiffer and George Smith, of
Pittston, Pa., who purchased her to do
a passenger and freight business. The
boat was to be delivered in the fall.
She left Owego Oct. 18 on her trip
down the river, making the trip of 13(i
miles to Pittston in ten and three-
fourths hours. At Pittston the boat
was cut in two and enlarged b.v the ad-
dition of 25 feet in her midshii)s. The
paddle-wheels were also enlarged.
The name of the boat was changed to
••Pittston."
The same month the model of a new
boat was made at Owego. The boat
was 120 feet long In the keel, with 20
feet beam, G feet in the hold, with Ifi-
foot wheels and five-foot buckets. She
drew i3 inches of water without her
machinery. The ladies" cabin, 33 by
24 feet, was at the stern, and the
men's cabin, 24 feet square, was be-
tween the ladles cabin and the engine
room. In front of the engine house
was a smoking room, 10 feet long. In
front of this was an open deck at the
bow of the boat. The deck above was
124 feet long and 33 feet wide. The
boat when completed, with her ma-
chinery, cost between $8,000 and
$9,000.
The boat was built in the fall and
winter of 1875-6 by B. W. Springstead,
a ship carpenter and father of the
builder of the "Owego." It was built
on the same spot where the "Owego"
420
was constructed, in the open air, witli
tlie stern toward the river, and when
launched went into the water stern
foremost. The engine of 150-horse
power was made at the Bristol iron
works at Owego and the boiler at the
manufactory of Shapley & Wells at
Binghamton. The boiler was 15 feet
long, v.'ith 147 flues.
In testing the boiler at the works in
Binghamton a serious accident hap-
pened. It had been placed in the
street. When the guage indicated a
pressure of 120 pounds of steam, a boy
was sent into the building to procure
some additional weights to place on
the safety . valve. Suddenly the boiler
exploded, killing the foreman and a
boy, who was standing near by, and fa-
tally injuring another man. Ten other
persons were injured. A suit was sub-
sequently brought in the supreme
court by the family of the boy against
Shapley & Wells for $5,000 damages,
and the jury gave a verdict for $575.
The new steamboat, which had been
named "Lyman Truman," was
launched by John Combes, of Geneva,
March 9. At 10:30 a. m. the fire alarm
at the court house was struck, so that
the people who might wish to see the
launching could do so. The bank of
the river and the bridge were soon
filled with people, and Adams's cornet
band on the bridge played as the boat
slid from the stocks into the water.
She was towed up to her dock, a little
above Paige street. This dock had
been lengthened to seventy feet.
A new boiler was made by Shapley &
Wells and was placed in the boat May
15. Her trial trip took place May 22.
when she ran up to and around Big
island in 55 minutes, making all the
421
landings. Geo. Truman, Jr., was cap-
tain of tlie boat and George A. King
.superintendent and general manager.
The centennial celebration of the
fourth of July was held that year in
the grove on Big island. Col. Archie
E. Baxter, of Bath, delivered the ora-
tion, Cajjt. Eugene B. Gere read tin
declaration of independence, and Dr.
John B. Benton read an original poem.
The boat made daily trips to the island
during the summer and fall.
In November a large truss 60 feet in
length was constructed for the pur-
pose of holding the boat at the centre
in its proper position, as she drew
nine inches more of water than she
should have drawn. In the winter she
■was tied up in the Little Xanticoke
creek.
While the "Lyman Truman" was a
great success as a pleasure boat
through the seasons of 1876 to 1880,
she was not financially profitable,
owing to her large size, and was an
elephant on the hands of her owners.
In October, 1880, she was sold, to-
gether with the steamboat company's
interest in a small steamboat called
the "Clara," which had been pur-
chased some time before of Charles
Kellogg, of Athens, Pa. The sale was
made on a judgment for $1,500 in
favor of the superintendent, Mr. King.
The property was sold for $1,150 to
Dr. James \\.-oon, who also held a
judgment of about $1,500 against the
company. The Hiawatha house, which
with its furniture and fixtures was
inventoried at $3,000, was also sold to
Dr. Wi! on.
The new owners of the "Lyman
Truman" reorganized in January, 1881,
under the name of "The Owego Nava-
422
gation Company," with a board of di-
rectors composed of Geo. A. King, Dr.
James Wilson, Geo. W. Sweet, John
J. Van Kleeck, and Frank M. Baker.
In the following April the steam-
boat, which had cost $8,500, was sold
to the Plymouth steam navigation
company of Pittston, Pa., for $6,000.
The name of the boat was changed to
"Susquehanna" and she was run as a
passenger boat between Wilkes-Barre
and Nanticoke dam. In the morning
of July 2, 1883, her boilers exploded
while she was at her dock at Wilkes-
Barre and she was torn to pieces.
The fireman was fatally injured and
other persons were badly hurt.
The capital stock of the steamboat
company was $10,000. C. M. Haywood
was president in 1893-4. Dr. James
Wilson was president from 1875 to
1884, and W. E. Dorwin from 1884 to
1887, inclusive. Geo. A. King was su-
perintendent and Frank M. Baker gen-
eral passenger agent during the ex-
ists nee of all the boats.
The "Owego" had been found to be
too small for the purposes intended
and the "Lyman Truman" was larger
than was needed, so in the fall of 1881
it was decided by the steamboat man-
agers to build another boat, to be in
size between the two boats and to
carry two or three hundred passen-
gers. A new company was formed
under the name of the Owego Steam
Navagation Company. The new com-
pany was not incorporated until
March, 18S4. The directors were
George A. King, Jefferson C. Dwelle.
Dr. W. L. Ayer, Geo. tl. Rich, Frank
M. Baker, Wni. E. Dorwin, Dr. C. R.
Heaton, and John G. Sears. Mr.
Dorwin was chosen president and
423
Clarence A. Thompson secretary and
treasurer.
The hull of the new steamboat was
built at Ithaca and was put together
on the bank of the river under the
pine trees east of this village, where
River avenue runs nearest to the
river. The builder was B. F. Tabor, of
Ithaca, a boat builder. She was a
side-wheeler, 105 feet long and 16 feet
wide. She drew about fifteen inches
of water. The motive power were two
sixty-horse power engines, which with
her boilers were made at Binghamton.
Her cost was about $5,250. The
steamboat company built a waiting
room and ticket office 30 feet square
on the south side of Front street on
Mrs. C. S. Carmichael's land, where
the second house above Church street
now stands, with a dock in the rear at
the river, which was reached by a long
platform and steps.
The new boat was named "Marsh-
land," a name which had been some
time previously given by Gen. B. F.
Tracy to his stock farm, near Apala-
chin. The boat was launched June 16.
1884, sliding into the water sidewise.
In order that the boat might come
down the river as far as her dock in
low water, a dam was built by the
steamboat company at a cost of $600
above Church street and across the
river. It was built by Jasper L. Pur-
ple, who drove piles and fastened
planks thereto. • This raised the water
about one foot. It was not a perma-
nent dam, and was knocked out and
broken up by the ice the next spring.
The steamboat proved to be too
small for the purpose intended, and in
November a contract was made with
John Combs, of Auburn, to cut her in
424
two and lengthen her thirty feet, so
that she would be large enough to
carry 800 passengers. The work was
done at the foot of Ross street and
was completed in February, 1885.
In August, 1890, the "Marshland"
was sold for $800 to W. E. Renshaw.
of Plymouth, Pa., the man who purT
chaseu the "Lyman Truman." The
purchasers expended about $300 in
calking and refitting the boat, but did
not pay the amount due on the pur-
chase, leaving her in the hands of the
old owners.
The "Glenmary," a larger steamboat
than the "Marshland," was built in
1884 by Alonzo W. Springstead, of
Geneva, N. Y., on the ground at the
foot of Ross street where the houses
of Grant M. West and Frank S. Tru-
man now stand. She was 90 feet
long and 16 feet wide. The paddle
buckets were two small and were en-
larged in the spring of 1885. The boat
could carry 800 passengers. The en-
gine and boiler were made in Bing-
hamton. She proved to be the fastest
of all the steamboats that had been
built here.
In April, 1887, the "Glenmary" was.
sold at sheriff's sale to George W. Bar-
ton for $4,525 on an execution in favor
of the Owego national bank for $4,350.
In June, 1889, she was again sold for
$6,000 to W. E. Renshaw, of Plymouth.
Pa., who intended to run her as a pas-
senger boat between that place and
Wilkes-Barre every thirty minutes.
The boat was taken to Wilkes-Barre
with about sixty passengers on board,
the greater portion of whom left the
boat at Towanda. When the boat
reached Plymouth the deal fell
through. As the water fell in the river
425
at this time the boat was not brought
back to Owego until the next year.
In June, 1893, she was again sold to a
New York company, and was to have
been run from Key West, Fla., to the
pbre fields, a distance of 140 miles
along the coast. This deal also fell
through. The boat remained here un-
til October, 1894. She was anchored
below the bridge, and one night she
broke loose from her fastenings and
went down the river, going ashore be-
low the dam, near the mouth of thQ
Owego creek. She was afterward
broken up and the lumber of which
she was composed was carted away,
In the summer of 1886 another dam
was built across the river, a few yards
above the mouth of the Owego creek,
at a cost of $4,000. The amount was
raised by subscription. The promo-
ters were members of the steamboat
company. The D., L. & W. railroad
company subscribed |.5O0 and the vil-
lage trustees appropriated $300. The
dam was built by contract by A. F.
Chapman, , of Watkins, under the su-
pervision of Stephen W. Leach. It
was constructed by driving three rows
pf piles across the river, which were
covered by an apron of planks above
and below, bridge shape, and caulked
with brush and stone. The dam raised
the water four feet at the dam and two
and one-half f.eet at Church street.
One night, about a year after the dam
was built a hard cider party of men,
with axes and crowbars, tore a hole in
the dam one night, allowing the water
to escape, and the dam was never re-
paired. All of it has disappeared, hav-
ing been torn out and washed away by
successive floods.
The reason for selling the "Glen-
426
mary" was that after the destruction
of the dam the water was so low that
she could not be run to any advantage
or profit. This was the last steamboat
of any size built here for business pur-
poses. There were other boats of
some pretensions — ^the "Dora," owned
by C.A.Thompson; the "Welles," built
by E. A. Saxton; the "Success," owned
by Seth L. King; a catamaran built by
W. H. Shaw and Richard S. Stout;
the "Augusta:," owned by W. C. Ren-
wick, and the "Dewey," another cata-
maran, owned by Chas. F. Hill.
Post-Riders Who Ride Horseback
through the Country to Deliver
Mails, Are Succeeded by the Early
Stages — Stephen B. Leonard Estab-
lishes the First Stage Route from
Owego to Bath — Lines Are Extend-
ed throughout the State and In-
crease in Number Until Stage
Coaching Is Killed by the Comple-
tion of the New York and Erie Rail-
road.
Ill the early days of this couuty'f
settlement, the mails were delivered
by post riders, who rode on horseback
through the woods, leaving the mails
at the small settlements and log
cabins, as they passed throught the
country.
The Owego Gazette in those days
was the only paper published in
Southern New York, and as its sub-
scribers were scattered about the un-
settled country, long distances apart,
the only method of delivering their
papers to them was by men on horse-
back.
When Stephen B. Leonard pur-
chased the Gazette office, in 1813, he
at first delivered his papers himself,
after they were published, riding over
his route on horseback. He afterward
secured several mail routes, for which
a certain price a year was paid by the
government, and hired post-riders. By
this means he secured a free delivery
of his papers with the mails. His
routes were to Binghamton, Norwich,
Penn Yan, and other points. Other
routes were afterward awarded to
other persons. As a curiosity a copy
of a post-rider's advertisement of a
later period, which was printed in the
428
Gazette of December 6, 1824, is here
given:
POST-RIDER'S NOTICE.
ORRIN VERY, Pust-Rider, informs his pat-
rons in Newark, Berkshire, Caroline, and
Candor, that his term for carrying the mail ex-
pires on the 1st of January next — -All persons
indclitcd (n liim for papers are therefore hereby
notificil, lli:it tlicir rtspective accounts must be
settli.l liy tliat time — Grain will be received if
<Ieli\ti'i(l ;i< riirding to contract, otherwise the
money will be expected. — Nov. SO.
As soon as possible wagon roads
were broken through the forests, gen-
erally along the Indian trails, and
soon the primitive stage made its ap-
pearance.
The first regular stage to visit Owe-
go came from Newburgh. The owner's
name was Stanton, and he lived at
Mount Pleasant. His stage was a
three-horse lumber wagon, with hick-
ory poles bent over to form a top, and
covered with canvas. By this stage
the mails from the east were carried
once in each week, reaching Owego
every Saturday afternoon.
In 1811 Conrad Teter, of Wyoming.
Pa., began carrying the mail from
Wyoming to Tioga Point (Athens).
Pa., with a one-horse wagon, succeed-
ing a mail carrier who had been de-
livering the mails with a small mail
bag on horseback. Mr. Teter soon
purchased a covered wagon and used
two horses. He for a few years car-
ried the mails between Wilkes-Barre
and Painted Post, N. Y., making the
round trip once a week. After a time
he ran a covered Jersey carriage,
drawn by four horses, between
Wilkes-Barre and Athens.
In 1814 he canie to Owego and suc-
ceeded Mr. Stanton as proprietor of
the Newburgh route. He drove the
stage himself, making weekly trips
from 6we!go to Newburgh. From
429
Newburgh passengers went by water
to New York. This stage went over
the route afterward taken by the New-
burgh and Geneva stage line. Mr.
Teter had a partner named Hunting-
ton.
Teter's brother-in-law. Miller Hor-
ton. of Wilkes-Barre, was at this time
carrying the mail for Teter between
Wilkes-Barre and Athens. He came
to Owego and became Teter's partner,
the partnership with Huntington hav
ing been dissolved.
February 14, 1816, an act was passed
by the legislature of this state, which
gave Teter and Oliver Phelps, of Lud-
lowville, the sole rigut for six years to
run stage coaches for passengers be-
tween Newburgh and Monticello, on
the road leading through Montgomery
and Chenango Point (Binghamton) on
the mail route, and between Chenango
Point and Geneva on the road running
through Owego. Ithaca, Trumansburg,
and Ovid, and between Ithaca, and
Auburn on the main mail route,
through Ludlowville. The act pro-
vided that no other persons could run
stages over this route under a penalty
of $500, and prescribed that trips
should be made in three days, twice
each week, and oftener if the public
good should require, the fare not to
exceed seven cents a mile.
In 1818, a new company was formed,
with Oliver Phelps at its head, and
Ithaca was made the western termina-
tion of the route instead of Owego. A
better line of stages was put on the
route, making tri-weekly trips.
In 1819 Dr. Tracy Robinson and
Major Augustus Morgan, of Bingham-
ton, became proprietors of the route.
In 1822 the same company, but with
430
additional proprietors, established a
daily line on the route, making Geneva
the western terminus.
Stephen B. Leonard established the
first stage route from Owego to Bath,
In 1816. It required two days to make
the trip, the passengers staying over
night at Elmira. This was considered
a great undertaking in those days, and
Mr. Leonard was highly complimented
by the newspapers for his enterprise.
The following Is a copy of Mr. Leon-
ard's advertisement, which was pub-
lished in the Gazette, and which may
be read with some interest at the
liresent day:
Owego & Bath
Mail i:rr:::^i stage.
TWICE A WEEK.
THIS line runs regularly twice a week, between
the villages of Owego and Bath, — Days of
starting and arrival as follows: — -Leave Owepro
(111 Mondays and Fridays, at 6 a. m., and break-
fasting^ at Athens, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. ni.
Leave KIniira on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4
a. ni., and breakfasting at Painted Post, arrive
at Bath at 6 p. ni.
Ri'tiirning. — Leave Bath on Mondays and Fri-
days, at i a. m., and breakfasting at Painted
Post, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. m. — -Leave Elmira
on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4 a. m., and
breakfasting at Athens, arrive at Owego at 6
p. ni.
This line of stages intersects the Newburgh and
Buffalo line at Owego — as also the Pliiladelpliia —
the Wilkes-Barre line, at Ti..-^ Puint ;ind tlie
(leneva line at Bath,— al uhnh l.iii,i |.l;i,r it
also intersects a line leadinu .iii.,il> t.. \.i-,lira
situate about 30 miles from olnm. oiio ot lh(
places of embarkation on the Allegany river, and
about 18 miles from Oil Creek, the nearest place
of embarkation, and which empties into the .M-
les-nin- :.f ol.iui: iit which pliu-c boats of anv
Sizr ,,:. ilv ,!■, - 1 .-lit rr;Mlv f...' I IM ^ . 1 1 , TS, for tllC
pni|M . \ '•' - • M.Jnm llir Ohio n\. v.
I'li^.Mi, 11,11, liiii.^ n.iiii \ru \oik, or from
ail\ of the l';astcrn Stales, I- llio S. \\\ Slates.
win find this the shorl.-i, .Ii.,i|h-.i. .hhI most
expeditious route. The disi ;iiii . ii-ni \..\ \ ork,
via Owego, Painted Post and H.ilh. lo Aii-rlica,
is 316 miles, which is performed in aliout 5
days.
Ciood teams and careful drivers will be kept
on the route, and no pains spared to accommo-
date passengers. The Stage hotises are good.
S. B. LEONARD.
March 30, 1819.
431
«s3= For scats in the almvc line, apply at /-:. .S.
Marsh's m- Amos Marthrs in 0\vef;-u— at Suit-
iiiarxirs. Athens— at Puris's. Elniira— ami at
Ilarnard's, Bath.
At a later period, Mr. Leonard had
two four-horse coaches running be-
tween Owego and Montrose. In De-
cember, 1823, he sold his lines to a
stage company, which was then or-
ganized, and of which he became one
of the proprietors. The route was ex-
tended to New York city, and became
a strong opposition to the Newburgh
and Geneva line. This company was
composed of Joseph I. Roy, .lohn Bur-
nett, Zephania Luce, Abraham Bray,
Gould Phinney, Silas Heminway,
Stephen B. Leonard, Jacob Willsey,
Augustus Morgan, Isaac Post, Ithimer
Mott, Miller Horton, A. P. Guilds, and
others.
Mr. Roy was at this time a hotel
keeper at Jersey City, and Mr. Luce
was afterward his business partner.
Mr. Bray lived at Newton, N. J. Mr.
Phinney was the owner of a glass fac-
tory at Dundaff, Pa. Mr. Heminway
afterward became an extensive stage
proprietor at Buffalo, and had five or
six lines through the state, where the
New York Central railroad now runs.
Jacob Willsey lived at Willseyville, in
this county, of which place he was
one of the earliest settlers. Major
Morgan, who was also a proprietor in
the Newburgh and Geneva line, was
first a printer, afterward a hotel
keeper, and lived in Binghamton. Mr.
Post kept a tavern at Montrose, Pa.
Mr. Mott also kept a tavern one and
one-half miles east of New Milford,
Pa. Miller Horton lived at Wilkes-
Barre, Pa., and was also one of the
proprietors of the Newburgh and
Geneva line of stages.
Ail
The comyany put a new line of
stage coaches on the road. The route
was from New York to Owego. Here
it intersected the Newburgh and
Geneva line for Buffalo. Stages from
New York occupied two days and a
half in their journey to Owego, and
one day more from Owego on to
Geneva. Trips were made three
times a week. The route was through
the villages of Newark, Morristown,
and Newton, N. J., to Milford, Pa.;
thence it followed the new turnpike,
via Dundaff and Montrose, to Owego.
The stages on this route left Patton's,
71 Cortlandt street. New York, every
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,
reaching Owego the third day at 10
a. m. This was then the most expe-
ditious route, the distance to Owego
being but 170 miles, whereas by the
way of Newburgh it was 210 miles.
The line was intersected at Montrose
by the Philadelphia and Baltimore
lines, and at Owego by the Bath and
Olean line.
In the spring of 1825, the line was
extended west to Geneva, by the way
of Ithaca and Ovid, and coaches left
New York every day, Sundays ex-
cepted. At Geneva the line inter-
sected the daily lines to Rochester,
Buffalo, Lewiston, etc. It had now be-
come an important route, as it opened
another, and the most direct, com-
munication between New York and
the western part of the state. At
Aewton, N. J., it intersected a tri-
weekly line to Philadelphia; at Mont-
rose, the line to Wilkes-Barre, Harris-
burg, etc.; at Chenango Point, a line
which ran north through Greene, Ox-
ford, etc., to Utica; and at Owego, a
line which ran through Tioga Point
433
and Elniira to Bath. The latter line
was afterward extended to Olean.
The stage offices were at Patton's,
in New York; Joseph I. Roy's, Jersey
City; Bolle's tavern, Newark; the pub-
lic houses at Newton and Dundaff;
Buckingham's, at Montrose; Dr. Tracy
Robinson's hotel at Chenango Point;
Goodman's and Mamiing's taverns, in
Owego; the Ithaca hotel and Grant's
coffee house, at Ithaca, and Faulkner's
hotel, at Geneva.
The coaches were drawn by four
horses, the horses being usually
changed at the end of each twelve or
eighteen miles. Nine passengers were
carried inside each coach, and as
many outside as could ride comforta-
bly — generally from three to six.
It was at about this time that there
were two rival stage lines from Owe-
go to Ithaca. One was conducted by
Stephen B. Leonard, and the other by
Lewis Manning. Mr. Leonard's stages
carried the mails, and the rivalry was
so sharp that he charged but fifty
cents each way for passengers. In
some instances passengers were car-
ried free of charge and a free break-
fast was given to them, to prevent
their going by the rival line. Mr.
Leonard had a contract for carrying
the mails, which gave him a great ad-
vantage over his competitor, who was
finally compelled to withdraw his
stages from the line.
The Newburgh and Geneva line was
owned by R. Manning, C. Pratt, D.
Dunning, Lewis Manning, Augustus
Morgan, E. Hathaway, and others.
This route was originally from Owego
to Binghamton, from Binghamton to
Great Bend, Great Bend to Sweet's
tavern, Sweet's to Mount Pleasant,
434
Mount Pleasant to Lukens's fanir,
Lukens's to Bloomingburg, Blooming-
burgh to Newburgh.and thence by boat
to New York. The stages left Owego
three times each week, at three
o'clock in the afternoon, and were two
days and two nights in making the
journey.
The proprietors, in September, 1828,
established another line from the head
of Seneca lake to Owego, in connec-
tion with the steamboat "Seneca
Chief." Trips over this line were
made three times a week, and inter-
sected the Newburgh line at Owego.
The trip from New York to Geneva
wa.^ made in three days. The first 40
and the last 65 miles were by water.
Previous to about the year 1830, the
stages on the various lines running
from and through Owego were usually
two horse affairs. After making a dis-
tance of about fifteen miles, the dri-
vers and horses were changed and
sometimes the stages. The stages
were run usually about thirty
miles each day. After 1830, heavy
Troy coaches were put upon the road,
which were drawn by four horses
each, with about the same changes.
These coaches weighed from 1,800
to 2,000 pounds and carried nine pas-
sengers inside and two outside, al-
though more were crowded on the top
when it was necessary. The body of
one of these stages was hung on two
strong leather straps, composed of
many thicknesses of leather. With five
(jrmore i)assengersthe riding was com-
fortable; with only one or two passen-
gers the stage rolled and jumped on a
rough road. These stages were like
the modern omnibus — they would al-
ways hold one more passenger. The
435
tare from Owego to Newburgh was
.$7.25, and to Jersey City over the
Montrose route $8.00.
All the villagers knevp the time of
the arrival and departure of the dif-
ferent stages, and when the sound of
the stage driver's horn was heard an-
nouncing his coming, there was usu-
ally a considerable number of sight-
seers to witness their going ajid com-
ing.
At the stage houses the passengers
stopped for their meals, and this tra-
fie was a large source of profit. Usu-
ally these hotel keepers were the es-
sence of politeness, and in assisting
their guests to and from the stages
and entertaining them in the house
they had no equals.
In the old stage days in every vil-
lage in the Susquehanna valley was a
tavern designated as "the stage
house." or house where the stages
stopped. The old Owego hotel, which
stood where the present Ahwaga
house is now, was the stage house in
this village for the old lines until the
New York and Erie railroad was built
to Owego in 1849. The hotel was
burned in the fall of that year.
The old stage companies had the
contracts for carrying the mails and
were consequently able to drive off
any opposition lines tx.at might be
started. In October, 1840, N. Randall
& Co. started an opposition line be-
tween Owego and Morristown, N. J.,
running by the way of Montrose, Dun-
daff, Carbondale, Clark's Corners, Ca-
naan, Honesdale, and Milford. At
Morristown, passengers for New York
and Philadeli)hia were transferred to
the cars.
Nathan Randall, previous to estab-
436
lishing this stage line — from 1S28 to
1S37 — was the publisher of the Ithaca
Journal and Advertiser at Ithaca. His
Owego office was at L. Manning &
Son's Owego hotel and his agent was
J. C. Bogardus. Bogardus was from
Rhinebeck. He died a few years af-
terward, a victim of intemperance.
The New York agency was at 73
Cortlandt street. The agent, Jonathan
Hill, was a bachelor and had been a
stage driver. At the time of his death
he had not a relative living, and he
left all his property to John Patton.
Jr., a nephew of James Patton, who
was agent for the old stage line at 71
Cortlandt street, and himself a stage
agent. John Patton, Jr., was after-
ward engaged in the ocean steamship
business, and became very wealthy.
At the time of his death a few years
ago, he was the owner of the Pacific
hotel in Greenwich street.
William G. Thompson, who was a
son of Henry Thompson, the first tav-
ern keeper and postmaster at Camp-
ville, lived nearly all of his life at
Owego and died here. He was agent
for the old lines at 73 Cortlandt street
about the year 1846, and two years af-
terward went on the line to look after
the passengers.
Mr. Randall was finally driven off
the road by the old companies, to
whom he sold his coaches and stock.
In every instance where opposition
lines were afterward started they
were also compelled to leave the road
and sell out to the old proi)rietors.
The office of the old lines was at Man-
ning & Son's Owego hotel, while the
opposition established their agencies
at the Franklin house and Tioga
house. The duty of these agents was
437
simply to receipt fare for the com-
pany.
Another of the opposition lines was
the "Eagle Lme" of Field, Cox & Co.,
which was established in October,
1S43, after the N. Y. & E. railroad was
completed to Middletown. The head-
quarters of the proprietors were at
Binghamton. Coaches were run daily
from Middletown by the way of Nar-
rowsburg, Honesdale, Mount Pleasant.
New Milford, Great Bend, and Bing-
hamton to Owego. At this time the
offices of both the regular and oppo-
sition lines were at the old Owego
hotel.
Charles Cox was from Carbondale,
Pa., He afterward kept a hotel four
miles west of Honesdale. He died at
Scranton. Mr. Field was a brother of
Maj. Almerin Field, who was proprie-
tor at various times of hotels at Corn-
ing, Elmira, Owego, and Waverly.
The brothers kept a hotel at Narrows-
burg and were both engaged in stage
coaching.
As the New York and Erie railroad
was constructed the stages running
east from Owego changed their routes
and ran in connection with its last
western terminus. The road was ex-
tended to Goshen, in September, 1S41;
to Middletown, in June. 1843; to Port
.Tervis, in .January, 1848; to Bingham-
ton, in December of the same year;
and to Owego October 1, 1849. When
the road reached Elmira the days of
the old stage lines were at an end so
far as this part of the state was con-
cerned.
The stage proprietors in the later
days of stage coaching were as fol-
lows: C. L. Grant & Co., Ithaca; I.
Ringe, Geneva; L. Manning & Son.
438
Owego; T. J. Magee, Bath; Lorenzo
Seymour, Corning; Cooley & Maxwell,
Elmira;, Stephen B. Leonard, Owego;
Augustus Morgan, Binghamton; Ithl-
mer Mott, New Milford; Wm. Riley,
Rileyville, Pa.; Hamilton & Son,
Monticello; O. Sweet, Bloomingburg;
S. Hathaway, Newburgh; Leonard
Searle & Bro., Montrose; Wm. Bron-
son, Carbondale; Major McClary,
Honesdale; Sam Dimmock, Milford;
the Cassidy brothers, Port Jervis;
Charles Beach, Catskill; H. Curtis,
Greene; and Miller Horton, Wilkes-
barre.
The Searleses came to Montrose,
Pa., at an early day from the Wyom-
ing valley, and were the first to estab-
lish stage routes and post offices in
Susquehanna county. For many years
they ran two lines from Milford to
New York — one by the way of Sussex,
N. J., and the other via Deckertown.
The stage proprietors here named
were all combined in one large stock
company and owned all the large
routes running through southern New
York. Each one put into the company
as many coaches and as much live
stock as was necessary for the num-
ber of miles he ran over, and each
drew mileage in proportion to the
number of miles run by his stages.
Settlements were made once every
three months at meetings of the pro-
prietors, which were held at various
points previously designated. Owego
was a central point, and the meetings
were frequently held here.
As the N. Y. and E. railroad ex-
tended its tracks westward and
the stage routes were consequently
gradually shortened.many of the stage
drivers became brakemen on the road.
439
were rapidly pushed forward, and be-
came conductors. The old coaches
disappeared, most of them being re-
moved to parts of the country not yet
occupied by the railroads.
The last of the old coaches in Owe-
go was lying for several years in the
old lane, which ran about where Cen-
tral avenue now extends, and through
which the old Owego and Ithaca horse
railroad had run down into the vil-
lage. The coach was minus its wheels
and everything else that could be car-
ried away. One night, on a third of
.July, the boys made a great bonfire
in the street at the north end of the
park. The old coach was dragged out
into the street and surrounded by
wooden boxes and other inflammable
stuff. A light was applied, and the
whole was soon a heap of ashes and
scrap iron.
Stage coaching was not unattended
by accidents. The roads were some-
times rough, the hills precipitous, the
nights dark, and there was danger in
times of ice and flood. The only ac-
cident worthy of any mention that ever
happened in Owego was on the 26th of
March, 1846. There was a great flood
in the Owego creek, and all the low
land between the two bridges in Cana-
wana was overflowed. At four o'clock
in the morning, the mail coach from
Elmira containing five passengers was
coming into Owego. It passed over
the creek bridge and entered the swift
current, which was flowing over the
highway. The water at once swept
away both coaches and horses. One
of the horses was drowned. The dri-
ver and three of the passengers were
drowned. All passengers were young
440
men under twenty-five years of age
and one of them was a negro.
The Second Railroad Chartered in the
State of New York Is Built between
Ithaca and Owego, to Lessen the
Expense of Transporting Merchan-
dise to Owego and thence by the
Susquehanna River to a Market,
with Capital Stock of $150,000,
Which Is Subsequently Increased to
$450,000.
The old Ithaca and Owego railroad
was built in 1833 to make easier and
cheaper transportation for merchan-
dise brought down Cayuga lake to
Ithaca by boat and drawn thence to
Owego by teams for shipment down
the Susquehanna river to the Philadel-
phia and Baltimore markets.
At that time the chief products con-
sisted of salt from Syracuse, plaster
from Auburn, and flour, grain, and
lumber from every direction in cen-
tral New York. At first all the mer-
chandise was drawn the entire dis-
tance from the point of production to
Owego by teams. Finally a ditch was
dug from the head of Cayuga lake to
connect with the Erie canal. When
this water connection was com-
pleted boats were run down to Ithaca,
and merchandise brought thence to
Owego by teams.
The proposition to build a railroad
from Syracuse to Owego was first con-
sidered. Public meetings were held
at Newark Valley, Berkshire, Rich-
ford, Dryden and other places to cre-
ate a sentiment in favor of such road.
But when the water connection was
made between the Erie canal and Cay-
uga lake the plan was changed.
441
The first railroad constructed in the
United States was built only six years
previous, in 1827, and that was a horse
railroad from the granite quarries of
Quincy, Mass., to the Neponset river,
a distance of three miles. And the Ith^
aca and Owego railroad was incorpor-
porated only a year later.
The second railroad was laid out in
January, 1827. from the coal mines of
Mauch Chunk, Pa., to the Lehigh
river a distance of nine miles. In 1828
the Delaware & Hudson canal com-
pany constructed a railroad from its
coal mines to Honesdale, Pa., the ter-
minus of its canal, and sent a commis-
sion to England for the purchase of
rail iron and locomotives. The loco-
motives arrived in the spring of 1829.
The third railroad constructed was the
Baltimore and Ohio line, commenced
in 1828.
The first railroad chartered in the
state of New York was the Hudson &
Mohawk railroad from Albany to Sche-
nectady, April 17, 1826, but its con-
struction was not begun until 18.30.
The second railroad chartered in this
state was the Ithaca & Owego rail-
road.
In those days, as has already been
related, Owego was the outlet from
the north, by the Susquehanna river,
for flour, grain, salt, lumber, plaster,
etc., and for many years this part of
the state was the source of supply for
such merchandise. Much of it came
by the way of Ithaca to Owego and
was transported down the river in
arks. The steamboat having proved
a failure as a means of transporting
freight, the next project was a rail-
road.
442
The Ithaca & Owego railroad was
organized by capitalists living at Owe-
go and Ithaca, prominent among
whom was .lames Pumpelly. The mat-
ter was first agitated in 1827.
It had at first been proposed to
build a canal between Owego and Ith-
aca, as a connecting link between the
waters of the Erie canal and the Sus-
quehanna river, but when it was found
that there would be an elevation and
corresponding depression of 600 feet
to overcome by lockage, as well as the
disadvantage of a doubtful supply of
water, and also that a railroad could
be built for at least one-third less than
a canal and could be used at all sea-
sons of the year while a canal would
be frozen in the winter months, the
railroad project was substituted.
No active measures, however, were
taken to build the road until the build-
ing of the Chemung canal from the
nead of Seneca lake to Elmira threat-
ened to divert trade from Ithaca and
Owego. Then Gen. Simeon DeWitt,
who owned a large tract of land at the
head of Cayuga lake, and others inter-
ested in the prosperity of Ithaca and
Owego, set themselves at work to
build this road.
Sept. 20, 1S27, a meeting was held
at Owego for the j)urpose of taking
measures to procure from the state
legislature a grant for a company to
construct a railroad from Ithaca to
Owego. At this meeting Mr. Pum-
pelly was chairman and Stephen B.
Leonard secretary. A committee com-
posed of James Pumpelly, Eleazer
Dana, John H. Avery, John R. Drake,
and Stephen B. Leonard was ap-
pointed to confer with a similar com-
mittee of Ithaca men. On the 31st of
443
October a similar meeting was held
at Ithaca, when a committee com-
posed of A. D. W. Bruyn. F A. Blood-
good, Charles Humphrey. Henry Ack-
ley, and Levi Leonard was appointed
to confer with the Owego committee.
These committees met at Philiii
Goodman's tavern in Owego, where
the Ahwaga house now stands, on
November 20 and decided to petition
the legislature to incorporate a com-
pany to construct the proposed road.
The company was duly incorporated
June 28, 1828, the corporation to con-
tinue until January 1, 1878. The right
was granted to construct a single
or double track railroad from Cayuga
lake, at or near Ithaca, to the Sus-
quehanna river, in the village of
Owego, and to erect and maintain toll
houses and other buildings along its
line. The company was empowered
• to transport, take, and carry prop-
erty and persons, by the power and
force of steam, of animals, or of any
combination of them, which the said
corporation may choose to employ."
The rate for transporting freight
was fixed at three cents a ton a mile,
and for every pleasure carriage, or
carriage used for the transportation of
passengers three cents a mile, in addi-
tion to the toll by weight for loading.
The act also provided that "all per-
sons paying the toll aforesaid may,
with suitable and proper carriages,
use and travel upon the said railroad,
sub.iect to such rules and reg-
ulations as the said corporation are
authorized to make." The act was
to be null and void if the railroad
should not be built and put into oper-
ation within three years from the i)as-
sage of this act.
444
The capital stock was fixed at
$150,000 in shares of $50 each. Lu-
ther Gere and Andrew D. W. Bruyn,
of Ithaca, and Charles Pumpelly, of
Owego, were appointed commissioners
to open books and receive subscrip-
tions to stock. December 20 it was
announced that all the stock had been
taken.
A meeting of stockholders was held
Feb. 10, 1829. at the store of Jesse
Grant & Son at Ithaca, when nine
directors were chosen. These direc-
tors were Francis A. Bloodgood, S. De-
Witt Bloodgood, Richard V. DeWitt.
A. D. W. Bruyn, Mynderse VanSchaick.
Cornelius P. Heermans, James Pum-
pelly, Alvah Beebe, and Ebenezer
Mack. Francis A. Bloodgood was
chosen president, Mr. DeWitt treas-
urer, and Mr. Mack secretary.
Two routes were surveyed. One
was by the valley of the inlet of Cay-
uga lake and the west branch of Cata-
tonk creek, through the town of Spen-
cer. The distance by this route from
the Inlet bridge to Owego was 36.6
miles. The other route, which was
subsequently adopted, was by the val-
ley of the Six Mile creek, Beaver
Meadow creek, one of its branches,
and the east branch of the Catatonk
creek. The distance from the inlet to
Owego by this route was 29.6 miles.
John Randal, Jr., was apppointed
engineer of the road. He had con-
structed the New Castle and French-
town railroad in Pennsylvania, which
was at that time one of the finest
pieces of engineering in the United
States. Ephraim Leach, the builder
of Leach's mills on the Owego creek,
in the town of Tioga, was appointed
445
superintendent of structure and engi-
neering at the south end of the road.
When the survey of the road had
been completed it was found that the
original capital of $150,000, which had
all been taken, was insufficient to con-
struct it, although at first, for want of
correct information of the nature and
expense of railroads, it was supposed
to be adequate to the purpose.
March :J, 1S31, a meeting of dele-
gates from the several parts of the
country adjacent to and interested in
the projected railroad, with delegates
from the coal regions of Pennsylva-
nia, was held at Philip Goodman's
tavern in this village. James Pum-
pelly was chairman and David Wood-
cock, of Ithaca, secretary. The meet-
ing appointed a committee, consisting
of Luther Gere, Jeremiah S. Beebe,
and Horace Mack, of Ithaca, and
James Pumpelly, Jonathan Piatt, and
John R. Drake, of Owego, to confer
with those who held the stock of the
road, with a view to a more general
distribution of such stock. A commit-
tee was appointed to examine as to
the practicability and probable ex-
pense of building the road.
Several subsequent meetings were
held. At one of them, on Feb. 17,
1831, at Ithaca, a committee reported
that the average tonnage in 1830, con-
veyed by team from Ithaca to Owego
was 4,000 tons of plaster, 10,000
l)ounds of salt, 4r)0 tons of merchan-
dise, 4,000.000 feet (or 4,000 tons) of
lumber, and 250 tons of miscellaneous
articles.
In 1832 the charter of the company
was amended by act of the legislature.
446
increasing the capital stock to
$300,000.
The builders of the railroad were
Jeremiah S.and Alvah Beebe, brothers,
who were sons of Col. Jedidiah Beebe,
of Lynn, Conn., who distinguished
himself in the battle of New London,
in 1812. They built the Clinton house
at Ithaca, and the Fall creek tunnel,
and also put the first steamboat on
Cayuga lake.
The road was constructed in 1833,
and opened for traffic in April, 1834.
The track was altogether- different
from the tracks of the railroads of the
present day. The proposed mode of
construction, as detailed by W. A.
Swift, United States engineer, in the
"Report and Survey of the Route of
the Ithaca and Owego Railroad."
printed in pamphlet form at Ithaca,
in 1828, was in brief as follows:
Pits two and one-half feet in depth
and three feet square were to be dug
at intervals and filled with broken
stone. Within three inches of the
surface of the ground flat stones were
placed. Across the head of the track
and resting on these stones were
placed oak sills, ten inches square and
seven and one-half feet in length.
These sills were placed eight feet
apart. Oak sleepers for the rails, six
by twelve inches and from 16 to 24
feet in length, were laid lengthwise
with the track and fastened to the
sills with wooden pins.
The rails were straps of rolled
wrought iron, two and one-fourth
inches wide and one-half of an inch
thick. Holes of oblong shape were
punched in the rails eighteen inches
apart, through which four-inch screws
447
were driven, to hold them to the
sleepers beneath. No "fish-plates"
were nsed, as at the present day to
connect the ends of the rails, but
they were cut at the ends diagonally
and the ends laid close together.
These rails had one serious defect.
After having been in use some time,
the screw heads were apt to break off
and the pointed ends of the rails, or
snake heads, as they were called
would spring up from the track and
remain up. The result was that
serious accidents to passengers were
caused by the "snake heads tearing
through the floor of passenger coaches
and injuring passengers.
The road had but one track, and
had frequent turn-out or passing
places, at the present day called
switches.
The board of trustees of Owego vil-
lage, at a special meeting on Sept. 27,
1833, authorized the railroad company
to lay its tracks through the public
park and such parts of the streets to
and from the public square as might
be necessary for the purposes of the
company. Three days later, at a
meeting of the railroad directors at
Ithaca, a committee was appointed to
come to Owego to arrange for a final
location for the southern terminus of
the road. Oct. 5, two members of the
committee, William N. Collins and
Julius Ackles; met the engineer-in-
chief at this place, who submitted the
various surveys.
It was decided to enter the village
through lands of Elizur Talcott, David
P. Tinkham, and Mrs. Mary A. Lan-
ing and the village park. Mr. Talcott
gave the company a right of way sixty
448
feet wide through his farm. The road
was accordingly extended into this
village between his dwelling house
and the public highway (now North
avenue.) It ran from Ithaca to Owe-
go over the line of what is now the
Cayuga division of the Delaware,
Lackawana & Western railroad, and
followed its present course down
through where the centre of Central
avenue now is and through the lands
of Mr. Tinkham and Mrs. Laiiing to
the park.
At this time Temple street had not
been extended from North avenue
west. Fox street west of North
avenue was opened only to the rail-
road track. Between the present
Temple street and extending nearly
up to Fox street was a pond known
for many years as the Dodd pond and
as "Lake Dodd." To cross the low
ground on the west side of this pond
a high embankment was built to a
level with the ground at each end.
over which the railroad trains were
run. The tracks extended down along
what is now about the centre of Cen-
tral avenue.
Previous to the coming of the com-
mittee from Ithaca to Owego, eleven
business men of his village, Latham
A. Burrows, Charles Pumpelly,
Stephen B. Leonard, William Pum-
pelly. Jonathan Piatt, Gurdon Hewitt,
Amos Martin, George Bacon, William
A. Ely, Francis Armstrong, and James
Ely. had signed an agreement (dated
Sept. 28. 1833) to procure conveyances
to the railroad company, or to pay
the damages that might be assessed
by commissioners, for such land as
the company should need for depot
449
purposes. But no depot was ever
built.
It was arranged that the road
should enter the north end of the
park, a little east of the centre there-
of. At the southeast corner of the
park the road turned into Front street
on a curve and ran up that street a
little south of its centre to the old
Owego hotel, which stood where the
Ahwaga house now stands.
A switch was placed in the track a
little east of Church street, so that
freight cars could be run on another
track. This track extended down un-
der the long row of wooden stores
which then occupied the site of the
present brick ones, and was about
twelve feet below the level of Front
street. Cars were thus enabled to
discharge their contents of salt, plas-
ter, grain, etc., into arks and upon
rafts, to be floated thence down the
river.
Previous to the building of this
railroad teams could be driven with
tneir loads down to the river through
two lanes, or alleys, one of which was
between the stores of Dr. Jedediah
I' ay and Gurdon Hewitt, and the other
between the Laning storehouse and
Ely s hat store. Upon the road along
the river under the stores the railroad
tracks were laid.
Another switch at the south end of
the park allowed cars to be turned on
to another track which crossed Front
street just below the bridge into Wil-
liam H. Piatt's storehouse.
The first passenger conveyances
used on this railroad were similar to
the old stage coaches, the driver sit-
ting on the box and driving one horse.
Freight was carried on small flat cars
450
about twenty feet in length, with sides
about four feet high, drawn by two
horses. The horses were driven tan-
dem, for the reason that they had to
walk between the two rails and there
was not room for them to go side by
side. A "train" consisted of two cars.
Coming south from Ithaca these flat
cars were loaded with merchandise;
retui-ning north they were usually
empty. Each freight car had four
wheels, which were made open, with
spokes. Later, when a locomotive was
used to draw freight cars the passen-
ger coach was usually attached to the
rear of the freight cars.
A reproduction of the time table of
the Ithaca and Owego railroad, issued
in circular form in 1838, is here re-
produced. It was originally used to
illustrate an article in the Railway
Gazette a few years ago, written by
Herbert T. Walker. The "burden
ears" mentioned in the circular and
which were required to pay toll at the
rate of three cents a ton a mile, were
owned by individuals, who under the
provisions of the charter of the road,
could have them added to the com-
Ijany's trains at certain points along
the route.
Such an appliance as a brake for
car wheels was at this time unknown,
and it was somewhat difficult to regu-
late the speed of trains on a down
grade. Sometimes an iron bar, simi-
lar to a handspike, would be placed
in the spokes of a wheel and pressing
up against the front of the car. This
would block the motion of the wheel,
causing it to slide on the track and
acting as a brake.
451
452
The first locomotive was used on
this railroad in 1844. It is said to
have been built at Auburn and was
so constructed as to consume its own
smoke. It was called the "Pioneer"
and was manufactured in the state
prison by convict labor. Its smoke
stack was similar in shape to a piece
of stove pipe. Its frame was of wood.
Its boiler was covered with a coating
of wood, painted drab. The boiler
was supplied with water by a hand
pump through a hose. The water was
kept in a large hogshead on a flat car.
The engine was a failure. The
steam chamber was too large for the
boiler, and steam could not be made
fast enough. The chamber was sub-
sequently altered. The locomotive
was afterward reconstructed and the
wooden frame was replaced with an
iron one.
The locomotive was a slow affair.
It ran only about as fast as a horse
could trot. On its first trip from Ith-
aca it ran all right until it reached a
point a little north of Candor, when it
could be run no further, as the engi-
neer could not obtain sufficient steam.
It had to be finally hauled back to
Ithaca by horses. Frequently the
steam would run down, causing the
train to stop running entirely. Then,
while the fireman was getting up
more steam the passengers would sit
on the bank at the side of the track
and pass away the time playing cards
or pick berries along he way. This is
said to have been the origin of the
term, "huckleberry train." Later a
more competent engineer was found
and no further difiiculty was exper-
ienced.
453
The locomotive made one trip with
freight each day to Ithaca and re-
turn and the horse car one trip at
night. The time between Ithaca and
Owego was six hours, or about seven
miles an hour, but on one occasion
the trip was m.ade in four and one-
half hours.
It is related that in 1844 a Whig
mass meeting was held in Ithaca.
That day a load of Owego Whigs rode
over to Ithaca on the train to attend
the meeting. At Candor the track was
so slipj)ery with oil that the locomo-
tive could not proceed until the rails
had been covered with sand. The
story went abroad that the Democrats
had greased the track. but it afterward
appeared that the trouble had been
caused by a leaky barrel of oil.
The same day Philip Mosher, son of
Seth Mosher, who for many years kept
the Central house in Owego, drove
over to Ithaca on the railroad track
with his horse and the old passenger
coach. In returning he became tired
of waiting for the train to leave, and
swore that if it did not start within
ten minutes he would go on ahead of it
with the coach, and he did. He had
hardly got out of sight when the train
started. Some idea of the speed of
the train can be gathered from the
fact that after Mr.Mosher had reached
tne Half Way house and had stopped
to water his horse, the locomotive
came in sight just as he drove on.
While the iron horse took water Mr.
Mosher obtained another good start.
When he drove into the park in this
village,the train was behind him,about
where Temple street is now. He
made the trip in a few minutes more
than three hours.
454
About a year after the chamber of
the locomotive had been altered a dis-
astrous accident hai)pened, which put
an end to its usefulness. At six
o'clock in the evening of May 21,
1847, while it was hauling a train
from Ithaca to Owego it broke
through a bridge at Woodbridge's,
about six miles north of Owego. The
bridge had been for some time in an
unsafe condition. The engineer, D.
H. Hatch, of Flemingville, and the
fireman, A. Dickinson, of Danby, were
both instantly killed. This was the
last trip that Mr. Hatch had intended
to make over the road. He fell under
the locomotive, which crushed in his
breast.
The "Pioneer" was never afterward
used to draw trains. It stood on a
switch west of North avenue in this
village for a time. When the D., L.
& W. railroad was completed to
Scranton, Pa., about the year 1852, it
was taken to that city, where it was
used for sawing wood, by blocking it
up so that the wheels did not touch
the ground.
When the locomotive was put on
the road larger passenger cars were
used. The new ones were about one-
third the size of an ordinary passen-
ger coach on railroads of the present
day. About twenty-five passengers
could be seated facing each other in a
car on seats that ran lengthwise with
the car, similar to the seats in the
street cars of the present day. There
were no stoves in the cars to keep
passengers warm in the winter. After
the accident at Woodbridge's all the
cars were drawn by horses, and so
continued until the road was rebuilt
in 1850.
455
One of the passenger cars that was
put on the old horse railroad during
its latter days, continued to be used
after the railroad was reconstructed
and larger and improved locomotives
were used. It was built in Connecti-
cut in 1848 and was put on the road
the next year. It was not taken off
the road until 1882.
While the locomotive was used it
was allowed to run no further than
the south end of the park. The stores
on both sides of Front street were
wooden ones — some of them old rook-
eries — and it was feared that they
might take fire from sparks.
The old locomotive house stood as
late as 1850 on wnat is now the south-
west corner of Central avenue and
Temple street. It was of rectangular
shape, weather-beaten and unpainted,
and was large enough to house the
locomotive and a car or two. A small
turntable, which was worked by hand,
stood just south of the engine house.
The first agent at Owego of the Ith-
aca and Owego railroad was Jonathan
Piatt, whose office was at his store on
the south side of Front street, oppo-
site the Owego hotel. When Mr. Piatt
sold his store to Taylors & Bell, W. C.
Taylor became the agent. At the same
time Allen Storrs & Ball were agents
for the People's line of insured boats,
running between Ithaca and New
York city, and another line running
from Ithaca to Buffalo, and received
freight here for all points beyond
Ithaca.
The passenger cars started from in
front of the Owego hotel at 4 o'clock
in the morning of each day, and were
met half way between Ithaca and
456
Owego by another train, which left
Ithaca at about the same hour.
The capital stock of the railroad
was increased to $450,000 by act of
the legislature, passed May 3, 1834,
just after the completion of the road.
April 18, 1838, another act was
passed by the legislature, authorizing
the comptroller to deliver to the rail-
road company special certificates of
stock of $1,000 each to the amount of
$250,000, bearing annual interest of
five and one-half per cent. For this
loan the state took a lieu upon the
road and its equipment.
May 14 1840, another act of the leg-
islature authorized the comptroller of
the state to issue and deliver to the
railroad company certificates of stock
of this state to the amount of $28,000.
to bear interest at six per cent.
The state loan amounted to about
$8,655 a mile, and the interest was to
have been paid semi-annually. But
the panic of 1837 proved fatal to the
Ijrospects of the road. When the first
semi-annual interest became due its
payment was not forthcoming, and
when default was again made in the
])ayment of the second semi-annual
interest the comptroller, Azariah C.
Flagg, advertised the road for sale at
auction. After at least one postpone-
ment, the sale was made May 20, 1842,
and the property was struck off to
Archibald Mclntyre and others for
$4,500. The rolling stock was subse-
quently sold to the Cayuga & Susque-
hanna railroad company for about
$50,000.
April 18, 1843, the state legislature
passed an act constituting Mclntyre
and the several persons to whom he
might assign any portion of the old
457
Ithaca & Owego railroad a body cor-
porate by the name of the Cayuga &
Susquehanna railroad, such corpora-
tion to continue until January 1, 1900.
The capital stock was fixed at $18,000
and divided into shares of $15 each.
Three years later the road was re-
built with heavy T s^^aped rails, as it
is to-day. The contractors were Jones &
btearns, of New Hampshire. Wallace
W. Barden, who had built railroads for
these contractors in the eastern
states, came here in September, 1849,
and had charge of the reconstruction
of the road as foreman. He brought
about eighty men with him from New
Hampshire. The road from the top of
the hill at Ithaca to Owego was com-
pleted Dec. 17, 1850. The road down
the hill into Ithaca was finished a year
later.
After the completion of the New
York and Erie railroad to Owego in
1849, the track of the Cayuga & Sus-
quehanna railroad was built on a
curve from the main track near Mc-
Master street to the New York & Erie
station, east of North avenue, and the
trains, which were drawn by heavy
locomotives of the modern type were
run to that station. An effort had
been made in July, 1848, to induce the
village trustees to use their influence
to have the track through the park
torn up and the railroad discontinued.
This was not accomplished, however,
until the summer of lo.iO, a year after
the cars had been running to the New
York & Erie station.
On the first of January, 1855, the
Cayuga & Susquehanna road was
leased to the Delaware, Lackawanna
& Western railroad company, and is
still operated by that company.
458
Mr. Barden was appointed roadmas-
ter of the reconstructed Cayuga &
Susquehanna road and continued as
roadmaster thirty-six years until the
main line of the Delaware Lacka-
wanna & Western railroad was built
from Binghamton to Owego and the
two roads were connected by building
the iron bridge across the Susque-
hanna river at the foot .of William
street. Then the tracKs connecting
the road with the New York & Erie
railroad station were removed and
trains were run to the D., L. & W.
station, south of L..e rive/.
Some Account of the Early Inns in the
Days when Travellers Were Enter-
tained at Log Houses and Later at
the Pixley, Bates, Deforest, and
Laning Taverns, and Later at the
Old Owego Hotel and the Central
and Tioga Houses.
In the days of the early settlement
of Owego the first settlers entertained
the few travellers who came through
the woods here at their houses. James
McMaster, the first settler here, used
his house on the south side of Front
street, east of Academy street, as a
tavern for the accomodation of travel-
lers until public houses were built
elsewhere. As the number of settlers
gradually increased along the roads
which had been cut through the wil-
derness, the taverns, many of them
small ones and roughly constructed of
logs, increased in number, and within
a few miles of each other could be
found some sort of a house where
teamsters and the occasional traveller
on foot or by stage could obtain lodg-
ing and refreshment. Some of these
459
were simply dwelling houses, with
limited accomodations for guests,
while later ones were more preten-
tious in size, with a barroom attach-
ment, but little less primitive in their
appointments.
One of the first of these inns was
the house long known as the Pixle.v
tavern in Goodrich settlement in the
town of Tioga. Others were the Bates
anu Deforest taverns at Owego. Abner
Turner built a tavern north of Owego
in the town of Tioga, near the red
mills. Two miles distant on the old
Ithaca and Owego turnpike was Wool-
verton"s tavern, a little log house.
Woolverton later built a two-stor.v
taveni on the opposite side of the
road, under the bank. The next tav-
ern was Daniel Bacon's, about a mile
this side of Candor. The next ones
on the turnpike were at Candor and
Candor corners. The turnpike gate
nearest to Owego was just north of
Woolverton's tavern.
The house built by Col. David Pix-
ley and occupied by him as a dwelling
house and tavern still stands in the
town of Tioga. It was l3uilt in 1791.
It is at the right hand side of the high-
way as one goes from Owego toward
"Glenmary"' and a few rods north of
the road.
One unacquainted with its history
would naturally wonder why it should
stand at right angles with the high-
way and with its rear toward the
road. At the time it was built the old
road ran along on the northeast or
front side of the building, and ex-
tended down the hill to the Indian
spring, near which, on the Owego
creek. Col. Pixley built a grist mill.
460
Here the road crossed the creek and
came through Owego.
Like all buildings constructed at
that time, it was built of heavy timber
and the nails and all the iron work
were forged by a blacksmith. In 1802
Col. Pixley sold the house to judge
Noah and Eliakim Goodrich, who
bought also all of Col. Pixley's large
tract of land there. Judge Goodrich
lived and died in the tavern and his
son, Ephraim, lived there afterward.
There was another small tavern in
those days kept by Sam Stafford. It
was a small one and stood on the west
side of the Owego creek in the town
of Tioga, on the north side of the
highway leading from Main street out
of this village. It stood about where
the gateway to the "Vesper Cliff"
property now is.
The first tavern built in this village
was for many years known as the
Bates tavern and stood on the north-
west corner of Front and Church
streets, where the Ahwaga house is
now. Church street had not been
opened as a street at that time, and
the only highway through Owego was
the river road, now known as Front
street. Capt. Luke Bates purchased
the land of James McMaster Nov. 12,
1795, and erected thereon a tavern, in
one part of which was a small country
store. It was built of timber and
planks, was two stories high, and was
painted red. In front was a long por-
tico, with benches thereon. The
horse sheds were on the bank of the
river on the opposite side of the road.
A red barn stood west of the tavern,
with a small space of ground between
the two buildings. June 17, 1800,
Capt. Bates purchased of David
THE OLD PIXLEY HOUSE IN GOODRICH SETTLEMENT.
461
Humphrey the hmd in the rear, un
what is now the southwest corner of
Main and Church streets, on which
was a dwelling house and barn. The
entire property was sold by Capt.
Bates February 17, 1803, to George
Stevens, of Canaan, Conn., and
Charles Pumpelly for $3,500.
Capt. Luke Bates was the first set-
tler west of Union, Broome county
(then Tioga county.) While living
there, in 1791, he represented the
town of Union in the board of super-
visors. He had been a sea captain.
The exact date of his settlement at
Owego is not known. He was one of
those to whom James McMaster, the
original owner of all the land now oc-
cupied by the village of Owego, sold
much of his land. He came here,
probably, about the year 1791, as
deeds of the village lots given by him
in that year are on record in the
Tioga clerk's office. After he sold his
tavern he removed about two miles
east of Owego. and settled on the
Little Nanticoke creek, where he lived
on the north side of the road and con-
ducted a whiskey distillery. At the
time of his coming to Owego he was
a prosperous man of business, but ad-
dicted to drink. He became very in-
temperate and died ten years after
the sale of his tavern and store.
Capt. Bates was one of the three
original trustees of "Owego settle-
ment" appointed by James McMaster
in the deed executed in February,
1797, giving to the settlement the land
now occupied by the village park, the
county jail, and the old Owego acad-
emy. Sept. 4, 1813, soon after his
death, a meeting of the inhabitants
was held and Eleazer Dana was elect-
462
ed trustee in his place. Pumpelly and
Stevens kept the tavern and in con-
nection therewith the store until Jan-
uary 30, 1804, when Stevens sold his
interest in the tavern property to Mr.
Pumpelly, together with a village lot
in Back (now Main) street for $1,200.
The square now bounded by Front.
Lake, Main, and Church streets, com-
prised four village lots of equal size.
The two lots comprising the western
half were owned by James Caldwell,
and the eastern half was the tavern
property.
At the west end of the tavern was
a ball room, where social functions
were occasionally held. This ball
room had been the place for holding
all public meetings, and it answered
the purpose of a town hall for many
years.
The first town meeting of the town
of Tioga (now Owego) was held at
the Bates tavern April 3, 1800. After
the court house at Spencer was
burned in 1821 and until a new one
was built at Owego in 1823 all sales
of real estate at mortgage foreclosure
were made at this tavern. While the
court house was building the courts
were held in the ball room of the tav-
ern.
For many years all business centred
around the s])ot and property in that
vicinity until as late as 1830 was
worth fully twenty per cent, more
than property in any other part of the
vilage. But everything was changed
in 1850. In 1849, the year when the
hotel was burned, the New York and
Erie railroad was completed to Owe-
go. Previous to that time the great
stage thoroughfare was Front street
and the Owego hotel was the stage
463
depot. The cars of the old Ithaca and
Owego horse raih'oad also ran to the
hotel. After the burning of the hotel
the business went temporarily to the
Central and Tioga houses, which for a
time were in the centre of business.
The New York and Erie railroad di-
verted business from the old thorough-
fare. Lake street, Main street, and
North avenue were gradually built up
with substantial stores as old build-
ings were burned or torn down and
the business of the village was grad-
ually and entirely changed.
Charles Pumpelly conducted the
store and kept the Bates tavern until
1815, when he removed to a large and
handsome residence he had built and
which occupied the lots on the north
side of Front street where the homes
of judge Mead and Miss Anna M.
Dean now stand. Daniel Churchill
then leased the tavern of Mr. Pum-
pelly and kept it two years. In 1818,
Edward Edwards, of Berkshire, who in
1815 had been landlord of the old Lan-
ing tavern, moved in and he also re-
mained two years. The next landlord
was Erastus S. Marsh, who had been
a clerk in John Hollenback's store
and who took possession in 1820.
Marsh was fond of liquor and did not
do a profitable business. He failed
and Jonathan Piatt took possession
of the tavern, rather than have it
closed.
In May, 1824, Philip Goodman came
from Dansville, Pa., and became land-
lord. He kept the house until it was
burned at sundown in March, 1829.
This fire and the one that burned ma-
jor Horatio Ross's store in the winter
of 1826-7, were the first fires of any
account at Owego. People at this tav-
464
ern fire became very much excited,
and some in their zeal to save prop-
erty seized the dishes from the supper
table and threw them into the street.
One man picked up a handspike and in
his excited condition ran about and
broke the tavern windows. A clerk in
William Pumpelly's store on the south
side of the street, fearing that the
store would catch fire, dashed up
stairs and began to save the stock of
crockery by throwing it out of the
window, concluding his work by carry-
ing a pair of andirons carefully down
stairs and depositing them in safety
on the sidewalk.
On the site of the old tavern Charles
Pumpelly soon built a three-story
wooden building, painted white, which
he called the Owego hotel. It was a
large house and was regarded as a
great public improvement. Mr. Good-
man became landlord upon its com-
pletion, taking possession Oct. 13, and
he kept the house until 1832 when he
left it and became landlord of the
Laning tavern. Lewis Manning, who
had been keeping the Laning tavern,
became landlord of the Owego hotel.
The house was in possession of Mr.
Mannning until 1838, when his son,
Chester J. Manning, became the land-
lord. Later the two kept it under the
firm name of L. Manning & Son, until
June, 1843, when Metzgar Edwards,
who had been keeping the Eagle tav-
ern at Elmira, became landlord and
kept the house about two years. In
May, 1845, L. Manning & Son again
became proprietors and kept it until
the spring of 1848. When it was
burned in the great fire of September,
1849, Charles Stebbins had been the
proprietor about eighteen months.
465
While the fire was raging in the street
below, wiping out the wooden stores
on both sides of Front street and grad-
ually approaching the hotel, Mr. Steb-
bins served breakfast to a large num-
ber of guests of the house. The fire
son afterward reached the hotel and it,
too, was soon wiped out of existence.
The Deforest Tavern.
One of the earliest taverns at Owe-
go was the Deforest tavern, which
stood at the northeast corner of Front
and Paige streets. It was a large
building with high steps in front, and
all the stages stopped there. It is not
known when this house was built, but
it was about the year 1800. It was
kept by Ira Deforest, of whom little
is known here now. He had a daugh-
ter, Huldah Deforest, who lived later
on a lot on the east side of North
avenue, which lot she purchased of
Elizur Talcott, Jr., and which extend-
ed on that street from Fox to John R.
street. Several yards back from the
avenue she built a small house where
she lived several years. She was
a seamstress. She removed some-
where in the west, where she mar-
ried a man named Douglass. They
had two daughters, Ellen and Julia
Ann Douglass. Julia Ann was mar-
ried to John W. Merritt, of New York
city. Their son, Gen. Wesley Merritt,
became one of the most prominent
officers in the United States army.
The North avenue and Fox street
house and lot were sold in August,
1830, by the Merritts to judge John R.
Drake for $200.
The Deforest tavern was kept at
one time by Ebenezer B. Gregory and
was for many years known as the
466
Gregorj' house. One of the early laud-
lords was Ebeuezer Backus, who came
troin Athens, Pa. Mr. Deforest be-
came landlord of the old Laning
tavern and died while keeping that
house.
Mr. Backus was a slaveholder and
owned two slaves. He held the office
of clerk of the town of Owego in 1814.
He lived here but a few years and re-
turned to Athens in 1816. Mrs. Louise
Welles Murray's "History of Old Ti-
oga Point and Early Athens" gives
considerable information concerning
Mr. Backus. He came to Athens from
Windham, Conn., about the year 1812.
He was a son-in-law of Col. Eleazer
Lindley, who was an active officer of
the "Jersey Blues" in the revolutionary
war and was in the Sullivan expedi-
tion. Mr. Backus was travelling agent
for the post office department several
years. He died at Athens in 1831.
Lewis Manning succeeded Mr.
Backus as landlord of the Deforest
tavern in 1816. DeWitt Clinton once
visited Owego and was a guest at this
house. It was afterward for many
years occupied as a dwelling house.
When Arba Campbell built the brick
house now owned by Mrs. Gorham on
the corner, he removed the old tavern
building around the corner on the east
side of Paige street, where it stood un-
til I'JUl, when it was torn down and a
large double tenement built in its
place, by Lyman T. Stanbrough.
The Old Laning Tavern.
The old Laning tavern, later known
as the Franklin house, stood on the
north side of Front street, near Court
street. At an early day the land at
the northeast corner of these two
467
streets was owned by Amos Draper,
who purchased it of James McMaster,
the origmal owner. June 4, 1792, Mr.
Draper sold twelve village lots to
Capt. Mason Wattles. Eight of these
lots comprised all the land on the
north side of Front street between
Paige and Church streets. Capt. Wat-
tles failed in business and on Feb. 7,
1799, all of his property, including the
square bounded by Front, Lake, Main,
and Court streets, was seized for a
debt of £578. 2s. 4d. and costs by
Jacob Conkline, a New York mer-
chant and sold at sheriff's sale
for $552. The lots on which the sher-
iff's residence, the old academy build-
ing, and the county clerk's office now
stand were not included in this sale,
as they had been previously deeded
to the trustees of Owego sttlement by
James McMaster in February, 1799.
Nov. 20, 1802, Mr. Conkline sold the
property to Robert Bowne, another
New York merchant, for $1,000. Feb.
14, 1804, Mr. Bowne sold to Gen. John
Laning the lot at the corner of Front
and Court streets for $600.
This lot was just one-fourth of the
Front, Lake, Main, and Court street
square. It was on a part of this
ground that the old Laning tavern was
built. The house stood close to the
walk on Front street and was several
feet east from the Court street corner.
At what time the tavern was con-
structed cannot be accurately ascer-
tained. The framework of large hewn
logs was first erected for a .iail and
stood partially enclosed and roofed
for a long time. The interior was a
resort for stray domestic animals, no
ordinance providing for the imi)Ound-
ing of stray quadru])eds being en-
468
forced in those days, if any was in ex-
istence. This framework Gen. Laning
covered with clapboads and converted
it into a tavern and store. It was two
stories high and had two long stoops
in front, the one above the other, ex-
tending along its entire front.
Wnether the building was ever paint-
ed or not is uncertain, but in its later
days (it was burned in 1849) it had a
dingy, yellow, wood-colored appear-
ance.
Gen. Laning Kept the house from
the time of its construction until 1815.
when Edward Edwards, of Berkshire,
became the landlord. In 1817 Mr. Ed-
wards was succeeeded by Abraham
Post, of Albany, and he in December
of the same year by Ebenezer B.
Gregory, who changed the name of
the tavern to the "Union Coffee
House." Mr. Gregory kept the tavern
a portion of a year and moved out
while Gen. Laning was down the river.
When Gen. Laning returned he was
surprised to find that his wife had
taken possession of the house and
was conducting the business until his
return.
Mr. Gregory was an uncle of
Stephen B. Leonard. He afterward
kept a general country store in Cald-
well row. He died at Owego, Feb. 8,
1837, aged about 81 years.
Amos Martin was the landlord in
1819 and remained until 1823 when
Lewis Manning took the house and
kept it until 1825 when he removed to
Greene, Chenango county. Capt.
Stephen T. Smith then took posses-
sion. His occupancy of the house was
brief, Mr. Manning again taking pos-
session in 1826 and keeping it until
lo30 when Stephen B. Leonard kept
469
the house for a year. Mr. Manning
agahi became the landlord in 1831.
The next year he removed to the
Owego hotel and Philip Goodman left
the Owego hotel aiid took the "Coffee
House." Mr. Goodman kept the house
until his death. He died Aug. 25, 1838,
aged 53 years. His widow, Jane
Goodman, continued the business until
March, 1841, when she removed to the
south side of the river, where she kept
a tavern opposite the toll house of the
old Owego bridge several years. One
of Mr. Goodman's advertisements pub-
lished in the Owego Gazette a year
previous to his death reads as follows:
"His house is large and commo-
dious, his fare of the best quality,
and his faculty, whether Bank or Anti-
Bank, Whigs, Conservatives, or Loco
B ocos, is good as ever. His prices are
as reasonable as can be afforded, and
that there may be 'no mistake!' he
has fixed them as follows: Meals, 25
cents. Lodging 121/2 cents. Horse-
keeping 3s. each, per night, including
oats, &c. Everything else in propor-
tion. . . . Persons wishing to take
the stage will be called up at any hour
in the night they may desire."
rhe Franklin House.
William H. Muzzy, who died at Owe-
go Aug. 27, 1879, succeeded Mr. Good-
man and changed the name of the tav-
ern to the Franklin house. In 1844
he went to Binghamton and took the
Binghamton hotel and Justus Picker-
ing and Jacob Dietz came from Una-
dilla and became proprietors of the
Franklin house. They remained in
charge of the tavern but a short time.
Mr. Dietz died at Oneonta many years
ago. Mr. Pickering removed to Bing-
hamton, where he died Sept. 1, 1880,
aged 68 years. He was at one time
470
the owner of a glue factory, about a
mile north of this village.
James D. and John E. Park suc-
ceeded Pickering & Dietz and kept
the house until Dec. 1, 1844. James
Park afterward went to New York
and was travelling agent for the New
York and Washington telegraph line,
a portion of which line the Park
brothers constructed.
Ephraim B. Garland, who was killed
by the cars at Owego June 10, 1879,
succeeded the Park brothers and was
landlord of the house until it was
burned in the great fire of Septem-
ber, 1849.
The Lake Street House
Amos Draper, the Indian agent and
trader, was owner, by purchase of
James McMaster, of an acre of ground
on what is now the southeast corner
of Main and Lake streets and which
was one-fourth of the square now
bounded by Lake, Main, and Church
streets and the Susquehanna river.
On the corner of this lot now stands
the new Owego hotel.
Draper sold the lot to Capt. Mason
Wattles for four pounds sterling ($20)
on Aug. 12, 1793. Capt. Wattles sold
the lot to Robert Bowne, a New York
merchant for $150 on Nov. 20, 1802.
Subsequently the corner i)assed suc-
cessively through the hands of James
Caldwell, Asa Tryer, and Stephen B.
Leonard. Tryer was a blacksmith and
ais shop was near the corner. During
Mr. Leonard's ownership his stage of-
fice was in a small building on the
corner.
June 20, 1825, Mr. Leonard sold the
lot to James and William A. Ely, who
in 1829 erected a tavern thereon, which
471
stood where the Owego hotel is now.
The tavern cost about $1,200 and was
pamted white. It was known as the
"Lake Street House." The first land-
lord was Alanson Dean. In 1831 the
tavern was leased to William F. John-
son and his brother-in-law, Thomas
Jackson, who kept it until 1834, when
they bought land in North avenue and
built thereon the Tioga County house.
The Ely brothers sold the tavern
stand to Sheldon Osborn Jan. 8, 1833,
while it was occupied by Johnson and
Jackson. May 27, 1834, Osborn sold
the house to Robert Manning and Rob-
ert Brown. He then went into the
general mercantile business with Ham-
ilton Ketchum, of Massachusetts.
Their place of business was in a store
which had been built about the year
1833 by Osborn and which stood just
above the bridge in Front street. It
was the same store which was after-
ward occupied by James Bassett and
which was set on fire by Bassett and
burned in the night of Feb. 13, 1839,
for the purpose of defrauding an in-
surance company. Osborn also built
the house in east Main street which
is now owned and occupied by W. L.
Hoskins. This house Osborn after-
ward traded for some Pennsylvania
land with J. B. Shurtleff, who was the
editor of the Owego Gazette. Shurt-
leff's title to the land proved not to be
good and Osborn lost the land. The
firm of Osborn & Ketchum lasted less
than a year, owing to business dis-
agreement which culminated in blows
and a dissolution of partnership. Os-
born then went into partnership with
William P. Stone, which partnership
continued two years. He afterward
472
went west, where he lived until his
death.
Brown and Manning kept the tavern
three years. They then rented it to
Seth Mosher two years, selling the
property May 7, 1839, to Mosher. Mr.
Manning was a carpenter and bridge
builder. He died at Owego July 6,
1863, from injuries received in falling
from a building, on which he was at
work. Mr. Brown also died in Owego
April 24, 1869.
Mosher, assisted by his three sons,
kept the tavern until 1845, when one
of the sons, Sherman Mosher, and his
son-in-law, James M. Reed, became
landlords of the house. Mr. Reed was
a cabinet maker and had worked in
Gen. Isaac B. Ogden's cabinet shop on
the opposite side of Main street.
The Mosher Tavern.
While under the management of
Mosher & Reed, the tavern, which had
been known as the Mosher tavern, was
burned. The fire broke out soon after-
midnight in the night of April 27, 1846,
in a shed attached to the tavern barn.
The hotel and barn were burned, to-
gether with William Duncan's house
and shop, which stood east of the ho-
tel, together with a house and barn
owned by Charles Pum])elly and occu-
pied by George Riley at the southeast
corner of Main and Church streets.
Soon after the fire anonymous let-
ters were received by various Owego
citizens from Cayuga county. Some
were written with a pen, others were
clumsily printed from metal tyi)e.
Charles R. Barstow, who was then
sheriff of Tioga county, deputized John
C. leaning and Caleb J. Chaffee to ap-
prehend the supposed writer. They
473
went to Genoa, Cayuga county, where
they found and arrested a frightened
half-witted fellow named Benjamin
Moe and brought him to Owego.
Willard Foster, who then lived about
six miles out of this village, was also
arrested, charged with having set the
fire. The ground for his arrest was
that he had made threats against
Mosher previous to the fire. His trial
began in the court of oyer and termi-
ner Aug. 26, 1846.
It appeared on the trial that Moe,
who was a fortune teller, was a rela-
tive of Foster. Two weeks before the
fire Foster went to Moe's house and
induced him to copy a letter and send
the copies by mail to Owego. These
letters were written for the purpose
of throwing suspicion of having set a
previous fire upon a certain resident
of Owego and prevent him from be-
coming a witness in a suit against Fos-
ter for the alleged burning of a pile of
boards, which suit was set down for
trial in the following June. Foster
was tried for burning the tavern and
was defended by Daniel S. Dickinson.
The jury rendered a verdict of not
guilty and he was discharged.
The Central House.
The tavern was immediately rebuilt
by Seth Mosher. The new house was
larger than the old one and was com-
pleted in 1847. It was opened Sept.
3 under the name of the Central house)
and it was known as the Central house
until it was demolished in 1906.
It is a little remarkable that the
Central house should have so long
withstood destruction by flres, which
burned the buildings all about it at
various times, and it was finally torn
474
down. The fire of 1849 burned u]) the
entire east side of Lake street to the
hotel, where its progress was checked.
In 1854 the buildings on the north
side of Main street opposite the hotel
were burned, and the same ground
was again burned over in 1868. The
comer on the west side of Lake street
was burned in 1870. In all these fires
the Central house stood unscathed.
Seth Mosher removed from Owego
to Barton, where he purchased a farm,
on which he lived until his death, July
lo, 1852. His sons I'emoved to Michi-
gan.
Som* amusing stories were told con-
cerning Mosher. Once he attempted
to "bull" the market on silver half
dimes. The standing price for a drink
of whiskey was a sixpence. As that
coin and the half dimes were of nearly
the same size his patrons insisted up-
on his receiving the half dime in pay-
ment for a drink. Here was a clear
loss of a cent on every glass of liquor.
In order to get the obnoxious coin out
of circulation, he conceived the idea of
locking up every one he received,
thinking thereby to remove them all
from the channel of trade. Whether
he eventually succeeded in getting a
"corner" on half dimes and securing
the circulation of nothing but six-
pences or not, is not known, but as it
is impossible to bail out the sea with
a bowl, it is doubtful if his plan was
an eminent success.
June 20, 1860, Mr. Reed, who
had been very successful as a landlord,
sold the Central house to Frederick
O. Cable. When Mr. Cable purchased
the hotel it contained but nine sleep-
ing rooms. He at once doubled the
475
caiiacity of the house and the stables.
Later he built additions to the build
ing on both the i^ake and Main street
ends, increasing the number of sleep-
mg apartments to forty-three.
Mr. Reed removed to Elkland, Pa.,
in January, 1864, where he became in-
terested in an extensive lumber estal>
lishment. He accumulated a hand-
some property there, and in May, 1870,
he removed to Big Rapids, Mich., and
thence in 1872 to Reed City, Mich., of
which he and three Newark Valley
men were the first settlers. Mr. Reed
and his wife (Albertme Mosher) both
died the same day on December 17,
1898, at Reed City, Mich.
April 20, 1869, Capt. Henry Avers,
who had been for many years a pas-
senger conductor on the New York and
Erie railroad, became landlord of the
Central house, but the business proved
uncongenial to his tastes and he gave
up me house in March, 1870, to Mr.
Cable's brother-in-law. Burr J. Davis.
Mr. Davis kept the hotel until March.
1879, when he purchased and took pos-
session of the Ahwaga house.
The house was subsequently man-
aged by various landlords, among
whom were C. L. Crandall, Edgar R.
Buffum, Wm. G. & Alfred L. Gardner,
D. E. Becker, Daniel J. Brown, Dr. G.
VV. Simmons, M. W. Brown, S. F.
Smith, H. J. Hicks, Cornelius Gleason,
Chas. E. Haight, .lohn H. Rease, Isaac
L. LaRue, Lewis H. Comstock, and D.
C. Valentine.
In November, 1905, when Benj. F.
Birdsall purchased the house of Mr.
Cable it was tenantless and in a state
of dilapidation. In July, 1906, it was
torn down and the same year the
Owego hotel was built on its site.
476
The Tioga County House.
Among the lots owned by Amos
Draper at the time of the early settle-
ment of Owego was a piece containing
one acre, which is now the southeast
corner of Main street and North
avenue, on which stands O. S. Beach's
drug store and the brick buildings
north and east of it. This piece and
an acre of ground at the southwest
corner of Lake and Main streets, where
the Buckbee block and other brick
buildings west and south of it now
stand, were subsequently the prop-
erty of Ebenezer Kimble, a tanner.
Sept. 14, 1794, Kimble sold the two
pieces of land to Capt. Mason Wattles
for £40. The lot at the corner of
Main street and North avenue was
sold, after Capt. Wattles's failure in
business, together with the old Lan-
ing tavern site and other real estate
on Sept. 26, 1801, by the sheriff of
Tioga county to Vincent Matthews,
who subsequently (Marcn 1, 1802) re-
conveyed it to Jacob Conkline, a New
York merchant. On tne 20th of the
following November Conkline sold the
lots to Robert Bowne, another New
York merchant. The acre of land on
the Main street and North avenue
corner afterward became the property
of Eleazer Dana, who December 31,
1832, sold it to Henry Caldwell and
.Joseph Kelsey. Mr. Kelsey on April
1, 1834, sold that portion of the lot on
which the Tioga County house was
subsequently built to William T.
.Johnson and Thomas Jackson.
On this lot Mr. Jackson the same
year built a two-story wooden build-
ing, close to the sidewalk, which oc-
cupied the ground on which Sporer,
477
Carlson & Berry's piano factory and
the store north of it now stand. When
finished the building was occupied as a
residence by Gideon O. Chase. Nearly
two years afterward Jackson built an
addition to the nort.i end of the house,
making the building seventy feet long
and covering the ground now occupied
by L. W. Smith's grocery store. A
double piazza, over which the roof ex-
tended, ran along the entire front of
the house. At the back of the hotel
was a large yard, paved with cobble
stones, and back of that were the tav-
ern barns and sheds. The tavern was
1 lain ted white. It was at this time
the largest public house in the village.
When the building was completed,
in .January, 1836, it was opened as a
-otel and called the "Tioga County
House." The house was at first kept
by Jackson & Johnson. In 1835, John-
son left the hotel and kept what he
called a 'refectory" opposite the Old
Owego hotel in Front street, where he
sold oysters, etc., and Jackson con-
tinued the business of the tavern.
July 11, 1839, they sold the property
to William P. Raymond, of Bingham-
ton, and Abram Blackman, Jr., of Can-
dor.
Jackson and Johnson were brothers-
in law. Just before selling the tavern
Johnson went into partnership with
Eleazer Valentine and opened a tin,
copper, stove, and grocery store just
above the bridge in Front street.
Jonnson for a time held the office of
justice of the peace. In 1853 he kept
the old Hudson house in North
avenue. He afterward moved to To-
wanda. Pa., and was landlord there of
the Claremont house when it was
burned on March 7, 1856. He died at
478
the home of his son, Wirt Johnson,
at Tioga Centre December 27, 1871,
aged nearly 78 years. Jackson came
to Owego from Orange county. He
went from Owego to Potter county.
Pa., where he lived on a farm. Later
he removed to Hornell, where he died
about the year lbo5.
Mr. Raymond and William H. Muzzy
became landlords of the house and
kept it from the time of its purchase
by Mr. Raymond during the years
1839, 1840, and 1841. In May, 1841,
Mr. Muzzy became landlord of the
Franklin house in Front street, and
Mr. Raymond continued to conduct
the business of the Tioga County
house until 1843, when he leased it for
a term of years to William Beach.
Mr. Raymond did not engage in the
hotel keeping business again.
Mr. Raymond was born at Salem.
Mass. He came to Owego from Bing-
hamton in 1839, when he purchased
the hotel property, tie was later en-
gaged in the livery and grocery busi-
ness and farming. He held the offices
of justice of the peace and town super-
visor, and was member of assembly in
1858. He died March 4, 1877.
Mr. Beach was proprietor of the
house until August, 1846, when it
passed into the hands of A. M. Coe.
who had been keeping the Claremont
house at Towanda, Pa.
The next proprietor was Seneca B.
Dennis, who remained in possession
until October, 1850. When Mr. Dennis
took the house he cx^anged its name to
Tioga house, the old name being con-
sidered by him too suggestive. He
removed to Corning where he kept
the Dickinson house. Thence he went
to Susquehanna, Pa., where he was
479
landlord of theConductors' hotel until
Lis death on January 9, 1855.
Gideon O. Chase succeeded Mr. Den-
nis and kept the house until April,
1852. Mr. Chase was born at Cam-
bridge, N. Y., in 1808. He came to
Owego in 1832 and worked as a cabi-
net maker in Gen. I. B. Ogden's shop.
He was a good public speaker and a
man of ability. He was member of
assembly for Tioga county in 1844 and
1845, and in 1846 he was defeated for
congress. He was at one time editor
of the Owego Gazette and of the Ti-
oga Freeman, and later of the Union
at Atchison, Kansas. He was freight
agent of the Erie railroad at Owego
and afterward station agent many
years and until his death at Smith-
boro. He died March 26, 1887, at
Smithboro.
John C. Searles succeeded Mr.
Chase as landlord, but remained only
until November, when A. W. Knapi),
of Danby, took the house and kept it
a little more than a year.
In June, 1853, Mr. Raymond sold the
property to Harvey Teers, of Ithaca,
who took possession and opened with
a grand ball on Jan. 27, 1854. He
kept the house less than a year, sell-
ing out to Joshua Mersereau, of Camp-
ville, in November, who was the land-
lord until March, 1858, when he took
possession of Joseph S. DeWitt's sa-
loon and restaurant in Lake street,
known as "The Shades," and Mr.
Muzzy again became the proprietor
of the Tioga house.
In 1860 Mr. Muzzy had a partner
named Hulse. Hulse was a rough
character, who had several years pre-
vious worked at Owego as a barber.
He went to New York, where he be-
480
came a member of the police force.
While keeping the Tioga house he
adopted a rule that no boarder should
be admitted to the house after the
regular hour for closing it at night-
One night a boarder came to the house
intoxicated and began to kick at the
door for admittance. Hulse opened a
window above and shot at his boarder
with his revolver. The ball passed
just above the boarder's ear and cut
off a lock of his hair. After that
boarders came in at the proper hour.
Hulse afterward returned to New-
York.
Mr. Muzzy was born at Newark Val-
ley in 1814 and came to Owego in 1S39.
He was engaged in the livery business
many years. He died at Owego Aug.
27. 1879.
In June, 1861, John J. Horton, of
Barton, became landlord of the house,
and in March, 1863, he i)urchased the
property. In August, 1866, he sold it
to Samuel S. Watson, of Newark Val-
ley, who leased it to James Davison,
who had been keeping the Delevan
house at Elmria. The name of the
hotel was changed to Watson house.
Later it was kept by P. T. Bell, who
in April, 1868, removed to Port Jervis
and ])urchased the Quaissalck house.
The Watson house property was
sold March 25, 1868, to Joseph Berry
for $14,000, Mr. Watson reserving the
l)uildings, which were subsequently
torn down, and brick stores were
erected in their place.
Alanson Dean's Tavern.
Where the Buckbee block now
stands at the southwest corner of
Main and Lake streets Wiliam A. Ely
had built a wooden building, which
481
Alanson Dean converted into a tavern.
This was previous to the building of
the Lake street house on the opposite
corner. A few years later he con-
verted it into a tin and sheet iron store
and lived in a part of the building at
the south end. His partner was Elea-
zer Valentine. They were in the busi-
ness there in 1838 and 1839. From
1839 to 1842 the firm was Valentine &
Johnson. Nothing is now known of
Valentine other than what is given in
a death notice published in the Gazette
of .June 2, 1845, which reads as fol-
lows:
"Death by Intemperance. — Died on
Tuesday, the 17th inst.. of delirium
tremens, Eleazer Volentine, aged 3!)
years."
The corner was afterward occupied
as a grocery store by James Cameron,
Charles T. Bell, and others. It was
burned Oct. 16, 1870, in a fire which
burned all the solid row of wooden
stores and shops extending from the
old jail building in Main street, now
the telephone central office, to the L.
D. Durphy building in Lake street. At
the time of the fire the corner was oc-
cupied as a hardware store by Houk.
Truesdell & Co.
The Croton House.
On the west side of Lake street, on
the ground now occupied by the Hill
and Parker brick block, stood the
dwelling house of deacon Lorenzo
Reeves, one of Owego's early mer-
chants. Col. Benoni B. Curry, who
married deacon Reeves's widow, con-
verted the building into a temperance
hotel in 1848 and called it the Croton
house. It was painted white, stood a
little back of the street, and had a long
porch in front, as was common to all
4S2
the taverns of that time. It was
burned in the great fire of September,
1849, the year after it was built.
When Col. Curry reconstructed the
building in 1848 he gave a mortgage
on the property to Abner J. Ely, of
New York city. As Col. Curry lost all
his property in the fire, he was miable
to pay the mortgage, which was fore-
closed and Mr. Ely purchased the lot.
In 1862 Mr. Ely sold it to Martin Ash-
ley, who built a block of three brick
stores on it, with a large hall on the
second floor, which he called Ashley
hall. In 1867 Mr. Ashley sold the prop-
erty to Dr. James Wilson, who con-
verted the hall into a theatre. The
building was burned April 24, 1868, and
immediately rebuilt. The theatre part
was partially burned Nov. 9, 1899, and
the whole block was entirely burned
in the morning of Feb. 28, 1904. Soon
afterward judge Charles E. Parker and
P. C. Hill purchased the site and
erected the brick block which now
stands thereon.
The Mansion House.
In 1813 .ludge John R. Drake built a
large farm house on the west side of
the old Ithaca and Owego turnpike,
now North avenue. The house was at
that time far out of the settlement,
now called Owego, which was not in-
corporated as a villige until fourteen
years later. It was a large two-story
building, painted white, and stood
among the trees about fifty feet back
from the highway and a few rods north
of West avenue. It was occupied by
judge Drake as a residence until 1832,
when he removed down into the vil-
lage, and the building was converted
into a tavern. Its first landlord was
Seth Mosher.
483
A few years previous to this time
Mr. Mosher and jacoo Hand, who were
sawyers, had come to Owego from Ot-
sego county, having been hired by
judge Drake to work in his sawmill on
the south side of the Susquehanna
river. Mosher had worked there four
or five years when he opened the tav-
ern. He did a successful business, and
was able, in 1839, to purchase the old
tavern which occupied the ground at
the Lake and Main street corner on
which now stands the Owego hotel.
In June, 1849, the Mansion house,
which had been entirely refitted, was
reopened as a public house by Isaac
B. Gere, judge Drake's son-in-law, who
kent It until March, 1856. He then
discontinued hotel keeping, but con-
tinued to occupy it as a private resi-
dence. Mr. Gere died at Owego in
February, 1860. The house was owned
by Wheeler H. Bris*^ol and unoccupied
at the time it was burned in the night
of April 1,3, 1869.
Legg's Temperance Hotel
The construction of the New York
and Erie railroad to Owego, in 1849,
gave an impetus to hotel building and
several public houses were opened.
Some of them were built for hotel pur-
poses, while others were dwelling
houses enlarged and converted into
hotels. Among them were Legg's tem-
perance hotel, the Railroad house, the
Western hotel, the Hudson house, and
the Union house.
In 1850 a public house was built on
the west side of Lake street where the
block now occupied by Cuneo & Bo-
nugli and A. W. Bunzey stands.
It was a wooden building and was
opened by Frank Legg, of Speedsville.
as a temperance hotel. It did not
484
prove to be a profitable investment
and was soon converted into stores,
one of wliich was was for several
years occupied by Charles S. Car-
micliael as a jewelry store. The build-
'ing was burned in the night of April
14, 1872, and Mr. Carmichael erected
the present brick block in its place.
The Railroad House.
The railroad house, afterward known
as the United States hotel, is still
standing, a deserted building, at the
northwest corner of North avenue and
Delphine street. It was built by Ezra
S. Clark, a carpenter, who came to
Owego in December, 1844, from Brook-
lyn and opened a grocery store on the
west side of North avenue, opposite
the Tioga house. In 1848 he built the
hotel,of which he was the landlord six-
teen years. In 1865 to 1869 he was
proprietor of the Ahwaga house. In
1869 he removed to Brooklyn, where he
died Aug. 28, 1892, aged 81 years.
After Mr. Clark sold the hotel it be-
came the property of various persons
in succession. It was kept at various
times by Sidney Calkins, who changed
its name to United States hotel; by Eli
English, Joseph B. Day, Marvin Day.
Mrs. W. A. Melick, P. W. Trimmer, R.
B. Sigler, Capt. G. W. Lason, Henry
Wavel, C. D. Watkins, D. C. Graham,
Brazilla Grover, Henry Tappan, James
B. Davison, and others. John Hale
kept the hotel for a short time, when
it was known as Hale's hotel.
The Western Hotel.
The two-story and basement build-
ing, which still stands at the south-
west corner of North avenue and Fox
street, was built by Mrs. Harriet G.
Tinkham in 1851 and called the West-
4S5
lern hotel. It was kept by her soii-hi-
law, E. G. Gibson. So many other
hotels had been opened in that part of
the village that it proved unprofitable
and after a few years it was closed as
a public house and occupied by Mrs.
Tinkham as her residence during the
rest of her life.
The Hudson House.
The Hudson house stood opposite
the Presbyterian church on the west
side of North 'avenue, at what is now
the Temple street corner. The land
was a part of the estate of Harmon
Pumpelly, of Albany.
Col. Jacob Edwards, who had come
from somewhere on the Hudson river
to these parts, worked with some
teams for one of the contractors in
building the New York and Erie rail-
road to Owego. In June, 1851, Col.
Edwards took the land on a contract
and built a hotel thereon. It was a
three-story wooden building with a
long porch in front. The back part
was above the old Dodd pond and was
supported by long timber posts extend-
ing down into the water. It was kept
by Ephraim B. Garland the first year
or two and afterward by Col. Edwards,
\Vm. T. Johnson, Samuel Garland, and
John Gardiner. It was always con-
sidered a disreputable place, and one
of its landlords was arrested for coun-
terfeiting, while keeping the hotel.
Soon after the hotel was built it was
purchased by Hiram N. Moore, of Wa-
verly, who in July. 1861, gave Col. Ed-
wards a ten years' lease of it. When
Wheeler H. Bristol built the iron
works in Temple street the old hotel
had been abandoned as a public house
two or three years. The first floor was
486
used for a time as a blacksmith shop
and storeroom in connection with the
iron works. It was feared that in its
dismantled and deserted condition
some incendiary might be tempted to
set it on fire, so it was torn down in
May, 1875.
The Union House.
The Union house stood on the west
side of North avenue, midway between
Fox street and the Erie railroad and a
imie north of John R. street. It was
built in 1851 and was kept several
years by William Barnes. Later it was
kept by Vorhees Cafferty and William
G. Thompson, and afterward by
Charles Harris,who changed the name
to Harris house. It was burned Dec.
29, 1875, while vacant and undergoing
repairs preparatory to reopening.
Some Account of the First Brass Band
Organized at Owego by James Conk-
lin and of Its Successor, Led by
Wiliam H. Piatt, together with the
Bands Led by Lewis W. Truesdell,
Lemuel W. Ferris, David Wallis
Reeves, Prof. Joseph Raff, Frede-
rick E. Wildman, and Others.
The first musical organization in
Owego that was dignified by the name
of a band, came into existence about
the year 1834. It was organized by
James Conklin, a wagon maker, who
lived in a little yellow house, which
stood on the southwest corner of Main
and Church streets.
The band numbered about eight
persons. Nicholas Kittle was the
leader and played the clarionet. He
lived west of the Owego creek oppo-
site the "deep well" in the town of
Tioga. The stream called Kittle creek
487
takes its name from him. His son.
Nicholas B. Kittle, removed from this
vicinity and acquired some distinction
as a portrait painter. He considered
the name Kittle rather commonplace,
and consequently gave it an aristo-
cratic twist by spelling it "Kittell."
He removed to Hamilton, N. Y., and
thence to New York city, where he
died in 1894.
■ David A. Allen, generally known as
Atwood Allen, played a bassoon— a
black instrument resembling some-
what a length of stove pipe, with an
open brass mouth. He lived two miles
north of the village. He died Dec. 29.
1861. James Conklin played a piccolo
flute. Gen. Isaac B. Ogden and Jared
Huntington were also members.
The members of the band were ac-
customed to meet at the houses of the
different members each week for prac-
tice. They played for dances, celebra-
tions, etc.
This band lasted about ten years,
when a new set of about a dozen
younger men, among whom was Wil-
liam H. Piatt joined the organization
and the old ones gradually dropped
out. The newly organized band did not
retain any of the old instruments ex-
cept a flute and a clarionet. A man
named Sykes instructed and led the
band, and later Mr. Piatt was the
leader. Five or six years afterward
the instruments were sold to Charles
and William Conklin. To these they
added other instruments, which they
bought at Union.
There were three Conklin brothers
in the band, sons of James Conklin.
William Conklin played a trombone,
Charles Conklin an E flat bugle, and
4HH
A. Putnam Conklin a coniofteuii. The
three brothers constituted the band.
The last playing done by them was
about the year 1848, when they left
Owego on a tour, giving concerts in
vocal and instrumental music. Charles
Conklin was taken ill at Geneva and
was brought home, dying soon after-
ward. The party gave concerts about
two months. The receipts paid their
e.xi)enses, but they made no money.
Wni. S. Huntington took Charles
Conklin's place in the band, but as A.
P. Conklin could not stand the strain
of blowing the E flat bugle, the organ-
ization was soon broken up.
Owego succeeded in getting along
without a band until 1851, when an-
other one was organized. The mem-
bers were accustomed to meet for
practice at the house of .Julius Pearl,
a milkman, which house still stands
on the bank of the river in the eastern
|)art of this village and was known for
many years as the Hollenback farm
house. Thomas .T. Canham, a noted
circus band leader of his day, who
lived at Binghamton, was instructor.
Lewis W. Truesdell, who was one of
the two first men to enlist in the fed-
eral army at Owego in the civil war
and in whose honor L. W. Truesdell
post, G. A. R., is named, was a mem-
ber of the band and soon became suffi-
ciently proficient to lead it. He played
a cornet and Mr. Pearl a tuba. The
band was in a weak condition for want
of members until 1853. when Lemuel
W. Ferris came here from Fort Ed-
word, N. Y., and joined it. Other ac-
cessions were the Tennys(a father and
two sons), Ralph Hibbard, and Wil-
liam H. Camp.
489
Another band was organized in 1855
by some younger men of from four-
teen years old upwards, among whom
were Theo. S. Mersereau. William H.
Ellis, Cicero B. Curtis, M. E. Hollister,
Wm. H. S. Bean, Gilbert T. Forsyth,
and James H. Johnson. A musician
named Skinner was hired as teacher
and the band met for practice at the
old wooden school building in Temple
street. This band was soon afterward
consolidated with the Ferris band and
Mr. Ferris was the leader.
Later leaders of the band, which
had been known as the "Owego Brass
Band," the "Owego Cornet Band," and
"Ferris's Brass Band," were J. W-.
Lyons, Nathaniel D. Jenks, Isaiah
Irwin, and David Wallis Reeves. When
Mr. Reeves left Owego in 1862, Joseph
C. Raff became leader of the band and
its name was changed to "Ahwaga
Silver Cornet Band." In 1869 Frede-
rick E. Wildman was leader, and later
Horace B. Adams.
In April, 1870, members of Wave
hose company. No. 2, organized an-
other band with Prof. Raff as leader.
There were two bands until the
spring of 1873 when they were con-
solidated under the name of "Ahwaga
Silver Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff
as leader and Mr. Adams as business
manager. Dissensions soon followed.
The band was disbanded and two sepa-
rate bands were soon reorganized,
the "Ahwaga Silver Cornet Band" re-
taining its old name and the new one
assuming the name of "Prof. Raff's
Band." The two were finally consoli-
dated in 1878 under the name of "Owe-
go Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff as
musical director and Mr. Adams as
assistant musical director. Afterward
490
Mr. Adams became leader of the baud
and it was subsequently known as
"Adams's Cornet Band" during the
rest of its existence.
Prof. Raff was a native of Switzer-
land, a g^ood violinist, but a better
pianist. He was a brother of the emi-
nent musical composer, Joachim Raff.
He came to Owego in 1858. He re-
moved to Binghamton in 1888 and died
there July 13, 1893, aged 63" years.
David Wallis Reeves, the youngest
son of d^con Lorenzo Reeves, an
early merchant of Owego, was born in
1838. He received his musical educa-
tion in Binghamton, when at the age
of 15 years he was appenticed to
Thomas J. Canham, a celebrated band
leader of his day. At the age of 19 he
was the leader of a circus band in the
summer and in the winter played with
Dodworth's orchestra in New York
city. He was a few years a member
of Dodworth's band. In February,
1866, he became leader of the cele-
brated American band of Providence,.
R. I., and was leader of that band at
the time of his death in March, 1900.
A Record of the Principal Fires That
Have Burned Valuable Property at
Owego from the Burning of the In-
dian Village by Gen. Sullivan's
Army in 1779, to the Present Day.
Within the last sixty years the stores
and houses in the entire business por-
tions of Front, Lake, and Main streets
have been burned and replaced by
larger and much better buildings. As
has always been the case in the his-
tory of villages, its improvement has
followed disastrous fires.
491
The lirst fire at Owego of which
there is any record was the burning of
the Indian village by a detachment of
Cen. Sullivan's army in 1779.
The next fire of any accomit burned
Maj. Horatio Ross's store, wiiich stood
■on the bank of the river on the south
side of Front street, a little west of
Lake street. It was a large red build-
ing, two stories high in front and
three stories high in the rear. The
lire broke out at about daylight in the
winter of 1826-7, and as at that time
there were no means of extinguishing
fires except with pails of water in the
hands of neighbors, the building was
entirely buraed. At the time of the
fire the upper floor was occupied by
an old man named Perry and his fam-
ily, but the store below was unoccu-
pied. So rapid was the progress of
the flames that the occupants had
barely time to escape from the burn-
ing building in their night clothes.
Truman & Parmenter's store stood a
little east of the Ross store and was
saved by holes being chopped through
the side and water thrown from the
interior of the building upon the
flames. At the present day a fire of
this kind is considered of little ac-
count, and this one is notable only as
being the first one that had happened
in the business portion of the village.
The old Bates tavern, which stood
at the northwest corner of Front and
Church streets, was the first fire of
any note. It was the first tavern built
at Owego and was burned in March,
1829, just before supper time.
One of the early fires in Owego
bunied the old wood-colored school-
house, which stood a little west of
492
where the rectory of St. Paul's Epis-
copal church now stands on the south
side of Main street. In the early his-
tory of the village all public meetings
were held here. The second story was
occupied by the masonic fraternity as
a lodge room. The fire broke out at
noon on Feb. 7, 1835, while school was
in session, and burned it to the
ground. Erastus Evans was teacher
of the school at the time. The east
end of the M. E. church, which stood
at the southeast corner of Main and
Academy streets, was considerably
scorched and the church would have
been burned if it had not been for the
old fire engine, which was manufac-
tured by Ephraim Leach and was the
only protection from fire Owego then
had. This was the first fire at which
the engine was worked and the water
was obtained from private cisterns,
there being at that time not a single
public cistern. No attempt was made
to save the school-house.
The Owego steam furnace and ma-
chine shop of H. W. Camp & Co. was
burned May 30, 1836. It stood at the
southeast corner of the lane known as
Parker's lane and Main street,
opposite where St. Paul's church now
stands.
A fire, which was followed by the
sensational suicide of the incendiary,
burned the store of John Bassett,
which stood on the south side of Front
street, a little above the bridge. This
fire was in the night of February 13.
1839. Bassett owed $6,000 for his
goods, which were insured for $5,000.
tie had sold about $3,000 worth, and.
in order to defraud an insurance com-
pany, concealed a quantity of goods in
his room and set the store on fire. He
493
was snsirected of having set the fire
and a watch was set on his move-
ments. One evening, not long after-
ward, a party of citizens went to his
house, which was on the opposite side
of the street, to investigate, and as
they entered Bassett went out into the
wood house, where he cut his throat
with a razor, while the house was be-
ing searched for stolen goods.
The first really destructive fire at
Owego broke out early in the morning
of August 5, 1841, and burned Gen.
Isaac B. Ogden's cabinet shop, which
was on the north side of Main street,
opposite where the new Owego hotel
now stands. The fire burned all the
property to the corner of Ithaca street
(now North avenue). Gen. Ogden's
dwelling house, James Conklin's wagon
and carriage shop, and Gad Worthing-
ton's residence were burned. The Ti-
oga County house on the east side of
North avenue and the barn connected
therewith were on fire, but were saved
by the exertions of the firemen. The
cabinet shop was rebuilt and again
burned in 1854.
The next large fire broke out at mid-
night on April 27, 1846, burning the
Mosher tavern, which stood on the
corner of Main and Lake streets,
where the new Owego hotel now
stands. The tavern barn, Wm. Dun-
can's house and shop, and a house and
barn occupied by George Riley were
also burned.
On this occasion the fire department
did excellent service. In acknowledg-
ment of their appreciation of the vigi-
lance and exertions of the fire-
men at this fire, the citizens of
Owego gave a dinner to Nei)tune,
494
Rescue, Croton, and Deluge fire
companies at the old Owego hotel
on the 6th of the following May. At
eleven o'clock in the morning a pro-
cession of firemen was formed in
front of the hotel, under the direction
of Ezra S. Sweet, Esq., marshal of the
day, and headed by Pease's martial
band. They marched to the Congre-
gational (now Presbyterian) church
in North avenue, where they were ad-
dressed on the part of the citizens by
I. N. Jerome, principal of the Owego
academy. John J. Taylor, chief engi-
neer of the fire department during
the two years previous, responded in
behalf of the firemen. After the ex-
ercises, the firemen marched back to
the hotel, where a dinner was served
by Lewis Manning & Son, the proprie-
tors, followed by cold water toasts
without limit. In the evening the
firemen had a torchlight procession
through the principal streets.
The most destructive conflagration
in the history of Owego, long known
as "the great fire," broke out at about
three o'clock in the morning of Sep-
tember 27, 1849, in the hall of the Sons
of Temperance, over the store of
.James & William A. Ely, on the south
side of Front street, and burned the
entire business portion of the village.
Only three stores were left standing,
and one hundred and four buildings,
exclusive of barns, were burned, en-
tailing a loss of about $300,000. All of
the buildings on both sides of Front
street, from Church street to the park,
were burned, and all on Lake street,
to the Central House on one side and
Jared Huntington's residence on the
other. The bridge across the river
was also partly burned.
495
When first discovered the fire might
have been easily extinguished. One
of the engines was throwing water
upon the flames. The chief engineer
insisted upon changing engines, in
spite of the remonstrances of others.
The position of the engines was
changed and during this operation the
flames made such progress that they
could not be checked.
The next fire worthy of any mention
was the one that burned the fire en-
gine house in Main street. This was a
two-story wooden building, which was
built in 1844 on the east side of Court
street on the ground now occupied by
the county jail, and which was then
between the old court house and the
county clerk's office. This building
was moved In the spring of 1851 to the
north side of Main street, where the
brick engine house now stands, and
was burned in the night of January 6,
1853, together with Susquehanna en-
gine and Wave hose carriage.
Gen. Ogden's cabinet shop, which
had been rebuilt and which was at the
time occupied by J. L. Matson, was
again burned In the night of February
16, 1854. The fire broke out in John
Cafferty's livery stable in the rear.
Everything from the present residence
of Dr. D. S. Anderson to North avenue
was burned, including John OafferU's
dwelling house, H. J. Hodge's oyster
saloon, and D Corsaw's d\velling
house, all of which were in Gen.
Ogden's block, and Parmentns riiat
market, H. W. Cornell s eating saloon,
H. W. Billings's dwelling house and
oyster saloon, and Lincoln & Steb-
bins's grocery.
In the night of October 20, 1856, a
fire burned Clark, Coyle & Perry's
496
wagon factory on the west side of
North avenue, and the residences of
Chas. T. Bell and Mrs. Wood.
In the night of the following May,
the Ahwaga house barn in Church
street was set on fire, and the black-
smith shop of George Riley adjoining
was also burned. The flames ex-
tended to Lake street, burning the
livery stable and residence of Charles
Beers, which stood where the post
office is now, and Adam C. Gould's
blacksmith shop north of them.
Bliss's sash factoiT and steam mill,
situated in Front street, just east of
the Erie railway, was burned at about
noon on October 24, 1857, and J. F.
Howes's planing mill in Main street,
above the Erie railway, was also
burned in the morning of Dec. 30 of
the following year. The tannery of
Samuel Ai'chibald, on the south side of
the river, was burned in the morning
of January 31, 1860.
An exciting fire was that of the
morning of March 21, 1860, which
burned out the Empire block of Stone
& Co., Eldridge & Smith's hat and
boot store, and Link & Michael's cloth-
ing store on the south side of Front
street, east of Lake street.
Simon Springsteen's foundry and
machine shop, which stood on what is
now the northwest corner of McMas-
ter and Delphine streets, was burned
in the evening of June 13, 1860, and on
the 16th of the following December
Arba Campbell's tannery in Canawana
was burned.
The next large fire was June 22,
1866, and burned Crane & Sweet's
planing mill in Temple street.
497
A very destructive fire in the night
of October 5,1867, burned all the build-
ings on the south side of Front street
from Dr. S. W. Thompson's present
residence up to the brick store of Geo.
W. Hollenback, the sixth store above
the bridge, now occupied by Millrea
Brothers, including Camp's foundry,
one span of the wooden bridge, and
several dwelling houses. The fire also
burned all the buildings from Park
street to Parker's lane, including Robert
Cameron's brick block at the north-
west corner of Front and Park streets,
t.^e Exchange hotel, and George Sidney
Camp's house. John J. Taylor's brick
block at the corner of Front and Court
streets was also burned.
Wilson hall on the west side of Lake
street, with the stores beneath it, and
L. N. Chamberlain's brick block ad-
joining at the south, and George W.
Patrick's wooden block and L. M.
Wicks's wooden building at the north,
were burned in the night of April 24,
1868.
The old Baptist church, which had
been moved a few years previous from
the southeast corner of Main and
Church streets to the north side of
Main street, a little east of Lake
street, was burned in the night of De-
cember 23, 1868, and the Erie railway
bridge shop in the night of June o,
1869.
A very destructive fire in the night
of October 16, 1870, burned the solid
row of wooden stores and shops ex-
tending from the county jail (now the
telephone exchange) on the north side
of Main street to and around the Lake
street corner south to L. D. Durphy's
498'
brick building, now occupied by G. A-
Durussel as a jewelry store.
In the evening of Feb. 6, 1872, a
wooden row of buildings on the east
side of North avenue, occupying all the
ground between the building now oc-
cupied by B. P. Lyke as a laundry and
i.. W. Smith's grocery store was
burned.
In the morning of April 14, 1872, an-
other wooden row on the west side of
Lake street, extending from the
Chamberiain block to Aaron Ogden's
cigar store, was burned. In the morn-
ing of October 10 of the same year all
of the wooden row of stores on the
east side of the same street between
the Gazette block and the Central
house was burned, together with
Muzzy & Warren's livery stable.
Wheeler C. Bristol's five-story brick
flouring mill in Central avenue was
burned in the night of February 21.
1873. In the morning of the 17th of
the following April a fire broke out in
the Park hotel barn in Central avenue,
which was burned, together with N. T.
Burton's bakery and other wooden
buildings on the west side of North
avenue.
The Erie railroad de))ot was burned
in the night of January 24, 1874, and
the fire engine house in Main street in
the afternoon of the 1st of the follow-
ing February.
In the night of April 28, 1875, a row
of wooden buildings on the west side
of North avenue, extending from N. T.
Burton's new brick block to and in-
cluding John Barry's carriage manu-
factory, was burned, and early in the
morning of December 29 the Union
499
house on the west side of North
avenue was also burned.
The Congregational church on the
west side of Park street was burned in
t e morning of Pecember 3, 1877, and
the residences south owned by Miss E.
H. Bates, M. D., and J. l^. Matson were
partially burned.
Samuel Archibald's tannery on the
south side of the river, just below the
bridge, was burned in the morning of
September 1, 1878.
George Thurston's planing mill on
the east side of North avenue, opposite
George street, was burned in the night
of April 2, 1881. Miles F. Howes's
planing mill on the south side of Ade-
line street was burned in the morning
of January 30, 1884.
The extensive grain drill and wagon
works of Gere, Piatt & Johnson at the
northeast corner of Central avenue
and Temple street were burned in the
morning of June 19, 1888.
The Canawana flouring mill, owned
by Dorwin, Rich & Stone, which stood
on the ground where the electric light
plant is now, was burned in the morn-
ing of March 19, 1889.
C. A. Hill's saw mill and planing mill
on the west side of Central avenue was
burned in the morning of June 21.
1890.
Joel A. Hamilton's novelty works on
the west side of William street, east of
Main street, were burned in the night
of July 13, 1891, together with Alfred
Hill's house.
In the night of March 15, 1892. the
Ahwaga blanket and knitting mill on
the south side of Adeline street, near
the Lehigh Valley railroad station, was
b'lrned.
500
The hay press of E. H. House on the
east side of North avenue, near the
Erie railway, was burned in the even-
ing of March 25, 1893. In the morning
of May 11 in the same year tlie whole
interior of Storrs, Chatfield & Go's
hardware store at the northwest cor-
ner of Front and Lake streets was
burned out.
The Pennsylvania house, Joel A.
Hamilton's novelty works, and other
buildings on the south side of Front
street, below Park street, were burned
in the night of December 4, 1895.
Dean & Burt's flouring mill on the
east side of Central avenue, between
Temple and Fox streets, was burned
in the evening of February 27, 1896.
In the afternoon of November 9,
1899, the interior of Wilson opera
house on the west side of Lake street
was burned out. The fire was caused
by the explosion of some celluloid films
in a moving picture machine. The
theatre was entirely burned five years
later, in the morning of February 28.
1904.
Sauerbry & Birdsall's carriage fac-
tory on the east side of North avenue,
between South Depot and John R.
streets, was burned in the morning of
January 24, 1903.
This is a record of the principal fires
in Owego for more than one hundred
years. The building of a water-works
system in 1880 has ensured a practi-
cally inexhaustible supply of water for
fire purposes and since it was built
there has been no large fire. It is
worthy of note that within the last
sixty- years the entire business portion
of Owego has been swept over by
fires — on both sides of Front street
51)1
ironi Parker's lane to Church street,
both sides of Lake street, both sides of
Main street from Church street to
Central avenue, and both sides of
North avenue from Temple street to
Main street.
Some Account of "Old Bet," the "Liv-
ing Elephant," Which Was the First
"Menagerie" to Visit Owego and
Was Exhibited in the Bates Tavern
Carriage Barn, and of the First Cir-
cus. Which Came in 1826 and Ex-
hibited in the Tavern Barn Yard,
and of Other Tent Shows That Came
Here Later.
The first "menagerie" that came to
Owego was an elephant, and it was
the first elephant ever exhibited in
the state of New York. It came here
in the summer of 1813 and was ex-
hibited in the carriage bam of the old
Bates tavern.
This carriage barn was a large red
building which stood adjoining the lot
on the north side of Front street
where Ahwaga hall now stands at the
east. In the rear was the barn where
the stage horses were kept. The en-
trance to this barn yard was between
the tavern and the red barn.
The coming of the elephant to Owe-
go was announced in the newspapers
mider a big heading as "A Living Ele-
phant," and was described as follows:
"The elephant is not only the lar-
gest and most sagacious animal in the
world; but, from the peculiar manner
in which it takes its food and drink of
every kind, with its trunk, is acknowl-
edged to be the greatest natural curi-
osity ever offered to the public. The
one now offered to the view of the
curious is a Female. She will lie down
and get up at the word of command.
502
She will draw the cork from a bottle,
and with her trunk will manage it in
such a manner as to drink its con-
tents. She is thirteen years old, and
measures upwards of twenty feet from
the end of her trunk to that of her
tail; twelve feet around her body; up-
wards of eight feet high, and weighs
more than five thousand pounds. Per-
haps the present generation may
never have an opportunity of seeing
an Elephant again, as this is the only
one in America, and this is perhaps
its last visit to this place. Admit-
tance 25 cents. — Children half price.
Hours of exhibition from 8 o'clock in
the morning until 6 in the evening."
This elephant was known among
showmen as "Old Bet." She was ex-
hibited by a showman named Bailey,
who travelled at night, and in the day-
time kept the animal in a barn and
covered her with hay, so that people
could not see her by peeping through
the cracks at the side of the barn. A
camel and a monkey completed the
outfit. There was no other wild ani-
mal show in Owego until 1833.
The first equestrian performance
ever given in Owego was that of
Blanchard & Newell's circus, in 1826.
The show did not have to exceed ten
performers and about a dozen horses.
The company came unannounced, and
the advertising was done by one of
the troupe, who went through the
street and announced the arrival of
the show in a loud voice, something in
the manner of the side-show "barker"
of the present day. The performance
was given in the barn yard, in the
rear of the old Bates tavern, which
was at that time kept by Philip Good-
man. The show had neither tents nor
seats, and the spectators had their
choice of standing or sitting upon
the ground.The ring was made by
503
throwing up a circle of earth in the
middle of the yard. The performance
consisted of the feats of a strong man,
horseback riding without saddle, comic
singing, etc. The band was composed
of drums and a fife. While the
]:)erformance was in progress the up-
per windows of the hotel were all oc-
cupied by "dead head" spectators. No
periormance was given at night, as in
those days of tallow candles there was
no known way of lighting the ring.
The next show to visit Owego was
the circus of Angevine, Titus & Bur-
gess. This show started from Putnam
county. Its tent consisted of a centre
pole and canvas sides, but no toi).
The tent was pitched on the lot on
which the Robert Cameron brick block
now stands at the northwest corner of
Front and Park streets in the summer
of 1827. The circus ring was a solid
wooden curb, made in curved sections,
about eighteen inches high and six
feet long, and painted. The pieces
were held in place by iron spikes,
driven into the ground, and the earth
was heaped up against the curb from
the interior. The rings constructed
in this manner were in use about
twenty-five years, but as so many
riders were injured by falling or be-
ing thrown upon them, the curb was
finally abandoned altogether. In its
place were substituted red curtains,
suspended by rings from iron stakes,
with an earth ring, as now. The tent
was supplied with seats, similar to
those in use at the present day.
The first animal show came in 1833,
and exhibited on the lot on the east
side of Court street, south of the pres
ent county clerk's office. This was the
504
first tent show with a canvas top to
visit Owego.
The first circuses were advertised
by a bill poster, who rode horseback
through the country, carrying his
handbills in his saddle-bags. These
bills he fastened on trees and barns
along the wayside with tacks. Isaac
J. Greenwood, in one of the Dunlap
society publications, has thus de-
scribed the circuses from 1817 to 1820:
"At first they were but small affairs
consisting of a couple of wagons, four
horses, and some half dozen perform-
ers, mostly tumblers and vaulters.with
perhaps a trick man and that indis-
pensable — a clown. There was no
band save a fiddle or two; no lady in
gauze and spangles, no ring-master,
and no tent; but they carried some
six-foot poles, around which, planted
in a circle, was stretched at each per-
forjnance, a canvas to keep them from
the gaze of outsiders, while a few
])oards served to build an outside
platform, raised just above the ground,
for acrobatic jjcrformances, jig-danc-
ing, and the like; the rest of their
loads was baggage, cooking utensils,
and provisions. The place of exhibi-
tion was open to the sun and rain,
though in time a covering suspended
from a centre pole was introduced.
There were no seats, except such as
could be borrowed from the ladies, but
sometimes the wagons were drawn in,
so that the back crowd could mount
upon them, and two hundred and
fifty spectators, at an entrance price
of "twenty-five cents was a big house.
Usually a man went ahead who ])la-
carded all conspicuous places, pro-
cured the five-dollar license, and hired
the ground; then i)resently a bugler
on horseback announced the approach
of the show, and on the village green
the clown would be proclaiming the
time of performance."
About the year 1840 circuses began
to advertise by means of posters, with
pictures thereon of prancing horses.
505
flying acrobats, etc., printed in colors.
There was a blank space on the bills,
in which the names of towns and dates
of performance were filled in with
crayon. These bills were put up in
the barrooms of country taverns.
They were fastened to the wall with
tacks and when the circus was gone
one of the showmen carefully took
down such of the bills as had not been
mutilated by the jack-knives of bar
room vandals, and they were used
again in other villages.
The visits of the circus in those
days were "few and far between."
Among those that exhibited here were
Buckley, Weeks & Co.'s, Sept. 3, 1835;
a show known as "The Ampitheatre,"
Aug. 19,1836; Purdy, Welch, Macom-
ber & Co.'s menagerie, Aug. 19, 1837;
and Buckley & Go's circus, July, 1838,
and May, 1839.
In those days there was a rough
element among the people not only in
the village, but in every direction out-
side of it. When a show came to town
there was much drunkenness, with
consequent fighting and disorder. It
was for this reason that many quiet
citizens objected to the coming of the
circus; besides it was complained that
the circus carried all the loose change
out of town. Some of the village trus-
tees, too, objected to circuses, think-
ing they tended to demoralize the peo-
ple. So, when the agent of Welch,
Bartlett & Co.'s Broadway circus ap-
plied to the Board of Trustees for a
license in August, 1840, his application
was refused. The next year, however,
the "Victoria Arena and Great West-
ern Circus" had no diL.culty in obtain-
ing a license and showed on the 3d of
June. In 1842, when Rockwell, Stone
506
& Co."s circus made application for a
license, there was a tie vote. S. S.
Tinkham and T. P. Patch voted in
tavor of license, and Jonathan Piatt
and Charles R. Coburn against. Judge
Drake, the president of the village,
decided the matter by voting in favor
of license, and the show exhibited on
tne 3d of June. No circus license was
granted until 1844. Welch, Delevan &
Co.'s agent applied to the board, in
July of that year, when David Wallis
and Isaac B. Ogden favored granting
a license and Sylvanus Fox and A. P.
Storrs opposed it. The matter was
again decided in favor of the circus
by the vote of Judge Drake. After
this licenses were not refused to
circuses.
Circuses for many years pitched
their tents on the lot at the northwest
corner of North avenue and Main
streets. This ground was a vacant
lot owned for many years, by Samuel
Standish Tinkham and extended from
the corner to David P. Tinkham's
house, which stood where the Park
hotel is now. The wooden fire engine
house was moved from Court street to
the west end of the lot in 1851, and
the block on the corner was built by
Thomas I. Chatfield in 1853.
In 1850 circuses were larger and re-
quired more room. From that time
and for several years later all the cir-
cuses exhibited on the east side of
North avenue between John R. and
South Depot streets. This was then a
vacant lot, extending back the entire
length of John R. street.
The Yankee Robinson Circus, and
Theatre.
In August, 1859, Yankee Robinson's
combined circus and theatre exhibited
507
under a large tent on this lot. After
the equestrian ijerformance in the
ring a theatrical performance con-
cluded the entertainment. This was
given on a stage about four feet high
at one end of the tent, with good
scenery. The characters were for the
most part sustained by the acrobats
and gymnasts, and the production was
a meritorious one. The play was
called the "Days of 76" and the scene
was laid in the United States during
the revolutionary war. R. J. Miller,
professional known as Yankee Miller
and an uncommonly good comedian,
played the leading comedy part, that
of a Yankee. He died at Fort Wayne,
Ind., in 1877, while travelling with his
nephew's theatrical troupe. Yankee
Robinson's wife, equally good as a
comic actress, played the character of
a Yankee girl. In the company was
also Harry Evarts, a circus rider, who
was afterward one of the owners and
tambourinist of Booker & Evarts's
minstrels. He came to his death in
May, 1889, while travelling as press
agent, of Adam Forepaugh's circus, in
a railroad accident near Hamilton,
Canada. The cars caught fire and
Evarts's body was burned in the
wreckage. Billy Pastor, famed as a
circus performer, and a brother of
the well-known Tony Pastor, was also
a member of the company, and also a
boy named Gibbons, a most remark-
able contortionist, who came several
times afterward to Owego with cir-
cuses and who was billed as Don San-
tiago Gibbonaise.
Robinson owed a printing estab-
lishment a bill for posters to adver-
tise his show. While at Owego the
show was attached by the sheriff of
508
Tioga county to satisfy the claim, and
Robinson was compelled to cancel his
dates ahead and remain here a week,
being unable to obtain bondsmen dur-
ing tnat time. A man named Field.who
claimed to be the owner of the show,
came and replevied the property,
and one fine Sunday morning Robin-
son folded his tents and went on his
way rejoicing. The company per-
formed every evening to large crowds
during its enforced sojourn here, and
the manager declared that his week
here had been more profitable to him
than it would have been had he gone
on his advertised route.
Robinson was a unique character.
He was a shoemaker, then successive-
ly a travelling showman, an exhibitor
of scriptural paintings, a tragedian, a
Yankee comedian, a dancing master,
and finally a circusman.
Washburn's Indian Show.
Some account may be of interest
here of a big tent show, which was
organized in this vicinity. In May,
1854, E. S. Washburn visited Owego
with an Indian show arid gave an ex-
hibition at Patch's hall, in Lake street.
He afterward, during the winter of
1854-5, lived at Owego, boarding with
John Loveland in the second story of
the old Walter Ogden house, which
was afterward the "Diamond store,"
and which stood on the west side of
North avenue on the ground now oc-
cupied by George Snyder's brick build-
ing. With him was a full blood Mo-
hawk Indian, six feet tall, known as
"Joe Washburn," and his sister, a
handsome Indian girl, who afterward
became Washburn's wife. She was
known as Princess Ne-os-ko-le-ta, and
later as the Princess Wynima. Both
509
names were the same in the Mohawk
tongue, and the meaning of them is
"Prairie Flower."
During his residence here, Wash-
burn, in company witli Col. Theron
Seymour, who had been landlord of
the Ahwaga house, and Frank Phelps,
of Elmira, who had been travelling
through the small towns with a hall
show, organized an Indian tent show
on a large scale, to travel the next
season. Loveland, who had been
travelling the previous season with
teams, giving a show in country tav-
erns, was the business manager. They
secured twelve Onondaga Indians and
a few gymnasts, and went upon the
road, in the spring of 1855.
In addition to the genuine Indians,
several white men living in Owego and
vicinity, among whom were Almon W.
Gould and Joseph D. Hollister, joined
the show and made themselves up as
Indians by coloring their faces and
hands and dying their hair. The show
had a brass band, the musicians be-
ing also "fake" Indians. A side show
was attached to the circus, in which a
minstrel performance was given, Hol-
lister playing the bones. Gould, who
was something of a musician, played
a guitar with the orchestra during the
Indian performance.
The show consisted of a scalping
scene, rescue from burning at the
stake, war dances, and the delineation
of other pleasant little Indian festiv-
ities and customs. A representation
of the historical scene of Pocahontas
saving the life of Capt. John Smith
was also given, the show closing with
the cheerful revolutionary tragedy of
the murder of Miss Jane McCrea.
"Joe Washburn" was advertised as
510
"the celebrated Chief, Red Jacket,
the most eloquent Indian orator liv-
ing."
The show made its first stand at
Union, Broome county, where the can-
vas was blown down in a storm and a
canvasman's arm was broken by a
falling guy pole. Thence they went to
Great Bend and Montrose, Pa. When
they reached Pittston, Washburn was
informed that in the Wyoming valley
a bitter feeling still existed against all
Indians on the part of the descendants
of those who perished in the massacre,
and that they had arranged to pick off
the Indians, one at a time, with rifles,
knowing that if arrested no jury could
be found to convict for the murder of
an Indian, the state of feeling being so
high. The show exhibited at Pitts-
ton on a Saturday, and Washburn
went ahead to Wilkes-Barre, where
he learned that the report was true.
He accordingly changed his route, los-
ing a week's time and the expense of
billing half a dozen towns. He after-
ward came to Owego, exhibiting on
the north end of the park. May 10,
1855.
With Washburn's show were Isa-
dore and Victoria Barnes, singers and
dancers. They were from Union,
where their father was a blacksmith.
At the close of the show season they
came to Owego and lived about a year
in Bell street. They first came to
Owego with Meeker's theatre, danc-
ing on the stage between the pieces.
Afterward they travelled with Frank
Phelps's hall show.
The Indian show was not a success-
ful one and soon disappeared from the
road. E. S. Washburn was afterward
for several years owner of a travelling
511
vaudeville and burlesque shovv' known
as "Washburn's Last Sensation," in
which his wife, who had an excellent
voice, was a singer. He died Nov. lli,
1SS6, at the Chaffee house at Susque-
hanna, Pa.
Washburn's daughter, Lillian Wash-
burn, became an actress with her
father's compan.v as soon as she was
able to talk. She has been continu-
ously on the stage ever since. Wash-
burn had two adopted sons, Leon W.
Washburn and William Washburn. In
1903 Leon Washburn was proprietor
of L. W. Washburn's circus and men-
agerie, the Washburn minstrels, and
four Uncle Tom's Cabin companies.
Prank Phelps died at Lincoln, Neb.,
in 1888.
"The Babes in the Woods," the First
Travelling Show to Visit Owego, Ex-
hibits in the Goodman Coffee House
Dining Room — Theatrical Companies
Produce Standard Plays under Dis-
advantageous Conditions — The First
Theatrical Company Performs at the
Court House and Later Arrivals Play
in the Coffee House Dining Room
and in a Loft over Jonathan Piatt's
Store.
rhe first hall show in Owego of
which any account can be obtained
was Sickles's "Babes in the Woods."
It consisted of paintings of battles of
the revolutionary war and the war of
1812, and a combination of panorama
and moving figures, delineating the old
nursery story of the "Babes in the-
Woods." It showed the sleeping chil-
dren and the birds covering them with
leaves. At the conclusion an angel
descended and carried away the chil-
51 i
dreii, and the wicked uncle was seized
by a huge snake.
The performance was given in the
dining room of the old Goodman coffee
house (afterward the Franklin house),
on the northeast corner of Front and
Court streets, about the year 1826.
The admission was twelve and a half
cents. After the show the paintings,
etc., were removed and a dance was
given, in which all who chose to pay
participated.
Sickles was a violin player and a
singer of comic songs. His wife ac-
companied him, and assisted him in
moving the figures. Among her other
duties in connection with the show
was to imitate the ch.rping of birds,
which she is said to have done to per-
fection. Simon Springsteen, afterward
proprietor of the Owego foundry and
machine shop, which stood on the
ground now the northeast corner of
McMaster and Delphine streets,
travelled with the show as violinist
three or four years. They went south
to New Orleans, and visited a large
portion of the United States. Richard
Manning, of Owego, who died here in
1832, also travelled about two years
as a violinist with Sickles's show.
Sickles's home was at Sherburne,
N. Y. He accumulated considerable
property and retired from the show
business. After his death his son-in-
law, George Cox, visited this county
with the same show, and exhibited at
Flemingville and Newark Valley.
Yankee Robinson, the circus proprie-
tor, began his career as a showman
with Sickles's "Babes in the Woods."
The first theatrical exhibition ever
given in the village of Owego by pro-
fessionals was in the winter of 1833.
513
There was at that time in the minds
of many people a narrow prejudice
against actors and theatricals, which
was common, not only to very small
villages like Owego of that period, but
prevailed to some extent also in the
cities. There were, however, many in
the community of more liberal ideas,
but they were in advance of their age.
In 1826, a debating society existed in
Owego, known as "The Forum." Its
discussions were held at the old court
house and were listened to by such
ladies and gentlemen of the village as
chose to be present, the invitation be-
ing a general one to the public. On
the 16th of March of that year, as we
learn from an old copy of the Gazette,
the subject discussed was, "Are the-
atrical representations more injurious
than beneficial to society?" The re-
sult of the discussion is not known,
but it is very probable that the de-
cision was one not at all favorable to
the advancement of tne drama.
At a meeting of the village board of
trustees at the store of Gurdon Hewitt
on August 1, 1831, the following reso-
lution was adopted:
Resolved by the Trustees of said vil-
lage that no circus or other public
show or exhibition shall be permitted
within the bounds of said village un-
der the penalty of ten dollars for each
and every offence, and that each and
every person acting or assisting in any
such show or exhibition shall be
deemed an offender within the mean-
ing of this ordinance.
James Pumpelly was president and
trustee of the village, and the other
trustees present at the time of adopt-
ing the resolution were judge Latham
A. Burrows, Gurdon Hewitt and Ezra
S. Sweet.
514
As has been already mentioned, the
first performance here by a company
of professional actors was in 1833.
The performance was given at the old
court house at the southeast corner of
Main and Court streets.
On this occasion Lyman Covell, of
Elmira, then sheriff, of Tioga county
as it was previous to its division into
the present counties of Chemung and
Tioga, granted the use of the court
room to a theatrical company under
the management of Gilbert & Trow-
bridge, which was well and favorably
known in the lai'ge towns in various
parts of the state. Their perform-
ances, which occupied a week, were
artistically and pecuniarily a success.
The company was composed of Gil-
bert, Trowbridge, Powell, and Archi-
bald and their wives, with one or two
others. They played ' Pizarro," "Lady
of the Lake," "School for Scandal,"
"Lock and Key," Othello" and
"George Barnwell." The performance
each evening concluded with a farce, a
great favorite in those days being Mon-
crieff's "Spectre Bridegroom," which
was anounced on the bills as "The
Ghost in Spite of Himself." The or-
chestra consisted of one violin.
At this period there were no rail-
roads in this ])art of the state. The
scenery and baggage were transported
by teams, which were hired at a town
where the company had been playing
to transport it to the ne.xt village.
The stage was built of rough boards
laid on saw-horses over the bar of the
court room. The footlights were tallow
candles in tin holders. A strip of
board about a foot wide extended the
length of the stage between the foot-
lights and the actors. It was fastened
515
by hmges to the stage and worked
with cords. It lay flat on the stage
until it became necessary to darken
the stage for night and storm effects,
when it was raised by means of the
cords to hide the light of the candles.
The scenery was hung on long
stri])s of wood and rolled up from the
bottom on rollers by means of heavy
cords. The entrances to the stage at
the side were between the "wings,"
which were painted on canvas and
stretched on frames made of strips of
wood. Dressing rooms were made by
hanging up a few calico curtains.
There were no reserved seats and the
admission fee was a shilling — twelve
and one-half cents— children half
price.
Those of the villagers who were op-
posed to the visits of theatrical com-
panies to Owego made a vigorous pro-
test to the board of supervisors
against the court house being used for
show purposes, which had the desired
effect. The board, at its annual ses-
sion in the fall of 1833, adopted a reso-
lution prohibiting the use of the court
house for theatrical exhibitions.
The next year, however, Gilbert
& Trowbridge's theatrical company
again visited Owego, and performed
two weeks in a loft in the second story
of Jonathan Piatt's store on the south
side of Front street. The company
consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge,
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs.
Powell, Henry Vaughn, Sam. Lathrop,
Charles Benson, Kore and, perhaps,
one or two others.
.Joseph S. DeWitt, popularly known
as "Old Joe" DeWitt, who was for
many years projirietor of a restaurant
here, travelled with the company
516
about a year as business manager. He
attended to hiring halls and getting
bills printed, and played occasionally
in minor parts. Mr. Piatt's hall was
about fifty feet deep and twenty feet
wide.
Showmen in the early days of Owe-
go encountered some rough audiences.
One evening during the performance
of a travelling show, some young fel-
lows provided themselves with small
paper bags of flour, and amused them-
selves by throwing them on the stage
during the performance to see them
break. Occasionally an actor was hit
and powdered from head to foot. This
kind of humor prevailed in Owego for
several years.
At one time, several years later than
this, a gentleman delivered a public
lecture in the court house. After the
lecture he was met by a party of men
at the door, one of whom threw a bot-
tle of ink upon him, destroying his
clothing. The perpetrator of this act
was one of Owego's most prominent
citizens and business men, and it was
looked upon at that time as rare fun.
Garry A. Hough, an early theatrical
manager, who visited Owego several
times previous to 1854, in a letter to
the writer of these papers in January,
1879, wrote:
"Thirty years ago Owego was not
considered a first-class theatrical
town; it was not even first- class in
morals, and that was the cause of end-
less difficulties when amusements
were offered. The rough and tough
element which had their headquarters
in your village, were men who for a
portion of the year found emi)loyment
as river men on the Susquehanna.
When not employed they were trouble-
some, at times uncontrollable. This, I
distinctly recollect, was an alleged
517
cause for shutting out all kinds of
HUiusenients, the morality of the town
endorsing the proposition that ignor-
ance and rowdyism were the legiti-
mate allies of dramatic art. But these
were comparatively, primitive days.
I hope time has liberalized the ideas
and notions which then prevailed."
Archibald, who was with the Trow-
bridge & Gilbert troupe on its first
visit to Owego, was an Englishman. It
was his boast that he had won renown
in the •■legitimate drama of old Eng-
land."
Trowbridge was the leading actor.
He was a tall, bravray man, and was
born in New Haven, Conn.. He was
not only a good tragedian, but an ex-
cellent personator of comic old men.
He died in Cincinnati in 183S. His
wife was an excellent actress, and a
great favorite later in Buffalo. After ,
the death of her husband, she became
the wife of Josh. Silsbee, the cele-
brated Yankee comedian. Upon his
death, in 1858, she married Wm. A.
Chapman, the equally celebrated low
comedian. She died in San Francisco,
Cal., in 1880.
R. T. Gilbert was equally good as
a tragic actor and as a low comedian.
He was the pioneer manager of west-
ern New York. He died about the
year 1849 in one of the eastern states.
Kore was a large, fleshy man, and
played third parts, such as Alonzo in
"Pizarro." Later he lived on a farm
at Hadley, Mich., where he became
prominent in public life, serving six-
teen years as supervisor of his town
and representing Lapeer county in tne
state legislature.
Old Sam Lathrop, the celebrated
circus clown, acted in some of the
pieces, but his specialty was singing
518
comic songs, in which he was inimi-
table. One winter, at the Chatham the-
atre, in New Yorlc, he did nothing but
sing "The Teetotal Society," in which
he was immensely popular, between
the farces. He died in a hospital in
New York several years ago, consider-
ably advanced in years.
Henry Vaughn played old men. He
died in the south of cholera.
John H. Powell was a light come-
dian. His wife, who was a daughter of
Vaughn, played soubrettes. Powell
died in Erie, Pa., and his wife subse-
quently re-married.
Charles Benson was not an actor.
He played the violin, and was the
"orchestra."
One reason for the prejudice against
strolling actors at this period may
have been that they were as a rule
dissipated. Trowbridge was no excep-
tion to the rule. He was never so in-
toxicated on the stage that his condi-
tion could be noticed, but after the
performance he was in the habit of
drinking hard. He was what is com-
monly known as a "night owl" — pass-
ing the evening after the performance
in convivality, and sleeping during the
day. Sam Lathrop, Vaughn, and all of
the company, except Gilbert, were said
to be hard drinkers.
Trowbridge & Gilbert were the first
managers to take a dramatic company
through the New England states.
Trowbridge was at one time associated
in management with the celebrated
comedian, Sol. Smith.
March 16th, 1840, Powell & Hoff-
man's theatre made application to the
board of trustees for a license to play
five nights in Owego. To consider
519
this matter a special meeting of the
board was held.
It had been rumored about the vil-
lage that a theatrical company pro-
posed to come to the village and give
a series of performances. Prompt
upon learning the intention of the
mountebanks, as they were charac-
terized, measures were instituted by
those opposed to theatrical exhibitions
to prevent the proposed performance.
The following petition was accordingly
submitted to the board of trustees:
To the Truslies of the Corporation of the Vil-
laije of (Iweyo: — The iin(k'rsi.?ned learn with re-
.■■i-'et that a strullins theatrical company purpose
t(i open a theatre in this villajje the present
week. Believing that such exhibitions are de-
moralizing in their tendency and pernicious to
^ I order in any community, and also that it
will teml to increase the scarcity of money,
which now weighs so heavily upon the indus-
trious labourer and honest poor, do re<:iuest that
you will not grant the necessary permit.
J. Piatt, W. A. Ely,
O. Oregorv, ('has. F. .Johnson,
James Wright, A. P. Storrs,
Francis Truman. Klihu Pannentor,
David Goodrich, A. C. Greenloaf,
L. H. Allen, -Jas. Ely.
.John C. Laning, P. Ransom,
OfHsrge Truman, Chas. Ranson,
.John B. Wood, -J. L. Pinney,
W. P. Stone, H. 1). Pinney,
Asa H. Truman, B. B. Curry,
Silas Totten, C Talcott,
E. Ravnsford, W. Pumpelly,
D. G.'Tavlor. Wm. JI. Piatt,
W. C. Taylor, D. ". Macoml.er.
The trustees present were John J.
Taylor, Isaac B. Ogden, Col. N. W.
Davis, and Jared Huntington, the lat-
ter being president of the village. Mr.
Taylor and Mr. Ogden voted in favor
of granting the license, and the others
voted against it. This action, how-
ever, was not final. Another meeting
was held in the evening, when the
same trustees were present. The mat-
ter was reconsidered, and a license
to exhibit five evenings was granted
to Powell & Hoffman upon payment of
$12.
520
The theatre was managed by J. hL
Powell, who had been here with the
Trowbridge & Gilbert company, and.
Garry A. Hough, an excellent come-
dian, whose stage name then was Hoff-
man. The performances were given
in the dining room of the Oi^ Goodman
coffee house in Front street. As a
curiosity a copy of one of the adver-
tisements is here given:
THEATRE
AT MRS. GOODMAN'S IIOTKL
Murch 20. 1840.
T.niS EVEXIXG will be prewiited the
splendid Melo-Drania, entitle*!
HUNTER OF THE ALPS;
or, the
Forest of Savoy.
K.lix Mr. PoweU
F( nlinand Mr. (.'liffurd
Marco Mr. Frceland
Jeronvmo Mr. lla.stiiifrs
Helena Mrs. Powell
Genevieve Mrs. Ilastii^s
To conclude with
MY AUNT
Fred Vincent Mr. Clifford
Rattle Mr. Hoffniai.
Dick Dashall Mr. I'nwc II
Soherlove Mr. H;i^tiii^-i
Mrs. {^orbetts Mr.s. Pnwcll
Emilia Mrs. HofTinan
*E«=- Tickets to be had at the Bar — at L. Man-
ning & Son, and at the Tioga County House,
Curtain will rise at 7 o'clock P. M.
The next theatrical company to visit
Owego was one under the manage-
ment of W. P. Hastings. It was
known as the New York Vaudeville
company, and the performances were
given at the Goodman coffee house.
Mr. Hastings paid a village license of
$2 a night, and commenced his per-
formances on the 14th of June, 1S41.
The following is a copy of one of the
company's advertisements :
THEATRE.
This evening (Friday, June 18th) will be pre-
sented for the first time in this place, the ccle-
l)rated Drama in 3 acts, entitled the
LADY OF THE LAKE.
Roderick Dhu Mr. Hastings
Lord Douglas Mr. Reyn..l,l8
Malcolm Mr. Arthur
Fitz James Mr. Howmaii
Red Murdoch Mr. Hcydon
521
Malise Mr. Ma,Mis„„
Blanche of IVv.m Mrs. llastin-s
Kllen Doutjlas Mrs, lloydnii
Comic Song Hastings
Xrni'o Kxtravauanza l>y .Masti-r I'irrce
llidilan.l Flin- l.. v Mr. .Vrthiir
The evening's entertainment to i.inehi.le with
tlie last aet nf
W KXLOCK OF WEN LOCK.
Wenloi'k Bowman
Wolf Hastings
,)j.|.j,. Heydon
llerhert ' T.vie ".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. Arthur
Nicholas Pi"-'*-
Wittol Wattol Master Pierce
Hugh Reynolds
f)gg., Hathaway
l-y-l Mrs. Hastings
]l ,„. ■.".■.■.'.'.'.' Mrs. Hey.1. m
fhiek-
Tickets, 2.-) cents.
Bar.
The versatility of the manager, who
played the leading characters, was
somewhat remarkable. It is not
every one who can successfully sus-
tain the leading character in a roman-
tic drama and five minutes afterward
appear and sing a comic song with any.
marked degree of success.
Tickets, it may be noticed were "to
be had at the bar"— a convenient re-
sort, doubtless, between the acts for
the thirsty ones of the audience— and
it should be remembered that the
average theatre-goer at this period
was not accustomed to refuse any in-
vitation to drink.
An application was next made for a
theatrical license by J. H. Powell, on
the 31st day of December of the same
year, which was refused by the trus-
tees. In May, 1842, however, he suc-
ceeded in obtaining the necessary li-
cense, and showed in the Franklin
house dining room four nights. Mr.
Muzzy, the landlord, became security
for the village license of $8. The
party had bad houses and could not
pay the license. The trustees subse-
52Z
quently released Mr. Muzzzy from all
responsibility in the matter.
This ended theatrical performances
in Owego until October, 1845, when
the Washington ian temperance excite-
ment was at its height. On the 17th
of that month Garry A. Hough, with a
party known as the Western Temper-
ance company, played in Washington
hall, a building owned by Jehiel Og-
den, and situated at the northwest cor-
ner of Main and Liberty streets, where
St. Paul's Episcopal church now
stands.
This was a long building, one story
and a half high at the front, with an
extension back one story high. The
highest part had originally been a
gunshop, to which the extension was
added and the whole converted into
a hall. The "Washingtonian Total Ab-
stinence Association, which was or-
ganized in Owego in 1844 and of which
David C. Burdick was president, held
its meetings in this hall, and political
meetings were also held there. A
large portion of the building was torn
down three or four years afterward
and the remainder converted into a
dwelling house, which stood there un-
til St. Paul's church was built in 1894.
Although Mr. Hough came to Owego
during a hot political campaign his
company drew good houses. At Wash-
ington hall tickets could not "be pur-
chased at the bar."
The next company to visit Owego
was the Western Temperance com-
pany, under the management of Allen
& Bridges. They played one week in
Concert hall, commencing January 10,
1847.
It is not known who the members of
the Western Temperance company
523
■were. They played, among other
pieces, "The Drunkard's Warning" and
a piece with the cheering melo-dra-
matic title of "The Goblet of Death:
or, the Road to Ruin."
Concert hall was in the second story
of Rollin block, which stood at the
northwest comer of Front and Lake
streets and was owned by judge
Drake. North of and adjoining this
block Joseph S. DeWitt kept "The
Shades" restaurant in a building
which occupied the ground on which
the stores of J. C. Kenyon and the
Misses Rowe now stand. About the
year 1846 Mr. DeWitt removed tlie
partitions between Rollin block and
his restaurant and converted the
whole into a public hall, which he
called Concert hall. The main en-
trance was a stairway on the Front
street side, and there was a private
entrance from Lake street through
the "Shades" building. This hall was
burned in the great fire of 1849.
P. T. Barnum's first exhibition in
Owego was in Concert hall. He came
with Tom Thumb, the dwarf, in the
summer of 1849, and stayed several
days. The show was poorly patron-
ized, and Barnum swore roundly that
he would never visit Owego again —
but he did.
Potter & Co's theatre was the next
dramatic company to come to Owego.
It played three nights at Concert hall,
beginning Aug. 26, 1847. Potter's
partner was Gilbert, of the old firm of
Gilbert & Trowbridge. The leading
man was William M. Fleming, an ex-
cellent tragedian, who was then thirty
years of age and in the prime of his
reputation. In 1860 he entered the
524
army as paymaster and was with
Sherman in the march to the sea, and
was brevetted a colonel in the regu-
lar army. He died of heart disease
in New York city May 6, 1866. The
company was composed of Mr. and
Mrs. Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Mehan, Mr.
and Mrs. Donovan, Fleming, Gilbert,
and Pemberton. Between the pieces
Potter and Mrs. Donovan danced the
polka.
Potter was a somewhat remarkable
character. Between 1850 and 1860 he
was one of the pioneers to establish
theatres throughout California, Ore-
gon, Nevada, Utah, and in the Chero-
kee nation. He built and fitted up
more theatres and tcavelled a greater
number of miles with large companies
than any other manager of those days
ever thought of travelling. He built
the first theatre in Chicago about
the year 1841. At one time
he took a company of twenty-two
actors from Cleveland, Ohio, to Rich-
mond, Va., with but seventy-five cents
in his pocket to start with. His per-
suasive powers and his ability to weep
on the slightest provocation were such
that could always borrow money, for
which he gave his notes, such notes
never being paid. He died at Morris,
111., in 1869, while playing there with
a theatrical company.
During the company's sojourn here
the play one evening was Shakes-
peare's "King Richard III." At this
time Junius Brutus Booth was at the
height of his reputation as one of the
great tragic actors of the world. Rob-
ert Chambers, a carpenter, who lived
on the west side of what is now Cen-
tral avenue, a little south of Fox
street, was one of the audience. Flem-
525
Ing was i)laymg the character of "the
crook-backed tyrant" and his actmg so
impressed and delighted Chambers
that in his enthusiasm he yelled, "Go
in Booth."
At that time a slang phrase, ^'Go in
boots," was in vogue,and the tragedian
misunderstanding the significance of
the words of Chambers, was highly in-
dignant. To be addressed as "boots"
was just a trifle too much, and Flem-
ing angrily retorted "Shut up yourd — d
noise." He refused to proceed further.
Col. N. W. Davis arose and explained
the matter, saying that what Fleming
had considered an insult was in fact a
high compliment to his power as an
actor. The tragedian was mollified by
Col. Davis's words, and the play went
on.
Powell's next visit to Owego was in
November, 1847. His last visit was in
1848, when he opened in Concert hall
on the 17th of .January, ana remained
one week.
At about this time the opposition to
theatrical exhibitions again began to
be manifested. In January, 1851,
Garry A. Hough made application to
the trustees for a license to give a
series of theatrical performances. A
special meeting of the trustees was
held on the 28th of that month, to
consider the matter, when license was
refused. A paper, signed by forty-seven
of the prominent business men of the
village, was handed to the trustees at
their next meeting, approving of their
course, and promising their influence
in sustaining them in the same.
On the 13th of the following May,
George Western, then celebrated as a
low comedian, known as "The Great
Western, "came to Owego as agent of
526
Mr. Hough, and applied for license,
which was refused. He was fortified
with letters from L. M. Rexford, Judge
E. C. Kattel, and other prominent citi-
zens of Binghamton, commending the
company in point of respectability and
talent. Judge Avery interested him-
self in the matter, and through his in-
fluence Hough was granted a license,
but at the exorbitant rate of $5 a
night.
Timothy P. Patch had the year pre-
vious (1850) built a brick block on the
ground now occupied by the L. N.
Chamberlain brick block on the west
side of Lake street. The third story
was used as a hall and was known as
Patch's hall.
Mr. Patch was for many years one
of the most prominent merchants at
Owego. He was born at Ashburnham,
Mass., Dec. 3, 1809. He came to Owego
in February, 1834, and opened a meat
market in a wooden building in Lake
street where the Chambelain block now
stands. There he conducted the meat
business and subsequently the grocery
business twenty-one years. His store
was burned in the fire of 1849 and he
erected a brick block on its site.
When Ahwaga hall was built in 1852
Patch's hall ceased to be in demand
for public purposes. It was accessible
only by a long flight of stairs up
narrow staircases, and was a veritable
death trap in case of panic or fire.
From May, 1853, to September, 1855,
the hall was occupied by the Gazette
|)rinting office. The block was after-
ward purchased by L. N. Chamberlain
and the second and third floors occu-
pied by him as a boot and shoe manu-
factory until it was burned, together
with Wilson hall, adjoining it on the
north, in the night of April 24, 186S.
Mr. Patch removed in 1860 to To-
wanda. Pa., where he died June 30,
1882. He had three sons, Calvin B.,
Robert Harlin, and Charles Patch, and
one daughter, Albertine Patch, who
was married to Oscar F. Saunders,
and removed to Corning, N. Y.
The ceiling of Patch's hall was so
low that a panorama was prevented
from visiting Owego at the time the
hall was opened, there not being room
to erect it. Other panoramas were af-
terward exhibited there. These pano-
ramas were common in those
days. They were painted on long
strips of canvas ten or twelve
feet high and suspended by up-
right rollers at each end. As the
panorama was shown it was moved by
unrolling it from one roller at one side
of the stage and rolling it on the other
roller at the other side of the stage,
the continuous picture being exhibited
in a framework extending across the
stage. A lecturer, with a long stick,
pointed out the prominent features
and described them as the panorama
was moved. These panoramas were
so heavy that they were carried in
sections. As fast as one had been ex-
hibited another was shown. The most
prominent of these panoramas was a
panorama of New York, showing all
the buildings in the principal streets
of that city at that time and which
was twice shown here, and Banvard's
panorama of the Mississippi river,
painted by John Banvard, an artist,
traveller poet, and author. This pano-
rama was the largest ever made and
covered three miles of canvas. It was
52S-
one of the wonders of the day and was:
exhibited in this country and in
Europe. Another panorama that drew
large houses was known as "The
Burning of Moscow," in which moving
figures and battle effects were added
to carry out the illusion.
Patch's hall was fifty-three feet long
and forty-four feet wide. In this hall
Mr. Hough opened his theatrical per-
formances May 19, 1851, and played
one week to fair houses.. But this
visit of Mr. Hough to Owego was so
unsuccessful from a pecuniary point
of view that a compromise was made
on the license by the trustees.
The company was a small one, and
played only light comedies and farces.
The leading man was Alonzo R.
Phelps, a tragic actor, who had made
his first appearance in New York six
years previous to this time as Othello
at the Greenwich street theatre and
who in 1854 sailed with Kate and
Susan Benin for California. He died
in Philadelphia in 1888.
The low comedian was George
Western, one of the famous comic
actors of his time. For a long time he
drew crowded houses to Barnum's mu-
seum in New York and was immensely
])opular. He excelled in Yankee char-
acters, and was particularly famous
for his personation of Diggory in the
old farce of "The Spectre Bride-
grom." He was the father of Lucille
and Helen Western, both famous ac-
tresses, but in an entirely' different
line of characters. When in Owego
Western was in bad health. He w^as
afllicted with consumption and was
compelled to withdraw from the stage.
He lived at Binghamton and became
travelling agent for a cigar and to-
529
bacco house, spending the winter in
the south and the summer at Bing-
hamton. He died at Bodle's Exchange
hotel in that city in July, 1857.
Garry A. Hough was an excellent
comedian. He was particularly
good in the parts made famous by
William E. Burton, the celebrated
comedian of that time, whom he in
some respects resembled. In March,
1853, he brought to Owego the largest
and best theatrical company that had
ever been seen here and one which
has never been surpassed even to this
day. It was composed of ten men and
five women. Mr. Hough carried his
own scenery. There was no stage in
Ahwaga hall at that time. He built a
stage at the south end of the hall,
about four feet above the floor. At
the north end he caused to be con-
structed of rough boards some seats
similar to those in the modern circus.
For these spectators were charged 25
cents each. On the rest of the floor
between these seats and the stage,
were long wooden settees, seats on
which were charged 50 cents each.
The men's dressing room was at one
side of the stage and the women's at
the other. The company produced "Ingo-
mar," "The Wife," "Pizarro," "Rich-
ard III," "The Stranger," "The Serious
Family," and other standard plays,
the piece being followed each evening
by a dance by Mile. Eveline and a
farce. The company played here two
weeks to good houses.
The leading actor was T. B. Mul-
holland, a tragedian of great power,
whose equal has never since been
seen in* Owego. He is said to have
been a native of Tompkins county.
.NTothmg is knowu of his origin nor of
his end. In 1854, the year after his
aijpearance here, he appeared at the-
old Broadway theatre in New York
city, then managed by E. A. Marshall.
From the moment of his appearance
there he became a great favorite with
both the management and the public,
but in one of his eccentric periods he
was obliged to leave. Later he was
taken ill and died, but when and
where no one who was associated
with him was ever able to ascertain.
Mulholland was a refined and in-
telligent actor, and quick at repartee.
While playing in Rochester, N. Y.,
some one in the gallery threw a piece
of stove pipe at him on the stage. In-
stead of resenting if he looked up
quickly and asked why the stove had
not been sent along with the pipe.
This reply to what was intended as an
insult put the entire audience in jov-
ial accord with him at once and cap-
tured it for the rest of the perform-
ance.
The cast of Kotzebue's play of "The
Stranger," one of the plays produced
at Owego by Hough's com])any was as
follows:
The Stranger T. B. Mulholland
Count Wintersen Mr. Morris
Baron Steinfort Mr. Goodenow
Solomon ' Mr. Hough
Peter Mr. Tozer
Tobias Mr. Ross
Francis Mr. Collins
Mrs. Haller Miss Kate Ludlow
Countess Wintersen Mrs. Wray
Charlotte Mrs. Hough
Annette Mile Eveline
Kate Ludlow, the leading lady of
the company, was a fine actress. Her
husband, Joseph Littell, was a popular
actor but was not with Hough's com-
531
.pany. His first wife was Malvina
Pray, from whom he was divorced
and who was afterward married to
Wm. J. Florence, the celebrated come-
dian. He died m 1856.
Kate Ludlow was in her day one of
the most prominent actresses in
America. She was bom in 1820 on the
coast of Maine, and at an early age
■was adopted by tlie officers attached
to the first United States artillery,
then stationed at Fulton, Me. She
was educated at Gorham semi-
nary at Gorham, Mass. She
made her first appearance on the
stage in 1843 at the museum in Balti-
more, Md. After her appearance with
Hough's company at Owego she went
to New York, where she was leading
woman at the old Broadway theatre
several seasons. Thence she went to
Boston, where she supported Junius
Brutus Booth at the Hollis street the-
atre, afterward travelling with Booth
through the country. After Booth's
death she supported James E. Mur-
dock, George Vandenhoff, and other
stars. In June, 1899, she was ad-
mitted to the Edwin Forrest home at
Holmesburg, Pa., near Philadelphia,
where she is now living at the ad-
vanced age of 89 years. She is, prob-
ably, the oldest living actress in
America.
Mr. Morris was Thomas E. Morris,
who was born at Troy, N. Y., and who
was 24 years old when he appeared at
Owego. He was afterward manager
for John Brougham, the celebrated
Irish actor and author and married
Brougham's step-daughter. He was
manager of the Waverley theatre in
New York, of the Park theatre in
532
Brooklyn, and of the Grand opera
house in New York when James Fiske
owned it, and was later a member of
the famous Union Square theatre com-
pany. He died in New York in Octo-
ber, 1885.
Mr. Collins was Oliver B. Collins,
who began his long career on the
stage at Bamum's museum in New
York in 1852, the year previous to his
appearance at Owego. He spent most
of his life on the stage, playing in the
companies of Booth, Barrett, Forrest,
and other eminent actors. He died in
January, 1907, at the Victoria hotel at
the Highlands of Neversink, N. J., of
which hotel he was the owner, aged
78 years.
Mrs. Mary A. Wray, born at Ridge-
field, Conn., in 1804, went on the stage
at the old Chatham theatre in New
York city in 1820 as a dancer. She
supported the great actors of the time,
Forrest, Junius Brutus Booth, and
others. In 1848 she was with the
Seguin opera company. In 1864, when
she was sixty years of age, she retired
from the stage. She died in October,
1892, at Newton, L. I., in the home
that had been purchased for her by
her son, Billy Wray, the negro min-
strel, who was lost in the burning of
the steamer "Evening Star," while on
the way from New York to New Or-
leans in 1866. The Mile Eveline of
Hough's company was Mrs. Wray's
daughter, Eveline Wray. Another son
of Mrs. Wray, Edward A. Wray, was
with her when she was in Owego. He
was only 14 years old. He also be-
came a negro minstrel and died at
Edwardsville, 111., in 1866, the same
year of his brother's death.
Mr. Goodenow was John Goodenow,
popularly known as Jack Goodenow,
a handsome man and good actor, of
whom little is now known. J. B.
Tozer, the low comedian of the com-
pany, was a very popular actor and
was with Hough when he played in
Patch's hall in 1S51. In 1854 he was
the low comedian at Barnum's mu-
seum in New York. He retired from
the stage in 1859. Mr. Ross, who was
known as Tony Ross, played old men.
He was an excellent actor.
Garry A. Hough had an eventful
career. He was born at Potsdam, N.
Y., in 1814 and at 14 years old be-
came a printer's apprentice. He
worked at one time as a printer for
A. H. Calhoun in the old Owego Ad-
vertiser office in this village. H^-
bought the Honeyoye Falls Standard,
which he published until 1836, when
he quit the printing business on ac
count of ill health and became an ac
tor. In 1845 he played in the company
of Isaac Singer Merritt, who invented
the sewing machine and died a mil-
lionaire. In 1865 and 1866 he played
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" and other plays
through the state under canvas. He
afterward became manager succes-
sively of the Atheneum theatre and
the opera house at Detroit, Mich. He
died in that city in January, 1896.
After the great fire of September,
1849, George W. Fay built the three-
story brick building which stands on
the north side of Front street, the sec-
ond store east of Lake street. It was
the first brick building erected after
the fire, and was completed and occu-
pied in May, 1850. The lower floor
was occupied by Mr. Fay as a drug
store and the third floor was used as
534
a public hall and known as Fay's hall.
Here all shows and public entertain-
ments were given until Patch's hall
was built in Lake street. No theat-
rical company came to Owego during
the short time this hall was in exist-
ence. It was a small one and only an-
swered a temporary purpose.
As the business portion of the vil-
lage was gradually rebuilt it was
found that Patch's hall was too small
to hold the average Owego audience.
When Patch's hall was built there
was no further need of the smaller
hall, and Fay's hall was closed. Mr.
Fay, however, in turn thought that a
larger hall than Patch's hall was
needed. So he built the present block
of two stores, over which is Ahwaga
hall, on the site of the old Fay drug
store on the north side of Front
street, and completed it in May, 1853.
Ahwaga hall had no stage, and when-
ever one was needed a temporary one
was built of rough boards. A few
years later a stage was built with
steps at each side, which stage could
be moved from one part of the hall
to another when desirable. There
was a wide doorway on the east side
opening into the Ahwaga house, which
was used for the convenience of
dancers when balls were given in the
hall and suppers served to the
dancers in the dining room of the
hotel. The western part of the Ah-
waga house block was subsequently
sold to George S. T^eonard and several
years afterward the doorway was
closed with a brick wall.
Ahwaga hall was for many years
owned by Mr. Fay and Lyman Tru-
man. In the summer of 1899, eigh-
535
teen years after Mr. Truman's death,
Lyman T. Stanbrough, executor of
the Lyman Truman estate, entirely re-
constructed the hall. A new floor of
Georgia pine was laid and the walls
were wainscoated to the height of five
feet. The ceiling and walls were cov-
ered with steel and artistically
painted. Other improvements were
made, making it the handsomest pub-
lic hall anywhere in this part of the
state. The block was sold to Joel C.
Kenyon in December, 1899.
The building of Ahwaga hall caused
a renewed interest in theatricals, and
the coming of dramatic companies be-
came more frequent. In June, 1853, a
company under the management of
William H. Meeker played there. The
opening piece was Coleman's "Iron
Chest," in which Meeker, who was an
excellent tragedian, played Sir Ed-
ward Mortimer. The company re-
mained here a week and drew fair
houses. Meeker afterward played in
the New York theatres, supporting
Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, Edwin
Forrest, E. L. Davenport, and other
noted actors. He was on the stage
45 years from 1843 to 1888, and died
at New Rochelle, N. Y., March 31,
19n5, aged 83 years.
In the following October Tozer &
Germon's theatre played a week at
the hall. The managers were J. B.
Tozer, the low comedian of G. A.
Hough's company, and Greenbury C.
Germon, who was the father of EfRe
Germon, who was at that time only
eight years old and who afterward at-
tained a brilliant reputation as a star.
In the company was Frank S. Chan-
frau, who a few years previous had
made a remarkable hit at Mitchell's
536
Olympic theatre as Mose, the fireman,
in "A Glance at New York," and in
his excellent imitations of other ac-
tors in the part of Jerry Clip in the
farce of "The Widow's Victim," some-
times known as "The Stage-Struck
Barber."
When the company left New York
it was under an agreement whereby
Chanfrau was to receive one-half of
the net receipts each evening. Chan-
frau did not prove so great an attrac-
tion as had been expected, and the
comi)any broke up very soon after
leaving Owego. Germon died in Chi-
cago in the spring following his visit
to Owego. He was the original Uncle
Tom when the play was produced for
the first time in America at the Troy
museum in 1S53. His wife was the
granddaughter of old Joseph Jeffer-
son and cousin of the Joseph Jeffer-
son, who was famous as Rip Van-
Winkle.
Chanfrau was supported here by
Mile. Albertine, a danseuse in early
life and afterward an actress. She
supported the elder Booth and later
travelled with Chanfrau from 1S50 to
1857. In 1857 she went with Gustavus
V. Brooke, the tragedian, to Australia
and while there was stricken with a
fever, which was followed by total
blindness. Chanfrau's last appear-
ance in Owego was in "Kit, the Ar-
kansas Traveller," at Wilson opera
house. He died at Long Branch Oct.
2, 1884, leaving an estate valued at
$300,000.
In April, 1854, a company under the
management of P. Page ran the play
of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" one week.
Mrs. Stowe's novel had been drama-
tized two years previous, but it had
537
not reached Owego, and as it had
made a sensation throughout the
country the company drew good
houses here. The leading actor was
G. A. Nichols.
The New York Dramatic Company,
under the management of .James
Ponisi, was at first refused a license
by the board of trustees, but license
was afterward granted by each mem-
ber of the board individually. The
company opened in "La Tour de
Nesle" March 23, 1857. Mr. and Mrs.
.J. B. Turner played the leading parts
and Daniel Myron acted Irish char-
acters in the farces. Lizzie Ross, a
daughter of Tony Ross, of the G. A.
Hough company and the wife of My-
ron, was an excellent soubrette. The
"old man" was H. O. Pardey, an Eng-
lishman, an excellent actor and dra-
matic author, who wrote the comedy
of "Nature's Nobleman" for Wm. E.
Burton. He was somewhat dissi-
l)ated, and was found dead in the
street in Philadelphia March 3, 1865.
.lames Ponisi, the manager of the
company, was an Englishman, a poor
actor, and the husband of Madame
Ponisi, who was for many years a
leading actress in the New York the-
atres. .J. B. Turner was stricken
blind while playing with W. J. Scan-
lan's company at Waterbury, Conn.,
in November, 1866. He had been on
the stage thirty-six years at that
time.
A unique dramatic combination was
the company managed by John F.
Breyer, which opened at Ahwaga hall
Aug. 5, 1858. It was composed of
members of one family — Mrs. J. E.
Breyer, her three sons and two daugh-
ters. They had thirty pieces of
538
scenery. The stage was built at the
north end of the hall. The scenery.,
flies, and wings were held in place by
an ingenious arrangement of poles
and heavy cords, not a nail being
driven. They had the most complete
outfit of properties and costumes ever
carried by a travelling theatre, all of
which they had brought with them
from Scotland a short time previous
to their visit to Owego, and which had
been used by the father of the family,
.John E. Breyer, who toured England
and Scotland in Shakespearian plays
for thirty years and who died in Scot-
land in 1857, while travelling with his
company.
The expenses of the Breyers here
were small, and their stay of three
weeks In Owego was a profitable one,
although the houses were light. They
did not stay at a hotel, but hired the
small house which is still standing on
the south side of Temple street west
of and adjoining the old grammar
school building, where they "kept
house," the same as their temporary
neighbors. The music was supplied
by a very large hand organ, which was
kept behind the scenes. The com-
pany played "Don Caesar de Bazan,"
•Pizarro," "The Castle Spectre,"
"Macbeth," "The Lady of Lyons,"
"Othello," "Rob Roy," "King Richard
III," "The Honeymoon," "Douglas,"
and other standard plays, concluding
each evening with a farce. The ver-
satility and ingenuity shown by some
of the members of the family in per-
sonating three or four different char-
acters in the same play was re-
markable.
After leaving Owego the family
went west. Mrs. John F. Breyer, the
5.^9
mother, who was a most excellent
actress, died at Fort Wayne, Ind.,
July 15, 1864. Then the family be-
came scattered. John F. Breyer, the
eldest son, was for several years the
leading man in the stock companies
in various cities of the west. He after-
ward managed his own company,
known as the Maggie Breyer Comedy
Company, and was very successful.
He died at Creston, 111., Feb. 12, 1889.
William V. Breyer, the younger
brother, was afterward a member of
western stock companies and was
manager later of the Enoch Arden
Combination, in which he sustained
the principal roles. Several years
ago he purchased a ranch near North
Platte, Nebraska, and retired from the
stage. He was too good an actor to
have wasted his talent travelling in
the west. Had he remained in New
York he would have acquired reputa-
tion and fortune.
The eldest sister. Miss Mary
Breyer, was for many years known
throughout the United States as a
leading actress in city theatres and
was manager of the Mary Breyer
edy Company. While playing with
Otis Skinner's company at Nashville,
Tenn., in February, 1899, she was
taken ill and died at a sanitarium.
At one time there were three Breyer
companies on the road, John F.
Breyer heading the Breyer Dramatic
Company in Illinois, Ohio, and West
Virginia; Wm. V. Breyer heading the
Enoch Arden Combination, playing
Enoch Arden, Rip Van Winkle, and
other pieces in Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and Iowa, and the Mary Breyer Com-
edy Comi)any, touring Indiana, Ken-
tucky, and Virginia.
540
A theatre under the management of
Morris & Brink opened at Ahwaga
hall January 29, 1859. Edw. H. Brink
was a good actor, but his partner,
Morris, was a very bad one. Jenny
Stanley was the leading lady. The
low comedian was Thomas G. Riggs,
an actor of Irish characters. He was
a comedian of the highest order and
afterward played in all the large the-
atres in the United States. He went
to Australia and died in Tasmania in
1899.
In January, 1860, Charles Plunkett,
an English actor, who came to Amer-
ica in 1858 and was the leading actor
at Placide's Varieties, , the chief the-
atre in New Orleans, La., came to
Owego with a travelling company.
The low comedian, James S. Math-
ews, was also an Englishman, and was
the father of the famous equestrienne
known as Ella Madigan, who was then
a child. He afterward managed a the-
atrical company of his own. He was
manager of a theatre in Rochester five
years and there he lost the savings of
many years. He studied law and es-
tablished himself at Oswego, where he
died in 1891.
Another member of the company
was Edw. T. Clinton, a son of the
famous tragic actress, Mrs. Shaw,
whose second husband was Thomas
S. Hamblin, the tragedian, who was
for twenty-three years manager of the
Bowery theatre in New York. Clinton
was a fine tenor singer and had been
a member of the Rosalia Durand
opera troupe. In addition to appear-
ing in all the plays he sang "Larboard
Watch," "Sally in Our Alley," and
other old-time ballads between the
541
l)ieces. The leading lady was Jose-
iihine Woodward.
In the company was L. Chester
Bartlett, of Binghamton. He was a
brother of Rev. William Alvin Bartlett,
who was pastor of the Owego Congre-
gational church in 1857-8. He was then
but a mere youth, but had consider-
able talent. He abandoned theatri-
cals, however, and became sheriff of
Broome comity and served as member
of assembly.
Plunkett was a gifted actor, some-
what resembling in api)earance
Charles F'etcher, the celebrated
French tragedian. He was a genial
man socially, and in telling Irish or
Scotch stories he was inimitable in his
dialect imitations. The year previous
to his appearance here he was was the
tragedian at the New Bowery theatre
in New York. He died in Detroit,
Mich., in April, i882. His wife was a
fine actress and one of the handsom-
est women ever seen on the stage at
Owego. She died at Fort Wayne,
Ind., in September, 1867.
Ashley's hall was built in 1862 by
Martin Ashley, who came to Owego a
few years previous and opened a sa-
loon and restaurant on the west side
of Lake street, in which business he
was very successful. The ground on
which Ashley hall stood is on the west
side of Lake street and is now occu-
pied by Hill & Parker's brick block.
The land was owned by Lorenzo
Reeves, whose widow married Col.
Benoni B. Curry. The buildings on
the property were all burned in the
fire of 1849 anu the land was subse-
quently owned by Abner L. Ely, of
New York city, of whom Mr. Ashley
542
bought it January 28, 1862. Mr. Ash-
ley built a brick block thereon, in the
second story of which was a hall,
which he called Ashley's hall. The
hall had a level floor, with a stage at
the west end with a gallery along the
north side over the stairway.
One of the favorites at this time
was William A. Rouse, a popular
comic actor, whose right name was
William Augustus Fitznarding Berke-
ley and who came of an aristocratic
English family at Cheltenham, Eng-
land. He was a good actor even when
badly intoxicated, which was fre-
quently his condition. He died in
New York city in 1885. His wife,
Fanny Denham Rouse, had been a
great favorite at the Bowery theatre
in New York and was a finished ac-
tress. She was a member of various
companies in New York city after her
husband's death.
Another popular company was man-
aged by John F. Sherry, who had been
the leading man at one of the Phila-
delphia theatres and who first visited
Owego in January, 1866, and played in
Ashley hall. He usually played two
nights in each city or village he vis-
ited. He was the first manager in
these parts to bring out entirely new
plays. When any new piece was par-
ticularly successful in New York he
l)urchased the right to produce it on
the road, and as his company was a
strong one the production was good in
every instance. He played several
seasons and was financially very suc-
cessful, but after a few years he met
with reverses through which he lost
all he had saved. He left the stage
and became a commercial traveller.
Sherry was the first manager who had
543
a brass band with his company. Some
of the members of the band also con-
stituted the orchestra.
Sherry's leading actress was Jennie
Carroll, whose husband, John W. Car-
roll, was also a member of the com-
pany. She was a great favorite in
those days. Her face was round and
expressionless, but as an emotional
actress she was one of the best ones
that ever appeared here. She was at
one time leading lady at the Park the-
atre in Brooklyn and later the leading
support of Edwin Booth at the Four-
teenth Street theatre in New York.
She died in January, 1897, in New
York. The best comedian ever with
Sherry's company was Harry Hawk,
a clever actor and good fellow, who
was playing Asa Trenchard in "The
American Cousin" on the stage of
Ford's theatre at Washington when
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth.
From 1866 to 1871 Sherry's New
York theatre was the most popular
company on the road. It travelled
through New York and Pennsylvania,
seldom going outside of taose states.
Mr. Ashley sold his block August
16, 1867, to Dr. James Wilson, who ex-
pended about $2,000 in enlarging and
improving the hall and changed its
name to Wilson hall. In the night of
August 16, 1867, a fire broke out in W.
D. Ireland's boot and shoe store under
the hall and the building was burned.
Dr. Wilson immediately rebuilt the
block, but constructed it as cheaply
as possible. Later he furnished it
with scenery, tlie first scenery that
had been owned by a theatre at Owe-
go. Then it became known as Wilson
opera house.
544'
The interior of the theatre was'-
burned out early in the evening ot
November 9, 1899, through the ex-
plosion of some films of a moving pic-
ture machine. It was rebuilt, but was.
entirely destroyed by another fire,
which broke out in a bakery on the
ground floor at 4 o'clock in the morn-
ing of FebniaFy 28, 1904.
After Sherry's company disappeared
from the stage conditions in the theat-
rical world undei-went a change and
Owego, like other towns, became a
"one night stand." IMany noted play-
ers appeared a.t Wilson opera house
at various times, among whom were
Laura Keene, Kate Claxton, Caroline
Richings and Zelda Seguin with the
Castle-Campbell opera troupe; E. Z. C.
Judson, the novelist, known as "Ned
Buntline;" Buffalo Bill, Edward Har-
rigan, John S. Clark and .John E.
Owens, two of the best comedians
ever seen in America; John T. Ray-
mond, McKean Buchanan, Marie Zoe,
George L. Fox, and many other theat-
rical celebrities. In the fall of 1876i
Ada Rehan appeared here with John
T. Raymond's company, playing in a
dramatization of Mark Twain's "A
Gilded Age," and a few months after-
ward she became the leading lady at
Daly's theatre in New York and the
foremost actress on the American
stage.
545
Some Account of the Owego Post Of-
fice and Postmasters from the Year
1800, When There Were but 903
Offices in the Entire United
States, to the Present Day — In One
Instance the Strife for the Position
of Postmaster Is Settled by a Spec-
ial Election of Patrons of the Office
by Direction of the Democratic Dis-
trict Committee.
The census of 1790 reported only
five post offices in the United States.
In 1800 the number had been in-
creased to 903. The first post office
at Owego was, probably, established
in 1800. The records of the post of-
fice department at Washington show
that the first report rendered from
the Owego post office was from Jan-
uary 1, 1801, by David Jones, and it is
probable that he was appointed at
about that time under the administra-
tion of president John Adams.
But little is known of Mr. Jones. He
was one of a family of early settlers
here and was a brother of deacon
Solomon Jones, who lived near the old
Tinkham plaster mill on the west side
of the Owego creek, north of this vil-
lage. It is probable that Mr. Jones
kept the post office in his dwelling
house. The country was at this time
generally unsettled, the population
was widely scattered, and this was
the only post office anywhere in these
parts.
In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elec-
ted president, and the Federalists, af-
ter having controlled the government
twelve years, passed from power,
never to be restored. The accession
of a Democratic administration was
followed by a decapitation of Federal
546
postmasters. Mr. Jones was succeed-
ed as postmaster of Owego by Eleazer
Dana, who was appointed April 2S,
1S02, and he held the office fourteen
years. His residence was on the north
side of Front street on the ground
now occupied by Lewis H. Leonard's
house and the post office was kept in
a small building on the opposite side
of the street on the bank of the river,
which Mr. Dana also occupieu as his
law office. At this time about all of
the few houses at Owego were on the
road now known as Front street.
Mr. Dana was succeeded as post-
master by Stephen B. Leonard, who
was appointed May 11, 1816. Mr.
Leonard was the editor and publisher
of the Owego Gazette. He removed
the post office into his printing office,
which then occupied the second story
of John Hollenback's store on the
north side of Front street. It was the
second building west of Paige street
and is now owned and occupied by A.
C. Burt, having been reconstructed in-
to a dwelling house many years ago.
The entrance to the post office was
by a flight of stairs on the north side
of the building. Mr. Leonaru held the
office only one term of four years, but
many years later he was reappointed.
Dr. Jedediah Fay was first appointed
|)ostmaster May 15, 1820, by postmas-
ter-general R. Meigs, and he held the
office continuously for twenty-two
years. Judge Stephen Mack was for
some time his aeputy. Dr. Fay's
second commission was issued by
president Martin Van Buren Feb. 8,
1838. At the time of his appointment
Dr. Fay lived in a little red house,
which stood close to the sidewalk at
the southeast corner of Front and
547
Church streets. There was no street
then where Church street is now.
After a time Dr. Fay took charge of
judge John R. Drake's mercantile
business and removed the post office
from his little red house into
judge Drake's store, which stood
into judge Drake's store, which stood
on the south side of Front street, op-
posite Lake street. Later he removed
the office into a wooden building one
and one-half stories high, which stood
two doors east of the Drake store and
in which he had opened a drug store.
When Dr. Fay built his brick store in
1835 on the north side of the street
where Ahwaga hall now stands the
post office was removed thereto, and
there it remained until 1S41.
The election in 1840 of Gen. Harri-
son to the presidency and the accession
of the Whig party to power was fol-
lowed by a change in postmasters and
Col. Daniel Ely was appointed to suc-
ceed Dr. Fay. His appointment was
dated Feb. 4, 184L^ Col. Ely removed
the post office into his store, which
was on the south side of Front street
opposite where the First national
bank now stands. This store was on
the ground on which H. N. Hubbard
afterward built the brick store, which
still stands there and which was until
recently occupied by E. E. Strait &
Co. as a book store.
In November, 1844, James K. Polk
was elected president by the Demo-
crats, and his election was followed by
another general decapitation of post-
masters. On the 20th of that month
Stephen B. Leonard was again ap-
pointed postmaster. Mr. Leonard re-
moved the office into Isaac Lillie's
vacant store, which stood at the north-
548
east corner of Front and Lake streets,
where W. B. Partridge's drug store
now stands.
Another change in the national ad-
ministration took place in 1848, when
Gen. Zachariah Taylor was elected to
the presidency by the Whigs and Mr.
Leonard lost his official head. His
successor was Charles R. Barstow,
who was appointed postmaster April
18, 1849. The office was still kept in
Mr. Lillie's building until it was
burned in the great fire of September
in that year. Then Mr. Barstow re-
moved the office temporarily to his
residence, which is still standing on
the east side of Paige street, the sec-
ond house north of East Temple
street. He soon built a small two-
story wooden building on the south-
east corner of the lot now owned by
Dr. A. D. Gould on the north side of
Main street, opposite the Owego hotel.
The lot was owned by Dr. H. N. East-
man. The second story of the build-
ing was occupied by Wm. Fields as a
harness shop. The office was kept in
that building until December 15, 1851,
when it was removed to one of the
stores in the Ahwaga house block in
Front street. The old post office
building was removed in December,
1853, from Dr. Eastman's lot to Lib-
erty street and converted into a dwell-
ing house.
Charles R. Barstow was a promi-
nent resident of Owego. He was a
son of Dr. Samuel Barstow, of Great
Barrington, Mass., and was born in
March, 1804. When about twelve
years of age he came to the town of
Nichols to live with his uncle, Dr.
Gamaliel H. Barstow, who had settled
there four years previous. When a
549
:voimg man lie engaged in the genera'i
mercantile business at Nichols. He
was commissioner of the United
States deposit fund from 1840 to 1842.
Tn 1843 he was elected sheriff of Ti-
oga county and removed to Owego,
In 1846, at the expiration of his term
of office, he was elected to the assem-
bly. His term as postmaster expired
in 1853. He was then appointed gen-
eral wood agent of the New York and
Erie railroad, and held that position
until March, 1854, when he was ap-
l)ointed paymaster of the western di-
vision of the road. In April, 1865, he
was appointed port warden of New
York city and held the position until
August, 1868, when he resigned. He
died at Big Rapids, Mich., Dec. 10,
1880. Mr. Barstow's eldest daughter
was the wife of senator Thomas C.
Piatt.
Hiram A. Beebe succeeded Mr. Bar-
stow as postmaster upon the election
of Franklin Pierce to the presidency
in 1852, which restored the Democrats
to power. There was considerable
strife in Owego over the appointment
and the several candidates consented
to the holding of a special election to
decide the matter. The election was
held accordingly at the old Tioga
house in North avenue, by direction
of the Democratic district committee.
All persons who received and sent let-
ters through the post office and who
had voted the Democratic ticket at
the last election previous were al-
lowed to vote. John J. Taylor, mem-
ber of congress-elect, was chairman
and the polls were kept open from 3
to 4:30 and 7 to 8 p. m. Mr. Beebe
received 217 of the 267 votes cast, and
his two competitors 27 and 23, respec-
550
lively. Mr. Beebe was accordingly ap-
pointed postmaster May 4, 1853. On
the 16th of the same month he re-
moved the post office into one of the
stores in T. P. Patch's brick block
on the west side of Lake street,
which ground is now covered by the
L. N. Chamberlain brick block. The
office was at the back part of the
room and the rest was occupied as a
news office by A. R. & C. C. Thomas.
Mr. Beebe held the office by reappoint-
ment through the administrations of
presidents Pierce and Buchanan and
during a portion of the Lincoln admin-
istration — a period of nine years.
Mr. Beebe was born in the town of
Bridgewater, near Montrose, Pa.,
March 11, 1817. He learned the
printers' trade at which he worked as
a journeyman until 1838, when he be-
came editor of the Bradford Democrat
at Towanda, Pa. In January, 1843, he
came to Owego and was editor of the
Gazette thirty-seven years. He was
president of the village of Owego in
1852, 1861. and 1871, and in 1874 and
1875 he had charge of the state de-
partment of public records at Albany.
He died at Owego March 31, 1897.
Charles Stebbins succeeded Mr.
Beebe as postmaster June 30, 1864,
and in March 186 <, he was reap-
pointed. He removed the office to the
east side of Lake street into the
wooden building now occupied by the
Owego national bank. Mr. Stebbins
resigned the office in 1871. Mr. Steb-
bins was bom in October, 1820, at
Watertown, N. Y., and came to Owego
in 1839. He died here Dec. 11, 1882.
Frank L. Jones was appointed to
succeed Mr. Stebbins as postmaster
Feb. 17, 1871, and held the office two
551
terms of tour years each. He was
born at Lisle, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1822. He
came to Owego in 1837 and was a
clerk in Allen & Storrs's store. He
was engaged in the mercantile and in-
surance business many years. He was
elected sheriff of Potter county. Pa.,
in 1852, and was appointed sheriff of
Tioga county to fill a vacancy in 1868.
In 1869 he was president of Owego
village. In July, 1880, he was ap-
l)ointed agent and warden of Auburn
state prison. He died at Coudersport,
Pa., Nov. 8, 1882.
Daniel M. Pitcher succeeded Mr.
Jones as postmaster in March, 1879,
and he also held the office two terms
of four years each. During his first
term of office, in October, 1870, the
post office was removed into Jones &
Stebbins's brick building on the east
side of Lake street, where it still
remains.
Mr. Pitcher was born at Norwich,
Conn., in 1822, and lived at Owego
much of his life, dying here Fgb. 4,
r.ii)4. He was engaged many years in
buying and shipping wool. He held
the omce of village supervisor three
years and was one of the commission-
ers who built the Tioga county court
house in the village park. He was
l)resident of the Owego national bank
from January, 1888, until the year of
his death.
Grover Cleveland was elected presi-
dent in 1884 by the Democratic party
and he allowed Mr. Pitcher to serve
the rest of his term as postmaster,
which did not expire until 1887. When
Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was
elected president in 1888 he was not
quite as considerate, and he removed
Mr. Cable in the middle of his term
552
and appointed William Smyth in liis
place on Sept. 16, 1889.
When Grover Cleveland was re-
elected president in 1892, he appointed
Jonas Shays post master June 28, 1893.
The nomination was not confinned by
the senate and Cleveland appointed
William J. Atchison, Mr. Shay's"
brother-in-law, to the office on August
30, 1894. In 1896 William McKinley
was elected president and Wm. A.
Smyth, editor of the Owego Times
was appointed May 12, 1897, to suc-
ceed Mr. Atchison and he still holds
the office by repappointment in 1901,
1905, and 1909.
William Smyth was bom June 19,
1819, in county Derry, Ireland. He
was principal of the Owego academy
from 1848 to 1854, and editor of the
Owego Times from 1854 until his
death on Sept. 27, 1898. He was a
village tnistee in 1863 and 1864 and
was president of the village in 1865,
1866, 1867, and 1881. He was chief
engineer of the Owego fire department
in 1862, 1863, and 1864. In 1872 he
represented Tioga county in the as-
sembly. The next year he was ap-
pointed deputy superintendent of the
insurance department of this state
and on the death of Orlow W. Chap-
man in 1876, he became acting super-
intendent and held the office until
1877.
55,^
Some Account of the Old Susquehanna
River Bridge, Which Was Built in
1828 and Swept away by a Big
Flood Forty Years Afterward. Its
Place Being Supplied with a Trestle
Bridge, Which in Turn Gave Place
to the Present Iron Bridge.
The first bridge across the Susque-
hanna river was built in 1807, at Sid-
ney, Delaware county, N. Y., by
Phineas Bennett, .John Avery, and
Capt. Hugh .Johnston.
The first bridge built across the
Susquehanna river in Owego was fin-
ished and opened to public travel in
1828. It was built by a stock company
twelve years after the comi)any's in-
corporation.
The act incorporating the conii^any
liassed the legislature and became a
law April 17, 1816. By this act
Eleazer Dana, James Pumpelly, Gen.
John Laning, Horatio Ross, John R.
Drake, Charles Pumpelly, John H.
Avery, Nathan Camp, and William
Camp were created a body corporate
under the name of "The President and
Directors of the Owego Bridge Com-
pany" for a term of thirty years. Gen.
Ansel Goodrich, James Pumpelly, and
John R. Drake were appointed com-
missioners, to fix upon the spot where
the bridge should be built at a com-
pensation of $4 a day each while at
work. The act prescribed that the
bridge should be at least twenty-five
feet wide, covered with plank two and
one-half inches thick, and that the
opening between the piers should be
in width not less than ninety feet, for
the passage of rafts and boats. It was
also prescribed that during the exis-
tence of such bridge no other bridge
The First Bridge Built Across the Susquehanna River at Owego in 1828.
555
'rfhoiild be built ium- any ferry es alv
lished across the river within tliree
miles. The act also fixed the rates of
toll. The act provided that if the
bridge should not be built and com-
pleted on or before Nov. ], 1821, then
the corporation created by the act
should be dissolved.
No bridge was built, on account of
difficulty in obtaining subscriptions
to the stock. Six years afterward, on
April 12, 1822, another act was passed
by the legislature reviewing and con-
tinuing in force the act of 1816 for
three years, to allow the company time
to complete the bridge. April 20, 1825,
another act was i)assed, extending the
time three years more and appointing
James Pumpelly, .John R. Drake, and
Charles Talcott commissioners, in
l)lace of the three appointed by the
act of 1816.
December 19, 1S2S, Samuel S. and
David P. Tinkham, for a consideration
of $100 sold the land occupied by the
north abutment and approach to the
bridge to the bridge company. The
same day James Pumpelly sold for a
consideration of $1 the land on the
south side of the river for the abut-
ment and approach to the bridge.
The first stock for the construction
of the bridge was issued May 7, 1828.
The engineer who planned the bridge
and had charge of its construction was
Ephraim I.each. The builder was
Abner Beers, who built the Owego
academy in 1827.
Some account has already been
given in these articles of Mr. Leach
and Mr. Beers. Mr. Beers was a car-
penter and lived on the lot now owned
by Mrs. E. J. Pride on the south side
The South Abutment of the Bridge as it was left after the rest of the bridge'
had been swept away in the great flood of March, 1867, with Samuel
Archibald's Tannery on the bank below.
The Trestle Bridge Built by Wheeler H. Bristol in 1868.
557
t)f Front street, west of Academy
street. The model of the bridge was
•constructed in Mr. Beers's house. It
was made of pieces of wood one inch
square. A portion of the timbers for
the bridge was framed in the village
park and the rest on the south side
of the river. All the pins for holding
the timbers together were made in
Gen. John Laning's storehouse, which
stood a little east of the bridge and
which was used by the carpenters as
a tool house.
When the bridge was being built it
was generally believed that the
wooden piers would not be strong
enough to resist the ice, but they
lasted, with occasional repairs, for 64
years, and until the present iron
bridge was built in 1893.
In the night of Feb. S, 1842, there
was a great flood in the river, caused
by rain* and melting snow. The water
was several feet higher than it had
been before in thirty years. Build-
ings, mill dams, lumber, hay, hogs,
and cattle were swept away. Nearly
all the railroad bridges in the country
were carried off. In Canawana people
were removed from their homes on
rafts and boats, and one family was
taken out of their house through the
roof. A saw mill struck the bridge in
the night. The mill was broken in
pieces and the pieces were deposited
on the bridge, but the bridge was so
solid and strong that it was not car-
ried away.
In the night of Oct. 5, 1867, a fire
broke out in Bullock's brewery, below
the bridge and burned much property
on both sides of Front street, above
and below the park. One span of the
bridge was burned. It was imme-
The North End of the Trestle Bridge built by Wheeler H. Bristol.
The Iron Bridge built in 1892 by the Owego Bridge Company.
559
diately afterward rebuilt, and the
bridge was open to travel again in the
following January.
On Sunday night, the loth of the fol-
lowing March, there was another
great flood in the river. The ice car-
ried away three or four of the inner
spans of the bridge. The following
Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock the
heavy ice above Hiawatha island
came down in a solid sheet the entire
width of the river and swept away the
rest of the bridge. The loss was a
total one.
The bridge company at once con-
tracted with Wheeler H. Bristol, of
Owego, who had built many railroad
bridges, to build a trestle bridge in
l)lace of the old one at a cost of
$54,550. It was 920 feet long, with
nine spans, and the roadbed was 32
feet above low water mark. It was
completed and opened to the public
Nov. 1, 1868.
The bridge had always been a toll
bridge. In 1861, the question of the
])urchase of the bridge by the village
and opening it free to the public was
agitated. Toll bridges had been made
free throught the country and the pay-
ment of bridge toll by the people liv-
ing south of Owego who came here to
trade was a tax that was detrimental
to the village.
The original charter provided that
after a term of thirty years from the
date of the completion of the bridge,
the bridge and its approaches should
become the property of the people of
the state. When tue charter was re-
newed, in 1825, this clause was re-
l^ealed, and it was provided that after
the expiration of forty years from the
time of the completion of the bridge
560
It should become the property of the
state.
An action was brought in the su-
preme court in 1860 to take the bridge
from its owners and make it a free
bridge, on the ground that the charter
had expired. The case was argued in
February, 1861, at the Chemung coun-
ty special term by Benj. F. Tracy for
the people and George Sidney Camp
for the bridge company. The case
was decided in favor of the company.
In May, I88I, a bill was passed by
the legislature, authorizing a public
meeting of the taxpayers of the vil-
lage of Owego, to decide whether the
bridge should be purchased by the vil-
lage and maintained as a free bridge
or not, the bridge company having
agreed to sell the bridge for $25,000.
The election was held July 18 at Wil-
son hall, where 318 votes were cast for
the proposition and 68 against it. The
bill authorized the bonding of the vil-
lage for $10,000, after $15,000 should
be raised by voluntary subscription.
The money was raised and the bridge
was purchased in the following De-
cember.
In the sununer of 1891, the board of
supervisors of Tioga county authorized
the bonding of the town of Owego for
$60,000 for the construction of an iron
bridge, in place of the wooden one,
which had been condemned as unsafe
for travel. The bridge, with its spans
elevated above the railroad tracks at
the south end, was built the next year
at a total cost of about $100,000. Of
this amount the D., L. W. R. R. Co.
paid $13,000. The stone work of the
bridge was built by Ford & Bauer on a
contract for $22,897. The iron work
561
was built by the Owego bridge com-
]iany. The bridge was completed and
opened to the public in the fall of
1S93.
A History of the Old Owego Academy,
Which Was Built in 1827 from the
Proceeds of the Sale of the Gospel
and Literature Tracts of Land by
Amos Martin — It Has Had Twenty-
one Different Principals, One of
Whom Was an Accomplished Native
of Russian Poland, Who Could Write
and Speak Twenty-five Different
Languages.
The old Owego academy, which is
still standing in Court street, was
built in 1827 with money obtained
from the sale of lands given by the
state for the support of schools. It
was incorporated April 16, 1828, by
James Pumpelly, Eleazer Dana, Gen.
Anson Camp, and others, who had sub-
scribed largely for the building, and
when the subscription lacked $800 to
complete it, Mr. Pumpelly advanced
the money.
By an act of the legislature of the
state of New York, passed in 1782, a
lot of 400 acres was reserved in each
township of the Military tract for the
support of the gospel, and two lots of
200 acres for the support of schools.
In each of four townships a lot of t.-i0
acres was reserved for schools. One
of these townships, then known as
Hambden, comprised parts of the
])resent towns of Owego, Vestal, and
Nichols.*
♦Hainlulen \v:is, pmliably, the naiiie givt'Ti to
the tract in a land jjatcnt by the patentee ami
used in the description of deeds. It is not known
that it was ever regularly orsanized as a town.
The east line of Hainbden was a north and south
line running from the south line of the Boston
The old Owego Academy in Court street in 1S53, when Hon. William Smyth
was Principal, Reproduced from a Wood Engraving.
563
The literature and gospel lots m
Hanibden townshii). of which James
Pumpelly was appointed the agent,
were situated adjoining each other,
about three miles southwest of Apa-
lachin.
In 1S17 the question of building an
academy in Owego was first agitated.
The lot on which the academy build-
ing was subsequently erected on the
east side of Court street was a por-
tion of the land which was given Feb.
28, 1797, to "the trustees of Owego
settlement" by James McMaster for a
public ground. This piece contained
three acres, one rood, and twenty
rods of land, and comprised all the
territory now occupied by Park street.
the park, Court street, the jail and old
county clerk's office premises, and the
old academy property. The trustees
were Capt. Mason Wattles, John Mc-
Quigg. and Capt. Luke Bates. Their
successors in office were Eleazer
Dana, John H. Avery, and Gen. Anson
Camp. The last named trustees, Octo-
lier 29. 1822, deeded that portion of
the land now occupied by the jail,
sheriff's residence, and old clerk's of-
fice to Tioga county, pursuant to the
provisions of an act of the legislature
passed April 17. 1822.
At the annual town meeting of the
town of Owego, held at the old school
house, which stood on the south side
of Main street, near Academy street,
March 4, 1817, the following preamble
and resolutions were adopted:
Purchase to the I'enii.sylvania line a little east
of the Xanticoke creek, and probably ran ibi'i'Mly
thronsh what is now the village of Union. The
north line was the sonth line of the Boston Pur-
(■hase, from there to the mouth of the (1wet:-o
creek, and thence to the Pennsylvania line. Thv
Sus(|nchanna river was its nortli boundary an.l
the state line its south boun<lary.
The Owego Academy in Court Street, after It Was Changed from a Three Story
to a Two Story Building, and as It Stands To-day.
565
"Whereas, The tract of land within
this town known to us by the name of
the gospel reservation, originally
granted with other tracts by the state
for gospel purposes, now lies waste
and useless to the community; and
"Whereas, Said land might be so ap-
priated within this town as eiTectually
to promote the great object for which
it was originally granted; therefore,
unanimously
"Resolved, That the supervisors and
clerk of this town be hereby author-
ized and directed to petition the legis-
lature of this state at their present
session in behalf of said town for a
special act to have the title of said
land vested in the trustees of the
Owego Congregational society and
their sucessors in office, that the said
land may be appropriated as originally
designed."
April 12, 1826, an act was passed by
the legislature, appointing James
Pumpelly .William Camp, and John H.
Avery commissioners, to take charge
oi the gospel and school lot, together
with the supervisor of the town of
Owego (William A. Ely), to sell and
dispose of it and apply the proceeds
to such school and literary purposes
as should be directed by a vote of the
inhabitants of the town.
December 19, in the same year, Gen.
Anson Camp and eleven other free-
holders signed a petition requesting
the town clerk (Jared Huntington) to
call a special town meeting, in pur-
suance of the act. The election was
held on the 30th day of the same
month at Philip Goodman's coffee
house in Front street and it was de-
cided by a unanimous vote to appro-
priate the yearly income of the annual
interest arising from a sale of the
gospel and school lots to the endow-
ment of an academy, to be built in
this village.
566
April 8, 1828, Messrs. Dana, CamiJ,
and Avery, the commissioners of the
"settlement," (Owego had been in-
corporated as a village April 4, 1827),
deeded the old academy lot in Court
street, for a consideration of one dol-
lar, to the trustees of the Owego
academy.
The academy was built by Col.
Amos Martin, on a contract in 1827,
and Abner Beers had charge of its
construction.
It was three stories high, with a
steeple, in which was a bell. The
lower floor was for many years occu-
pied as a school room for girls, the
upper floor by the principal, who
taught Latin and Greek, and the mid^
die floor by the principal's assistant,
who taught mathematics.
In the summer of 1851 a three-story
addition to the rear of the academy
was built, greatly increasing its ca-
pacity. Several years later the inside
of the main building was torn out and
it was changed from a three story
building to a two story one.
James Pumpelly was president of
the first board of trustees of the acad-
emy. The board was composed of
Rev. Aaron Putnam, Col. Amos Mar-
tin, Dr. Joel S. Paige, Latham A. Bur-
rows, Eleazer Dana, Gurdon Hewitt,
Rev. Joseph Castle, Charles Pumpelly,
Jonathan Piatt, Anson Camp, and
Stephen B. Leonard.
Rev. Edward Fairchild was the first
principal of the academy, and his as-
sistants were Hamilton VanDyke and
Joseph Pattee. The school was
opened in April, 1828, and the first ex-
amination was held at the close of the
term, on. September 30. The academic
year was divided into two terms. The
567
summer term began on the third
Wednesday in April, and continued
two quarters, or twenty-four weeks.
The winter term began on the third
Wednesday in October and continued
twenty-four weeks. Each term em-
braced two quarters of twelve weeks
each, leaving two vacations in the
year of two weeks each. The tuition
was $2, $3, and $4 per quarter, accord-
ing to the studies pursued. There
were 60 male and 61 female pupils the
first term. In 1850, the year previous
to the building of the three story ad-
dition to the building, the number had
increased to 153 male pupils and 107
female.
The only pupils of the academy at
its opening term now living are Her-
mon C. Leonard, of Portland, Oregon,
and J. H. Martin, of Tioga Centre,
wno is a son of Amos Martin, the
builder of the academy and one of its
first board of trustees.
The second principal was .Joseph M.
Ely, a graduate of Yale college, who
before coming to Owego was a teacher
in the New York high school. He began
his duties at the spring tenii in 1830.
In the following spring (1831) it was
announced that the condition and
prospects of the academy were so flat-
tering that the trustees would add a
juvenile department to the two de-
partments already existing. The
other teachers were Russell E. Dewey,
Miss Katherine H. Whitney, and Miss
Mary A. Whitney.
In the spring of 1835, A. Clarke was
principal, but he remained only a year
and was succeeded at the fall term in
1836 by R. M. Stansbury, who had just
graduated at Princeton college.
The teachers at the commencement
568
of the fall term in 1837, were Joel T.
Headley, Isaac B. Headley. and Miss
Irene Headley. In the following year
Isaac B. Headley was principal and
Miss Jennett M. Hall head teacher in
the female department.
In the spring of 1839 the number of
pupils had increased to 187. Mr.
Headley was still principal. Charles
R. Coburn* entered the school as mas-
ter of the common school teachers' de-
partment.
The principals of the academy from
its foundation to the present time are
as follows:
1. Rev. Edward Fairehild, 1828-1830.
■1. .Joseph M. Elv, 1830-1835.
3. A. Clarke, 1835-1837.
4. R. M. Stanstnirv, 1836-1837.
5. Isaac B. Headlev, 1837-1844.
(i. .Joseph M. Elv, 1844.
7. .1. N. .Jerome, 1844-1847.
S. Theo. F. Hay, 1847-1849.
'.). Wni. Smyth, 1849-1854.
10. .James M. Biirt, 1854-1856.
11. X. B. Wiggins, 18.56-1860.
12. Jjeopold .J. Boeck, 1860-1863.
13. .Joseph \. Prindle, 1863-1869.
14. Jonathan Tennev. 1860-1871.
15. T. L. Gris\v(d.l. IsTl ls7:i.
16. A. .J. Robb, is;:; isv,
17. A. M. DniiiniH.i;,]. ls;'/-issi.
18. Henrv A. Bale; isM lsS4.
19. Philo P. Edifk, 18S4-1SS6.
20. Ezra .J. Peek, 1886-1900.
21. Herbert L. Russell, 1900-.
Mr. Fairehild, the first principal
was advanced in years, and, as de-
*Charlcs R. Colmrii was illiterate and could
not spell many of the eommonest words correetly,
but he was a tlioroush nuitheuiatieian. He was
very round-shoulder<cl, witli slcni features, and
usually had his h;iir s.i iImsi1\ (roppi.l ili.ii il
stood erect all over hi^ Ii.m.I. L;nni'-; liini sn.li .i
forbidding appearand' thn li. lirM In- vommir
pupils in awe. He had lieeii raiMni ijii a taini.aud
lieeaiTie so hump-backed that he could not hold
his head erect, caused by carrying heavy pails of
water with a neckyoke when young. He left
Owego in 1853 and was professi.r of mathematics
in the Collegiate instiim. :it 'I'^wanda, Pa., and
afterward superintend! m ^t s. 1 Is of Bradford
county until the s|irinLr ni ls(i.j, when Gov.
Curtin appointed him sui)erinten<lent of the com-
mon schools of the state of Pennsvlvania for
three years. He died March 6, 1868, in Xiehols,
where, owing to failing health he had purchased
a homestead, within a few miles of his birth-
place, and settled there to spend the rest of his
ilays.
569
scribed by one of his pupils, was a
■'blue Presbyterian."
Joseph M. Ely, the second princi-
pal, went from Owego to New York
city, where he was for several years
engaged in the wholesale grocery
business. About the year 1857 he
came to Waverly, where he was sta-
tion agent of the New York and Erie
railroad. Thence he went to Athens,
Pa., where he was principal of the
academy and where he died Jan. 1,
1872. He married Miss Juliette M.
Camp, daughter of William Camp, of
Owego, while living in this village.
Isaac B. Headley, the fifth principal,
married Miss Susan C. Piatt, daugh-
ter of William Piatt, of Owego. He
died Jan. 20, 1854, in the Island of St.
Thomas, where he was living for the
benefit of his health, aged 44 years,
and his body lies in Evergi'een ceme-
tery. His brother. Rev. Joel T. Head-
ley, became famous as a historian.
He was born at Walton, N. Y., and
was 24 years old when he came to
Owego. After leaving this village he
entered Union college, from which he
was graduated in 1839. He studied
theology in Auburn theological semi-
nary, and afterward was pastor of the
Presbyterian church at Stockbridge,
Mass. He was elected secretary of
state on the "Know-Nothing" state
ticket in 1855. He wrote "Napoleon
and His Marshals," "Washington and
His Generals," "History of the War of
1812," and many other works. He
died at Newburgh, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1897.
J. Newton Jerome came from Pom-
l)ey Hill, Onondaga county. His wife
was Miss Lesbia Piatt Avery, a daugh-
ter of John H. Avery, of Owego.
570
Theodore P. Hay was a son of Rev.
Philip C. Hay, who was pastor of the
Presbyterian church of Owego. After
his graduation from Hobart college he
became principal of the academy in
the spring of 1847.
William Smyth resigned as princi-
pal in 1854 and became editor of the
Owego Times, of which he was editor
until nis death. He was a graduate of
the Royal academic institute of Bel-
fast, Ireland, and for many years one
of the prominent citizens of Owego.
He died Sept. 27, 1898.
James M. Burt came from Cortland
in the fall of 1854 and was principal
two years. He died in Owego in 1870.
Before coming to Owego A. B. Wig-
gin had been a teacher in New Eng-
land schools.
i>eopold J. Boeck was a Russian
Pole, educated in the universities of
Breslau and Berlin, in Prussia. His
sympathies were early enlisted in the
Hungarian cause and he became
Louis Kossuth's confidential secre-
tary. While a member of Gen.
Bemm's staff he was sent by Kossuth
as diplomatic agent of Hungry to ask
the intervention of Turkey. The Hun-
garians were forced to surrender to
Roumania, and Boeck and the other
leaders were made prisoners of war.
After his discharge from prison he
came to America. He came to Owego
in the fall of 1860 and became prin-
cipal of the academy. He left Owego
in the summer of 1863. Afterward he
was professor of applied mathematics
and civil engineering in the Univer-
sity of Virginia at Charlottesville. He
is said to have been able to write and
speak twenty-five different languages.
571
He died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 18,
1896, aged 77 years.
Joseph Addison Prindle was a grad-
uate of Union college. From the
spring of 1854 until the fall of 1863 he
was principal of the "Owego Home
School," a boarding school for boys,
established by Revs. Corbin Kidder
and S. C. Wilcox, two miles east of
Owego. He went from Owego in Sep-
tember, 1869, to Oswego, where he
was for two years principal of the
state normal school. He died at Apa-
lachin Feb. 24. 1905, aged 76 years.
.Jonathan Tenney was a native of
Vermont, and a graduate of Dart-
mouth college in 1843. He came to
Owego in October, 1869. He resigned
in July, 1871. He removed in August,
1874, to Albany, having been ap-
pointed deputy state superintendent
of public instruction. He died in that
city Feb. 24, 1888, aged 70 years.
Theophilus L. Griswold was a grad-
uate of Amherst college. He resigned
his position of principal in July, 1873,
to become the head of the state nor-
mal school at Bloomsburg, Pa. In
1877, owing to nervous prostration, he
resigned and went to Sherburne Falls.
Mass., where he committed suicide
March 5, 1884. He was 54 years of
age.
Prof. A. J. Robb came to Owego in
the fall of 1873 from Waterford, Sara-
toga county, where he had been prin-
cipal of the academy. He was prin-
cipal of the union school at Spencer,
after leaving Owego, and in 1879 was
appointed superintendent and princi-
pal of the city schools at Cohoes, N. Y.
A. M. Drummond left Owego in the
summer of 1881, having been ap-
572
pointed superintendent of the public
schools of Port Chester, N. Y.
Henry A. Balcam, who had been for
eight years superintendent of the
schools at Corning, came to Owego in
August, 1881. It was owing chiefly to
his energy that the project of building
the new academy was pushed to com-
pletion in 1883. In Sept., 1884, he be-
came principal of the academy at New
Paltz, N. Y. He died at Salamanca,
,N. Y., Oct. 11, 1891, aged 55 years.
Philo P. Edick was bom at Os-
wegatchie, N. Y., and graduated from
Rochester university in 1873. tie
came to Owego in July, 1884, from
Chittenango, N. Y., where he had been
principal of the Yates school. He
went from Owego to Rochester, N. Y.,
where he was principal of ward
school No. 5 until March, 1900. He
died Sept. 5, 1907, at Mystic, Conn.,
where he was principal of the Mystic
academy. He was 56 years of age.
Dr. Ezra J. Peck was a graduate of
Williams college. Previous to com-
ing to Owego he was for five years
principal of the academy at Phelps, N.
Y., and subsequently for 11 years prin-
cipal of Homer academy. He re-
signed his position as principal of the
Owego academy in December, 1900,
having been appointed by the state
board of regents as an inspector of
high schools and academies, and Her-
bert L. Russell, who had been assist-
ant principal, was appointed principal
in his place.
In 1864 the Owego academy was
merged into the union free schools of
Owego by an act of the legislature,
passed April 23, 1864.
In 1883 the new academy building
was built at the corner of Main and
573
Academy streets at a cost of $2o,000.
The old academy building, which is
still standing, and the lot on which it
stands were sold to judge Chas. A.
Clark for $2,600.
A History of the Presbyterian Church,
the First Church Organized at Owe-
go, with Some Account of the Early
Preachers and Places of Worship
from the Year 1798 to the Present
Day.
The early history of the First Pres-
byterian church of Owego is somewhat
obscure. It is known that the general
assembly of the Presbyterian church
at its annual meeting in 1790 devoted
much of its attention to the subject
of cnurch extension, with the result
that Revs. Nathan Kerr and Joshua
Hart were sent as missionaries into
southwestern New York, and Mr.
Kerr came to Owego that year.
The country here at that time was a
dense wilderness, the first white set-
tler having settled here only six years
previous. The early missionaries rode
from place to place on horseback over
the Indian trails and through the
woods. They were the subjects of the
hospitality of the church people as
they went from place to place.
Rev. Seth Williston was the first
minister who came to these wilds. He
came as early as 1798, preaching and
organizing churches. Once a year he
held service in a barn built by Col.
David Pi.xley, which stood on the north
side of Main street, a little west of
McMaster street. The floor of this
574
barn was made clean and a table and
chair were provided for the preacher,
while the congregation found seats as
they could. The boys climbed upon
the hay loft and sat upon the great
beam which was around the barn, and
they made an ornamental fringe with
their bare legs, which swung and
dangled overhead through the time of
the service.
Mr. Williston was born at SufTield,
Conn., in 1770. He was graduated
irom Dartmouth college in 1791, was
licensed to preach Oct. 7, 1794, and
was sent out as a missionary by the
missionary society of the state of
Connecticut in 1798. Several books
containing his sermons were published
at various times from 1799 to 1848.
He died in 1851.
It is probable that meetings were
held at the houses of the early settlers
at first and until a log school house
was built about the year 1792 on the
east side of Court street, opposite
where the court house now stands.
Religious meetings were held at this
school house several years and until
a two-story frame building was
erected about the year 1800 on the
south side of Main street, a little west
of White's blacksmith shop, which
stood where the rectory of St. Paul's
church now stands. This building was
about thirty by twenty feet in size.
The second story was used by the ma-
sonic fraternity as a lodge room and
the first floor as a school room. The
lower floor was divided into two parts
by a partition. This partition was so
arranged that it could be drawn up by
a rope to the ceiling, thus making one
large gathering place for Sunday
575
meetings. Here church services were
held until the first session house was
built several years later in Court
street, near where the log school
house stood. It stood on the north
end of the Laning lot and south of
and adjoining the lot on which the
Tioga county clerk's office now stands.
This session house was built by
Richard E. Cushman, and it was used
for prayer meetings even after the
Presbyterian church was built in 1819
at the corner of North avenue and
Tem])le street, because the church
was at that time considered to be "too
far out of town ' and people did not
care to walk that distance.
There were three different session
houses. The first one in Court street
was on ground given for that purpose
by Mrs. John Laning. This building
was about 20 by 30 feet in size. It
was removed to near where the Erie
railway freight house now stands and
was occupied as a church by the
Bethel African M. E. society, for sev-
eral years and until it was moved to
the north side of Fox street opposite
the present A. M. E. church, where it
was converted into a dwelling house
and where it still stands.
The second session house was built
by Capt. Sylvanus Fox where the
present session house now stands be-
tween the Presbyterian church and
Temple street. This was also given
to the A. M. E. society when the pres-
ent session house was built. It was
removed to the south side of Fox
street, where it Is still occupied by
the colored people as their church.
576
The present session house was built
in 1857. It was enlarged in August,
1878, by the addition of a wing to the
south side, near the rear of the build-
ing, to be used as a parlor. The main
building was also extended back sev-
eral feet, to enlarge the library and
class rooms. In the summer of 1901
the building was again enlarged by
building a wing on the north side 30
by 14 feet for a kitchen. At the same
time a new roof was placed on the
church and a new steel ceiling inside.
A cellar was also excavated under the
entire church. There had previously
been two small cellars, in which were
the furnaces. The improvements to
the church and the session house cost
about $3,000.
Rev. William Clark, of whom little
is known, came here in 1803 and
preached to the people. It is not
known how long he remained here,
but it is known that after his de-
parture Mr. Williston remained here
as the settled pastor of the church.
In the year 1803, according to a
writer in the Gazette forty years ago,
there were but few frame houses in
town. One of these was the James
McMaster house on the south side of
Front street, east of and near Acad-
emy street. Another was a large
building which was intended for a jail
and stood near the northeast corner
of Front and Court streets, and which
was later converted into a tavern. A
third was the Bates tavern at the
northwest corner of Front and Church
streets, and far and far up the river,
as it seemed, for the thick woods that
darkened the way, was the dwelling
house of John Hollenback. There
577
were several log cabins in different
directions. One of the better class of
these stood where the drug store of
Otis S. Beach now stands at the north-
east corner of Main street and North
avenue. Between that point and the
Huntington creek there was a dense
wilderness, with the tall pines scarcely
a yard apart. There were no Indians
here then, but the wolves, their com-
panions, barked and howled on the
hills at night and the deer, when pur-
sued by huntsmen, came bounding
through the valley to the river, across
which they would often swim. One
deer with tall, branching horns, which
was closely i)ursued, ran through Mrs.
Collier's school room, taking with it
the window (sash, glass and all),
much to the terror and astonishment
of the children.
At a meeting of the Presbytery of
New .Jersey, held in April, 1810, at
Trenton, a letter was received from
some residents of Owego, requesting
the Presbytery to send a missionary
to this village to labor among them a
part of the coming summer. The com-
mittee to whom the application was
referred reported that Owego "is a
growing village, containing about 200
houses. The neighboring country on
the banks of the river is well settled
and contains many respectable inhabi-
tants, emigrants from different parts
of the union." The committee for-
warded to the general assembly's
committee on missions the opinion
that the Presbytery ought to comply
with the wishes of the peoi)le of Owe-
go. Rev. Daniel Loring was sent here
accordingly.
As Mr. Loring had never been or-
dained it was decided to make his or-
dination an important public event.
578
The services were to have taken place
August 7, 1810, on a large platform
which had been erected for the pur-
pose at the south end of the village
park, surrounded by temporary
benches made of rough boards, with
capacity to seat two hundred people.
The members of the choir of singers
were dressed in uniform, the ladies in
white, with wreaths of green. Invita-
tions had been sent to the towns in
the vicinity, and a large crowd had
gathered. As the services were about
to begin a terrific thunder shower
swept over the village, driving every-
body from the park to places of shel-
ter. The church people went to the
Main street school house.
The storm was regarded as an
omen by the superstitious. The pas-
tor and people would not be happy in
each other, they said, and this singu-
larly proved true. Mr. Loring preached
here five years and was then silenced
from preaching and, as a local writer
said, "became a wicked man." Sev-
eral clergymen succeeded him, among
them an Episcopalian, who was will-
ing to preach for Presbyterians, but
he, too, proved unworthy of his
charge.
The ordination of Mr. T.oring took
place at the school house directly after
the storm. At the same time the
"Owego Congregational Society" was
organized and trustees were elected
as follows: Solomon Jones, Caleb
I^each, Abraham Hoagland, William
Camp, .lames Pumpelly, and Eleazer
Dana. Three days afterward the trus-
tees made a written contract with Mr.
I^oring "to preach for themselves and
their successors in ofiice for one-half
the time for the term of one year."
579
In 1817 Rev. Hezekiah May became
pastor of the church. July 24 of that
year the church was regularly or-
ganized as the "Owego Congregational
Church" with eleven members, as fol-
lows: Solomon Jones, Nathan Camp,
William Jones, Lorenzo Reeves, Dolly
Talcott, Marjery Jones, Ruth Good-
rich, Sarah Goodrich, Clarissa Jones,
Sally Penfield, and Mary Perry. The
organization was effected by Mr. May,
assisted by Revs. William Wisner, of
Ithaca, and Jeremiah Osborn, of Berk-
shire. Two years after this the first
church at the North avenue and Tem-
ple street corner was built. Mr. May
was pastor of the church less than a
year. He was succeeded in the spring
of 1818 by Rev. Horatio Lombard. Mr.
May died in 1843, aged 69 years.
Although Mr. Lombard came here
in the spring of 1818, he was not regu-
larly ordained and installed as pastor
of the church until Oct. 28. He
preached here nine years. Mr. Lom-
bard was a nephew of deacon Solomon
Jones and came here from one of the
eastern states. Mr. Jones was a far-
mer and lived near the old Tinkham
plaster mill in the town of Tioga. He
was looked upon as the congregational
leader and in the absence of the pas-
tor he was accustomed to read two
sermons on Sunday. Mr. Lombard
lived near the Tinkham mill at the
time of his death, when he was nearly
eighty years old.
The movement to build a church be-
gan during Mr. May's ministry. Oct.
10, 1817, the society inirchased of
Charles Pumpelly for $100 an acre and
twelve perches of land at the north-
east corner of Temple street and
5S0
North avenue, on which the first
church was built in 1819. The
builder's name was McGeorge. It was
44 feet wide and 53 feet deep with
large pillars in front. The building was
painted white. The pulpit was a lofty
one, between the entrance doors at
the west end.
In 1831 the church was enlarged by
building an addition of twenty feet in
length at the east end. Mr. Lombard
organized the first Sunday school in
1819. The teachers were Mrs. Jared
Huntington, Jacob Miller McCormick,
and Chas. B. Pixley. The first bell
in Owego was placed in the steeple of
this church in 1826.
The Presbyterian church came near
being burned in February, 1842, while
it was being cleaned. John Freeman,
the sexton, went to Ebenezer Allen's
house, which adjoined the church
property on the north, to obtain a
shovel full of live coals, with which
to build a fire in the church. There
was a high wind blowing at the time,
and as he came upon the steps some
coals were blown from the shovel and
fell on the stoop setting it on fire.
The flames had extended up into the
steeple when the firemen came with
their hand engine. H. W. Williams,
who for many years lived as bridge
tender at the south end of the old toll
bridge across the river, climbed on the
church with ladders lashed together
and cut a hole through the roof into
the steeple. A stream of water was
thrown through the hole and the
flames were finally extinguished, after
a considerable portion of the roof had
been burned. The steeple was so
badly burned that it had to be rebuilt.
381
In 1850, during the pastorate of Rev.
Philip C. Hay. the long talked of
division of the Presbyterian society
was consummated, the Congregational
portion of the membership having
taken letters preparatory to organiz-
ing a new society, with Rev. Samuel
C. Wilcox, who had been pastor of the
Presbyterian church from 1842 to
1846, as their pastor. The seceders
organized the "Independent Congrega-
tional Society" at the Presbyterian
session house Jan. 2, 1851, and built
their first church in Park street in the
same year. In October, 1852, the trus-
tees of the Presbyterian society were
directed to procure the passage of an
act of the legislature changing the
name of the "Owego Congregational
Society" to the "First Presbyterian
Society of the Village of Owego," and
the change was so made by legislative
enactment in June of the following
year.
The growth of the First Presby-
terian church was so rapid that in
1852 the question of building a new
church edifice was agitated. The so-
ciety had voted that year to expend
$2,000 in improving the church, but it
was afterward decided to build an en-
tirely new building of brick. No fur-
ther action was taken until May, 1854,
when a building committee composed
of William F. Warner, Frederick E.
Piatt, and Thomas I. Chatfield was ap-
pointed to superintend its construc-
tion. The organ was removed from
the church to the village hall, which
hall was then above the four fire com-
panies' room in Main street and occu-
pied all of what is now the second and
third floors of the fire deparment
building. The entrance to this hall
The First Presbyterian Church, Built in 1854, and Chapel, Built in 1857.
5S3
was through double doors at the top
of the tirst flight of stairs between
that building and the store at the
northwest corner of Main street and
North avenue. In the village hall ser-
vices were held until the old church
was torn down and the new one
erected in its place. The congregation
worshipped in the old church May 7,
1854, for the last time and the next
day the work of demolition was be-
gnn.
The architect of the new church
was Gervase Wheeler, of New York
city, and the builder was Chauncey
Hungerford, a member of the congre-
gation. The church was built on a
contract, and as the cost of construc-
tion was greater than had been ex-
pected, Mr. Hungerford was a loser.
The corner stone of the new church
was laid June 20, 1854, by Rev. Samuel
H. Cox, of New York city, who the next
year became pastor of the church.
The building was duly completed and
was dedicated May 2, 1855, Mr. Cox
preaching the dedication sermon. The
new church was built under the super-
intendence of William F. Warner and
the grounds and terrace as they at
liresent appear were planned and laid
out by him. In February, 1857, a new-
bell was purchased and placed in the
church tower. It weighed 2,0;i8
pounds and was the largest bell in
Owego.
The pastors of the Presbyterian
church from its organization, in 1817,
to the present time have been as fol-
lows:
Rev. Hezekiah May, July, 1817—
spring of 1818.
Rev. Horatio Lombard, Oct. 28, 1818
—Aug. 2, 1827.
584:
Rev. Aaron Putnam, Dec. 6, 1827^ —
Dee. 28, 1831.
Rev. Charles White, April 19, 1832—
May 25, 1841.
Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, May 24,
1842— April 30, 1846.
Rev. Seth WillistOD, July, 1846 —
April 4, 1847.
Rev. Philip C. Hay, April 15, 1847 —
Oct. 7, 1855.
Rev. Samuel H. Cox, Oct. 10, 1855—
Sept. 6, 1856.
Rev. Samuel H. Hall, Jan. 27, 1857
—May 3, 1864.
Rev. Solon Cobb, Aug. 29, 1864—
Sept. 7, 1869.
Rev. Samuel T. Clark, July 1, 1870 —
June 27, 1875.
Rev. L. A. Ostrander, Sept. 28, 1876
—Nov., 1882.
Rev. William H. Gill, June 7, 1883—
July 30, 1885.
Rev. Alexander Cameron MacKen-
zie, January 30, 1886— Apiil 20, 1897.
Rev. Geo. D. Young, Oct. 8, 1897—
Rev. Daniel Loring lived in a house
on the north side of Main street where
the Park hotel stands. This house
was a part of the estate of Dr. Samuel
Tinkham and was later occupied by
his son, David P. Tinkham.
Rev. Hezekiah May during his brief
pastorate lived at the Deforest tavern
In east Front street, east of Paige
street. Mr. Lombard lived in west
Front street, west of Academy street,
in the house which was afterward for
many years owned and occupied by
Thomas M. Nichols. Mr. Putnam
lived and died in the same house. Mr.
White also lived there.
The first manse was the house now
owned and occupied by D. H. Blood-
good on the west side of Park street.
This property was a part of the es-
tate of Dr. Tinkham, and after his
death James Pumpelly built the house
there. It was occupied by Dr. William
Jones ' until the Presbyterian society
585
l)urchased it for $2,500 on a contract.
Rev. Philip C. Hay lived there all
through his pastorate. It was sold
Nov. 25, 1856, by Mr. Pumpelly's exe-
cutors to Dr. 1^. H. Allen for $1,850.
The society owned no manse after
this sale until 1888, when the present
one was built in Temple street.
During the pastorate of Dr. Hay,
Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox came to
Owego and in November, 1853, pur-
chased the property in the town of
Tioga which he named "Vesper Cliff,"
and lived there during his sojourn of
three years here. The pastors who
succeeded him liveo in rented houses
in various parts of the village.
The new manse on the north side
of Temple street, nearly opposite
Ciiurch street, was built in 1888 at a
cost of about $4,000.
The brick session house, or chapel,
now standing on the churcn grounds
in Temple street was built in the sum-
mer of 1859 by Chauncey Hungerford
and A. H. Keeler. It is 58 by 32 feet
in size. Mr. Hungerford, who received
$1,775 for building the chapel, to-
gether with the old ssesion house, sold
the session house for $150 to the A.
M. E. society and it was removed to-
Fox street, where it is still used by
that society as its church.
Rev. Aaron Putnam's pastorate here
closed with his death on Dec. 28, 1831.
He was born in 1789 at Pomfret, Conn.
His father whose name was also
Aaron Putnam, preached fifty years in
the New England Congregational
church at Pomfret. In early life he
was in business in Philadelphia with
his father-in-law, Mr. Green, but gave
up business to study for the ministry.
His grandmother was the widow of
586
Mr. Avery, whose daughter was the
wife of Gen. Israel Putnam of revolu-
tionary fame and was an own cousin
of his father, Rev. Aaron Putnam, of
Pomfret. Mr. Putnam came to Owego
from Philadelphia. William F. War-
ner, in his centennial history of Tioga
county (1876) says of Mr. Putnam:
"The four years of this most excel-
lent man's ministry at Owego were a
time of delightful memories. It was
at a period when there was a deep in-
terest in religious matters throughout
the country. The remarkable preach-
ing of Rev. Asahel Nettleton, D. D., of
Connecticut, and the publication by
him of the collection of devotional
hymns known as "The Village
Hymns," in 1842 had awakened pro-
found interest far and wide. But per-
haps nowhere was the influence of the
excellent Dr. Nettleton more felt, nor
his manners and mode of conducting
religious services more closely fol-
lowed with similar results, tnan here
under the ministry of Mr. Putnam.
His style of preaching, like Dr. Nettle-
ton's, was highly emotional, yet sob-
ered by a moderation that prevented
its reaching the point of excess. In
the full tide of his ministry, his life
was terminated, amid the grievous lam-
entation of the peoi)le, by whom he
was universally loved."
Rev. Charles White was one of the
ablest men that ever filled a puli)it
at Owego. He was born at Randolph,
Mass., Dec. 28, 1795, and was gradu-
ated from Dartmouth college in 1821
with the first honors of his class. He
concluded his studies at Andover theo-
logical seminary in 1824. From Jan.
1, 1825, he was settled over a Congre-
gational church at Thetford, Vt., as
collegiate pastor with his step-father,
Rev. Dr. Burton. Four years later he
became pastor of the Presbyterian
church at Cazenovia, N. Y., where he
remained until called to Owego in the
587
spring of 1S32. In 1841 he resigned
liis pastorate here and went to Craw-
fordsville, Iiid., where on July 19, 1842,
he became president of Wabash col-
lege, succeeding E. W. Baldwin, D. D.,
who had died on the 15th of the pre-
vious October, falling dead while writ-
ing a sermon in the evening.
Upon the removal of Mr. White
from Owego, N. P. Willis wrote a
lioem entitled, "On the Departure of
Rev. Mr. White from His Parish," the
opening lines of which read as fol-
lows:
tliou
"Served God
with
;ill lunnilitv nl
Dwelling amona' u
IS, and "with ni;
"From house
to ll
loiisr," liv niulit
ceasinir.
Hast pleaded
thy
best en-and. \a
Leave us not
now
!
Rev. Samuel Corlyus Wilcox was
bora Dec. 21, 1809, at Sandisfield,
Mass., and was graduated in 1835 from
W^illiams college. He afterward
taught three years in the Lenox,
Mass., academy and then entered Au-
burn theological seminary, from which
he was graduated in 1840. He then
supplied the Congregational church at
Berkshire one year. In the spring of
1842 he became pastor of the Owego
Presbyterian church, and preached
here until April, 1S46, when he re-
signed on accotmt of lack of sympathy
between himself and his elders on the
subject of slavery and constitutional
polity. In February, 1847, he went to
Williamsburg, Mass., where he was
for two years pastor of the Congrega-
tional church. In 1849 he returned to
Owego at the solicitation of many
members of his former congregation,
who desired to form a new church and
society. He became pastor of the
Congregational church, which had
588
seceded from the Presbyterian so-
ciety. He was a man of greater men-
tal than physical strength, and was
compelled on account of ill health to
resign the pastorate on Sept. 11, 1853.
In company with Rev. Corbin Kidder
he established a school for boys, one
and one-half miles east of this village,
and lived there until his death six
months later, on March 26, 1854.
Rev. Seth Williston returned to
Owego and became pastor of the
church in July, 1846. He was a man
of remarkable energy and ability. At
this time he was nearly eighty years
of age, but retained his physical and
mental vigor. He was held in high
estimation as a scholar and profound
theologian.
Rev. Philip Cortland Hay was a son
of General Philip Hay, who was a
member of Gen. Washington's staff
auring the revolutionary war and one
of the founders of the society of the
Cincinnati, a military association
formed by officers of the revolutionary
army. Before coming to Owego he had
been for ten years pastor of the First
Presbyterian church of Geneva, N. Y.,
where he began his ministry Feb. 3,
1836. He was dismissed April 9, 1846,
and six days afterward became pastor
of the church at Owego. Mr. Hay re-
signed his i)astorate here in Septem-
ber, 1855, owing to ill health and re-
moved to Orange, N. J., where he died
Jan. 27, 1866. William F. Warner in
his centennial history of Tioga county
says of Dr. Hay:
"Eminently genial in social life. Dr.
Hay was a man of great excellence of
character, solid rather than brilliant,
and sound and conservative in his
views upou every subject. He was
589
held in high estimation by the clergy
of the Presbyterian denomination, and
was a safe and wise counsellor."
Samuel Hanson Cox was one of the
most famous preachers of his time.
He was bom at Leesville, New Jersey,
in 1793 of a Quaker family. He aban-
doned the study of law for the min-
istry and was ordained July 1, 1817.
He became pastor of the Spring street
Presbyterian church in New York city
in 1820. On account of his activity in
the anti-slavery movement his house
and church were sacked by a mob
July 10, 1834. The same year he was
appointed professor of sacred rhetoric
in Auburn theological seminary. From
1837 to 1854 he was pastor of the First
Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, and
most of this time was also professor
of ecclesiastical history in Union theo-
logical seminary. New York. In June,
1853, his voice having failed, he came
to Owego to visit his early college
friend. Rev. Philip C. Hay. In Novem-
ber of the same year he purchased the
"Vesper Cliff" property. In the fol-
lowing May he resigned the pastorate
of the Brooklyn church and removed
here for the benefit of his health.
When Dr. Hay resigned the pastorate
of the Owego church, in 1855, Mr. Cox
succeeded him and was pastor of the
church until April, 1866, when he re-
signed to take the presidency of the
Female Collegiate Institute at LeRoy,
Genesee county, N. Y. During the last
twenty years of his life he lived in re-
tirement. He died at Bronxville, N.
Y., Oct. 4, 1880, aged 86 years. One
of Mr. Cox's sons was Right Reverend
Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of the
Prostestant Episcopal church of the
diocese of western New York, and an-
590
other was Rev. Dr. Samuel Hanson
Coxe, who was rector of St. Peter's
Episcopal church at Auburn and after-
ward for twenty years rector of
Trinity church at TJtica.
Rev. Samuel H. Hall was born at
Geneva, N. Y., in 1819, and was grad-
uated from Union college in 1837 and
from Union theological seminary in
1843. His first pastoral charge was at
Marshall, Mich. Thence he went to
Syracuse as pastor of the Park Pres-
byterian church, where he remained
six years. He began his ministry at
Owego Feb. 24, 1857. He resigned his
pastorate here in May, 1864, and went
with the union army to Virginia under
the auspices of the Christian Commis-
sion. From 1866 to 1888 he was sec-
retary of the American Seamen's
Friend society. He died Oct. 10, 1890,
at Newark, N. J.
Rev. Solon Cobb came to Owego in
the summer of 1864 from New Bed-
ford, Mass. He resigned the pastorate
five years afterward and in Septem-
ber, 1869, became pastor of a church
at Medford, Mass. Thence he went to
E}rie, Pa., and thence in February,
1875, to become pastor of the Point
Breeze Presbyterian church in a
suburb of that city. He died May 26,
1900, in Pittsburg, aged 62 years. Pre-
vious to his leaving Owego the mem-
bers of his church and congregation
at a meeting in the session house
presented him with a handsome silver
pitcher as a testimonial of their love
and affection.
Rev. S. T. Clarke, a son of Rev. Dr.
Walter Clarke, of Buffalo, preached
here six years and resigned to accept
a call to the Lake Street Presbyterian
church at Elmira. He was several
591
years afterward pastor of the Presby-
terian church at Aurora, N. Y., and
later pastor of the churches at Port-
ville and Mt. Morris, N. Y.
Rev. Luther A. Ostrander came to
Owego in 1876 from Dubuque, Iowa.
Earlier in life he had been first tutor
in Robert college, Constantinople, Tur-
key, whence he came to Dubuque,
where he was pastor of the First Pres-
byterian church four or five years. In
November, 1882, he resigned his pas-
torate at Owego in order to accept a
call to the First Presbyterian church
of Lyons, N. Y.
Rev. William H. Gill went from
Owego to Philadelphia where he lived
during the rest of his life. His health
became impaired ana he retired from
the ministry, and he was employed as
a writer for a religious newspaper. He
died in Philadelphia in 1906.
Rev. Alexander Cameron MacKenzie
was graduated in December, 1885,
from Auburn theological seminary and
was ordained pastor of this church
May 25, 1886. Ten years later, in the
summer of 1896, he engaged in rais-
ing $100,000 by subscription to in-
crease the endowment fund of Elmira
female college. In April, 1897, he re-
signed his pastorate to accept the
];.-osidency of that college.
Rev. George D. Young was born in
1864 in New York city. He was grad-
uated from New York university in
1887 and from Princeton seminary in
1897. He was ordained pastor of this
church Oct. 8, 1897.
Sunday morning, December 28, 1890,
the centennial of the advent of Pres-
byterianism in Owego was celebrated
with appropriate exercises. Mr. Mac-
Kenzie preached a historical sermon,
592
reviewing church events of the pre-
ceding one hundred years. In the at-
ternoon a union service of tlie Pres
byterian, Congregational, Baptist, and
Methodist churches was held.
The "Owego Independent Congrega-
tional Society," Its Meeting Houses
and Its Pastors from the Time of
Its Separation from the Presbyter-
ian Society in 1849 to the Present
Time.
There was a long a diversity of
opinion in relation to the ecclesiasti-
cal character of the church known as
the "Owego Congregational Society,"
which led to an estrangement of feel-
ing among its members. The First
Presbyterian church had been incor-
porated by act of the legislature as
the First Congregational church, and
as such it had been legally known
from its foundation. In the course of
years, without any official or church
action, the form of government was
changed into a semi-Presbyterian
form.
In February, 1843, during the pas-
torate of Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, a
meeting was held at the session house
in Temple street for the purpose of
changing the form of church govern-
ment from Presbyterian to Congrega-
tional. The proposition was freely
discussed, but the preponderance of
opinion appeared to be against the
proposition and no action was taken.
In 1846 a portion of the church
deemed it proper that the matter
should be fully investigated and all
the facts made known to the society.
To bring about this end a public in-
vitation was given at a meeting at the
session house on Jan. 6, 1846, to the
593
members of the church to meet at the
same place Jan. 14. At this second
meethig both interests were repre-
sented, and a committee, composed of
Dr. Lucius H. Allen, Henry W. Camp,
and Andrew H. Calhoun, was ap-
pointed to make the requisite exam-
ination. The committee's report, dated
Feb. 19, 1847, was printed in a
pamphlet of sixteen pages in July,
1847.
In December, 1849, the long talked
of division of the church on the gov-
ernment question was consummated,
the Congregational portion of the so-
ciety having taken letters preparatory
to organizing a new society. At a
special meeting on Dec. 31 forty-six
persons were upon their own request
dismissed, for the purpose of forming
the new "Owego Independent Congre-
gational Society," which was regularly
organized at a meeting of the eccles-
iastical council at the session house
Feb. 19, 1850. Rev. Richard S. Storrs,
of Brooklyn, preached at the public
services in the afternoon and Rev.
Joseph P. Thompson, of New York, in
the evening. At the time of this or-
ganization Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox had
returned from New York to assume
the pastorate of the new church.
The meetings of the new society
were held at the court nouse until a
new church was built in 1851. In Jan-
uary of that year the society pur-
chased of Thomas I. Chatfield for $900
the lot on the west side of Park street,
still owned and occupied by the so-
ciety. A contract was made with
Chauncey Hungerford, the builder of
the Presbyterian church, and James
Hill to erect a new church edifice for
$5,100. The church, as shown In the
1. ;.1|;-
The First Congregational Church, Built in 1851 and Burned in 1877.
595
engraving accompanying this article,
was completed that year. This was
the largest church at that time in the
village. In the steeple was placed a
bel! weighing 1,S74 pounds, the largest
bell then in Owego. The church was
dedicated in the afternoon of Tuesday,
Feb. 3, 1852. The dedication sermon
was preached by Rev. R. E. Eggles-
ton, of Brooklyn. Mr. Wilcox and the
pastors of three other Owego churches
assisted in the exercises. In August,
1863, a new session house was erected
in the rear of the church.
The church and session house were
burned in the morning of Dec. 3, 1877,
by a fire which broke out near a chim-
ney behind the organ in the wall be-
tween the church and the Sunday
school room. Nothing was saved from
the church except a large bible and
the pulpit chairs.
Plans were at once made to build a
new church on the site of the old one.
At a meeting at L. N. Chamberlain's
house, a committee was appointed to
raise funds, prepare plans, etc., for a
new church to cost from $10,000 to
$12,000, the insurance money on the
old church, $7,500, to be applied in
part payment. In the mean time re-
ligious services were held at the court
house. A building committee com-
l)osed of L. N. Chamberlain, John J.
Hooker, Frank L. Jones, Roger B.
Howell, and the pastor, Rev. W. 0.
Scofield, was appointed. The archi-
tect of the church was L. B. Valk, of
New York city. It was built of brick,
with stone trimmings, by Harrison
Bros., of Fredonia, N. Y., and cost
when completed $10,285. The building
was 52 feet wide and 92V2 feet deep.
An excellent view of the church is
The Second Congregational Church, Built in 1878.
597
shown in the engraving. The new
church was dedicated Dec. 11, 1878,
Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, of Elmira,
preaching the dedication sermon.
There have been seventeen pastors
of this church since its organization,
as follows:
Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox. 1849-Sept.
11, 1853.
Rev. Corbin Kidder, Sept. 11, 1853-
Jan. 1, 1854.
Rev. Wm. H. Corning, March 8, 1854-
May 1, 1857.
Rev. Wm. Alvin Bartlett, Sept. 12,
1857-28 March, 1858.
Rev. Samuel McLellan Gould, Sept.
11, 1858-April 1, 1859.
Rev. Moses Coit Tyler, May 1, 1859-
June 24, 1860.
Rev. Wm. W. Page, Dec. 9, 1860-Dec.
I, 1861.
Rev. Charles Hall Everest, Jan. 1,
1862-Dec. 31, 1864.
Rev. Chas. H. A. Bulkley, May 13,
lS65-Jan. 1, 1867.
Rev. James C. Beecher, May 4, 1867-
May 1, 1871.
Rev. Dwight W. Marsh, Aug. 1, 1871-
April 1, 1876.
Rev. Wm. C. Scofield, June 19, 1877-
Oct. 19, 1880.
Rev. Rufus Underwood, April, 1880-
Oct, 1880.
Rev. Miles G. Bullock, April 4, 1881-
Oct. 19, 1886.
Rev. Olin R. Howe, Feb. 3, 1887-Nov.
II, 1888.
Rev. D. W. Teller, Dec. 20, 1888-
Sept. 3, 1893.
Rev. Chas. M. Bartholomew, Jan. *,
1894-
Rev. Saiiiuel C. Wilcox was born at
Sandisfield, Mass., Dec. 21, 1809. He
was graduated from Williams college
in 1835 and taught for three years
thereafter in Lenox academy. He
studied theology at Auburn seminary,
graduating therefrom in 1840. He sup-
plied the Congregational church at
Berkshire one year and then came to
598
Owego, where he became pastor of the
Presbyterian church. He was after-
ward pastor of the Congregational
church at Williamsburg, Mass., in 1847
and 1848. The next year he returned
to Owego, to assist in forming the new
Congregational church. He resigned
the pastorate of this church in Sep-
tember, 1853.
Rev. Corbin Kidder was born at
Wardsboro, Vt., .June 1, 1801. He
was graduated from Amherst college
in 1828 and from Andover theological
seminary in 1832. From 1834 to 1837
he was pastor of the Congregational
church at Saxonville, Mass., and dur-
ing two years thereafter was agent for
the American tract society. From
1839 to 1845 he was pastor of the Con-
gregational church at West Brattle-
boro, Vt. From 1845 to 1853 he
preached at Warsaw, Dryden, and
Groton in this state. He came to
Owego in the fall of 1853 and preached
here four months. Then in company
with his predecessor in the pastorate
of this church, Mr. Wilcox, he opened a
school for boys about a mile and a half
east of this village- in a farm house,
which was burned several years ago
and which stood where the home of
Harry B. Tilbury is now. Mr. Wilcox,
who had resigned the pastorate of the
church on account of ill health, died
there March 26, 1854. Mr. Kidder con-
tinued the school after Mr. Wilcox's
death a few years. Then he went to
Spencer, and was pastor of the church
tnere from 1858 to 1862. He subse-
quently preached at Churchville, N.
Y.; Orland, Ind., and at Poplar Grove,
111., where he died Dec. 29, 1874.
William H. Corning, who was the
first settled pastor of this church, was
599
born at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 15, 1820.
He was graduated in 1842 from
Trinity college and later from Yale
theological seminary. From 1848 to
1851 he was pastor of the Congrega-
tional church at Clinton, Mass. He
came to Owego in .January, 1854, and
preached here three years until May,
1857, when he resigned on account of
ill health. He died at Saratoga
Springs Oct. 9, 1S62.
William Alvin Bartlett was one of
the brightest and ablest of the young
sensational preachers of his day. He
was born Dec. 4, 1832, at Binghamton
and was a son of Joseph Bartlett, of
that city, who had been a resident of
Owego several years previous. He
was graduated from Hamilton college
in 1852. He studied theology at Union
seminary and then went to Germany
and studied in Berlin. He was matri-
culated from the university at Halle
in 1857. He came to Owego the same
year and was ordained pustor of the
Owego church Sept. 12. He was im-
mensely popular and the church was
crowded to listen to his eloquent ser-
vices, iiarticularly Sunday evenings.
His reputation extended beyond Owe-
go, and a year later he received a call
to the pastorate of the Elm Place Con-
gregational church in Brooklyn, N. Y.
He preached there ten years, from
Sept. 5, 1858, until Nov. 30, 1868, when
he accepted a call to the pastorate of
Plymouth Congregational church of
Chicago with a salary of $5,000 a year,
succeeding Rev. Lewis Matson, who
had died. Mr. Matson was born at
Owego and was a son of Newell Mat-
son, one of the organizers of the Owe-
go Congregational church. In Septem-
ber, 1876, Mr. Bartlett resigned the
600
pastorate of Plymouth church to ac-
cept a call to the Second Presbyterian
church of Indianapolis. Ind., of which
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had some
time previously been pastor, refusing
to accept any increase in salary from
the Indianapolis church. To accept
this pastorate he was subjected to a
rigorous examination of the Presby-
tery and was installed according to
Presbyterian forms and usages. In
April, 1882, Mr. Bartlett received and
accepted a unanimous call to the New
York Avenue Presbyterian church at
Washington, D. C. He was installed
as pastor of the church October of
that year. In October, 1894, after hav-
ing been thixty-seven years in the
ministry and for twelve years pastor
of the New York Avenue church, Mr.
Bartlett resigned on account of ill
health and travelled in Europe. Since
leaving Washington he has had no
settled pastorate, having permanently
retired from active church work.
Samuel McLellan Gould was born at
Gorham, Mass., Jan. 24, 1809. He en-
tered Bowdoin college, but did not
graduate, and studied theology after-
ward with clergymen at East Hart-
ford, Conn., and Troy, N. Y. From
1837 to 1851 he preached at Norris-
town, Pa., and from 1853 to 1857 at
Biddeford, Maine. The next year he
came to Owego, but remained only
four months. He afterward preached
at Allen town and Emporium, Pa.
Moses Coit Tyler was one of the
most noted of all the pastors of this
church. He was born Aug. 2, 1835, at
Griswold, Conn. He was graduated
from Yale college in 1857 and from
Andover theological seminary in 1859.
He came immediately after his gradu-
601
ation to Owego, assuming the pas-
torate of this church May 1, 1859. He
remained here until Jmie 24, 1860,
when he resigned his pastorate on ac-
comit of ill health. Soon afterward
he became pastor of the Congrega-
tional church at Poughkeepsie, where
he preached until 1862, when his
health again failing he went abroad in
1863, where he remained four years,
pursuing his studies in literature and
history, writing for American journals,
and lecturing in Great Britain on
America. From 1867 to 1873 he wa.s
professor of English language and
literature in the university of Michi-
gan at Ann Arbor. In January, 1873,
he became literary editor of the
Christian Union In New York city.
rie was ordained a deacon in the
Prostestant Episcopal church in 1881,
and priest in 1883. In 1881 he was
ai)pointed professor of American his-
tory at Cornell university, which posi-
tion he held at the time of his death
on Dec. 28, 1901. He was the author
of many works on history and litera-
ture.
But little is known of Rev. William
W. Page. He is supposed to have
come from Fairfax Court House, Va.,
to Deposit, N. Y., and thence to Owe-
go in 1860. He remained here only a
vear
Rev. Charles Hall Everest, who at-
tained considerable prominence, was
born at New Lebanon, N. Y., Feb. 14,
1837. He was graduated from Will-
iams college in 1859 and from Union
theological seminary in 1861. He was
ordained Dec. 30, 1861, in Plymouth
church, Brooklyn, by his cousin. Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher, whom he re-
sembled in face and figure. He came
602
at once to Owego to assume the pas-
torate of the Congregational church,
which he held three years. In Jan-
uary, 1865, he became pastor of the
church of the Puritans in Brooklyn,
then recently formed, and preached
there twelve years. In February, 1877,
he accepted a call to Plymouth church
in Cnicago. Thus Owego furnished
three pastors to Plymouth church in
succession — Mr. Matson, Mr. Bartlett,
and Mr. Everest. He became pastor
on trial of the First Congregational
church of Meriden, Conn., in Septem-
ber, 1884, at a salary of $8,000. Nine
months afterward he had some trouble
with the church organist, who re-
signed. As seven-tenths of the church
supported the organist, Mr. Everest
terminated his connection with that
church. He was afterward pastor of
churches at Norwalk, Conn., and East
Orange, N. J., and of the First Con-
gregational church at Washington, D.
C. He died June 10, 1908, at his home
in Brooklyn.
Charles H. A. Bulkley was born at
Charleston, S- C, Dec. 22, 1819. He
was graduated from New York uni-
versity in 1839 and from Union theo-
logical seminary in 1842. From 1842
to 1861 he was pastor successively of
churches at New Brunswick, N. J.;
Janesville, Wis.; Mt. Morris, and
Ithaca, N. Y.; West Winsted, Conn.,
and Paterson, N. J. In 1861 he went
as a chaplain in the union army and
remained in the service seventeen
months. He came to Owego in May,
1867, and preached at the Congrega-
tional church until January, 1867.
James C. Beecher, a half-brother of
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, was the
youngest child of Dr. Lyman Beecher
603
and was born in Boston, Mass., Jan-
nary S, 1S2S. He was graduated
from Dartmouth college in 184S.
He was for five years thereafter
an officer on a clipper ship plying be-
tween New York and China in the tea
trade. He afterward studied theology
at Andover seminary and was grad-
uated therefrom in 1857. Then he
went to China as chaplain of the Sea-
man's Bethel at Canton. Returning
home at the breaking out of the civil
war he became chaplain of the famous
Brooklyn regiment, principally raised
by Plymouth church. At the close of
the war he was mustered out with
the brevet rank of brigadier-general.
He had charge of Park church at El-
mire while his brother, Thomas K.
Beecher, was absent on a trip to
South America. In May, 1867, he be-
came pastor of the Owego church, re-
maining here four years. He went
from here in the spring of 1871 to
Poughkeepsie, where he preached five
years. In 1876 he purchased a farm
containing a mile square of land in the
town of Hardenberg, Ulster county, N.
Y. High up in the hills and in the
woods on the margin of a large lake,
he built a house. He bought lumber
and with a chest of tools built the
house with his own hands, completing
it alone. There he lived with his wife
and adopted daughter. Sundays he
preached to the backwoodsmen. His
eccentricities became so marked that
his brother. Rev. Thomas K. Beecher,
believing that his mind was affected,
prevailed upon him to voluntarily en-
ter the state Homoeopathic asylum for
the insane at Middletown, N. Y. He
remained there a year and was after-
ward from October, 1881, to August,
604
1882, in charge of the Bethel mission
in Brooklyn, an adjunct of Plymouth
church. He committed suicide at the
Elmira water cure August 25, 1886, by
shooting himself through the head
with a rifle.
Rev. Dwight W. Marsh was born at
Dalton, Mass., Nov. 5, 1823. He was
graduated from Williams college in
1842, and studied theology at Andover
seminary in 1842-3. He taught school
in St. Louis, Mo., in 1843-1847. Then
he resumed his studies at Union theo-
logical seminary, graduating there-
from in 1849. In December, 1849, after
his ordination, he sailed from Boston
to Mosul, Turkey, as a missionary.
After his return to this country, in
1860, he preached successively at
Hinsdale, Mass., and Godfrey, 111.
From 1862 to 1867 he was in charge of
the young ladies' seminary at Roches-
ter. In 1867 and 1868 he preached at
Monticello, 111., and in 1869-71 at Whit-
ney's Point. He came to Owego in
Aug., 1871, and preached here nearly
five years. In April, 1876, he went to
Amherst, Mass., where he was pastor
of the Congregational church until his
death on June 19, 1896.
Rev. William C. Schofield came to
Owego from Salisbury, N. H., in the
spring of 1877. He was pastor of the
Congregational church from June of
that year until October, 1880, when
he resigned, with the understanding
that he would consent to supply the
pulpit for an indefinite period.
Rev. Miles Gaylord Bullock came
from Syracuse to Owego in April, 1881.
He was originally a Methodist minis-
ter, and an independent thinker. In
1878-9 he preached a series of eight
sermons while pastor of the M. E.
605
church at Oswego, to which sermons
the Northern New York conference
took some exceptions. He came to
Syracuse and was admitted to Con-
gregationalism at Plymouth church.
He preached at that church dur-
ing the temporary absence of the
l)astor and while thus engaged
received and accepted the call to
Owego in April, 1881. He remained
here five and one-half years, resigning
his pastorate in October, 1886, for the
Ijurpose of entering Yale college and
in order to continue his studies in
theology. Subsequently he lived at
Ansonia, Conn. In the summer of
1891, while living at Little Falls, N. Y.,
he went to Chicago to fill the pulpit of
Rev. A. L. Smalley, who was away on
nis summer vacation. While thus en-
gaged he was stricken with heart dis-
ease and died suddenly on July 27.
He was about 45 years old at the time
of his death.
Rev. D. W. Teller came to Owego
from Sherburne, N. Y., December,
1888, and preached here five years. In
August, 1893, he received a call to the
First Presbyterian church at Fredonia.
N. Y. He preached his farewell ser-
mon at Owego on Sunday evening,
Sept. 3, 1893, and the following Tues-
day afternoon he was received into the
Binghamton Presbytery as a member.
He died at Fredonia March 23, 1894,
aged 58 years.
Rev. C. M. Bartholomew came from
Niagara Falls in January, 1894, and
has ever since been the pastor of this
church — a longer period thus far than
any of his predecessors in the pas-
torate. He was born at Augusta,
Oneida Co., N. Y., June 10, 1849; was
graduated from Hamilton college in
606
1874, and from Auburn theological
seminary in 1877. His first pastorate
was at Rushville, N. Y., where he
preached six years, from 1877 to 1883.
From 1883 to 1885 he was pastor of
the Congregational church at Reed
Corners, N. Y., and from 1885 to 1894,
at Niagara Falls. He came to Owego
Jan. 1, 1894.
The Congregational society did not
own a parsonage until November, 1893,
when it purchased of Joel A. Hamilton
for $2,700 the house on the south side
of Main street, the second house east
of Academy street, which house it
still owns.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in
the Days of the Circuit Preachers
and Its History from Its Organiza-
tion in 1816, together with Some Ac-
count of Its Ministers and Its Meet-
ing Houses.
Dr. George Peck's "Early Method-
ism," published in 1860, contains the
diary of William Colbert, a circuit
preacher, who on Nov. 6, 1792, was or-
dained an elder at the general con-
ference of the bishops, elders, and
deacons of the M. E. church at Balti-
more, Md., and appointed to fill the
station of Wyoming and Tioga, Pa.
His work was mostly in Bradford,
Luzerne, Northumberland, Columbia,
Tioga, and other counties in Pennsyl-
vania, and he came into Chemung,
Tompkins, and Tioga counties in New
York. Tioga county. Pa., was then a
dense wilderness. The only reference
to Owego in this diary is under date
of January 14, when he says he "re-
ceived a letter from a man living at
"Awaga," in which he was requested
to come here and preach. He did not
607
preach here, but did come to Nichols
the same month. A paragraph in his
diary reads as follows:
"Friday, 25. It was with difficulty
that I got through the Narrows on ac-
count of ice. I preachea at one Ben-
nett's, near Mahontowango, with free-
dom, on I. Cor. vi, 19-20. If any good is
done, to God be the glory. These peo-
ple are very willing to hear. This
locality is now known as Nichols,
where live the Shoemakers and
Coryells, and has many years been
famous for Methodism."
Another reference to Owego is made
in Mr. Colbert's diary in November,
1793. He says:
"Saturday, 23. I had a very cold
night's lodging last night. I got very
little sleep, so that I was obliged to
rise early, especially as I had a long
ride before me of more than thirty
miles without an inhabitant [from the
head of Cayuga lake, now Ithaca] to
Andrew Alden's at Owaga [Owego] on
the northeast branch of the Susque-
hanna. I was fortunate in finding two
fires on tne road this com morning."
"Sunday, 24. Felt unwell last night,
but through mercy was enabled to
preach with a degree of life and power
at Andrew Alden's."
Andrew Alden lived at Tioga Cen-
tre. He and his brother. Prince Alden,
and Samuel and William Ransom were
the first settlers there. They came
from the Wyoming valley about the
year 1785. Andrew Alden lived a short
distance south of the mouth of Pipe
creek in a log house, which is sup-
posed to have been the first structure
of the kind built in the town of Tioga.
An interesting contribution to Mr.
Peck's book, relating to the first ser-
vices held at Owego by the Metho-
dists, is made by Mrs. Fanny Thurs-
ton, wife of David Thurston, who came
here from Massachusetts about the
year 1812 when she was 24 years of
age. Mrs. Thurston was a daughter
of David Darling, a Congregational
minister of Keene, N. H. Mrs. Thurs-
ton was a member of the first class
formed here. She says:
"The first Methodist preacher that
preached in Owego was a Brother Fid-
dler, in 1813; he preached once, and
an objection being made by an old
man, who said, 'We hain't go any
Methodists about here, and for my
part I don't want any,' he did not re-
turn. There was no praying person in
Owego at that time. Soon a local
preacher, Hiram G. Warner, came in
and kept the ferry; he soon joined the
conference and travelled away from
home. Brother E. Bibbins preached
occasionally. About 1815 Brother .1.
Griffing came. In 1816 there was a re-
vival on the south side of the river,
six were converted, and the first class
formed, consisting of seven members:
David and Fanny Thurston, Polly
Warner, Abigail Thurston, Maria
Thurston, her daughter, (now Mrs.
Daniel Shoemaker,) David and Patty
Darling. Brother J. Griffin formed the
class and established regular preach-
ing at the house of D. Thurston, who
was ai)pointed leader and steward.
Soon Brother Griffing sent a young
man by the name of Scovell. Then a
man by the name of Cole came a few
times; next a Brother Doolittle in the
same year. Brothers Griffing, Judd
Bibbins, and Agard preached till the
church was built. In those days our
class was small and persecuted. Our
meetings were neld in a little school
house near the spot now occupied by
the Methodist Episcopal church in
Owego. The appointment was for
Brother Doolittle to preach; when our
l)eoi)le came to meeting the house was
well lighted ui) with candles in large
silver-plated candlesticks, and shortly
a smart dashy E])iscopal minister, who
had lately come into the place, came
in preceded by a martial band, and
putting his hat on the bass drum took
nis place in the desk. After a while
609
Brother Doolittle arose and said tliat
it was publicly known that this was
the evening for a Methodist meeting,
and we had feelings as well as other
people, and he did not understand the
present appearances. Mr. Camp came
forward in defence of the Methodists.
The B])iscopal minister read his cre-
dentials, and proposed to preach first
and have Brother Doolittle preach af-
terward: he lu'eached and dismissed
the congregation, and left with the
band and his friends, after which
Brother Doolittle preached and our
people had a good meeting and got
home about twelve o'clock.
"On another occasion the school-
master and others got up an exhibition
with the representation of grotesque
characters. The Methodists were
coinpelled to remain and witness the
performance or quit the ground: they
remained and held meeting after the
clowns had left.
The last interruption of our meet-
ing was the appointment of a writing
school upon the evening of preaching.
Brother Warner was to preach; the
house was divided into two apart-
ments by a swing partition. In the
centre of the room usually occupied
for preaching sat the writing master
surrounded by twelve or fourteen lit-
tle lads. Brother Warner asked him
to retire, for it was public meeting
night: he said he would not, for it was
a public school. He said to Brother
Warner: "Go on with your preaching
and we will with our writing.' Brother
Warner would not, but he and the con-
gregation went into the little room.
As soon as he began meeting the
urchins would snap a rope that ran
through both rooms, making a noise
like the discharge of a pistol: then
they would run and kick against the
partition, but Brother Warner kept on
praying. Then a troop would scamper
out doors and set u]) a shout, when
the master would raj) on the window
and they would come tnundering in
again; but some of the mothers of the
boys were at meeting and carried
home the news; the fathers were in-
censed, and some of the boys were
610
punished. In the morning Brother
Warner went to Judge Burrows to get
a warrant for the schoolmaster. The
judge went with Brother Warner to
see the young man, who confessed
that he was urged on by others and
promised to do so no more, so he was
released. Since that time the Metho-
dists have worshipped in peace."
In the "Thurston Genealogies," page
72, Mrs. Thurston's daughter, Mary
Almeda (Mrs. Anson Garrison) says
of her parents:
"He and my mother were among the
seven united to form the first Metho-
dist church in Owego. My mother
was a superior woman, endowed with
a superior mind, and through her early
advantages were limited yet amid all
her cares she never ceased her efforts
for improvement by reading, writing,
etc., and her poetry frequently graced
the village newspapers."
Hiram G. Warner, mentioned by
Mrs. Thurston, conducted a licensed
ferry across the river. His ferry house
was on the south side of Front street,
a little east of Paige street. This was
before the first bridge was built across
the river in this village. The boat
was poled across the river, and it also
had oars. A rope was afterward
strung over the river, which rope
sagged nearly to the water, and the
boat was fastened thereto by smaller
ropes and pulleys, which pulleys ran
on the large rope, and the boat was
carried across by the current. David
Darling, brother-in-law of David Thurs-
ton, tended the ferry in 1823. In 1826
Mr. Warner was a licensed preacher
on the Spencer circuit.
Rev. John GrifRng came to Berk-
shire from Guilford, Conn. His father,
Joseph GrifRng, was a master mariner.
Rev. John GrifRng was a preacher on
the Candor circuit. He purchased a
611
farm on the west bank of the Susque-
hanna river, below Owego, where he
lived.
Rev. Horace Agard was a man of
more than ordinary ability. He was
received on trial in the Genesee con-
ference in 1819 and preached nineteen
years. He was eleven years presiding
elder. He was sent on this circuit in
1824. The next year he purchased a
few acres of land below Hooper's Val-
ley, in the town of Nichols, and settled
there with his family. He was com-
pelled to abandon active work in 1838,
on account of ill health. He died
there in 1840. William F. Warner
says of Mr. Agard:
"Rev. Horace Agard in his day
was almost as widely known as the
late Rev. Peter Cartwright. He was
not, however, notable for any eccen-
tricities, but rather for ixis dignified
character and solid worth as a man
and minister of the church in which he
was a leader for many years."
The Methodist congregation held its
meetings in the old Main street school
house until 1821. March 21 of that
year James Pumpelly deeded to the
M. E. society thirteen square rods of
land at the southeast corner of Main
and Academy streets for $100, to be
the property of the society so long as
it should be occupied for church pur-
poses, and to revert to Mr. Pumpelly
or his heirs when it should cease to
be so occupied.
The framework of the church was
erected in the fall of 1821, but it was
not enclosed and completed until the
next year. It was a large church
painted white, and similar to all the
country churches built at that time.
The front was on Academy street,
which street had been known as Mc-
612
Master street until this time, when
the name of the street was changed to
Chapel street, the edifice being com-
monly known as the Methodist chapel.
In those days all the other churches
were known as meeting houses.
The high pulpit was between the
two doors at the entrance of the build-
ing, and people coming in faced the
congregation. In September, 1855, re-
pairs were made to the church and
changes made. The pulpit was re-
moved from between the entrance
doors at the west end of the church
to the east end, and the choir placed
where the pulpit had been. The floor
was lowered, so that the high steps
outside were removed, and a new
portico was added. The pews, which
had faced to the west, were turned to
face to the east, where the pulpit had
been placed. A new spire was raised
on the church. It was 116 feet high
from the level of the street and was
the highest one in Owego. These im-
l)rovements cost $3,000.
The church as reconstructed was
dedicated Jan. 9, 1856. by Rev. Jesse
T. Peck, of New York city. The church
was occupied forty-eight years. The
congregation had so greatly increased
in 1866, that it was decided by the
trustees to build a new and larger
church on some more central location.
April 16, 1868, the M. E. society pur-
chased of Dr. Theodore S. Armstrong
the lot on the north side of Main
street, east of Spencer avenue, for
$3,750, but did not build thereon until
two years afterward. The present
brick church, as shown in the engrav-
ing, was built on a contract for
$35,000 by Jonathan S. Houk and Al-
bert Harrison Keeler, of Owego. The
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
614
work on the foundation was begun in
April, 1870, and the basement story
walls were completed in June. The
corner stone was laid by Rev. H.
Wheeler in the afternoon of June 22,
and the address was delivered by
Rev. Dr. Love, of Auburn, editor of
the Northern Christian Advocate.
The arches over the doorways were
the first stone ones ever built in Owe-
go. In December the building had
been enclosed for the winter and the
slate roof finished. The next spring
the steeple was erected. It is 155 feet
high and 30 feet higher than the
steeple of any other church in the vil-
lage.
The new church was dedicated Wed-
nesday morning, Dec. 20, 1871. Rev.
Dr. Jesse T. Peck, of Syracuse,
preached the sermon. In the evening
Rev. B. I. Ives, of Auburn, preached.
At the two services $25,000,the
balance required for building the new
church, was pledged by the congrega-
tion.
The old church building was sold to
Charles A. Ward for $500. It after-
ward passed through the ownership of
various persons and finally became
the property of James Hill, who tore it
down and used the material in the con-
struction of other buildings.
In the fall of 1875 A. H. Keeler
made a contract wi*^h tne trustees to
build an extension co the back part of
the new church, to be four feet deep,
seventeen feet long, and forty feet
high, to give more room for the pulpit
and organ. In the winter of 1885-6 the
ceiling was lowered several feet and a
new steel ceiling was put in.
The first parsonage of the M. E.
church was in McMaster street. . It
615
still stands on the west side of that
street, and is the first house south of
the Champion wagon worlds. Aug. 15,
1840, James Pumpelly sold the lot to
the society for $200 and built the par-
sonage thereon. June 5, 1871, the
property was sold for $3,000 to Mrs.
Hannah A. Kingsley. On April 1,
1893, the society purchased of Mrs.
Catherine B. Deming for $3,000 its
present parsonage on the south side of
Main street. It is the second house
west of Paige street and was built in
1849 by Timothy P. Patch. It was af-
terward owned and occupied several
years by James Bisliop.
The pastors of the church since its
organization have been as follows:
Rev. William Brown, 1816.
Rev. Ebenezer Doolittle, 1817.
Rev. Hiram G. Warner, 1818.
Rev. Horace Agard, 1822.
Rev. John D. Gilbert, 1823.
Rev. Chester V. Adgate, 1824.
Rev. Josiah Keyes, 1825-6.
Rev. Joseph Castle, 1827.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1828-9.
Rev. John Griffing, 1830.
Rev. Sylvester Minier, 1831.
Rev. Morgan Sherman, 1832.
Rev. Marmaduke Pearce, 1833.
Rev. L. Mumford, 1834-5.
Rev. D. Holmes, Jr., 1836-7.
Revs. L. Hitchcock and John Grif-
fing, 1838.
Revs. Robert Fox and John Griffing,
1839.
Rev. Robert Fox, 1840.
Rev. A. J. Crandall, 1841-2.
Rev. Freeman H. Stanton, 1843-44.
Rev. William Reddy, 1845.
Rev. William H. Peame, 1846-7.
Rev. A. J. Dana, 184S-9.
Rev. Thomas H. Pearne, 1850.
Rev. J. M. Snyder, 1851.
Rev. George P. Porter, 1852-3.
Rev. George H. Blakeslee, 1854-5.
Rev. B. W. Gorham, 1856-7.
Rev. John J. Pearce, 1858.
Rev. George M. Peck, 1859.
616
Rev. S. W. Weiss, 1860.
Rev. George P. Porter, lS6x-2.
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1863.
Rev. E. R. Keyes, 1864.
Rev. William B. Westlake, 1865-7.
Rev. Henry E. Wheeler, 1868-70.
Rev. William Bixby, 1871-2.
Rev. James O. Woodruff, 1873-5.
Rev. Almus D. Alexander, 1876-8.
Rev. E. W. Caswell, 1879-81.
Rev. G. W. Miller, 18S2-3.
Rev. George Forsvth, 1S84-6.
Rev. William M. Hiller, 1887-8.
Rev. Phineas R. Hawxhurst, 1889-91.
Rev. Justus F. Warner, 1892-4.
Rev. Moses D. Fuller, 1895-9.
Rev. William Edgar, 1900-1.
Rev. Haskell B. Benedict, 1901-3.
Rev. Amasa F. Chaffee, 1904-5.
Rev. John B. Cook, 1905-7.
Rev. Benjamin Copeland, 1907.
Rev. Louis D. Palmer, 1907-
Of these pastors thirteen have been
presiding elders, as follows: Horace
Agard, D. A. Shepard, Wm. Reddy,
W. H. Pearne, A. J. Dana, J. M. Sny-
der, Geo. P. Porter, H. E. Wheeler,
William Bixby, J. O. Woodruff, Geo.
Forsyth, J. F. Waraer, and M. D.
Fuller.
Two of the ablest of these clergy-
men, and the most erratic, were Will-
iam H. Pearne and George P. Porter.
Mr. Pearne was in the ministry about
fifty years. He was presiding elder of
Owego district from 1852 to 1855. At
one time he was pastor of the leading
church in New Orleans, La. After the
civil war he was provobt marshal at
Nashville, Tenn., and later pastor
of the State street church and after-
ward of the Clinton avenue church in
Trenton, N. J., the most important
church in the New Jersey conference.
He died at Homer, N .Y., Nov. 17, 1890,
aged 74 years.
Geo. P. Porter was born at Berwick,
Pa., in 1720. In early life he was a civil
617
engineer, and later a portrait painter.
He was a pupil of John Sartain, of
Philadelphia, who was famous as a
mezzotint engraver. In 1843 he opened
a studio at Towanda, Pa. He soon
abandoned his work as a painter and
entered the ministry. In 1848, he was
assigned to the charge at Montrose
and Great Bend, Pa. In 1851 he was
pastor of the Court street church at
Binghamton and the next two years
he preached at Owego. He was sent
to Waverly in 1854. He became in-
temperate and the next year he lapsed
into infidelity and withdrew from the
membership of the church. For a
short time he was editor of the Wa-
verly Advocate. In 1861 he again en-
tered the ministry, and that year and
in 1862 he was again pastor of the
Owego church. From 1863 to 1866 he
was presiding elder of the Owego dis-
trict and in 1867 of the Wyoming dis-
trict. In 1868 and 1869 he was pastor
of Grace church at Buffalo and in 1870
he became presiding elder of the
Genesee district. In 1872 he preached
at tne Elm Park church at Scran ton.
Pa., and the next year he was placed
on the superannuated list. He died at
Cowlesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., .lune
11, 1877.
A History of the First Baptist Church,
Its Meeting Houses and Its Pastors,
with Some Account of the Old Town
Clock, the Only Town Clock ever
Seen in This Village.
The "First Baptist Church of Owe-
go," the second church organized in
this village, was organized Septem-
ber 20, 1831, by thirteen men and
seventeen women, among whom were
James Clark, Abner Brooks, Asa
6IS
Woolverton, Latham A. Buitows, Na-
thaniel Spencer, Asa Dearborn, Asa
H. Truman, Ebenezer Daniels, and
Asa Root. The church was organized
in Daniel Chamberlain's dwelling
house, which stood on the west side of
Park street.
Mr. Chamberlain was a wagon
maker. His shop stood where the
Congregational church now stands.
His house was south of it. The house
was later owned by Miss E. H. Bates,
M. D., and was burned Dec. 3, 1877, in
the fire which broke out in and burned
the first Congregational church edifice.
The organization was effected by
delegates from the Baptist churches
at Berkshire, Spencer, and Caroline.
At this meeting a committee was ap-
pointed to obtain a place for worship
and to find a site for a meeting house.
The committee subsequently reported
that it had hired Mr. Chamberlain's
wagon shop for six months for $15 and
that it had looked for a site for a
meeting house, but had been unable to
find one.
William P. Stone, a member of the
society, in a newspaper article written
in 1882, said that none of the consti-
tuent members of the new church
lived nearer than two miles, and most
of them not less than five miles dis-
tant. They were poor and without in-
fluence, with a total valuation of less
than $5,000; some working lands on
shares, others laboring to hew a home
out of the wilderness.
The preacher's desk in the wagon
shop was a box placed on a work
bench, and the congregation was
seated on benches made of pine slabs,
the flat side up, supported by wooden
619
legs inserted into two-inch auger
holes.
Services were held in this shop
a few weeks when the weather be-
came cold and there was no way to
heat the shop. In November, 1831,
application was made to the board of
supervisors of Tioga county for per-
mission to occupy the court room at
the court house as a place of worshi]),
which was granted, with the provision
that the church should furnish its own
fuel for heating the room and also
give a bond in the sum of $5,000 that
the building should be properly cared
for during their occupancy of it.
When the members of the congrega-
tion gathered at the court house on
the next Sunday, however, they found
the door locked and the under-sheriff,
who had charge of the building, was
not to be found. He was a member
of another church, and it was charged
that he had gone away purposely, so
that the court house could not be oc-
cupied for religious services.
Not disheartened by this rebuff, the
society made an arrangement with
Friendship lodge of Free Masons to
occupy its lodge room, which was on
the third floor of James and Wm. A.
Ely's brick building on the south side
of Front street, which stood where F.
M. Baker & Son's hardware store now
stands. It was in this lodge room that
the fire which destroyed the entire
business section of the village broke
out in September, 1849.
The first pastor of the church was
Rev. Samuel W. Ford, who was en-
gaged on April 14, 1832, to preach for
a term of one year, his compensation
to be $300.
The first settled pastor of the
620
church was James R. Burdick, a grad-
uate of Brown university, who ass-
umed charge June 12, 1833. His salary
was only $300 a year, one-half of
which was paid by the society and the
other half by the Baptist state con-
vention. In addition to this his house
rent and firewood were furnished by
the society.
The society increased in numbers
and steps were soon taken to build a
meeting house. At a church meeting
on Feb. 8, 1834, the deacons were au-
thorized to raise money by subscrii>
tion and build a church as soon as pos-
sible. The money was raised and the
church was built that year at the
southeast corner of Main and Church
streets on land which Charles Pum-
pelly sold to the society for $275. The
lot had a frontage of 53 feet on Main
street and 60 feet on Church street.
The lot was afterward enlarged by
the purchased of additional ground.
The new meeting house stood close
to Main street. It was io by 60 feet
in size and occupied nearly all the lot.
The pulpit was at the south end. A
gallery, supported by large wooden
posts, extended around the west, north
and east sides, and the choir was
stationed in the north end of the gal-
lery.
The meeting house was dedicated
Jan. 8, 1835, and was occupied as a
l)lace of worship twenty years. The
dedication sermon was preached by
Rev. Mr. Corwin.
The Old Town Clock.
In the steeple of this meeting house
was placed the first and only town
clock ever seen at Owego. It was the
invention of Charles Frederick John-
621
son, of the town of Tioga, and was
constructed by him and John J. Speed,
of Ithaca. May 22, 1846, a contract
was made between Mr. Johnson and
Joel L. Pinney, clerk of the board of
trustees of the church, in which con-
sent was given to Mr. Johnson to put
the town clock in their meeting house
at nis own expense and keep it there
three months on trial. If the clock
should not keep accurate time, Mr.
Johnson was to remove it and put the
building in as good order as before;
if the clock should keep accurate time
Mr. Johnson was to remove it or let it
remain, at his option.
The clock was put into the steeple
accordingly and was in running order
in the following September. It had
four dials and was run by huge
weights. It was arranged with a strik-
ing apparatus and the hours were
struck upon the church bell.
No provision had been made by the
village to purchase it, nor did it, in
some respects, give satisfaction.
Johnson & Speed, in May, 1847, made
some alterations in it, to ensure it
keeping better time and offered to
sell it to the village for $200, which
amount was also to cover the cost of
the dials and the expense of winding
it, up to that time, at the same time
engaging to keep it in good order for
two years. The price was about one-
half that of an ordinary town clock.
At the time of the annual election
for village officers, June 7, 1847, John-
son & Speed's communication was
read and it was voted to pay them
1200, provided a larger dial was put
on and painted black with the hands
and hours in gilt letters. Mr. Johnson
agreed to comply with the terms stipu-
622
lated and also agreed to have the new-
dial and hands m place within six
weeks, which was done accordingly.
Wakeley Spencer was employed to
wind, oil, and keep the clock in order
when it was first put up, and he was
paid at the rate of $10 a year. The
second year the village trustees de-
cided to let it to the lowest bidder and
it was given to William Manning at
the same price. Mr. Spencer was the
sexton of the church and his bid was
$25. The result was that the church
trustees would allow no one but Mr.
Spencer to go into the building for
the purpose of winding the clock, giv-
ing as a reason that the clock inter-
fered with the ringing of the bell and
made it much harder to ring.
At the same time a petition, signed
by about seventy of the leading citizens
was presented to the village trustees,
praying that the clock might be re-
moved to some place where access
might be had to it for the purpose of
winding it. No action was taken, but
Mr. Spencer continued to wind the
clock and was paid at the rate of $15
a year. The clock was wound subse-
quently by Hiram Ferguson and after-
ward by Thomas Williams.
In February, 1849, the clock got out
of order and Johnson & S])eed were
notified to repair it. The church bell
was also cracked by the striking ap-
paratus. At the annual election for
village officers on the 4th of the fol-
lowing June, resolutions were adopted
directing the trustees to remove the
clock unless they could have access
to the building, to wind and repair it,
and authorizing them to appropriate
$100 toward purchasing a new bell,
provided that on examination it should
623
be found that the clock was the cause
of the breaking of the bell.
October 6, 1856, a communication
was received from the Baptist society
calling attention to the necessity of
removing the town clock, as the meet-
ing house was to be removed and a
new church built in its place. The
street commissioner was accordingly
directed by the trustees to take down
the clock and take charge of it. The
clock was taken to Mr. Johnson's
house and was never again used.
The church was altered and re-
paired in February, 1842. A one-story
building for a conference room was
built in Church street, south of the
church, in the spring of 18'i4, at a cost
of $300, with money raised by sub-
scription. It was built by Ambrose
Townsend, a member of the society.
The society continued to prosper
and the congregation increased in
number so that in 1856 it was decided
to tear down or sell the meeting
house and build a larger one of brick
in its place. The old building was
sold to Ezra Canfield, who removed it
to the lot where Gen. I. B. Ogden's
cabinet shop haa been burned on the
north side of Main street, opposite the
present Owego hotel. The gallery
was extended over the whole building
and the second floor thus made was
usea as a public hall.
The attempt to move the meeting
house was a failure at first. The con-
tractor succeeded in moving it on
rollers into Main street, but could get
it no further than a little west of
Church street, where it stood several
days, blocking the street. Then R. H.
Hall, a member of the congregation,
who had a patent stump puller, under-
624
took to finish the work and did so with
his machine.
William P. Raymond in March 1866,
purchased the building and converted
a portion of it into a meat market.
.John Phelps had a tin shop in part of
it, and another part was occupied as a
carpenter shop by Wm. H. Perry and
Albert Robertson. The part back of
their places of business was rented as
living rooms. In the night of Satur-
day, Dec. 13, 1868, a fire broke out in
the building, burning it to the ground,
together with another wooden build-
ing adjoining it.
The new Baptist church was built
by James A. Dean. Its construction
was begun in December, 1856, and the
foundation was laid the next April. It
was finished in December and dedi-
cated January 14, 1858. Rev. William
H. King, the pastor of the church,
l)reached the dedication sermon in the
forenoon on the rise and progress of
the church since its organization, and
in the evening Rev. A. H. Burlingham,
a former pastor, preached.
The new church cost $16,000. Be-
fore its construction, the vacant
ground east of the church lot was pur-
chased for $515, in the summer of
1851.
The two towers at the comers of
the church at the north end were con-
sidered ungainly, and in 1869 it was
decided to replace them with others
that would be more in harmony with
modern architecture. The work was
done in the spring of 1870, the mason
work by J. S. Houk and A. H. Keeler,
and the carpenter work by Jas. A.
Dean and Miles P. Howes. The north
wall and the greater part of the west
wall were taken down and a portion
w.vy(>- -; i
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
626
of the building was extended out
toward Church street to make an al-
cove for the organ and choir. One of
the towers was converted into a
handsome steeple and the other into
a tower of modern shape. The build-
ing was covered with a slate roof. A
baptismal pool was constructed back
of the pulpit, separated therefrom by
sliding doors. The interior of the
church was handsomely frescoed.
Attached to the church at the south
end was built a large brick addition
for a conference room two stories
high. In the back part are a ladies'
parlor and other rooms. In the second
story are the Sunday school rooms.
The cost of the entire work was be-
tween $15,000 and $20,000.
The reconstructed edifice was dedi-
cated March 16, 1871. Rev. Dr. E.
E>odge, president of Madison univer-
sity, preaching the dedication sermon.
In the summer of 1896 the church
was again remodeled. The level floor
was removed and a new sloping floor
built in its place, which is three feet
higher at the entrance to the building
than at the altar. The pews were
made of semi-circular form. The work
was done by contract by Lucius Ford
and the improvements cost about
$4,500.
May 1, 1863, the Baptist society pur-
chased of David Mersereau for $500
the house and lot east of and adjoin-
ing the church grounds, and the house
has ever since been occupied by the
pastor of the church as a parsonage.
The pastors of the Baptist church
have been as follows:
Rev. Samuel W. Ford, April, 1832-
June, 1833.
Rev. James R. Burdick, June 12,
1833-June 10, 1836.
627
Rev. Alonzo Wheelock, March 1837-
1838.
Rev. Philetus B. Peck, March, 1838-
August, 1847.
Rev. Beaven, lS47-March
1848.
Rev. Albert L. Post, June, 1848-June,
1849.
Rev. James H. Pratt, Sept. 1, 1849-
Jan., 1850.
Rev. Charles Morton, March 11,
1850-Dec. 29, 1850.
Rev. Aaron H. Burlingham, March,
1851-September, 1852.
Rev. J. M. Cooley, 1853-1854-
Rev. William H. King, June, 1854-
27 March, 1881.
Rev. Latham A. Crandall, May 22,
ISSl-Sept, 1, 1884.
Rev. Reuben E. Burton, Dec. 27,
1884-Feb. 20, 1889-
Rev. W. A. Granger, July, 1889-June
29, 1894.
Rev. Milton F. Negus, October, 1894-
Aug. 31, 1897.
Rev. Peter B. Guernsey, September,
1897-October 1, 1899.
Rev. Riley A. Vose, October, 1899-
James R. Burdick, the first pastor
of this church, was a graduate of
Brown university. He came to Owego
from Ithaca. In June, 1836, he re-
signed his pastorate and removed to
Lisle, Broome county.
After the departure of Mr. Burdick,
Rev. H.G.Chase preached a few weeks,
but in August, 1836, declined the pas-
torate, which was tendered to him.
Mr. Wheelock began his pastorate in
March, 1837, and preached his farewell
sermon Feb. 25, 1838.
Rev. Philetus B. Peck was born at
New Woodstock, Madison county, N.
Y., in 1809. He was educated for the
ministry at Hamilton college. He died
October 6, 1847, while on a visit to
his birthplace in Madison county.
Mr. Peck was one of the pioneers in
the anti-slavery movement, and in
62S
those days the abolitionists were very
unpopular with the people. Having
the courage of his convictions, Mr.
Peck at the outset of his pastorate
preached a sermon in which he made
an attack upon slavery, which so in-
censed some of his hearers that at its
close he was asked by the deacons to
meet them and some of the older
members of the church in the vestry.
He was there informed that his senti-
ments on this question were distaste-
ful to them and that the matter of
slavery should not be referred to again
by him in the pulpit. Mr. Peck re-
l)]ied that he should be discreet, but
snould never compromise his convic-
tions, and would denounce the sin of
slavery whenever he should deem it
wise to do so. His defence of his
course was so strongly made that it
was finally decided that he should be
allowed to act upon his own convic-
tions.
In December, 1839, Mr. Peck pur-
chased of J. L. Pinney a lot on the
north side of main street, nearly op-
posite Ross street, where he built a
house, in which he lived during the
rest of his life and which was occu-
pied by his family after his death.
In March, 1897, a sermon in memory
of Mr. Peck was preached by Rev. M.
F. Negus, when two circular granite
tablets, each 18 ncnes in diameter, on
the south wall of the church were un-
veiled. On one tablet in carved let-
ters, gilded, are the words: "In loving
memory of Rev. Philetus B. Peck, our
Pastor. 1838-1847." On the other
tablet is the following inscription:
"In loving memory of Rev. William
Harvev King, D. D., our pastor. isr)4-
1881.
629
For many years a white marble
■monument stood in the northeastern
part of the church yard, which monu-
ment was placed there in Mr. Peck's
memory. It bears the following in-
scription: "In memory of Rev. Phile-
tus B. Peck, late pastor of the First
Baptist church in Owego, who died
Oct. 6, 1S47, aged 38 years. His last
words were. The will of the Lord be
done; the will of the Lord be done,'
and then fell asleep in .lesus, blessed
sleep, from which none ever wake to
weep. This monument was erected
by the young ladies and gentlemen
and Sabbath school scholars of the
Baptist church and society in Owego
in memory of their beloved pastor and
Sabbath school superintendent." Soon
after the unveiling of the tablet in Mr.
Peck's memory inside the church the
monument was removed to Evergreen
cemetery.
William F. Warner says of Mr. Peck:
"He was one of the leading clergy-
men of his denomination and a
natural leader of the people, one who
exerted an influence, not only through-
out his own particular congregation
but throughout the town and county.
He was also a prominent man in the
councils of the Baptist denomniation.
He was a man of judgment and discre-
tion, and possessed the love and re-
spect of all. His death was felt as a
public loss, and his memory is
cherished by all who knew him."
After Mr. Peck's death there was
for a few months no settled pastor.
Revs. Jabez Swan and John Peck,
father of P. B. Peck, preached untU
Mr. Bevan came in the winter of 1847-
8. Mr. Bevan resigned his pastorate
in March, 1848.
Mr. Post preached a year in 1848-9.
Mr. Pratt was pastor only four
630
months. In January, 1850, he resigned
on account of ill health. Mr. Morton "
preached only seven months. He
came here from Newark, N. J.
Rev. Aaron H. Burlingham was a
man of great ability. He came here
from Pittsburgh, Pa. He resigned his
pastorate to accept a call from Bos-
ton, Mass. He died March 1, 1905, at
Mount Vernon, N. Y., aged 83 years.
Rev. William H. King, a self-edu-
cated man, a scholar, and one of the
REV. WILLIAM H. KING,
ablest of all the pastors of this church,
was born Oct. 8, 1820, in the town of
Otsego, Otsego county, N. Y. His
father died when he was nine years
old and six years later he came to live
with his brother, a lumberman and
farmer on Shepard's creek, two miles
north of Factoryville, now east Wa-
verly. Here, when not engaged at
work for his brother, he studied Latin.
631
Greek, Hebrew, and French. From
1843 to 1848 he taught school at Wa-
verly, and while thus engaged began
preaching. In 1849 he was ordained
to the ministry at Athens, Pa., and
assumed the pastorate of the Baptist
church there. He came to Owego in
March, 1854, and was pastor of the
Baptist church here 27 years, when he
resigned his pastorate on account of
ill health. He was a profound student,
a deep thinl^er, and a sound reasoner.
As a recreation he studied medicine,
but did not practise. He preached
against slavery and for temperance,
and was a vigorous supporter of the
government during the civil war. He
was interested in local public affairs
and was one of the trustees of the old
Owego academy and when the schools
were consolidated under the union
school law in 1864 he was elected a
member of the board of school com-
missioners and was twice re-elected.
He was broad in his views, firm in his
beliefs, and always fearless in express-
ing them.
Rev. L. A. Crandall was a graduate
of Hillsdale college, Michigan. He
was graduated from the Rochester
theological seminary May 18, 1881, and
came at once to Owego. In July, 1884,
he resigned his pastorate and became
pastor of the Twenty-third Street Bap-
tist church in New York city. In
February, 1889, he went to Cleveland,
Ohio, having accepted a call to the
Euclid Avenue Baptist church.
Rev. R. E. Burton came to Owego
from Buffalo. He was opposed to
dancing and card playing, and "having
the courage of his convictions" he
condemned them in his sermons.
Some of the members of his congrega-
632
tion took offence at his course, and as
a disposition was manifested to re-
duce his salary, in order to compel him
to resign, he did resign. This was in
February, 1887. The opposition to his
leaving, however, was so great that
he afterward acceded to the request
of a committee and withdrew his resig-
nation. In 1889 he resigned his pas-
torate and became pastor of the Dela-
ware Street Baptist church in Syra-
cuse.
Rev. W. A. Granger resigned his
pastorate here in June, 1894, to accept
a call to the Baptist church at Mount
Vernon, N. Y., with a larger salary.
He was pastor of that church until
April 16, 1908, when he preached his
farewell sermon, having resigned to
take the presidency of the Baptist mis-
sionary convention of the state of New
York.
Rev. Milton F. Negus came from
Minneapolis, Minn., in August, 1894, to
accept the pastorate of this church,
and began his duties on the first Sun-
day in October. In May, 1897, he re-
ceived a call to the First Baptist
church of Brooklyn and assumed the
pastorate there on Sept. 1. Mr. Negus
is a son of Rev. C. R. Negus, who was
for forty years a successful pastor in
central New York. He was educated
at Colgate university and Rochester
theological seminary, graduating from
the latter institution in 1887. He was
at once called to the pastorate of the
Fourth Baptist church of Minneapolis,
Minn., where he remained seven years
and until he came to Owego.
After having filled the pastorate of
the Owego church two years. Rev. P.
B. Guernsey resigned in September,
1899, to take the iiresidency of Roger
633
Williams university at Nasliville,
Tenn., a college which prepares young
colored men for the ministry imder
control of the Boston home mission
society. Before coming to Owego Mr.
Guernsey was a teacher in Cook acad-
emy at Montour Falls and was later
in the railroad business at Elmira. He
prepared himself for the ministry and
he and his wife went as missionaries
to India. A few years ago the univer-
sity building at Nashville was burned
and was not rebuilt. Since that time
Mr. Guernsey has been engaged in
mission work in New York city.
Rev. Riley A. Vose, the present pas-
tor was born at Spencer in this county
.June 21, 1859. He was graduated from
Colgate academy in 1881, from Madi-
son university in 1885, and from Ham-
ilton theological seminary in 1887.
His first pastorate was that of the
Baptist church at Madison, N. Y.,
where he remained from .Tan. 1, 1888,
to June 1, when he was called to the
pastorate of the Albany Avenue Bap-
tist church at Kingston, N. Y., and
preached there two and one-half year?.
.January 1, 1892, he assumed the pas-
torate of the Tabernacle Baptist
church at Utica. He remained there
nearly four years. In October, 1895,
he became pastor of the North Avenue
Baptist church at Cambridge, Mass.,
and preached there until May, 1889,
when he resigned on account of ill
health and went to Europe to recuper-
ate. At a farewell reception given to
Mr. and Mrs. Vose the congregation
presented to them a purse of $1,500.
Upon his return, his health having im-
proved, he accepted a call to the Owe-
go church and began his duties here
in October, 1899.
634
A History of St. Paul s Episcopaf
Church from Its Organization in
1834 to the Present Time, with
Some Account of the Church Edi-
fices and the Rectors of the Church.
The third church organized at Owe-
go was St. Paul's Episcopal church,
which was organized Feb. 10, 1834, by
Rev. James D. Carder, who came from
Ithaca for that purpose. The name of
the organization was "The Rector,
Churchwardens, and Vestrymen of St.-
Paul's Church in the village of Owe-
go." John Watson and Thomas Far-
rington were chosen wardens and Dr.
Jedediah Fay, Col. Samuel Rockwood,
Charles C. Noble, George Bacon, Har-
mon Pumpelly, John Rowland, Robert
Charles Johnson, and Sheldon Osborne
vestrymen. At this time there were
only three communicants, Mrs. Gad
Worthington, Mrs. Samuel Rockwood,
and Mrs. Hyde. Church services were
held at the old Presbyterian session
house, or lecture room as it was then
called, on the east side of Court street.
In November, 1833, Mr. Carder, who
was rector of St. John's church at
Ithaca, wrote to Mr. Fanington saying
that he expected to have a leisure
Sunday after Thanksgiving day and
that if it should be the general wish of
those concerned, he would render
some service in organizing a parish
here during the fall or winter. Mr.
Carder came here later and organized
the church. He preached here every
other week a few months.driving over
from Ithaca for that purpose. In May,
1834, owing to ill health, he left Ithaca
to spend the summer on the Atlantic
coast.
Rev. Dr. Carder came to Ithaca in
635
1831. When he left there, hi 1834, he
went to Connecticut. He was after-
ward appomted secretary of the Epis-
copal Board of Foreign Missions, and
held that position at the time of his
death, about the year 1867.
Rev. Ezekiel G. Gear, who succeeded
Mr. Carder as rector of St. John's
church at Ithaca, held church services
at Owego, beginning in March, 183-5.
Mr. Gear was the second rector of St.-
.John's church, preaching there from
1823 to 1828, and again from 1834 to
1836. He went from Ithaca to the
west as a pioneer missionary.
Rev. John Baily, who was then a
deacon, was the first settled clergy-
man of St. Paul's church. He first
came here in the fall of 1837 and held
services every other week at the Pres-
byterian session house during the win-
ter. He also held services at Candor
and Richford. He was regularly called
to the pastorate of St. Paul's in March,
1838. Church services were now held
at the court house. Mr. Baily was
ordained to the priesthood in April.
He remained as rector of the church
three years. In February, 1841, Mr.
Baily, who for a year had been pre-
vented by ill health from conducting
services, resigned the pastorate, say-
ing that on account of his health he
could not continue his duties in the
ministry. He afterward lived at
Fayetteville, N. Y., where he died a
few years ago.
In 1839 the society built its first
church. The ground on which it was
erected was owned by James Pum-
pelly, and was the same land on the
south side of Main street where the
rectory now stands. This was a part
of the Pumpelly orchard, and was
636
deeded to the society April, 14, 1840."
Mr. Pumpelly gave the society the use
of the ground so long as it should be
occupied for church purposes. The
church was consecrated May 17, 1840,
by Rt. Rev. Wm. H. Delancey, bishop
of the diocese of western New York.
The church was in size 58 by 38
feet, including the vestibule. The roof
in front projected from the building
and was sustained by four large square
pillars. A square bell tower was on
the peak of the roof at the front. A
bell was not placed in the tower until
1855. It was purchased by ladies of
the church and their friends and
weighed about 1,200 pounds. The
church lot was enlarged on the south
and west sides by gift from George
.J. Pumpelly April G, 1850, making the
lot 58 feet wide in front and 100 feet
deep. The church was enlarged in the
summer of 1850. The rear of the
edifice was cut off and a section of
several feet in length inserted. The
number of pews was increased. A
Sunday school room was fitted up in
the basement, but this basement was
damp and was not much used. The
changes cost about $1,000. While the
improvements were in progress church
services were held at Fay's hall in
Front street.
Further enlargement and improve-
ments were made in November and
December, 1856, by builders Ferguson
and Ebenezer Tucker after plans by
architect Charles Babcock, of New
York city. The altar was at the south
end of the church. There was a long
reading desk, from which the services
were conducted, and back of that a
high pulpit, from which the rector
preached his sermons. These were
637
removed when the church was en-
larged in 1856, and more modern ones
[)laced in an extension made for the
purpose at the rear of the church.
Transepts were built on each side of
the church in front of the altar rail,
making the edifice of a cruciform
shape, in which transepts additional
pews were placed. The partition
which separated the auditorium from
the vestibule under the gallery at the
north end of the church was removed
and the gallery was torn down. In
the space where the vestibule had
been twelve new pews were placed.
The organ and choir were placed on
a platform about four feet high be-
tween the doors at the entrance of the
church. Stained glass windows were
put in place of the old ones. The
whole whole interior of the edifice was
improved and beautified and it was re-
opened for public worship Jan. 11,
1857. While the church was undergo-
ing these improvements services were
held at the village hall in Main street.
Other improvements were made to the
church in the fall of 1863 and the fall
of 1865.
In the spring of 1873 Richard H.
Sackett, who had purchased the John
H. Avery property in east Front street,
which consisted of the ground on
which the houses of Dr. E. D. Downs
and Joel C. Kenyon now stand, to-
gether with all the property of equal
width on the south side of that street
offered the property as a gift to St.-
Paul's church, with the condition that
the society should erect a church on
the north side of the street within
four years, to cost not less than $15,000,
the lot on the south side of the street
638
to be used as a site for a parsonage.
Between $10,000 and $11,000 were
raised by subscription, but tlie balance
could not be obtained.
In the spring of 1891 the question
of building a new church edifice was
agitated. Tie heirs of Geo. J. Pum-
pelly, through gift and purchase, had
given their interest in the church lot
to the society. A member of the so-
ciety offered to pay for additional land
at the west of and adjoining the
church lot and give it to the society,
but nothing was done in the matter. A
year later, in April, 1892, the lot at the
northwest corner of Main and Liberty
streets was purchased of Mrs. S. J.
Ogden for $2,500. The church was
built in 1893 with money raised by
the ladies' guild of the church. The
architect was William Halsey Wood,
of Newark, N. J.
The church was built by contract by
John T. Corchran, of this village. The
corner stone was laid Oct. 31 by the
rector. Rev. James H. Kidder, acting
as bishop's deputy, assisted by nine
clergymen from other churches. The
consecration services were held Jan.
2ri, 1894, Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington,
bishop of the diocese of Central New
York, ofRciating, assisted by bishop
Wm. A. Leonard, of Ohio, the rector.
Rev. J. H. Kidder, and seventeen other
clergymen. The church is built of
blue stone and is 90 by 75 feet in size.
The inner walls are of cream-colored
brick, the floors of Georgia pine wood,
and the pews of oak. The total cost
was $12,800, e.xclusive of the seats, the
heating apparatus, and the furnishing.
The furniture, etc., were the gifts of
various persons as memorials to de-
parted relatives.
ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
640
The old church was sold to Jeremiah
Towsand, who sold the pews and tore
down the building, which he used in
building a house in McMaster street.
The first rectory of St. Paul's
church was built on land sold to the
church by Mrs. Eliza M. Clizbe
for 1500 March 9, 1846. The
lot was on the west side of Academy
street. The house was of Gothic ar-
chitecture with a very high sloping
roof above the first story and with a
basement. It was sold in October,
1861, to James P. Lovejoy, and after
his death it was again sold in Febru-
ary, 1866, to Dr. E. A. Mayor. Mr.
Mayor removed the roof and in its
place built a second story to the house
and surmounted it with a Mansard
roof.
In February, 1897, the society pur-
chased of Thomas C. Piatt for $1,600 a
house which stood east of and adjoin-
ing the old church, which was occu-
l)ied as a rectory. This house had
been rented as a rectory after the sale
of the property in Academy street.
It was occupied as a rectory until a
new one was built in 1902, when it was
sold to Charles G. Carter, who re-
moved it to his lot on the west side of
Central avenue.
The present rectory was built in the
summer of 1902 on the ground where
the old churcn and rectory had stood.
The architects were Bragdon & Hill-
man, of Rochester, and it was built at
a cost of $2,785 by John T. Corchran.
February 2, 1842, John Redman
Coxe, M. D., of Philadelphia, proprie-
tor of the tract of land south of the
Susquehanna river in the towns of
Owego and Nichols, known as Coxe's
patent, deeded to the rector, wardens.
641
and vestry of St. Paul's church a part
of lot No. 190 m this tract, containing
a little more than 52 acres, in trust,
the income to be applied to the main-
tenance of St. Paul's church so long
as it should be a church.
The rectors of St. Paul's church
since its organization have been as
follows:
Rev. John Bailv, May, 1838-May,
1840.
Rev. Isaac Swart, July 26, 1840-
March 21, 1841.
Rev. Alfred Ix)uderback, Aug. 29,
1841-April 15, 1844.
Rev. George Watson, Oct. 5, 1844-
Oct. 1, 1854.
Rev. James Rankine, Oct. 1, 1854-
April 7, 1861.
Rev. Morelle Fowler, April 14, 1861-
April, 1863.
Rev. George D. Johnson, April 6,
1863-April 3, 1866.
Rev. Thomas W. Street, Dec. 27,
1866-July 1, 1868.
Rev. James H. Kidder, Aug. 1, 1868-
Rev. George Watson was an Eng-
lishman. He resigned the rectorate of
St. Paul's church in July, 1854, to take
effect on the first of the following
October, having accepted a call to St.-
Paul's church at Norwalk, Ohio. He
died at Norwalk, Nov. 15, 1870, aged
68 years.
Rev. James Rankine, who succeeded
Mr. Watson, was born in Ayrshire,
Scotland, Nov. 5, 1827. He came with
his parents to the United States in
1835, the family settling at Canan-
daigua, N. Y. He was graduated from
Union college in 1846. He pursued
the preparatory studies for holy or-
ders under Dr. Williams, the rector of
St. George's church at Schenectady,
and when Dr. Williams was called to
the presidency of Trinity college in
1849 Mr. Rankine accompanied him
642
there, where he was at first a tutor
and afterward assistant professor of
mathematics. June 11, 1850, he was
ordained deacon. He resigned his
position in Trinity college to become
rector of St. Paul's church in Septem-
ber, 1854. He remained at Owego six
years. In April, 1861, he was ap-
pointed head of the senior department
of the diocesan training school (now
known as the Delancey divinity
school) and rector of St. Peter's
chapel at Geneva, N. Y. In 1868 he
assumed the presidency of Hobart col-
lege. He served two years when his
health failed and he resigned the
presidency and returned to his old
position in the divinity school and St.-
Peter's parish, where he remained un-
til his death on Dec. 16, 1896.
Rev. Morelle Fowler, who succeeded
Mr. Rankine as rector of St. Paul's,
assumed his duties April 14, 1861. He
was a graduate of Berkely divinity
school at Middletown, Conn. He came
after his graduation to Owego. He re-
mained here two years. He resigned
in April, 1863, having accepted a call
to the Episcopal church ajt Batavia, N.
Y. He remained there until the sum-
mer of 1870 when he resigned on ac-
count of ill health and went to Salt
Lake City to assume the pastorate of a
church there. In February, 1871, he
returned east, to accompany his family
from New London, Conn., to Salt Lake
City. While on their way to Utah he
and his wife with their three children
were all killed in a terrible railroad
accident, which happened Feb. 6 on
L..e Hudson River railroad, eight miles
below Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in which
twenty-one i)ersons were killed. The
axle of an oil train broke, throwing
543
Uie wreckage against a drawbridge in
face of tlie express train, wliicli
crashed into it, tlie wiiole catching
Are.
Rev. George D. Johnson was born
at Stratford, Conn., in June, 1834. He
was a great grandson of Jonatlian Ed-
wards, the first president of Princeton
college, and of Samuel Johnson, the
first president of Kings college. He
was graduated from Trinity college in
1854. He came to Owego from Darien,
Conn., in April, 1863, and was rector
of St. Paul's two years. In April,
1S65, he went to New Rochelle, N. Y.,
where he lived until March, 1807,
when he accepted a call to a church in
Boston, Mass. He became rector of
Christ church at New Brighton, N. Y.,
in 1875. At the time of his death on
August 28, 1906, he was pastor emeri-
tus of that church and archdeacon.
Rev. Thomas W. Street came to
Owego from New Brunswick, N. J.,
where he was curate of St. Andrews's
church, and became pastor of St.-
Paul's in June, 1866. He resigned in
the summer of 1868.
Rev. James Holwell Kidder came to
Owego from Unadilla, N. Y., hav-
ing been called to the rectorate of
St. Paul's parish Aug. 1, 1868. Mr.
Kidder was bom at Portland, Maine.
He was graduated from the gen-
eral theological seminary in New-
York city in 1860; ordained
deacon at St. l.uke's church, Port-
land, the same year, and priest at
Eastport, Maine, in June 1861. He
was in charge of St. Thomas's church
at Camden, Me., until November, 1860.
and afterward of Christ church at
Eastport about three years. Then he
t^ntered on the rectorship of St. Mat-
644
thew's church at Unadilla, N. Y., July
1, 1863. Five years later, on Aug. 1,
1868, he became rector of St. Paul's
church at Owego. Mr. Kidder has
been now (1909) forty-one years
rector of St. Paul's and has not been
an hour out of the active ministry
since he was ordained.
REV. JAMES H. KIDDER.
646
Some Account of St. Patrick's Catho-
lic Church, Its Property, and Its
Pastors from about the Year 1842 to
the Present Time.
There were no Roman Catholics at
Owego for several years after the first
settlement of the village. About the
year 1842, when the New York & Erie
railroad was projected, laborers on the
road, mostly Catholics from Ireland,
came here to assist in the work of
driving the piles, on which it was in-
tended to lay the tracks. These piles
were not used, but gradually decayed
and within a few years after the road
had been constructed to Owego on a
solid gravel bea in 1849 they had all
gradually decayed and disappeared.
The first missionary through here
was James F. Hourigan, who came on
horseback. Rev. James V. O'Reilly,
who was pastor of the church at
Friendsville, Pa., and had spiritual
charge of several missions in Pennsyl-
vania and New York, afterward came
here about four times a year and cele-
brated high mass.
August 17, 1842, Charles Pumpelly
deeded as a gift to Right Rev. John
Hughes and his successors in the
ministry, in trust for the Catholic con-
gregation of Owego, a part of village
lot No. 29, containing half an acre of
land, This lot, which is mentioned in
the deed as "the Catholic church lot,"
is east of the road which extends
north from Erie street and turns west
up on the hill to Prospect street. This
lot, for several years and until St.-
Joseph's cemetery in the town of "Ti-
oga was laid out, was the Catholic
cemetery.
In the deed given by Mr. Pumpelly
the land conveyed is described as that
647
"lipoTi which is now beiiig erected the
Catholic church, for a site for which
said land is granted, to be used for
that purpose and a burying ground
and for no other purpose whatever."
This reference to a church is the only
knowledge any one of the present day
has of any church having ever been
built on the lot, and its existence in
beyond the recollection of the oldest
inhabitants. It was, probably, a smaM
building and must have been removed
or torn down soon afterward. There
is a story that the first Catholic ser-
vices were held in a small frame
building, which stood on the site of
the present church in east Main
street. This is an error.
The first regular church services of
which anything is now positively
known were held at the home of Davifl
Connelly in Paige street. Mr. Con-
nelly was a tailor, a man who was
held in respect by the people of the
village, and a leading man in church
affairs. His house was on the east
side of Paige street, the second house
south ofEastTemple street,and is still
standing there. Mr. Connelly lived
there with his wife, his son, and three
daughters. He bought the property in
March, 183S, of Michael Conklin. He
built a second story to the back part
of this house, to be used as a place to
hold religious services, access to
whicii was obtained by a stairway,
which he built outside the house.
Here Father O'Reilly held services,
and afterward Rev. Andrew Doyle,
who was appointed pastor of St. Pat-
rick's church at Binghamton in 1843
by Bishop John Hughes, came here
occasionally until May 1, 1844, when
he was called to assist the pastor of
648
St. James's church in New York city.
Rev. John Sheridan came in 1844,
and he was the first resident pastor
here. He was also in charge of the
missions at Ithaca and Watkins.
Father Sheridan remained here six
years, and during his sojourn here,
and mainly through his efforts, a new
church was built.
1 lie New York and Erie railroad
was completed to Owego in 1849.
While the road was building many
Catholics came here as laborers, and
after the road was in operation many
others came as employes of the road
and became permanent residents of
Cwego. The congregation of the
church was thereby increased to such
an extent that it was decided to build
a church. The ground on which St-
Patrick's church now stands on the
south side of east Main street was
owned by Thomas Farrington, who
sold it on a contract to Father Sheri-
dan in 1848, and a wooden church was
immediately erected thereon. Oct. 9,
1849, the lot, which contained ()4
square rods of land was deeded by
judge Farrington for $545.50 to Father
Sheridan.
Father Sheridan was succeeded in
August, 1850, by Rev. Michael Cree-
don, who in 1851 was succeeded by
Rev. P. Mallon, who officiated until
January, 1852, when Rev. James T.
McManus came. Rev. Nicholas Byrne
came in December, 1858, and remained
here two years. In 1859, during his
pastorate the parochial school house
was built in the rear of the church.
Rev. Joseph Butler was pastor from
1860 to August, 1862. He established
the society known as the "Sodality of
the living Rosary," the object being to
649
supply the altar with candles and
Howers. In 1S68, during the pastorate
of Rev. Francis Clark, the society of
"The Sacred Heart of Jesus" was or-
ganized, and in 1870 the "Children of
Mercy." During Father Clark's so-
journ here, from 1863 to 1871, iTiany
improvements were made. He caused
the church to be enlarged in the sum-
mer of 1863. A new steeple was added
to the edifice and a bell placed there-
in. The convent of the Sisters of
Mercy was instituted in 1865, the
name of which was changed to St.-
.Toseph's Orphan Asylum in April,
1870, during Father Clark's pastorate.
In the summer of 1875 about $3,000
were spent in repairing, repainting,
and otherwise improving the church
edifice. In November, 1855, the house
and lot west of and adjoining the
church were purchased of Thomas
bvans by the Catholic society. This
was occupied as the parochial resi-
dence until 1869. Aug. 30 in this year
Richard H. Sackett sold to John Hard-
man the house and lot west of the
l)arochial residence, which Mr. Hard-
man on Oct. 1 transferred to the so-
ciety. This property is now occupied
as the pastor's residence and the
building betwen it and the church by
the Sisters of Mercy.
The cemetery lot in Goodrich settle-
ment in the town of Tioga, containing
four and eight-tenths acres of land and
known as St. Joseph's cemetery, was
purchased of Henry W. Camp Feb. 1.
1868, for $1,000, and the old cemetery
in this village was abandoned as a
burial place.
The old wooden church proving
inadequate to the needs of an increas-
ing congi-egation, a new brick church
ST, PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH.
o3l
was Ijullt ill 1890. Sul)ScriptiouK to a
fund for building the new church were
hegun by Rev. .James Rogers about the
,vear 1876. He collected about $4.00ii.
to which in 1887, Rev. F. D. Johnsois
liad added about $<3,000 more. The
church was dedicated Sunday, Dec. 7,
1890, by Rt. Rev. Stephen Vhicent
Ryaii, of Buffalo, assisted by twelve
priests from other church^es. The
bishop preached the dedication ser-
mon. The new church cost about
■,$30,000. It was built by .James Sulli-
van. It is 129 by 58 feet 1ti size, con-
•structed of briclt and cut stone, and
surmounted by a steeple 131 feet high.
When Rev. John J. Sheridan assumed
the pastorate of this church in .June,
1899, there was an indebtedness of
about $11,000 on the property. In the
summer of 1'908, through his effons,
the entire debt was paid.
The following is a list of the resi-
■dent pastors of St. Patrick's church
since its organization:
Rev. .John Sheridan, May 1, 1844~
August. 1850.
Rev. Michael Creedon, August. 185i)-
1851.
Rev. P. Mallon, 1851-January, 1852.
Rev. James T. McManus, January,
1852-December, 1858.
Rev. Nicholas Byrne, December,
1858-1860.
Rev. Joseph Butler, 1860-August,
1862.
Rev. S. Bonaventure Corney,August,
1862-April, 1863.
Rev. Francis Clark, June, 1863-Jan-
nary, 1871.
Rev. James Rogers, January, 1871-
Ai)ril, 1877.
Rev. John O'Mara, April, 1877-Octo-
ber, 1883.
Rev. Thomas D. Johnson, November,
1883-September, 1893.
Rev. Martin Ryan, October, 1893-
Mav, 1895.
652
Rev. John J. Sheridan, June, 1899-
July, 1909.
Rev. George V. Bums, July, 1909-
Rev. James T. McManus was born in
county Cavan, Ireland, in 1821 and
studied for the priesthood at Cavan
college. He came to America in 1848
and graduated from the Catholic semi-
nary at Fordham, N. Y., in 1851. His
first pastorate was a church in Buffalo
He came to Owego as pastor of St.-
Patrick's church in 1851, and also had
charge of the parishes at Waverly and
Ithaca. He was here eight years until
December, 1858, when he was trans-
ferred to the church of St. Francis de-
Sales at Geneva, N. Y. Thence in
April, 1862, he was transferred to the
church of St. Mary's at Rochester,
N. Y. Seven months later he was
again transferred to Geneva, where he
remained until his death on June 29,
1890, a period of thirty-one years. In
1886 he succeeded Rev. James M.
Early as Vicar-General of the diocese.
Dec. 18, 1889, he received the honorary
title of Monseigneur from Bishop Mc-
Quade by order of the Pope, making
him a member of the papal household.
Rev. Joseph Butler came here in
1860. From Owego he was transferred
to Troy in August, 1862.
Rev. Francis Clark cave to Owego
in January, 1863. Under his ministry
the church was enlarged, a school and
convent were established, a new ceme-
tery was laid out, and a parochial resi-
dence purchased. He left Owego in Jan-
uary, 1871, to become parish priest of
the church of SS. Peter and Paul at
Elmira and rural dean. He was later,
at his own request, transferred to St.-
Ann's church at Homell. While in
charge of that parish he fell from a
653
buggy and sustained a serious injury
to his hip, incapacitating him from
pastoral work. He died in Buffalo
August 8, 1890. aged 64 years.
Rev. James Rogers came to Owego
from Buffalo in 1871. In April, 1877,
he was transferred to the church of
the Immaculate Conception in Buffalo.
During his sojourn in Owego there
was a church debt of $7,000, which he
caused to be paid. He died in Buffalo
Aug. 26, 1893, aged 51 years.
Rev. John O'Mara was bom in
county Clare, Ireland, Dec. 25, 1836.
He was made an orphan in his youth
and was reared and educated by rela-
tives. He came to America when
twenty years of age and completed his
studies for the ministry. He was or-
dained a priest in 1859, and afterward
had charge of churches at Rochester,
Buffalo, Medina, and Lockport. He
came to Owego from Buffalo, where
he was pastor of the church of the
Immaculate Conception, in April, 1887.
During his residence here he had
charge of the parish at Newark Valley
and caused the church to be built
there in the fall of 1880. He died
while pastor of St. Patrick's church on
Oct. 27, 1883, and his body was buried
in St. .Joseph's cemetery in the town
of Tioga.
During Father O'Mara's residence
here. Rev. James Hilary Leddy was
his assistant, three or four years.
Father Leddy was bom in New York
city. He went from Owego in August.
1880, to Gowanda, N. Y., where he re-
mained six years. He was afterward
at Holley, N. Y., eleven years, and
went thence to "Warsaw, N. Y., in
August, 1878. He died at the age of
64 years at Warsaw May 13, 1901,
654
from the result of injuries received by
falling into an excavation in the Erie
railroad depot at Lockport one night,
while returning home from Buffalo.
Rev. Thomas D. Johnson was pastor
of St. Patrick's church ten years. He
came here in November, 1883. He
was born in county Cavan, Ireland, in
1850, and was educated at Manyooth
college, near Dublin. He came to
America in 1873 and entered Niagara
University in 1874, and was graduated
therefrom the next year. After his
ordination he remained for some time
at Corning, N. Y., as a curate in Dean
Colgan's parish. He was afterward
pastor of the church at Lewiston, N.
Y., and in 1884 became an assistant to
Father Cunningham, pastor of SS.
Peter and Paul's church at Elmira.
Upon the death of Father O'Mara, he
was sent to Owego. The present
church was built during his ministry
here. In 1890 he made a trip to his
old home In Ireland for the benefit of
his health, which did not imi)rove. He
died at Elmira Sept. 17, 1893. His
body was brought to Owego and
buried in St. Joseph's cemetery.
Rev. Martin Ryan was born in Ire-
land. He came to America in 1863.
He was ordained in 1871 at Niagara
Falls and was afterward pastor suc-
cessively of SS. Peter and Paul's
church at Elmira, St. Catherine's
church at Addison, and of St. Mary of
the Lake's church at Watkins for
fourteen years. He came from Wat-
kins to Owego upon the death of
Father Johnson. In May, 1895, he
sailed for Ireland, having received an
indefinite leave of absence on account
of ill health. He never returned,
dying there Jan. 9, 1909.
655
After Father Ryan's departure for
Ireland in 1895, Rev. James Moriarty
came to Owego to take charge of St.-
Patrick's church.
When Rev. John .]. Sheridan came
here in the summer of 1899, he had
just been graduated from St. Ber-
nard's seminary at Rochester. He
had been previously graduated from
Canaisius college at Buffalo and St.-
Bonaventure's college at Allegany,
Pa. He was sent here from the Syra-
cuse diocese as administrator of the
parish pending the appointment of a
regular pastor, and he served with
such eminent satisfaction that he re-
mained here ten years. In June, 1909,
he was transferred to Syracuse, where
he was soon afterward appointed pas-
tor of St. Lucy's church. Father
Sheridan was born at Binghamton.
When he assumed charge of St. Pat-
rick's church it was burdened with a
debt of about $11,000, which was paid
through his exertions.
Rev. George V. Burns, the present
pastor of St. Patrick's church was
born in Buffalo, April 4, 1873. He
was educated in Rochester at St. An-
drews's preparatory seminary and St.-
Bemard's seminary. He was ordained
June 11, 1898, and was thereupon a))-
pointed second assistant at the cathe-
dral. Two years later he wa s a))-
pointed first assistant and officiated
eight and one-half years and was then
appointed pastor of the Catholic
church at Phelps, N. Y. While at
Phelps he was appointed by Bishop
Hickey as superintendent of the paro-
chial schools of this diocese. He as-
sumed charge of St. Patrick's church
in this village July 9, 1909.
656
Some Account of the Schools for
Young Ladies at Owego from the
Days when Miss Juliette Camp
Opened the Owego Female Semi-
nary in 1828 to the Establishment
of the Seminary in East Front
Street, where, Among Others, Mrs.
Belva A. Lockwood Was Principal.
In the summer of 1815 Charles Pum-
pelly built a large house for his resi-
dence on the north side of Front street
where the houses of Howard J. Mead
and Miss Anna M. Dean are now. The
lot was eighty feet wide on that street
and extended back the full width to
Main street. The house was of wood,
painted white, and was the largest
and most pretentious of any that had
been built at that time in the village.
It stood about fifteen feet back from
the sidewalk, near the west end of the
lot, and on the east side was a large
yard covered with a grove of tall trees.
Mr. Pumpelly lived in this house until
1841, when he purchased the brick
house in west Front street now owned
by James Forsyth of his brother, Har-
mon Pumpelly, and removed thereto.
The old residence was occupied as a
seminary and boarding school from
1843 to 1865.
Several years previous to this time
Miss Juliette M. Camp, who later be-
came the wife of Joseph M. Ely, in
1828 opened a school for young ladies,
which she styled the "Owego Female
Seminary." She did not board her
pupils, but in her advertisement she
announced that "board may be ob-
tained in respectable families in this
village."
Miss Camp had previously spent
considerable time in an infant school
657
at Utica, to acquaint herself with the
methods of teaching employed there,
and in 1830 she converted her young
ladies' seminary into a children's
school, and she had between forty and
fifty pupils. Miss Eliza S. Ripley, a
daughter of John Ripley, was Miss
Camp's assistant. Miss Ripley was
several years later married to Ebene-
zer Woodbridge and has been for
many years living at Dixon, 111.
In the siiring of 1843 Mrs. Mary
Palmer, of Factory ville (now east Wa-
verly), and Miss Eunice S. Williams
rented the Pumpelly residence and es-
taolished a boarding and day school
for young ladies there, which they
called the "Owego Female Seminary."
Miss Palmer was principal of the
school and Miss Williams had charge
of the boarding department. There
were two terms of 22 weeks each
year, or four quarters of 11 weeks
each. The price of board and tuition
was $125 a year, and in an advertise-
ment in the Gazette it was announced
that "from country patrons a portion
of pay for board will be received in
produce at market prices." Day
scholars in the elementary depart-
ments were charged $2 a year, in the
middle department $3.-50, and in the
high department $5. Miss Williams
died soon after this school was opened
at the home of her father at Norwich,
Conn., in October, 1843.
Fearing, probably, that the opening
of the seminary would be detrimental
to the success of the Owego academy
by taking therefrom some of the
young ladies in the girls' department,
the academy trustees started another
school in opposition to that of Mrs.
65S
Palmer in the summer of 1843, which
they styled the "Owego Female Insti-
tute," and they placed at its head
Prof, and Mrs. Joseph M. Ely. Mr.
Ely was at this time principal of the
academy. He had been teaching ten
years in New York city and returned
to Owego to assume direction of the
academy, with the institute for young
ladies connected therewith.
The new female institute was not
kept at the academy but at Mr. Ely's
house. At the opening of this insti-
tute it was announced that if liberal
Itatronage should be given a new
building would be erected the next
year for the school. The building was
not erected. The school was opened
in the house that was owned and had
been occupied by Jonathan Piatt, Mr.
Piatt having removed to the "Vesper
Cliff" property in the town of Tioga.
The charge for boarders for a term of
eleven weeks was $25 and for day
scholars $5.
Mr. Ely taught languages, mathema-
tics, etc., and Mrs. Ely music and sing-
ing. Miss P. E. Southworth taught
French and drawing. Thomas Le-
Clere, who was born north of this vil-
lage and who became one of the most
celebrated portrait painters in Amer-
ica, gave lessons in oil painting. At
the opening of the spring term in 1844
it was announced that "persons will-
ing to advance $25 and upwards in
labor and materials toward the erec-
tion of a new building for the institute
next summer — payment thereof to be
made in tuition in the institute — will
please apply to the principals."
Mrs. Palmer conducted the semi-
nary in Front street six years. In the
spring of 1849 it passed into the hands
659
of Mrs. M. A. Chase and Miss H. P.
Fellows, and Mrs. Palmer went to
Binghaniton. Mrs. Chase came here
from Philadelphia. Her daughter,
Miss Edith Chase, was later a teacher
in St. Agnes's school in Albany. Miss
Fellows had charge of the boarders
and Mrs. Palmer was principal. They
conducted the seminary four years.
At the close of the spring term in
1852 Mrs. Chase and Miss Fellows left
the school, and on Jan. 4, 1852, Rev.
and Mrs. George P. Porter began the
winter term there. Mr. Porter was
that year and the year following pas-
tor of the Owego M. E. church. Mrs.
Porter had been preceptress at the
Wyoming Wesleyan seminary for sev-
eral years. The Porters conducted
the seminary until 1854, when Mr.
Porter was assigned to the M. E.
church at Waverly.
In the spring of 1854 Miss Eliza B.
Thomas, a cousin of Charles C. and
Albert R. Thomas, of Owego, opened a
school which she called the Owego
Female Institute in the house which
was afterward for many years owned
and occupied by Eli W. Stone. It is
on the north side of Front street, the
second house west of John street. Her
assistant was Miss Laura C. Bartlett,
who had been superintendent of the
female department at the Owego acad-
emy. In August, 1855, she offered the
property for sale, saying that she de-
sired to have her school in a more
central part of the village. The school
was discontinued at about this time.
In the spring of 1856 Mrs. Samuel
C. Wilcox, who ha^. lived in Philadel-
phia since the death of her husband in
1854, returned to Owego and made an
arrangement with Mrs. Guy Worthing-
660
ton, who was occupying the seminary
building, to reopen the seminary, and
the term began April 1, 1856, with
Mrs. Wilcox as principal. Miss Dar-
ling, Mrs. Wilcox's sister, came with
her from Philadelphia and was an as-
sistant teacher. Mrs. Worthington,
who was the mother of the late bishop
George Worthington, of Nebraska, had
charge of the boarders and Mrs. Wil-
cox was principal of the school. In
the spring of 1857 Mrs. Worthington
retired from the seminary and Mrs.
Wilcox took entire control of both the
school and the boarding establish-
ment. Not long afterward Miss Dar-
ling had charge of the housekeeping,
and Miss Hall was engaged as vice-
principal.
In the fall of 1858 Miss Josephine
Hosmer came from Detroit, Mich., and
assumed the management of the semi-
nary. Her assistants were Misses S.
Loring, of Concord, Mass., and M. E.
Walker, of Portsmouth, N. H. Miss
Hosmer remained here only a year
and in Nov., 1859, Prof, and Mrs.
George H. Burroughs, succeeded her.
Mr. Burroughs came here highly
recommended by Theo. Frelinghuysen,
president of Rutgers college, and presi-
dent McLean, of Princeton college.
He was a graduate of Princeton col-
lege and had been tor some time sub-
sequent to his graduation a tutor. Mr.
and Mrs. Burroughs conducted the
seminary four years.
In the fall of 1863, Mrs. Belva Mc-
Nall, now Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood,
succeeded Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs
and opened the fall term Sept. 24. Her
assistants were Misses Anna Hurd,
.Julia A. Osborne, and Louisa Warner.
At the close of the spring term in
MRS. BELVA A. LOCKWOOD.
662
1865, she left Owego and the seminar}-
was peniianently closed as a young
ladies' school.
Since leaving Owego Mrs. Lockwood
has attained national prominence. She
was born at Royalton, Niagara coun-
ty, N. Y., October 24, 1830, as Belva A.
Bennett. She began teaching when
she was 14 years old. Two years
later, on Nov. 8, 1848, she was mar-
ried to Uriah H. McNall, a young far-
mer, of Royalton, who died there May
11, 1853. After his death she left her
young daughter in the care of her pa-
rents, in order to prepare herself for
teaching. She was graduated from
Genesee college at Lima, N. Y., in
June, 1857, and soon afterward was
appointed principal of the Lockport
union school. Four years afterward
she took charge of the Gainsville fe-
male seminary, where she taught un-
til she came to Owego in 1863. When
she left Owego she went to Washing-
ton, D. C, where she opened a school.
March 11, 1868, she was married to
Rev. Ezekiel Lockwood, a Baptist
minister, who was at one time chap-
lain of the Second District regiment
at Washington. Soon after her sec-
ond marriage she closed her school
and began the study of law. In the
winter of 1870 she applied for admis-
sion to the law school of Columbia
college at Washington, but was re-
fused on the ground that her presence
in the class "would distract the atten-
tion of the young men." The next
spring she was admitted to the Na-
tional University law school, from
which she was graduated in May, 1873.
in November of that year she was ad-
mitted to the bar of the supreme court
of the District of Columbia, and im-
663
mediately thereafter began the prac-
tice of law. In 1874 she visited Texas
jirofessionally and was admitted to
the United States court in the western
district. Her husband, Dr. Ivockwood,
died at Washington April 23, 1877. In
October, 1878, she applied for admis-
sion to the bar of the circuit court of
Prince George county, Maryland, and
was refused, although she had been
allowed previously to file a civil suit
in the federal court of Baltimore
county, involving $50,000. In Febru-
ary, 1879, congress passed an act,
which permitted women to practise in
the supreme court of the United
States, and on the 3d of the following
March her application to practise was
granted by the justices of the United
States court. Mrs. Lockwood was the
first woman permitted to practise be-
fore the highest tribunal in the coun-
try. Her first application had been
made three years previous and re-
fused on the ground that a fair inter-
pretation of the rules of the court ad-
mitted only men, and unless the cus-
tom should become more extended in
the states or special legislation should
be had on the subject it could i;oi be
done. In the national campaign of
1884 Mrs. Lockwood was the Woman's
Rights candidate for president of the
United States. In the summer of 189<i
Mrs. Lockwood and Mrs. Frances Gra-
ham French were appointed to repre-
sent the United States at the second
international congress of charities and
the second international congress for
the protection of children at Geneva,
Switzerland.
The old seminary lot was sold by
Charles Pumpelly's heirs in October,
1874, to Thomas I. Chatfield. The
664
back part of the lot at the main street
end had been sold several years pre-
vious to Daniel L. .Tenks and Frederick
E. Piatt and the houses built by them
still stand there. Mr. Chatfleld sold
the seminary lot in November, 1875, to
Mrs. Catherine B. Deming, w^ho in
April, 1878, sold part of it to Jefferson
C. Dwelle, who built on it the house
now owned by Howard J. Mead.
Th» First Burying Ground in Owego,
with a History of Evergreen Ceme-
tery, Which Was Established in
1851, and some Account of Sasana
Loft, the Indian Girl, Who Was
Killed in a Railroad Accident at De-
posit, and Whose Body Lies Burled
under a Marble Monument in the
Highest Part of the Cemetery, Over-
looking the Susquehanna Valley.
The first burying ground in this vil-
lage was at the southeast corner of
Main and Court streets and occupied
the land on which now stand the sher-
iff's residence and jail, the old Acad-
emy building, and the new county
clerk's office. Bodies had been pre-
viously buried at the southwest corner
of Main and Lake streets and near the
southeast corner of Main and Acad-
emy streets, but they were afterward
disinterred and buried in this burying
ground.
When the Presbyterian church prop-
erty was purchased a burying ground
was laid out at its east end in Temple
street. People who had friends buried
in the old burying ground caused the
bodies to be taken up and removed to
the new ground, and the Court street
property was abandoned as a burial
place.
665
The project for a village cemetery
was advocated and carried through in
1851 by William F. Warner, with some
opposition. Mr. Warner was at that
time clerk of the village board of
trustees.
The first action taken for the estab-
lishment of the cemetery was on Sat-
urday evening, March 8, 1851, at a
public meeting of citizens at the court
house, when resolutions were adopt xl
directing the village trustees to pur-
chase suitable land for a village bury-
ing ground and authorizing a tax of
$1,500 to be levied within three years,
for the purpose of paying for the land,
fencing it, and putting it in projier
condition.
There was a difference of opinion as
to where the cemetery should be loca-
ted, some of the people desiring that
it should be on level ground, others
favoring the present site on the hili
north of the village as the most de-
sirable, for the reason that the land
would never be needed for any other
purpose in case the village should
grow to any extent and would remain
undisturbed as a burying ground for
many years. The hill site was finally
selected.
In the spring of 1851 the village
trustees purchased of George Talcott
a piece of eleven and one-fifth acres
of land for |952, together with the
right of way for a road thereto. East
avenue, then known as "the mountain
road," was adopted as the road to the
cemetery for a distance of 70 rods, ax
which point a triangular course was
taken to the entrance to the cemetery,
a further distance of 56 rods, making
the entire distance from North avenue
666
130 rods. The road was at once laid
out sixteen feet wide.
Tne ground was surveyed in the
winter of 1851-2 by Stephen Dexter,
who laid it out into squares of four lots
each, with a walk on two sides of
each lot, and in March, 1852, it was
named Evergreen cemetery.
The first body buried in the ceme-
tery was that of Mrs. Frank Swift,
wife of Dan C. Swift, and daughter of
Gideon O. Chase. Mr. Chase went to
the cemetery and with his cane
marked in the snow the spot where
the grave was to be dug.
The first keeper of the cemetery
was Thomas P. Hall, who was ap-
pointed in March, 1852. In January,
1853, he was succeeded by Prince Van-
Ness, who was keeper until his death
in 1867.
The cemetery was enlarged by sub-
sequent purchases of land adjoining
the original plot. In August, 1864, Mr.
Talcott sold for $1,500 eleven acres
additional land. It was further en-
larged in December, 1888, by the pur-
chase for $135 an acre of a strip of
land 240 feet wide and containing ten
and one-half acres, north of and aa-
joining the cemetery. The next en-
largment was in January, 1897, when
a lot in the form of a trapezoid was
purchased for $200 of the heirs of
George Talcott. It was 50 feet wide
on North avenue, about 300 feet on the
cemetery line, and about 400 feet deep.
The land was purchased in order to
give people living in that part of the
village easy access to the cemetery.
Another addition to the cemetery was
made in January, 1902, when the prop-
erty of George Brown was sold at par-
tition sale. At this sale a piece con-
657
taining about sixteen acres adjoining
the cemetery was purcliased by the
village for $910 and added to tlae ceme-
tery.
The Sasana Loft Monument.
On the summit of the hill in the
southeastern part of the cemetery
stands the Sasana Loft monument,
erected to the memory of an Indian
girl, who was killed in a railroad acci-
dent in 1852 and whose body is buried
there.
The Lofts were Mohawk Indians of
unmixed blood, direct descendants of
the great Thayendanegea (lirant), and
they left Canajouarie, in the valley of
the Mohawk river, soon after the
breaking out of the revolutionar.\
war, and went to Canada West, where
they settled in what was known as the
Mohawk Woods, township of Thayen-
danegea, on the Salmon river.
The family consisted of a widowed
mother, a son, and three daughters.
The son, Rok-wa-ho Loft, and two of
his sisters, Ya-go-weia Loft and
Sa-sa-na Loft, leaving their mother
and eldest sister at their Canada
home, came to the United States, foi
the purpose of giving concerts, the
proceeds of which were to be used in
educating and christianizing the Mo-
hawk people.
The Lofts gave two concerts in Owe-
go in February, 1852, at which time
Sa-sa-na, the eldest of the two sisters,
was 21 years of age. While they were
here judge Charles P. Avery, who
was greatly interested in Indians and
Indian history, became particularly in-
terested in this family and entertained
them at his home.
After leaving Owego they went to
Deposit, where they gave a concert
66S
February 17. The following day the
sisters were seated in the rear car of
a train at the railroad station, while
the brother was buying tickets at the
office. An alarm was given that the
engineer of a freight train at the sum-
mit, eight miles back, had lost control
of his locomotive and had abandoned
his train, which was dashing down a
grade of sixty feet to the mile at ter-
rific speed toward the station. Most
of the passengers were in the station
dining room at dinner. The two sis-
ters made an effort to escape from the
car. Both reached the platform.
Ya-go-weia escaped, but Sa-sa-na fell
back upon the car, which was almost
entirely torn to pieces by the collision,
and she was crushed and scalded to
death.
.Judge Avery caused the body to be
brought back to his home in Owego,
and her funeral was held February 2(i
at St. Paul's church, Rev. James Wat-
son, the rector, officiating. Her body
was taken to the old Presbyterian
church yard in Temple street, where
it was deposited in the Avery family
vault. It was intended by the brother
to remove it in the following spring to
his home in Canada, but the family
was afterward prevailed upon to allow
it to be buried here in Kvergreen cem-
etery. There are persons still living
in Owego, who remember, when chil-
dren, walking in the procession from
the church to the church yard, and
have not forgotten the erect figure of
the bereaved brother, tall and thin,
dressed irt black, and with his long
black jet hair falling down over his
shoulders.
Two days before the funeral in
Owego the coroner's jury at Deposit
669
found a verdict censuring the New
York and Erie railroad company for
the accident. In the following April
judge Avery took out letters of ad-
uiinistration from the Broome county
court ill the estate of the deceased,
his object in this proceeding being to
obtain in behalf of the next of kin the
amount of damage which the statute
authorized and the circumstances of
the case rendered equitable. Judge
Avery gave his services free, as he
had previously given his hospitality.
The railroad compromised suit Sep-
tember 20, 1852, by paying to the In-
dian family $2,000, all of which amount
was afterward religiously expended in
the publication of useful books in the
Mohawk language for the education
and christianization of the Mohawk
people on the Canada reservation.
In May, 18.52, some of the ladies of
Owego originated a movement to ob-
tain funds by subscription, with which
to erect a monument to the Indian
girl. They did not accomplish any-
thing. In the fall of the same year
the ladies of Auburn, Albany, Bing-
hamton, and Oxford raised $109.75.
Two years later, March 24, 1854, judge
Avery, at the request of a committee
of gentlemen delivered a lecture at the
court house on "Tioga County and Its
Early History," to raise funds to finish
paying for the monument. The
amount realized from the lecture was
$34.2 (.
These amounts, with interest, in
May, 1855, amounted to $165.61. The
monument was erected that month at
a cost of $201.58, the difference being
afterward paid by the ladies of Owego.
The monument, which was worth at
ordinary prices from $350 to $400 was
670
famished at cost. It is a pure white
marble obelisk, standing seventeen
feet above the surface of the ground,
with bases of veined marble, on a sub-
base of blue granite fourteen inches
thick and three feet square, resting
on a pier of solid masonry, carried up
five feet from a rock foundation and
laid in cement. It overlooks the Sus-
quehanna valley, standing in full view
of the village on the highest point in
Evergreen cemetery. On the front or
obverse side are the words: In mem-
ory of Sa-sa-na Loft, an Indian
Maiden of the Mohawk Woods, Can-
ada West, who lost her life in the
Railroad Disaster at Deposit, N. Y.,
Feb. 18, 1852, aged 21 years." On the
reverse is a handsomely executed de-
vice — a single wild rose, with stem
broken and a leaf gone. On the west
side is this inscription: "By birth a
daughter of the Forest; by adoption
a child of God." The body of the In-
dian girl is buried at the foot of the
monument on the east side.
In 1852, a pamphlet was published
at Hamilton, Canada, which contained
among other things a poem by the
poet, W. H. C. Hosmer, entitled, "La-
ment of Sa-sa-na."
Owego and Oswego.
The similarity of the names, Owego
and Oswego, has always been a disad-
vantage to this village. The name of
Oswego.on account of Oswego's greater
size and prominence, being better
known, business men at Owego have
been as a consequence subjected to
frequent annoyance, expense, and loss,
on account of letters and goods having
l)een misdirected or missent to Os-
wego. For this reason there has been
671
at various times some talk of having
the name of Owego changed by legis-
lative enactment, but sufficient inter-
est has never been taken in the mat-
ter to bring about the desired change.
For some inscrutable reason some
of those who have been seriously in-
convenienced by the similarity in the
names have manifested opposition to
any change.when such change aas been
suggested.thinking perhaps that 
