USA > New York > Chenango County > Oxford > Annals of Oxford, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and early pioneers > Part 1
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M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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THE BOY OF 1856
THE LAD OF 1906
ANNALS
OF
OXFORD, NEW YORK
WITH
ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROM- INENT MEN AND EARLY PIONEERS
COMPILED, EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY HENRY J. GALPIN
OXFORD, N. Y. Times Book and Job Printing House. 1906
Copyright 1906 by HENRY J. GALPIN
All rights reserved
:
Preface. 1254239
'Tis pleasant to see one's name in print; A book's a book, although there's nothing in it .- Byron.
A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty guineas.
-De La Bruyere.
In collecting data for this volume it has been my leading aim as well as earnest desire to make it as accurate and useful as possible. For this purpose I have availed myself of the assist- ance of many of the descendants of the early pioneers of the town, to whom I hereby tender sincere thanks for the ready and efficient assistance conferred, and acknowledge my obligations.
Read straight along. A very vicious habit in reading is to flip the fly- ing pages till something succulent appears; and nab it, then wait until something else the eye engages. Like Mrs. Todgers when she boiled the chickens, as Bailey said, who'd seen her bend above 'em, "She's got a fork and dodgin' round and picking the tender pieces out and a-eating of 'em." -W. A. Croffut.
The accurate character of the contents of the book has, of course, been my chief object. But, after all, although I hope and believe that the book is free from serious error, I am quite aware that faults both of manner and matter will be discovered.
It's a strange thing-sometimes when I'm quite alone, sitting in my room with my eyes closed, or walking o'er the hills, the people I've seen and known, if it's only been for a few days, are brought before me and I see them look and move almost plainer than I ever did when they were really with me so as I could touch them. And then my heart is drawn out towards them, and I feel their lot as if it was my own .- George Eliot.
I've had my say out, and I shall be th' easier for 't all my life. There's no pleasure i' living if you're to be corked up forever, and only dribble your mind out by the sly, like a leaky barrel .- George Eliot.
" Here's my hand,
And mine, with my heart in't. And now farewell."
HENRY J. GALPIN.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/annalsofoxfordne00galp_0
Far from the gay cities and the ways of men .- Pope.
State --- County --- Town.
The Province of New York was divided into twelve counties November 1, 1683, and Albany county was the first civil division to which Chenango county belonged. Montgomery county, then called Tryon, was formed from Albany March 12, 1772; Herkimer, Otsego and Tioga counties were formed from Montgomery February 16, 1791 ; and March 15, 1798, Chenango county was erected from Herkimer and Tioga counties.
Chenango county is named from the river which flows centrally through it. In "Morgan's League of the Iro- quois," Chenango is called "O-che-wang." Another au- thority says the Indian name is "O-nan-no-gi-is-ka," meaning "beautiful river." But the true orthography for Chenango is "Tsenango," signifying "pleasant stream."
The territory embraced in Chenango county includes eleven of the "Chenango Twenty Towns, " or " Governor's Purchase," the " Gore," lying between these and the "Military Tract," a part of the " Chenango Triangle Tract," and several smaller tracts or sections.
The "Chenango Twenty Towns" were ceded to the State by the Oneida Indians in a treaty made by Governor George Clinton at Fort Schuyler, (Utica), September 22, 1788. At the organization of the county it included all of the twenty towns, but on the organization of Madison county, two tiers of townships upon the north were in- cluded in that county. These townships were originally
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
numbered from one to twenty and were laid out six miles square. Those numbered from seven to seventeen are now in Chenango.
Owing to the sinuosities of the Unadilla river, several gores were left along its banks. Each township was di- vided into four equal parts, as nearly square as possible, and afterwards into lots of 250 acres each. On the map of every township one lot was designated "Gospel " and one "School," which were reserved for religious and edu- cational purposes.
That part of the town of Oxford lying west of the river was called the "Gore." Melancthon Smith and Marinus Willett, the original purchasers, paid four shillings and one penny per acre for it, and divided it into sixty-nine lots, each lot containing one hundred acres. Guilford, that part of Oxford lying east of the river, and a small portion of Coventry, were included in "Fayette Town- ship."
The township of Fayette, from the western portion of which Oxford was formed, derived its name from that of the noble Marquis de LaFayette, a name held in grateful and loving remembrance by every true American. This township extended from the Unadilla river to the Che- nango, and from the south line of the "Twenty-Town- ships " to the present boundary of Coventry, having been one of the first tracts laid out and surveyed after the war of the Revolution. It was sold at public auction in New York in lots a mile square.
January 19, 1793, the township of Fayette and the "Gore" before mentioned, were incorporated into the town of Oxford, and formed from Union, Broome county, and Jericho, (Bainbridge). At this time the town was in the county of Tioga.
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
In 1813 the town of Eastern (Guilford), was set off as a town from Oxford, and a part of Coventry was taken off in 1843. In 1822 a small tract from the town of Greene was annexed to Oxford.
As it has been previously stated the town was formed in January 1793, but the citizens failed to hold a town meeting in April and the following record is the first ap- pearing on the town book :
Whereas the town of Oxford for the want of seasonable information of their being incorporated into a Town separate from the Town of Jericho they did neglect to hold a legal annual Townmeeting on the first Tuesday in April one thousand seven hundred and ninety three as the Law of this State for holding Town meetings directs, in consequence of which agreeable to an act of this State passed the seventh day of March in the year 1788 Assembled at the house of Benjamin Hovey in said Oxford on the 17th June 1793 William Guthree, Hezekiah Stowel and Joab Enos all Justices of the peace in and for the County of Tioga and then and there on the same day by Warrants under their hands and Seals agreeable to the aforesaid Act did constitute and appoint the following persons to officiate in the offices affiix'd to their several names for the year ensuing. Viz-
Benjamin Hovey-Supervisor.
James Phelps Ebenezer Enos John Fitch
Assessors.
Zachariah Lummis-Collector.
Peter Burgot
Joshua Mersereau $ Poormasters.
James Phelps
Asa Holmes
Commiss's Highways.
Nathanel Locke
Abel Gibson
James Mitchel 1
Constables.
And gave Warrants under their hands and Seals (after being duly -worn) which are lodg'd in the Town Clerks office all of which is according to the Directions of the aforesaid act.
Elihu Murray, Clerk.
Att the Same place and on the Same day and by the Same Justices the Rodes were divided into Destricts as follows (Viz)
Ist Destrict from the South line of Joshua Mersereaus Land up the Una- dilla River to John Blandens North line.
Second Destrict from thence to the North line of the Town,
3d District from the aforesaid rode to Daniel Sills North line and from thence by Daniel Savages to the State road.
4th Destrict from Mersereaus Mills to Joseph Adams.
5th Destrict from Adams to William Gordons.
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
6th Destrict from Adams to the Chenango River on the State rode and from there thence to Joab Enoses.
7th Destrict from Enoses to Daniel Sills.
8th Destrict on the West Side of the Chenango River Beginning at the north bounds of the Town and Running thence Down Said River to John Holmes and out the State rode as far as the Town extends.
9th Destrict from John Holmes to the South bounds of the town.
The Pathmasters who at the Same time and place were appointed by the Same Justices and Warrants Lodged in the Town office are as follows (Viz)
Ist Destrict Isaac Fuller
2 Do Able Gibson
3 Do - Daniel Gregory
4 Do Joseph Adams
5
Do William Gordon
7
6 Destrict James McCalpin
Do Thomas Lyon
8 Do - Solomon Dodge
9 Do Petters Barttles
A True Coppy
Elihu Murray Clerk
Gen. Robert Morris of the Revolutionary army, like many of the government officers, was obliged to take his pay in land. A section belonging to the government in Otsego county was set off to him, comprising the present town of Morris, which derives its name from him ; but as this failed to satisfy his claim, another mile square owned by the government in Chenango county, was as- signed to him. This and adjoining sections are in East Oxford and Guilford, but at that time were all in Oxford. The Morris section was divided into three lots in the south half and four in the north half. The first settlers, begin- ning from the east, were Joshua Harrington, Hezekiah and Henry Wheeler, and John Harrington. North half from the east, were Nehemiah Wheeler, Nicholas Smith, Henry Wheeler and Joshua Harrington. The two last did not settle on the lots, but merely "occupied " them for many years.
The section east of the Morris was purchased by Roger Williams, and besides himself the east half was settled by Ira Wade, Ebenezer Root, and Theodore Wade. The north half by - - Gross, Arnold Wade, and George Dex- ter. The section south of the Williams lot was called the
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
Gospel Hill lot and settled by Asa, Hezekiah and John Sherwood, Aaron and Joel Root, Timothy Guy, James Nickerson, and Richard VanDusen, and a little later by Hawley Brant, T. L. Day and Joel Coe.
The section lying south of the Williams, was purchased by a man named Estes, and by him was willed to the town of Guilford.
The section south of the Morris, was settled by Anson Booth and Lambert Ingersoll, south half by Robert Brooks- bank, James Padgett, and James Walker a little farther west.
The section west, one mile square, was owned by men in Albany named Quackenboss. One lot of 100 acres was sold at an early date to Enoch Smith, who lived and died there. The rest of this section remained wild a long time.
The mile square next north of the Morris section, was bought by Gerrit H. Van Wagenen for six pence an acre.
D R. CHARLES JOSLYN came here in 1805 from But- ternuts, Otsego county, and after practicing a few years removed to Greene. Drs. - Harrison and Isaac F. Thomas were also physicians who located here early in the town's history, but nothing more in regard to them is known.
The expenses of the town for the year 1799 were :
For defraying County charges $193.81
" Wolves 30.00
" Collector's & Treasurer's fees 18.00
89.43
" Schooling Total 331.24
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This fond attachment to the well-known place Where first we started in life's long race, Maintains its hold with such unfailing sway, We feel it e'en in age, and at our latest day.
-COWPER. -
The Village of Oxford.
The valley of the Chenango is one of the finest in the State and apparently formed by the action of large cur- rents of water which have plowed deep furrows in the gently rolling region, which probably once formed the general face of the country.
. The village of Oxford, incorporated April 6, 1806, is lo- cated in one of the most charmingly developed farming dis- tricts in Chenango county, and lies in a narrow valley close- ly hemmed in by green rounded hills whose contour clearly betrays the glacial action of past ages. Fields under care- ful cultivation and meadows on which graze large herds of cattle, with here and there a wood lot, make a picture soft in coloring and one rarely seen. The Chenango river winds like a silver thread through the meadows and di- vides the village in two parts, adding additional beauty to the scene. The residential part of the village is a park in itself. A greater part of the dwellers in this " Peaceful Val- ley " own their own residences, practically all of which are surrounded by plots of land of various sizes. The lawns are well cared for and many of them contain fine old trees, which together with the avenues of trees on the streets form almost a continuous canopy over one of the oldest settlements in the county. Three parks, like emeralds, add lustre to the surrounding buildings, many of which are colonial in design and arranged in charming simplicity, formal but not stiff.
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21 11.
H
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NAVY ISLAND IN 1872
"ON THE OLD CHENANGO"
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
The advantage of pure and wholesome water for domes- tic purposes is of immense consequence, both for the con- venience and health of a community. In this particular the village possesses decided advantages and perhaps is unrivalled in the State. On the eastern and western range of hills within a short distance of the village issue a great number of springs, which before the system of water works was inaugurated, were readily conveyed by logs or pipes to the dwellings. Several of these springs are large and they afforded the year around an abundance of soft water, free from any impurity.
Ah! you might wander far and wide, Nor find a spot in the country's side So fair to see as our valley's pride ! -PHOEBE CARY.
Elijah Blackman.
The year 1788 had donned the autumnal tints when, after many weary days from following a beckoning For- tune, Elijah Blackman was led over hill and dale into an uncultivated valley of giant trees. He was the first of his race to make a settlement in Oxford, then a new and un- known section of country, whose soil was now to be re- deemed by hard and persistent labor, though not without many privations.
He had brought with him a stout heart and a good gun, and had journeyed long enough to enable him to learn much in regard to woodcraft, which knowledge coupled with a fine natural intelligence was to be of great service to him in the future. At length, after an extensive in-
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
vestigation, he fixed upon one particular spot as the place suitable for his future home. Nestling at the foot of the eastern hill was an island, later known as Packer or Cork island, whose borders were washed by the clear rippling waters of the Chenango.
Elijah Blackman, well pleased with the situation, pro- ceeded to mark the land for his own, and ascending a tree took a hatchet from his belt with which he struck lusty blows that were heard to the green and golden hills on the further side, and the falling chips dropped to the ground as a symbol of the beginning of civilization, and the de- parture of the Indian, whose lands were now passing rapid- ly into the hands of the pale face. After marking several trees in the vicinity in a way that he could not fail to recognize them, he took his bearings and departed, the season being autumn and unfavorable for immediate set- tlement.
Early in the spring of 1789, Elijah Blackman and fami- ly, accompanied by James Phelps, whose mind had been inflamed by the description of the land spied out, were en route from Connecticut to the then far away "Chenango country " to make a home.
On account of sickness a portion of the family were de- tained at Unadilla, but Elijah and Jabez, Blackman's sons, accompanied by Polly Knapp, an adopted daughter, and then only a child of eleven years, were sent on. The journey from Unadilla was of two days' length, tedious and made on an ox sled. To the three as they approached the Chenango valley from the east, the silvery stream of the river flowing through the uncounted acres of the for- est was a striking feature of the scene; and the ancient vestiges of the old fortification indicated a time when strife asserted itself in the peaceful domain they were entering.
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
Undaunted they set forth courageously to work in the for- est of giant growth and having made a sufficient clearing the brothers erected a rude cabin of logs, covered it with pealed elm bark, and floored it with the halves of split logs. Greased paper answered the purposes of a window, and a suspended blanket answered for a door, until one could be made of hewed planks fastened together with wooden pins, and hung upon hinges of the same material. A chimney made of rough stones was added, laid up in mud from a nearby bed of clay.
For two weeks Polly Knapp was the first and only white female in town. She enlivened the rude cabin by her presence and aid. One day as Elijah and Jabez were at some distance from their clearing she saw thirty Indians come down the river in canoes. Concealing herself within the forest on the eastern shore, she followed and saw them stop to view the old fort and then quietly sail away.
The little island on which the Blackman family had squatted had previously been bought by Benjamin Hovey, who, when he came on later to take possession, gave them in consideration of the improvements made, a piece of land, a mile and a half up the river. On this Blackman resided till his death, which occurred about the year 1825.
James Phelps remained a few years and then returned to Connecticut.
Elijah Blackman, Jr., removed from the town in 1813. Jabez Blackman married Hannah Trisket, whose father was also an early settler. He lived on forty-two acres of the homestead farm given him by his father, until his death, which occurred January 17, 1849, at the age of 77 years. The original farm is now occupied by Mrs. Wil- liam F. Nevins, who inherited it from her grandfather, Lawson Blackman, who was a grandson of Elijah Black- man, Sr.
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Soon a small stream of new-comers began to filter, family by family, over the hills and up the Chenango, and in a few years the settlement of the town had become an ac- complished fact. Toil, taxes, trouble, in short civilization.
Often at night wolves were howling around these prim- itive homes set great distances apart in the valley. The aborigines, who according to a learned writer, are "the posterity of our great-grandfather Japhet," found them- selves obliged to tolerate a branch of their family giving good presumptive proof of being relatives in their willing- ness, even stern determination, to share the family inher- itance. The pioneers were soon very widely known and respected as brave men and mighty hunters, whom it would be a positive pleasure to scalp.
Art thou a man? a patriot? look around ; Oh, thou shall find, howe'er thy footsteps roam, That land thy country, and that spot thy home. -J. MONTGOMERY.
Pioneer Life.
The life of the pioneer was beset with hardship and dangers. Many a young man emigrated from the eastern states to this town with only an axe, gun, a few shillings in money, but best of all, a stout heart. Some would come on with an ox cart accompanied by wife and children, the spare room in the cart piled with a few household goods. The first work after the erection of the house, was to clear the land, raise corn, potatoes and a little rye. Wheat bread was a luxury and seldom seen in the pio- neer's cabin. But in the meantime while the first crops
-
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-
were growing fish and wild game were the main sustenance. In the winter if the pioneer owned cattle they were fed on browse, that of basswood being the most luxuriant. Some- times the store of provisions would run short, as was the case of a hardy settler one spring, who was forced to go down the river in a canoe for supplies, and when fonnd had to work to pay for them, thus delaying his return to his family, who had been forced to dig up the potatoes they had planted to sustain life.
Deer were abundant and furnished the settler with meat, their skins were made into household garments, and the tallow furnished candles. When that gave out the " fat pine " was brought into requisition. Pitch pine and tapers in a dish of grease served for light until candles were invented.
The first matches appeared in 1832, before which fire was obtained by borrowing, or by flint and steel, and punk gathered from decayed trees. The best from the beech, although a poorer quality could be got from other trees, and every family kept a supply on hand.
The river and smaller streams abounded in fish, and with the abundant supply of game there was small chance of starvation while the husbandman was at home.
The lack of a mill was a great deprivation and varied were the devices for overcoming it. The more common way was to pound the corn for bread with a pestle and mortar, the latter being a cavity burned or scraped out of a hard wood stump, and the former a large stone or heavy iron suspended by a rope from a bent sappling. The process was slow and tedious, it being a day's work to con- vert a bushel of corn into meal. Sometimes the grain would be boiled and eaten with milk, or hulled, until they could go to mill, the distance of which was a great incon-
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
venience and a tedious journey. They had no wagons, nor had they any roads suitable for them. If distant from the river, they would place the grain upon a horse and take it to the bank of the stream, float it on a light boat twenty-five miles to Chenango Forks, where then was the only mill in a circuit of miles. Often the husbandman had to wait for others before he could get his flour, then returning home the journey would occupy three or four days. The children at home were often put upon so short an allowance as to cry for food. The trip at times was perilous, and around the log fire furnished detail of ad- venture, or narrow escape from flood or beast of prey.
Others went to Wattles Ferry at the outlet of Otsego lake, forty miles away, for their grinding, and their meal was often lengthened out by such makeshifts as hulled corn, stewed peas, beans and succotash.
Peter Burghardt, of whom mention is made elsewhere, was the first to erect a mill in this town, which was dur- ing the summer of 1792, on Hovey's creek, one and a half mile west from the village.
When a new settler arrived in town he was hailed with interest, especially if he had a yoke of oxen and a fam- ily of boys and girls. The neighbors were invited to help him erect a cabin, and at a stated time met in a logging - bee, felled the trees and hauled the logs to the spot selected. In the " Chenango country " where the growth of timber was large a logging bee became a necessity. The heavy labor of cutting the timber was reduced to the minimum. The trees were cut half through, on one side, and when a long line of them had been prepared the great trees at the end were sent crashing down upon the first line and that upon the next, until the entire sweep lay in a mass on the ground. The additonal work of preparing for the bee was simply making the trunks of proper size for the cabin and
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ANNALS OF OXFORD
for the teams to handle them. Then came the day and the work. Twenty-five or thirty men, with as many yokes of oxen were often present on such an occasion. Shouting and hauling, tumbling and rolling of logs, and striking feats of skill and strength were marked features of the bee. Massive piles of timber were raised, great windrows, sometimes several hundred feet in length. Each man be- lieved in himself and in hisoxen, and the boasting, chinked in during the resting spells, had no littleness in its make- up. When the work was done the men regaled themselves with coffee, doughnuts, bread, cake, and not infrequently the drink was flavored with something stronger than coffee. Sallies of wit marked the occasion, and appetites kept pace with the wit.
In building the cabin two of the largest logs are placed in position with ends fitted to receive two more, and the foundation is laid. Another tier of logs is placed upon these similarly locked at the ends, a saddle upon one and a notch or skapp to put it in the other. This brings the logs near enough to each other so that a little chinking and a little " mudding up " once a year made all tight and warm. As the walls grew higher the work of rolling up the green logs grew more difficult. A boy was kept busy carrying drink to the men, water in one hand and whisky in the other, in little kegs; the former holding two gallons and the latter one. By sundown the body of the house, with timbers placed in position for the sleepers and beams, was completed. Next day a roof and gables of boards and slabs if they could be obtained were added; if not, elm bark dried in the sun made a convenient roof for shedding rain. The bottom course was placed on bars laid trans- versely with the rafters and other pieces of barks on these, the rough side up. The whole was kept in position by poles laid across. A floor for the cabin was made of rough
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