USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. I > Part 39
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The affairs of the Steuben bank are well looked after by Cashier Etz, whose financial education was derived from his em- ployment in the First National Bank of Hornell, while super- vised by Mr. Martin Adsit and Assistant Cashier Pittinger, the apt and observant pupil of Hon. Francis G. Babcock, not only in the Bank of Hornellsville, but in connection with his many large, varied and successful enterprises.
OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
At Canisteo Mortimer Allison operated, with his brothers as copartners, a private bank of good reputation, until about twenty years ago, when, by reason of serious business misfortunes, this firm was compelled to make an assignment and to suspend busi- ness. Within the last ten years a bank was organized under the state laws by the name of the First State Bank of Canisteo, with a capital of $25,000 and with Leslie Whiting as president. It is still in active operation. After the close of Allison's bank and be- fore the opening of the First State Bank, one or two private bank- ing concerns started in business, but met with indifferent success and suspended.
The Addison Bank was chartered under the laws of this state in 1856 by William R. Smith as president and Charles H. Henderson as cashier; but about the beginning of the troublous times of 1861 the charter was surrendered. Lattimer and Winton, in 1867, purchased the interest of this bank and the building on the north side of the river. In 1873 they erected, at a cost of $10,000, a fine fire-proof building on Tuscarora street, but the busi- ness was closed by the death of Mr. Lattimer.
In 1874 James Baldwin and Charles D. Williams, as co- partners, began a banking business under the firm name of Bald- win and Williams, bankers. They erected a building specially adopted to their business, with a very large and fire-proof vault, large windows and spacious apartments; altogether, one of the
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most commodious and well-appointed banking offices in this part of the state. By the death of Mr. James Baldwin, the affairs of this bank became embarrassed and are now understood to be a subject of investigation by the courts. Mr. Williams was suc- ceeded by Col. Henry Baldwin and Mrs. Sarah Wetherby, both now dead; thereby adding to the complications.
The First National Bank of Addison was opened before the close of the other banks of that place, and is now in active opera- tion, with the full confidence of the entire business community.
The Bank of Cayuga Lake started at Ithaca, New York, in September, 1847, with a capital of $10,000, was thereafter pur- chased by Cephas F. Platt, who removed it to the village of Painted Post in 1851, and increased its capital to $50,000. Its issue of bills amounted to $70,000. A brick building was erected for its use, which in 1872 became the property of William C. Bronson, who re-organized the business as the Bronson National Bank. He thus continued "it until his removal from the village, when the bank again changed hands and afterward wound up its affairs and discontinued business.
Hon. George R. Sutherland is the principal owner of an in- dividual bank at the village of Campbell. It has maintained a good reputation as a safe and well conducted institution and has the confidence of all. Mr. Campbell is also connected with a similar business in Wall street, New York.
Hammondsport, in the town of Urbana, for a few years had the advantage of two banks; within the last two years one has been. discontinued. The Bank of Hammondsport has been in business since about 1876, during all this period maintaining a good reputation in its line. Known as the Bank of Hammonds- port, it was begun by H. C. Ainsworth, who had a like business at Prattsburg. In 1894 the business was sold to John J. Frey, who still continues it and maintains its good standing.
The C. P. Smith Bank was established in 1861 at Prattsburg, and is an old, reliable and well established institution, having the confidence of the inhabitants of the wide-awake and wealthy sur- rounding country. It is now called the Bank of. Prattsburg, with capital of $30,000.
The banking business of W. F. McLean was founded in 1880, with a capital of $25,000, and maintains a good reputation for worthy accommodation and honest dealings. The banks at Pratts- burg have done much to establish and keep the solid reputation and credit of its business men.
The First National Bank of Wayland has been in existence about five years. It has established a character for strength and ability to fully meet the requirements of the thriving and growing village in which it is located. It is in the ownership and control of people of ability, capital and integrity.
Avoca now has an institution called the Bank of Avoca, witlı a capital stock, surplus and undivided profits of over $12,000, and has the reputation of a well-managed and prosperous concern, growing in the confidence and patronage of the inhabitants.
Greenwood has a bank with $25,000 capital and organized within two years, under the national banking laws, called the First National Bank of Greenwood.
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GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
In this brief review of the history of the banking business in the county of Steuben, the wrecks are more frequent than a carefully guarded system of existence and management should permit, as the loss usually falls on those who have relied upon fair promises and a larger rate of interest than can with safety be paid. It is not good banking to operate a concern unless the banker has sufficient means of his own unincumbered, to meet the demands of his deposits on call. Banking should never be un- dertaken or carried on with the funds of depositors, as they do not knowingly provide funds to run a bank. If interest on de- posits were not allowed by banks of circulation or by the broker, or the adventurer, or wild-cat banker, there would be less of failure and loss and crime. Banks for savings are created by law for persons who desire to deposit money for interest, however low, and if properly supervised and inspected are safe under drastic penalties and punishments.
The person who deposits money expecting to get an inade- quate sum for interest, without certainly knowing that the re- ceiver can pay at call, is as blameable as the person who has mis- applied the money, and is just as culpable as though he had bought a lottery ticket or invested in any chance venture. The postal savings bank, when thoroughly established, with the parcels post system, will largely remedy many misfortunes and short-comings due to the cupidity, ignorance and wrongdoing of both the shark and his victim. What has been observed in the annals of this county is equally true of all places and communities, and ever has been since the transfer of the birth-right for a mess of pottage, the transactions on the Rialto, and the wild, mad scramble in the bull-ring on Wall street, or the wheat pit of Chicago.
The person who intrusts any individual or institution with his money, without adequate security for its due return, and so loses it, is entitled to no more sympathy from his fellows, than if it had vanished at the gambling table or in a lottery scheme.
CHAPTER XV.
MANUFACTURES AND PRODUCTS.
THE HAND MILL AND LOOM -- PRIMITIVE ARTISANS-INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION-CHANGES FOR THE BETTER-THE GLASS INDUSTRY -GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING-AERIAL NAVIGATION-OBJECT LESSON TAUGHT.
The first settlers of Steuben county were the first manufac- turers; nothing but the raw material was found. The wild animals, birds and fishes provided the first food for their sustenance. They had brought with them the trusty musket and the fishing tackle, and with these supplied themselves with animal food. Scant stores of meal and flour, brought with them, were used with a miser's care. In some instances the emigrants drove along the streams work-cattle and cows, while the women and children, with the meagre supply of household furnishings came in by flat boats or scows, towed or poled up the streams, for the Painted Post country was mainly settled by people from the south or east. The cows supplied milk, from which occasionally a little taste of butter was made in the primitive way, by the energetic, indus- trious and ever-contriving women. Corn, potatoes, roots and squashes were obtained from the Indians, raised from seeds orig- inally furnished by the Jesuit missionaries.
THE HAND MILL AND LOOM.
The corn was converted into meal, at the mortar mill; the latter made after the Indian manner by cutting the top of a stump smoothly and burning out a cavity in the center of a half- bushel capacity. Into this was poured the corn, after it had been shelled and dried, and a spring pole was erected, to which was attached a pestle of thoroughly dried wood, usually oak or hick- ory, weighing from twenty to fifty pounds. With this mill and one person to churn the spring pole and pestle, it was not a hard task to convert several bushels of grain into meal, from which bread, cakes and puddings were made. This, with animal fats, wild honey, maple syrup and occasionally butter, made a satisfying repast. This was the pioneer mill, to be afterward succeeded by the mills of McClure and Cook at Bath; Hon. Stephen T. Hayt, at Corning; Wombaugh, at Addison; Hornell, at Hornellsville, and Goff, in Howard.
It is not a far cry from the stump mills of the pioneer to Vol. I-19
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those at Rochester, New York, or Minneapolis, Minnesota. Men living have seen each; only a span from the past to the present. The early settler, in addition to making his breadstuffs, made his clothing and shoes. Flax was cultivated, and made into cloth, before sheep could be safely kept and cared for, because of the free-booting wild animals particularly, and notably the despised wolf.
Flax was raised, rotted and put through the brake; then combed, hetcheled or heckeled, and spun into thread on the "Lit- tle" or flax wheel; then prepared for the rude loom; by it woven into cloth, and then made into the various garments and articles required in every family.
When sheep could safely be raised and kept, another source of comfort and wealth was provided. The fleece was sheared from the sheep, washed and cleaned, and with hand-cards made into rolls; that was before carding machines were built in this country. These rolls were spun into thread or yarn on the great wheel, and when the spindle was full it was taken off on a reel. Eighty rounds of the reel were, after the English (Essex) rule, called a knot, or ten skeins; forty knots were called a day's work for the woman at the wheel. Our foremothers did this day after day; how many of their sex, descendants of the present day, can equal this task? Then the yarn was put into the loom and the foremother could tell to a certainty how many yards of cloth her knots of yarn would make. It would be rare indeed, now, to find the woman who could solve the inquiry, no matter how many regents' certificates, teachers' qualifications or college degrees she possessed. "Which of them twain did the Master's work?"
The sheep, when slaughtered by the owner, produced the pelt and most excellent meat; the skin, when dressed and tanned, was used for clothing and shoes, and the tallow made candles, a luxury for the long evenings.
PRIMITIVE ARTISANS.
The tailor with his tools, and the shoemaker with his kit came to the homes of the people, making the shoe pegs and waxed thread or "waxed ends." The tailor, with his shears, needles and yard-measure, out of the cloth made, as before described, clothing for the family in the latest style. These two artisans, in their itiner- ancy, were said to be "whipping the cat."
The blacksmith was one important factor in the early manu- factories. He made and jumped the nine-pound axes, iron wedges, iron chains, land-hooks, forks, hoes and plows-and frequently domestic cutlery. The blacksmith shop was not always in those days, "under the shade of the spreading chestnut tree." Yet it was a popular and much frequented place, a sort of clearing house for the news, stories and lies of the locality.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION.
The manufacturer of lumber and shingles soon absorbed tlie attention of the larger part of the people. The building of saw- mills for converting the pine trees into lumber, and constructing rafts and arks became the principal business. Grist mills, factories, carding and cloth-dressing mills, distilleries and tanneries, sprung
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up all over the country, wherever there was a stream with fall enough to turn a wheel. Much more attention was then given to the conservation of the energies of the stream than now. Now nothing remains of these industries but the charred evidences of their de- struction by fire; abandoned and decaying buildings, remnants of dams and races that stored and conveyed the water of the streams to aid man in these primitive manufactures.
Before the beginning of the present century mills of all de- scriptions were found on every considerable stream. "Going to mill" was then one of the principal events of life; now it is not heard of. Buildings of wood are now constructed of lumber from the forests of the Rocky mountain country, the Pacific coast and the Gulf states. Flour now comes from the region of the forty- ninth parallel, west of Lake Superior. Shoes come to us from about the Massachusetts bay, made from leather that was but a short while before on the backs of the long horns in Argentina and Bra- zil. Extensive shoe factories were in operation in Hornell, Can- isteo, Addison, Corning and Bath. At each of these places were large tanneries, which turned out a superior quality of leather for all purposes, and whose owners waxed and grew fat. In their days of prosperity they did not generally see the coming change -- the advent of superior machinery, by which one machine could do the work of many men and women, and the leather supply becom- ing unprofitable because the materials, hides and bark had to be transported such a long distance that it was for the interest of all concerned to have the manufactories nearer the base of supplies.
The making of cloth became radically changed. The wool from the sheep was sent away to the large woolen factories and the hand cards, carding and cloth-dressing mills disappeared. In the place of the homespun cloth came the fabric, much quicker and finer finished, from the great makers. The distillery was frequently the twin manufactory with the grist mill, but both have nearly dis- appeared. Yet food and drink are easily available to all. Buck- wheat flouring mills and breweries are thriving. Wagon and car- riage building was extensively carried on in Bath, Hammondsport, Addison and Hornellsville; now the business is abandoned. The shoe factory has become the cobbler's shop; the busheler is in the shop of the garmentmaker. The blacksmith's anvil is silent-only ashes in the forge; the shop deserted except when horseshoeing is required or a tire setting is necessary: The occupation of the son of Vulcan is surely dwindling.
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.
In Bath, Urbana, Wheeler, Cohocton, Howard, Hornellsville, Canisteo, Greenwood, Troupsburg, Addison, Corning, Bradford and other towns factories for the preparation and manufacture of wool- en fabrics were established and prospered. Now not one is in ex- istence. In Hornellsville, in recent years, were large carriage and agricultural implement factories, shoe shops, tanneries, wire and fencing factories, flouring mills, printing plants and other indus- tries. The rise, decline and fall of these enterprises must not be considered as a retrogression of business at this place, as a slight enumeration will show. The wealth and energy applied to them with good judgment and foresight have been turned into other
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channels of industry and prosperity. For instance, there has been established one of the largest plants in the country for the manu- facture of doors, sash, blinds, cornices, stair and balcony rails, spindles, newel posts, veneers and all styles of wood adornments. Large quantities of this unexcelled output are daily shipped to all parts of the world-notably to Europe, South America, Asia, Aus- tralia, New Zealand and South Africa. The raw material comes from the mountain and gulf states, the Pacific coast and Canada. At Hornellsville have also been founded large mills and factories for the making of all varieties of silk goods, fabrics, dress goods and wearing apparel. The cocoons from Europe and the far east are here converted into the superior, beautiful and costly fabrics for which the locality is now famed. The six large factories de- voted to these purposes are equipped with the latest improved, in- tricate and almost intelligent mechanism, attended by skilled and faithful operatives counted by hundreds, and make Hornellsville the largest silk manufacturing center in the state of New York and one of the largest in the Union. Instead of the flocks of sheep supplying the material for the work of the factory the repulsive silk worm provides the raw material.
In former years the cabinet shop turned out the furniture for public and private use, made the coffins in which the remains of the rude forefathers of the hamlet rest, and supplied the solemn undertaker and funeral director, who sometimes displayed all the ;wit, gravity and wisdom of the grave diggers in "Hamlet." Now in place of the cabinet maker a large factory makes and sends all over the nation its furniture for the use of dwellings and public ;places, except what is made in the prisons of the state by their unfortunate inmates. The final caskets are made by machinery, supplied to the undertaker, whose style, gait and garb betrays his occupation.
Vehicle making was an extensive occupation in nearly every town; the desire of the people was to be on wheels, from the rude ox-cart with two wheels, made from sections of an oak log with hole in each for the axle and a tongue attached to the axle, the whole surmounted with a rude box or rack, to the vehicle of fifty years later, the pride of the well-to-do, and the envy of the less for- tunate. The Concord wagon, with its seats on wooden springs to break the jolts and jars of the new and rough roads, was used by the majority. The heavy lumber wagon was employed for bulky material, or, with boards placed crosswise with the box, filled with both sexes, young and old, bound for camp meetings, general train- .ing and circuses and political meetings. The stage coach, or dili- gence, drawn by four horses, the driver seated high up in front with his long-lashed whip and horn, was the envy of the beaux .and the admiration of the belles of all the countryside as it dashed : into town, Jehu blowing his horn and skillfully flourishing his lash with a report rivalling that of a modern dynamite cracker; the coach filled with travelers of both sexes, arrayed in garb and ·style that surprised the rustics; the boot filled with baggage and the rumble with the servants. The driver, with a skill and pre- .cision that would be a credit to a charioteer of old, would describe a circle, his four horses panting, foaming and champing their bits, draw up in front of the country tavern stocked with good cheer.
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To greet the daily arrival of the stages from the east and from the west, on the front steps stood the stout, jolly-faced tavern- keeper, swinging his ponderous bell for the midday meal, which plainly said, "roast beef, chicken pie and coffee"; not the tinkle of the little bell that summoned the last morning meal, saying equally as plain, "codfish and 'taters." The pleasure carriage and the family wagon were the product of later years. The occupations and enterprises that produced them are now silent. The stage coach and diligence have gone west, following manifest destiny. The railway coach is now the vehicle. The generously provided tavern, which the tired and famished traveler, like St. Paul, was thankful to find, is now gone to decay and ruin, or is the resort of the local lounger and occasional wayfarer. The automobile has displaced the' family carriage and pleasure wagon; manufacturers have now oth- er employments.
Canisteo, Addison, Erwin, Campbell, Bath, Urbana, Avoca and Cohocton, during the last fifty years of the immediate preceding century, had thriving industries that are now generally closed- owing to financial mismanagement, depression, scarcity of raw ma- terials, expense of transportation, fires and competition of the manu- factories in more wealthy and favored localities. But all of this does not indicate stagnation or decrease in the aggregate volume of the manufacturing interests of the county. The energy and capital are now employed in another and modern direction and way.
The iron and allied mills and shops in the town of Erwin em- ploy more hands and capital than ever before, the demand for the output is on a more lasting basis and promise than could be expected from the lumber mills. The industries of Addison, while not so large individually; are more numerous, employ more labor and disburse more money than in the past. Both are now junction points for prosperous local railroads, depending on a prosperous country along their lines, rich in agricultural products, petroleum, lumber and coal-all present and future sources of prosperity. Wayland has extensive deposits of clay, shale and marine remains, from which superior cement is made at a large factory, with the best of shipping facilities, employing labor and capital aggregat- ing more in volume than was formerly required in all of the upper Conhocton valley. At Bath a new and modern industry is firmly established, running continuously night and day, and devoted to the building of motors for the employment of petroleum products and electricity, far beyond the endurance and speed of the finest blooded Virginia horses. Could the ancient dwellers of that beau- tiful and cultured vale, whether plebeian or patrician, array the machine against the animal, and note results-"the world do move" would be the conclusion.
THE GLASS INDUSTRY.
The glass industry at Corning in all of its varied branches is probably superior to any of its kind in this state, if not in the nation. It was established in 1868; several acres of ground are covered with large and well-built fireproof buildings, with ten or twelve stacks; and the manufacture gives employment to numerous skilled and well-paid workmen. Largely dependent on the glass
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works at this place are also large investments in shops, factories and studios, which are devoted to the wonderful art and skill of glass finishing, cutting and engraving. Here more than one hun- dred and fifty skilled hands and operatives are employed, each a master in the line of his occupation, with the delicate touch, skill and taste in form and color possessed by only those artists who are among the finest in the world. All the fine engraving for silver- ware and silver and gold plated articles is done here. The fine and much-admired cut and engraved glass was made here for and is still used in the White House at Washington. At Corning are also made, finished and embellished delicate decanters, pitchers and wine and champagne goblets and glasses. A drink of pure cold water from the gourd shell dipped from the spring at the old cabin home, or from the old oaken bucket that hangs in the well, may be more invigorating and satisfying, but the beauty and delicacy which al- ways indicates high grade cultivation and intelligence are wanting.
The great railroad shops at Hornellsville and Corning are factories and repair shops where, instead of the skill, tools and main strength of the artizan and mechanic, the energy of electricity and steam amplify his work. Cranes operated by these energies, never hesitating, indolent or lazy, pick up and carry a one hundred ton locomotive engine twenty rods, if necessary, with more certainty than a boy would carry an empty dressing case the same number of feet, and where iron flails and trip-hammers convert a bloom into sheet iron or boiler plate, or without injury crush a hickory nut held between the thumb and finger, so thoroughly are these agents under man's control.
GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING.
The steep sidehills of the towns of Pulteney, Urbana and Wayne, adjoining Lake Keuka, were thought by the people having knowledge and experience on the matter to be admirably adapted to the culture of grapes. About 1835 a few cuttings of the catawba and Isabella varieties of grapes were planted on the steep bank of the lake in the town of Pulteney. These did so well that each year thereafter more cuttings were planted. This pioneer in the grape culture, Mr. J. W. Prentiss, continued this practice from year to year until he had a vineyard of three acres. A few years later some German immigrants, who had experience and knowledge of grape culture, planted on a more liberal scale. They were emi- nently successful. Others took up the culture, so that it was found difficult to find markets for the immense crop of grapes which was raised.
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