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 2
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boards and a chimney made of rough stone laid up in mud. For door and windows a space was made by removing a section of the logs. Thus a house was built into which neither nail nor spike had been driven. The nails used in the first frame buildings were made at the nearest blacksmith shop.
Ås the little settlement increased in population so the log cabins increased in comfort. Though the walls and floors were bare, the windows small, and the house drafty and cold, with furniture uncomfortable and scanty ; 'twas the great fireplace in the kitchen that glowed and made comfortable all its surroundings. The huge chimneys were built with ample open hearths and high up within ledges were made on either side to rest the ends of a long pole of green wood, called a lug-pole or back bar, from which hung a collection of pot hooks of various sizes and lengths to hold over the flames pots and kettles. The stone oven in the chimney, was as a rule heated once a week for the family baking. Extra baking was in the bake- kettle or in a spider before the fire. If company was to be entertained it was the inevitable "short cake " baked before the fire that was the pride of the housewife.
As civilization advanced the iron crane put the lug-pole out of commission, and the brick oven came into use, which was built in the chimney on one side of the fire place, and below an ash pit with swinging iron doors with a damper. When the oven was to be used a great fire of dry wood was kindled within it, and kept burning fiercely for several hours. Then the coals and ashes were removed, the chim- ney draft and damper were closed and pans of brown bread, pots of pork and beans, and numerous pies all went into the heated oven together. Stoves were then unknown, ex- cept the foot stove that was carried to church, a box of per- forated metal in a wooden frame, within which was a small
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iron box for hot coals to warm the feet during a winter's drive or to render endurable the long service in the arctic atmosphere of the unheated house of worship. The warm- ing-pan was its companion as well as a necessary adjunct to housekeeping. It was a shallow pan of brass or iron about a foot in diameter and three or four inches deep, with a pierced cover, and had a long wooden handle. When used, it was filled with coals, and when thoroughly heated, was thrust between the sheets of the bed, and moved up and down to give warmth to every corner.
The housewife made linsey-woolsey blankets of linen and woolen mixed, also kersey cloth or blankets, ribbed and woven from wool of long staple. Several articles in use at that period, are now scarcely known, such as keel- ers, shallow tubs, for washing dishes; trammels, pendant hooks in a fireplace for holding kettles ; porringers, small and shallow earthern dishes, having straight sides, and sometimes ears, from which children were fed ; spits, point- ed rods on which meat was fixed to be turned and roasted before a fire; rundlets, small barrels, holding a quart, or smaller; tankards, peculiar shaped drinking cups, some- times, with a cover; trenchers, wooden plates for use at table. Squaws wandered from settlement to settlement 6 bearing birch brooms on their backs, peddling them from cabin to cabin for ninepence apiece.
Previous to the laying, by Congress, of an embargo on all trade between the United States and the mother coun- try and her Canadian colonies, in 1808, the full cloth, cassi- mere and broadcloth used by the settlers of this section of the State were English goods brought across from Canada, the wool from the settlers' flocks being given in exchange for cloth and going to England to be worked up. The em- bargo put a stop to this barter, and then for a time the settlers were obliged to depend upon the "sheepsgray "
4
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product of the family loom, the wool of black and white sheep being mixed and carded by hand and worked into warp and woof on the spinning wheel. In cases where this crude fabric could not be obtained, the pioneers had to revert to the clammy buckskin breeches of Revolutionary days.
Besides the usual housework it then became indispensi- ble for every woman to know how to spin and weave. Then nearly every family possessed one or more wheels, and occasionally one a loom. They spun wool, tow and flax, and wove it for clothing, for all wore clothing of tow and linen in summer, and flannel in the winter. Cotton goods were then high, and calico was a luxury denied to many of the pioneers. In nothing did the industry and independence of our forefathers appear to better advan- tage than in the substantial and comfortable fabrics with which they clothed their families and furnished their homes. It was the pride of every man who could manu- facture his own cloth, to appear well dressed in the garb that American freemen should always wear, the plain homespun dress of sincerity and honest industry.
The manufacture of linen cloth from flax was a long and tedious duty, though conscientiously done by the early dwellers of our valley. Nearly every one raised flax, which when ripened was pulled and spread in rows by boys to dry. Then men threshed or rippled out all the seed to use for meal; afterwards the flax stalks were allowed to lie for some time in water until the shives were thoroughly rotten, when they were cleaned, dried and made into bun- dles. Then came the hard work of breaking the flax on the great flaxbreak, to remove the hard "hexe " or " bun," and to swingle it with a swingle knife. It was then hatchelled or combed by the mother, and in this manner the rough tow was gotten out, when it was made ready for the dis-
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taff, round which it was finally wrapped. The thread was then spun on the "little wheel." The skeins of thread went through several processes of washing and bleaching before being ready for weaving. After weaving the cloth was "bucked " in a strong lye and washed out many times. Then it was " belted " with a maple beetle on a smooth, flat stone ; then washed and spread out to bleach in the sun.
The making of wool into cloth was not so laborious as that of flax. After the cleaning of fleeces from burrs, felt- ings, tar-marks, and the dirt of months' accumulation, it was sorted out for dyeing. Layers of the various colors of wool after being dyed were rolled together and repeat- edly carded on course wool-cards, then slightly greased by a disagreeable and tiresome method, then run into rolls. The wool was spun on the great wheel which stood in the kitchen with the reel and swift, and often by the glowing firelight the housewife spun the rolls of wool upon the spindle, turning the wheel with one hand, and with ex- tended arm and light fingers holding the roll in the other, stepping backwards and forwards till it was spun into yarn.
Candle-dipping came late in the fall. Tallow which had been saved from the domestic animals killed furnished the material. A fierce fire was built in the fireplace, a large kettle half filled with water and melted tallow was hung over it. Candle-rods were brought forth and placed about eighteen inches apart, reaching from chair to chair, under- neath were placed boards to catch the waste or drippings. Across these rods were laid shorter sticks, resembling the rungs of a ladder, to which the wicks were attached at in- tervals of a few inches. The wicks of cotton, or some- times tow, were dipped time and time again into the melted tallow and left to harden between each dipping. When they were of the desired size, they were cut off, spread in a sunny place to bleach, and then put away until needed
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for the long winter evenings. Later, molds came into use ; although they made a more uniform candle, it took longer to manufacture and but few could be made in a day.
Soap making was an important piece of spring work. The refuse grease from the family cooking was saved through the winter, as were the woodashes from the kitchen fireplace. The almanac was carefully consulted to find when the moon would be in the right quarter to make the soap "come right." The leach barrel was filled with ashes through which water was passed, carrying away the solu- ble portions. The "first run " of lye not being strong enough was poured again upon the ashes, and if then strong enough to hold up an egg, it was also strong enough to use and the soap making progressed by boiling the grease and lye together in a large iron kettle over a huge bonfire in the backyard.
In early days saleratus was unknown, but what answered its purpose was prepared in every home. A few corn cobs were burned in the fireplace, the ashes gathered up, water applied and drained off. This process was in use many years. As clearings progressed the ashes from the fallow were gathered, leached and the lye boiled down into a mass called black salts. This was taken to Albany and other points and worked over into a strong black substance called pearlash, which served a very good purpose until about 1830, when by a second process saleratus was evolved.
The first plows were made of wood with a single bolt coming up through the landside and beam, with an iron key about the beam. Cast iron plows appeared about 1828-30.
T HE FIRST CHILD born in the town was Ellis Loomis in May, 1792, who was adopted by Philip Bartle.
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One of the few, the immortal names, That was not born to die .- HALLECK.
Balcom Family.
The Balcom family was one of the first to appear in Ox- ford, as will be described later, and was also one of the early families in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Henry Balcom being on record in Charlestown, Mass., in 1665. The family has also a very early record in Sussex County, England, in and around the ancient town of Balcombe. Here, three generations by the name of Henry, immediately preceding Henry of Charlestown, are recorded; and the name is found of frequent record back through the 16th, 15th, and 14th centuries, the earliest record being of a John de Balcombe on an Assize Roll in 1309. The English family spell the name Balcombe, and it is thought that, inasmuch as the two last letters are silent, and be- cause of the propensity of the Puritans to lop off all things superfluous, the name was changed to Balcom on arrival in the new world.
Alexander Balcom, the head of another branch of the family, is found on record at Providence, R. l., in 1665, which further indicates, that there was an understanding in regard to the change in spelling.
The name Balcombe is of the old Saxon speech and is derived from bal, a hill, and combe, a hollow or dell, the whole having a meaning similar to highlands in Scotch. The location of the village of Balcombe bears out this in- terpretation, as it is situated among the picturesque hills north of the celebrated South Downs of Sussex County.
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It is some thirty miles south of London, and many with Puritan ideas emigrated from there in the middle of the 17th century
Henry Balcom of Charlestown, Mass., married Eliza- beth Haynes at Sudbury, Mass., in 1666. His name ap- pears frequently in records of public affairs at that place. He died in 1683, and his wife removed her family to her former home in Sudbury, in 1694, where she died in 1715.
Children of Henry and Elizabeth :
HANNAH, born March 16, 1668, died in infancy.
JOHN, born October 15, 1669, died August 28, 1743, un- married. He was prominent in the affairs of Sudbury, as the records of that place attest. Tombstones of slate, with ancient designs of death's heads, still mark the resting place of John and his brother Joseph, in the old cemetery at Sudbury.
ELIZABETH, born Aug. 16, 1672, married Gershom Rice.
JOSEPH, born Dec. 17, 1674, died Sept. 17, 1745; mar- ried Tabitha Mosman in 1708. He with his brother John accumulated a homestead about one mile square, a portion of which has remained in the family name for over 200 years, the present occupant being Mr. Asa Balcom. Joseph Bal- com died in 1745, his wife in 1770.
Children of Joseph and Tabitha :
JOSEPH, born Jan'y 13, 1713, died in 1744. JOHN, born March 13, 1715, died in 1789.
ELIZABETH, born May 17, 1717, married James Mosman. MARY, born Oct. 10, 1719, married Ephriam Maynard. SIBELAH, born July 25, 1721, married Samuel Willis. MICAH, born March 4, 1724, died in 1754.
Joseph Balcom, son of Joseph and Tabitha, married Deborah Boise in 1733. He had a portion of his father's homestead and on it erected a frame house. He " builded
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better than he knew," for the house is still standing, a well preserved farm dwelling, good for many years to come, although nearing the close of its second century of use- fulness. The exact date of Joseph Balcom's death is not known, as he died away from home in the year 1744. Tra- dition says he was in an expedition against the French and Indians and was taken prisoner.
Children of Joseph and Deborah:
SAMUEL, born June 16, 1734, removed to Nova Scotia in 1768.
JONAS, born Aug. 7, 1735, died Sept. 3, 1810.
SILAS, born March 1737, removed to Nova Scotia in 1768.
HENRY, born Aug. 16, 1740, died Oct. 28, 1812, in Ox- ford.
ISAAC, born in 1742, removed to Nova Scotia in 1768. TABITHA, born in 1744, married Ebenezer Rice.
Henry Balcom, son of Joseph and Deborah, married Keziah Stowe April 29, 1761, and lived in Southboro, Mass., until about the time of the Boston tea party when he remov- ed to New Fane, Vt. He fought at the battle of Bennington on an alarm call, and is shown by Vermont records, as serving short terms, at three different times subsequent- ly, the longest being 123 days in a company of Rangers. He began service for his native State as a member of a Train- ing Band, as shown on a list dated Southboro, Mass., April 29, 1757, being but sixteen years of age. Owing to the early death of his father, he as well as his brothers, were ap- prenticed at an early age, and by entering the service of the State he was able to free himself from such bonds. In the same year he appears on a muster roll for three months service at Pontoosuck, now Pittsfield, Mass., and in 1758 he is credited with eight months service in an expedition to Canada, and in 1759 with seven months' service in the Crown Point expedition, in which he is scheduled as a cor-
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poral. When he removed to New Fane, he was a pioneer to that wilderness. There must be something in the theory of heredity in such matters, for even to the eighth genera- tion the Balcoms have been ready to clear the way for others. Thence he came to Oxford in 1793, with his wife and daughters, Sally and Leafa, two years later than his sons, Francis and Samuel. Mrs. Balcom died Sept. 26, 1826, aged 89. They made their home during their latter years with their son, Samuel.
Children of Henry and Keziah :
RHODA, born April 6, 1762, married Joshua Davis.
FRANCES, born May 18, 1764, married Darius Wheeler. JOSEPH, born June 19, 1766, died in 1766.
FRANCIS, born July 17, 1767, died Aug. 8, 1850, in Preston.
LEAFA, born March 30, 1770, died Sept. 4, 1853, in Ox- ford, unmarried.
SAMUEL, born Dec. 31, 1772, died August 27, 1847.
OLIVE, born May 9, 1775, married J. Holland.
SALLY, born May 21, 1780, married Samuel Farnham.
Francis Balcom, son of Henry and Keziah, came to Ox- ford in 1791. In 1797 he married Priscilla, daughter of Didymus Kinney, who with his family came from Dutchess county in 1794. Mr. Balcom left home when about 21 years of age and purchased land near Unadilla, N. Y., and while there became acquainted with General Benj. Hovey. After the Oxford Academy was opened in 1794, Francis Balcom attended for a while, although he was 27 years of age. He had the first choice of a farm at Oxford, the deed of which had to be recorded at Owego as Oxford was then in Tioga county. His son, Henry, subsequently owned the farm which later passed into the possession of Austin Hyde, W. A. Harrington and A. D. Harrington. Mr. Balcom was the last of the first settlers of this village, and
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helped put up the first framed house in Oxford. Mrs. Balcom died Sept. 25, 1866, aged 90, at the home of her son, William.
Children of Francis and Priscilla :
HENRY, born Jan. 18, 1798, died Jan. 26, 1878 in Oxford.
JOSEPH, born Oct. 18, 1799, died in Troy.
SAMUEL, born May 4, 1801, died in Pennsylvania.
LEAFA, born Dec. 14, 1802, married Benj. Corry ; died in Watertown, N. Y.
HIRAM, born Dec. 2, 1804, died in Oxford.
FANNY, born March 11, 1807, married Zebedee Larned ; died in Geneva, N. Y.
KEZIAH, born March 2, 1809, married Hubbard Randall ; died in Marion, Iowa.
CHARLES A., born July 31, 1811, died in Bainbridge.
POLLY, born Nov. 17, 1813, married Daniel Throop ; died in Nineveh, N. Y.
STEPHEN, born April 2, 1816, died May 25, 1863, in Edgewood, Ill
WILLIAM, born July 26, 1818, died Oct. 17, 1902, in Oxford.
Henry Balcom, better known as Harry, son of Francis and Priscilla, spent the eighty years of his lifetime in Ox- ford. He was a man of considerable enterprise, and in early life dealt largely in sheep and had many hundreds among the farmers about the country let out for a pound of wool per year. He once contracted with Joseph Allen for fifty two-horse lumber wagons, at $50 each, which was a large contract in those days, and many thought he would fail. It took two years to fill the contract, but it proved a success and in his trades added largely to the sheep busi- ness. He built the block of stores on the south side of La Fayette park. There was considerable delay in raising the frame after repeated times set for doing it, and he was
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often sarcastically asked by the disappointed ones, "Har- ry, when are you going to raise?" Finally the event took place, and but few missed it, on account of the jollifica- tion that followed a raising. Whisky was only twenty cents a gallon and many remained around the frame until a late hour. Mr. Balcom was the builder of many dwell- ings and was identified with nearly every enterprise spring- ing up in town. It was stated at the time of his death that he had constructed more houses and stores in Oxford than any two persons who had resided here. In 1838, with Demas Hubbard, Jr., and Justus Parce, he represented the county in the State Assembly. He was a staunch friend of Oxford Academy, and was for many years one of its trustees. In him the deserving poor found a counsellor and received aid. He was a friend to every one and his honesty was never doubted. At an early day he succeeded in accumulating a good fortune, but lost all by endorsing paper for others. With a will and determination possessed by but few, he by hard labor and years of perseverance paid every cent of the indebtedness and started life anew. He again succeeded in gaining a comfortable fortune which was a source of consolation to him in his declining years. Mr. Balcom married January 22, 1822, Mary Hunnewell, only child of Lyman and Dorcas Lynn Hunnewell, both of whom came to Oxford in its early days. She died in 1868. His second wife, whom he married late in life was Mrs. Sarah Kathan of Oxford, who died Sept. 4, 1897, aged 77.
Children of Henry and Mary :
LUCY ANN, born Nov. 1, 1822, died April 5, 1901, in Oxford.
MARY A., born Feb'y 1, 1826, married Cyrus Sheldon ; died in California.
SARAH LYNN, born April 4, 1828, married (1) L. B Foote, (2) Samuel Balcom.
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JANE ELIZA, born Aug. 18, 1832, married Henry C. Put- nam, of Eau Claire, Wis.
HENRY FRANCIS, born March 30, 1835, married June 4, 1860, Caroline Reeve of Portsmouth, Ohio.
JOHN FREDERICK, born April 26, 1838, died in 1838.
ELLEN MARIA, born Dec. 1, 1841, died in 1842.
SAMUEL FARNHAM, born March 16, 1843, died suddenly April 19, 1906, in Eureka, Cal.
Joseph Balcom, son of Francis and Priscilla, married Lucretia Warren, of Smyrna, N. Y., in 1823, and settled in Greenfield, N. Y. Children : Hiram, Jane E., Maria L., Francis Henry.
Stephen Balcom, son of Francis and Priscilla, left home at an early age. The Pioneer spirit that took possession of his father and his grandfather, moved him to push out to the extreme West. He was living in Chicago in 1837 when he met S. W. Balcom, of Sudbury, Mass., who was making a visit to the West. Railroads were unknown at that time except at the seaboard, and the following item from his account of the trip west is of interest: "Cost of journey by stage from Sudbury, Mass., to Albany, N. Y., $11.00; from Albany to Buffalo, N. Y., by "line boat " (canal), $6.00; Buffalo to Detroit, Mich., by steamer, $5.00; Detroit to Niles, Mich., by stage, $9.00; Niles to St. Joseph, Mich., by stage, $2.50." On the night of ar- rival at St. Joseph a terrific storm destroyed or damaged half the shipping on the lake, and for two weeks no further progress could be made. Finding a band of Indians with a large boat some twenty feet long, and six feet wide in the middle, who were going up the lake for winter quar- ters, he with four other men hired the Indians to take them to Michigan City, Indiana. The five men boarded the canoe with their baggage. A young Indian to steer the boat and an Indian boy formed the crew; two Indian squaws, one
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with a pappoose on her back, towed the boat. A breeze sprung up later, when sails about 10 feet by 6 feet were rigged and the boat put out a mile from the shore. In the afternoon a storm came up making the shore too rough for a landing, but about dark reached a large creek where they were able to beach the canoe. Here they were joined by the band of Indians who "burst into the greatest shout, and capered and danced and rejoiced greatly." They decided not to navigate Lake Michigan further in a birch bark canoe, but selected the beach of the lake and tramped to Michigan City. They found the stage overcrowded and booked so far in advance that they hired a team to take them to Chicago, where he arrived the second day, having spent twenty-four days on the journey at an expense of $64.00. Stephen Balcom remained in Northern Illinois several years after the meeting with S. W. Balcom, as men- tioned. In 1842, his brother, William, met him in St. Louis and they took passage down the Mississippi river and en- gaged in the timber business between Vicksburg and New Orleans. William Balcom returned in a year or so to Ox- ford but Stephen Balcom continued in the timber business, located on the Yazoo river. He paid frequent visits to his old home in Oxford, and in 1854 married Margaret Healey of Nineveh, N. Y. Subsequent to this time the anti-slav- ery agitation of the North and East made associations un- pleasant in the South for persons from other sections of the country. In 1858 he removed his family to Edgewood, Ill., where he engaged in the mercantile business until his death in 1863. His wife resided in Illinois until 1882, when she took up her residence in Denver, Col., with her son, William, where she died in 1903.
Children of Stephen and Margaret :
STEPHEN FRANCIS, born Jan'y 24, 1856.
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THOMAS MAURICE, born April 1, 1858, died June 19,1863. WILLIAM ARTHUR, born July 6, 1860.
MARGARET HALLAM, born June 20, 1862.
William Balcom, son of Francis and Priscilla, married Selinda Lewis, of Norwich, in 1846, who died January 9, 1881. With the exception of a few years spent in the timber business with his brother, Stephen, in Mississippi, he devoted his business energies to mercantile pursuits in Oxford. His lifetime marked a most varied epoch in the growth not only of his locality but of our country at large. At its beginning the native Indian still crossed the beau- tiful Chenango, to dispose of his wares. The first school house was erected during his childhood, previous to which (1822) the young ideas were marshalled in a settler's dwell- ing. Mills and factories accompanied the canal, a wooden bridge spanned the river, and in due course of time was replaced by an iron structure. Steam supplanted water power, and mills as well as water traffic were dominated by it to such an extent that the canal, so glorious in its early years, had to be discarded. Public buildings, parks, a memorial fountain and other indications of art influence came in due time. Electricity made its appearance and the span is completed-from a pine torch to the brilliant elec- tric lamp. His second wife was Miss Mary Ray, born in England, whom he married in 1882, in Oxford.
Children of William and Selinda :
EMMA LOUISE, born March 14, 1847, married Geo. D. Hoyt; died March 18, 1873.
CAROLINE, born March 20, 1849, married Samuel Put- nam, who died June, 18, 1892, at La Grande, Oregon.
ELLEN CORNELIA, born April 15, 1857, married Frank Wilcox.
WILLIAM GURDON, born March 10, 1861.
WARD VANDERLYN, born Oct. 27, 1863.
FREDERICK NEWKIRK, twin to above, died in 1864.
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Henry Francis Balcom, son of Henry and Mary, mar- ried Caroline Reeve in 1860. His youth was spent in Ox- ford, but in early manhood removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where for a long term of years, he was connected with wholesale and manufacturing concerns. Of late years he has been associated with an only son, Henry Tracy Bal- com, at Buffalo, N. Y., in handling musical instruments. In 1901 a reunion of the family was held at Buffalo, dur- ing the Pan-American Exposition, and evening sessions were held in their recital hall.
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