USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 35
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Also we find in this book running accounts with Peter V. B. Livingstone, Jonathan Bush, Solomon Martin and many others in 1791, and later with Daniel Root and all of the early settlers. Two entries of early dates read: "Nov. 29, 1790. Benj. Hovey Dr. to eash 0 € 15s and 10d, to be delivered at Ball's in Catskill. April 6, 1791, to cash received of Peter V. B. Livingstone, €11 4s and 7d."
While cordially acknowledging our willingness to do honor to the pioneers of every town in our county we take honorable pride in the mention of the Johnstons, Smiths, Bidwells, Hodges and Burdicks, who figured so prominently in the Susquehanna and Ouleout valleys.
The next settlement was made upon Carr's Creek, at what is now Sidney Centre, in 1793. The first pioneer was Jacob Bid- well, who located upon the farm where Harper W. Dewey now resides. The coming of "Uncle Jacob," as he was familiarly known, was some years after the close of the Revolutionary war. Peace had been restored, Indian hostilities had practically ceased, and though living in a dense wilderness very far removed from neighbors and friends, they enjoyed a sense of security and safety. Still, they had their battles to fight and we can imagine some- thing of the sufferings and hardships of these early pioneers.
Earliest among the wants of the earliest settlers was that of a grist mill. It was more a necessity than a saw mill, because a good axe could ent and hew logs for a cabin and could thus de- lay the advent of sawn timber for years. But with flour and meal the case was more urgent. The hollow top of a tough stump, or a hollow boulder, soon became inadequate to meet the wants of the new comers. One of the first grist mills on the
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Village of S iney Center.
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TOWN OF SIDNEY.
upper Susquehanna was built on Carr's Creek. It was built a few years before the one which Abram Fuller set up on the Ouleout, and thirty years earlier than the one built in Unadilla village. At the Baxter mill a small amount of grinding meal was done before 1778, and sixteen years later it was destroyed by fire. John Carr, its builder, and the builder of a saw mill on the same site, is famil- iarly known in local annals as a tory. When Joseph Brant first came to Unadilla in June. 1777, Carr was one of those whom he allowed to remain because he had declared himself for the King.
Another early settlement in our town was made in 1795 by Captain Samuel Smith, at what is now known as Franklin Depot, but for many years as Smith Settlement. Mr. Smith came from Bennington, Vermont, and first settled on the farm lately owned by Richard Ostrander. The father of Captain Smith was killed at the battle of Bennington, and Mr. Lyman B. Smith, a well- known business man of Binghamton, is one of his grandsons.
Jonathan Burdick was another of the early settlers of Sidney. His father, Elisha Burdick, came to Kortright in 1810. Mr. Bur- flick's father was a soldier in the war for independence, serving five years. He was at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and he had been one of the guards when Major Andre was taken from the old Dutch church to the place of execution.
Joseph Niles moved to this town in 1812. He was drafted to go to the war and hired a man to go in his stead, who went to Sackett's Harbor under General Root. David Baker came in 1816 and settled near the village of Sidney Centre, at which time the land upon which this flourishing village now stands, with the ex- ception of one little spot, was an unbroken forest.
Mr. James Hughston settled soon after Mr. Wattles did, and settled on the Ouleout. It was then a very dense wilderness. and so thick were the trees and bushes that it was said to be im- possible to drive a pair of yoked oxen from Mr. Hughston's house to Wattles' ferry. Mr. Hughstou moved his wife into this town on horseback, with her bed and other articles strapped on the
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
horse; and she used to relate, among other incidents, how she made a cradle for her first child from a piece of a hollow tree. Mr. Hughston lived and died at Sidney, was a magistrate in the town for about forty years, was several times supervisor and once a member of the State Legislature.
Soon after the Revolutionary war, Adam Rifenbark settled on the bank of the Susquehanna, near what is now called Crookerville. It is said he was a deserter from the British army.
Timothy Beach, about the same time, moved his family into a cabin he had built at the junction of the Ouleout and Susquehanna. where he lived a number of years and was drowned in the river by an Indian. He has numerous descendents residing in this county.
In the year 1789 Isaac Hodges came from the town of Florida, on the Mohawk river, to the Ouleout to look for lands for his sons to settle on. He purchased 500 acres, being a part of the patent surveyed by Judge Wattles a few years previous. He paid ten shillings an acre, and divided this land among his four sons, Hezekiah, Benjamin, Isaac, and Josiah. Early in the spring of 1790, Hezekiah with his wife and three brothers took possession of the land. They moved with a yoke of oxen and one horse, and carried their few household goods and provender for the oxen on a sort of sled with crooked runners, which was called a dray, and was so constructed as to easily pass over logs and other obstructions. They arrived at their destination the 29th day of April, 1790, with 200 pounds of hay for their team and a little corn. On the day after their arrival the snow fell two feet deep, and the intensely cold weather and scarcity of provisions and fodder caused them much suffering.
In 1797 Stephen Dewey with his sons, William, Roger and David, settled on the Ouleout about one mile above. Soon after William, afterwards well known as Colonel Dewey, purchased the farm and resided on it until his death. He filled many public positions, having served as Supervisor of the town of Sidney, and a member of the Legislature. He married the daughter of Judge
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TOWN OF SIDNEY.
Wattles referred to as the first white female child born in Delaware county.
AAmong other early settlers were Jonathan Bush, at whose house the first town meeting was held; and one Stevens, who ran a grist mill ou the Ouleout, and also the first and only distillery for making whiskey in the town. Some other early pioneers were Oliver Gager, a captain in the militia; Nathaniel Wolcott, Josiah Thatcher, for many years fown Clerk: William Evans, and others. Most of these old settlers raised large families and left numerous descendents, some of whom still remain in Sidney, but most of them are widely seattered.
Jonathan Carley came from Dutchess county and settled on the banks of the Susquehanna in the year 1795, two miles below Otego village. He found a family by the name of Collyer there, who came a few years earlier. Josiah Chase also enme about that time: Laban Crandall. John French, Jerry Reed and Godfrey Calder came imme- diately after. The first school in that part of the town of Sidney was taught by Miss Abigail Reed, in Mr. Calder's barn.
John Avery settled at Sidney Plains ( now Sidney ) in the year 1798, and died in 1836, aged 80 years. He was born at Ashford Corner, and served in the Revolution.
Levi Baxter came to Sidney in 1805. He was a man of marvel- lous industry and energy, and died at the age of St. Squire Baxter was the son of Mr. Francis Baxter, a Revolutionary soldier who during the war was taken prisoner by the tories and after suffering much abuse was incarcerated in that infamous den, the New York Sugar House.
Deacon Peter Bradley came to Sidney at the close of the Revo- lutionary war and resided there until his death in about 1811. He settled on the farm where General Herkimer and Brant, the Indian chieftain, hell their conference in 1777.
Space forbids especial notice of many of the carly pioneers, and the records are lost of others deserving of mention. Milton C. Johnston of Sidney, Witter Johnston of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Laurens Johnston of Challis, Iowa, now living, are great grand- children of the Rev. William Johnston.
The section of the town of Sidney lying upon the Ouleout creek, at the point where Wattles terry was built, for a long term of years was the principal business part of the town. It was here that Judge Wattles many times held court, and here elections, general trainings and town meetings were held. At this place also the Hon. Samuel Gordon was born.
Closely connected with the interests of early Sidney, and of very great local and commercial advantage, was the construction of the Catskill turnpike. The opening of this great thoroughfare from Catskill to what was then Wattles Ferry, along the Ouleout, a distance of eight miles through our town, was an important enter- prise all along the line, and also gave a wonderful impetus to the business of the village of Unadilla, immediately across the river. The Catskill Turnpike, as a turnpike, dates from the year 1802; but the road itself was of much older date than that. The road followed lines nearly straight, and ran through lands owned by the stock- holders. Little regard was had for grade, the main purpose being to make the land accessible and marketable. It soon became a famous highway between the two rivers, the Hudson and Susquehanna. Toll gates were built every ten miles, and the immense amount of travel provided funds to pay the stockholders and kept the road in fine condition. The rates of toll were as follows: For twenty sheep or hogs, eight cents; for twenty horses or cattle, twenty cents; for a horse and rider, five cents; for a horse and chaise, twelve and one-half cents; for a coach, twenty-five eents; for a stage or wagon, twelve and one-half cents. Two stages were kept regularly on the road, the fare five cents a mile. A stage that left Catskill Wednes- day, reached Wattles' Ferry Friday night.
The town of Sidney is located in the northwest corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by the Susquehanna river, on the east by Franklin, on the south by Masonville, and on the west by the town of Bainbridge, ( Chenango Co.) The town
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TOWN OF SIDNEY.
comprises a large area of productive and fertile land. It has two enterprising villages: Sidney, located on the Susquehanna, and Sidney Centre, on Carr's Creek. The village of Sidney Centre contains a population of about 500, and Sidney about 3,000; while the entire town according to the census of 1850 contained 1,807 inhabitants, and by that of 1890, 3,112. At the organization of the town in 1801 the inhabitants must have consisted of a few families at Sidney, Jacob Bidwell at Sidney Centre, Capt. Samuel Smith at what is now Franklin Depot, and a few squatters along Carr's Creek.
The thriving village of Sidney Centre, located on the New York, Ontario & Western railway, contains seven stores, two fine churches, and two large creameries; while the energy and enter- prise of its business men insures a healthy and steady growth. The first school built in the Sidney Centre district was located where George Simpson's barn now stands, and one of the first teachers was Miss Lydia Knapp, afterwards the wife of Daniel S. Dickinson. Garrett Dedriek kept the first store, and William Smith was the first postmaster. Mr. William Johnston of Penn., speaking of himself in a friendly letter says: "I might say, and truthfully too, that I helped to swing the axe right and left to ent down the timber where the beautiful village of Sidney Centre now is." He says further, "Samuel Niles was a good mower. and Launt Thompson was the only man who could go barefoot the year through." If space allowed mention could be made of many worthy men and women, and many interesting events described : but it is enough to call attention to the wonderful changes made during the century. In the place of hardship and suffering we see well cultivated farms and handsome villages; instead of being compelled to go to Scholarie to mill with a peek or half-bushel of Indian corn to be ground into meal to keep our families from starvation, we have everything in abundance growing on our own farms, or brought to our doors from all the markets of the world Truly this fact presents an object lesson worthy our consideration
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The log cabin was an evolution of the wigwam and was the first dwelling of the wilderness, where the pioneer attempted to construct a home. Rude as it was it secured warmth and safety to the family, and sheltered men and women of noble character and daring enterprise. The great stone chimney at one end of the cabin became the roaring tunnel for the household fire. At that time fire, in the form of living coals, was as carefully guarded and preserved as was the sacred fire of old. It was the last and most binding duty of the pioneer before retiring at night to bury the fire, and the first necessity in the early morning was to search the ashes for living coals, and failing in that the next and only recourse was an early journey to the nearest neighbor, ( which was often a long distance,) to borrow a shovelful of coals. It is a long step from that condition of affairs to the turning on of the electric light by a simple motion of the hand; and think of all that has come between, since the pioneer and his family sat in the blaze of the open fireplace, heaping on boughs of wood to make a light by which the pages of an old book could be read !
This town was represented in the Senate by John M. Betts in 1848-49. Jonas A. Hughston was Member of Congress in 1855. Members of Assembly were Shuman Wattles in 1800, Nathaniel Wattles in 1798, ( then Franklin), William Dewey in 1816, Charles Rogers in 1853, Samuel Rexford in 1823, James Hughston in 1832, Reuben Lewis in 1846, Ira E. Sherman in 1865, and 1886, Albert H. Sewell in 1878, Robert Courtney in 1863, Robert Cart- wright in 1895, Timothy Sanderson in 1883.
Our town is highly favored as a railroad center. The Albany and Susquehanna, now owned by the Delaware and Hudson com- pany, was built in 1866, and runs three miles. within our bound- aries. The New York, Ontario & Western railway was built in 1870, giving the town fourteen miles more of railway. The New Berlin Branch, running from Sidney to Edmeston, was completed in 1873. The junction of the great thoroughfares at Sidney give the village remarkable shipping facilities, and induce passenger travel, trade and commerce from many points.
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TOWN OF SIDNEY.
One of the most important industries of Sidney is the Silk Mill Company employing 150 hands. The raw silk is imported from Japan and manufactured into ladies' gloves and mitts. The dyeing and weaving are all done here, fifteen looms being in operation for weaving the cloth, and each loom weaving a web ten feet wide.
The Novelty Works used twenty-nine car loads of lumber in the month of May, employing 100 hands.
The Sidney Glass Works employ 100 hands in making bottles of every description, and the Cart and Carriage Company and the. Lumber Machinists, each employs a large force in their extensive businesses.
The Sidney National Bank was organized, with a capital of $50,000, in December, 1887, with JJohn A. Clark as president, Shunnan L. Wattles as vice-president, and James L. Clark is the present cashier. The bank declared no dividend for eight years, at the end of which time its surplus equalled its original capital.
Space will allow us to mention only a few of the conspicuous men of Sidney. The Hon. Ira E. Sherman ( lately deceased ) was held in the highest esteem, and his fine sense of honor, ability and kindness, made his presence seem like a benediction. His fame as. a poet is widespread, and from a brooklet, river, or old ruin he would weave a song story in language surpassingly beautiful.
Mr. H. C. Weller is the oldest business man in our town, and by honorable business methods has been very successful and enjoys the confidence of his many friends in a remarkable degree.
Mr. T. G. Smith enjoys a reputation not confined to our town or county. Retiring a few years since from active pursuits, he made a trip to the old country, visiting London, Paris, Naples, Florence, Rome aud Vienna, and also traversed Holland and Belgium. His correspondence, while abroad, was published in the metropolitan journals, and read with the greatest interest by many people. His description of the "City of the Sea," and other historic places, was appreciated and recognized by all who had the pleasure of reading his letters.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The village of Sidney contains five churches: Congregational, Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, Episcopal and Roman Catholic.
The first newspaper printed in Sidney was the Star, in 1876. We now have the Sidney Record, Sidney Advocate and the Transcript-the last named published at Sidney Centre. The first number of the Sidney Record,-Arthur Bird editor, -was issued December 8, 1882. The population of the village at that time was 550. The organization of the Sidney National Bank, and the energetic work of the distinguished editor of the Record, gave a powerful impetus to the business prosperity of Sidney. Citizens of .. our town are proud of the honorable career of Mr. Bird. in publie and private life, and appreciate his manly work in their behalf. This gentleman received the appointment of United States Vice- Consul General at Port-au-Prince, Hayti, in the year 1879.
Sidney was the first village in the county to have an organized police force. Mr. Leroy Smith is the Chief, and under his super- vision the town feels comparatively secure.
In conelnsion we would pay a grateful tribute to the noble pioneers of every town who laid the foundation for all we have, and make their lives and character an object lesson for our young men to appreciate and value the rugged integrity and faithful industry of those grand men. The past is history and the future is the unwritten page. Of our unparalelled advancement in science, and the possibilities already accomplished they could not have had the faintest conception. And when we review the wonderful growth of our towns, state, and nation, a panorama of astonishing events is constantly before us, and indeed, it is true that the future is known only to a kind Providence and His knowledge is
"The Divinity that shapes our ends, Rough how them as we will."
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O
Village of Stamford
Stamford.
Written for this ffistory.
T THE present town of Stamford was formerly a part of Ulster county, or as it was termed "Original County;" that is it was a county organized before New York State was under its first. constitution as a state. An Act to divide the Province of New York into provinces, shires and counties was passed November 1, 1683. The act provided: "That the said province be divided into twelve counties," to wit: City and County of New York, Westchester, UIst r. Dutchess, Orange, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Dukes and Cornwall. The two latter counties were afterward surrendered to Massachusetts.
The first known settlers in the town were Dr. Stewart and John and Alex. More, who emigrated from Scotland in 1773. Two years afterwards they were followed by James Stewart, William Fraser. Simon Fraser, Daniel and Abijah Bennett. Others who came were Elijah Baldwin, son of Caleb Baldwin, a captain in the Revolution- ary army, who came to Stamford early in 1792, Philander Smith, a practicing physician, Stephen Beers, a native of Stamford, Con., Heth Grithin, Burton Judson, Isaac Gould, Benj. Gilbert. These pioneers located in what was called the Township Valley, on Town Brook, and about five miles from its month. It was the intention of the early settlers to make this place the center of business. Accordingly an act was passed by the Legislature, surveys made and a town plot, one mile square, was laid out into plots forty rods square, with eight streets running at right angles. For a new country this locality was quite thickly settled previous to the Rey- olution, most of the settlers coming from Stamford, Conn. The Indians and Tories drove them out and many of them were
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
compelled to return to their native State. But with the close of the war they returned and again sought the beautiful valley.
Many of the settlers being from Stamford, Fairfield county, Connecticut, the name of their former place of residence was given to this locality, and it was called New Stamford. Two years later ( April 6, 1790 ) an Aet of the Legislature authorized the laying out of a road through to the Delaware and Susquehanna valleys. The road extended from near the month of the Ouleout to the Hudson river. For that purpose the land commissioners were authorized to. draw from the state treasury a sum "not exceeding eight hundred pounds." The contract for building this road was awarded to Nathaniel Wattles and Medad Hunt, but proving ruinous the con- tractors were relieved in 1793 by a further grant of one hundred and twenty pounds. The advantages of a road built by the state elated the people and in a comparatively short time the number of settlers increased; mills were built and an air of activity prevailed throughout the country.
The number of settlers increased so rapidly that the formation of a new town was desired. This section was then embraced in the town of Woodstock, as the territory of that town then extended to the Delaware river. An application for that purpose was made to. the Legislature, which on April 10, 1792, enacted as follows:
" All that part of the town of Woodstock in the county of Ulster bounded West by the west bounds of the county of Ulster, South by the north bounds of Middletown, East by a line to begin on the. side bounds of Middletown, two miles east of Papaeton river, and running northerly to a monument number seventeen at the head of said Papacton river, and thence continuing the same course north- erly until it meets the line of Albany county, shall be erected into a separate town by the name of Stamford, and the first town meeting in Stamford shall be held at the house of Peter Knapp."
This meeting was held on Tuesday, April 2, 1793. Patrick Lane was superintendent of the meeting and Peter Osborn moderator. These officers were elected for one year: George Squires, town
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TOWN OF STAMFORD.
clerk; Samuel Ingersoll, constable; Andrew Beers, supervisor; Joshua Wright, Silas Knapp, Abijah Bennett, assessors; Daniel Bennett, Samuel Merriam, Israel Inman, commissioners of high- ways; Hugh Rose and James Grant, overseers of poor; George McKenna, Ezra Hart, Peter Osborn, Allen Grant, Salmon Mallett, Jacob Smither, John Wright, district roadmasters; Abraham Gould, Ezra Hait, Simon Frasier, fence viewers and damage 'prisers; Peter Shearman, Zalmon Tousey, Israel Inman, pound masters. The next annual town meeting was held at the house of Philo Norton.
The question of a new county became a subject for consideration as the settlement increased between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. On the 10th of March, 1797, by an et of the Legislature the county of Delaware became a fact. The entire territory of the county at first comprised the towns of Stamford, Harperstield, Kortright, Franklin, Middletown and Colchester, but a short time afterward the town of Walton was added.
When first formed the town of Stamford had an area of 81,000 acres. It possessed all that part of the county of Delaware lying north of the northern bounds of Great Lot No. 40 in the Harden- burgh Patent. The direct length of its south line was about sixteen and three-fourth miles, and of its eastern line about eleven and one-half miles. Its northern line was eleven miles and its western side, direct from corner to corner, about thirteen and one- fourth miles. About two years afterward its area was reduced more than half by the formation of the town of Roxbury. In 1820 it sustained another loss of territory by the erection of the town of Bovina. Ten years later ( 1830 ) six lots were taken from Harpers- tield at the village of Hobart and annexed to Stamford.
Prior to 1820 the town meetings were held down the Delaware and on Rose's Brook, with one exception, ( 1791) when it was held at the house of Abel Watkins in the Town Plat. Town meet- ings were subsequently held at the Masonic hall in Waterville, now Hobart, and the town house has ever since been located there.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The first justice of the peace elected was Duncan MeDonald, who was elected at the annual town meeting held April 6, 1830. The methods of voting for town officers prior to 1822 was by rira roce, raising the hand, or by the voters arranging themselves on either side of the room and being counted. The first justices being made by appointment no record is obtainable. But by official signatures it is found that Patrick Lamb held the office in 1793, being succeeded by Benjamin Ackerly, 1794, Andrew Beers, 1795; Isaac Hardenburg, 1796, Hugh Rose, 1797, Asahel E. Paine, 1802, Elijah Canfield, 1803, etc.
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