USA > New York > Tioga County > Owego > Early Owego, N.Y.; some account of the early settlement of the village in Tioga County, N.Y., called Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, which name was corrupted by gradual evolution into Owago, Owego, Owegy and finally Owego > Part 34
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Another popular company was man- aged by John F. Sherry, who had been the leading man at one of the Phila- delphia theatres and who first visited Owego in January, 1866, and played in Ashley hall. He usually played two nights in each city or village he vis- ited. He was the first manager in these parts to bring out entirely new plays. When any new piece was par- ticularly successful in New York he purchased the right to produce it on the road, and as his company was a strong one the production was good in : every instance. He played several seasons and was financially very suc- . cessful, but after a few years he met : with reverses through which. he lost · all he had saved. He left the stage and became a commercial traveller. Sherry was the first manager who had
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a brass band with his company. Some of the members of the band also con- stituted the orchestra.
Sherry's leading actress was Jennie Carroll, whose husband, John W. Car- roll, was also a member of the com- pany. : She was a great favorite in those days. Her face was round and expressionless, but as an emotional actress she was one of the best ones that ever appeared here. She was at one time leading lady at the Park the- atre in Brooklyn and later the leading support of Edwin Booth at the Four- teenth Street theatre in New York. She died in January, 1897, in New York. The best comedian ever with Sherry's company was Harry Hawk, a clever actor and good fellow; who was playing Asa Trenchard in "The American Cousin" on the stage of Ford's theatre at . Washington when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
From 1866 to, 1871 Sherry's New York theatre was the most popular company. on the road. It travelled through New York and Pennsylvania, seldom going outside of those states.
Mr. Ashley sold his block August 16, 1867, to Dr. James Wilson, who ex- pended about $2,000 in enlarging and improving the hall and, changed its name to Wilson hall. In the night of August 16, 1867, a fire broke out in W. D. Ireland's boot and shoe store under the hall and the building was burned. Dr. Wilson immediately rebuilt the block, but constructed it as cheaply as possible. Later he furnished it with scenery, the first scenery that had been owned by a theatre at Owe- go. Then it became known as Wilson opera house.
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The interior of the theatre was burned out early in the evening of November 9, 1899, through the ex: plosion of some films of a moving pic- ture machine. It was rebuilt, but was entirely destroyed by. another fire, which broke out in a bakery. on the ground floor at 4 o'clock in the morn- ing of February 28, 190 f.
After Sherry's company disappeared . from the stage conditions in the theat- . rical world underwent a' change and Owego, like other towns, became a "one night stand." Many noted play- ers appeared at Wilson opera house at varions times, among whom were Laura Keene, Kate Claxton, Caroline · Richings and Zelda Seguin with the Castle-Campbell opera troupe; E. Z. C. Judson, the novelist, known as "Ned Buntline;" Buffalo Bill,. Edward Har- rigan, John S. Clark and John E. Owens, two of the best comedians ever seen in America; John T. Ray- mond, Mckean Buchanan,. Marie Zoe, George L. Fox, and many other theat- rical celebrities. In the fall of 1876 Ada Rehan appeared here with John T. Raymond's company, playing in a dramatization of Mark Twain's "A Gilded' Age," and a few months after- ward she became the leading lady at Daly's theatre in New York and the foremost actress on the American stage.
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Some Account of the Owego Post Of- fice and Postmasters from the Year 1800, When There Were but. 903. Offices in the Entire United. States, to the Present Day-In One Instance the Strife for the Position of Postmaster Is Settled by a Spec- ial Election of Patrons of the Office by Direction of the Democratic Dis- trict Committee.
The census of 1790 reported only five post offices in the United States. In: 1800 the number had been in- creased to 903. The first post office at Owego was, probably, established in 1800. The records of the post of- fice department at Washington show that the first report rendered from the Owego post office was from Jan- uary 1, 1801, by David Jones, and it is probable that he was appointed at about that time under the administra- tion of.president John Adams.
But little is known of Mr. Jones. He was one of a family of early settlers here and was a brother of deacon Solomon Jones, who lived near the old Tinkham plaster mill on the west side of the Owego creek, north of this vil- lage. It is probable that Mr. Jones kept the post office in his dwelling house. The country was at this time generally unsettled, the population was widely scattered, and this was the only post office anywhere in these parts.
In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elec- ted president, and the Federalists, af- ter having controlled the government twelve years, passed from power, never to be restored. The accession of a Democratic administration was followed by a decapitation of Federal
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postmasters. Mr. Jones was succeed- ed as postmaster of Owego by Eleazer Dana, who was appointed April 28, 1802, and he held the office fourteen years. His residence was on the north side of Front street ou the ground now occupied by Lewis H. Leonard's house atid the post office was kept in a small building on the opposite side of the street on the bank of the river, which Mr. Dana also occupied as his law office. At this time about all: of the few houses at Owego were on the road.now known as Front street.
Mr. Dana was succeeded as post- master by Stephen B. Leonard, who was appointed May 11, 1816. Mr. Leonard was the editor and publisher of the Owego Gazette. He removed the post office into his printing office, which thew occupied the second story of John Hollenback's store onthe north side of Front street. It was the second building west of. Paige street and is now owned and occupied by A. C. Burt, having been reconstructed in- to .à dwelling house many years ago. The entrance to the post office was by a flight of stairs on' the north side of the building. Mr. Leonard held the office only one term of four years, but many years later he was reappointed.
Dr. Jedediah Fay. was first appointed postmaster May 15, 1820, by postmas- ter-general R. Melgs, and. he held the . office continuously for .twenty-two years. Judge Stephen Mack was for. some time his deputy. Dr. Fay's second "commission was issued by : president .Martin Van Buren Feb. 8, 1838. At the time of his appointment Dr. Fay lived in a little red house, which stood close to the sidewalk at the southeast corner of Front and
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Church streets. There was no street then where Church street is now. After a time Dr. Fay took charge of judge John R. Drake's mercantile business and removed the post office from little red. house into judge Drake's store, which stood into judge Drake's store, which stood on the south side of Front street, op- posite Lake street. Later he removed the office into a wooden building one' and one-half stories high, which stood two doors east of the Drake store and in which he had opened a drug store. When Dr. Fay built his brick store in 1835 on the north side of the street where Ahwaga hall now stands the post office was removed thereto, and there it remained until 1841.
The election in 1840 of Gen. Harri- son to the presidency and theaccession of the Whig party to power was fol- lowed by a change in postmasters and Col. Daniel Ely was appointed to suc- ceed Dr. Fay. His appointment was dated. Feb. 4, 1842. Col. Ely removed the post office into his store, which . was on the south side of Front street -opposite where the First national bank now stands. This store was on the ground on which H. N. Hubbard afterward built the brick store, which still stands there and which was until recently occupied by E. E. Strait & Co. as a book store.
In November, 1844, James K. Polk was elected president by the Demo- crats, and his election was followed by another general decapitation of post- masters. On the 20th of that month Stephen .B. Leonard was again ap- pointed postmaster. Mr. Leonard re- moved the office into Isaac Lillie's vacant store, which stood at the north-
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east corner of Front and Lake streets, where W. B. Partridge's drug store now stands.
Another change in the national ad- ministration took place in 1848, when Gen. Zachariah Taylor was elected to the presidency by the Whigs and Mr. Leonard lost his official head. His successor was Charles R. Barstow, who was appointed postmaster April 18, 1849. The office was still kept in Mr. Lillie's building until it was burned in the great fire of September in that year. Then Mr. Barstow re- inoved the office temporarily to his residence, which is still standing on . the east side of Paige street, the sec ond house north" of East Temple street. He soon built a small two- story wooden building on the south- east corner of the lot now owned by Dr. A. D. Gould on the north side of Main street, opposite the Owego hotel. The lot was owned by Dr. H. N. East- man. The second story of the build- ing was occupied by Wm. Fields as a harness shop. The office was kept in that building until December 15, 1851, when it was removed to one of the stores in the Ahwaga house block jn Front 'street. The old post office building was removed in December, 1853, from Dr. Eastman's lot to Lib- erty street and converted into a dwell- ing house.
Charles R. Barstow was a promi- nent resident of Owego. He. was a son of Dr. Samuel Barstow, of Great Barrington, Mass., and was born in March, 1804. When about twelve years of age he came to the town of Nichols to live with his uncle, Dr. Gamaliel H. Barstow, who had settled there four years previous. When a
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young man he engaged in the general mercantile business at Nichols. He was commissioner of the United States deposit fund from 1840 to 1842. In 1843 he was elected sheriff of Ti- oga county and removed to Owego. In 1846, at the expiration of his term of office, he was elected to the assem- bly. His term as postmaster expired in 1853. He was then appointed gen- eral wood agent of the New York and Erie railroad, and held that position until March, 1854, when he was ap- pointed paymaster of the western di- vision of the road. In April, 1865, he was appointed port warden of New York city and held the position until . August, 1868, when he resigned. He died at Big Rapids, Mich., Dec. 10, 1880. Mr. Barstow's eldest daughter was the wife of senator Thomas C. Platt.
Hiram A. Beebe succeeded Mr. Bar- stow as postmaster upon the election of Franklin Pierce to the presidency in 1852, which restored the Democrats to power. There was considerable strife in Owego over the appointment and the several candidates consented to the holding of a special election to decide the matter. The election was held accordingly at the old Tioga house in North avenue, by direction of the Democratic district committee. All persons who received and sent let- ters through the post office and who had voted. the Democratic ticket at the last election previous were al- lowed to vote. John J. Taylor, men- ber of congress-elect, was chairman. and the polls were kept open from .3 to 4:30 and 7 to 8 p. m. Mr. Beebe received 217 of the 267 votes cast, and his two competitors 27 and 23, respec-
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tively. Mr. Beebe was accordingly ap- pointed postmaster May 4, 1853. Ou the 16th of the same month he re- moved the post office into one of the stores in T. P. Patch's brick block on the west side of Lake street, which ground is now covered by the L. N. Chamberlain brick block. The office. was at the back part of the room and the rest was occupied as a news office by A. R. & C. C. Thomas. Mr. Beebe held the office by reappoint- ment through the administrations of presidents Pierce and Buchanan and during a portion of the Lincoln admin- istration-a period of nine years.
Mr. Beebe was born in the town of Bridgewater, near Montrose, Pa., March 11, 1817. He learned the printers' trade at which he worked as a journeyman until 1838, when he be- came editor of the Bradford Democrat at Towanda, Pa. In January, 1843, he came to Owego and was editor of the Gazette thirty-seven years. He was president of the village of Owego in 1852, 1861, and 1871, and in 1874 and 1875 he had charge of the state de: partment of public records at Albany. He died at Owego March 31, 1897.
Charles Stebbins succeeded Mr. Beebe as postmaster June 30, 1864, and in March 1867, he was reap- pointed. He removed the office to the east side of Lake street into the wooden building now occupied by the Owego national bank. Mr. Stebbins resigned the office in 1871. Mr. Steb- bins was born in October, 1820, at Watertown, N. Y., and came to Owego in 1839. He died here Dec. 11, 1882.
Frank L. Jones was appointed to succeed Mr. Stebbins as postmaster Feb. 17, 1871, and held the office two
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terms of four years . each. He was born at. Lisle, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1822. He came to Owego in 1837 and was a clerk in Allen & Storrs's store. . He was engaged in the mercantile and in- surance business many years. He was elected sheriff of Potter county, Pa., in 1852, and was appointed sheriff of Tioga county to fill a vacancy in 1868. In 1869 he was president of Owego . village. In July, 1880, he was ap- pointed agent and warden of Auburn state prison. He died at Coudersport, Pa., Nov: 8, 1882.
Daniel M. Pitcher succeeded Mr. Jones as postmaster in March, 1879, and he also held the office two terms of four years each. During his first term of office, in October, 1870, the post office was removed into Jones & Stebbins's brick building on. the east side of Lake street, where it still remains.
Mr. Pitcher was born at Norwich, Conn., in 1822, and lived at Owego much of his life, dying here Feb. 4, 1904. He was engaged many years in buying and shipping wool. He held the omce of village supervisor three years and was one of the commission- ers who built the Tioga county. court house in the village park. He was president of the Owego national bank from January, 1888, until the year of his death.
Grover Cleveland was elected presi- dent in 1884 by the Democratic party and he allowed Mr. Pitcher to serve the rest of his term as postmaster, which did not expire until 1887. When Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was elected president in 1888 he was not quite as considerate, and he removed Mr. Cable in the middle of his term
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and appointed William Smyth in his place on Sept. 16, 1889.
When Grover Cleveland was re- elected president in 1892, he appointed Jonas Shays post master June 28, 1893. The nomination was not confirmed by the senate and Cleveland appointed William J. Atchison, Mr. Shay's brother-in-law, to the office on August 30, 1894. In 1896 William McKinley was elected president and Wm. A. Smyth, editor of the Owego Times was appointed May 12, 1897, to suc- ceed Mr. Atchison and he still holds the office by repappointment in 1901, 1905, and 1909.
William Smyth was born June 19, 1819, in county Derry, Ireland. He was principal of the Owego academy from 1848 to 1854, and editor of the Owego Times from 1854 until his death on Sept. 27, 1898. He was a village trustee in 1863 and 1864 and was president of the village in 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1881. . He was chief engineer of the Owego fire department ín 1862, 1863, and 1864. In 1872 he represented Tioga county in the as- sembly. The next year he was ap- pointed deputy' superintendent of the insurance. department of this state and on the death of Orlow W. Chap- man in 1876, he became acting super- intendent and held the office until 1877.
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Some Account of the Old Susquehanna River Bridge, Which Was Built in 1828 and Swept away by a Big Flood Forty Years Afterward, Its Place Being Supplied with a Trestle Bridge, Which in Turn Gave Place to the Present Iron Bridge.
The first bridge across the Susque- hanna river was built in 1807, at Sid- ney, Delaware county, N. Y., by Phineas Bennett, John Avery, and Capt. Hugh Johnston.
The first bridge built across the Susquehanna river in Owego was fin- ished and opened to public travel in 1828. It was built by a stock company .. twelve years after the company's in- corporation.
The act incorporating the company passed the legislature and became a law April 17, 1816, By this act Eleazer Dana, James Pumpelly, Gen. John Laning, Horatio Ross, John R. Drake, Charles Pumpelly, John H. Avery, Nathan Camp, and William Camp were created a body corporate under the name of "The President and Directors of the Owego Bridge Com- pany" for a term of thirty years. Gen. Ansel Goodrich, James Pumpelly; and John R. Drake were appointed com- missioners, to fix upon the spot where the bridge should be built at a com- pensation of $4 a day each while at work. The act prescribed that the bridge should be at least twenty-five feet wide, covered with plank two and one-half inches thick, and that the opening between the piers should be in width not less than ninety feet, for the passage of rafts and boats. It was also prescribed that during the exis- tence of such bridge no other bridge
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The First Bridge Built Across the Susquehanna River at Owego in 1828.
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should be built nor any ferry estab lished across the river within three miles. The act also fixed the rates of toll.' The act provided that if the bridge should not be built and com- pleted on or before Nov. 1, 1821, then the corporation created by the act should be dissolved.
No bridge was built, on account of difficulty in obtaining subscriptions to the stock. Six years afterward, on April 12, 1822, another act was passed by the legislature reviewing and con- tinuing in force the act of 1816 for three years, to allow the company time to complete the bridge. April 20, 1825, another act was passed, extending the time three years more and appointing James Pumpelly, John R. Drake, and Charles Talcott commissioners, in place of the three appointed by the act of 1816.
December 19, 1828, Samuel S. and David P. Tinkham, for a consideration of $100 sold the land occupied by the north abutment and approach to the bridge to the bridge company. The same day James Pumpelly sold for a consideration of $1 the land on the south side of the river for the abut- ment and approach to the bridge.
The first stock for the construction of the bridge was issued May 7, 1828. The engineer who planned the bridge and had charge of its construction was Ephraim Leach. The builder .was Abner Beers, who built the .Owego academy in 1827.
Some account has already been given in these articles of Mr. Leach and Mr. Beers. Mr. Beers was a car- penter and lived on the lot now owned by Mrs. E. J. Pride on the south side
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The South Abutment of the Bridge as it was left after the rest of the bridge had been swept away in the great flood of March, 1867, with Samuel Archibald's Tannery on the bank below.
The Trestle Bridge Built by. Wheeler H. Bristol in 1868.
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of Front street, west of Academy street. The model of the bridge was constructed in Mr. Beers's house. It was made of pieces of wood one inch square. A portion of the timbers for the bridge was framed in the village park and the rest on the south side of the river. All the pins for holding the timbers together were made in Gen. John Laning's storehouse, which stood a little east of the bridge and which was used by the carpenters as a tool house. .
When the bridge was being built it was . generally believed that. the wooden piers would not be strong enough to resist the ice, but they lasted, with occasional repairs, for 64 years, and until the present. iron .bridge was built in 1893.
In the night of Feb. 8, 1842, there was a great flood in the river, caused by rain and melting snow. The water was several feet higher than it had been before in thirty years. Build- ings, mill dams, lumber, hay, hogs, and cattle were swept away. Nearly all the railroad bridges in the country were carried off. In Canawana people were removed from their homes on rafts and boats, and one family was taken out of their house through the roof. A saw mill struck the bridge in the hight. The mill was broken in pieces and the pieces were deposited on the bridge, but the bridge. was so solid and strong that it was not car- ried away.
In the night of Oct. 5, 1867, a fire broke out in Bullock's brewery, below the bridge and burned much property on both sides of Front street, above and below the park. One span of the bridge was burned. It was imme-
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The North End of the Trestle Bridge built by Wheeler H. Bristol.
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The Iron Bridge built in 1892 by the Owego Bridge Company.
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diately afterward rebuilt, and the bridge was open to travel again in the following January.
On Sunday night, the 15th of the fol- lowing March, there was another great flood in the river. The ice car- ried away three or four of the inner spans of the bridge. The following Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock the heavy ice above Hiawatha island came down in a solid sheet the entire width of the river and swept away the rest of the bridge. The loss was a total one.
The bridge company at once con- tracted with Wheeler H. Bristol, of Owego, who had built many railroad bridges, to build a trestle bridge in place of the old one at a cost of $54,550. It was 920 feet long; with nine spans, and the roadbed was 32 feet above low water mark. It was: completed and opened to the public Nov. 1, 1868.
The bridge had always been a toll bridge. In 1861, the question of the purchase of the bridge by the village and opening it free to the public was agitated. Toll bridges had been made free throught the country and the pay- ment of bridge toll by the people liv- ing south of Owego who came here to trade was a tax that was detrimental to the village.
The original charter provided that after a term of thirty years from the date of the completion of the bridge, the bridge and its approaches should become the property of the people of the state. When the charter was re- newed, in 1825, this clause. was re- pealed, and it was provided that after the expiration of forty years from the time of the completion of the bridge
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it should become the, property of the state.
An action was brought in the su- preme court in 1860 to take the bridge. from its owners and make it a free bridge, on the ground that the charter had expired. The case was argued in February, 1861, at the Chemung coun- ty special term by Benj. F. Tracy for the people and George Sidney Camp for the bridge company. The case was decided in favor of the company.
In May, 1881, a bill was passed by the legislature, 'authorizing a public meeting of the taxpayers of the vil -.. lage of Owego, to decide whether the bridge should be purchased by the vil- lage and maintained as a free bridge or not, the bridge company. having agreed to sell the bridge for $25,000. The election was held July 18 at Wil- son hall, where 318 votes were cast for the proposition and 68 against it. The: bill authorized the bonding of the vil- lage for $10,000, after $15,000 should be raised by voluntary subscription. The money was raised and the bridge was purchased in the following De- eember:
In the summer of 1891, the board of supervisors of Tioga county authorized the bonding of the town of Owego for $60,000 for the construction of an iron bridge, in place of the wooden one, which had been condemned as unsafe for travel. The bridge, with its spans. elevated above the railroad tracks at the south end, was built the next year . at a total cost of about $100;000. Of this amount the D., L. W. R. R. Co. paid $13,000. . The stone work of the bridge was built by Ford & Bauer on a contract for $22,897. The iron work
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was built by the Owego bridge com- pany. The bridge was completed and opened to the public in the fall of 1893.
A History of the Old Owego Academy, . Which Was Built in 1827 from the Proceeds of the Sale of the Gospel , and Literature Tracts of Land by Amos Martin-It Has Had Twenty- one Different Principals, One of Whom Was an Accomplished Native of Russian Poland, Who Could Write and Speak Twenty-five Different Languages.
The old Owego academy, which is still standing in Court street, was built in 1827 with money obtained from the sale of lands given by the state for the support of schools. It was incorporated April 16, 1828, by James Pumpelly, Eleazer Dana, Gen. Anson Camp, and others, who had sub- scribed largely for the building, and when the subscription lacked $800 to complete it, Mr. Pumpelly advanced the money ..
By an act of the legislature of the state of New York, passed in 1782, a lot of 400 acres was reserved in each, township of the Military tract for the support of the gospel, and two lots of 200 acres for the support of schools. In each of four townships a lot of 6+0 acres was reserved 'for schools. One of these townships, then known as Hambden, comprised parts of the present towns of Owego, Vestal, and Nichols .*
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