USA > New York > Chenango County > Smyrna > Early years in Smyrna and our first Old home week > Part 10
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and one daughter are buried in the Friends' Burial Ground. Simon S. Chapman was born in Troy, N. Y., in the year 1806, and was one of a family of fourteen children, coming to Ply- mouth when but two years of age, where he lived until 1853, and then moved to Smyrna. In 1831 he married Adeline Mes- senger, and to them were born nine children. In his youthful days he was Captain of the Militia, and for years the title fol- lowed him. In 1851 he was chosen Supervisor of the town of Plymouth, an office which he did not ask, his children realizing the event with some pardonable pride when he was called from his slumbers with the announcement of his election. In 1853 he bought the Tracy farm now owned by Frank Hills, occupying the same until his death which occurred in 1888, in his 82d year, survived by his estimable wife who passed away in 1901, in her 92d year. The descendants of the Chapman family well repre- sent their honorable ancestry and have always been and still are among our best and most worthy citizens.
CYRUS D. ABBOTT was born in Sherburne, August 17, 1829, the son of Daniel and Chloe Wescott Abbott, the former a na- tive of Sherburne. To this couple were born eight children, four sons and four daughters. Their home was on a farm north of Sherburne village, where they resided until the death of the father, leaving the eight children to the care of the mother. Cyrus pursued his studies in the district schools of Sherburne, finally learning the cobblers trade, becoming in time one of the best boot and shoe makers in any of the towns of Central New York. When he grew to manhood he moved to Smyrna village and opened a shop for himself, in which he was very successful. In 1846 he married Louise Deutelleur, of Sherburne, a lady of French descent and said to be of most excellent ancestry. To them were born five children: The oldest was Esther E., who became the wife of Francis E. DeMarse, deceased, and is a resi- dent of Sherburne; John C. married Clara, a daughter of Charles O. Tuttle, now of Earlville, by whom are three children; Louise and William J., both graduates of our High School, and the lat-
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ter now a student at the Troy Polytechnic Institute, and Ernest C., the youngest; Rose M. is the wife of our friend and life-long resident, J. Orville Preston, their only child, M. Jay, being con- nected with the general store of Willcox & Preston in this vil- lage; Fred G. married Edna Champlin, of Sherburne, and they now reside in the city of Elmira. Cyrus D. Abbott died on the 26th day of August, 1871, in his forty-sixth year, and his wife's death occurred on the 25th of June, 1875, and both rest in the West Burial Ground in this village.
JUDAH H. COOK came from Brattleboro, Vt., when a young man settling in Plymouth, this county. In 1834 he married Sarah Denney a native of North East, Dutchess County, and later moved to Norwich. Mr. Cook was a Jacksonian Demo- crat, always true to his party, an old-fashioned man retaining the customs of the older class of people, and though perhaps somewhat eccentric, was an excellent conversationalist and a great reader enjoying in general the confidence of his townsmen. Both he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church, and faithful to their trust. Mrs. Cook was a most estimable woman, her christianity and her life, like the flowers she so much loved, shed a fragrance wherever she went and homes of sickness and sorrow were made happy because of her cheering presence.
They moved to Upperville in the fall of 1856, where they made their home for many years, no vestige of the same now remaining as the house was burned in April, 1895. Their chil- dren were Sarah, who died at an early age; Cephas B., born at Oxford, who came to Smyrna with his parents, educated in the old Norwich Academy, afterwards teaching several terms of school in Smyrna and Sherburne, and in 1862 moving east and teaching several years at Lakeville, Conn. Mr. Cook was also a Democrat, always taking an active part in politics. His death occurred at Lakeville, Conn., March 20, 1877, and at the time of his death he was a member of the Connecticut Legislature, a School Examiner and a Justice of the Peace. His age was forty- seven. Maria C. was educated in Smyrna and Norwich, teach-
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ing some thirty or more terms in and around Smyrna with much success, winning the respect of all her pupils which has ever fol- lowed her. She is now the esteemed wife of Smith C. Faulk- ner, of Norwich, and they have one son, Clarence, a recent grad- uate of the Norwich High School. (Mr. Faulkner's oldest son, Jesse, born in Smyrna, by his first wife now deceased, also re- sides with them at Norwich.) All will hope that many years of comfort and enjoyment may be hers.
GEORGE TOWNER, whose first wife was Sarah Beale, now deceased, came from Sussex County, England, in 1858, and was an expert blacksmith, doing many kinds of work which a ma- jority of those who follow in his line of business are unable to accomplish. Mr. Towner's second wife, now deceased, was Eliza- beth Burton, and there were five children, once well known here. Byron, now deceased; Rosa, the wife of Ira Snow of Waltham, Mass .; Flora, who married Deloss Seymour of Westmoreland, N. Y .; Ida, the wife of Charles Baxter of Greene, and Charles, now a resident of the state of Michigan. Mr. Towner's death oc. curred in this village in April, 1867. Leonard, his first son, has since 1860 been a resident of the town, excepting perhaps one or two years. He is well known and highly respected by all who know him, and has followed his father's occupation, a faithful industrious laborer at the same. He married Mary Crandall, of Sherburne, and there are living five children; Arthur, the oldest, whose wife was Millie Sabin, now of Syracuse; George B., of Norwich, whose wife was Harriet, the oldest daughter of Arthur L. Harris; Sarah E., who resides at home, and Walter B. and Philip A., who have railroad positions at Sidney, N. Y.
NELSON COLE for over forty years a respected resident of Smyrna, where he has been a prosperous farmer and worthy citizen, was born in Otselic, February 11, 1819, and was one of four children. He married Emeline, a sister of Robert Gibson, of Beaver Meadow, and by her were two children. DeEtta, who passed away some thirty years ago, and Dewitt, who lives at home. The mother is now deceased and Mr. Cole has become
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a feeble old gentleman. His father was Ziba Cole, born at Prov- idence, R. I., October 8, 1778; his mother Laura Colt, born at the same place January 16, 1793, a sister of the man who in- vented the Colt revolver.
BRIGHAM YOUNG-Our most famous citizen was no less a personage than Brigham Young, who in later years became the noted Mormon leader. His home here is said to have been near the junction of the Plymouth road and that leading to German Hollow. As a young man he frequently worked for the sur- rounding neighbors, and was not long since remembered by sev- eral old-time residents, and by those who were once attendants at the old Stover "Meeting House" which he usually attended.
Very many, though never famous, were worthy of mention, an honorable list of men and women of whom much could be written equally worthy of notice with those whose names appear in this volume, but no doubt nearly all have passed from these transitory scenes and are now on the side of the Great Majority.
That many names are omitted from the foregoing list we are fully aware, but our readers should bear in mind that it is one hundred and thirteen years since the first settlers came into the town, and that there is scarcely left an inhabitant who can re- member back even seventy-five years, and thus it is not surpris- ing that many of our older and most worthy families are not mentioned, a matter of very much regret to the writer.
Concerning our pioneers, one and all, from reports passed down to the present, we are led to believe they were "good men and true," and it may rightly be said that the present genera- tion may well have a deserving pride in their honorable ancestry.
"What cares he for the monarch's jeweled crown, For prince or plutocrat, for fame's renown, The turmoil and the strife of endless greed, When honest toîl supplies each simple need, He seeks not glory, yet the future years, Weave all their laurels for the pioneers."
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WILD ANIMALS.
Wild animals were numerous in our town as well as in all the surrounding country, and bear, deer, wolves and other ani- mals were frequently seen, and panthers occasionally. Elizabeth Tobey, wife of Joseph Tobey, has told of seeing a wolf near-by where she was washing clothes in the brook south of the old Tobey home, but upon hearing a loud cry the animal disap- peared as suddenly as it made its appearance. Wolf gorge was said to have been at that time a great resort for these animals, hence its name. Bears were very numerous and often attacked young cattle, sheep and swine, and at the Tobey farm was kept for many years a large bear trap made by Mr. Tobey, which helped to rid the vicinity of many of these animals, and when the country was cleared the trap was sent to the western part of the state and in that section helped the settlers rid themselves of the annoying animals. The road to the present settlement of Upperville was for many years known as the "dangerous gulf,'' on account of wild animals.
Aunt Laura Wilbur, mother of the late Isaac Wilbur, and grandmother of Clifford B. who still resides here, has told the writer of once meeting a bear while in the woods adjoining her home, but looking the animal steadily in the eye he finally sneaked away without harming her.
Our esteemed and venerable friend, Gilbert Tuttle, furnishes the following among other reminiscences: "In the fall of 1839 my father, Daniel Tuttle, and family, ten in all at that time, moved on to a place of about forty acres located about one-half mile south of the George Bartlett place, having purchased it as I recollect from the state. There were no buildings, and father and we boys, Nelson, Israel and myself, helped in rolling up logs for our winter residence. We lost one of our oxen, which left us with only one, which we worked for a time alone with a crooked yoke, but after a while yoked the ox with the cow, and in this way completed our buildings. The winter provisions
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were obtained largely by the burning of coal pits, (the coal sell- ing for five cents per bushel,) and the sale of ashes. The lone ox played an important part, harnessed or hitched to a cart or sled as the season demanded, the sled made of two poles which served both for runners and shafts, the ox traveling in the mid- dle of the road. In this way we always went to the old Mun- son mill for our meal, and I have no recollections of partaking of wheat bread up to this time. There were only little patches of cleared land in all that section, but on father's farm the Bea- vers had made a little cleared ground down by the creek. Dur- ing the winter we boys were compelled to remain within doors quite largely, as our people were unable to provide us boots or shoes, and at this time there were no cook stoves in all that re- gion of country. In the following spring we had an experience with a panther which caused much uneasiness among us for many years. We had heard peculiar noises several times dur- ing the spring, over in the woods similar to the crying of a child, but had never been able to discover the source of these noises. One morning Enos was sent down to see if the coal pits were properly burning and hearing a rattling noise in the brush stopped to see what the disturbance might be, when he discov- ered a large animal on a good sized pole with its claws reaching almost around it. The panther, as it proved to be, started in pursuit, which sufficiently satisfied my brother's cusiosity and he ran towards home for dear life. We saw him running with the panther behind. The animal was proving too fleet for the boy and fast lessening the distance between the two. The dis- tance was not far from the house and the boy began yelling at the top of his voice, and the animal gave up the chase as they neared the house. The news was spread through the neighbor- hood and hunting parties were organized and the panther shot a few miles west of the place. He was a monster and measured seven feet from tip to tip. It was certainly the last panther ever shot in the township, and we believe there is no record of any other being shot here since the organization of the town."
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The father of the writer has told him that he has frequently seen deer coming over the hill north of the Munson place to water in the little stream a short distance above the lot so long used as a garden, and a large hedge hog was shot by the late Stephen V. Reynolds on his farm in the summer of 1874, and in later days quite recently one was shot on the farm of Hervey Sexton, probably the last of its race in the town.
TRACY'S BEAR STORY.
Our old-time resident and home week visitor, James R. Tracy, gives us the following, which cannot fail to interest our readers, known as Tracy's Bear Story, the scene of the fight be- ing the present Stover farm.
"Upon a midsummer Sunday about the year 1800, Uncle Orrin Van Vleet, a lame man living on the west end of the Sto- ver farm, came to father's door much excited, and told father he had seen a bear enter a hollow tree on the hill over south of the Stover place. My father was a strict Methodist, and it was Sunday, but it would never do to let such a vicious animal es- cape. So taking his gun and telling his hired man to bring an axe, and calling his two dogs they followed Uncle Orrin towards the bear tree. On their way Uncle Stover armed with a pitch- fork, and followed by his hired man with an axe and the two Stover dogs, joined them. The tree was on the side hill on what was afterwards the Thompson Wilber farm, and one-half mile east of Dark Hollow. From signs around the tree the con- clusion was reached that it was a veritable bear's den and that cubs were also within it. It was soon agreed that the cubs should be captured alive if possible, but the bear must be killed. The question was to get at the bear, as the entrance to the den was some sixty feet straight up the tree which had a single stump of a limb some six feet below. The mode of attack agreed upon was this, a beech tree with a thick top standing near the elm was felled against it, and this made a ladder reaching to within about twenty feet of the entrance. Father's plan was to reach the
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bear's entrance and by throwing things therein to anger her so that she would come out. He threw off his coat and hat and as- cended the branch, an easy task, to the elm. He then had about a dozen feet to climb bear fashion, by clinging to the bark to reach the limb stump under the entrance. By standing upon the limb he could just reach the hole over his head. He took a number of pieces of bark and poked them into the liole and let them fall, and it was not long before Mrs. Bruin came to the door to see what was the matter. Observing who her caller or intruder was she gave an ugly growl and proceeded at once to drive him away. He, aware of her intent, began sliding down the tree and she after him. He soon reached the beech tree and through its branches he could go much faster than she could, and not being able to go down head downwards and also unable to see behind her, the constant climbing of limbs retarded and finally disgusted her, so that she gave up the chase, and very composedly sat down on the limb under her doorway and took a survey of the surroundings. It may be easily imagined that the prospect was not very much to her liking. Five men and an equal number of dogs at the foot of her castle, and her cubs inside was not very pleasant to contemplate. Meantime father had his rifle and prepared to make the shot which would, as he confidently expected, practically end the contest. With thoughts of bear's meat and a feast for all his neighbors, he fired, and the bear, why, she just snapped her teeth and that was all. He then gave her a shot from the other side but with the same result. He planted a third shot upon her shoulder which angered her, and with a fierce growl she wheeled about and re-entered her castle. It was not long before she had the clubs raining down upon her. There was a noise inside, and father was de- termined to see what it was, so grasping the opening with both hands he drew himself up and peered in. Just then Mrs. Bruin poked her nose into the same hole from the inside, and their noses were not a foot apart, when with a defiant snarl she blew a whole mouth full of froth into his face and made a grab for him. Father knew she would be after him and retreated with all pos-
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sible haste. Bruin, coming suddenly out of her retreat, was obliged to turn completely around before she could begin the chase, giving father a few hitches the start, and it was hitch Tracy and hitch bear, and it was difficult to see which could hitch the fastest. But Mrs. B. had a plan of her own. She had counted them from her perch upon the limb that there were al- ready four men and five dogs on the ground for her to contend with in her retreat to the fastnesses of Dark Hollow, and she had no notion of having the fifth man, and he most aggressive of all, added to the number of her assailants at the beginning of the fight, So, when about twenty feet from the ground she shot herself clear of the tree, passed over his head and reached the ground before him. Of course the dogs charged immediately, the four curs upon the flanks and rear. But father's big mastiff disdained such a mode of fighting, and would meet her face to face. He didn't know that the bear was a past master at box- ing, but soon he found it out, for once within reach she dealt him a terrific blow with her huge paw upon the side of his head which sent him end over end howling at the top of his voice. Jumping up he made a bee line for home, wanting no more bear hunt for him. Meantime the bear was making her best possible time in her flight, with father and the crowd in hot pursuit. But the ceaseless nipping of the dogs at her heels soon angered her and turning she charged back upon them, they in turn running to father for protection, some passing on one side and some on the other, so that the bear was brought straight to his feet. He now thought to end the contest at a single blow with a club, as her head was quite within reach, and there seemed no possible chance for failure, but he soon found that Mrs. B. was as good at fencing as she had been at boxing, for though his cudgel fell like lightning, her head, as if by magic disappeared between her forelegs, and the cudgel struck the ground and she was in full retreat again. The dogs, ever alert and only fearing when her head was turned towards them, at once closed in and before many rods had been passed again engaged her into another coun- ter charge. Father thought to dispatch her this time sure, and
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again his cudgel fell, but it struck the ground and the animal still in retreat. When the dogs brought her back the third time, father who was beginning to fear ignominious defeat, sprang quickly beside her and his club fell upon her back and broke it. The two hired men who, armed with axes, had hung upon father's heels all through the exciting contest soon dispatched her, and Uncle Stover, older and more portly than the others who had followed, ready to give assistance if required, offered his hearty congratulations at the lucky ending of the contest. The tree was then felled, one of the cubs being killed in its falling. The other vras captured alive but was too old to be safe where small chil- dren were about, so he was also dispatched."
ROADS AND RAILROADS.
The Albany and Ithaca Turnpike was built in the summer of 1805, and considered a boon to the settlers, as it assisted ma- terially in clearing up the section through which it was laid, mostly an unbroken forest, where in many places only blazed trees had marked a path to the newly made settlements. From the east it passes through Smyrna in a northwesterly direction, and it is stated that the one hundredth mile west of Albany was staked at the point where the roads converge from Earlville and Sherburne, one mile east of the village, and the one hundred and first mile, in the road directly in front of the office of George P. Pudney.
The opening of this thoroughfare was the most important enterprise that occupied the attention of the people of this part of the state, until some thirty years later the subject of a canal to connect the valley with the Erie canal at Utica, became a popu- lar theme that finally culminated in the construction of the Che- nango canal from Utica to the city of Binghamton, on which work was begun in July, 1834, and completed in the month of October, 1836, at a cost of $4,542,107. The new enterprise was hailed with joy by all the people, and its beginning and completion were duly celebrated through all the section to which
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it extended. It was a matter of much convenience and a great assistance to the people along its line, and fully satisfied them for many years, doing a thriving business, carrying large quanti- ties of grain, flour and other commodities from the cities to the towns, and returning the products of the farms to the cities.
In spite of its prosperity, the people arose to the fact along in the latter fifties that it was becoming inadequate to meet the requirements of the growing interests of the valley, and from this time on the subject of a railroad was the chief discussion among the people, resulting in the year of 1865 in the organiza- tion of the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railroad Company, its object being the building of a railroad from Utica to Binghamton, some ninety miles to the south ward, reaching Waterville, Norwich and Oxford and the other intermediate villages.
A year or two later the road was constructed, first to Sher- burne, then to Norwich and later to Binghamton, its southern extremity. At the former place the opening of the same was observed with much enthusiasm, and a grand celebration held in its honor, one which has never been excelled or even equaled in our sister village, and the event will still be remembered by many of our older citizens. One of the chief speakers on that occasion was the late honored Horatio Seymour, and it was the last time he was ever heard in the valley.
The building of this road closed the time honored stage routes from Utica southward, and opened a new era to the in- habitants of all this section of country, and it was not long after the beginning of operations on the railroad that it was discovered that the canal was a loser and was not paying expenses, conse- quently it was not to be wondered at some ten years later, that the State Legislature voted to abandon the canal and discard its use, and while in the latter days there has been some talk about . its reconstruction, yet it is not at all likely that it will ever be rebuilt.
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Not many years after the railroad was built it was sold to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, which still controls it, the sale having proven a most profitable investment for the towns as well as for the company. While the road was a great benefit to our own town, yet an event took place in the winter of 1866, which awakened a new interest in the minds of the people of Smyrna, who were desirous for a railroad through their own town. This was the organization of the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad Company, whose track was to traverse the state diagonally from Oswego on Lake Ontario to the great Metropolis, passing through Oswego, Madi- son, Chenango, Delaware, Sullivan, Orange and Rockland Coun- ties, a distance of some three hundred and twenty-five miles.
Enthusiastic meetings were held in nearly all the towns in aid of the project. They were very largely attended and much interest was shown. The outcome was the bonding of nearly all the towns and villages along the route, our own town falling in line to the amount of $120,000, our people little realizing that it would be nearly forty years before the last dollar of the in- debtedness would be paid. The colossal blunder was made, when, instead of paying a portion of the amount of principal each year, the whole amount was allowed to run for twenty years at seven per cent interest. With no fund on hand to meet the principal at the close of that period, the sum was refunded at four and one-half per cent, with a portion of the principal sum to be due and payable each year, until the whole issue of the bonds should be cancelled, and it is a matter of much congratu- lation that in this year of grace, 1905, the last payment is to be made, ridding the taxpayers of a burden which has come with extreme hardness on the shoulders of very many of our citizens.
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