USA > New York > Chenango County > Smyrna > Early years in Smyrna and our first Old home week > Part 11
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While the debt has been a heavy one for many years, yet now, after its payment, with an excellent road, fine trains, and most excellent accommodations, we firmly believe but few could be found among all the taxpayers who would be willing to have
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the road removed, even if all the costs of the same could be re- funded. Like all new roads it had its troubles. Its worst trial was in the spring of 1875, when nearly the entire road was abandoned, excepting that portion running from Utica to Sid- ney, which for a few months was operated by the Delaware & Hudson Company. This arrangement was of short duration, for in the fall of that year the company was re-organized as the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad Company, and the en- tire road re-opened for business, the same management con- tinuing till the spring of 1905, when the announcement was made of the purchase of the road and its branches by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, a strong and wealthy organization, which augurs well for the future of the road.
There are branches from Utica and Rome to Randallsville, a short branch from Pecksport to White's Corners, (doing away with the heavy grade from Randallsville to Pratt's Hollow,) and one from Sidney to Edmeston. Another from Cadosia to the coal fields of Carbondale and Scranton, and also one from Summitville to Kingston on the Hudson. It is a matter of much regret that the branch from Norwich to Freeville, which was opened with such fine prospects and continued for a number of years, was finally abandoned, and our sympathy is extended to our neighbors in Plymouth and Otselic, who having issued bonds which must be paid, are still obliged to remain without a railroad, though there is little doubt that in the near future those towns will have a railroad, though whether steam or electric, or from whence or to whence, still remains a problem.
The first train on the road was run from Oneida to West Monroe to carry hop pickers, on the 29th of August, and was drawn by engine No. 4, "Delaware," (No. 3 was the "Chenango,") with Edwin Williams, engineer, and our old friend and vet- eran James T. Purdy, now of Sherburne Hill, as conductor. The road was opened from Oswego to Norwich in November, 1869, and for many months the "blow" of the whistle or the
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ringing of the bell was a signal for the appearance of old and young on the surrounding hill tops to witness the arrival and departure of the trains. With the first railroad came the first telegraph line through the town, and the first operator Charles W. Head, of Earlville, now deceased, as well as the line itself was a source of much wonder to all the then small boy fra- ternity. The road was completed to New York in the summer of 1873, its terminal being at Weehawken, N. J. With a two cent rate of fare its business is constantly increasing, and its train service compares most favorably with any of the lateral roads of the state, and with the new facilities promised in the future, there seems to be no reason why the New York, Ontario & Western will not some day be one of the leading railroads of the Empire State.
MILITARY RECORD.
Hon. Isaac Foote, Moses Ballard and Timothy Leonard, heroes of the revolution, sleep their last sleep in our West Burial Ground, and Timothy Dunne, a hero of Stony Point, and Jared Bennett a young soldier who also faced the British soldiers in behalf of the cause of the American Colonies, rest in our Eastern Cemetery. One hundred and twelve soldiers were furnished by the town for the War of the Rebellion, the number including many of our best young men, and none were braver.
We are forcibly reminded, especially as each recurring Deco- ration Day moves around and their ranks are seen depleted, that those young men of nearly forty-five years ago, are not only growing old, but fast passing away.
"Passing away, yes, passing away, Fewer the numbers, day by day, Over the river, with noiseless tread. One by one, go the soldier dead."
Following is a list of those who enlisted from the town of Smyrna to serve in the United States army during the Civil War:
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5th New York Heavy Artillery -* Edgar L. Bennett; * Gilbert Wedge; * Isaac Wade; +Adelbert Rose, died on way home; * John Mckinney; +James Ferris, Frederika, Iowa; William Cashdollar, killed at Winchester; Truman Blindberry, killed at Charleston; +Nelson J. Scarritt, Smyrna, N. Y .; Dwight Mygatt, died in Salisbury prison; * Isaac Brooks, Sherburne, N. Y .; +Oscar Tut- hill, died on way home; E. W. Franklin, died in Salisbury prison; Henry C. Wheeler, Binghamton, N. Y .; Charles Cashdollar, resi- dence unknown; W. D. Pudney, sergeant, Cleveland, Ohio; Clark Tinker, died at Baltimore; +Thomas Tracy, died on way home; Philander Benedict, died at Baltimore; * Owen Manwar- ren; Hezekiah W. Pentecost, state of Washington.
157th New York Infantry -* Joel L. Jaynes; H. S. Mont- gomery, Plymouth, N. Y .; J. H. Collier, Earlville, N. Y .; Na- than Eldridge, Smyrna, N. Y .; M. C. Dixon, New York city; *Charles Hitchcock; * Thomas Russell; +J. W. Boynton, Smyrna, N. Y .; Richard M. Hall, killed at Chancellorsville: E. F. Law- rence, Wards Island, N. Y .; * George Scarritt; Henry J. Preston, killed at Chancellorsville; * Timothy Taylor; J. Burdette Tay- lor, Otsdawa, N. Y .; * Abram Ferris; Luman Miles, Norwich, N. Y .; * Hiram Cleveland; * Orville Gazley; * Garner Mathewson, Veteran of Mexican War; George Hills, North Norwich, N. Y .; Elisha Bisbee, Smyrna, N. Y .; * Valentine Tefft; Delos Gazley, residence unknown; Horace E. Sprague, North Brookfield, N. Y.
114th New York Infantry -* Thomas Hitchcock; Isaac Bal- lou, Smyrna, N. Y .; * George Burlingham; Nathan Tefft, Norwich, N. Y .; Charles Tefft, St. Charles, Michigan; * Joseph Swift; *Rufus Tracy; * Miles Ireland; * John Cleveland; Henry J. Crumb, Smyrna, N. Y .; George W. Crumb, Smyrna, N. Y .; * Henry Thetka; * Hiram Thetka; John VanDeusen, Beaver Meadow, N. Y .; Adam Rickard, Beaver Meadow, N. Y .; Stephen Weaver, sergeant, killed at Winchester; Isaac Weaver, Sidney, N. Y .; *Charles Shaver.
61st New York Infantry-Capt. Charles H. Stanton, Ply- mouth, N. Y .; * David Campbell; * Daniel Crumb; * William
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Gates; * Byron Reynolds; * Jacob Carncross; Orlando Wedge, residence unknown; Julius Kelsey, killed in battle; Prof. Hud- son A. Wood, died at Mt. Vernon, N. Y .; Robert Record, Otselic, N. Y .; D. C. Clark, DeRuyter, N. Y .; Seymour Griffin, killed in battle.
17th New York Infantry-Edward Tracy, Plymouth, N. Y .; Lorenzo Tefft, Norwich, N. Y .; * John Wedge.
Bates' Battery of Artillery -* James E. McClellan, DeRuyter, N. Y .; Andrew J. Shepard, Stevenson, Wash .; * N. E. King; *Marvin W. Coleman.
184th New York Infantry-Josiah Miles, Smyrna, N. Y .; John Miles, Truxton, N. Y .; * Caleb Ferris.
44th New York Infantry-Duane D. Dimmick, Earlville, N. Y .; * John Stine; Alonzo Shepard, died in Soldiers' Home, Mis- souri; Mckenzie Shaw, residence unknown; * William Beach.
Other Regiments -* Devolson Wilcox, 35th New York In- fantry; Lieut. Mansfield Yates, 22d New York Cavalry, killed at Baltimore; * Lewis Carncross, 176th New York; * Dudley Wil- cox, 22d New York Cavalry; * Joseph Talbott, 8th New York Cavalry; * Francis Livermore, 8th New York Cavalry; * Silas H. Chapman, 1st New York Mounted Rifles; * William Ellsworth, Co. 1, 2d New York H. A.
The Number of Regiment Unknown -* Joseph Antone, scout; *Thomas Antone, scout; * Alvin Hubbard; * Squares D. Tracy; *Merritt Shaver; Vernon Worden; Elisha Fredenburg; Nelson Ireland, Austin Swift; Henry Raper; William B. Crumb; Sam- uel Hinkley; * Harvey Roe.
*Dead. +Prisoner of War.
SMYRNA VILLAGE.
The Village of Smyrna was incorporated on the 20th day of April, 1829, and the first Charter Election held at the house of Russel Case, May 4th of the same year. A portion of the law
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creating the Corporation reads as follows: "The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : "The district of country within the town of Smyrna, in the County of Chenango, contained within the following bounds, that is to say: "Beginning east at the east line of the Union Meeting House lot; thence to Pleasant Brook; thence westerly as said brook turns and winds to the west line of Or- ville Squires' land, including the long bridge across said brook ; thence easterly to the place of beginning, including forty rods wide on the north side of the turnpike road, shall hereafter con- tinue to be known and distinguished by the name of the Village of Smyrna, and the freeholders and inhabitants residing within the same qualified to vote at town meetings, may meet on the first Monday in May next, at the house of Russel Case in said village, a notice whereof shall be made in writing, signed by a justice of the peace or three freeholders residing in said town, and put up in at least three public places in said village at least five days before said first Monday in May next, and then and there proceed to elect five discreet freeholders residing in said village to be trustees thereof."
Some changes have been made in boundary lines and other matters, and the village was re-incorporated under the general law in the fall of 1900.
The first officers elected for the village (1829) were as fol- lows : Trustees, Russel Case, Nicholas B. Mead, George Ham- mond, John Strew and Harvey Talcott; assessors, Benjamin Hopkins, Peter Merritt and John E. Tew; treasurer, Hial Hart; constable and collector, Samuel C. Lawson; pound keeper, John Wiley; fire wardens, Nicholas B. Mead and Peter Merritt; over- seer of highways, Demas Hubbard. At a subsequent meeting Russel Case was chosen president.
Its present officers are as follows: President, Abel Comstock, trustees, William W. Lyon, Walter G. Willcox; clerk, Daniel G. Butts; treasurer, James T. Comstock; assessors, Leonard Towner, Frank Rickard, Henry P. Northup; collector, Edwin S.
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Billings; highway commissioner, Dwight Reynolds. It will be seen that Smyrna is one of the oldest incorporated villages in Central New York.
UPPERVILLE.
Upperville was the name applied to the little settlement, three miles west of the village, situated on Pleasant Brook near the center of the town.
In its halcyon days it boasted of an axe factory, the same conducted by Russel Leonard, and later by M. H. Jones, and a grist mill, once conducted by James Scarritt, and still later by Wise Soule, and closing its business career under the administra- tion of the late Edward S. Towsley. The settlement also had a good hotel, once kept by Dewitt C Briggs and later by Charles Matthewson and also a flax mill and other minor business con- cerns. Its glory has long since departed, but it remains a quiet, peaceable community, its moral tone somewhat improved since the advent of the handsome church erected there by the Friends' Society, a very valuable acquisition to the community, and an ornament to the place. It was at the school house just west of the settlement that the late Herbert M. Dixon conducted a Mis- sion Sunday School for forty-two years, and the church is no doubt as much the outgrowth of the little Sunday School as of any other effort put forth in its behalf. The place became bet- ter known to the outside world, when seven years ago, under the administration of the late President Mckinley it obtained a post office of the fourth class, and has since had a regular mail, via the Otselic and Smyrna stage line, its present Post Master, Francis G. Stanton, who seems to give universal satisfaction.
Some four miles from Upperville on the stage line, also on Pleasant Brook, among the broad and fertile fields of that por- tion of the town, is located another post office, Bonney, estab- lished the same date with Upperville, (September 12, 1898,) with our old friend, John D. Frair, as Post Master. It takes its
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name from Sherman W. Bonney, a life-long and respected citi- zen of that part of the town. Some of the newspaper corres- pondents of that locality insist in claiming as their territory all that portion of the town between Beaver Meadow and Tuttle Hill, and eastward to Smyrna Falls, but they should be careful not to take in the village also, and if they do not attempt to re- move the land no serious objections will be offered.
"Bonney" actually refers to the little post office which bears its name, and in spite of all claims, our good will and friend- ship will always be extended to all the good people who are for- tunate enough to live in the vicinity of the old "New Meeting House."
MINING IN SMYRNA.
Our mining interests have never been very extensive, but vet they are entitled to be mentioned even if they did not make their projector a modern Crœsus.
Ezekiel Evans, a somewhat eccentric farmer conceived the idea along in the early sixties that silver was to be obtained among the many rocks that abound throughout the town, and soon after began operations for obtaining the same by the side of the road near the Stover farm at Dark Hollow. Here he dug numerous pits and was occupied in his endeavors for sev- eral months, but without avail, for though he found samples of rock that somewhat resembled the precious metel, it proved of no value, and the scheme was given up to the considerable loss of the manipulator, who found at last that like Gold, All is not Silver that glistens.
The Dark Hollow Silver Mines are still pointed out by the older inhabitant.
TOWN RECORDS.
Our town records were all destroyed by the disastrous fire which visited our village June 16, 1900, hence we are minus
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many matters of much interest pertaining to the growth and ad- vancement of the town, as well also as to affairs concerning its people. The first town officers were chosen at a meeting which was presided over by Hon. Isaac Foote, and were as follows: Supervisor, Joseph Simons; town clerk, Jabez Collins; asses- sors, Stephen Parker, Jesse Hutchinson, William Stover; com- missioners of Highways, William Collins, Joshua Talcott, Robert Emmons; collector and constable, Samuel Kelsey; overseers of poor, William Stover, Joseph Collins; fence viewers, Adolphus Hall, Seth Willis, Elias Ladd, Samuel Kelsey, Elisha Stanley; pound master, Gideon Rudd. Our present town officers are as follows: Supervisor, John W. Shepardson; town clerk, Charles Doll; justices of the peace, George A. Munson, George P. Pud- ney, Stephen K. Willcox, J. Wellington Boynton; assessors, Samuel J. Hopkins, George S. Record, Clayton R. Crumb; overseer of poor, George F. Coy; collector, C. Wells Simons; constables, Austin A. Hecox, Almenzo R. Brown, Elizur Briggs, Fred King, and Frank C. Willcox.
Our first postmaster was Samuel Hall, who kept the office in the Mansion House, of which he was proprietor, the same oc- cupying the site of the present Methodist Church, and Charles Hammond was his successor, continuing the office in that "tav- ern," with Hall as deputy post master. Harvey Talcott held the office from 1829 to 1841; Elmer Isbell from 1841 to 1849; Milo Sutliff from 1850-53; Beardsley Leavenworth 1853 .7; Dr. Nicholas B. Mead 1857-61; Andrew Shepardson 1861-71; dur- ing which time the office was kept in the present Nearing store, and it was here during the civil war, that war matters were dis- cussed, and from the steps in front war news read to those who assembled each morning, and at the close of a battle in which Chenango boys were known to have engaged, many sad mes- sages were received causing deep sadness throughout the com- munity. Dr. George E. Lawrence succeeded Mr. Shepardson in 1871, holding the office till the advent of the Cleveland adminis- tration in 1885, when it was transferred to Ery W. Stokes, who held the office till 1889, when William H. Comstock, a soldier
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of the War of the Rebellion, wounded severely at the battle of Winchester, and still carrying rebel lead, was appointed to the office, holding the same till Mr. Cleveland was re-elected in 1892 when he was succeeded by Fred. A. Sweet in the spring of 1893 holding the same till 1897. J. Wellington Boynton, the present incumbent, was also a soldier of the rebellion, an inmate of the noted Andersonville prison, and received the appointment at the beginning of the Mckinley administration and still holds the office.
Since the organization of the town, the following have been chosen Supervisors: Joseph Simons, 1809; William Stover, 1810-20; Joseph Billings, 1821-22; Samuel Hall, 1824-5-7-8; Joshua Talcott, 1826; Isaac Foote, Jr., 1829-30-50; Amasa Foote, 1831-32; Norman Sexton, 1833-37; Stephen Anthony, 1838-39; Samuel Northup, 1841; Dudley Bennett, 1845; John F. Billings, 1846-7; Eber Dimmick, 1848-9; Harlow Billings, 1851-52; Rowland B. Tefft, 1853-54; Benjamin Stover, 1855-56; Asa Wilber, 1857-58, 1876-82; Demas Hubbard, 1859-64; An drew Shepardson, 1865-73-85; Platt Wilber, 1874-75; Charles H. Stanton, 1883-84; George P Pudney, 1886-90; William E. Stover, 1891-1900. John W. Shepardson, who holds the office at present, was first elected in the spring of 1901, his present term expiring December 31, 1906.
Our town and community have always been noted for its peaceable qualities, hence we have but two lawyers to mention, and though but two in number, they have not been and are not excelled by any.
OUR PROFESSIONAL MEN.
Hon. Demas Hubbard, our most noted lawyer, a native of Herkimer County, began practicing here some seventy years ago, and was honored with various offices, the most important being Member of the New York Assembly three terms, and Member of Congress for one term. He was a good lawyer, and when strong arguments were lacking, usually turned the minds
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of the judge or jury with one of his excellent stories for which he was noted.
Francis E. Dimmick, son of Eber Dimmick, a member of the State Legislature of 1841, though not a regular lawyer, doubtless understood law as well, if not better, than many who have made law a profession. He was a justice of the peace in the town for more than a quarter of a century, and his ability was never questioned by those who came within his judicial limits.
George P. Pudney, our present successful attorney, was ad- mitted to the bar in the winter of 1877, and located here the fol- lowing spring. He was a student of the late Deloss C. Atkyns, of Sherburne, We trust he will have no occasion to leave us. He was District Attorney for our county two terms, is a capa- ble and trustworthy lawyer, and his legal opinions considered sound by all the legal fraternity.
Our physicians have been some of the best and have stood high in their profession. Probably the first was Dr. Samuel Guthrie, who came here from Massachusetts in 1802, and re- moved to Sherburne in 1811. Nicholas B. Mead came from Washington County. He very successfully practiced his profes- sion till his removal to Quincy, Ill., in 1860. Among others were William Page and Dr. Asa Babcock. Dr. John W. Fish located here in 1840 and remained for sixteen years. Then came Dr. Ure, and in 1862 Dr. William H. Stuart, who remained a few months and located in Earlville; in after life one of the most respected and successful physicians at our neighboring village of Norwich.
Dr. James E. Mclellan, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, whose recent death occurred at DeRuyter, Madison County, where he had a fine practice for many years, was a successful practitioner here for a number of years, a graduate of the Long Island Medical College, and one who established a most excel- lent reputation. He married Harriet, a daughter of the late
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Samuel Willcox, who with her daughters, Carrie and Mabel, still survive him.
Dr. Thomas E. Stack, a native of Ennis, Ireland, and Dr. Frank J. Hitchcock, a native of our own town, a graduate of the Medical College at Burlington, Vt., practiced here a few years but have each moved to other localities.
The best known physician was Dr. George E. Lawrence, who came here from Sherburne with his esteemed family in 1854, remaining until his decease in the fall of 1887. A kind hearted, sympathetic man, always visiting rich and poor alike, and one who made very many friends. In serious cases of ill- ness his good wife usually accompanied him, always rendering most valuable assistance, and it is stated that on the happy oc- casions (more or less) of the Stork visits to our various homes, that she was also usually present to assist in the presentation. Very many of those present during Old Home Week would have been too late for the historical address as well as for the re- maining part of the celebration, had it not been for the faithful nursing and gentle dandling of Mrs. Dr. Lawrence. All of us will long remember Dr. Lawrence and his estimable wife, and when they passed away we all knew that a good man and a good woman had been taken from among us. Their only daughter, Mary, a long time resident of our town, is well known, loved and respected by all for many most amiable qualities, now the wife of our hustling citizen, Floyd W. Brooks.
Edward F. Lawrence, the oldest son, now a resident of New York city, is always welcomed to Smyrna, and never fails to get a rejuvenation from the pure air of his native town and county where he is well known. A genial, social and compan- ionable gentleman whom all are pleased to meet, and who keeps up a great interest in the welfare of his home tov'n. Frank J. Lawrence, born here in the early sixties, where he spent his happy boyhood days, became a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and there spent the greater part of his life, meeting a sudden death but a few months since, mourned by his wife and family.
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The graves of the fond father and mother who rest in our western burial ground will ever attract the remnant of this once interesting family to our town.
Dr. Thurston G. Packer, a native of Jefferson County, this State, came to our town with his family in the spring of 1881, and has since been located here doing a prosperous business, and having the confidence and esteem of his townsmen. His medi- cines and stories are always the most recently discovered, and his medicinal opinions usually found to be correct.
MERCHANTS.
Among our merchants may be mentioned James Elmore, our first, who came here in 1802. Joshua Pratt, whose son is now an honored and respected citizen of Sherburne, now in his 96th year, was also a merchant here in 1825. Harvey Talcott built the Dixon Brothers store and did a general business there for many years, and after him came Webster Merrell and Giles Cowles, Gardner J. Kinyon, Herbert M. Dixon and later, Dixon Brothers. Of the merchants who occupied the Hayward store were Harvey Talcott, Parsons & Monroe, Eber Dimmick, and Kinyon & Isbell. The store on the old Mead place, torn down by Mr. G. P. Pudney, on which site now stands his law office, was occupied by Nathan Sutliff, and its last use was as a feed store kept by Ery W. Stokes in the late sixties. The old hardware store was occupied by Almenzo K. Dixon for some twenty-five years, where a most successful hardware business was conducted until the same was sold to Lyon & Ferris in the fall of 1890, the same being now conducted by Lyon & Son, in the new brick store nearly on the site of the old one. The old building was previously occupied by Eber Dimmick, James O. Ransom, B. Leavenworth, Nathaniel P. Wheeler and Horace T. Nearing. Abel Comstock came here forty-two years ago, purchasing the old Shepard drug store, and the business is now in the hands of his oldest son, James T. Comstock, whose new brick store is a model of neatness. The old store was formerly owned by Trow-
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MESSENGER HOUSE, FURNITURE STORE AT LEFT.
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bridge Shepard and conducted as a drug store, who continued it as such until his death in the summer of 1862, mention of which is made elsewhere in this volume. The present Nearing store was owned and occupied as a store many years by James O. Ransom, by whom it is said to have been built, and since he moved from the town has been in use by several parties, includ- ing Beard Leavenworth, Gazley & Lawrence, George H. Mead, Samuel Lee, L. Boothby, and recently by Mrs. Anna Martin. It is the only store building left by the fire of 1900.
Among other stores kept here we remember a small one kept by Milo Benedict in the present Widger barber shop, and one kept by Jesse Burlingham, in the present Hay house, who conducted a boot and shoe store therewith. This store was the delight of the small boy, and it was never ascertained which was the drawing card in his business, the long rows of glass cans of tempting candy, or the numberless pairs of stogy boots always on exhibition. The writer well remembers his first pair of boots which were purchased at this store. A store was built in the summer of 1871, by Ery W. Stokes on the corner adjoining the hotel, opposite the Dixon corner, in the rear of which was placed a steam mill. The remainder of the building was occupied by his son, C. Dever Stokes, as a general store. He did a very successful business until his death in the fall of 1880, at New York city, where he had gone to purchase goods. The build- ing was sold in the spring of 1881 to John H. and George A. Munson, who transferred the mill and machinery to the Munson Mill, and the store was afterwards rented by William P. Briggs, King & Preston, M. J. Preston, and still later by Preston & Miner, who were in business there at the time of the fire in 1900.
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