USA > New York > Broome County > Gazetteer and business directory of Broome and Tioga Counties, N. Y. for 1872-3 > Part 11
USA > New York > Tioga County > Gazetteer and business directory of Broome and Tioga Counties, N. Y. for 1872-3 > Part 11
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" There were several modes of hunting the deer. Besides the ordinary way of pursuing them by day-light with hounds, the hunters [resorted] to the deer licks, of which there were many, and ascertaining, as nearly as they could, where they stood to lap the water, they set their guns so as to take the deer when they came by night to drink. This they [did] before night-fall, and then [remained by their guns and watched.] They could hear the deer when in the act of drinking, by the noise they made in lap- ping the water. [This was the signal to discharge their guns, which they often did, several together.] If they heard the deer fall, they went and cut its throat, or their throats, as they sometimes shot more than one at a discharge, and brought them off the ground. They would then set their guns again, and wait for the well-known sound of the lapping to be re- newed. They would continue their vigilance according to their success ; sometimes till twelve and two, and sometimes till the dawn of the next morning. The dressing of the game was ordinarily reserved till the next day.
" Another mode pursued by the hunters was, to take the deer when they came down late in the summer or fall to feed upon the sedge or eel grass which grows in the river. Two men would get into a skiff, or boat of any kind that would answer the purpose, [in the forepart of which was a platform covered with turf] ; upon this they would kindle a brisk fire, and one would sit in the fore-part, near the fire, with his rifle in his hand ; the other would sit in the hinder-part and impel and guide the boat with a single paddle, taking care to make no noise, either in the water or at the side of the boat. The deer, at seeing the moving fire, would raise their heads and stamp with their feet, without moving much from their place, even at quite a near approach of the boat. This [enabled] the hunters to come as near to their game as they wished, and to make sure their aim. Sometimes they would take their stand upon the shore and watch by moonlight.
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BROOME COUNTY.
" A story is told of two of the early settlers of Oquaga, one a Dutchi- man by the name of Hendrickson, the other a Yankee by the name of Merryman. They had been in the habit of going together to a little island in the Susquehanna, called Fish Island, to watch for deer, with the un- derstanding always, that each was to share equally in the game. One fine evening, while the moon was shining in its fullness, it occurred to the Dutchman that he would go down to the island and watch for deer, with- out letting his brother Yankee know of it. The same thought occurred to the Yankee. They both went down to the island and took their stations accidentally, at each end. In the course of the evening while waiting for deer, to their apprehension, two made their appearance and entered the river, and passing by the upper end of the island were fired upon by the Yankee, whose station happened to be at that end ; the deer bounded, with a mighty splash, down stream ; and passing the lower end of the island were fired upon by the Dutchman, whose shot took effect and brought one down. As the latter went out to drag in his game, the Yankee called out and claimed the deer, as he had fired first. The Dutchman muttered some objection, and continued wading. When he came to the weltering and dying animal, to his surprise, instead of a large deer, which he was in full expectation of, behold! he had killed one of his neighbor's young cattle- a two year old heifer ; and which he readily recognized. 'Well, den,' said he to his companion, who was making his way down to him, 'you may have de deer ; it is yours, I believe.' The Yankee, when he [also found] what had been done, and feeling they were about equally impli- cated, proposed that they should send the animal down stream, and say nothing about the matter, as they could not afford to pay for it. The Dutchman-and here we see the characteristic honesty of the one, as well as the characteristic dishonesty or disingenuousness of the other-objected ; saying they would take it to the owner, and tell him how they came to shoot it ; and as it would, when dressed, be very good eating, he did not think they should be charged very high for the accident. While they were disputing which course they should pursue, they heard at some little distance, near the shore, or upon it, a noise and difficult breathing, as of an animal dying ; they went to it, and partly hid among weeds and grass, they found, to their further dismay, another heifer, belonging to another neighbor, in her last struggles, having received a death-wound from the first shot. The Yankee now insisted, with greater importunity, that they should send them both down stream, as they could never think of paying for both. But the Dutchman as strenuously objected, and proposed that the Yankee should go the next morning to the owner of one, and he would go to the owner of the other, and make proposals of restitution on as favorable terms as they could obtain. The Yankee finally acceded, and each went the next morning to his respective man. The Yankee made a reluctant acknowledgement of what had been done the night be- fore, and showed but little disposition to make restitution. The owner was nearly in a rage for the loss of his fine heifer, and was hard in his terms of settlement. While the Dutchman, as if to be rewarded for his honesty, found his neighbor, when he had announced what he had done, and proposed to make satisfactory restitution, as ready to exact no more from him, than to dress the animal, and to take half the meat home for his own use.
" Another distinguished hunter of these early times, and one that was considered pre-eminent above all the others for markmanship and daring feats, was Jotham Curtis, of Windsor. An anecdote or two, related of him, will best express his celebrity.
.
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BROOME COUNTY.
"He went out [one] afternoon to a deer-lick, and having killed a deer, he dressed it and hung the body upon a tree, bringing only the skin home with him. This he threw upon a work-bench in an apartment of the house he used as a shop. In the night he was awakened by a noise which he supposed to proceed from a dog at his deer-skin. He sprung up and opened the door that led into his shop ; and about over the work-bench he beheld the glare of two eye-balls, which he knew-so versed was he in the appearance of such animals-to be those of a panther. Without tak- ing his eye from those of the animal, he called to his wife to light a pine stick, and to hand it to him, with his rifle, which she did. With the torch in his left hand, and the gun resting upon the same arm, he took his aim between the eyes, and shot the panther dead upon the bench. It is re- lated to have been a very large one. It had entered the shop through an open window.
"He was one day hunting and came across two cubs. He caught one, and seating himself by a tree, with his back close to it, that he might be sure to see the old one when she [came.] He took the young one between his knees and commenced squeezing its head, to make it cry, which he knew would be likely to bring the old one. In a short time she was seen coming with full speed, with her hair turned forward, an indication of rage, and her mouth wide open. He waited deliberately, till she was near enough, and then, with his unerring fire, he brought her to the ground. Some one asked him afterward, what he supposed would have been the consequence had his gun missed fire ? Oh ! he said, he did not allow it to miss in such emergencies."
79
BARKER.
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
BARKER* was formed from Lisle, April 18, 1831.t A part of Greene (Chenango Co.) was annexed April 28, 1840. It lies north-west of the center of the County, and covers an area of 21,147 acres, of which, in 1865, according to the census of that year, 12,081, were improved. The surface is hilly. The declivities of the hills are in some instances very steep ; but their summits spread out into a broken plateau which renders them capable of tillage. The highest point, in the north-west part of the town, is about 1,400 feet above tide. It is watered by the Tioughnioga river, which flows diagonally through the town, entering it near the north-west corner and leaving it near the south-east corner, where it forms a junction with the Chenango River ; Half Way Brook,} which flows through the north-east part and empties into the Tioughnioga at about half way in its course through the town; and Castle Creek, which rises, by several branches, in the western part and leaves
* Named from John Barker, the first settler, who came from Branford, New Haven Co., Conn., in 1791.
+ The first town meeting was held the first Tuesday in March, 1832, and the following named officers were elected : John Stoughton, Supervisor ; Edward Hebard, Town Clerk; Woodruff Barnes, Hugh Cunningham and John Beach, Assessors; Wm. Osborn and Orlando Parsons, Overseers of the Poor ; Lorenzo Parsons, John P. Osborn and Jacob Lowe, Commis- sioners of Highways; John P. Osborn, Harry Seymour and Asa Hubbard, Inspectors of Common Schools; Ransford Stevens, Oliver Stiles, Rufus Abbott and Daniel Sweatland, Justices of the Peace; David Barker, Col- lector; Rufus Abbott, Sealer of Weights and Measures; David Barker, Asa Hubbard, Charles Atwater and Lewis Cook, Constables.
¿ In the valley of this brook, springs of weak brine were early dis- covered and unsuccessful attempts to utilize them and increase the strength of the brine by boring have been made. A few years since a well was sunk by a stock company to a depth of 700 feet, but operations were suspended in consequence of a broken drill and the difficulty ex- perienced in the efforts made to remove it. Several subsequent attempts to remove the broken drill and proceed with the boring have proved un- availing. It is asserted that the brine is equally as strong as that at Onon- daga, and the same source is claimed for it, but the faith of those inter- ested does not appear to have been sufficiently strong to induce them to remove the impediment to its practical demonstration.
80
BARKER.
. the town near the center of the south border. The valleys of the river and brooks are narrow, but they furnish a limited intervale of rich and highly fertile land. Upon the hills the soil consists of a clayey loam mixed with disintegrated slate and shale. The people are principally engaged in dairying.
· In 1870, the town contained a population of 1,396. During the year ending Sept. 30, 1871, it contained twelve school districts and employed twelve teachers. The number of children of school age was 377; the number attending school, 350; the average attendance, 176; the amount expended for school purposes, $3,055; and the value of school houses and sites, $4,540.
The Syracuse, Binghamton & N. Y. Railroad crosses the town diagonally, following the course of the river.
CHENANGO FORKS (p. v.) is located in three towns-Barker, Chenango and Greene, the latter in Chenango Co.,-but mostly in this town. It is a village of about 600 inhabitants. That part of it lying in this town contains one church, (Congrega- tional) a select school for girls, one hotel, one carriage, three blacksmith and two shoe shops, a saw mill, a grist mill, a drug store, eight other stores and about thirty dwellings. It lies at the forks of the Chenango and Tioughnioga rivers, in the south-east corner of the town, and is a station on the S. B. & N. Y. R. R. and the U.& C. V. R. R., which enters the town at the south-east corner.
HYDE SETTLEMENT in the west part, extending about one $ and one-half miles on "Hyde Street," is named from the first ·settlers in that locality, many of whose descendants still reside there. It contains one church (M. E.) a school house and seven houses.
ADAMS SETTLEMENT in the central part, also derives its name from the first settlers there.
BARKER, on the east bank of the Tioughnioga River, north of the center of the town, formerly contained a post office, but it is discontinued.
The first settlement, as previously stated, was commenced in 1791, by John Barker, from Branford, Conn. The next year he was followed by Simeon Rogers, John Allen, Asa Beach and Solomon Rose, all of whom were from Connecticut and settled on the east bank of the Tioughnioga. Barker located at Che- nango Forks. He purchased the improvements of Thomas Gallop, whom he found living a hermitage-like life, just west of the Tioughnioga, in the town of Chenango, and with his
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BARKER-BINGHAMTON.
family, took up his residence in the "treaty house."* Rogers located about one mile from the mouth of the Tiough- nioga ; and subsequently, in 1792, married the daughter of John Barker. This was the first marriage contracted in the town ; and the first birth was that of Chauncey, son of Simeon Rogers, in 1793. A Mr. Lampeer was the first man who ventured any distance up the Tioughnioga. He settled seven miles from its mouth. The first school was taught by Thomas Cartwright, in 1795; the first inn was opened the same year, by Simeon Rogers, who also kept the first store and built the first mill.
There are only two churches in the town, (Congregational and M. E.)
The Congregational Church is located at Chenango Forks. It was organized with ten members, but in what year we are not advised. Its Church edifice was erected in 1837, at a cost of $2,000. It will seat 250 persons. Rev. Seth Williston was the first pastor. Rev. Thos. Haywood is the present one. The number of members is forty. The Church property is valued at $3,500.
The Adams Street M. E. Church was organized with 44 mem- bers in Feb., 1871. The Church edifice is now in process of erection and when completed will seat 200 persons, and be worth about $2,000. Rev. A. W. Loomis was the first pastor; Rev. N. S. Dewitt is the present one. The number of mem- bers remains the same as when organized.
The M. E. Church of Barker, located at the village of Barker, was organized with five members, by Horace Agard, its first pastor, July 15, 1825. The church edifice, which will seat 200 persons, was erected in 1844, at a cost of $1.500. The Church property is valued at $3,000. Rev. N. S. DeWitt is the present pastor. The present number of members is twenty.
BINGHAMTON was formed from Chenango, Dec. 3, 1855. A part of Vestal was annexed by act of the Supervisors, passed Nov. 24, 1862, and which took effect Dec. 15, 1862.+ It is one of the south border towns, lying west of the center of the County. Its southern boundary is formed by the Pennsyl- vania State line, and its northern part lies in the east and west angles formed by the junction of the Chenango with the Sus-
*The " treaty house " was a "large double log house," erected for the accommodation of the Indians and Commissioners of the Boston Pur- chase in the treaty held at this place.
+ The part annexed is described as the east part of lot No. 2, in the second tract in Sidney township, containing 250 acres, and being the farm of Wm. Morris.
.
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BINGHAMTON.
·
quehanna. The town contains an area of 20,1174 acres, of which, in 1865, according to the census of that year, 13,026, were. improved. The surface is hilly in the south, but the north part embraces the wide and beautiful intervales extending along the two rivers at and near their junction. The hills are from 300 to 400 feet above the river, and are generally arable to their summits. The soil in the valleys is a deep, rich, alluvial and gravelly loam, and upon the hills it is a fine quality of slaty loam.
The population of the town in 1870 was 14,758 .* During the year ending Sept. 30, 1871, it contained nineteen school districts, ten of which were in the city, and employed 44 teachers, thirty-five of whom were employed in the city. The number of children of school age was 2,940, of whom 2,350 (?) were in the city ; the number attending school, 2,844, of whom 2,353 were in the city; the average attendance, 1,461, of whom 1,259 were in the city; the amount expended for school pur- poses, $40,748, of which $37,325 were expended in the city; and the value of school houses and sites, $115,570, those in the city being valued at $105,000.
BINGHAMTON,t the seat of justicet of the County, is eligibly situated at the junction of the Susquehanna and Chenango
* The population of the town exclusive of the city was 2,066.
+ From its location, Binghamton was originally and for a long time known as "Chenango Point." Its present name was given in honor of Wm. Bingham, of Philadelphia, who purchased a large tract of land lying on both sides of the Susquehanna, including the site of the city, and to whose beneficence in donating land for the erection of county buildings and a public school, and to the liberal and enlightened exertions of his agent, Gen. Whitney, its early prosperity is largely due. Mr. Bingham was a native of England, though he came to this country at an early age. He received a liberal education and graduated at the college of Philadel- phia in 1768, at the age of sixteen. He possessed an ample fortune, ac- quired, it is believed, entirely through his own exertions, and was a shrewd financier. He was agent for this country at Martinique during the Revo- lution. In 1786 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Penn- sylvania, and was elected a Senator in Congress in 1795, serving until 1801, and as President pro tem. of the Senate during the Fourth Congress. He died at Bath, England, February 7, 1804, aged fifty-two years.
"The first survey of the village was made in 1800, under the direction of Mr. Bingham, at which time the streets were regularly laid out at right- angles. In 1808, a re-survey was made by Roswell Marshall; and in 1835, a full and complete survey was made by Wm. Wentz, of the place. A map was made from this survey by F. B. Tower, in 1836. According to this last survey, the village has an extent of about two miles, measured east and west, and of one mile and a half measured north and south. Upon the east side of the river, where by far most of the village lies, the course of the streets being determined by the course of the two rivers [and] an important bend in the Susquehanna, [are] more short streets, and more that meet and cross at angles somewhat oblique. This defect, if such it should be called, does not, however, mar the beauty of the place generally, [nor] of the streets individually."-Annals of Binghamton, 1840.
# A description of the County buildings will be found on page 65.
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BINGHAMTON.
rivers, both as regards the rare, quiet beauty of its surround- ings and the valuable commercial facilities it enjoys. It lies north of the center of the town. The Susquehanna enters the corporate limits of the city about the center of the east line and passes in a westerly and slightly southerly direction to near the south-west corner, where it leaves it. It receives the Chenango west of the center of the city. 'The latter stream flows in a southerly and slightly westerly direction from the center of the north line of the city. The city reposes in the valleys of these streams, encircled by fine hills of considerable elevation. It was incorporated as a village April 2, 1813, and as a city, April 9, 1867. By a charter granted May 3, 1834, its limits were enlarged and its territory was divided into five wards, the number it at present contains .* It is an important station on the Erie R. R., is the southern terminus of the Syra- cuse, Binghamton & N. Y., and the Albany & Susquehanna railroads, and the northern terminus of the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western R. R. These lines with their numerous con- nections bring the city within easy communication of all parts of our own State, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They extend to the valuable salt deposits at Syracuse and the lake ports, via Oswego, on the north, to the extensive coal mines at Pennsyl- vania on. the south, and open to the products of its manufac- tories and the fine farming section surrounding it the great marts of commerce in the east and west. The city contains eight good hotels, two extensive tanneries and two finishing tanneries, four machine shops, three scale manufactories, one planing mill and two planing mills and sash, door and blind factories combined, six boot and shoe manufactories,t one steam flouring mill, and two flouring mills operated by water, two barrel fac-
* WARD BOUNDARIES .- First .- All that part lying west of Chenango river and north of the Susquehanna, west of its junction with the former stream. Second .- All that part lying between the Chenango and the west side of Collier street to its intersection with Court street, Court street, to its intersection with Chenango street, and the west side of Chenango street. Third .- All that part lying east of Chenango street and north of Court street, from its intersection with Chenango street. Fourth .- All that part lying east of Collier street, and north of the Susquehanna and south of Court street, from their intersection with Collier street. Fifth .- All that part lying south of the Susquehanna.
+ The firms engaged in this business are Lester Bros. & Co., Anderson & Tremaine, Meade & Benedict, J. M. Stone & Co., Benson & Ten Brook and Smith Bros. This business was originally started here in 1852, by Way & Lester. It now employs a capital of about $246,000; gives employment to about 380 persons, including about fifty females; and the annual product amounts to about 364,000 pairs of men's, boy's, women's, misses' and children's boots and shoes, from the coarsest to the finest quality.
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BINGHAMTON.
tories, one comb manufactory,* one establishment for the
* This business being one of so special a character and requiring in its successful prosecution more than ordinary skill, we deem a brief review of its early and present history as coming legitimately within the scope of this work. The business was commenced in this city, in March, 1865, by C. M. Noyes & Co., who are the fourth generation of the family who have engaged in the manufacture of combs and followed it through life. Their great-grand-father, Enoch Noyes, is supposed to have been the first one to engage in the business in this country. He learned his trade from a Hes- sian soldier about the close of the Revolution, and commenced the manu- facture of combs in West Newbury, Mass. His son, Ephraim Noyes, con- tinued the business at his death, and Ephraim was succeeded by his son, David E. Noyes, who, in 1846, removed to Newark, N. J., where he pur- sued the same vocation until his death, in February, 1861, when he in turn was succeeded by his sons, the present proprietors, who, in 1865, moved to this city, where they have since followed the comb business. During Enoch's lifetime the business did not assume much magnitude. The man- ufacture was carried on entirely by hand-work. David E. Noyes intro- duced machinery into the manufacture in 1815, and since that time the business has been steadily progressing. Within the last fifteen years it has been so revolutionized by the introduction of machinery that those who first started it would fail to recognize any of the tools now in use as be- longing to that business. The new machinery is important, not alone in the manual labor dispensed with and the greater rapidity with which the work is accomplished, but also as an economical agent, by which nearly fifty per cent. of the material consumed in the manufacture, and which was heretofore wasted, is utilized. Horns as crumpled as that belonging to the cow, which, as stated in the fable, was milked by a " maiden all for- lorn," are, by the ingenious devices employed and the various processes through which they pass, converted into comely combs. . The horn,
which
is
native stock,
is
first
cut
with
a
circular
saw
into cross sections, after which it is slit lengthwise. It is then soaked in boiling oil about one minute and is by this means flattened out. This is a very delicate process and requires close observation and an experienced eye. By a series of sawing and planing processes it is reduced to the requir- ed size and thickness for cuttting the teeth, after which, before the teeth are cut, it is kept in racks for several months to dry and season. After
the teeth are cut it passes through a series of processes-about thirty in number-in which the metallic backs are added, before it is ready for mar- ket in the shape of combs. The "twinning" machine, or the one with which the teeth are cut, is 'one of the most ingenious used. It is automatic in its action, making all the changes for cutting the large and small teeth, but is too complicated in its nature for us to attempt a description. It derives its name from the fact that two combs are cut by one operation, from one piece of horn. This principle was introduced in 1812, previous to which time the teeth were cut with hand-saws. By an addition to the width of the piece of horn originally used equal to the back of the comb, or the width of the piece extending from the connected end of the teeth to the back edge, two combs are made, and with the addition of about one-third more horn than is required to make a single comb. Here is an important saving in material, which is effected by the use of hollow chisels, or rather by the use of two chisels so constructed with flanges on their edges that,
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