USA > New York > Otsego County > Gazetteer and business directory of Otsego County, New York for 1872-3 > Part 11
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Cherry Valley, (p. v.) situated at the head of Cherry Valley Creek, near the center of the town, contains three churches, viz., Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopal; a bank, a newspaper printing office, three hotels, seven stores, a melodeon factory, a sash and blind factory, a saw mill, a grist mill, a cheese factory and about 1,200 inhabitants.
The Cherry Valley Academy, which sustained so high a reput- tation for more than half a century, has been converted into a hotel. This village is the present terminus of the Sharon and Cherry Valley Railroad, which connects with the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad at Cobleskill. It is proposed to extend this road to Richfield Springs, thus opening direct communica- tion with the New York Central at Utica. This village is becoming a resort for summer visitors; its streets are finely shaded, and the vicinity affords many fine drives amid scenery unsurpassed in beauty. The celebrated Sulpur Springs are ouly three miles distant. A monument erected to the memory of the soldiers who fell in their country's service, occupies a prom- inent site in the village. It is about twenty feet high, surmounted by a spread eagle. It contains the names of those to whose memory it was erected, and cost about $2,000.
Sult Springville, named from the salt springs in this vicinity, is a hamlet in the north-west part of the County, and contains a Methodist church, a hotel, a store, a grist mill, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a cooper shop, a cheese factory and a school house.
The Cherry Valley Foundry of E. & J. Judd was first started as a brass foundry, in 1805, by Oliver Judd. The present pro- prietors have been running the foundry more than fifty years, turning out about fifty tons of light castings annually, and employing about half a dozen hands.
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Center Valley, (p. v.) in the south-east part of the town, partly in Roseboom, contains two churches, viz., Methodist and Lutheran ; a store, a blacksmith shop, a saw mill, a shoe shop, a cheese factory and about 100 inhabitants.
The Caloric Mill of James Rick, in the village of Cherry Valley, was started in 1871, for grinding jeed. It is run by a caloric engine of three-horse power, and has a capacity for grind- ing 150 bushels per day.
The first settlement of this town was made by John Lindsay in 1740, at a place which he called Lindsay's Bush. The same farm has for many years been occupied by Mr. Joseph Phelon. In 1744 Mr. John Wells purchased this farm. In 1741 a colony of about thirty persons from Londonderry, New Hampshire, settled in the town. Among these were David Ramsay, Wm. Galt, James Campbell and William Dixon. They had pre- viously emigrated from the north of Ireland and came to Cherry Valley under the advice of Rev. Samuel Dunlap, whom Mr. Lindsay had persuaded to take up his abode here. The place received its name from the abundance of wild cherry trees growing in the valley, and for many years it embraced a large extent of country, south and west.
Rev. Mr. Dunlap was an Irishman by birth, educated in Edinburgh, and had left Ireland under an engagemet of mar- riage with a young lady of that country. The engagement was conditional ; if he did not return in seven years, she was at liberty to annul the contract. The time had nearly expired and she had heard nothing from him for some time. Another offered his hand, was accepted and the day appointed for the marriage. Mr. Dunlap arrived the day previous, was married and returned immediately to Cherry Valley with his bride, and entered upon the duties of pastor of the Church. In addition to this he opened a school for the instruction of boys who came from the settlements on the Mohawk, from Schenectady and Albany. This was the first grammar school in the State, west of Albany.
Mr. Dison and Mr. Galt purchased farms in the south part of the Patent; Mr. Ramsay in the west part, and Mr. James Campbell purchased the farm now owned and occupied by his great-grandson, Hon. W. W. Campbell. Mr. Dunlap purchased the farm now occupied by Mr. Cox.
The settlement increased slowly, so that in 1752 there were only eicht families in the settlement. In 1765 it had increased to forty families, and ten years after, at the commencement of the Revolution, the number did not probably exceed sixty families.
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Most of the early settlers were members of the Christian Church, and they sought to inculcate the principles of an intelligent Christianity, believing that virtue and knowledge are the two great pillars of republican institutions. They were very strict in the observance of the Sabbath. They united their efforts with those of other patriots, when the Revolution broke out, and their Committee met with the Committee of Tryon County to devise means for the defense of their homes and their principles. The following letter gives an idea of the strictness with which the Sabbath was observed even in times of war: 1
".Cherry Valley, June 9th, 1775.
"Sirs,
"We received yours of yesterday, relative to the meeting of the Committee on Sunday, which surprised us not a little, inasmuch as it seems not to be on any alarming exigency; which, if it was, we should readily attend. But as that does not appear to us to be the case, we think it is very improper ; for unless the necessity of the Committee sitting super- exceed the duties to be performed in attending the public worship of God, we think it ought to be put off till another day ; and therefore we conclude not to give our attendance at this time, unless you adjourn the sitting of the Committee till Monday morning; and in that case, we will give our attendance as early as you please. But otherwise, we do not allow our- selves to be cut short of attending on the public worship, except the case be so necessitous as to exceed sacrifice. We conclude with wishing success to the common cause, and subscribe ourselves the free-born sons of liberty.
"JOHN MOORE. "SAMUEL CLYDE.
"SAMUEL CAMPBELL.
"If you proceed to sit on the Sabbath, please to read this letter to the Committee, which we think will sufficiently assign our reasons for not attending."
This letter was sent to the County Committee.
Owing to the exposed position of Cherry Valley, in conse- quence of its lying in one of the routes of the Indians from the Susquehanna to the Mohawk, and the fact that nearly all of its inhabitants were ardent patriots, a company of Rangers were stationed there, under the command of Capt. Robert Mckean, in 1576. Capt. Mckean's company was soon after ordered away and another company, under Capt. Winn, was ordered there. Those exempt from military duty also formed a company for mutual protection. The next year the house of Col. Samuel Campbell was fortified by throwing up a rude embankment of logs and earth. In the spring of 1ft8 a fort was erected on the site of the Cemetery in the village. About two miles north of the village, near the road leading to the Mohawk, is the rock, behind which Brant was concealed when he shot Lieutenant Wormwood. It is still kuown as "Brant's Rock." .
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The destruction of the settlement and the massacre of the inhabitants on the 11th of November 1778, has already been noticed in another place. The acts of cruelty perpetrated by the Tories surpassed those of the Indians. A Tory boasted that he killed Mr. Robert Wells while at prayer. Mr. Welle was a son of Mr. John Wells, whose name has already been men- tioned among the first settlers. Miss Jane Wells, who was dis- tinguished for her amiable disposition and her acts of Christian benevolence, fled from the house to a pile of wood where she attempted to conceal herself. An Indian followed her and, deliberately wiping his bloody knife on his leggings, placed it in the sheath, and in spite of her entreaties and those of a Tory who had been a servant in the house of Mr. Wells, murdered her with his tomahawk. The party which surrounded the house of Col. Campbell, took Mrs. C. and four children prison- ers. The wife of Col. Clyde, with her children, fled to the woods and, during that day and the following night, she lay with her children, one of whom was an infant, gathered around her and concealed under a large log. She could hear the vells of the savages as they prosecuted their bloody work, some of whom passed very near, and one so near that his gun trailed upon the log which concealed her. The next day a party from the Fort brought her in. Her oldest daughter, about ten years of age, became separated from her mother and concealed herself alone. Notwithstanding the exposure, all survived. About thirty or forty prisoners were taken. They encamped the first night about two miles south of the Fort. On the morning of the second day the women and children were sent back. Mrs. Campbell and her four children, and Mrs. Moore and her child- ren were retained, as their husbands were active partisans. Mrs. Cannon, the mother of Mrs. Campbell, was killed the first day, being unable to travel on account of her age. Mrs. Campbell was driven along by the same Indian who had killed her mother, threatening her with the same fate if she should be unable to proceed on the journey. She carried in her arms a child about eighteen months old. They arrived at the Indian castle near Geneva about the last of November. Here all their children were taken from them and given to different Indian families. Mrs. Campbell was given to a family, to fill the place made vacant by death of one of its members. The family was com- posed of females, with the exception of one aged warrior. Mrs. C. made herself useful by instructing them in the arts of civil- ized life and making clothing for neighboring families, for which they returned corn and venison. She was under no restraint and her situation was as comfortable as could be in such a place. The next spring an arrangement was entered into, in accord-
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ance with which Mrs. C. was to be exchanged for Mrs. Butler, wife of Col. John Butler, who had remained in Tryon County after hostilities broke out. She was taken to Fort Niagara, where she arrived in June 1779, and a year after, with her chil- dren, was sent to Montreal, where she met Mrs. Butler and children, for whom she and her children had been exchanged. At Montreal they were detained several months and then sent to Crown Point and thence to Albany, where Mrs. Campbell was joined by her husband. They did not return to Cherry Valley until the spring of 1784.
At the close of the war, many of the surviving inhabitants of Cherry Valley returned to their former homes, houses were erected and the land that had been suffered to go to waste was again brought under cultivation.
On the 5th of April, 1785, a public meeting of the "ancient inhabitants of Cherry Valley" was held in the " meeting house yard," for the purpose of reorganizing a Presbyterian Church. Col. Samuel Clyde, John Campbell, Jr., and James Wilson, were chosen Trustees. James Cannon was appointed Clerk of the Board. The names of the electors were as sollows: Robert Shankland, William Thompson, Samuel Ferguson, James Moore, Jr., John Campbell, Jr. Hugh Mitchell, William Gault, James Cannon, Samuel Campbell, Jr., Samuel Clyde, Samuel Campbell, William Dickson, James Dickson, Daniel McCollum, John McKillip, Israel Wilson, Luther Rich, James Wilson, Thomas Whitaker, Benjamin Dickson and John Dunlap. Measures were soon after taken to build a church edifice, but it was not completed till some years after. Hon. W. W. Campbell, in his "Centennial Address," in 1840, speaks as follows of the meeting referred to :
"The meeting of the inhabitants of Cherry Valley on the 5th of April, 1785, is deserving of particular attention. The rem- nant of the ancient inhabitants, as they styled themselves, had returned to their former homes. They had returned, they say, from exile. The long and bloody war through which they had passed, had thinned their ranks and whitened the heads, and furrowed the cheeks of the survivors. They had once more a home, but it was again a forest home. The wild beast had made his lair amid the ruins of their former dwellings. The briar, the thistle and the sapling grew rank upon their garden spots. In the autumn of 1784 a few log hats had been built, but in the spring of 1785, when this meeting was called, there was no building in the settlement where the inhabitants could assemble together. They met, therefore, like their fathers, under the open heavens. The place where they gathered was hallowed ground. It had been set apart for the burial of their dead. F
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The graves of their kindred and friends were round about them. It was the place which had been consecrated by their patriotism !. for there stood their little fort. On that same spot the inhabi- tants assembled together and organized anew, on the 5th of April 1785, that Presbyterian society which has continued to this day." The first settled pastor was Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott. for more than sixty years President of Union College.
An academy was established here in 1796, the first one west of Schenectady. Rev. Solomon Spaulding, the reputed author of the " Book of Mormon," was the first Principal. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Nott. The institution maintained a high reputation for more than sixty years, but has recently been converted into a hotel and boarding house.
Col. Samuel Campbell, the last survivor of the first settlers, died in 1824, at the age of 86. His wife died in 1836, at the age of 93. During the summer of 1784, Gen. Washington. Gov. George Clinton and several officers of the New York line. visited Cherry Valley, and were the guests of Col. and Mrs. Campbell, in the log house which they had just erected.
On the 4th of July, 1840, the centennial anniversary of the settlement of Cherry Valley was celebrated. A very large audi- ence assembled to engage in the festivities of the occasion and listen to addresses by Hon. W. W. Campbell, Dr. Nott, Gov. Wm. H. Seward and others.
Among the distinguished men of this State, who were resi- dents of Cherry Valley were John Mills, Esq., Hon. W. W. Campbell, author of "Annals of Tryon Co." and Judge of the Supreme Court ; Rev. Eliphalet Nott, late President of Union College ; Jabez D. Hammond, Esq., author of " Political History of New York ;" Hon. Levi Beardsley, author of "Reminiscences of Otsego ;" Alvin Stewart, Esq., James C. Morse, Esq. and others. Hon. W. W. Campbell, after several years residence in New York City, has returned to his native town, and the farm upon which his great-grandfather settled, and here he is enjoy- ing the otium cum dignitate of an honorable and useful life.
On the 15th of December, 1860, the sixtieth anniversary of the wedding of James S. Campbell was celebrated at the old homestead. His eight children, after a separation of twenty. eight years, assembled at the place of their birth, and with the family circle unbroken, celebrated the diamond wedding of their parents. Among the speakers on this occasion were Hon. L. C. Turner, of Cooperstown, whose remarks were of some historical interest. He said :
"It is very seldom that a husband and wife celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding-scarcely ever has such an anniversary been observed at the same old homestead, where the
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party have spent sixty continuous years of wedded life; and never before, I apprehend, were their eight children present and participating-being all the children born unto the venerable wedded pair-present and participating in celebrating their parents' sixtieth wedding anniversary, and at the old homestead where they were all born and bred ! Yes, at this old homestead, where Washington was a guest sixty-seven years ago-the same old homestead that is historically associated with the stirring events of the revolutionary days, and with the conflagrations, imprisonments, barbarities and massacres of Brant and his tory and savage allies, eighty-two years ago-the same old homestead of 200 acres, that is prominently distinguishable as never having been sold or demised-passing from father to son by gift, during the lifetime of the father, and the other chil- dren voluntarily and gratuitously releasing their prospective interest therein to the son-the same old homestead that has never been incumbered by mortgage, judgement or other lien, during the one hundred and twenty years it has been in the possession of the family! These are some of the reasons for saying, that this anniversary celebration is, personally and locally, distinguishable from any and all others of like kind, of which I have any knowledge."
When the tocsin of war was sounded in April 1861, the citi- zens of Cherry Valley rallied with a zeal worthy of their Revo- lutionary ancestors, and during the war, one hundred and twenty men were sent out of an agricultural population of 2,552. Eighty of these were from the village corporation. When peace was restored, the surviving citizens erected, in a conspicuous place in the village, a monument to the memory of the fallen. It is about twenty feet high, surmounted by a spread eagle, and cost about $2,000. The following are the names and inscrip- tions upon the monument, though not in the same order :
"Erected by the citizens of Cherry Valley in memory of their Patriot Dead, 1868."
"Second Bull Run, Petersburgh, Gettysburgh, Wilderness, Fredericks- burg, Winchester, Antietam, Cold Harbor."
"These are the names of the men of Cherry Valley who died that their Country might live."
"6th N. Y. Cavalry, Sergt. Philo D. Chaddenden, Sergt. James H. Moore, Jacob Hardendorf, Samuel Bates, John Beaumont. 121st N. Y. Infantry, Sergt. John Daniels, Sergt. Edward Wales, James Sherman, Geo. N. L. Drake, Geo. G. Hardman, Wm. Harris, Chas. E. Hodge, Jabez D. Willson, Joseph B. Howe. John W. Bullard. U. S. N., Geo. P. Engell, Chas. P. Nichols. 1st U. S. Sharpshooters, Capt. Chas. D. McLean, Sergt. Wm. O. McLean, Dwight Reed, Chas. H. Gould, Henry T. Ferguson. 104th N. Y. Infantry, John Banker. 2d N. Y. HI. Artillery, John H. Bush. 1st N. Y. Cavalry, John H. Botsford. 6th N. Y. H. Artillery, Salmon Drake. 152d
N. Y. "Infantry, George Nelson, Cornelius Hardendorf, Geo. Van De Bogart. 44th N. Y. Infantry, Corp. James H. Krake, John Wallace. -
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76th Infantry, Capt. Robert Story, 1st Lieut. Barnard Phenis, Thos. : Leaning, Wm. Sterns, Bradford J. D. Fox. Sth N. Y. Cavalry, 1st Liet !. Win. C. Crafts. Col. & Brig. Gen. Cleaveland J. Campbell."
General Campbell enlisted as a private in the 44th Regimen: N. Y. V., and by successive promotions became Colonel of the 23d Regiment of United States colored troops and subsequently Brigadier-General.
The population of the town in 1870 was 2,338, and its ar a, 24,723 acres, with an assessed value of $419,990.
The number of school districts is 16; employing 13 teacher -. The number of children of school age is 776; the number attending school, 572; the average attendance, 270; the value of school houses and sites, $6,055.
DECATUR, named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur, was formed from Worcester, March 25, 1808. It lic, upon the east line of the County, south of the center. The surface is hilly and broken by the narrow valleys of several small streams. The hills generally have gradual slopes and rounded summits, and are elevated from 250 to 300 feet above the valleys. The town is drained south by Oak and Parker Creeks, flowing into the Schenevus. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam.
. Decatur, (p. v.) in the south-west part of the town, contain: a church, a hotel, a store, a grist mill, a saw mill, two black- smith shops, a wagon shop and about 100 inhabitants.
The first settlements of this town were commenced about 1790, by Jacob Kinney, who was originally from New Milford. Connecticut. He located near the village of Decatur. Jaco', Brown, John and Calvin Seward, and Oliver McIntyre. settle soon after. A man named Sloan, from Columbia County. settled near the village in 1797. Mr. Sloan opened the fire: tavern and the first store, north of the village. John Champion erected the first grist mill, and James Stewart, the first cardin .. and fulling mill, about 1810. The first school was taught by Samuel Thurber in 1798. The first death is supposed to hat been that of Mr. King, about 1:07.
The First M. E. Church of Decatur was the first religions society organized in the town. It was organized about Ised by . Rev. John Cattin, the first pastor. A house of worship wa. erected in 1810 and repaired and improved in 1871. It wie seat 350 and cost originelly, about $1,500. The present mehr bership is 130: the value of the Church property is 83,500; ti .: pastor is Rev. S. H. Hill.
The population of the town in 1820 as 802, and its area, 15 .- 226 acres, with an assessed value of $150,500.
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The number of school districts is 7, giving employment to 6 teachers. The number of children of school age is 238; the number attending school, 180, ; the average attendance, 93; the value of school houses and sites $2,315.
EDMESTON was formed from Burlington, April 1, 1808. It lies on the west border of the County, north of the center. The surface is an elevated upland, broken by numerous irregular valleys. . The highest elevations are from 400 to 500 feet above Unadilla River, which forms the west boundary. Wharton Creek flows across the south-east corner. Mill Creek and several other small streams take their rise in the town. Smith's Pond is a small sheet of water in the north-east corner. The soil is a sandy and clayey loam.
Edmeston, (p. v.) situated a little south of the center of the town, on Wharton Creek, contains three churches, viz., Method- ist, Baptist and Universalist ; two hotels, four stores. a tan- nery, two carpenter shops, a foundry, two blacksmith shops, a carriage shop, two tailoring establishments, a lodge of Odd Fel- lows, a lodge of Good Templars, a post of Grand Army of the Republic, a public hall and about 70 dwellings.
West Edmeston, (p. v.) in the north-west part, on the Unadilla River, contains a Seventh Day Baptist church, a hotel. two stores, a blacksmith shop, a carriage shop and about 30 dwellings.
South Edmeston, (p. v.) in the south-west part, contains a church, two stores, a hotel, a grist mill, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop, a carriage shop, a boot and shoe shop, a milliner shop and about 30 dwellings.
The first settlement of this town was made by Col. Edmeston, an officer of the English army, during the war with the French, in 1460. A tract of 10,000 acres lying in this town, was granted to him for his services, and Percifer Carr, a soldier who had served under him, was one of the first settlers. On the death of Col. Edmeston, the lands fell to heirs and minor children residing in England, from whom no safe title could be obtained for many years. This greatly retarded the settlement of the town. During the Revolutionary War the hired man of Mr. Carr was killed while at his work ; his buildings were burned, his property destroyed and himself and family taken prisoners by the British and Indians, and detained until the close of the war. Abel De Forest and Gideon De Forest were among the early settlers on the Unadilla. Aden Deming and James Kenada settled at Edmeston, and Stephen Taylor, on Taylor Hill, where the first school was taught. Rufus Graves kept the first inn, and James Kenada erected the first grist mill, at Edmeston Center.
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The Baptist Church was the first organized in the town, at Taylor Hill, March 8, 1794. Rev. Stephen Taylor was the first preacher.
The First Free Methodist Church; at Edmeston Center, was organized with 12 members, by Rev. Joseph Olney, the first pastor, January 1, 1862. The house of worship, which will seat 250, was erected in November 1868, at a cost of $900. The present value of Church property is 81,000. The present number of members is 48, and the present pastor, Rev. S. V. McVey.
The First Universalist Church of Edmeston, was organized at Edmeston Center, Nov. 25, 1843, with 39 members. Rev. Z. Cook was the first pastor. Their house of worship was erected in 1844; it will seat 200 and cost originally $2,500. The pre- sent value of Church property is $3,000.
The Good Templars have an organization of 153 members.
The Grand Army of the Republic number 25 members. C. A. Payne, Assistant Inspector General, Otsego Division.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1,745, and its area, 27,280 acres, with an assessed value of $383,480.
The number of school districts is 13, employing 13 teachers. The number of children of school age is 560; the number attending school, 411 ; the average attendance, 228; the value of school houses and sites, $6,800.
EXETER was formed from Richfield. March 25, 1799. It is an interior town, lying north-west of the center of the County. The surface is hilly and broken, consisting mainly of elevated uplands. Angel Cliff and Town Cliff Hills, in the east part of the town, are from 400 to 500 feet above the vallevs. The town is drained east by several small streams flowing into Schuyler Lake, and south by Butternut and Wharton Creeks, both of which rise in this town. The soil is a clay and gravelly loat, well adapted to grazing.
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