USA > New York > Geography of the state of New York. Embracing its physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, history, pursuits of the people, government, education, internal improvements &c. With statistical tables, and a separate description and map of each county > Part 28
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The county was settled by emigrants from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The first settlement was made in 1785, at Owego, by James McMaster and William Taylor, who cleared, the first season, ten or fifteen acres, and raised a crop of corn from the same land.
A few years after its first settlement, there was a great fam- ine in this section of country. It occurred just before harvest- ing, and for six weeks the inhabitants were without bread of any kind. Meanwhile they subsisted principally upon roots, and though they became very much emaciated and feeble, none died of hunger. It was occasioned by the arrival of a greater number of settlers than usual, and a scarcity in Wyoming that season. Famine is at present little dreaded in this region.
VILLAGEU. OWEGO VILLAGE, in the town of Owego, is pleas- antly situated on the north side of the Susquehanna, and is the county town. It was commenced in 1785, and laid out into lots in 1794 or 1795. It is advantageously situated for trade, has a large water power, and by means of the Ithaca and Owe- go railroad, and the Susquehanna river, a ready access to market.
Besides the court house, jail, and county clerk's office, it has four churches, an incorporated academy, and a number of stores and manufactories. A bridge a fourth of a mile in length crosses the Susquehanna at this place.
This village takes its name from the Owego creek, which 'empties into the Susquehanna near it. Population 2500.
Rushville or Nichols Village, in the town of Nichols, Can- dor, Newark, Richfield, and Spencer, in the towns of the same names are all thriving villages.
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XXII. SCHOHARIE COUNTY.
Square miles, 621. Organized, 1795.
Population, 32,488. Valuation in 1845, $1,804,165.
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TOWNS.
1. Schoharie, 1788.
8. Carlisle. 1807.
2. Blenheim, 1797.
9. Summit, 1819.
3. Broome, 1797.
10. Fulton, 1828.
4. Cobleskill, 1797.
11. Conesville, 1836.
5. Middleburgh, 1797.
12. Seward, 1840.
6., Sharon, 1797.
13. Wright, 1846.
7. Jefferson, 1803.
14. Esperance, 1846.
Mountains. m. Kaatsbergs.
Rivers, &c. AA. Schoharie Creek. c. Cobleskill. f. Foxes Creek.
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Lakes, &c. e. The Vly.
Battle Fields. Cobleskill. Middleburgh.
Villages. SCHOHARIE. Esperance.
BOUNDARIES. North by Montgomery and Schenectady; East by Schenectady and Albany; South by Delaware and Greene, and West by Delaware and Otsego counties.
SURFACE. Mountainous. The county is divided into two un- equal sections by the Schoharie kill or creek. The main branch of the Kaatsbergs or Catskill mountains cross the south part of the county, through Broome, Blenheim, Jefferson, and Summit, to the line of Otsego county, broken through, however, by the Schoharie creek.
A spar from the same range passes northward, through Broome, Middleburgh, and Schoharie, into Schenectady and Montgomery counties. This spur is called the Middleberg, from its position between the Helderbergs and the main range of the Kaatsbergs.
The mountains west of Schoharie creek maintain an eleva- tion of from 2000 to 2600 feet. The Middleberg is 1700 feet high, at its most elevated portion, in the south part of the county, but declines gradually towards the east, till it mingles with the Helderbergs.
RIVERS AND CREEKS. The Schoharie creek with its tribu- taries, the Cobleskill, Foxes and Breakabeen creeks, are the principal streams in the county.
Bowman's creek, and the Catskill and Charlotte rivers, also take their rise in this county.
In the town of Middleburgh is a large marsh, called the Vlaie or VIy, which is the source of the Catskill.
CLIMATE. From the elevation of its surface, the climate of Schoharie county is cold, but healthful.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS .; The rocks of this county are tran- sition, consisting of slate, graywacke, and limestone. The lat- ter, however, predominates, and is generally the surface rock of the county. Portions of the Helderberg series, and the Erie and Catskill groups occupy the county. The last two are con- fined to the southern part.
Water limestone is found in great abundance in the northern and central por- tions of the county.
On the west side of Schoharie creek, in the town of Schoharie, are found beds of massive strontianite, of extraordinary beauty. It was regarded by the inhabi- tants as marble for many years. Arragonite, heavy spar, and calcareous spar, are also found in the water lime formation. Portions of the water limestone have been excavated for lithographic stones, and are said to be equal in quality to the German.
Fine specimens of fibrous sulphate of barytes and carbonate of lime are found in Carlisle, and fibrous celestine, and crystallized iron pyrites, in Schoharie. Bog
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iron ore occurs in the same vicinity. Calcareous tufa abounds on the side of the mountains. Anhydrous sulphate of lime has been discovered in Sharon.
Gebhard's cavern, or Ball's cave, in the town of Schoharie, contains numerous apartments abounding in stalactites and stalagmites of great beauty ; some of the apartments are large and magnificent.
Otegaragee cavern, in the same town, has numerous large apartments, highly decorated with spars and stalactites. There are other caves in the vicinity, of less extent.
There are several sulphur springs; those at Sharon have attained considerable notoriety.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The flats in the valley of Schoharie creek, are among the most fertile lands in the state. The county generally is fertile, and some sections are adapted to wheat ; some portion of the southern towns is ster- ile and sandy.
The timber consists of oak, maple, elm, linden, ash, poplar, hickory, walnut, white pine, and hemlock. The two latter prevail in the southern part of the county.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the employment of a majority of the inhabitants. Oats, rye, barley, wheat, corn, buckwheat, peas, potatoes, and flax, are raised in large quantities, and butter and wool produced to a very considerable extent.
Manufactures generally have not attained any great impor- tance. The facilities afforded by the hemlock forests, have led to the extensive tanning of leather. The quantity prepared in the county, in 1845, exceeded in value 8400,000. Flour and lumber are also manufactured to some extent.
The county has no commerce and no mines.
The STAPLE PRODUCTIONS are oats, rye, barley, wheat, corn, peas, butter, and wool.
SCHOOLS. There are in the county, 184 school-houses. In 1846, schools were taught, on an average, nine months; 11,043 children received instruction, at an expense for tuition of $13,726. The district libraries contained 17,985 volumes.
There were also in the county, twenty-five private schools, with 334 scholars, and two academies with ninety-four pupils.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterians, Unitarians, and Universalists. Number of churches fifty-eight, of clergymen fifty-six.
HISTORY. The first white settlements in this county were made in the spring of 1711.
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The benevolent Queen Anne formed the design of establish- ing a colony of Germans, the families of German soldiers who had served in the English wars, in her transatlantic posses- sions: She accordingly sent them over to New York, and thence to Albany, and permitted them to select for themselves, from the unoccupied lands of New York, a tract suited to their
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tastes. They selected the . a'lry of the Schoharie, and the Queen's agent accordingly purchased for them, about 20,000 acres of fertile land, along that creek.
Industrious and frugal, these hardy settlers soon acquired a competence, and perhaps in no- part of the stat , it the com- mencement of the troubles which preceded the Revolution, could there have been found a more peaceful and happy settle- ment. Highly cultivated farms, and substantial dwellings greet- ed the eye of the traveller in every direction.
But in those exciting times, differences of opinion prevailed, and when the conflict came on, the citizens of Schohaire county were found arrayed in hostility against each other, and, oft times, members of the same family met in deadly strife.
The patriots of Schoharie county seemed, in an especial man- ner, to have excited the hostility of the enemy. Again and again did the marauding hordes of tories and Indians, under the command of Sir John Johnson, Brant, and the infamous Walter Butler, descend upon the farms of the hapless citizens, murdering and scalping all whom they met, without regard to age or sex, plundering and burning their dwellings, and making that fertile and beautiful valley a desolate and gloomy waste.
On the 1st of June, 1778, a bloody conflict took place at Cob- leskill, in which about fifty whites, regular troops and militia, contended with a force of 350 Indians, under the command of Brant, until twenty-two of their number were killed, and eight or ten more severely wounded.
A short distance from Middleburgh village are still visible the remains of the old Middle Fort, which was quite noted in the annals of the border wars in this county. On the 17th of Octo- ber, 1780, it was attacked by Sir John Johnson with a force of 800 tories and Indians.
The garrison of the fort consisted of about two hundred con- tinental troops, and between one and .two hundred militia. Their supply of ammunition was scanty, and the commander of the fort, Major Woolsey, entirely unfitted for his station.
The garrison, however, determined to defend the fort to the last, and when Major Woolsey proposed to surrender, they op- posed it, and as he was so much overcome with fear as to be a subject of derision to the' garrison, Colonel Vrooman, a militia officer in the fort, took the command.
After continuing the attack through the greater part of the day, without effect, Sir John withdrew down the valley of the Schoharie, burning all the houses and other buildings in his route. In this action the loss of the British was heavy, while
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that of the garrison was but four wounded, two of whom after- ward died.
There were two other forts in Schoharie county, the Upper, five miles southeast from the middle, on the Schoharie creek, in the town of Fulton ; and the Lower, near the village of Scho- harie.
Many other incidents connected with these incursions are deeply interesting, but pertaining only to individual conflicts, must necessarily be omitted.
Justice, however, requires that we should notice, in passing, the brave and fearless Schoharie rifleman, Timothy Murphy, whose services to the cause of freedom were.numerous, and rendered with a cheerfulness and devotion worthy of all praise. Buch was his skill in the use of his rifle, that the foeman who came within its range, was always sure to "bite the dust.":
After the Revolution, quiet was restored, and the beautiful valley of the Schoharie was soon again lined with farms and dwellings, which indicated the thrift and competency of their owners.
The German language is still spoken by many of the older in- . habitants, but their children receive an English education.
VILLAGES, &C. SCHOHARIE, in the town of the same name, is a small village situated in the midst of a region rich in mine- rals. Its public buildings are neat and substantial. Population about 500.
Esperance, the only incorporated village in the county, is in the town of the same name. It has some manufactures. Pop- ulation about 500.
Sharon Springs, in the town of Sharon, and near the boun- dary line of Schoharie, Otsego. and Montgomery counties, has recently become a place of fashionable resort. The sulphur wa- ters are said strongly to resemble those of the White Sul- phur springs of Virginia. There is also a chalybeate spring here. The Pavilion, a fine hotel, was erected in 1836, and during the season is usually thronged with visitors .*
* The following is Dr. Chilton's analysis of the waters of these springs.
Grains.
Sulphate of magnesia, (Epsom salts,) -
42.40
lime
111.62
Chloride of sodium magnesia
2.24
2.40
Hydrosulphuret of sodium
2.28
calcium
Total 160.94
Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, 16 cubic inches. 12ยบ
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XXIII. STEUBEN COUNTY.
Square Miles, 1400. Organized, 1796.
Population, 51,679. Valuation, 1845, $6,172,414.
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1. Addison, 1796.
2. Bath, 1796.
3. Canisteo, 1796.
4. Dansville, 1796.
5. Painted Post, 1796.
21. Jasper, 1827.
6. Wayne, 1796.
22 .. Greenwood, 1827.
7. Reading, 1806.
8. Pulteney, 1808.
9. Troupsburg, 1808.
10. Conhocton, 1812.
11. Howard, 1812.
12. Orange, 1813.
13. Prattsburgh, 1813. -
14. Hornelleville, 1820.
15. Wheeler, 1820.
16. Cameron, 1822.
TOWNS.
17. Tyrone, 1822.
18. Urbana, 1822.
19. Erwin, 1826.
20. Hornby, 1826.
25. Bradford, 1837.
26. Lindley, 1837.
27. Caton, 1837.
28. Avoca, 1843.
29. Hartsville, 1843.
30. Thurston, 1843.
31. West Union, 1843.
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23 Woodhull, 1828.
24. Campbell, 1831.
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Rivers, O. Chemung river. a. Canisteo. b. Conhocton. c. Ben- nett's creek. d. Tuscarora. j. Mud. k. Five Mile. 1. Twelve Mile. q. Cowanesqua. r. Canascraga. s. Tioga river.
Lakes. BB. Seneca. m. Crooked. n. Little. o. Mud. p. Loon. Villages. BATH. Corning. Painted Post. Hammondsport. Hor- nellsville.
BOUNDARIES. North by Livingston, Ontario and Yates coun- ties ; East by Seneca lake and Chemung county ; South by the State of Pennsylvania; and West by Livingston and Allegany counties.
SURFACE. This county belongs to the great table land, which extends through the southern tier of counties ; owing, however, to the perishable character of the rocks on which it is based, the rivers have worn deep valleys, whose precipitous banks, frequently 400 or 500 feet in height, give it a greatly diversified surface. The general elevation of the table land is about 1500 feet above tide water. An irregular ridge on the west sepa- rates the waters of the Susquehanna from those of Genesee river.
RIVERS. The principal stream of the county is the Chemung, formed by the union of the Tioga, the Canisteo, and the Con- hocton. The name of the river means " a horn in the water," and is said to be derived from an immense horn or tusk which protruded from the bank of the river many years since. These streams are navigable during the freshet season. Their prin- cipal tributaries are Bennett's and Tuscarora creeks, of the Canisteo ; and Mud, Five Mile and Twelve Mile creeks, of the Conhoeton. The only other streams of any size are the Canascraga and Cowanesqua.
LAKES. Seneca lake forms the eastern boundary of the county for about eight miles. Crooked lake extends into it from Yates for about the same distance. Little, Mud and Loon are the names of the other lakes. The latter has a subterranean outlet half a mile long.
RAILROADS. The Corning and Blossburg railroad entering the county from the south, terminates at Corning, which is sit- uated at the head of the navigable feeder of the Chemung ca- nal. The New York and Erie railroad will pass through this county.
CLIMATE. The surface is so much elevated that the winters are generally cold and severe, and the seasons backward. The county, however, is generally healthy.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The surface rock of this county, to the depth of nearly 1000 feet, is the Chemung group of sand-
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stones and shales. It has some beds of bog iron ore, and several sulphur springs.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. Most of the soil is pro- ductive. The uplands are well adapted to grazing. The allu- vial flats of the Chemung river comprise the richest lands in the county, and are said to exceed those of the Mohawk in fer- tility.
The county north of the Conhocton river, and east of Five Mile creek, is covered chiefly with oak, chesnut, hickory, black walnut, yellow and white pine timber; between the Canisteo and Conhocton, beech, maple, white pine, and hemlock, are the prevailing forest trees, except a narrow tract on the Canisteo, where oak prevails. South of the Canisteo, beech, maple, white pine, and hemlock, are predominant. The oak and yel- low pine lands produce. excellent wheat; the other lands are better adapted to grass.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the chief pursuit. Grain is largely produced on the alluvial lands. Great numbers of cattle and sheep are raised on the table lands. The lumber business is an important branch of industry.
Manufactures are increasing in importance. Lumber is largely manufactured in the southern part of the county.' Flour, leather, and fulled cloths, are also produced in considerable quantities.
The Commerce of the county, by means of the spring naviga- tion of the rivers, the navigable feeder of the Chemung canal, and the facilities afforded by the Corning and Blossburg railroad, is quite large and increasing.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, butter. wool, and lumber.
SCHOOLS. In this county there were, in 1846, 326 district schoolhouses, in which schools were maintained an average period of seven months. The number of scholars in attendance was 19,771, and the sum expended for their tuition $20,918. The district libraries contained 30,125 volumes.
There were also twenty-four private schools, with 626 pupils, and one acade- my and one female seminary, with 148 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Presbyterians, Bap- tists, Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics. There are seventy-five churches, and 114 clergymen of all denominations, in the county.
HISTORY. This county is indebted to the enterprsie and en- ergy of Mr. Charles Williamson, the agent of the Pulteney estate, for its early settlement and rapid growth. Finding emi- grants unwilling to settle upon the elevated lands of this county, while the more alluring flats of the Genesee remained in mar-
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ket, he resolved himself to set the example of emigration to this section. Accordingly, in 1792, with two companions, he cut his way through the forests, and located at Bath. In 1795, the population in the vicinity had increased so rapidly, that Mr. Williamson established a theatre at his new settlement. The succeeding year, the county was organized, and named after Baron Steuben, the Prussian General. The same year a news- paper was established at Bath, and called the Bath Gazette. The population of the county at this time was about 800. The whole county, except the town of Reading, belonged to the Pul- teney estate. The emigrants were mostly from Pennsylvania, except in the town of Prattsburgh, which was settled by New Englanders.
In the present town of Erwin, formerly stood the Painted Post, so famous in our early Indian annals, erected by an In- dian chief, (probably during the first French war,) to com- memorate his victory over the whites, and the number of sealps and prisoners, he had taken.
VILLAGES. BATH, the county seat, was laid out by Mr. Wil- liamson in 1792. It is on the north bank of the Conhocton, has regular and parallel streets and two public squares, and is re- garded as one of the most pleasant villages of western New York. Here is a flourishing female seminary. Population 1500.
Corning, situated on the south side of the Chemung river in the town of Painted Post, is admirably located for trade, being at the junction of the Corning and Blossburg railroad, with the navigable feeder of the Chemung canal, and also on the pro- posed route of the New York and Erie railroad. Its coal trade is already very great, and its growth has been rapid. Popula- tion 1200.
Hammondsport, situated at the southern . termination of Crooked lake in the town of Urbana, is a thriving village. A steamboat plies between this place and Penn Yan. It has also a communication with New York, by means of the Crooked and Seneca lakes, Cayuga, Seneca, and Erie canals. Popu- lation 1000.
Painted Post, in the town of Erwin, is a flourishing village at the junction of the Conhocton and Tioga rivers. It has a large amount of hydraulic power, which is in part applied to manufacturing purposes. The painted post above described, is in this village. Population 600.
Hornellsville is a village of considerable importance, situated on the Canisteo in the town of the same name.
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XXIV. DELAWARE COUNTY.
Square miles, 1362. Organized, 1797.
Population, 36,990. Valuation, 1845, $3,478,012.
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1. Harpersfield, 1788.
2. Middletown, 1789.
11. Sidney, 1801.
3. Colchester, 1792.
12. Tompkins, 1806.
4. Stamford, 1792.
13. Hancock, 1806.
5. Franklin, 1792.
14. Masonville, 1811,
7. Delhi, 1798.
16. Andes, 1819.
8. Roxbury, 1799.
17. Bovina, 1820.
18. Hampden, 1825.
Mountains. h. Blue. m. Kaatsberg. u. Pine.
Rivers. G. Susquehanna. H. Delaware. a. Mohawks or West Branch Delaware. i. Little Delaware river. j. Papachton Branch. k. Big Beaver kill. q. Oleout creek. r. Charlotte river.
Villages. DELHI. Franklin. Hobart. Deposit. Walton.
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6. Walton, 1797.
15. Davenport, 1817.
9. Kortright, 1793.
10. Meredith, 1800.
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DELAWARE COUNTY.
BOUNDARIES. North by Otsego and Schoharie; East by Schoharie and Greene ; South by Ulster and Sullivan, and the state of Pennsylvania; and West by Pennsylvania, Broome and Chenango counties.
SURFACE. Delaware county has three distinct ranges of mountains passing through it from southwest to northeast, ren- dering its surface very rough and broken. The southeast ridge is a continuation of a range of the Kaatsbergs. The second ridge runs between the Papachton and the Mohawk branch of the Delaware river; while the third, from twelve to eighteen miles in width, is bounded by the Charlotte river and the Sus- quehanna. The two latter are collectively known as the Blue mountains. A part of the eastern ridge has received the name of the Pine mountains. The surface of the summits and sides of the hills are extremely irregular, and broken by numerous streams.
RIVERA The Mohawks, or main branch of the Delaware, has its source in Schoharie county, running thence in a southwest- erly direction nearly 70 miles, through the center of the coun- ty, to Port Deposit, where it takes a southeasterly course, and forms the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania. . Its principal tributaries are the Little Delaware and the Papach- ton branch; the latter is sixty-five miles long and receives the Big Beaver kill. The Charlotte and Susquehanna form portions of the northern boundary.
RAILROADS. The New York and Erie railroad is in process of construction, through the southeast corner of the county.
CLIMATE. The climate of this county is subject to sudden and extreme changes of temperature, yet it is not unfriendly to health. The cold is severe in winter.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. The surface rock of this county is the old red sandstone of the Catskill group underlaid by the shales and sandstone of the Portage and Chemung group.
Its minerals are few. Bog iron ore has been discovered in considerable beda; copper extensively diffused, but in small quantities. There are several mineral springs, and a brine spring near Delhi. .
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is as varied as the sur- face, but generally of a good quality. On the hills it is a sandy loam, and in some places stoney. In the valleys is a rich deep mould, and of lasting fertility. It is better adapted to grass than the raising of grain. The county is densely timbered with beech, birch, maple, ash, elm, basswood, pine, wild cherry, butternut, hemlock, and small quantities of oak.
- PURSUITS. Agriculture chiefly engages the attention of the people of this county; considerable quantities of grain are produced, and it is exceeded by few counties in the number of cattle reared. It is second only to Oneida in the manufacture of butter.
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Manufactures. The water-power of this county is abun- dant, but little improved. Its principal manufactured articles are leather, flour, lumber, and fulled cloths. The lumber is floated to market on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers.
The Commerce of the county is not large, its rivers being only navigable in the spring.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Butter and cheese, oats, potatoes, rye, wool, and lumber. Increased facilities for conveying them to market will be afforded by the railroad now constructing.
SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were 298 public schools in session, on an average, seven months each, expending for tuition $14,013, and numbering 12,501 pupils. The district libraries contained 24,027 volumes.
There are twenty-three unincorporated private schools, attended by 342 schol- ara, and two incorporated academies with 124 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Presbyterians, Con- gregationalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, and Unitarians. The whole number of churches, is fifty-eight, of clergymen seventy-seven.
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