USA > New York > Tioga County > Historical gazetter of Tioga County, New York, 1785-1888. Pt. 1 > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
278
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
where they are now nearly all gathered to his side. His wife, who outlived him several years, was one of the most interesting women of her time. . There are some yet living who remember her conversation attractive alike to young and old, and her num- ʻ
erous anecdotes of persons and things, not only in the remote, but in the nearer past, which if they could have been preserved, would have made valuable additions to the chronicles of the county. She was the last among us who had seen Washington. Judge Coryell's large landed estate on the river was divided among three of his five sons. The homestead farm was occupied by his youngest son, Harvey Coryell. The Coryell mansion, so long known as the residence successively of father and son, was built by Judge Coryell in 1811 or 1812, near the spot where the old one stood, which was pulled down when the new one was finished.
The two farms below were those of John and Emanuel Coryell, the house of the latter standing on the spot where stood the log dwelling of James Cole, who had once entertained Colonel Hooper and his friends, and afterwards made a temporary home for Judge Coryell and his family. When this old man died, we do not know. His grandson, Elijah Cole, married Isabel Mac Adams, while she was yet a young girl, and was for many years a tenant of Judge Coryell. He raised a large family of sons, who were afterwards well known in the county. This lower farm of Judge Coryell was originally designed for his eldest son Charles Coryell, who married a daughter of Judge Patterson, of Union, Broome county. He lived on the place for a while but grew discontented with farm life and left it and went away. He finally studied medicine with Dr. Stout of Bethlehem, Pa., and practiced successfully during the remainder of his life, both in Pennsylvania and New York. He died in Ithaca, Tompkins county, N. Y., in 1873. He left three sons by his first wife. His second wife was a Miss Smith whom he married in Philadelphia. The other son of Judge Coryell who was the youngest but one of his family, after receiving his education at Union College, studied law in Elmira with the Hon. Vincent Mathews, after whom he was named. He was admitted to the bar and settled in Bath, Steuben county, where he married a daughter of Dugald Cameron, Esq., of that town. This lady died after a brief married life of three or four years, after which, her husband abandoned the profession of law, and became a minister of the Gospel, and was for many years a laborious and successful preacher in the
279
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
Methodist Episcopal church. He was stationed in the years 1834-35 in Syracuse, N. Y., where he built the first Methodist church in that city where there is. now a Methodist University. He retired from active service some years since, and now lives in Waverly, N. Y., at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, the last survivor of the eleven children of Judge Coryell. His only surviving son the issue of his first marriage, is a farmer in Nichols. Of the children of the second wife who was a Miss Lounsbury, of Onondaga county, only daughters survive, two of whom, with their families, compose his household in Waverly.
The landed property of Mr. Shoemaker was also divided among three sons, Daniel, who occupied the upper farm, Elijah, the one now owned by Mr. Jacob Stuart, and Nicholas, the one below. On the upper farm the old gentleman had built a very good house where, in the family of his son, he died in 1845. This house was destroyed by fire in 1849, and replaced by Mr. Shoemaker by the one now standing there, at present owned and occupied by Mr. Bensley. Elijah Shoemaker in 1825 filled the office of sheriff of the county, and was afterward one of the county judges. He was for many years a prosperous farmer, but at length meeting with reverses, he, in 1844 sold his farm and with his family went to Illinois, where he died in 1845.
These six farms belonging to these two families have now with two exceptions passed into the hands of strangers. That of Nicholas Shoemaker is still owned by his two sons, William and Edgar. The first occupying his father's house, and Robert Coryel! still occupies the house of his grandfather Emanuel Coryell.
Mr. Nathan Smith, who inherited the farm of his father, was never married, but with a sister, also unmarried, kept house in the paternal mansion, for many years. The late Hon. Washing- ton Smith, and his sister, the late Mrs. Aaron Chubbuck, grew up in their house. Besides these they took into their family during their period of housekeeping, not less than eleven indentured children, both boys and girls, who were carefully and conscien- tiously brought up in habits of honesty and industry and of whom it was said that they all " went out and did well in the world." The practice of bringing up indentured children was a common one at that day, among the farmers, who in that way, not only assisted the children and their parents, but secured valuable help, on their farms and in their families.
Mr. Smith's property was left to his relatives who still retain possession of it. Mr. Washington Smith in 1841 was elected 19*
280
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
member of assembly and some time during the years of the war occupied the position of state auditor. He died in 1874, and his family still occupy the farm inherited from their uncle.
The Palmer family have all passed away. The father and moth- er and the eight children with one exception all lie in the Coryell cemetery in sight of the house where they all lived so long. That house is now occupied by tenants.
John Smith, or Smyth, as the name was formerly spelled, while living in Sussex county, N. J., in the years of the revolu- tion, was an acting magistrate and a major of militia. He was called into service four different seasons during the war, and was ordered by letter from General Washington to take certain stores of wheat and other provisions, which had been gathered by the Tories for the use of the British, and distribute it among the families of the militia, which order he executed; and as long after as the year 1794, after he had settled in the Susquehanna Valley, he was prosecuted by one individual for grain which was included in said stores; but being so fortunate as to have pre- served the order of General Washington, he presented it and defeated the claim. While Washington's army was retreating before the British from New York toward Philadelphia, Major Smith was ordered to take charge of the artillery, and in cross- ing the bridge at New Brunswick, as soon as the troops were over, to cut away the bridge, which order he carried out, the night being exceedingly dark. After settling in this town, he acted as magistrate and as a supervisor of his town. He owned the tract known as the Maughantowano Flats. His wife was Elizabeth Ogden, by whom he had five children, viz .: Elizabeth, Nathan, Gilbert, David and John. The latter was engaged on the Canadian frontier during the war of 1812, where he did valient service. He married, first, Nancy A. Goodwin, by whom he had seven children, viz .: Mary A., Julia A., Madison, Aman- da, Eliza A., Sarah A., and Washington. His second wife was Margaret (McCarty) Miller, by whom he had one child, Theron O. Mary A. married John S. Dean, by whom she had three children, viz .: Julia A., Jefferson B., deceased, and Nathan S .. of this town. Sarah A. is the widow of the late Rev. Jacob Allington, a minister of the M. E. denomination, by whom she has one daughter, Emily J., who resides with her mother in this town. Washington married Jane B., daughter of the late Hon. Elijah Shoemaker, who for several years was a judge of the county. Their children are Catharine E. and Phebe J., who re-
·
281
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
side with their mother on the homestead. Mr. Washington Smith died November 13, 1874, aged sixty-three years. Nathan S. Dean married Frank, daughter.of Daniel Shoemaker, of Wind --- ham, Pa., by whom he has two sons, Daniel J. and John S
James and Elijah Cole came from Delaware and located on the Wappasening creek, near where the Howell property lies. The exact date of their coming into the county is not known, but they were located on the farm where Emanuel Coryell sub- sequently resided, as early as 1787, and when Judge Coryell and Robert Lettice Hooper visited the valley on their exploring and surveying tour they were entertained at their house. They claimed but a possessory interest in the land they occupied, hav- ing as yet received no title from the patentees. Elijah had seven sons, viz .: James, Joseph, John, George, Daniel, Charles and Ed- ward, all deceased. James married Betsey, daughter of John Hoover, by whom he had seven children, the only surviving one being Horace, of Nichols.
Daniel married Julia A. Holcomb, of Ulster, Bradford Co., Pa., by whom she had four children, Truman, Alfred, Sidney and Myra. Truman married Alice Van Dermark, by whom he had two children, Clayton D. and Charles. Alfred married Helen Waterman.
In 1786, Miles Forman came from Peekskill, Westchester Co., N. Y., and located one and one-half miles from the present site of Nichols village, on the farm now owned by George A. Ingersoll. He married Ann Platt and reared a large family. His father came from England. Miles Forman was the ninth sheriff of Tioga county, when that county included four counties.
The eldest son, Smith, married Martha Miller, of Southport, Chemung Co., N. Y., in 1818, and reared a large family. He built and lived on the part of the farm nearest Nichols. His eldest son, John, is the present owner. He married Ann Oster- hout, of La Grange, Wyoming Co., Pa., in 1862. They have three children living, Mary, Smith and John.
Benjamin Shoemaker came to America, from Holland, in the decade of 1620-30, and settled near Philadelphia. His son Ben- jamin, who is buried, and whose will is on record at Easton, Pa., was the father of Daniel Shoemaker, who settled just west of the Water-gap in Pennsylvania -- now called Broadheads -where he owned a custom and flouring mill. About the year 1797. he visited Big Flats, in Chemung county, and Painted Post, in Steuben county with the intention of settling there where large tracts of land
282
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
were offered him for ninety cents an acre. But there being nothing but an Indian trail from Athens, Pa., to that territory, he returned and purchased about 1,000 acres of land in this town, mostly squatter claims. He had but one brother, Elijah, who set- tled in the Wyoming valley, and who was tomahawked by Win- decker at the massacre of Wyoming. Daniel married Anna Mc- Dowell, by whom he had seven children, born as follows : Han- nah, February 7, 1777, who married Isaac S. Swartwood ; Eliza- beth, January 22, 1779, wife of George Nyce ; Benjamin, Febru- ary 8. 1781 ; John, March 22, 1783 ; Robert, May 20, 1785 ; Sarah, May 26, 1787 : Elijah, July 28, 1789, once sheriff, and afterward associate justice of Tioga county; Nicholas, January 27, 1792, who settled where his son William R. now lives; Daniel McD., Feb- ruary 24. 1795 ; who occupied the homestead of his father, where the cottage of John Bensley now stands ; Anna, July 8, 1797, wife of William Ross. Benjamin, who settled on Wappasening creek, in Pennsylvania, married Eunice Shaw, by whom he had seven children. viz .: Richard. Mary, Elijah, Samuel, Daniel, Anna, and John. Elijah. son of Daniel Shoemaker, married first, Phebe, daughter of Laban and Jane (McDowell) Blanchard, by whom be had seven children, viz .: Jane, widow of Washington Smith ; George N., Nicholas, Charles McD., and Elijah B., deceased ; Jonathan Platt, and Phebe, also deceased. He married second, Catharine Floyd, of Chemung, N. Y., by whom he had two chil- dren. Hannah Shoemaker, A. M., who is preceptress of Hamlin University, Minn., and Capt. Thomas Floyd Shoemaker, of Cali- fornia. Nicholas married Hannah Blanchard, by whom he had five children : James and Auna, deceased ; William R., and Ed- gar, of Nichols : and Caroline, wife of Col. Fred M. Shoemaker, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., now deceased. Daniel McD. married Maria Thurston, who was born in New Marlboro, N. H., May 19, 1797, and by whom he had five children, viz .: Hiram W, Elizabeth N., Horace A., who died in infancy : Horace A., 2d, and Lyman T. Edgar, son of Nicholas Shoemaker, born February 23. 1837, married Laura A., daughter of Zina Goodsell, of this town, by whom he has had seven children, viz .: Caroline, Edgar, Stella, Zina,. Mary A., who died at the age of two years; May, and Fannie Maud. Horace A., son of Daniel McD. Shoemaker, re- ceived his early education at Kingston, Pa., and at Little Falls. N. Y. He studied for the profession of civil engineer, which profession he followed for nine years, during which time he was engaged on the N. Y. L. E. & W. R. R .; on the Blue Ridge &
.
283
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
Pendleton R. R., and on the West Branch canal. He married Hester L., daughter of James Comfort, of Lanesboro, Pa., by whom he has three children, viz .: Rev. Hiram R., now located at Naverino, N. Y., George Winthrop, a physician and druggist at Billings, Mont., and Martha E., preceptress of the Middle- burgh academy, Schoharie county, N. Y.
Jonathan Hunt came from Bedford, Westchester county, N. Y., in 1802, and located first on what is known as the Sackett farm, one mile below Nichols village on the river road. He was a soldier of the revolution under Gen. Warren, was in the engage- ment at Bunker Hill and served until the close of the war. He was born in Boston, Mass., about the year 1760. His wife Millisant Brown, was born about the same year, though the exact date of the birth of either is not known. They had nine children born as follows : Ehenezer, May 6, 1783 ; Mary wife of Peter Tur- ner, April 24, 1786; Willard, January 22, 1789; John, December 22, 1791 ; Adonijah, August 10, 1793; Jonathan, Jr., March 4, 1795 ; Irena, wife of James Brown, April 30, 1797 ; Seth, February 15, 1799, and Harvey, February 15, 1801. Ebenezer married Abigail (Dodd) White, who had by her first husband three chil- dren, viz .: Clarrissa, Seymour and Ruth ; and by Mr. Hunt, Williston of this town, Henderson of Wisconsin, Phebe, wife of Jeremiah Armstrong, Abigail, Eliza J., and Ebenezer, Jr. Willis- ton married first Alida (Van Alstyne) Vorhis who died in 1860. His present wife is Emily (Russell) Orcott. Jonathan Hunt, Jr., married Martha Brown, December 5, 1820, by whom he had nine children born as follows: Benjamin, April 8, 1823 ; Ezra C., October 27, 1824; Permelia, October 14. 1826 ; Susan J., October 16, 1828, wife of Thomas Kyle : Ananius W., June 4, 1831 ; Andrew C., May 21, 1834 ; Thomas, June 23, 1836; Adonijah, September 5, 1838 ; Martha E., April 23,. 1842 ; Jonathan, Jr., died August 17, 1884, and Martha, his wife January 30, 1885. Harvey Hunt married Mary Brown of Orange county, N. Y., by whom he had six children viz .: Jonathan, who died in July, 1886; Elizabeth, George F., a physician of West Bend, Wis .; Samuel, a lawyer of Menomonee, Wis .; Lewis, of Newark Valley, and Marcella, who, with her sister Elizabeth occupies the homestead. Mrs. Hunt died in September, 1865, and Mr. Hunt in August, 1886. Dr. George F., married Anna Salisbury by whom he has one son, Frederick. Samuel married Gelila Campbell of Owego, and Lewis married Lucy Buttles by whom he has two daughters, Lillian M. and Alice. Willard, son of Jonathan Hunt, mar-
4
284
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
ried Mary, daughter of George Walker, the latter came from near Sunsbury, Pa., and located at Factoryville. He bought five hundred acres of land at that place, and then came on the river and purchased a tract a mile square. The homestead is the Kiff farm on the river road one mile from the state line. Mrs. Hunt had nine children viz .: Sally, Brown, Mary, Charlotte, James, Samuel, George, Fannie, who died at the age of three years, and Delos. Samuel married first Eliza Slawson of Nichols, by whom he had one son Julius, who died in infancy. . His present wife is Cynthia (Loveland) Wright. James B., son of Willard Hunt married Catherine Sints of Sheshequin, Pa., by whom he had ten children viz .: Helen, Emily, Alonzo, Mary, John W., Sarah, Nora, Ida, Dora, and James, Jr. John W. married Maud, daugh- ter of Gideon P. Holman of Illinois, by whom he had two chil- dren viz .: Clara and Ethel. Ezra C. son of Jonathan Hunt, Jr., married Mary, daughter of John W. Laning, March 26, 1851, and by whom he had two children ; H. Dell, born January 2, 1852, wife of Frank H. Roper, and Charles F. born August 10, 1854. Mrs. Hunt died Febuary 4, 1881, aged 55 years, and Charles F., September 21. 1862. Adonijah, son of Jonathan Hunt, Jr., married Lucinda, daughter of Peter Brown of Litchfield, Pa. Mr. Hunt has been engaged chiefly in lumbering and farming and is the proprietor of a grist and saw-mill, located on road 37.
Benjamin Lounsberry was born April 11. 1767, in Stamford, Conn. He lost his father at the age of four years, and his mother married Jonathan Platt and removed to Bedford, Westchester county, N. Y., where he remained until 1793, when he came to this town and selected a farm to which he brought his family the following year. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and - (Smith) Platt, born February 7, 1772, and by whom he had nine children, born as follows: . Harriet, June 7, 1793, wife of John W. Laning : Hannah, May 23, 1795, wife of Samuel H. Dun- ham, now decased : Platt, September 18, 1797 ; Charles, July 19, ISoo ; Horace, December 12. ISO4 ; Benjamin, May 4, 1807 ; James, October 2. 1809 ; William, December 6, 1812; and Norman, May 7, 1815. Benjamin, Sr., died May 31. 1857.
Platt Lounsberry married Sarah Laning, by whom he had eleven children, viz .: Sarah. wife of Robert Howell, Platt, Jr., of Windham, Pa., Mary, Amos, of Tioga, Horace, of Nichols, Prudence, wife of James Morey, of Windham, Pa., Betsey. wife of Andrew Hunt, of Litchfield, Pa., Benjamin, of Tioga, Harriet and George, of Nichols, and Enoch, who
285
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
died at the age of twenty years. Mrs. Lounsberry died Jan- uary 7, 1877. On April 25, 1824, Charles, son of Benjamin Lounsberry, Sr., married Rachel, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Chatterton) White, who was born December 8, 1800, and by whom he had five children, viz .: Benjamin, who died in infancy, Charles, Mary A., wife of Harvey W. Dunham, John, and Har- riet, who resides on the homestead, about three miles above Nich- ols village, on the river road. Mr. Lounsberry was a much re- spected citizen, and his life to the end was an exemplary one. He died March 21, 1872, and Mrs. Lounsberry April 10, 1870. William Lounsberry married Sarah Raymond, of Bedford, West- chester county, N. Y .. by whom he had three children, viz .: William R , Edward W., deceased, and Jennie. He married, second, Julia (Knapp) Husted, now also deceased. Mr. Louns- berry died July 12, 1887. William R. married Mary, daughter of William McKerlie, of Townsend, Ont., November 3, 1875, and resides on a portion of the homestead, on the river road three miles above Nichols.
Thomas White came from Clinton county in 1814. and located on the farm now occupied by Albert Robertson. He married Sarah Chatterton, by whom he had nine children, viz .: Nancy, wife of Nathaniel Moore, William, John, Rachel, who married Charles Lounsberry, Catharine, who married Beniah Schoonover, Joseph, Mary, who married Daniel Granger, Ann (Mrs. Thomas Whyte), of Tinga, and Richard, of Illinois, who is the only sur- viving member of the family. Joseph married Fannie, daughter of John Smith, Sr .. by whom he had four children, viz .: William W., Almira E., widow of Daniel Sackett, Joseph F., of Bingham- ton, and Frank A., wife of David B. Thomas. William W. mar- ried Emeline E .. daughter of Andrew D. Kimber, of Waverly, N. Y., by whom he has one son, Louis B.
Henry P. Coryell, son of Emanuel and Sarah (Potter) Coryell, married Augusta, daughter of Stephen Mills, of Barton, by whom he had three children, viz .: Mary, Robert P, and Charlotte. Robert P. married Catherine H. E. Wheelhouse, by whom he has one child, Henry Wheelhouse Coryell, born September 29, 1886.
Ursula, widow of Sylvanus Dunham, came from East Town, N. Y., about 1808 or 18to, and located on the river road about half a mile above Nichols, where Stephen Dunham now lives. She had ten children, viz .: Polly, Henry, Isaac, Betsey, Wright, Sylvanus, Daily, Nelson, Ebenezer, and Sidney. Wright .- who
286
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
was elected to the assembly in 1829, also in 1859,-married Har- riet Brown, by whom he had seven children, viz .: William, Amelia, Frances, Maria, Mary, Eben and Sarah. Eben was born on the old homestead, which he now owns, situated at the end of the bridge across the Wappasening creek, in the south part of the town. in 1825. He has been engaged in mercantile business in Nichols for twenty-two years, and is the oldest resident merchant now actively engaged in business in the town. He married Amelia, daughter of Charles R. Brown, of Towanda, Pa., by whom he has had three children, viz .: Louise D., wife of Prof. L. O. Wiswell; Charles D., who died in infancy, and Willie B .. who died at the age of seventeen years.
David Briggs came from Washington county, about 1808, and settled in that section of the town known as Briggs's Hollow. There are many of his descendants in the town, especially in the locality settled by him.
John Smith was born in Heidelburg, Pa., in 1769, and came to this county in 179S, and located on the river in Tioga on the farm now owned by James Steele. He married Sally, daughter of Richard Tilbury, by whom he had three children, viz .: Rich- ard, John and Henry. Richard married Katie Decker, by whom he had thirteen children. John married Almira, daughter of Joseph and Sally (Roach) Granger, of Tioga Center, by whom he had twelve children, viz .: Lucinda, widow of Amos Lane, Cornelia, widow of Abijah Ketcham, Fannie, who married Joseph White, George, and Adaline, who married James Howell, Charles, of Nichols. Emily, wife of John Leonard, of Owego. John Jr., of Nichols, Almira, widow of Thomas F. Goodnough, Joseph. Anna, wife of Alburn S. Parmelee, of Owego, and Harvey R., of Nichols. John, Jr., married Jane R., daughter of Cyril Pearl, in 1852. by whom he has five children, viz .: Edna J., wife of Platt Dunham, Jr., Clara R., wife of Frederick Pearl, Charles F., John Pearl and Katie. Harvey married Fannie, daughter of Ferris Howes, by whom he has three daughters, Lottie, Gennie and Mary. Mr. Harvey Smith is a violinist and has led an orchestra and engaged in musical entertainments since he was sixteen years old, covering a period of thirty years, and from which he has realized sufficient to make him proprietor of " Meadowside Farm," which lies on the river road about half way between Owego and Nich- ols, having new buildings with all the modern conveniences, and is withal one of the most complete in its appurtenances in this section.
.
287
TOWN OF NICHOLS.
Thomas Park, who was a soldier in Washington's army, was engaged with his regiment at the time of the Wyoming massacre, when his wife, who had a child but three days old, was carried away captive in a canoe to Forty Fort. Mr. Park was sent home on a furlough by an order of the General to look after his family, and he joined Sullivan's expedition and pursued the sav- ages to Canada. The following spring, while he was making sugar on his farm in Wyoming, the valley was visited by Indian scouts who shot him twice in the thigh, and he carried the balls with him to the grave. Previous to the war of the revolution, and when but sixteen years of age, he was engaged as a sailor in the English navy during the French and English war. About two years after the close of the revolution, he purchased 400 acres of land on the state line on the east side of the Susquehanna river. His son Daniel married Patty. daughter of Luke Saunders, of Barton, by whom he had ten children. His second wife was Nancy Ellis, by whom he had three children. Joseph, his sixth son, married Elizabeth, daughter of Elisha E. Hill, of Barton, and resides on a portion of the estate of Thomas Park.
Stephen Reynolds came from Greenwich, Washington Co., N. Y., about ninety years ago, and located near the site of the mills at Hooper's Valley. He married Sarah Babcock, by whom he had thirteen children, the sixth of whom was Joseph, who is now seventy-nine years of age, and resides on his farm in this town. His life has been spent principally in lumbering and farming. His wife was Amanda, daughter of Reynolds Babcock, by whom he had eight children, viz .: Stephen. of Chemung ; Elizabeth, who died in infancy ; John S .. of Nichols; George and Curtis, deceased : Mary A., wife of Schuyler Bixby ; Caroline, wife of Francis Mills, and Alvy, both deceased. Stephen married, first, Sarah A. Buttolph, of Nichols, by whom he had six children, viz .: Joseph J., who died in infancy ; Angeline, deceased ; Albert, of South Owego; Isum L., of this town; Ella and Isaac S., deceased. Isum I. married Carrie, daughter of Levi Baker, of Nichols, by whom he has two children, Eben and Charles Levi.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.