USA > New York > Tioga County > Historical gazetter of Tioga County, New York, 1785-1888. Pt. 2 > Part 10
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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
.
450
TOWN OF SPENCER.
J. Parker Vose, son of John Vose of this town, married Nancy B., daughter of Isaac Buckley, of Danby, N. Y., in June, 1853. Their children are Emma J., wife of J. B. G. Babcock, of Owego, and Charles E.
S. Alfred Seely is a son of Seymour A. and Polly Seely, and was born in Newfield, Tompkins county, in 1842. Till the age of sixteen he attended the district school near his home, finishing his school days by several terms in Spencer and then in Ithaca. He taught school several terms, and at the age of twenty-one went to Elmira, N. Y., and in company with his brother, Sey- mour, commenced the manufacture of lumber, under the firm name of A. Seely & Bro. After eleven years in Elmira, they transfered their business to Spencer, purchased several acres of land near the G., I. & S. R. R. station, put up a large steam saw- mill, and went to work, employing at times two hundred men. In 1875 they erected a steam flouring-mill near their saw-mill, and this is now the only mill of its kind doing business in the town. Within a year or two, an addition has been made to it, in which the grinding is done by the roller process, and large quan- tities of the best flour are almost daily shipped to different parts of the country. In 1877, they commenced, in a small way, the mer- cantile business, which has enlarged till at present they occupy a large brick block, their stock including nearly everything needed or used in a farming or manufacturing community. In 1880, they built near their mills a large creamery, and it is now receiving the milk or cream from about 700 cows, brought from four or five towns and from three different counties. January 1, 1887, the partnership was dissolved, Seymour retiring and Alfred continuing the business alone. Mr. Seely married Emily LaRow, of Newfield, October 20, 1863, who bore him one child, a girl, who died at the age of four years. Mrs. Seely died in Septem- ber, 1879; and in November, 1880, he married Mary E. Williams. of Romulus, N. Y., and has three children.
Silvenes Shepard was born in the town and county of Otsego, January 23, 1823. His parents moved to Virgil, Cortland county. in 1826, where he lived until the fall of 1839, at which time they moved on to a farm near the white school-house, at East Spen- cer. He worked on a farm summers and taught school winters, until the spring after he was of age, when he commenced the manufacture of tomb-stones, at East Spencer. He removed to the village in 1847, and continued in the business till his health gave out, in 1849. He, with his brother-in-law, commenced manufac-
451
TOWN OF SPENCER.
turing tin-ware and selling stoves, in 1852, continuing in the busi- ness a few years, when he went to farming, working as he was able, until 1862, when he found employment in the store of Lu- cius Emmons, father of the Emmons Bros. He remained in their store five years, when he commenced business for himself, at the same place he now occupies. In April, 1867, without application or solicitation on his part, he received the appoint- ment of postmaster, which office he held till October 17, 1885. He has been the recipient of many favors from the citizens of Spencer, having held the office of overseer of the poor, assessor, and supervisor. To the latter office he has been elected six times. He has been interested in the educational interests of the town nearly half a century, an advocate for free schools long be- fore the enactment of our grand "free school law." While pos- itive and decided in his views on all public questions, and free to express them in proper times and places, he is willing to concede the same right to others. He has always taken a decided stand against intemperance.
Charles J. Fisher's grandfather came from Frankfort-on-the- Main, Germany, to this country, in 1754, and, it is believed, set- tied in New York city. His son, George, came to Spencer, in ISto, his family consisting of nine children-five girls and four boys. Charles J., the third son, was born in Spencer, in 1817. He attended the common schools till the age of eighteen, when he entered his father's store as clerk, which business he followed for different merchants till 1850, when he commenced business for himself, carrying a stock of dry goods and groceries, and continued till some time during the rebellion, when he sold his stock of goods and opened a drug store, the first one in town, which business he still continues, He now lives on the place formerly occupied by his father, has always lived and done busi- ness on, or very near, the spot where his father settled, in 1810.
Dr. William Henry Fisher, son of Charles J. Fisher, was born January 31, 1854. He studied in the Spencer Academy, and studied medicine with Dr. T. F. Bliss, of Spencer, and entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1874, graduated in 1876, and immediately began practice in Spencer village, where he has since resided. The Doctor married Alice Knight, daughter of Harding A. Knight, of Spencer, November 14, 1877, and has two children, a son and a daughter.
Roger Vose was born in Bedford, N. H., February 26, 1770. He married Anne Bassett, of Sharon, Mass., February 14, 1793,
452
TOWN OF SPENCER.
and moved with his family from Bedford, N. H., to Spencer, in the fall of 1826, and purchased the farm on which he lived until his death, which occurred November 24, 1843. His wite, Anne Vose, died March 2, 1834. Their children were : Samuel Vose, born at Bedford, N. H., December 27, 1793. He came to Spen- cer from Bedford, about the year 1818, and died here, August 3, 1854. John Vose was born at Bedford, N. H., October 20, 1796. He came to this country with his brother, Samuel, about 1818. and died March 5, 1871. Jesse Vose was born at Bedford, N. H., May 23, 1801, and died in 1845. Charles Otis Vose was born at Bedford, N. H., May 1, 1807, and died May 31, 1829. Alfred Vose was born in Bedford, N. H., August 10, 1812. He moved to this town from Bedford, at the same time of his father; was reared and continued to live on the place purchased by his father, up to the time of his death, which occurred September 20, 1883.
Lucius Emmons was born in Hartland, Hartford county, Conn., April 31, 1810. In early life he worked on a farm, later did office work, and then started out as a peddler, to what was then called the West (New York state). He came to Spencer to live in the spring of 1839, and married Nancy, daughter of Roger Vose, July 4, 1839. They removed to Candor, thence to Simsbury, Conn., in the fall of 1841, and thence back to Spencer, in the spring of 1844, where he remained until his death. He imme- diately started in the mercantile business on a small scale, and being a peddler himself, he soon formed the idea of sending out peddlers, which he did on a large scale, and for many years car- ried on a large business in general merchandise. He was taken sick in 1856 with a complication of diseases, from which he had nearly recovered at the time of his death, which occurred March 19, 1864.
Lucius Edward Emmons, son of Lucius and Nancy Emmons. was born at Spencer, August 23, 1846. He attended school at the Spencer academy, and at the age of nineteen years commenced work on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one years, Au- gust 23, 1867, he became a partner with his elder brother, A. S. Emmons, as dealers in general merchandise, under the firm name of Emmons Brothers, succeeding the firm of Mrs. L. Emmons & Son. September 15, 1872, he was married to Cornelia M. Hul !. daughter of Eben Hull, of Spencer. On a spot made vacant by a large fire, and owned by said firm, they erected, in the fall of 1876 and succeeding winter, a three-story brick drug store, and
-------
453
TOWN OF SPENCER.
after the loss of their wooden structure (general store), on the opposite corner, they erected, in 1878, a large store of brick to carry on the same business. On April 23, 18So, the firm purchased of Dr. William H. Gregg, of Elmira, the formulas for and ex- clusive right to manufacture Electro Silicon liniment, also Dr. Shorey's Investigator remedies, which medicine business they conducted under the name of the Electro-Silicon Liniment Co. On September 1, 1886, the firm of Emmons Brothers was dis- solved by mutual consent, and by the expiration of the contract; L. E. Emmons continuing the drug business in the same store before. used for that purpose. His children are Charlie Hull Emmons, aged eleven years ; Freddie Earl Emmons, aged seven years, and Jessie Nell Emmons, aged six years.
Myron B. Ferris was born in Spencer, April 22, 1835, son of Joshua H. and Louisa (Fisher) Ferris. He studied in the Spencer Academy, and graduated from the Ithaca High School in 1849. He soon after began the mercantile business in Spencer, and continued in the same about twenty years, and upon the estab- lishment of the bank here he became its assistant cashier, a position he still holds. Mr. Ferris has represented the town in the board of supervisors four years in succession, and represented his county in the legislature of 1873. Mr. Ferris married Han- nah M. Cooper, daughter of Jessie B. Cooper, in 1853, and has three children, Nathan B., Stella L., and F. Harry.
The comparative growth of the town may be seen by the fol- lowing citation from the several census enumerations since its organization : 1810, 3,128 ; IS20, 1,252 ; 1825, 975 ; 1830, 1,278; 1835, 1,407 : 1845, 1,682; 1850, 1782 ; 1855, 1,805; 1860, 1,881 ; 1865, 1,757 ; 1870, 1,863 ; 1875, 1,884 ; 1880, 2,382.
Organisation .- At a town-meeting held at the inn of Jacobus Schenichs, Tuesday, April 1, 1806, the following named officers were elected : Joel Smith, supervisor : Joshua Ferris, town clerk ; Edmond Hobart, Daniel H. Bacon, Levi Slater, assessors ; Moses Read, Benjamin Jennings, Joseph Barker, commissioners of high- ways: Lewis Beers, Samuel Westbrook, overseers of the poor ; Isaiah Chambers, collector ; John Shoemaker, Nathan Beers, William Cunan, John Murphy, and Isaiah Chambers, constables ; John F. Bacon, John McQuigg, John Mulks, Jacob Swartwood, youndmasters : John 1. Speed, John English, Joseph L. Horton. Jacob Herinton, Alexander Ennes, and Lewis Beardslee, fence- viewers.
454
TOWN OF SPENCER.
The history of Spencer as the county-seat, the history of its railroads and newspaper, has already been given, in the general history of the county, in the earlier pages of this work.
BUSINESS CENTERS.
SPENCER VILLAGE is located on Catatonk creek, west of the center of the town, and on the G. I. & S. and the E. C. & N. rail- roads. From 1812 to 1821, it was the county-seat of Tioga county. It contains three churches, the old camping.ground of the Wyo- ming Conference, one union school or academy, six dry-goods and grocery-stores, two hardware-stores, two drug-stores, one agricultural store, two hotels, one livery-stable, one steam saw and grist-mill, one planing-mill, one plaster-mill, one marble-fac- tory, eight blacksmith-shops, three wagon shops, two cabinet- shops, three millinery-shops, three shoe-shops, two tailor-shops, one paint-shop, two harness-shops, one dental office, three doctors' offices, two undertaking establishments, one photograph parlor, one meat-market, one job printing office, about one hundred and thirty-five dwelling-houses, and seven hundred inhabitants. The busy mills, the large number of neat and commodious private residences, with well-kept grounds attached, and the highly- .cultivated fields surrounding the village, attest that the inhabi- tants have not forgotten the thrift, habits of industry, and econ- omy which characterized their forefathers from Connecticut and Eastern New York.
SPENCER SPRINGS, lying three miles northeast of Spencer vil- lage, has valuable springs of sulphur and chalybeate mineral waters. The surroundings are picturesque, and it has been quite popular as a resort during the summer months.
NORTH SPENCER, about three and one-half miles north of Spencer, contains one church (Union), one school-house, a store, about twenty dwelling houses, and one hundred inhabitants.
COWELL'S CORNERS, a hamlet on Catatonk creek, about one and one-fourth miles east of Spencer, contains a school-house, a shoe-shop, two cooper-shops, and about forty inhabitants.
The Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Spencer was incorporated in March, 1884, with a paid-up capital of $25,000.00. The first officers were M. D. Fisher, president ; O. P. Dimon, vice-presi- dent ; C. P. Masterson, cashier. The present officers are Thomas Brock, president ; O. P. Dimon, vice-president ; M. D. Fisher, cashier ; and M. B. Ferris, assistant cashier.
455
TOWN OF SPENCER.
Spencer Creamery, .S. Alfred Seely Proprietor .- The Spencer Creamery was established in 1880, by Hoke & Seely, and is located in the western part of the village, on Liberty street. At present they are manufacturing from the product of 700 cows, and are doubling their capacity yearly. All their equipments are of the latest and most improved patents. They run two DeLaval cream separaters, a steam butter-worker, and all the improved steam-power machinery, which is used in the' manufacture of butter. They also manufacture cheese from skimmed milk. There are one hundred hogs and thirty calves fed at the creamery. Beside supplying families with the choicest butter, they ship to New York twice and three times a week: Last year they manu- factured over 60,000 pounds. The creamery is under the super- intendence of Mr. D. LaMont Georgia.
S. A. Seely's Flour and Custom Mill is situated on Mill street, near the G., I. & S. R. R. depot, and was built in October, 1873, by A. Seely & Bro. It was started with three runs of stones, and did at that time custom work, principally. In 1879, it was reno- vated and enlarged, another run of stones added, and also machin- ery necessary for making the new process flour. In the spring of 1886, it was again enlarged, and machinery added, making it a full-fledged roller-mill. The capacity of the roller department is seventy-five barrels in twenty-four hours. A specialty is made of buckwheat grinding, according to the new process, manufac- turing flour from 45,000 to 50,000 bushels annually. Three men are employed, with James Silke, superintendent. Mr. Seely's large steam saw-mill, the largest in the state, has already been spoken of in detail.
Brundage's Carriage and Wagon Works .- De Witt C. Brundage came to Spencer when about eighteen years of age, and learned the trade of carriage and wagon making, serving an apprentice- ship of three years with George Rosekrans. He bought the business of Rosekrans and has since run it almost continuously, at the same stand, in Van Etten street. He manufactures wagons, sleighs, and carriages, of the most approved styles, and does all kinds of repairing in the neatest and most workmanlike manner.
J. T. Mc Master's Steam Saw-Mill, located on road 53, is operated by a fifty horse-power engine. It has a lumber-saw, lath-mill, wood-saw, and edger, and also a feed-mill, run by the same power. He employs twelve men, and cuts annually 800,000 feet of lumber and 500,000 lath.
Samuel Eastham's Saw-Mill, located on road 36, is operated by 30.
.
456
TOWN OF SPENCER.
water-power, employs twelve men, and cuts from 800.000 to 1,000,- ooo feet of lumber annually. He has also a hay-barn where he presses hay, and ships 1,000 tons annually.
Richardson & Campbell's Brick Yard, located on road 43, was established in 1882. The clay is first-class. The firm employs thirty-five hands, and have capacity for the manufacture of 3,000,000 brick annually.
CHURCHES.
The First Congregational Church was organized November 23. IS15, with seven members, as follows: Daniel Hugg, Achsah Hugg, Urban Palmer, Lucy Palmer, Stephen Dodd, Mary Dodd, and Clarissa Lake. Until the year 1828, the society met in dwelling- houses, school-houses, and the court-house, the pulpit being suppli- ed by missionaries. Rev. Seth Williston was the first missionary, he having been sent out by the Congregationalists of Connecticut. Rev. Gardner K. Clark was the first regularly installed pastor. The church edifice was commenced July 3, 1826, and completed two years later. It is of the style usually erected for houses of worship in the country fifty years ago. It cost $2, 500, and has sittings for about 400 people. Recently the building, through the munificence of Mr. Kennedy, has been extensively repaired and embellished.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1809, by Peter Lott and his wife, Jeremiah Andrews, Esther Dean, Abraham Garey, and Hester Ann Purdy. For many years the society was supplied by circuit preachers of the Oneida Conference, who came once in four weeks. They held meetings in private houses. barns, and school-houses until 1828, when the present church was completed. It cost $2, Soo, and will seat 450 people. Rev. Morgan Rugar was the first resident pastor. Rev. Loring P. Howard is the present one. This church, too, has recently been exten- sively repaired.
The Baptist Church .-- Phineas Spalding was the founder of this society, and preached to his brethren as early as 1799. The society was more formally organized by Elder David Jayne, February 11, ISto, and consisted of fifteen members, as follows : Phineas Spalding. Susannah Spalding, John Cowell, Deborah Cowell, Thomas Andrews, Jemima Andrews, Joseph Barker. Phebe Barker, Mehitable Hubbard, William Hugg, Lydia Hugg, Polly Underwood, Benjamin Cowell, Benjamin Castalin, and
457
TOWN OF TIOGA.
Ruth Castalin. Its first church was erected about 1830, and located one mile east of the village. The present one was com- pleted in 1853, costing, with the alterations since made, about $4,000. It is the largest church in the village of Spencer, seats 7oo in the audience-room, and 300 in the Sunday-school room.
The Union Church at North Spencer was organized, with thirty members, in 1870, and its church edifice, which will seat 275 people, was erected the same year, at a cost of about $1,500.
T IOGA originally embraced the boundaries of what is now denominated asthe town of Tioga, together with much other territory, and was distinctively organized into a township by an act of the legislature passed March 22, 1788, erecting the so- called "Old Town of Chemung," which was bounded as follows : "Beginning at the intersection of the partition line between New York State and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Pennsylvania State line, (west of Elmira) ; and running from said point of intersection due north along said partition line to the distance of two miles north of the Tioga [now Chemung] river; thence with a straight line to the Owego river [creek], at the distance of four miles on a straight line from the conflu- ence thereof with the Susquehanna river; thence down the Owego [creek] and Susquehanna to the Pennsylvania line ; thence along the same to the place- of beginning."
It will be seen then, that the northern. eastern and southern boundaries of the Old Town of Chemung were identical with the present like boundaries of the town of Tioga. This territory remained a part of the Old Town of Chemung, until the act of the legislature was passed, February 16, 1791, creating the county of Tioga. By that act, about one-half of this Old Town of Chemung, comprising the easterly half, with some other ter ritory on the north, was erected into a new town, called Owego, which name it continued to bear until the act of the legislature of April 12, 1813, dividing the counties of the state into towns. Prior to the act of 1813, the territory next immediately east of the Owego creek, or the present town of Owego, was known as the town of Union, until April 1, 1800, when, by virtue of an act of the legislature passed March 14, ISoo, a new and separate town was formed from the territory next east of the Owego creek, and called the Town of Tioga. which name it also bore until the act of 1813. By the act of April 12, 1813, the names of
458
TOWN OF TIOGA.
these two towns, Owego on the west of the Owego creek, Tioga on the east thereof, were exchanged one for the other, as they now are. Each of these towns, however, originally included much other territory than that embraced within their present limits, other towns having been subsequently erected from them.
This town (Owego, from 1791-1813; Tioga, from 1813 to the present), originally was bounded on the east by the Owego creek, and a line running from the mouth thereof to the Pennsylvania state line ; on the south, by the Pennsylvania state line; on the west, by the Cayuta creek ; and on the north by the north bounds of the original Tioga county. The town of Spencer, then in- cluding the present town of Candor, was erected out of this town, February 28, 1806, and embraced all of that part of the town lying north of the Old Chemung Township line. So that, as respects the northern boundary of the town, it again became identical with that which it was when the town formed a part of the Old Town of Chemung, and it still is so. The town was again divided, by an act of the legislature passed March 23, 1824, and the towns of Nichols and Barton were erected from it, and the town was territorially reduced to itspresent limits. The south- ern boundary thereof was restored to the Susquehanna river, and in this respect also was again made identical with that which it was when a part of the Old Town of Chemung.
The present boundaries of the town are as follows: Easterly, by the Owego creek, which separates it from the town of Owego; southerly, by the Susquehanna river, which separates it from the town of Nichols ; westerly, by a line drawn from the mouth of Mundy's creek, northerly to the southwest corner of great lot number 171, in the old Chemung township; thence along the line of said lot to the north bounds of the town, or by the town of Barton ; and northerly, by the old Chemung township line, or by the towns of Candor and Spencer. It is the only interior town of the county, that is, the only one which is not bounded by ter- ritory lying without the county.
Surface .- Topographically considered, the town of Tioga in- cludes 35,805 acres. Its surface is principally uplands, with small areas of river-bed flats. The soil in the valleys and on the river-beds is a dark loam, and on the uplands a gravel loam. Its chief water-courses are Pipe and Catatonk creeks. There are, however, several other smaller streams, which empty either into these creeks, or into the Susquehanna river. Pipe creek is made up of two branches, the northern and the western; the northern
ยท
459
TOWN OF TIOGA.
branch rising in the town of Candor, and flowing nearly due south, and the western branch, rising in the town of Barton, and flowing nearly due east, meet in junction at Beaver Meadows, and flowing thence in a southeasterly course, empty into the Susquehanna at Tioga Center, near the center of the southern boundary. It is the real great water-course of the town. The Catatonk creek, entering from the town of Candor, flows in a southeasterly course across the northeast portion of the town, and empties into the Owego creek, midway of the eastern boundary of the town, and about two miles from the Susque- hanna river.
The chief pursuit of the inhabitants of the town now is agri- culture. In former times lumbering was one of the great avoca- tions ; but the timber has been so nearly cut down and the lands so thoroughly cleared, that there remains at this day, only a vestige of the former extensive industry.
Settlement and Growth .-- The territory occupied by the old town of Chemung, was surveyed and platted by Clinton, Cantine, and Hathorn. Certificates of location and survey were granted in the present town of Tioga, as follows: To Isaac D. Fowler, Jacob Ford, Peter W. Yates, Josiah Richardson, and Thomas Klump, June 23, 1789, 8,000 acres on the river bank, and forming nearly a square now known as " Yates Location," Tioga Centre being in that tract ; Archibald Campbell, same date, 3,000 acres, . two islands included, lying north of " Yates Location " "on the river-bank, and on Owego creek to confluence of the Catatonk creek ; Thomas Palmer, same date, 3,000 acres, and 418 acres in the south part of the town, west of Smithboro; Jonas Poirs and Benjamin Koles, November 12, 1788, 540 acres where Smithboro now is, and this was assigned to Jesse Smith, February, 1789 ; Abraham Bancker, November 6, 1788, lot 188, 1,000 acres, assigned to John Ransom, February 28, 1792 ; James and Robert R. Bur- nett, January 15, 1789, lot 204, of 1,360 acres ; Amos Draper and Jonas Williams, November 12, 1788, lot 160, 330 acres; Jesse Miller, Thomas Thomas, and Enos Canfield, same date, 2.765 acres ; Samuel Ransom, same date, lot 162,410 acres; Nathaniel Goodspeed, same date, lot 163, 430 acres ; Silas Taylor, same date, lot 164, 230 acres ; Samuel Ransom, Ebenezer Taylor, Jr., Prince Alden, Jr., Andrew Alden, Christopher Schoonover, and Benjamin Bidlack, same date, lot 165, 1,980 acres, assigned October, 1790, to Samuel Ransom ; Ebenezer Taylor, Jr., William Ransom, Abijah Marks, Samuel Van Gorden, Benoni Taylor, and John Cortright, Novem-
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.