USA > New York > Tioga County > Historical gazetter of Tioga County, New York, 1785-1888. Pt. 2 > Part 3
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In 1866, he was elected master of Friendship lodge, F. & A. M., and again in 1870, serving, both terms, with great satisfaction. He died June 26, 1881.
Luman Wood. son of David Wood, came from Duchess county, in 1839, and located in Tompkins county, where he remained three years, when he came to this town where he resided until his death, in 1872. He married Catharine, daughter of Nathan Bullard, by whom he had seven . children, George H., Enos V., a member of the New York city police force, Harriet (Mrs. Joseph Nichols), Franklin T., Nathan D., Emma, wife of Frank Bullard, and Edward B.
Jacob Bunzy came from Knox, Albany county, N. Y., many years ago, and located in Broome county, and afterward removed to the town of Owego and located at Gaskill's Corners. He married Sophia, daughter of John O'Brian by whom he had eight children, viz : John, Mary (Mrs. John A. Kens), Charles, George, Emma (Mrs. Charles Card), Nelson, Alice (Mrs. William Crum) and Lill (Mrs. Job Williams). Charles, married Lizzie, daughter of Artemas Walters, and has two children, Susie and Archie.
Samuel Hauver came from Lee, Mass., in 1848, and located near Smithboro where he engaged in farming. He married Lois Buttles of Lee, by whom he had six children, viz .: Margaret, Charles, of Elmira, E. Jane, Lucy, George, of Nichols, and Frank, of Owego. Mr. Hauver died October 30, 1874. Margaret mar- ried Robert Snell, by whom she has one son, Samuel B. Charles married Martha Smith and has five children. E. Jane married Nelson Codner, and has eight children. Lucy married Charles Prince of Orwell, Pa., and has one son. George married Clara, daughter of George Seager, January 1, 1881, by whom he had one child, Delmer G., born June 30, 1884, who died August 22, 1884. Frank married Mary, daughter of James S. Maine, of Windham, Pa., and has one child, F. Earl, born July 13, 1886.
Jesse Thomas came from Chester, Mass., to the town of Nichols in 1824, and purchased the farm on which Horace Louns- berry now resides. In 1854 he disposed of that property and bought a farm near the large island on the south side of the river where R. A. Barnes now resides. He married Jemima, daughter of Joseph Clark, of Windsor, Conn. His son, Charles C. Thomas, learned the printing business and worked at it until 1844, when he engaged in mercantile business in Westfield, Mass., where he continued nine years. He then returned to Owego and establised a book and newspaper business on the site now occupied by
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Coburn & Strait. He afterward engaged in the boot and shoe business with Isaac Hall. He married Sylvinea Wentz, of Bing- hamton, February 28, 1843, by whom he has two children, Charles F., now chief clerk of the R. G. Dunn Commercial Agency at Detroit, and Emma A.
Levi Slater came from Connecticut to Delaware county, where he engaged in teaching. General Cantine, who owned a military tract in the northern part of this county and in Tompkins county, which was then a part of Tioga county, induced Mr. Slater, by the offer of a grant of land, to migrate to that section. From him Slaterville takes its name. David, son of Levi, came to Owego village, some thirty years since, and engaged in teaching and in surveying. For twelve years he was street commissioner of the village of Owego. He married Phoebe, daughter of Lewis Howes, of Putnam county. Four children were born to them, namely, Frank B., Sarah A., who married LeRoy A. James, and who died in 1870, Dorus M., now of Elmira, and Miles O., now of New York city. David Slater died in his eighty-second year. Frank B. married Gertrude Connor, of New York city, May 30, I871.
J. B. G. Babcock came from Pennsylvania to Owego, and · during the years of the war was prominent in business here, being engaged in the wool business with D. M. Pitcher. He married Lovisa Douglass, by whom he had seven children, viz .: Annie, Lottie, Emily, Mattie, Joseph, Zachary T., and John B. G. The latter married Emma J., daughter of J. Parker Vose, by whom he has one child, Georgiana.
Charles M. Haywood was born at Ludlow, Vt., August 16, 1833, and passed his early life on a farm. At the age of sixteen he began the trade of marble and granite finishing. In 1856, at Littleton, N. H., he first embarked in business for himself, and in 1860 he came to Owego, where he has since resided. Mr. Haywood's business success encouraged him to build, in 1875, upon the east side of North avenue, one of the best brick blocks in the village, where he is extensively engaged in the marble and granite business, having also a branch business at Waverly. His residence, on the corner of Temple and Liberty streets, is attrac- tive and imposing. While Mr. Haywood has never been a poli- tician, in the common acceptation of the term, he has long possessed much local influence in the Republican party, and has" often been called to positions of trust and responsibility, the dis- charge of the varied duties of which has invariably been charac-
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terized by ability, fidelity and integrity. It is characteristic of Mr. Haywood that he is never idle, and never in a hurry, but steadily pursues whatever work he may have in hand,-that he is upright, honorable, unobtrusive, generous, public-spirited, self- sacrificing, and a most estimable and respected citizen.
The following are some of the positions he is holding at the present time : supervisor of the village, and ex-officio chairman of the board of supervisor of the county ; treasurer of the State Grand Lodge of Knights of Honor, since 1875; representative to the Supreme Lodge of Profection, for six years past ; treasurer · of. the Owego Mutual Benefit Association, since its organization ; treasurer of Tioga Lodge, No. 335, I. O. O. F., for many years ; treasurer and trustee of the First M. E. Church of Owego, and member since 1852 ; presiding officer of Owego Chapter, No. 510, R. A. M., having taken all the degrees in masonry, including the 95th ; director of the Masonic Relief Association, of Elmira, for seventeen years ; and president of the Owego District Camp Meeting Association during the past fifteen years. The following are some of the positions Mr. Haywood has heretofore occupied : Supervisor of the town of Owego in the year 1877 ; supervisor of Owego village in 1844-5 ; village trustee of the Third ward in 1871 ; president of Owego village in 1872, being re-elected for the three succeeding years without opposition; chief of the Owego fire department in 1876, and a delegate to the National Board, at Philadelphia ; a charter member of the Supreme Lodge, Knights of Honor, and a representative to that body in 1875-76, 77 and 78, being now a Past Grand Director of this state ; and charter member of the State Grand Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor, and its grand protector in 1880-81. Being, in 1883, a leading spirit in building a steamboat, and fitting up Hiawatha Island, he was president of the Owego Steamboat Company during the first two years of its existence. He was one of the principal movers in causing to be erected, in 1885, the Tioga county insane asylum. Mr. Haywood married Hannah Kneeland, of Proctorsville, Vt., in 1854.
James N. Hill, son of Chauncey and Lucy (Sexton) Hill, was born in the town of Tioga, December 14, 1816. His early edu- cation was received in the public schools, and at an early age he was apprenticed to the carpenter and joiners trade. He married Harriet Emily, daughter of Edward S. and Lydia (Curry) Madan, April 4. 1839. Their children were Sarah E., Lydia L., Charles O., and Ida E. (Mrs. G. A. Morton). For many years Mr. Hill
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was prominently engaged in business in Owego, as a manufacturer and as a contractor and builder. Mr. Hill died January 5, 1887. Sarah E. married A. H. Keeler, June 17, 1858, and has three chil- dren,-James B., Minnie, and Julia A. Minnie married J. A. Mabee, and has one child, John A., born August 20, 1879. Lydia L. married Ernest de Valliere, in April, 1864, and has five chil- dren, Lena, Nina, Herman, Louie, and Allie. Edward S. Madan, father of Mrs. Hill, and son of Thomas D. and Charity (Odell) Madan, or de Madan, as the name formerly was written, was born in Sing Sing, N. Y., in 1786. His father was a soldier of the revolutionary war, and a French Virginian by birth. Edward lived in New York city during his early years, and there learned the cabinet-maker's trade. He married, September 20, 1810, Lydia, daughter of Benjamin Curry, of Florida, Orange county, N. Y. Eight children were born to them, as follows: Anna Eliza, January 6, 1812 ; Sarah J., May 9, 1814; Mary L., Febru- ary 27, 1816; Harriet E., September 2, 1819 ; Caroline A., Octo- ber 29, 1821 ; Andrew, April 15, 1824; Frances M., April 30, 1827; and Benjamin C .. April 24, 1829. Mr. Madan and four brothers served in the war of 1812. In 1822 he removed to Newark Valley, where he remained only two years, when he came to Owego, where he engaged as contractor and builder. He was a member of the order of Free Masons, for sixty-two years, and both he and Mrs. Madan were, for many years, mem- bers of the First Presbyterian church of Owego. In politics he was a Democrat of the Jacksonian school. His life, from 1824, was spent in Owego. He died October 11, 1868. Andrew Madan married first, Phoebe Sears, April 4, 1857. His present wife is Sarah Searls, whom he married January 16, 1877.
Harry Jewett was born in Putnam county, N. Y., October 22. IS13. He came to Tioga county in the winter of 1816-17, with his parents, who located at Apalachin. In 1858, Mr. Jewett came to Owego village. In 1864 he began the grocery business on Front street, continuing the same till 1876. In 1860, he was elected justice of the peace, resigned in 1865, was again elected in 1876, and held the office till 1883. In 1884, he was appointed assessor, and held the office till 1887. Mr. Jewett married Lo- raine Goodsell, September 11, 1837, who died November IS, 1865. He again married, Esther Finley, June 17, 1867. He has three children, Emily (Mrs. T. E. Royall), Henry L., of Brook- lyn, and Frederick G., of Cambridge, Ohio.
Laban M. Jenks was born at Jenksville, in Berkshire, Febru
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ary 23, 1810, where he resided all his life, dying August 28, 1865. He married, November 17, 1836, Eliza J. Armstrong. Their children were Mary E., born January 26, 1837 ; Byron J., Sep- tember 25, 1842; Robert B., a physician of Elmira, born March 17, 1845, and William W., a lawyer of New York city, born Oc- tober 22, 1850.
Caleb J. Chaffee was born in Providence, R. I., February II, 1814. In 1832, he removed with his parents to Warren, Pa., and in the spring of 1835, he came to Owego and engaged in the lum- ber business, and has resided here since. Mr. Chaffee married " Angeline N. Bowen, who has borne him four children, only one of whom, Elizabeth (Mrs. George H. Pratt), of Cincinnati, Ohio, is living.
/ Benjamin W. Brownell, who resides near Flemingville, has Vlived upon the farm he now occupies since 1826. He was born at Foster, R. I., September 21, 1813, and came here with his father, Gideon, in 1826. Gideon purchased what is known as the Fur- guson farm, named from William Furguson, the first settler thereon. Mr. Furguson sold to John Parmenter, he to John Lincoln, and he in turn to Mr. Brownell. The latter died in 1828. Benja- min married Sarah C. Tucker, of Vestal, N. Y., who bore him ten children, and died in 1885. The children now living are, John C., Sarah C., Julia (Mrs. Elliot Barrett), Charles, George and Emma (Mrs. Luther Harris).
Edmund Wood, from Middleboro, Mass., came to Owego in 1817, locating upon the farm now occupied by his son Royal P. Mr. Wood married Laura A. Dean, February 14, 1833, who bore him three children, Royal P., born April 6, 1834; Eliza D., born March 27, 1836, and Tillson, born June 23, 1838. Mr. Wood died May 28, 1877. Of the children, Royal P. and Eliza (Mrs. E. D. Brink) are now living. Royal, who occupies the homestead, married Sarah E. Keeler, December 2, 1858, and has four chil- dren.
Elizur Talcott was a direct descendant of John Talcott, who came from England in 1632 and settled in Newton, Mass. He came to Owego, with his family in 1802. He married Dorothy - Lord and reared several children, among whom was Elizur, Jr. The latter was born February 1, 1780, married a Miss Bliss and . had born to him five children. Of these, Joel, born March 20, 1807, married Eunice Benton, September 5, 1830, and reared two children, George B. and Charles, both of whom now reside on
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on road 40. The former married Margaret Mason, December 25, 1868, and the latter Sarah Van Atta, January 1, 1865.
Edward P. Herrick was born February 24, 1808, and has lived in Tioga county all his life. He has been twice married, and has. four children, Perlee, of Newark, Charlotte M. (Mrs. George Lake), Jennie (Mrs. John C. Brownell), and Edward W., of Bing- hamton, N. Y.,
Simeon L. Barrett was born in Kent, N. Y., March 13, 1810, and came to Tioga county in 1836, locating in Candor till 1875. when he removed to Flemingville, where he now resides. Mr. Barrett married Margaret Hover, in 1845, and has ten children now living-Jemima (Mrs. Franklin Cortwright), Minerva (Mrs. John W. Taylor), Elliott, Vanness, Monroe, Eugene, Adelia (Mrs. Charles E. Wood), Edith (Mrs. Frederick Smith). Ida (Mrs. Edwin Rowe), and John F.
Amzi Stedman .was born in Connecticut in 1783, and came to Tioga county with his sister's family, Mrs. Polly Pritchard, in 1790, and settled upon the farm now owned by Asa Pritchard. He married Anna Canfield, who bore him thirteen children, three of whom, -Amos C., Rachel (Mrs. Rachel Cogswell), and Lyman T., are living. The latter still occupies the old homestead farm. He married Polly Joslyn, September 15, 1846, and has one child, Wheeler, who is in business at Flemingville.
Isaac Whittemore, the first settler in the Whittemore Hill neighborhood, was born in Vermont, in 1798, and located on the old homestead about 1830. He married Jane Ditmorse, and reared twelve children, of whom seven are now living, viz .: Mary A. (Mrs. Daniel Cornell), Isaac V., Alvin, Virgil, Alonzo W., Egbert, and Harriet (Mrs. Fred Rounds).
BUSINESS CENTERS.
OWEGO VILLAGE .- In his centennial history, entitled, "Tio; 2 County from 1784 to 1776," William F. Warner describes the sit- uation of Owego village as follows :
"It is situated at the confluence of Owego creek and the Sus- quehanna river. The corporate limits of the village are, on their south and west lines, about one and a half miles in extent; the north and east lines are of less extent. To the north of the vil- lage, and about half a mile from the river, there is a bold ' head- land' that rises to the height of four or five hundred feet, jutting into the valley, its slopes facing the south and west, upon the latter of which is situated Evergreen Cemetery. This headland
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forms the northern- and northeastern boundaries of the village. The river, flowing from the east, makes a beautiful curve at the eastern border of the village. By a road along the south face of the headland, as well as by the road to the cemetery, easy access is had to the top ; and standing upon this bold elevation, there is to be had a view extending for miles up and down the river, and over the valley extending northward, of remarkable beauty and diversity."
Early Settlers of the Village .- In 1791, there were but six fam- ilies residing on the site of the present village of Owego. Seven years later, by an assessment made by Guy Maxwell, of New Town (Elmira), dated October 1, 1798, it is shown that there were at that time, nineteen houses in the village, most of which were built of logs. Land was then worth only from three to eight dollars per acre.
Many of the early settlers were revolutionary soldiers. One of them was Emmanuel Deuel, who settled in the northern part of the village, in 1790. The same year Captain Lemuel Brown came from Berkshire county, Mass., and erected the first tannery in the village. Mason Webster settled here, in 1791. He came from Lenox, Mass. He died December 26, 1854. Dr. Samuel Tinkham, the first practicing physician, came in 1792, and Capt. Mason Wattles, the first merchant, the same year. Dr. Elisha Ely came, in 179S, and Stephen Mack, in 1799. Ephraim Wood also came in the latter year, from Rutland, Vt. He died February 8, 1855.
Elizur Talcott, and his sons, George L., and Elizur Talcott, Jr., removed, in 1802, from Glastonbury, Conn., to Elmira, where they were employed in building a dwelling house. The next year they came to Owego and settled in the northwestern part of the village. The former died November 28, 1831 ; the second, No- vember 30, 1873, aged ninety years, and the latter, January 28, 1867.
Prominent among the early settlers was Captain Luke Bates. He was the first white settler between Union and Campville. At an early day he purchased of James McMaster, various tracts of land in the town of Owego, and became owner of much of the land on which the village was subsequently built. In 1795 he built the first tavern in Owego village. It occupied a portion of the ground where the Ah-wa-ga House now stands, and was de- . stroyed by fire in 1829. Captain Bates was an old sea captain. He died in 1813, near the Little Nanticoke creek, where he con- ducted a distillery.
1
James Hill
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Owego as an Early Business Point .- Owego was the earliest set- tlement in this part of the state of New York, and, owing to its situation, became an important business point. The early settlers engaged in lumbering and shipping their product down the Sus- quehanna river in rafts, to a market. In 1808, the Owego and Ithaca turnpike was opened to travel. Then Owego became the outlet to a large section of the country. All the flour, grain, salt, plaster, etc., for the southern and eastern market, was brought down Cayuga lake by boat to Ithaca, and then to Owego by teams. The traffic was so great that from five hundred to eight hundred loaded wagons usually passed over the turnpike in a single day. From here it was sent in arks down the river. The cost of trans- porting a barrel of salt or flour from Ithaca to Baltimore, was one dollar and seventy-five cents. An ark cost seventy-five dol- lars, and would carry two hundred and fifty barrels. The trip from Owego to Baltimore occupied from eight to twelve days. At Baltimore the lumber in an ark would sell for about forty dollars.
The transportation business was so great that, in the summer of 1825, three steamboats were built, as an experiment. The Cadorus was built at Lock Haven, Pa., and was run up to Owego the next year. After an absence of four months, the captain returned and reported that the navigation of the river was entirely impracticable. The second boat, the Susquehanna, was built at Baltimore. She was destroyed by the explosion of her boiler at Nescopeck Falls, while ascending the river, May 5, 1826, and several of her passengers were killed. The third boat, the Pioneer, was run as an experiment on the West Branch of the Susquehanna river, and proved a failure. In 1835, another boat called the Susquehanna, was built in Owego, by Wilkesbarre and Owego capitalists. This boat made several trips up and down the river, but proved useless for the purpose intended.
The business of transporting merchandise from Ithaca to Owego attained such great proportions that, in 1828, a number of capitalists, residing in Ithaca and Owego, chief among whom was James Pumpelly, obtained a charter from the legislature to build a railroad between the two villages. This was the second railroad chartered in the state of New York, and it was opened to the public in April, 1834. It entered the village at the north and extended down through the village park, and up Front street. The cars were run by a switch under the stores on the
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river's bank, where their contents were readily unloaded into arks.
In the fall of 1849, the New York and Erie railroad was com- pleted to Owego, and all traffic by river, with the exception of lumber, potatoes, etc., ceased.
In the morning of September 27, 1849, a fire destroyed all ex- cept three of the stores on Front and Lake streets. One hun- dred and four buildings, exclusive of barns, were burned, entail- ing a loss of about $300,000. Nearly all the buildings were of wood. This great calamity checked, but did not permanently impair the prosperity of the village. The business men, without delay, caused the erection of the present substantial brick blocks in the place, and progress was thereafter continuous.
The centre of trade at the time of the early settlement of the village of Owego was that portion of Front street, nearest to Church street. Where the Ahwaga House now stands, Capt. Luke Bates built a tavern (in a portion of which was a store) as early as 1795. Eight years afterward, Charles Pumpelly bought the property.
The first merchant in Owego was Mason Wattles, who came here in 1792. Bates and Wattles bought land of James McMaster, and were owners of many of the lots which are now the most valuable in the village. The merchants doing business in Owego previous to IS10 were Mason Wattles, Thomas Duane, William and Nathan Camp, Gen. John Laning, Maj. Horatio Ross, John Hollenback, Charles Pumpelly, Gen. Oliver Huntington, and Gen. Anson Camp.
Owego to-day, has a population of about 6,000 people, and con- tains one agricultural works, three foundries and machine shops, one piano manufactory, one boot and shoe manufactory, one har- ness manufactory, one brewery, one marble works, two bottling works, one coffin manufactory, two carriage manufactories, three planing mills, two flouring mills, one saw mill, two soap manufac- tories, seventeen groceries, eleven dry and fancy goods, and variety stores, five millinery stores, four clothing stores, three hat stores, five boot and shoe stores, five drug stores, two furniture stores, three fruit stores, three book and news stores, three bakeries, four hardware stores, three livery stables, two laundries, four cigar man- ufactories, three coal yards, ten hotels, thirteen saloons, five liquor stores, thirteen physicians, five dentists, eighteen lawyers, six churches, four insurance offices, five barber shops, three banks, four newspapers, four job printing offices, three jewelry stores,
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four telegraph offices, one telephone office. three photograph galleries, three railroad depots, two express offices, four meat markets, one tea store, one milk depot, one sewing machine store, two musical instrument stores, three harness shops, one fishing- tacle store, one cooper's shop, one silver spoon manufactory, two public halls, and various tailor, blacksmith and other shops.
Village Improvements .- Soon after the coming of the first white people, the settlement was regularly surveyed and laid out as a village. . The survey was made by Amaziah Hutchinson, in 1788 and 1789, and completed by David Pixley, Jr., in 1789 and 1790. The village territory comprised all of lot No. 23 in the original survey of McMaster's Half Township, and was known as the "Town Plot." It was bounded on the south by the Susquehan- na river. The western boundary line ran from a point on the river bank near where Mr. Lovejoy's residence stands on Front street, north, diagonally across the village park, to near the corner of Church and Temple streets, continuing thence in a straight line past the corner of Fox street and Spencer avenue to a point about where the gate to Evergreen Cemetery now is. The north line ran from the latter point to Main street, a little west of the N. Y., L. E. & W. railroad. The east line extended from the latter point south past the corner of Ross and Front streets to the river.
The first highway through Owego was regularly laid out November 7, 1791, by Amos Draper, William Bates, and William Whitney, the first commissioners of highways of the town of Union. It commenced at the fording place in the Owego creek, near where Main street now crosses the creck and extended east on the present course of the street to the Kiuga (Cayuga) road, now McMaster street, and down to Front street, then known as the " Main river road." Thence the highway followed the pres- ent course of Front street east out of and beyond the present lim- its of the village. At the same time the Cayuga road was regu- larly laid out as a public highway, extending from " Robert McMaster's landing" at the foot of the street now known as Academy street, to near John Nealey's home on the Owego creek.
On Hutchinson's map there were two streets running cast and west which were identical with the present Main and Front streets, but much narrower than at present. There was a road where Lake street now is and it extended in a direct line from the river out of the village. A lane extended from the river north along the west line of the old Avery property north to where Temple street now runs. Another lane extended north from the river
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