USA > New York > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, and border wars of New York, containing a sketch of the early settlements in the county > Part 12
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THE long looked for, and anxiously expected declaration of peace at last resounded among the hills and dales of the . American Continent, and never was peace more acceptable to any country or people. The colonies had become prostrated by the extravagances, reverses, and collateral evils of a long and disastrous war, their finances had become crippled and exhausted, their credit abroad dwindled away and lost, with want and starvation staring the masses of the poorer classes in the face. That peace, too, was alike honorable as it was ac- ceptable to the American people. They had boldly asserted their rights, maintained them with fortitude and courage, and their exertions had been ultimately crowned with success- the God of battles had graciously smiled upon down-trodden America, "for she was free."
The din of battle is now hushed-hostilities have ceased- the remnants of scattered families again gather together, and 12*
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prepare anew to seek the homes from which they had been compelled to flee before the tomahawks of the ruthless savages, or the machinations of the more inhuman tories ; but to which they now returned with feelings of security. And it shall be our task, in this and the following chapters, to narrate, as far as we have been enabled to glean, the history of the early set- tlements within the limits of the county.
I have been permitted by the author, to make the following extract from Johnston's History of the Susquehanna Country, (a work soon to be published) in relation to the town of Sidney.
Rev. Mr. Johnston, with an Indian guide, first explored the Susquehanna Valley, with the view of making a permanent settlement, in May, 1772. They crossed from the Mohawk to Otsego Lake, where they procured an Indian batteau or canoe, in which they descended the Susquehanna river as far as Oquago, now Windsor. During this voyage, he landed at Sidney Plains, at which place he determined to locate. He then returned to Schenectady, sought out the owners,* and purchased a tract of 600 acres of land, situated at the flats, one mile east of the Unadilla Forks.
Early in the following year, Mr. Johnston moved with his family, consisting of his wife, three sons, and four daughters. This was the first white family that emigrated to the Susque- hanna Valley, although others speedily followed them. One can hardly conceive the inconvenience and hardship to which they must have been exposed in this remote situation, being 84 miles from a grist-mill, the nearest being on the Mohawk river, and Doctor White, of Cherry Valley, 56 miles distant, was the nearest physician. His neighbors and associates were the red men of the forest; and at Sidney Plains there was an ancient Indian fort, which, according to the tradition of the
* This territory was included in the grants made by the King to sundry proprietors, in 1770.
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aborigines, had been built more than five hundred summers ago; its location was on the plain west of the burying-ground, containing about three acres of land, enclosed by a mound of earth, and the whole surrounded by a ditch, provided with suit- able entrances. In the early settlements it was known by the appellation of Fort Ground. There were also Indian forts at Oxford and Green, on the Chenango river, whose existence is still preserved also by tradition.
The first death of which we find any account, in the town of Sidney, was that of a young Indian, in the year 1775, who became enamored with a beautiful young squaw of the Mo- hawk tribe, and who was on a visit to the Susquehanna. The Indian made his proposals of marriage, which met with a formal rejection, the fair object of his love having been pre- viously betrothed to another. Unable to brook so sad a dis- appointment, the young man proceeded to Johnston Cove, where he obtained a poison, the musquash, or wild parsnip- root, of which he took and ate in her presence, and survived but one short hour. He was also the first person entombed in Sidney burying-ground. 5
The year of 1787 will long be remembered as the year of the great famine among the early settlers of the Susquehanna, and it was only through the instrumentality of General David Bates, who succeeded in procuring two boat loads of flour from Northumberland, Pennsylvania, that they were saved from actual starvation.
The first grist-mill on the East Branch of the Delaware was erected by Abram Fuller, in the year 1778, near the Unadilla Forks; he was his own mechanic-millwright, carpenter, and blacksmith. Judge Courtney, of Sidney, is a grandson of old Mr. Fuller.
The first raft of lumber that ever descended the Susque- hanna, was run by Captain David McMasten and others, to Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania, in the year 1795.
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The location of the town of Sidney is in the north-west corner of the county, and its boundaries are thus enumerated : on the north by the Susquehanna, which separates it from Otsego ; on the east by Franklin ; on the south by Masonville, and on the west by the town of Bainbridge, Chenango county. It was first organized in 1801, and derived its name from Sir Sidney Smith, a British admiral, who had gained much noto- riety for his victories at that period. The author of this name was a school teacher, John Mandeville, who was an English- man by birth, and who at the time resided at Sidney Plains. Masonville was formerly comprised in Sidney, and was not set off into a separate township until 1811.
Sidney comprises an excellent township of well watered and fertile land; on the north it has the winding and beautiful Susquehanna, which, in the Indian dialect signifies " Crooked River ;" on the east, with its fine mill seats and water privi- leges, is the Ouleout, which name is also of Indian origin, and said to signify "rapid waters ;" on the south-east runs Carr's creek, so called in memory of Johnny Carr, a tory, who built a saw-mill upon it at an early period. It has one flourishing village, with a number of fine dwellings, two stores, a hotel, and two churches. The population, according to the census of 1850, was 1,807. .
The original land-owners were Alexander Wallace Golds- bury, Banyard, John Mason Livingston, and Lawston. The town has sent six representatives to the State legislature, viz : Sluman Wattles, (1799,) Wm. Dewey, Samuel Rexford, James Hugston, J. M. Betts, Reuben Lewis, and Charles S. Rogers.
The following valuable historical information was first pub- lished in a series of articles in the " Weekly Visitor :"-
It may be proper to premise for the information of many of the present generation, that this region was included within the territory of the Five Nations-sometimes called Six Na-
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tions-inhabiting the greater part of New York, and a portion of Pennsylvania and Ohio. . Their names were Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras, the sixth, and a small tribe that emigrated from the south, and was admitted into the confederacy, the Onondagas giving them land, and they enjoyed equal privileges with the other tribes. These tribes were also in alliance with others of Canada, Ohio, and elsewhere. There was a small number of Indians, from different places, settled on or about the Susque- hanna or Delaware rivers, on lands allotted them by the Six Nations, and living under their immediate direction. The names of some of these were Nanticokes, Conoys, Tutecoes, Saponeys, Delawares, &c., &c.
FIRST WHITE PROPRIETORS OF THE SOIL.
Patents were granted in 1770 for the tract of country, beginning one mile west of the river Susquehanna, and thence to the west (' Mohock') branch of the Delaware, which includes the present town of Franklin, to the following named indivi- duals, viz : Henry White, John De Berniere, Robert and John Leake (or Lake,) Jas. Clark, Chas. Babington, and August Provost.
Several of those grants were of from twenty to forty thousand acres each, and were afterwards surveyed, sub-di- vided and sold to different proprietors, or divided among the different heirs of the original proprietors, so that when sold to actual settlers, very little of the land was conveyed in the name of the grantees. The line between Franklin and Daven- port is the north line of the Henry White tract, and it is upon the same that the village of Delhi is situated. The Leake (or Lake) tract occupies the central part of the town, the junction of the two branches of the Ouleout being nearly equally dis-
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tant from the north and south lines of the patent, and which are very nearly, if not quite, the north and south lines of the western part of Hamden. Franklin village is situated upon the Clark tract; the Provost, or better known as the Livings- ton tract, occupying the south and not far from a fourth part of the area of the town. `So much for the original land-marks of ownership of the soil of the town. At some future time some further observations may be made as to the manner in which most of the grants were made, and by whom.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
It is about seventy years since the present town of Franklin was an unbroken wilderness, the undisturbed abode of wild beasts, except as the place of annual resort of the Aborigines in their various fishing, hunting and predatory excursions. At that period, (1785,) and as. late as 1790, their wigwams, or cabins, were standing at several places along the Ouleout (Indian name Oleout) above and below where the west village of Franklin is situated; but the. Anglo-Saxon was upon their track, and it is believed, in the summer of 1785, the first white settler, Mr. Sluman Wattles, (afterwards Justice of the Peace and a Judge of the County Court,) erected a log-cabin upon the farm now owned by Mr. William Taylor, and near where the present dwelling stands.
Perhaps this chapter cannot be concluded more acceptably to the general reader, than by attempting a brief account of the pioneer settler, his family, and the circumstances attending their removal to their 'new' and romantic home, in the-as it was then called-western wilderness.
And here the writer begs leave to digress so far as to state, that, in this, as in most instances of the history of the early settlers, many, very many things are involved in doubt, and
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often in such uncertainty as to render it extremely difficult to be sure that no injustice is done to individuals, or what is of equal if not greater importance, to history, and that in this as in other instances, mistakes may and probably will occur; and while it is hoped every one will overlook any such errors, it is suggested that were individuals aware of the difficulties in the way, they would in their criticisms exercise that charity which is meet in' cases where the error is only one of the head and not of the heart.
Mr. Wattles, or Judge, as he was commonly called, was born in 1752, but the place of his birth is unknown. He was of Scotch descent, and died in Sidney, Del. Co., N. Y., in 1837, aged 85 years. He resided in Lebanon, Conn., and that town, or region, was probably his native place-married there and had several children, when with his family, he removed to New Canaan, in N. Y .; from there to a place upon the West Branch of the Delaware, supposed to be at, or near what is now called Bloomville, in Kortright. This was near the close of the Revolutionary war, and the place upon the Delaware where he stopped with his family, had been occupied by seve- ral Scotch families, who had made some little improvements, and there were two or three log-houses standing, into one of which Mr. W. moved his family-all being vacant, the former occupants living there during the Revolution, left or were driven away by the Indians and tories. During the two years the family remained there, the youngest daughter, Betsey, and afterwards the wife of Col. William Dewey, of Sidney, was born, (1785,) and it was the impression of Judge W., in his latter years, that she was the first white child born in the now county of Delaware, but in this he was evidently mistaken.
It appears that Mr. Wattles had contracted with one or more proprietors of the lands between the Susquehanna and Delaware to survey the same into small tracts, suitable to be , sold for farms to those who might desire to settle upon the
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same; but whether this was before or after he came to the Delaware is unknown; probably after, and it is supposed that while engaged in this undertaking, he, from some cause, made a selection of the land upon the Ouleout, and upon which he removed his family. Previous to moving his family, he had made some improvements, as putting up a log-house, (near Mr. Taylor's,) the covering, or roof, as well as the under and upper floor of which were composed of elm bark. This is believed to have been in 1785.
THE WATTLES FAMILY, ETC.
The narrative of the Wattles family, and other incidents in the present number, are substantially as received from Col. Dewey and Mr. Sluman Wattles, of Sidney, one of the surviv- ing sons of Judge W.
Col. John and Alexander Harper, after the war, bought of the Indians their right and title to a large tract of land-they sold their contract, or part of it, to a company. This com- pany, consisting it is believed of four partners, Livingston and one or two Harpers, the others not recollected. They peti- tioned the State for a grant of a patent of land, and obtained it. The patent was granted to Peter Van Brugh, Livingston, and others-known as the L. patent, or better for a long time as the ' Wattle's patent'-the Judge having bought out one of the four proprietors. Judge W. superintended the survey, which was intended to be made into lots of 243 acres each. They then made a division of the lots to each-and it is thought drawn by lottery. The survey and division were then filed in the office of the Secretary of State, and each proprietor had separate deeds made out for each of their lots, called "Patent Deeds," or from the State. According to the contract, the sum of money due to the State, was to be paid at a specified
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time, or forfeit their grant. They depended upon one of the Harpers to pay this at the time, but it not being paid, Judge W. went to him and told him " he (H.) had ruined him, as he had been at great expense in the survey and otherwise, and he should lose the land." What to do he did not know. Fortu- nately the Legislature was then sitting in New York city, and thinking it might consider his situation, he went to Gov. Clin- ton and related the circumstances. The Governor asked him if he had the money due the State, and learning he had, said " he would assist him all he could." They went before the Legislature, or a committee : the Governor stated the situation and business of Judge W., and an act was passed, reinstating them in the contract. This is confirmed by the " patent deeds," bearing date prior to the time of the visit of Judge W. to New York.
This is probably the manner in which Judge W. became owner of the farm where he first located, instead of receiving it, as some have believed, as a certain share in consideration for his making the survey. It is also believed to explain the cause and means of his coming to the Ouleout.
It appears that after receiving their title from the State, the Indians were also to receive something more, and after his return from New York they came to get their pay. It is said that they met for the purpose of ratification of the treaty, under a large Elm tree, near Mr. Wm. Taylor's. Judge W. had made arrangements for them-that is, had furnished provisions and rum-at his house. They had a " good time," and what is worthy of note-as showing that even savages in those days, were so well acquainted with the nature and effects of intoxicating liquor, that as they began to feel merry from the effects of the rum, they gave up their knives, &c., to Judge W. to keep, so they should do no harm !! They re- ceived their money, or pay, and left-believed to be the " Dela- ware" tribe.
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At the time of removal from the Delaware to the Ouleout, there was only an Indian path, or marked trees to direct their course. They went down the river, thence it is thought, up Planter or Walton Brook, across Hamden-hill and down West Handsome Brook to where Deacon Bowers resides, and from there across the hill, striking the West Walton road a little distance from the present tannery. In after years the Judge and one of the surviving sons, Sluman, who was then eight or nine years of age, have often pointed out the route, in relat- ing the circumstances. They came on horseback-at least Mrs. W .- and moved goods in those days, by packs upon horses.
It may interest all, and particularly the ladies, to hear how arrangements were made for Mrs. W. and the children-five at that time. First, a bed and such other things as could be put on, were placed upon a horse, and then Mrs. W. got upon the horse and took one child before her and one or two behind her. In this way they started on through the forest. They encamped one night in the woods, arriving upon the Ouleout next day. A brother of Judge W., " Uncle John," came with them, and brought Mrs. Col. Dewey, then an infant, a consi- derable part of the way in his arms.
Judge W. had two brothers, John and Roger, and two sisters, Sarah and -. John settled upon the farm lately owned by Mr. Abm. Squires, at the junction of the north and south Ouleout roads. Removed to Steuben county, where he died some twenty years since-had one daughter, who married a man by the name of Goodrich, and lives in Chemung county. Roger, youngest brother, first settled upon East Handsome Brook-went to Genesee, Livingston county, and died there in 1848-had two sons and four daughters-" a very worthy family." Sarah, married Daniel Bissell, of Unadilla, and died there -- was the mother of a large family. The other sister,
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Caroline, (?) married Judah Bartlett, and had two children, Sluman (Deacon Bartlett) and Caroline.
The following are the names of the children of Judge W., viz : Caroline, Sluman, John, Simon, Sally, Betsey, Chandler and Nathaniel, (elder,)-of all these, Sluman and Nathaniel alone survive-both reside in Sidney.
Sluman settled in Franklin, and it is believed once resided where Mr. Abner Loveland now lives. A large willow tree standing in the street near the house, and from which the limbs have been cut within a few years past, grew from a cane which he walked home with from Philadelphia, after going " down the river" upon a raft in the spring, and stuck into the ground after his return ! When a small boy, he used to be sent on horseback to Harpersfield, if not to Schoharie, "to mill" with grain and for provisions. Wolves were numerous, and used to render night hideous and often frightful, by their howling, especially to the lone residents of the forest, and those so unfortunate as to be obliged to encamp, or remain in the woods at night, as was no uncommon occurrence when upon long journeys ; it being impossible to advance or recede without danger of losing the way, owing to the slight trail or paths.
Like his father, his life has been marked by vicissitudes of fortune, and notwithstanding he has attained to nearly four- score years, and his head has already blossomed, yea, that he is fast ripening for the grave, neither these nor the condition of infirm health from the ravages of a wasting and painful disease, can conceal the fact that in his organization he has been a noble specimen of a man-one who with only ordinary advantages of education would be a leader in society, and leave his impress upon the age in which he lived.
The first wife of Judge Wattles was a native of Lebanon, Connecticut; her maiden name was McCall. She was the cousin of Ephraim McCall, the father of the present deacons,
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Ira and Elihu. Little is known of her, further than that she faithfully shared the toils and privations of her husband, and such burdens as would necessarily fall upon the mother of a large family under such circumstances, and who succeeded in giving such a direction to the minds of her children as to render them an honour to their parents, an ornament to society, and a blessing to the world. The fruits of her labors alone are conclusive evidence that she must have been at least, in character and life, a devoted and christian mother, whose works still " rise up to call her blessed."
A few incidents in her life have been preserved. After the removal of the family to their home upon the Ouleout, it was about six months before she again saw the face of a white woman. At that time a family was moving past, and she went out to see them, "so as to again see a white woman." She used often to relate the circumstance in after years.
Previous mention has been made of the visit and business of Judge W. to New York. Whether this was the first year after he came, is uncertain ; but it was very soon, as he found it very difficult for him to leave, as he had no one to do any thing in his absence but his son Sluman, then quite a small- boy. He however made the best provision for his family that he could, and left for Now York, expecting to be gone but a short time : this was in December. While there he took the small-pox, and did not recover from it and complete his busi- ness, so as to return to his family, until about the first of May following.
About the year 1800, Judge W. sold his farm to Aaron Dewey, Esq., of Westfield, Mass., with the view of " going west," and removed his family some two miles above Unadilla, until prepared to go. While there, Mrs. W. took the small- pox, as did all of her family except her husband. She and her son, Chandler, died with it in 1802. Her age was 52. To prevent contagion, she was buried at night in a lone place
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near where she died, and without any monument to mark the place of her rest-which to this day remains unknown. Sub- sequently Judge W. married again, and (what is quite unu- sual for a man of his age who had become reduced in his property,) he acquired a handsome competency before his death. His remains were deposited in the grave-yard near where he died, and a respectable marble tombstone has been erected to his memory.
For a length of time before the organization of the town of Franklin, Judge. W. was one, if not the only acting justice of the peace, in this portion of the then town of Harpersfield ; and at the first town meeting ordered by the legislature " to be held at the house of Sluman Wattles," in April, 1793, for the organization of the town of Franklin, he was elected Super- visor, and was often chosen to that and other offices of trust in after years.
After the organization of the county of Delaware in 1797, he also held the office of county judge.
During the active period of a long life, though much engaged in public and private business, his integrity was sel- - dom called in question; and his public duties requiring so much of his time and attention, that he could hardly be expected to amass property except by unfair means, and his failing to do so, and having been at times in reduced circum- stances, a fair inference is, that in his day there may have been such a thing as an individual being too honest to be rich !
For a long period he was the local agent of different pro- prietors of wild lands in this region, and no doubt his sympa- thy for, and the lenity of his disposition towards actual set- tlers upon the same, who were commonly poor, may have been, and was one, if not the chief cause of the serious pecu- niary embarrassments and losses which he afterwards suffered.
As the pioneer settler, and one who for so long a time occupied a conspicuous position in the public business and 13*
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political affairs of this town and region, the life and character of Sluman Wattles are deserving the careful attention of every resident of the town-his own and the early history of our town being most deeply and intimately interwoven.
He was in many respects a remarkable man-kind-hearted and benevolent-a popular man-an ingenious man-emphati- cally a man for the times-a genuine specimen of a back- woodsman, or one who in case of necessity could turn his head and hands to almost anything-from the business of a cobbler (which an old resident has informed the writer " he took up himself, being a very ingenious man,") or when in his seat upon the judge's bench-in all stations, at all times and in all places, he was "at home"-in action believing that -
" Honor and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your part, there all the honour lies."
For the following information the author is indebted to Joshua Pine, and others, of Walton :
In the year 1784, Platt Townsend, a surgeon in the army of the Revolution, contracted with Mr. Walton, the owner of a large tract of land, granted by letters-patent in 1770. The country had been recently explored and the boundaries fixed, extending from the Cooquago, or West Branch of the Delaware river, to near the Susquehanna, and containing several thou- sand acres. Those persons who had been sent out with the surveyors to spy out and examine the land, had returned with a most favorable report. They stated that the flats or bottom lands, where now stands the village of Walton, were, they should judge, about four miles wide and comparatively free from timber of heavy growth, and indeed nothing, excepting now and then perhaps a thorn-bush; also, that they thought it would be dangerous to build within at least two miles of the river, on account of the annual inundations of its banks, simi- lar, indeed, to the far-famed inundations of the Nile,
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