USA > New York > Otsego County > History of Otsego County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 75
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 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
Dr. Samuel Prentiss, father of Colonel John H., was born in Stonington, Conn., in 1759. He married Lueretia Hohnes, daughter of Captain John H., a large and wealthy farmer. He died in Northfield, Mass., in 1818. Lincolu's " Ilistory of Worcester" says, " Dr. Samuel Prentiss, a man of talents and eminent in his profession, came from Stonington, Conn., to Worcester in 1783. He was seere- tary of a medical society in Worcester in 1785. He re- moved to Keene, N. H., in about 1786, aud from thence to Saratoga, N. Y. Dr. P. received a good academical edu- cation, and studied medicine with Dr. Philip Turner, of Nor- wich, Conn., one of the best American surgeons of the age in which he lived. Dr. Prentiss entered the army quite young as military waiter to his father, Colonel Samuel P., and soon after returned to civil life. After studying medi- cine and surgery he engaged in the army as assistant sur- geon, where he acquired a great deal of practical knowledge of his profession. At the close of the war he married, and woon removed to Worcester, Mass., where he resided sev- eral years. About the time of Shay's rebellion he removed
to Northfield, Mass., and was zealous and active on the side of the goverment. His practice of surgery was very cx- tensive, and for many years he was the principal operator in that country, his rides extending to the west, of Massa- chusetts, and far iuto the States of Vermont and New Hampshire."
Colonel John Holmes Prentiss, the subject of this sketch, was the third son of Dr. Samuel and Lucretia Prentiss, born in Worcester, Mass, in 1785.
After serving a regular apprenticeship as a printer, he removed to Cooperstown, N. Y., Oct. 8, 1808, and there established a weekly political newspaper, the Freeman's Journal, favoring the Democratic party, and which he con- tinued successfully over forty years, until he sold out his interest, Jan. 20, 1849, having during all this time, ex- cept while in congress, given his personal attention in the printing-office to the mechanical department, and also being sole editor of the paper and attending to the financial de- partment. The paper had a large circulation, and its po- litical character exercised an influence in the county of Otsego which made it one of the strongest Democratie counties in the State of New York. Governor Clinton conferred on him a commission as colonel in the militia, and appointed him division inspector ; this he resigned uuder Governor Yates.
At the age of sixty-six he retired from the newspaper business, after a continuous service of more than forty years in that laborious profession. Many young men of emi- uence in the profession served their time in his offiec, one of whom was Colouel Win. L. Stone, deceased, editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, and of high repute also as an author.
Colonel Prentiss married first, on January 18, 1815. Catherine Cox Morris, youngest daughter of General Jacob Morris, of Butternuts, Otsego Co., N. Y. General Mor- ris' father was one of the signers of the Declaration of Iu- dependeuce. Mrs. Prentiss died June 28, 1818. Ten years after, Colonel Prentiss married Urilla Shankland, daughter of Thomas Shankland, Esq., of Cooperstown, June 3, 1828. Colonel Prentiss' family consisted of six children, viz. : two daughters by his first wife, Mary Mar- tha and Catherine Lucretia, and by his second wife two sons and two daughters, Alexander S., John H., Rachel A., and Charlotte D., the following of whom survive: Catherine L., now Mrs. John C. Dodge, of Boston, Mass. ; John HI., residing in Chicago, Ill. ; and Charlotte D., now Mrs. Brown- ing, and residing in Cooperstown.
Colonel Prentiss was a man of untiring industry in his business, and as an editor he always maintained a promi- nent position. He represented this district in congress during the four years of Mr. Van Buren's administration, having been re-elected on the expiration of his first term. Ile was a useful member, of sound, practical views, who served his constituency in an acceptable manner.
For more than half a century Colonel Prentiss was a resident of Otsego, and during that time he had much to do in shaping its more important affairs. In all public matters affecting the welfare or interest of the county he was much consulted, and was generally an active partici- pant. Decided and clear in his views, energetic and reso-
286
HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
lute in his action, with a great deal of natural strength of character and firmness of purpose, he was well suited to publie life, and admirably calculated to stem the opposition which a man of prominence is almost certain to meet. His interest in public affairs was maintained during his life.
In personal appearance Colonel Prentiss was distin- guished and fine looking,-perhaps no man of his age in the State more so. His last appearance in public life, from which he had kept aloof for several years, was as a delegate to the Democrate State convention, which was held in Albany on Feb. 1, 1861. In that body of distin- guished and able men, of which he was one of the vice- presidents, he attracted much attention, and the question was frequently asked by delegates and others in attendance, referring to Colonel Prentiss, " Who is that large, fine-look- ing old gentleman, with white, flowing hair?" He was vice-president and afterwards president of the Bank of Cooperstown, and discharged his duties to the satisfaction of all. His was a long and active career ; and although he lived past the Scriptural age of threescore and ten he re- tained to the last much of his youthful vigor and ambition. He died June 26, 1861.
PETER BARTON.
The father of the subject of our sketch, Peter Barton, Sr., was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., in the year 1806, and removed to the town of Laurens, Otsego County, in 1831, where he resided until his death, which occurred
Photo, by W. G. Smith, Cooperstown, N. Y.
Pelin Barton
April 1, 1868, in the sixty-second year of his age. His wife, Harriet R. Wilson, was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., and was united in wedlock to the Peter Barton above mentioned in 1828.
Peter Barton, son of the above, was born in the town of Laurens, Otsego County, N. Y., March 27, 1832. On Sept. 4, 1856, married Harriet F. Dunbar, daughter of Daniel Dunbar, of Laurens, who was one of the first at. tlers of that town. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barton have been born three children, -Harry D., born Aug. 3, 1857 : Kitti- J., born July 24, 1861 ; and James P., born May 5, 1865.
In political faith Mr. Barton is an unswerving Democrat. He was elected sheriff of Otsego County in November, 1875. Mr. Barton is yet in the prime of life, and we may reasonably expeet from his future years an honorable record of usefuhiess. He is not only a native, but has always been a resident, of Laurens.
CHAPTER LXIV.
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
Organization - Geographical -Topographical - Early Settlers and their Location-Initial Events-The First Town-Meeting-Officers Elected-Supervisors and Town Clerks, from 1812 to 1878-Agri- cultural and General Statistics-Area-Equalized and Assessed Valuation-Population-Churches.
PITTSFIELD was formed from the town of Burlington, March 24, 1797, being the tenth town erected after the organization of the county. It retained its original dimen- sions until 1806, when the present town of New Lishon was set off. It is centrally located on the western border of the county ; and is bounded on the north by Edmeston, on the east by New Lisbon, on the south by Morris, and on the west by the Unadilla river, which separates it from Chenango county. Its surface consists chiefly of a hilly upland, watered by the Wharton ercek, which flows across the northwestern corner, and several small tributaries of Butternuts ereek flow through the southern part. The soil is a gravelly loam, well adapted to grazing and the raising of grain.
Pittsfield lies between the valleys of the Unadilla on the west, and the Butternuts Creek valley on the east, at an elevation of from 200 to 400 feet, with the exception of the Wharton Creek valley that runs through the north- western corner. This peculiar location of the town affords more easy means of transit in the valleys around the town than across its boundary, and, as a consequence, the villages that have grown up around and near the borders of the town are indebted to Pittsfield, more or less. for the support of their schools, churches, and all that pertain- to the growth of a village ; the only approach to one being a hamlet of eight or ten houses, containing a tavern, grocery. and post-office, on the Wharton creek, some three miles from New Berlin, and called Pecktown, in honor of Alvin Peck, who kept the hotel some years ago. Thus the people of the northwestern part of the town receive all the accom- modations which a village affords at North New Berlin. and those of the southwestern part of the town at South New Berlin, each village in the town of New Berlin, Che- mango county ; and of the southern part of the town at the village and town of Morris: of the eastern part of the town at Garrattsville, Noblesville, and Stetsonville, in the town of New Lisbon; and of the northeastern part of the
287
HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
w an, at the village of Edmeston, in the town of Ed- Zaston.
We deem this explanation due to the people of Pittsfield, wo explain the absence of villages, churches, and schools, which must scem strange to those not familiar with the wpography of the town.
The town has a union church, built in 1849 by the antiring industry and perseveranee of Elder Ketchum.
Pittsfield was not as early settled as many other portions of the county, neither was the immigration rapid, but those who came were well adapted to frontier life, and with ready hands and willing hearts clearings were made, cabins erected, and the town became eventually peopled by an industrious and intelligent population. The first settle- ments were made in about the year 1793 by Hubbard Good- rich. Matthew Bennett, Jacob Lull, and Aaron Nobles, who located in the valley of the Unadilla.
Bennett was the pioneer tavern-keeper, and is said to have been the first merchant in the town, although it is claimed by some that Henry Randall kept the first store, in 1810.
.
Jabez Beardsley was a prominent settler in the western part of this town, on the river. He purchased a large tract of land from Matthew Bennett and David Coburn. Mr. Beardsley was an active pioneer, and did much to advance the interests of the town. He owned a grist- and saw-mill on the Unadilla river, abont one mile north of the present village of New Berlin, which was without doubt the first in the town.
Mr. Beardsley was supervisor of Pittsfield for a period of eleven years.
An early settler was Gardner ITall, who came from Pow- nal, Vt., and purchased the farm now owned by C. G. Hall, Esq.
The first physician who came to minister to the wants of the little settlement was Dr. Joseph O. Cone. who, together with Samuel Tyler and Captain Aaron Noble, emigrated from Pittsfield, Mass., in 1793, and to them is aseribed the honor of naming the town.
Dr. Cone located on the farm now owned by O. L. Hall, and Messrs. Noble & Tyler were the pioneers at Pittsfield C'entre, locally known as " Pecktown."
The first log house in the town was built by an itinerant preacher named Canfield, and was situated on the bank of Wharton ereck, on the flats now owned by Jesse Beardslee.
O. L. Hall is an honored pioneer of this town who came from Pittsfield, Mass., in 1802. He has lived to see a dense uninviting wilderness transformed to some of the finest farming lands within the boundaries of old Otsego.
Among those who followed the paths through the inter- minable wilderness and sought a home in this vicinity was Joseph Briggs, who came from the " Green Mountain State," and was among the first of the early settlers.
In that carly day hardships aud privations were the com- mon lot of the few courageous settlers who occupied this territory. When we state that the nearest grist-mill was eleven miles distant, and was ouly reached after a weary travel through the forest by way of marked trees, some idea is had of Pittsfield eighty years ago. Many dreaded the long and weary "going to mill," and instead used the spring-
pole, pestle, and mortar,-a connnon method in the early days of making meal and samp.
At the date of Mr. Briggs' settlement the forests abounded in wild beasts, and it was not an uncommon oe- currence upon the return from a neighbor's in the evening to be followed by a bear. These animals were very trouble- some, and made sad havoe among the pigs and other domnes- tie animals.
Mr. Briggs was a captain in the war of the Revolution. Silas Briggs, a son, was nine years of age when he came here with his father, and remained on . the old homestead until his death, which occurred at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. ITis son, Frank H. Briggs, now occu- pies the old homestead, which has remained in the posses- sion of the family nearly a century.
Among others who have been prominently identified with this town from an early date are Augustus Sheldon, Gard- ner Sheldon, H. Randall, Benjamin Eddy, Ezekiel Chapin, Asa Chase, Ebenezer Abby, Nathan Palmer, Nathan Cary, and Ira Meeker.
Stephen Hawkins settled in Pittsfield in about 1824, on the premises now occupied by his son, Reuben H. Haw- kins, the present proprietor of the Pittsfield grist- and saw- mills.
The Arkwright cotton-factory was established iu 1832 by Jabez Beardsley, General Jacob Morris, Judge Franchot, David M. Hardy, Joseph Peck, A. G. Washburn, Captain Dan Smith, D. L. Adams, and C. Perkins. In 1844 a second factory was erected by the same parties. These were the finest establishments of the kind in the State at that time. Both were destroyed by fire in 1847. Loss 880,000, no insurance. One of these factories has been rebuilt, but at the present time is not in operation. It is owned by the heirs of Mr. Hardiu.
The earliest settlers in the east part of the town were Seth Harrington and Benjamin Eddy, who located soon after 1793; but the exact date of their settlement is not known.
The first school was taught at Pittsfield by Benjamin Pendleton.
Among the pioneers was Capt. Abel De Forest. In a letter from the captain's nephew, Lee De Forest, of Evans- ton, Ill., he says, " My father came from Connecticut and settled iu what is now the southwest corner of Edmeston, in 1795. The floor and roof of the house were made by splitting out slabs. The floor was raised up two and a half feet or so, and the fire on the ground, with a stick chimney, so that the floor was used as a table. Some years previous, his uncle, Captain Abel De Forest, who was present at the execution of Major Andre, settled on a lot adjoining, that is now in the town of Pittsfield. In JJuly. 1875, Mr. William De Forest, of Binghamton, son of Captain Abel De Forest, celebrated his eighty-first birthday where he was born. The place is now, and has long been known as Meker Hill, which, together with the Gideon De Forest farm just above, has for years been without a single resident, being owned and occupied by those living ou the creek and river."
The following letter, published in the New Berlin Gazette in 1875, by request of C. G. Hall, may not be
288
HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
uninteresting : " Mr. William De Forest, of Binghamton, celebrated his eighty-first birthday by visiting the place where he was born, on Meker Hill, in Pittsfield, on Mon- day last, July 31. The land is now owned and occupied by William G. Hall, who chanced to be upon the premises, and pointed out to Mr. De Forest the exact place where his father's house stood. He also stated to Mr. Ifall that he celebrated his birthday at this place forty-one years ago, and took a chestnut chinking that his father had put between the logs of the house home with him, and had a cane turned of it and handsomely ornamented, and which he keeps in his bureau drawer. He also informed Mr. Hall that when a young man he carried his sweetheart, Olive Hall, to a ball on horseback, and, as was the custom in those days, she rode behind him on the same horse. He made an agreement to visit her the next Sunday evening, but before the time arrived he was drafted, and on his way to Sacket's Harbor. He said that when he was a boy his father sent him to mill on horseback, and in returning, it being dark, he got lost in the woods, and, hitching his horse to a tree, slept all night on the ground. He also said that he and his brother Gideon, who lived half a mile above, went to help Mr. Meker butcher, and on his return home after dark, having a piece of meat in his hand, the wolves scented the meat, and ehased him home. When asked if he should have thrown away the meat if the wolves had taken hold of him, he said, 'No, not as long as I had a butcher-knife in my hand.'" He was born in 1794, and his father, Captain Abel De Forest, if not the first, was among the first, settlers. Other early settlers were the Holdens, the Cones, the Nobles, the Tylers, the Heringtons, the Halls, the Beards- lees, and the Briggs families.
The first mills in town were built by Mr. Atwell, and stood on the south bank of the Wharton creek, a few rods below the Arkwright factory damn, and in the place where now stands the frame of a saw-mill ; were built about the year 1793 or 1794, and consisted of a saw-mill, grist-mill, and oil-mill. Benjamin Hall and Luke Metcalf became the owners after a few years, and continued so until 1816, when the mills were destroyed by fire.
Asa Carpenter lost his life at these mills by going in after dark to get a grist, and falling through on the rocks under the mills. Gardner Carpenter performed a feat at the bridge below the mills, which had but one bent line sixty feet in length and twenty feet above the water. Having spent the evening at New Berlin in song and story, he started for home on his faithful horse, with a friend seated behind him. As the night was dark, and time not precions, the horse was permitted to go his way without the usual guidance from the bridle-rein. When they arrived at home he was met with astonishment, and asked how he crossed the creek, which was at high flood. " Why, on the bridge, of course," he replied. He was told that the flood had carried the bridge away, and that could not . be. The songs and stories of the evening were immedi- ately forgotten, and with lights, and a number of neighbors aroused from their slumbers to visit the place and see how it was, they arrived at the bridge, which the two were positive they had crossed, and the neighbors were as posi-
tive they had not, for the bridge had been carried off before evening. As not unfrequently happens, both parties were right, and both wrong. The bridge had gone off, with the exception of the middle stringer, on which the ever-faithful and trusty horse had carried the two friends over, as the prints of the horseshoe on the stringer clearly proved.
In the early part of the present century, the same person. Gardner Carpenter, was the keeper of a hotel in the house now owned and oceupied by John Northrup, long known as the Randolph Hotel. Election was held at his house. and it seems that some persons from Cooperstown, the county-seat, had taken so lively an interest in the result, and not being provided with the usual facilities of the present day to exert their influence, had come on in person in the early morning to insure the success of their ticket. With an industry and perseverance that beavers need not have been ashamed of, they had worked from early morn until near the close of the day, when they confidently counted upon a success that they and their friends at home would feel proud of; but, alas ! as the happy mariner with fair skies and favorable winds sometimes meets with stornis on the eve of his arrival that destroy all his happy antici- pations, so did the worthy gentlemen from Cooperstown. Before the sun's last rays were confined to the hill-tops. two crotchets were driven down, a pole stretched across under a kettle-bail, and under the kettle a fire started. It was soon evident from the strong odor that passed through the open window of the upper hall, in which the votes were taken, that the contents of that kettle was tar. Another glance would have discovered a rope dangling over the sign-post, and a little closer inspection would have discovered a goose's tail-feathers stretching out from under a box that sat near by, but what evidently was not large enough to cover up all the bird. We have only to add that the above preparations had not been completed long before some tall stepping was done from the back door of the hotel,-not exactly in a direct line to Cooperstown, but nevertheless which ultimately resulted in the arrival of the absent politicians without the canvass of the vote of Pittsfield at the election.
At that early period, when but little land was cleared. melons were raised without much difficulty, and Dr. Cone was the owner of a fine patch. Although the doctor was generous, and would give with pleasure to all who would take the trouble to ask, still there were those who pre- ferred not even to take that trouble. And the doctor took the liberty to carefully insert some tartar emetic in a few very prominently-exposed melons of his patch. Result : The doctor was called up in the night to go to the bedside of a number of young men that had all at once found a great disturbance occurring in the neighborhood of their stomach and bowels. After a most searching and careful examination the doctor concluded that the patients h.t.l been eating too much fruit, and gave them to understand that although he could cure them quite readily this tino .. he might not have so much success the next, and it wonki be far better and more safe not to eat fruit to execss.
Another neighbor, who had a fine patch of melons, and also a number of large boys, boasted that whoever should dare to meddle with his melons would be brought up to the
RESIDENCE , MILL AND LUMBER YARD,
11
£
ORINEL HALL
RESIDENCE OF ORINEL HALL, PITTSFIELD. OTSEGO Co., N.Y.
289
HISTORY OF OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Louse and taken care of until morning. It was not long after that a good night arrived for melon-thieves. Of « urve a strict watch was kept on the choice patch. Finally a number of cow-bells were heard to jingle in the neigh- turhood of the cornfield, among them their own bell. An active search was made by the farmer and sous, but before they quite arrived where the bells jingled, the bells would stop and jingle in another part of the field. At last, after a fruitless search, they returned to resume watch of the melons, only to find the melons gone and the vines stacked. Another farmer arranged a gun to shoot the bear that vis- ited his cornfield, and, to his surprise, found his cow dead where he expected to find the bear.
The first hotel in town was kept in the house now owned by Charles Meelburg, by Holden, and stands some fifteen rods east of Peck's Hotel, and is occupied by Elijah Hawkins.
The following old record is interesting as a reminiscence of the past :
PITTSFIELD, 3d May, 1799. SIR,-The following is a truo list of votes taken in Pittsfield at the Jale election for senator, as appears by our canvass:
Vincent Mathews, one hundred and one. Moss Kent, one hundred and one. Joseph Whitford, four. Edward Pratt, four., Isaac Nash, one.
ISAAC NASH, JOSEPH WHITFORD, DAVID HOLBERT, Inspectors of Election.
Rec'd by Joseph Whitford, Sth May.
On April 4, 1798, Stephen Herington, tavern-keeper, gave bonds in the sum of £50, before Isaac Nash, justice of the peace, not to suffer any playing at cards or dice, keep any billiard-table, or any shuffling-board, or suffer any cock-fighting in his yard or garden, or any outhouse thereto belonging.
On June 14, 1798, the commissioners of highways, Jo- seph Briggs and Joseph Nearing, laid out a highway from David Johnson's to Amos Thurston's. Cyrenus Noble, surveyor.
Ou July 3, 1798, Isaac Nash, supervisor, Joseph Whit- ford, assessor, and David IIaiburt, town elerk, made out the following list of persons competent to serve as jurors :
Comfort Ruggles, Heury Nearing, Joseph Nearing, Mar- tin Noble, Caleb Lull, Amos Perry, Nathaniel Daniels, Jr., Samuel Warner, Henry Sweet, Crowell Gross, Solomon Davis, Benajah Davis, David Halburt, Benjamin Bragg, Joseph Medbury, Eli Stetson, John Bell, J. Manchester, Jannes Kelly, Oliver Gorton, Job Gorton, Samuel Basset, James Hale, Abner Lull, Woolcott During, Abel Deming, Gardner Carpenter, Noah Matthewson, Stephen Herington, David Adams, Asal Adams, Asa Bowdish, Sherman Board- man, Job Cole, Robert Barton, Yelverton Briggs, Ben- jamin Gardner, Job Eldred, Frederick Woodard. Joseph Whitford, Timothy Stetson, James Church, Whitman Church, Timothy Dimock, Jr., Daniel AAdams. Joseph Briggs, Roger Serambling, Gardner Hall, Aaron Noble, David Gorton, Remington Kinyon. Henry Casswell, Ezra Barton, Stephen Abby, William Adams, Timothy Rockwell, William Garatt, David Colman, Mather Bennet, Luke Metcalf, John B. Noss, John Stewart.
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.