USA > New York > Steuben County > History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 125
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 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133
The number of present members is about 30; present trustees, Israel Wood, Richard H. Hall, and W. M. Tom- linson ; present class-leader, Watson M. Tomlinson; present pastor, C. G. Curtis.
The following list comprises nearly all the pastors : Asa Orcutt, Joseph Pearsoll, Henry Wisner, Asa Story, Mr. Barekley, Mr. Bacon, J. D. Jewett, A. D. Edgar, Hiram
Sanford, R. L. Stillwell, R. M. Beach, A. R. Jones, W. E. Pinder, John J. Brown, A. Parsel, Stephen Brown, Reu- ben Drake, S. B. Dickinson, Eli H. Brown, Charles Davis, J. Bronson, C. Dillenbeck, S. Wetzel, D. W. Gates, E. B. Pierce ; C. G. Curtis, present pastor.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
About 1869 the Presbyterian Church property was trans- ferred to the Episcopal society. The church was organized on the 25th of March, 1872, as St. John's Church, Rev. Wm. Atwell, Missionary, presiding at the meeting accord- ing to the conditions of the bishop's order. J. B. Mitchell and Jonathan Wood were elected church-wardens. George P. Ford, John Grace, F. M. McDowell, Andrew Wood, John Stanhope, Ira P. Ward, Jonas Wheeler were elected vestrymen.
The church was repaired, in 1870, at a cost of $1200, and consecrated, on the 2d of September, 1875, by Bishop A. Cleveland Coxe. Ten persons have since been baptized by Rev. W. J. Pigot. Four of these persons have been confirmed by Bishop Coxe.
Rev. Wm. Atwell was the first clergyman ; Rev. J. W. Pigot, the second ; Rev. Mr. Warner is the present rector.
MILITARY RECORD OF WAYNE.
Thomas Mitchell, private, 22d Car., Co. G; enl. Dec. 11. 1863, three years ; was taken prisoner, and held as such about ten months at Amulersonville and Florence, and died at Wilmington, N. C., March 5, 1865, from exposure and starvation.
Clinton, Dewitt Earnest, 89th Inf., Co. A; enl. Oct. 21, 1861, three years; wounded in thigh at Fredericksburg ; disch. about two months after.
Joseph Eveland, private, 141st Inf., Co. B; enl. Ang 22, 1862, three years ; pro. to sergt., Frb, 29, 1864; disch. June 23, 1865.
Israel S. Taylor, private, 89th Inf., Co. A : cul, Sept. 28, 1861, three years ; wounded at Sharpsburg, in hip ; died at camp hosp., near Fredericksburg, Nov. 29, 1862, of chronic diarrlicen.
Egbert Jacobus, private; three years; disch, for disability.
Moses W. Cookston, private, 180th Inf., Co. H ; enl. Sept. 13, 1864, one year ; discharged.
Hiram Brink Stone, sergt., 14th II. Art., Co. B; enl. July 10, 1863, three years ; pro. to corp., June 10, 1864 ; to sergt., June 12, 1865 ; disch. Aug. 6, 1865. John Lown, private, 14th II. Art., Co. B; enl. Ang. 25, 1863, three years ; Giken pris. at Pegram Farm, Aug. 20, 1864; taken to Libby, thence to Bello Isle and Salisbury ; disch. April 6, 1865.
Johnson Brink Margeson, 107th Inf., Co. HI ; enl. Ang. 1, 1862; killed on the field at Dallas
Stephen Edwards, private, 107th Inf., Co. Il ; enl. July 28, 1862; wounded ut Antietam ; disch. Jan. 13, 1563; re-ent. in same regt. and company, Feh. 24, 1864; died of chronic diarrhea, Feb. 15, 1865.
Horaco Wixson, corp., 141st Inf., Co. B; eul. Ang. 22, 1862, three years ; disch. for disability, Jan. 28, 1863.
Thomas Barrett, private, 141st Inf., Co. B ; ent. Aug. 26, 1862, three years ; disch . June 8, 1865.
Samuel Green, sergt., 107th Inf., Co. B; ent. Sept. 1, 1861, three years ; disch. for disability, Jan. 1, 1863; re-enl. Sept. 13, 1864; discharged.
Ira Margeson Wood, private, 14Ist Inf., Co. B ; enl. Aug. 25, 1862, three years ; disch. June 29, 1865.
Henry Switzer Wood, orderly-sergt., 141-t Inf., Co. B; enl. Ang. 22, 1862, three years; died of typhoid fever, near Warrenton Junction, Aug. 16, 1:63.
George W. Scott, private, 141-t Inf., Co. B ; enl. Aug. 25, 1862, three years ; died at Shell Mound, Tenn., of chronic diarrhea, April 2, 186-1.
Franklin Gardner, private, 161st Inf., Co. B; ent. Aug. 11, 1862, three years ; died in hospital on Long Island, of typhoid fever, Dec. 15, 1862.
Cyrus Alonzo Schuyler, private, 161st Inf., Co. B; enl. Aug. 11, 1862, three years ; diedl of typhoid fever at Baton Rouge, La., Jan. 17, 1863.
Lewis J. Clark, private, 189th Inf., Co. HI ; enl. Aug. 31, 1864, one year ; disch. May 30, 1865.
Elias Gasper Putnam, Ist sergt., 107th Inf., Co. HI; enl. July 25, 1562, threo years ; disch. June 5, 1865.
Henry Wisner Smith, corp., 6th HI. Art., Co. E; enl. Feb. 9, 1864, three years ; disch. Aug. 24, 1865.
George Washington Read, private, 107th Inf., Co. G; enl. Aug. 6, 1862, threo years ; re-enlisted.
Jeremiah Rumsey, private, 107th Inf., Co. G; enl. Ang. 7, 1862, three years. John Kalahar, private, 107th Inf., Co. G; enl. Ang. 6, 1862, three years; killed at Antietam11.
432
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Huston D. McCube, private, 189th Iof., Co. H ; enl. Sept. 11, 1865, one year ; disch. May 1, 1865.
George Willmur MeCabe, private, 189th Inf., Co. HI ; enl. Sept. 11, 1865, one year ; disch. May 1, 1865.
William B. Crane, private, 107th Inf., Co. G; enl. Aug. 4, 1862, three years ; disch. Juue 5, 1865.
Wilbur Fisk Tomlinson, private, 34th Inf., Co. I; enl. April 18, 1861, two years; taken prisoner at Malvern Hill, Aug. 7, 1862; released on parole, Sept. 13, 1862; disch. June 30, 1803; re-enl. private, 22d Cav., Co. G, Feb. 9, 1865, three years ; taken prisoner during Wilson's raid, and held as such until Feb. 27, 1865, when he died at Andersonville, on that date.
Charles Edgar Denison, private, 141st Inf., Co. D; eal. Aug. 25, 1862, three years; killed at Dallas, Ga., May 25, 1864.
William Powell, private, 141-t Inf., Co. D ; enl. Aug. 22, 1862, three years ; died March 19, 1864, at Lookont Valley, Tenn.
William Henry Kelly, bugler, 10th Cuv., Co. G; enl. Feb. 17, 1864, three years ; discharged.
James Franklin Gleason, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl. Sept. 13, 1864, one year; disch. June 10, 1865.
Amasa Marion Gleason, 4th sergt., 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl. Aug. 31, 1864, one year ; disch. June 10, 18G5.
Edward Absalom Washburn, private, 189th Inf., Co. II; enl. Aug. 31, 1864, one year; disch. June 10, 1865.
Francis Lacost, private, 6th Art., Co. B; enl. Feb. G, 1864, three years; disch. Sept. 1, 1865.
Wallace W. Earnest, private, 141st Inf., Co. B; ent. Aug. 22, 1862, three years ; disch. for disability, April 11, 1863.
Peter Eveland, private, 189th Inf., Co. HI ; eul. Ang. 31, 1864, one year ; died Jan. 21, 1863.
Andrew M. Dunham, veteran, 86th Inf. ; ent. Jan. 21, 1865, three years.
Henry Mapes, private, 107th Int., Co. H ; enl. July 25, 1862, three years; disch. March 9, 1863, for disability.
Angelo Prentiss Welles, private, 85th Inf., Co. I; enl. March 1, 18GI, three yeurs; discharged; re-enl. mus., 85th Regt., Co. I, Jan. 1, 1864, three years ; disch. June 27, 3565.
James Pitts, private, 50th N. Y. Vols .; enl. Jan. 1, 1864.
Charles Coykendall, private, 107th Inf., Co. MI; enl. July 25, 1869, three years ; disch. July 20, 1863, for disability ; re-enlisted.
Charles II. Matoon, private, 85th laf., Co. I ; ent. March 1, 1861, three years ; discharged ; re-eal. musician, 85th Inf., Co. 1, Jan. 1, 1864, three years; disch. June 27, 1865.
Joseph Caykendall, private, 86th Inf., Co. I; enl. Dec. 18, 18GI, three years; disch. Dec. 19, 1863; re-enl. private, 86th lof., Co. I, Dec. 31, 1863, three years ; disch. June 27, 1865.
Charles J. Chatfield, private, luth Cav .; eul. Jan. 2, 1864, three years.
Edgar Wood, private, Gth Cav. ; enl. Jan. 1, 1564, three years.
Ilenry Willick, veteran, 86th Iuf .; eul. Dec. 20, 1863.
Newman Miller, private, 58th Inf. ; enl. Jan. 1, Isol, three years. John Fulton, private, 85th Inf .; enl. Feb. 17, 1864, three years. William T. Dininny, private, Ioth Cav .; enl. Jan. 20, 1804.
William T. Spicer, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl Sept. 3, 1801, one year; disch. May 20, 1865.
David B. Scofield, private, 189th Inf., Co. II; enl. Sept. 3, 1864, one year.
D. C. Mills, private, 1891h Inf., Co. II ; ent. Sept. 3, 1864, one year ; disch. May 20, 18G5.
Amos Little, 189th luf., Co. H.
Moseby J. Moss, corp., 189th Iuf., Co. HI ; enl. Sept. 1, 1864, one year ; disch. May 30, 1865.
Heury Genung, private, 189th Inf., Co. HI ; eul. Sept. 13, 1864, one year.
Petlo J. Haight, private, 189th Inf., Co. Il ; ent. Sept. 3, 1864, one year.
Isaac P. Teuchman, private, 189th Inf., Co. Il ; enl. Ang. 31, 1865, one year ; disch. May 30, 1865.
Wm. W. Crawford, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enI. Aug. 31, 1864, one year. George C. Moon, private, 9th HI. Art .; enl. Sept. 17, 1864, one year. Washington M. Winters, private, Ist Cuv, ; enl. Sept. 24, 1864, one year. Ilezekinh Townsend, private, Gth C'av .; enl. Aug. 24, 1864, one year.
John R. Bonnell, private, 189th Iuf., Cu. II ; enl. Aug. 31, 1804, one year; disch. May 30, 1865.
Henry Colegrove, private, 189th Inf., Co. HI ; enl. Sept. 13, 1864, one year; dischi. May 30, 1865.
Harman Calhoun, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl. Sept. 13, 1864, one year ; disch. May 30, 1865.
Erastus Husted, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl. Aug. 31, 1864, one year; disch. May 30, 1865.
Sylvester Shoemaker, private, 189th Inf., Co. II ; enl. Sept. 13, 1864, ono year; disch. May 30, 1863.
John Rickey, private, 107th Inf., Co. II; enl. July 25, 1862, three years; disch. June 5, 1865.
Thomas E. Morse, corp., 107th Inf., Co. HI ; eul. Aug. 5, 1862, three years ; disch. Feb. 4, 1803.
William II, Covill, private, 107th Inf., Co. Il ; enl. July 25, 1862, three years; disch. June 5, 1865.
Cyrus I. Covill, private, 107th Iuf., Co. II ; enl. July 28, 1862, three years ; killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862.
John Seybolt, 14Ist Iof., Co. B; enl. Aug. 22, 1862, three years; disch. Feb. 7, 1861.
Lafayette Hollis, private, 14Ist Inf., Co. B; enl. Aug. 31, 1862, three years.
Andrew J. Lawn, sergt., 14th H. Art., Co. B; enl. July 13, 1803, three years ; pro. to corp., March 1, 1865; to sergt., Ang. 1, 1865; disch. Aug. 20, 1805. Michael McDonald, private, 14th H. Art., Co. B ; eal. Aug. 29, 1863, three years ; died in general hosp. at Washington, Feb. 1865.
William J. Wixson, private, 85th Inf., Co. I; enl. Sept. 20, -, three years ; wounded nt Fair Oaks; taken prisoner at Plymouth, N. C., April 20. 18G4; exch. March 1, 1865; disch. June 8, 1865.
William Graham, sergt., 107th Regt., Co. B; enl. July 18, 1862, three years ; disch. June 5, 1865.
Charles Howard Elwood, corp., 148th Regt., Co. B; enl. Aug. 26, 1802; taken prisoner, Oct. 27, 1864, and sent to Richmond, Libby pri-on ; thence to Salisbury prison, where he died, Feb. 7, 1865.
Franklin Elwood, private, Berdan's Sharpshooters; enl. Nov. 15, 1861, three years ; died in New York, of fever, May 14, 1862.
John Albert Peacock, private, 161st Regt , Co. B ; eul. Ang. 13, 1862, three years. Levi Lorie Paddock, private, 46th Mich. Inf., Co. I ; must. March 7, 1864, three years ; died in Elmira, Aug. 8, 1864.
David Nathan l'addock, private, 103d Regt., Co. I; enl. March 7, 1862, three years.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
M. V. KNAPP,
son of James A. and Margaret Knapp, was born at Penn Yan, Yates Co., N. Y., Nov. 16, 1824. His father was a native of this State, and settled in Yates County at a very early day. He had a family of ten children, viz., George H., James, M. V., A. P., S. A., Mary L., Chas. F., O. C., Wm. C., and F. R. All are living except James and George II. James A. Knapp, Sr., was a painter by trade. Ile died in the seventy-seventh year of his age, at Penn Yan, N. Y.
Mr. M. V. Knapp was reared a poor boy, but by indus- try and economy, and the aid of his faithful wife, he has acquired a competency, and during his life he has aided his parents and other members of the family to a livelihood. He commenced life by working on a farm by the month ; also for some time was engaged on the Erie Canal. He married Miss Sarah E. Haight, daughter of John and Sarah Haight, of Penn Yan, Dec. 31, 1846. Miss Haight was born July 8, 1826. Of this union two children were born, viz., Marsena A. and Manford H., the latter of whom died at the age of five months. Mrs. M. V. Knapp's parents were also early settlers of Penn Yan, and members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Knapp has followed farming the most of the time since he was married, and to-day is the owner of one hundred and seventy-six acres of good land, known as the Judge Hall farm, a fine view of which, and portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Knapp, may be seen in this work. In politics Mr. Knapp has always been identified with the Democratic party, and has held some of the po- litieal offices of his town. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp are mem- bers of the Baptist Church of Wayne, and contribute liber- ally to its support. Their son is also a member of the same church.
JOEL WIXSON.
Mr. Joel Wixson, of Wayne, N. Y., son of Daniel and Deborah C. Wixson, and grandsou of Solomon Wixson, who was one of the earliest settlers of Wayne, was born in Wayne, Steuben Co., N. Y., Oct. 16, 1814. Ilis father was a native of New Jersey, and was born Aug. 18, 1786, and married Deborah Conkliu, of New Jersey, March 3,
433
TOWN OF WAYNE.
1811. Mrs. Wixson was born July 7, 1793. Daniel Wix- son settled in Wayne on the farm now owned by his son Joel about the time of his marriage. Of this union eleven chil- dren were born, viz., Mary, Joel, Martin, Norman, John, Daniel, Sacket B., Solomon C., Franklin, Eli B., and Menzo. Martin and Daniel are deceased. Daniel, Sr., was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a farmer by occupation, and reared his family to industry and economy. He was suc- cessful, and was numbered with the most highly respected citizens of Wayne. He and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. He died Dec. 2, 1852, and his wife died April 4, 1864. Mr. Joel Wixson lived with his parents till he was about twenty-two, when he went to Illinois and remained about one year, having taken up three hundred and twenty acres of land. He returned and taught school winters, and worked on the farm summers.
Ile married Miss Lydia S. Wright, daughter of John and Lydia Wright, of Barrington, Yates Co., N. Y., April 3, 1839. Mrs. Wixson was born June 4, 1816. Of this marriage six children were born, viz., Mary Jane (died at the age of twenty-two), Alzada, Alonzo J. (died at the age of twenty-three), Ida (died at the age of twenty-one), John Wright (died at the age of about twenty), and Lydia W. Mr. Wixson settled on his present farm (the old home- stead) in June, 1855. Ile has a fine farm of about one hundred and eighty acres under a good state of cultivation. Besides farming, he is engaged in the growing of grapes, peaches, and apples, occupying for this purpose some twelve acres. He is a breeder of fine sheep, and in all his farming interests intends to keep up with the spirit of the times.
In politics, he affiliates with the Republican party. He has held various offices of trust and honor, such as assessor and supervisor, for two terms during the war, and at present is a commissioner of railroads. He and Mrs. Wixson have been members of the Baptist Church for many years. He is interested in good schools, and has given his children good opportunities for an education. On Mr. Wixson's sixty-fourth anniversary the members of his own and Mrs. Wixson's family gathered at his home and made him an agreeable surprise and a fine present, thus attesting their love and esteem for him.
Mrs. Wixson's father, John Wright, was one of the earliest settlers of what is now known as Barrington, Yates Co., N. Y., and became one of the wealthy men of that county. He held various offices of trust, and was num- bered among the most honorable in his community.
SAMUEL HALLETT.
Samuel Hallett was born in Canisteo, Steuben Co., N. Y., Dec. 3, 1827. His parents were Moses and Nancy Fulton Hallett. He attended the common school winters, until he was sixteen, when he went to Alfred Academy for two terms. He was graduated at the State Normal School in Albany, N. Y., in 1847. Ile married Ann E. McDowell, of Wayne, N. Y., April 18, 1848. Before and after his marriage he taught school in Bath and elsewhere, with marked success ; afterwards he was confidential clerk for George D. Mitchell, of Hammondsport, N. Y., until 1851, when he went to Adrian, N. Y., and engaged in the lumber business. While 55
there, F. M. McDowell became interested with him in busi- ness, and continued with him until his death. In 1852 he removed to Ilornellsville, and opened a banking-office ; soon after he with others organized the Bank of Hornellsville. In 1855 he went to Europe in the interest of the Scioto and Ilocking Valley Railroad- Company.
He was nominated for Congress by the American party in 1856, and although unsuccessful, ran far ahead of his ticket. At the beginning of the war he joined the Repub- lican party, and acted with it ever after.
Early in January, 1857, the firm of Samuel Hallett & Co. was formed, consisting of Samuel Hallett, F. M. McDowell, N. M. Crane, and G. W. McDowell, for the purpose of transacting a general banking and negotiating business, and located at 58 Beaver Street, New York. In the latter part of this month, he went to Europe in connection with the Nautilus Submarine Diving-Bell.
While there he became interested in the enterprise of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company, and re- mained until he had placed a sufficient amount of the stock and bonds to buy the iron and complete the road ; for which negotiation the firm received, as commissions, as large an amount as was probably ever given to any American house for a similar transaction up to that time. He returned from Europe in October, 1858.
The success of this enterprise gave an impetus to the business of the house, which in the early years of the war made it prominent in monetary affairs. Their financial circular was quoted extensively both in this country and in Europe.
The house earnestly supported the government during the critical times of 1861, and subscribed largely to its first loans.
In 1863 a new firm, retaining the same name, was or- ganized, and in connection with Gen. John C. Fremont, bought the controlling interest of the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company, one of the initial lines of the Union Pacific, and changed its name to the Union Pacific Eastern Division, now known as the Kansas Pacific. Mr. Hallett took the entire charge of the work in Kansas, and pushed it with his usual vigor. It was found, however, that the subsidy in its original shape, together with the difficulties in negotiating railroad securities at that time, was insufficient to build the several roads contemplated hy the act of Congress, and he with others made such repre- sentations to Congress as indneed them to cancel the first lien and take a second mortgage on the roads.
Difficulties arising, Gen. Fremont retired from the enter- prise, and Mr. Hallett continued the work in his own name. In the face of almost insurmountable difficulties, he com- pleted the first section, and issued cards of invitation for a grand opening, when on the 27th day of July, 1864, he was assassinated in the streets of Wyandotte, Kan., by a discharged engineer. Ile is buried at his home in Wayne, N. Y.
On the day of his death, Mrs. Hallett sailed from Europe for home with her four children, Ellen, Margaret K., Robert L., and Samuel I., who are all living, except Ellen Hallett Stewart, who died April 16, 1876.
Mr. ITallett was a man of pleasing address, had a sanguine
434
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.
temperament, a genial disposition, and was possessed of a vast amount of energy.
His forte was to make others see things as he saw them.
We cannot give a better idea of the estimation in which he was held at the time of his death than by subjoining the following extracts :
(From the Wyandotte Gazette of July 30, 1864.)
" We regard the death of Samuel Hallett as an irrepar- able loss to Kansas and to the United States. As the leading spirit in the great Pacific Railroad enterprise, the man does not live who can make his place good. . . . Let the millions who shall pass and repass from the Atlantic to the Pacific remember that to Samuel Hallett, more than to any ten men, they are indebted for the early completion of this great artery of travel. . . . "
(From the New York Tribune, Aug. 10, 1864.)
"The electric spark that flashed over the wires the an- nouncement that Samuel Hallett had met a sudden death,
at the hands of a discharged engineer of the Union Pacifie Railway, faintly resembled the wonderful intellect which that rash aet quenched in the meridian of its brightness.
If any man was entitled to the reputation of genius, that man was Samuel Hallett. Rising suddenly from poverty, . . . he had attained a position which gave him control of some of the most gigantic financial enterprises of the age. . . . Ilis influence on the railway enterprises of the period was remarkable. Though not yet forty years of age, he had been instrumental in expediting, if not in saving from destruction, two of the chief roads of the country, viz., the Atlantic and Great Western and the Pacific. Both of these owe their present success, at least, to his sagacity and persistency, in the early days when the conservatism of eapital shrank from the risks of what seemed doubtful ad- venture. It does not matter that other men will have con- ducted these enterprises to final success ; to Samuel Hallett belongs the credit of having saved them when brains and courage were needed to accomplish what mere money eould not."
WEST UNION.
ERECTION OF THE TOWN.
IN the petition which was circulated for the formation of this town the name was Green, but it was referred back to the petitioners as conflicting with another town of the same name, when they ehanged it to Union. This also conflict- ing with another Union in the eastern part of the State the word West was prefixed, and the bill was passed April 25, 1845, erecting the town of West Union. The town, though not thiekly settled at that time, was erected for political reasons, the ruling power having gravitated towards the north end of the old town of Greenwood, to the exclu- sion of the more remote southern part.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
.
Jonathan and John Mattason and David Davis came from the Cowanesque Valley, entering the town from the south, and settled on the Ed. Plaistead place, about a quarter of a mile west of the present Troupsburgh line, on land which overlooks the towns of Troupsburgh, Woodhull, and Tusea- rora, and both the Cowanesque and Tioga Valleys. The tax-roll shows them to have been there as early as 1821. Abram V. Olmstead, a native of Delaware County, opened the first clearing in the valley, on land now occupied by a part of the village of Rexville, in 1822. The first child born in the town was his son, Walter B. Olmstead, who was born Nov. 4, 1823, and afterwards, when a young man, opened the first store in the town. Abram V. Olmstead opened the first tavern, in the log house which stood for years after on the site of McCormick's hotel, one side propped up to keep it from falling into the road.
William Burger, also from Delaware County, an uncle of Mr. Olmstead, who came the next year, settled on the place in the south part of the town, where John Hauber now lives, and lived with old Mr. Bray, he having no family.
Frederick Hauber, father of John Ilauber, came over the hills from Lawrenceville, Pa., opening his road as he traveled, and located in the valley between the others. His log house, then the finest building in the valley, still stands beside the road. It was made of hewn logs, and was nearly two years in construction. At that time there was only a footpath down the creek. Besides the Mattasons there were no neighbors to these venturous pioneers. The whole country was a maze of woods and hills, filled with dark gorges in which it was easy to get lost. The timber was harder than that of the country farther east, consisting of maple, beech, birch, cherry, ehm, and basswood, while upon the bluffs were skirts of hemlock, and baek south and west were high ridges of land almost impassable. Pine was plenty a few miles southwest, but so far from market that it had no value for a number of years. The hard-timbered lands were chosen as being more quickly cleared from stumps, and the surrounding forests furnishing the maple-sugar, whose manufacture was a remunerative employment for weeks during the spring months. With the general elear- ing of land, the change of climate has also changed the sugar-making, causing the flow of sap to be less regular and of shorter duration, so that the present improved pans and buckets, in place of the old-fashioned kettles and tronghs, split and hollowed out with an axe, do not compensate for the change.
435
TOWN OF WEST UNION.
The high land, on which the greater portion of the im- proved farms are located, is for the most part quite level, but eut into, along the courses of the main streams, by short, deep ravines, covered with the original growth of timber. The elcarings are large, aud buildings generally good. There are few large orchards. In the northwest part of the town the flat land continues across the deep, narrow valley formed by Kyder Creek, as it does also in the south- west corner of the town.
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.