History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 116

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 1112

USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 116
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 116
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 116
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 116

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).

The present corporation of Ithaca is composed of lot 94, of the military traet, and the Abraham Bloodgood location.

Lot 94, of the military traet, was allotted to a soldier of the Revolution, whose name we do not find, by whom it was conveyed to a Mr. Van Rensselaer, and by him to " Robert MeDowell, of Mohawk."

MeDowell conveyed the north part, 170 acres, to Benja- min Pelton, in 1797, or thereabouts. Mr. Pelton sold this portion, as we have seen, to Phineas Bennett. The south- ern portion, lying chiefly on the South Hill and south of the Six-Mile Creek, became the property of the Peltons. The middle portion, except about fourteen acres, was pur- chased by Simeon De Witt.

Of the fourteen aeres, ten were purchased by General John Smith, and embraced nearly all the land on the flats lying east of the old Owego Turnpike (Aurora Street) and south of the Jericho Turnpike, as urst laid out; and four aeres became the property of John McDowell, a son, and Richard W. Pelton and Nieoll Halsey, sons-in-law of Rob- ert McDowell. This four aeres embraced the block on

which now stands the Ithaea Hotel, and the small piece which has since become South Tioga Street. The portion of State Street on the north of the four acres was then village lot 32, the street not then existing.

April 6, 1808, this four aeres was conveyed by the three owners to Luther Gere and John M. Pearson, for $100; and July 31, 1810, Luther Gere conveyed to Aurelia, widow of John M. Pearson, one and a half aeres from the west side thereof.

Subsequently said Aurelia (then the wife of Caleb B. Drake, Esq.) conveyed what is now South Tioga Street to Simeon De Witt, who opened it to the publie, and conveyed to Aurelia, in payment therefor, village lot No. 62 next west.

Lot 94 is bounded on the west by the west line of Tioga Street in the village of Ithaca.

The Abraham Bloodgood traet lies west of the west line of Tioga Street, and contains 1400 aeres, for which a cer- tificate of location was issued to him Nov. 1, 1789. The title passed to General Simeon De Witt, who afterwards conveyed to Francis A. Bloodgood the 400 acres which lies south of the central line of Clinton Street, and of that line continued. A small portion of this was sold to actual settlers by Mr. Bloodgood ; the remainder was divided into lots, some of which passed to non-resident capitalists. The title was finally concentrated in Messrs. John McGraw and Charles M. Titus, who purchased the property in 1868.

A notice, dated Nov. 22, 1820, appeared in the Ameri- can Journal of the 29th of that month, that an application would be made to the Legislature of New York, at the en- suing session, for an aet to incorporate the village of Ithaea. The notice was signed by Joseph Benjamin, David Wood- eock, Edward Edwards, Benjamin Drake, Isaae Beers, Henry Aekley, Ben Johnson, Jesse Merritt, Charles Humphrey, Daniel Bates, Ebenezer Mack, Ira Tillotson, Benjamin Pelton, Luther Gere, and Jeremiah S. Beebe.

The aet of incorporation was passed April 2, 1821,-sev- enteen days after the town of Ithaea was formed from Ulysses,-embracing the territory bounded as follows :+ "Beginning at a point sixty rods east of the intersection of the south side of Owego Street, with the west side of Aurora Street ; thence south fifty rods ; thence west one mile; thenee north two hundred rods; thence east one mile; and thenee south one hundred and fifty rods to the place of beginning."}

The aet provided for the election of five discreet free- holders, resident within said village, to be trustees thereof ; empowers sueh trustees to erect public buildings, such as engine-houses and markets, and to raise by tax not exceed- ing five hundred dollars the first year, nor more than four hundred dollars for any one year thereafter, for ereeting

# For a fuller aeeount of Simeon De Witt the reader is referred to an " Eulogium," hy T. Romeyn Beck, in pamphlet form, in Cornell Library.

1 Lines drawn about ten rods north of Marshall Street on the north, through Spring Street on the east, through Prospect and north of Clinton on the south, and through the centre of the inlet on the west, would represent the limits of the original corporation. The survey was made by Wait T. Huntington, Esq., and record thereof made in 1821. When running the south line, the axeman employed was effectually baffled by the mire, vines, and brambles encountered at a point near the present Fair Ground, and gave up the joh. [For sur- vey, see Village Records No. 1, page 3.]

# The village hounds were changed to the present lines hy act passed April 8, 1826.

429

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

such public buildings, proeuring fire-engines and other utensils for extinguishing fires, and for making any neces- sary repairs or improvements, and for making a reasonable compensation to the officers of the corporation, etc.

The law, however, requires that before any tax shall be levied or moneys raised for any of the purposes mentioned, the consent of the freeholders and taxable inhabitants shall first be given by vote in open meeting, a majority vote being required.

It provides that all taxes shall be assessed in proportion as cach tax-payer shall be benefited by the proposed im- provement or purchase ; and further provides that " such lands as are kept and improved exclusively as farming lands, ete., shall, so long as they are so improved, not be taxed for the benefit of the village, nor be subject to its jurisdiction or police, nor deemed to be benefited by any of the laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations which the trustees by law may be authorized to make."

It provides for the appointment by the trustees of " a company of firemen, not exceeding thirty, who, with the fire wardens, shall have the care, management, working, and use of the fire-engine or engines which may belong to the village, and also the tools and utensils for extinguishing fires."

The last section enaets that "the creek called the Cayuga Inlet, from the bridge over the same, west of the said vil- lage, to the Cayuga Lake, shall be and the same is hereby declared to be a public highway, and that the same shall be improved and kept free from obstruetions, in the manner authorized in regard to eommon highways," etc.

The first Board of Trustees under this charter was com- posed as follows : Daniel Bates, President ; William R. Collins, Andrew D. W. Bruyn, Julius Aekley, and George Blythe.

The other officers were Nathan Herrick, Henry Aekley, Isaac Beers, Assessors; Charles W. Connor, Miles Sey- mour, Jesse Grant, Fire-Wardens ; Charles W. Connor, Treasurer ; Augustus P. Searing, Clerk.

Appointed .- Thomas Downing, Collector ; Phineas Ben- net, Pathmaster ; David Curtis, Poundmaster.

The first ordinance of the trustees was passed on the 31st day of May, and provides, among other things, that after the ensuing 15th of June " no hog, shoat, or pig, or other swine, shall be permitted to run at large in any street or road of said village, nor on the open space of ground south of the court-house and meeting-house in said village, commonly called the Public Square, under the penalty of fifty cents," etc.

To this penalty was added a perquisite of six cents for the poundmaster, and the cost of keeping; and, in case of sale, any surplus unclaimed by the owner should be paid to the " overseers of the poor of the town of Ithaca."

A penalty of one dollar was fixed for each day's eneum- branee of any street or public road with "any carriage, plaister, salt, stone, briek, casks, barrels, mill-stones, grind- stones, sand, lime, firewood, timber, boards, planks, staves, shingles, or any other thing," without permission from the president of the Board of Trustees. Such permission was limited to persons who were, or should be, building or making other repairs.

To discharge any firearm, or set off any rocket, cracker, squib, or fireworks within the village limits, involved three dollars penalty ; to fly kite or play ball " in either of the two main streets, commonly called Owego and Aurora Streets," was deemed a luxury worth one dollar; and to drive faster than a trot, or to run horses in the streets or roads or on the public square, was a three-dollar enjoy- ment.

A subsequent ordinance, June, 1822, required the owner or occupant of each lot to sweep, scrape, collect, and remove all filth and rubbish as far as the centre of the street oppo- site said lot, on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month of the year, except December, January, February, and March.

Sept. 20, 1821, a tax was voted of $200, of which a part was to pay for " ringing the bell," and the rest to be expended in " bringing water into the village to extinguish fires." A public well was first dug in the fall of that year, which did not answer the intended purpose, so a contract was made with the Messrs. Bennett, Sept. 2, 1822, to con- struct an aqueduct from the Six-Mile Creek, near their mills, to the corner of Owego and Tioga Streets. Septem- ber 28, $150 more was voted, and the aqueduct extended to Geneva Street. This aqueduct was a wooden tube or conduit a foot square, laid three or four feet under ground, with penstocks and " vats" at the corners of the streets. The penstocks were liable to injury, through accident or design, and gave the " City Fathers" a deal of trouble.

The fire laws or ordinances of that day required that leather buckets should be furnished for each dwelling in proportion to the number of fire-places, and a sufficient ladder for each building not provided with a seuttle.

VILLAGE MARKET.

At a meeting of the inhabitants of the village at the court-house on the 24th day of July, 1824, the trustees were empowered to build and regulate a public market, and on the 6th of August following the trustees deter- mined to erect a market building, in size twenty by forty feet, at the junetion of Tioga Street with Green, and ap- pointed Lucius Wells and Nathan Herrick to superintend its erection. On the 25th of August, the building being finished, the stalls were sold as follows, for one year :

No. 1, Jacob Wood, $16.75; No. 2, Job Beckwith, $19.00 ; No. 3, Eutychus Champlin, $13.81; No. 4, Jaek Lewis, $14.25; No. 6, David Curtis, $14.25; No. 7, Euty- chus Champlin, $13.75; No. 8, Samuel Hill, $12.25; total, $104.06.

Every day of the week, except Sunday, was " appointed a public market day," and after the hour of ten A.M. sneh stalis as were not let were set apart for the use of " persons resorting to the village to sell there provisions usually sold in said village."

A few years afterwards a market was ereeted over the " North Branch," at what is now the northeast corner of Mill and Tioga Streets, on land purchased of Simeon De Witt .*

# Mr. De Witt reserved to his own control, " for hydraulie pur- poses," a strip of land one rod wide, on each bank of this stream, from the market lot to the Cascadilla.

430

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

VILLAGE CEMETERY.

The first dead within the village were buried on the hill- side in the portion now known as the " old cemetery," but whether by any special permit from the then proprietor of the soil is not known, nor do we find any distinct dedication of the land by any person for burial purposes. That Mr. De Witt, formally or otherwise, assented to its appropriation is probable, and its continued use has confirmed the title and made it sacred ground.

The first action by the trustees in regard to the matter was on the 6th of August, 1824, when $100 was voted " for clearing and fencing the burying-ground," and David Woodcock and Otis Eddy were made a committee to su- pervise the work.

ORGANIZATION OF FIRE COMPANIES.

On the sixth day of June, 1823, the Board of Trustees resolved to purchase a fire-engine of Samuel B. Mersereau, of New York, and gave a note therefor for $300.

The following persons were appointed firemen, and con- stituted the village fire company: Otis Eddy, Charles Humphrey, John Johnson, Julius Ackley, Henry Hibbard, Samuel L. Sheldon, Robert J. Renwick, Joshua H. Lee, Nathan Cook, Henry K. Stockton, John Tillotson, Eben- ezer Thayer, Samuel Reynolds, Ira Patterson, Lucius Wells, Horace Mack, Newton Gunn, Jonas Holman, Edward L. Porter, Edward Davidson, Amasa Woodruff, Samuel Bu- channan, Ephraim Porter, James Chapman.

On the first day of July, 1823, the trustees again ap- pointed the above-named persons (excepting cight, whose names are in italics), and fourteen others, to take charge of the fire-engine. The fourteen additional were Joseph Esty, Willard W. Taber, George P. Frost, Frederick Den- ing, Charles Hinckley, Henry S. Walbridge, Henry H. Moore, Daniel Pratt, Joseph Burritt, Stephen B. Munn, Jr., Henry W. Hinckley, Gifford Tracy, Jacob Wood, and Andrew J. Miller.

Of the company thus constituted, Joshua H. Lee, Joseph Esty, and Joseph Burritt are the only members now living in Ithaca.

May 12, 1828, a fire company was formed by the appoint- ment of the following persons to be firemen attached thereto : Sylvester Munger, J. Newton Perkins, Sylvester Hunt, George Hollister, Adolphus Colburn, John R. Kelly, John M. Cantine, Benjamin G. Ferris, Hunt Pomeroy, William D. Kelly, Elias Colburn, Uri Y. Hazard, Ithiel Potter, Elbert Canc, Daniel Young, Ira Bower, Isaiah Hunt, R. A. Clark, Anson Spencer, Urban Dunning, James Wynans, Elisha H. Thomas, Charles Cooley, David Elliott, George McCor- mick, David Ayres, Jacob Yaples, John Colston, Stephen Turtellot, James W. Sowles.

This company took the old engine, and was thenceforward known as " Red Rover Company, No. 1." The original company took the new engine, purchased at that time, and became " Rescue," No. 2.

At a meeting of the trustees, held Jan. 31, 1831, it was resolved that Benjamin Drake be authorized to raise a fire company of sixteen men to take charge of fire-hooks, lad- ders, axes, etc., to be known as " Fire Company, No. 3."

The following persons were reported Feb. 4, 1831, and

constituted said company : Benjamin Drake, Erasmus Bal- lard, David Woodcock, Hart Lee, George P. Frost, Peter De Riemer, Oristes S. Huntington, William Hoyt, John Chatterton, Jonathan Shepard, Ira Tillotson, Daniel T. Tillotson, John Hollister, William Cooper, Asaph Colburn, Isaac B. Gere.

" Eureka" Fire Company, No. 4, was formed by the ap- pointment of thirty persons to be members thereof, March 11, 1842, and placed in charge of the old engine (No. 1) ; but its best days were over, and it was exchanged for a new engine in June following, the company paying $100 towards the difference. This company is now known as Eureka Hose Company, No. 4.

" Torrent" Bucket Company, No. 5, was formed March 2, 1843, by the appointment of thirty-five of the nimblest of the young men of Ithaca; for whose use 100 buckets, newly painted, were provided, and a suitable light bucket- wagon, the manufacture of William S. Hoyt. This organi- zation was for a long time one of the most efficient in the department. The rooms and tower on East Sencca Street were built for this company.

" Hercules" Engine Company, No. 6, was formed March 23, 1853, for the more efficient protection of property at the " Inlet," or western portion of the village.

It had originally 31 members of the solid sort, which number was soon increased to about 60. The old tower at the Inlet was erected for this company. After nearly twenty years' service this organization was dissolved, and in its place a new company was formed and attached to the steamer " Colonel J. B. Sprague," Oct. 31, 1872. Sprague Steamer Company, No. 6, now occupies a handsome build- ing, with tower, on State Street, between Fulton and Meadow. In this tower hangs one of the two large fire- bells of the department.

" Cataract" Engine Company, No. 7, was formed Dec. 31, 1863, and operates the engine purchased for No. 4, in 1842, of D. Button, Waterford, N. Y. The tower at Fall Creek was built for the use of this organization, which has been the main dependence for fighting fire at that remote part of the village.

The body known as " Protective Police" was formed with 30 members, Jan. 23, 1868, who have all the privi- leges and exemptions of firemen, and are invested with police power in time of fire.

FIRE DEPARTMENT INCORPORATED.

The Ithaca fire department was incorporated April 1, 1871, and includes all the village companies formed and to be formed whose enrolled members number thirty each, and are so maintained.

The governing board consists of two trustees from each company (one being elected annually for two years), to- gether with the chief engineer and assistants, who are ex officio members. A president, vice-president, and secretary of the board are chosen annually from their body by the trustees. The body thus formed constitutes the " Fire- men's Board."

The present officers of the department are as follows : Chief Engineer, Almon Boys; First Assistant Engineer, i Samuel S. Gress ; Second Assistant Engineer, Will F.

Photo. by Frear.

JOHN MITCHELL.

Each year the mortuary record of the brave, industrious men who grappled with the hardships and necessities of frontier life with earnest purposes and hopeful hearts, is lengthened by additions of new names, whose memory makes the catalogue more honored and impressive to the minds of those who have long known their worth. Therefore it becomes more and more the duty of those like he of whom we write, or of the friends of those who have gone before, to perpetuate on the pages of history a record of the virtucs of the pioneers as a memorial of their general worth, and as offering a fitting example for those of the present and of future generations to follow.

John Mitchell, son of James and Lena (Malette) Mitchell, was born in Mansfield, Sussex Co., N. J., Oct. 17, 1798, and is consequently, and by a peculiar coincidence, just eighty years of age upon the day this brief sketch of his life and character is written. In the year 1800 his father came hither on a visit of inspection, and two years thereafter removed with his family and effected a perma- nent settlement upon the farm now occupied by his son Samuel. In the days of the primitive settlements educa- tional advantages were limited, and where schools did exist a meagre attendance was had on account of the requisition of the services of the youth to assist in clearing up the wilderness in order to plant a home. Sometimes in the winter months, when little work could be done, the youth- ful John would slowly wend his way to school, although a

walk of a couple of miles through the woods was necessary to bring him to the door of the humble log house that constituted the temple of learning in those days.

At the time the Mitchells passed through what is now Ithaca there were but four dwellings,-three of logs and one a frame structure,-which they, while waiting to feed their jaded and hungry horses, assisted to " raise." What a wonderful retrospection is Mr. Mitchell capable of enjoy- ing! He has lived to witness the transition of a cluster of four dwellings into an enterprising and flourishing village, the seat of an educational institution that is destined to rank among the foremost institutions of learning in the world.

Mr. Mitchell has been twice married, first to Phebe Tichnor, who died in 1836; the second time to Priscilla Hutchinson, who died in 1856. By the first he had seven children ; by the second, one child. The names of the children are William L., Franklin, Bradford T., Eugene H., Mary I. (deceased), Harriet, Amelia (wife of Henry Preswick, of Ithaca), and Charlotte. All these reside in Tompkins County (except Bradford T., who is in Utica), and most of them in the town of Ithaca. Mr. Mitchell carries his fourscore years well, which is a sure sign that he enjoys an easy conscience, and that he has spent a life of temperance, rectitude, and honesty. The reputation he has gained goes far to determine the above estimate of his general worth.

Photo. by Frear.

SAMUEL MITCHELL.

The subject of this sketch is one of the oldest living residents of the town of Ithaca, having lived within the limits of the town for seventy-five years. He was born in Ithaca,-within a few rods of his present residence,-October 5, 1803. His father (James) and his mother (Lena Malette) moved from Sussex Co., N. J., to the western country, locating in what is now Ithaca town, in the year 1802. The following year Samuel was born. Samuel now occupies the farm first settled by his father, and his youth and carly manhood (as was that of his brother John*) were spent in assisting his father in the

clearing and improving of their home in the wilder- ness. He was first married, in 1824, to Miss Eliza Hall, daughter of Jeremiah Hall. To them were born five children,-four sons and one daughter,- of whom three sons and one daughter are now living, namely : Henry Reuben, Jeremiah H., James, and Mary E. Mrs. Eliza Mitchell died in 1848, and Mr. Mitchell married, in 1850, for his second wife, Miss Catharine Osterhout, the daughter of James Oster- hout. There were no children from this marriage. Mr. Mitchell has always followed his present avocation, that of agriculture, and has led an active and useful life.

* See sketch of John Mitchell.

431

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

Major; President, Frank Tree; Vice-President, Charles L. Taber ; Secretary, George M. Baker; Treasurer, Isaac Randolph.

Trustees of the Department .- Chief Engineer and Assist- ants, ex officio ; Cayuga, No. 1, Louis S. Neill, Edward Mowry ; Rescue, No. 2, Cassius L. Taber, Ezra II. Shep- ard ; Tornado, No. 3, G. T. Gay, Will F. Major; Eureka, No. 4, William N. Hoose, Frank Cole; Torrent, No. 5, George M. Baker, John W. Belcher; Sprague, No. 6, P. Frank Sisson, John M. Tompkins; Cataract, No. 7, Morris. Moon, Frank D. Trec.

The force of the department consists of three steamer companies, with hose attached, two hose companies, one hand-engine company, with hose attached, one hook-and- ladder company, with axe-cart attached, and one company known as protective police,-numbering in all 373 men, including offieers, as follows :

Cayuga Steamer Company, No. 1, Silsby Rotary, 3d class. 43 Rescue No. 2, 48 Tornado Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 3 56 Eureka Hose Company, No. 4 ... 54 Torrent " .. No. 5 .. 38 Sprague Steamer Company, No. 6, Clapp & Jones, piston, 3d class 51

Cataract Engine Company, No. 7

40 Protective Police

373

Within the corporate limits there are 17 cisterns and 27 fire-hydrants ; and the department possesses 4000 feet of serviceable hose, of which 3000 feet are new.

The authority of the Board of Trustees of the village is paramount over this department.

CHIEF ENGINEERS, 1860 TO 1878.

1860-62. Edward S. Esty. 1868-69. Barnum R. Williams.

1863-64. William W. Esty.

1870. Thad. S. Thompson.

1865. George E. Terry. 1871-72. Barnum R. Williams.

1866. Elias Treman. 1873-74. Henry M. Durphy.

1867. William W. Esty.

1875-78. Almon Boys.

WATER-WORKS.

The question of a supply of water to the village by means of pipes has from time to time been uppermost, now as a private, and again as a publie enterprise.

By an aet passed June 25, 1853, Henry W. Sage, Alfred Wells, Charles E. Hardy, Anson Spencer, and Joseph E. Shaw were named as incorporators. who, with their associates, comprised the "Ithaca Water-Works Company," with a capital of $40,000.

This company was the first to put the system in practical form, and furnished water from a spring, or springs, on the East Hill, north of Buffalo Street, through iron pipes laid in many of the streets of the village. The supply of water proved eventually insufficient, and after a resort to pumping and other expedients, on a limited seale, with little better success, the works were sold to a new company, who cou- tinued operations under the old charter, amended to cover the increased requirements.

By this company new and heavier pipe has been laid, and the lines much extended. The company also acquired rights on Ten-Mile ( Buttermilk) Creek, and in 1875 erected a crib-dam between the rocky buttresses of the ravine and near the base of " Pulpit Rock," whose tinkling, silver tongue is thus made to preach that virtue which is

next to godliness, even in the streets of "Sodom," and at the doors of the people. From this dam the water is sup- plied to the village, and to a reservoir on South Hill of 1,250,000 gallons eapacity, through a main eight inches in diameter, and two miles in length, with a head of 215 feet, or about 93 pounds pressure per square inch.

The reservoir gives a head of 146 feet, equal to a pres- sure of 63 pounds per square inch. The gates are so arranged that water may be taken either from the dam or the reservoir, as desired. Abont nine miles of pipe are now laid.

An act was passed May 25, 1868, in which Alonzo B. Cornell, Charles M. Titus, George W. Schuyler, John L. Whiton, George McChain, Elias Treman, Sewell D. Thomp- son, Edward S. Esty, Abel Burritt, Henry J. Grant, Edwin J. Morgan, Henry L. Wilgus, John Rumsey, John H. Selkreg, Henry R. Wells, and their associates, were named as a body corporate by the title " Ithaca Water-Works Company." Capital, $75,000, with power to increase to $150,000. No organization took place under this act.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 116

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign Number of Pages: 1112

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 1112