History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 145

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 145
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 145
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 145
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 145

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).

George Stapleton, private, Co. I, 137th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 1862; wounded at Chancellorsville; disch. June 31, 1865."

William D. Taylor, private, Co. I, 137th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 17, 1862 ; disch. June, 1865.

John C. Knettles, private, Co. I, 137th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 1862 ; disch. June, 1865.

Jerome Bateman, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 10, 1864; disch. June, 1865.

Wm. F. Van Rensselaer, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 10, 1864 ; disch. June 9, 1865.

Samuel Payne, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 27, 1864; disch. for disability, no date.

Samuel Patterson, corp., Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 3I, 1864 ; disch. July 8. 1865.

Ira Evans, private, Co. I, 179th Regt. ; enl. Ang. 16, 1864 ; killed at Petersburg. Jerome Russell, private, Co. I, 179th Regt. ; enl. Aug. 27, 1864.

Ilorace Doolittle, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 27, 1864 ; disch. June 8, 1865.

Wm. McDaniels, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 27, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

George Saxty, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 27, 1864 ; disch. June 8, 1865.

George II. Parsons, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 20, 1864; died Jan. 15, 1865, of disease.

Douglass S. Ketchin, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 20, 1864.

Charles E. Scabring, corp, Co. 1, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 20, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

George W. Brown, sergt., Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 20, 1864; disclı. June 8, 1865.

Ambrose Worden, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 20, 1864 ; disch. - June 8, 1865.

Jacob M. Owens, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 20, 1864; died Nov. 4. 1864, of wounds.

John Ketchum, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 20, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

John Van Riper, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Nelson Bedell, corp., Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 27, 1864; taken pris- oner; disch. at close of the war.

Alfred Worden, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 27, 1864; died in prison, at Salisbury, N. C.

Charles Dense, private, Co. [, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864 ; disch. June 8,1865.

Charles W. Blackman, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864 ; pro. to Ist lient., May 28, 1865 ; disch. June 20, 1865.

David McAllister, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 30, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Alonzo Pettis, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 30, 1864 ; died Dec. 1864, of disease.

Eugene J. Franklin, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 29, 1864 ; disch. June 8, 1865.

Morton Bailey, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864; dischi. May 8, 1865.

Hugh Brown, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 30, 1864 ; disch. June 8, 1865.

Abram Myers, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 30, 1864.

James Ely, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 30, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865. John F. Drake, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864; died in prison at Salisbury, N. C.

Wm. Laggart, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; eal. Ang. 31, 1864 ; disch. June 8,18 5.

Nyes B. Congdon, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 31, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

John Berd-ley, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 31, 1864; disch . June 8, 1865.

John S. Patterson, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 30, 1864; died Nov. 27, 1864, of disease.

Niccoil F. Jones, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 30, 1864 ; wounded Sept. 30, 1864 ; disch. June 26, 1865.

John W. Cook, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 30, 1864; died Aug. 1865, of disease.

Alfonso Brooks, private, Co. I, 179tl N. Y. Regt .; enl. Sept. 2, 1864; disch. June 8,1865.

Daniel Marion, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt ; enl. Sept. 2, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Alexander Shoemaker, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 30, 1864 ; disch June 8, 1865.

William Johnson, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 30, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Leander Bower, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864; disch. May, 1865.

S. D. Shepard, sergt., Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 29, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Chas. M. Berdsley, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Sept. 3, 1864 ; disch. June 8, 1865.

Elias Beach, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 9, 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

William Root, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 10, 1864; disch. June 8,1865.

Jonathan W. Undertown, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 10, 1864; dischi. June 8, 1865.

Tunis A. Sturtevant, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Richard Chapman, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 1864; disch. June 26, 1865.

533

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

Andrew J. Gosline, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 1864; disch. June 8, 1865.

Hiram Starkes, private, Co. A, 109th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Jan. 5, 1863; disch. on account of disability.

Julius Ervey, private, Co. G, 109th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 11, 1862; wounded at Wilderness; disch. Sept. 5, 1864.

Timothy Parsons, private, Co. M, 3d N. Y. Art .; enl. Sept. 14, 1861 ; disch. Oct. 8, 1864.

Charles B. Seeley, private, 15th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Dec. 1863 ; taken prisoner. Henry D. Georgia, private, Ist N. Y. Independent Battery ; enl. Oct. 29, 1861 ; disch. June 24, 1865.

Nathaniel W. Williams, private, Co. I, 32d N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 23, 1862; dischi. May 19, 1864, for disability.

George Rowe, private, Co. I, 15th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Jan. 5, 1864 ; taken prisoner; died Oct. 1, 1864.

Orlando B. Sherwood, private, Co. C, 5th N. Y. Art. ; enl. Feb. 16, 1864; disch. July 28, 1865.

David Linderman, private, Co. D, 137th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Sept. 2, 1862; disch. for disability, no date.

Daniel Ketchum, sergt., Co. I, 76th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Oct. 14, 1861; died Sept. 27, 1863, of disease.

Charles N. Cornwell, private, Co. I, 179th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Aug. 24, 1864 ; disch. for disability, no date.

Alonzo Savercool, private, Co. E, 64th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Oct. 8, 1861 ; Alisch. Oct. 18, 1862, for disability.

James M. Clark, private, Co. E, 64th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Oct. 8, 1861 ; disch. Sept. 6, 1862, for disability.

lIosea Beers, private, Co. E, 64th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Oct. 8, 1861; disch. March, 1863, for disability.

Freeman R. Hill, corp., Co. I, 137th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Aug. 30, 1864.

Ansil Austin, private, Co. 1, 76th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Nov. 10, 1861 ; disch. Nov. 1864.

Herman J. Dodlittle, private, Co. G, 109th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. July 21, 1863 ; dischi. July 21, 1864.

Martin Ford, private, Co. M. 21st N. Y. Cav .; enl. Dec. 26, 1862.

Freeman Hendershot, private, Co. D, 16th N. Y. Art .; eul. Jan. 5, 1864; disch. Ang. 21, 1865.

Isaiah P. Poyer, private, Co. D, 16th N. Y. Art .; enl. Jan. 7, 1864; supposed dead.

Oscar Ilill, private, Co. D, 16th N. Y. Art .; enl. Feb. 4, 1863.

Charles Drake, private, Co. D, 16th N. Y. Art .; enl. Feb. 4, 1863.

Ichabod Berdsley, blacksmith, 10th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Sept. 7, 1861 ; served two years; re-enl. Dec. 18, 1863, private, Co. I, 137th N. Y. Regt. ; disch. June 8, 1865.

Lorenzo Austin, blacksmith, Co. I, 76th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Dec. 27, 1861 ; re- eul. Nov. 30, 1863, in Co. M, 103d N. Y. Art .; disch. June 26, 1865,

Amos P. Whitney, private, Co. M, 21st N. Y. Cav .; enl. Dec. 1863.

David Rittenhouse, private, Co. F, 15th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Jan. 5, 1864; disch. July 22, 1865.

Aaron Poyer, corp., Co. D, 143d N. Y. Regt .; enl. Ang. 16, 1862; disch. July 25, 1865.

Isaiah Poyer, private, Co. A, Ist Mounted Rifles ; enl. Oct. 1863.

Peter Prong, private, Co. F, 15th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Jan. 5, 1864; cisch. June 5, 1865.

The following is a list of persons in this town who have enlisted and have been credited elsewhere :

Francis P. Farrington, sergt., 109th N. Y. Regt. ; enl. Ang. 5, 1862.

Eugene Ervey, private, 109th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Nov. 20, 1863; died July, 1864, of disease.

Robert S. MeCorn, private, Co. 11, 33d N. Y. Regt .; enl. April 20, 1861 ; disch. June 9, 1863; re-enl. as sergt., Co. 11, 220 N. Y. Cav., Sept. 14, 1863.

Francis Carpenter, private, Co. D, 14th N. Y. Art .; enl. July 12, 1862; disch., no date given.

Oliver Evans, private, Co. M, 21st N. Y. C.v. ; enl. Jan. 2, 1864. Isaiah Poyer, private, Ist Mounted Rifles; ent. Oct. 1863.

George Ervey, private, 109th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Jan. 7, 1864 ; supposed dead.

Jolin P. Austin, private, Co. 1, 76th N. Y. Regt .; enl. Nov. 10, 1861 ; re-enl. Dec. 31, 1863, in Co. M, 31 N. Y. Art. ; disch. June 26, 1865.

Elijah Drake, private, Co. G, 109th N. Y. Regt .; enl. D.c. 28, 1863; wounded at. Spottsylvania; disch. July 11, 1863.

The following list of forty-two . names was obtained in New York City, by John H. L. Puff, supervisor at that time; he has no other record of them :

William Cullitian, William Tadson, John Evas, William Lamar, James Brady, Charles Tonssel, George Bush, John Brooks, Michael White, Frederic Godliard, Charles Hutt, John Tierney, Henry Mahrtons, William Smythe, John Madin, Samnel Seego, David McCabe, Charles Young, John llaHus, John Malone, Martin Vincent, Reams Eagan, William Dunn, Julius Lyon, John Gallispy, John Ryan, Peter Ganu, Thomas Brown, Thomas Dovan, Thomas Ryan, Charles Bush, Heury Ryan, Edward Wade, Cornelius Baldwin, Charles K ruey, Ludwig Banch, Herman Shewan, Frederic Lagie, Martin Delnney, James Malloy, Charles Concrite, Wil- liam Reed.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

EZRA MARION.

Barney Marion, the grandfather of Ezra Marion, was born in New Jersey in 1785. He came to this country- to what is now Tompkins County-in 1804. His entire life was devoted to farming. He married Miss Mary Mullen, and had a family of seven sons and two daugh- ters, of whom three sons and one daughter are living. He died in 1867.

Photo. by Frear.

Ezra Marion

William Marion, father of Ezra, was born in the town of Ithaea in 1818. He lived on his father's farm until he was married, in 1837. He died in 1841, leaving a wife and one child, Ezra, the subject of this sketch. His widow subsequently (1843) married Daniel MeIntosh, and had three sons and two daughters,-l'eter, John, James, Elizabeth, and Jane,-all living.

Ezra Marion was also a native of Ithaea, being born there in the year 1839. His father died when Ezra was but two years old ; until he was nine years of age he lived with his mother. At that early age he began to support himself. He was married in 1868 to Miss Hannah, daugh- ter of George Smithi, of which marriage the issue has been two sons,-Arthur and Perry.

Ezra Marion enlisted in the 136th Regiment New York Volunteers, in which organization and the 1st New York Dragoons he served until the close of the war. He was promoted from private to first sergeant; was in twenty- four engagements, and was wounded at the siege of Suf- folk, Va.

Mr. Marion's residenee is in the village of Newfield, N. Y. In 1876 he was elected supervisor of his town, has been re-elected each year since, and is the present incumbent. Politically, he is a Democrat.

534

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

J. B. PALMER

was born in the town of Morris, Otsego Co., July 5, 1809. He lived with his father on the homestead farm until he was eighteen years of age, at which time he entered an apprenticeship with Colonel Willard Coy, to learn the tan- ning business, and served three years and three months at that trade, and then engaged with the firm as a journeyman tanner, at ten dollars per month. At the expiration of six months he left the employ of that firm, and engaged with Dixon & Co., of Chenango County, and worked for them two years, the first year at ten dollars per month, and the second for sixteen dollars. After this he rented a tannery of Widow Babcock, and eondueted the business for himself two years. He then engaged with his unele, Jacob Lull, of Otsego County, and worked by " the piece." He was subsequently employed on the Blossburg and Corning Rail- road, as an overseer. In 1840 he removed to Tompkins County, and purchased the tannery of Richard Starr, which is located at Newfield village. He carried on the business four years, and then sold to Sydney Foster, Harris & Holister.

On the 17th of December, 1843, Mr. Palmer married Widow Poster, who is a daughter of Elias Thomas. She was born in Erie County, Pa , Feb. 15, 1817. They have had seven children,-four sons and three daughters,-of whom five are living. The names of the children, and the years of their births, are as follows: Clarissa J., born in 1844 ; Amos, born in 1845 ; Osinda, born in 1846 ; Charles H., born in 1848; Edwin J., born in 1850; Ewing S., born in 1855; Florenee V., born in 1859. Mr. Palmer has been elected to various town offiees, all of which he has filled with honor to himself, and to the general satisfaction of the people. His business life has been characterized by personal integrity, and his social relations by individual rectitude. He has been a member of the Episcopal Church for many years, but his wife being a Methodist, he attends that church with her. He is a liberal supporter of all religious enterprises, and also does all in his power to ad- vanee educational interests.

Taken all in all, Mr. Palmer is a prominent eitizen, a good neighbor, and an honest man, enjoying the respect and confidenee of the community in which he resides.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

ULYSSES.

THIS town is situated on the west bank of Cayuga Lake, and is the northwest town in the county. From the bor- ders of the lake the rocks rise precipitous in varying heights, their outline broken occasionally by little flats, formed by the deposits of the waters of the various tributary ereeks, through ages of storm and ealm, thus leaving points of land extending out into the lake, adding beauty and variety to its shores. From the top of the bluffs the land rises stead- ily till it reaches a height of 600 feet above the lake, after which it spreads into a broad reach of undulating upland,

forming the finest and most fertile farms. The soil is an excellent gravelly loam, so rieh in its production of grain and grass that it is referred to by that mythical person the " oldest inhabitant," when comparing farms for fertility of soil, as " the land between the lakes." The only consider- able stream is Taghanic Creek, which flows aeross the town, entering it from the west. In the north part is Trumans- burg Creek, which, with several other smaller streams, flows into the lake. On all these streams are beautiful easeades. The celebrated TAGHANIC FALLS, about a mile from the lake, is the highest perpendicular fall in the State. The gorge through which the stream runs being of shale, has been worn by the action of the restless waters till it has formed banks 380 feet in height. The roek over which it falls is of limestone, and is 215 feet high. When the stream is swelled by autumnal rains or spring freshets, the beholder, looking at the fearful plunge of the torrent over the precipiee into the gulf below, is ready to say with Rus- kin, in his deseription of the Falls of Sehaff hausen,-

" Watch how the vault of water first bends, unbroken, in pure, pol- ished velocity, over the arching rocks at the brow of the cataract, covering them with a dome of crystal-so swift that its motion is unseen, except when a foam-globe from above darts over it. like a falling star; and how the trees are lighted above it under all their leaves at the instant that it breaks into foam ; and how all the hollows of that foam burn with green fire like so much shattering chrys- oprase ; and how, ever and anon, startling you with its white flash, a jet of spray leaps hissing out of the fall, like a rocket bursting in the wind and driven away in dust, filling the air with light; and how, through the curdling wreaths of the restless, crashing abyss below, the blue of the water, paled in the foam in its body, shows purer than the sky through white rain-cloud; while the shuddering iris stoops in tremulous stillness over all, fading and flushing alternately through the choking spray and shattered sunshine, hiding itself at last among the thick golden leaves which toss to and fro in sympathy with the wild water; their dripping masses lifted at intervals like sheafs of loaded corn, by some stronger gush from the cataract, and bowed again upon the mossy rocks as its roar dies away ; the dew gushing from their thick branches through drooping clusters of emerald herb- age, and sparkling in white threads along the dark rocks of the shore, feeding the lichens which chase and checker them with purple and silver."

Green as the waves of the sea is the eireling, foaming mass of water below the fall, and fringed round the lips of the corrugated edge with foam-beads, which cateh the light in prismatic beauty. But the lake is beyond, and only for a little while do the waters eirele in this transient resting- place. Rapidly they glide on past the tall, bending trees, past the delieate ferns which are mirrored in the still pools of its quiet moods, and on, on, around abrupt roeks and past level fields, till lost in the blue waters of the lake.

The town embraces an area of 19,400 aeres, of which 16,223 are improved, and contains a population of 3418 inhabitants, according to the eensus of 1875.

The attention of the people is mainly direeted to the pursuits of agriculture and manufacturing. The Geneva, Ithaea and Sayre Railroad passes through the eastern part of the town, with stations at Willow Creek, Taghaniek, and Trumansburg, facilitating travel for the general pub- lie, and adding greatly to the convenience in marketing the various productions of the town. There are several val- uable stone-quarries on the banks of the streams, and lime- stone abounds on the bank of the lake.

& B Palmen

RESIDENCE OF 1. B. PALMER, NEWFIELD, TOMPKINS COUNTY , N. Y.

LITH BY L N ŁVERTS, PHILADA

OFF C

TEMPERANCE ZADQUANTE READIND ROOM

LITH BY .L. H. EVERTS, PHILA.

L.E.PAGE'S BLOCK, TRUMANSBURG, ULYSSES , N . Y.

535

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE NAME TAUGHANNOCK, OR TAGHANIC.

D. H. Hamilton, D.D., gives a tradition concerning the name of the Taghanic Creek, which is from the Delaware dialect. From this tradition, it would scem that the name was derived from a battle on its banks, between a band of Delawares from their homes in Pennsylvania, on a raid to avenge the insult put upon that conquered nation by an Onondaga chicf, Canassetego, in a conference with the Gov- crnor of Pennsylvania and the Delawares at Philadelphia. The Delawares had sold land to the Pennsylvania people, and the Iroquois called the Governor to account for his dealings with a tributary people, who had no right to alicn- ate the soil of the conquered territory. In his speech the Onondaga chief stigmatized the Delawares as dishonest cowards, unworthy the name of warriors, and therefore to be only known as women, and ordered them to leave the lands they had sold and remove into the Wyoming Valley, where they went .* The tradition says that a young chief of the aneient line of Taughannock, being present at the council, was stung by the sarcastic spcech of the Onondaga, and vowed revenge. Hc gathered together a band of 200 young braves, and marched northward to wrcak vengeance for the insulting demeanor of the Iroquois in their own land, and, meeting with superior forees, was hemmed in on the banks of this stream, where the entire band perished except two, who were adopted into the Cuyugas in place of relatives slain.

Ou their route to this region " they passed Wyoming and Owego and took the trail for Cayuga Lake, plotting to fall upon the Indian towns lying around, especially Ncodak- heat (Ithaca), Deowendote (Aurora), and Genogch (Can- oga). Fearing, however, to attack Neodakheat, they turned to the left, and pursuing their way northwards entered the Cayuga country, lying between Cayuga and Sencca Lakes, meaning to make an attack on Genogeh, and then rush back and fall upon Neodakheat. They cneountered, however, an unexpected resistance from some smaller settlements of Indians, situated in the region where Trumansburgh, Perry, Mecklenburgh, Tannerville, and Lodi have since been located. These Indians were both Cayugas and Sen- ecas, the chief settlement of the former being between Perry and Mecklenburglı, while that of the Scnecas was between Pratt's and Tannerville. The two tribes were, however, mueh intermingled, and assumed a name indica- tive of their origin, calling themselves Gamingncugnch, that is Senecayugas. This union was brought about, for the most part, by an aspiring and talented young chicf, whose father was a Seneca and whose mother was a Cayuga. The name of the chief of the community-for they never rose to the full dignity of a tribe-was derived from Ganundesaga (Seneca Lake), and Guengueh (Cayuga Lake). Ganun- guenguch was the Indian name of the chief, the settle- ments, the people, the stream, and of the Falls." William H. Bogart, Esq., of Aurora, says, " In the Algonquin, the word tahnun means wood ; olamehuknum, high ; patihaa- kun, thunder. In the Miami tongue, forest is tawwonaw- kewe ; in Delaware, it is taikunah. Tahxxan, in Delaware,

means wood. In the Dacotah dialect, tehanwaukan means very high. Sehooleraft states that the tribes generally dwelt on the banks of the rivers, which were denoted by an inflection to the root form of its name, as annah-annoek- any, as heard in Susqueh-annah, Rappahannock, and Al- legh-any. The termination of -atun or -atan or -ton denotes a rapid stream or channel. In Iroquois, the particle on de- notes a hill ; ock denotes a forest. I find in a dictionary of the Onondaga language, prepared by Jcan Murinchau, a' French Jesuit, the word dehennah, or dehennach, meaning, I believe, a Fall. In the Algonquin is the word taakhan, which is interpreted as Woods, and in the Mohawk, tung- kah, the explanation of which is Great. All these, brought together, are easily, in the changes of language and varie- ties of pronunciation, rendered as Taghannic, or The Great Fall in the Woods! which is the easy, and natural, and probable appellation given to it by the quiet, simple, un- imaginative men who once ruled and possessed all this land."

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

It was the custom of the Iroquois or Six Nations to hold festivals to commemorate the different seasons of the year, which were named variously " Thanks to the Maple," " Planting Festival," " Berry Festival," "Green Corn Festival," " Harvest Festival," "New Year's Jubilce," "Sacrifice of the White Dog," and an " Address to the Great Spirit." These festivals lasted several days, and were conducted with great ceremony. " From generation to generation these festivals had been observed at the same seasons upon the Mohawk, at Oneida, in the valley of the Onondaga, on the shore of the Cayuga, and in the several villages of the Senccas. Before the voice of the white man was heard in these peaceful and secluded retreats of the forest that of the Indian had been lifted up to the Great Spirit in thanksgiving and praise. The origin of these festivals is lost, as well as the date and order of their institution, but the Iroquois believe that they had been ob- served among them at least sinee the formation of the leaguc." Wentworth Greenhalgh says, in his observations of a journey from Albany "to ye Indians westward," begun March 20, 1677, and ended July 14 of the same year, " that Indian villages were sixty miles southeast of ye Onondagas on Lake Tiohero (now Cayuga Lake)." Mr. Herbert C. Goodwin, in his " History of Cortland County," quotes from an early writer that " where Taglianic Creek empties into the Tiohero (or Cayuga) Lake the Indians had built a small town, and were growing corn, beans, and potatoes, and they had also apple-trees on the rich flats of two and a half centuries' growth." The Indian village of that carly day was on the level lands, in front of where the present residence of Mrs. John Jones now stands.

This little village was called by the natives after the stream on which it was located, and escaped the notice of Lieutenant-Colonel Dearborn in his raid from Sullivan's main army, marching back from the Genesce along Seneca Lake. There was another settlement about six miles west of Taghanie, near the present village of Waterbury, which also, from its retired location, was not discerned by either of the detachments which General Sullivan sent out.

A hundred years had passed away sinee the discovery of

* Doc. Hist.

536

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

these Indian villages when cleven men, with two Delaware Indians for guides, came from Kingston, on the Hudson, to explore the country west of the. Susquehanna River, with the intention of selecting a future home, but they re- turned after an absence of about six weeks without making a location. In April of the following year three of the number, who were allied by marriage,-Jaeob Yaple, Isaac Dumond, and Peter Hymnpaugh,-not satisfied with the result of their first visit, determined again to seek a home. On the east side of the flats, at the head of Cayuga Lake, the Indians had cleared away the thorn and hazel bushes, and had broken several patches for cultivation, and here these inen eommeneed the first settlement in what is now Tompkins County.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 145

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