History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 17

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 17
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 17
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 17
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 17

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).

Horses on farms, June 1, 1875 : eolts of 1875, 351; eolts of 1874, 420; two years old and over, 6194. Mules, 77. Poultry : value owned, 1875, $35,614; value sold, 1874, $17,834; value of eggs sold, 1874, $34,540. Neat cattle on farms June 1, 1875: heifers, two years old, 2937; yearlings, 4218; calves, 4919; bulls of all ages, 2219; working-oxen and steers, 1075 ; milch eows, average num- ber kept, 1874, 17,103; 1875, 17,289 ; eattle slaughtered in 1874, 1043; eows whose milk was sent to factory in 1874, 513; in 1875, 439. Butter made in families, 1874, 2,218,271 pounds. Cheese made in families, 1874, 16,180 pounds. Milk sold in market, 1874, 62,518 gallons. Swine on farms June 1, 1875: pigs of 1875, 4918; of 1874 and older, 6052; slaughtered on farms, 1874, 6109; pork made on farms, 1874, 1,523,783 pounds.

The number of sheep shorn, total weight of clip, and average weights of fleeee for the years 1855, 1864, 1865, 1870, 1874, and 1875 were as follows :

Weight of Clip- Average Weight-

No. of Fleeces.

Pounds. 80,143

Pounds.

1855

26,499

3.02

1864

38,982

131,637

3.38

1865

40,434

135,244

3.34

1870

19,668

79,432

4.04

1874

15,876

64,010

4.03

1875

15,161

61,784

4.08

Lambs raised, 1874, 10,654; 1875, 11,348; slaugh- tered, 1874, 1248; killed by dogs, 1874, 218.

In 1874 there were three butter-factories in operation in the county, with an invested capital of $18,500, and which paid $2665 in wages, and used the milk of 875 eows on an average during the season, 502 days being oeeupied by the work. The average number of patrons was 63, and 2,541,702 pounds of milk were used for making butter and skimmed cheese. Of the former 91,586 pounds were made, and of the latter 83,675 pounds. Tioga County ranked, in 1874, among the fifteen highest eounties in the State on the average yield per cow, being twelfth.

There were, in 1875, 3298 farms of all sizes in the county, ranging from 3 aeres in area to over 500 and less than 1000 aeres. There were 87 of the former and 7 of the latter, and 1133 of 100 to 500 acres.

MANUFACTURES.

The pioneers first utilized the Pipe and Owego Creeks for their manufacturing enterprises. These streams, which, for ages before the advent of the adventurous settler, had,

deft artists as they were, been engaged in beautifying and diversifying the face of Nature, by eutting and earving the lovely vales through which they flowed unfettered to the river, embordered by roeky steeps and rounded hill-sides, now that the artisan Man had appeared forthwith gave their powers and capabilities to more prosaic and more praetieal, though less beautiful and artistic work. Their channels were fretted by dams; their waters turned the slow-revolving wheels; the busy saw, with steady, relent- less foree, eut its way to the hearts of the monarchs of the woods, fallen before the ringing blows of the pioneer's axe ; and the broad bosom of the Susquehanna bore on its flood- tides the rafts of the lumberman to Port Deposit and a market.

Major William Ransom and Colonel David Pixley werc the pioneer manufacturers, and made their beginnings in the territory comprised in the present area of the town of Tioga. The former, in 1792, built a saw-mill on Pipe Creek, and the latter, in 1793, ereeted a grist- or " samp-" mill on the Owego, near the present village of Owego. From that time forward the banks of those streams have been numerously oeeupied by mills and manufactories of various elasses and of various capacities. Lumbering was for many years extensively eondueted on both creeks,-more especially on the former one, where Major Ransom and his son, Colonel William Ransom (yet an honored citizen of the town of Tioga), erected several mills for sawing and flouring. Previous to the erection of Colonel Pixley's mill the people were foreed to go to a point beyond Bing- hanton, and earlier, to Athens (Tioga Point), and earlier still, to Wilkesbarre, for meal and flour. It was a good two weeks' trip to go to the latter place and return in eanoes, the only mode of transportation thitherward.

The first tannery was ereeted on the site of the present village of Owego, about 1795-96, by a Mr. Brown. Deer- skins were the chief artieles dressed in the earlier days of this tannery.

The first distillery was ereeted in the town of Tioga by Colonel Pixley before 1800, but the exact date we have been unable to fix.

Early in the days of the settlement, near the elose of the last century and during the opening years of the present, earding-machines, fulling-mills, and eloth-dressing establish- ments were ereeted and in operation. Woolen-factories were in sueeessful working order before 1808 in Tioga and elsewhere. Spafford's " New York Gazetteer," of 1813, says there were twenty-six grain- and saw-mills in the towu of Owego (now Tioga) in 1812.

In 1810 the Federal eensus gave the following statisties of manufactures in the county. There were 289 loouis ; 24,737 yards of woolen elothis were manufactured, of an average value of 873 eents per yard ; 67,340 yards of linen eloths, value 37} eents per yard; 7988 yards of mixed and cotton cloths, value 33} eents per yard ; 5 fulling-mills and clotheries,-15,716 yards of eloth fulled and dressed, value $1.25 per yard ; 5 earding-machines,-16,910 pounds of wool earded, valuc 50 cents per pound ; 2015 yards of cotton cloth were manufactured, value 32 eents per yard ; 7 tanneries, 825 hides tanned ; 29 distilleries, 17,540 gal- lons made (80 eents per gallon).

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

The census of 1870* gives the following statistics of manufactures. There were of all kinds of manufactures 328 establishments, of which 52 were operated by steam, and 148 by water-power; of 1355 operatives employed, 1318 were males above sixteen years, 26 were females above fifteen years, and 11 were youth. The invested cap- ital amounted to $1,543,200 ; wages were paid amounting to $423,873 ; cost of materials, $1,570,197; value of man- ufactured product, estimated at $2,573,669.

Of these establishments, 35 were saw-mills, 11 flour- ing-mills, 17 carriage- and wagon-factories, 13 cooperage, 12 tanneries, 11 saddlery, and 11 tin, copper, and sheet- iron ware. The tanneries were the heaviest investment, their capital being $466,750, employees 197, pay-roll $94,512, materials used $624,795, products $901,485. The saw- mills were next, with a capital of $163,200, employees 262, pay-roll $41,966, materials used $101,224, product $198,815. The flouring-mills were third on the list, and employed a capital of $151,000, 34 operatives, pay-roll $11,660, materials used $274,627, product $325,286. The carriage- and wagon-shops were fourth : capital $89,900, operatives 90, pay-roll $38,952, materials $29,479, product $99,221. A paper-mill was fifth : capital $60,000, opera- tives 21, wages $9000, materials $25,165, produet $45,000 ; 1 machine-shop employed 32 operatives and $40,000 eap- ital, paid $16,700 wages, $8275 for materials, and its product was valued at $29,000 ; 1 piano-manufactory em- ployed 9 operatives, $24,000 capital, paid $4338 wages, $14,105 for materials, product valued at $45,000.

There was received from the State for the encourage- ment of silk-culture during the raging of the Morus multi- caulis fever the following premiums : 1841, $31.77; 1842, $171.47 ; 1843, $156.15; 1844, $84.05 ; 1845, $101.59; and then the bubble burst. 384 lbs. of raw silk were man- ufactured in the county in 1844.

CHAPTER XV.

CIVIL HISTORY.

Organization of Counties-Deseent of Tioga-Erection of the Town of Chemung-Organization of Tioga-A Mother of Counties-Sur- render of Territory-Change of Boundaries-Origin of Name --- Organization of Towns.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.

CIVIL government was first established by Europeans, in what is now the State of New York, by the Dutch in 1621. In 1664 their power was superseded by that of the Eng- lish, who, with a brief interregnum in 1673-74, retained the sovereignty until the war of American Independence, when that power was in turn superseded by that of the American people themselves, who have maintained their supremaey to the present timne.

Under the Dutch, the only civil divisions were the city and towns. In 1665 a district or shrievalty, called York- shire, was erected, comprising Long Island, Staten Island,

and a part of the present county of Westchester. For ju- dieial purposes it was divided into the east, west, and north ridings. Counties were first ereeted by the Colonial As- sembly in April, 1683, and were twelve in number,-Al- bany, Cornwall, Dukes, Dutchess, Kings, New York, Orange, Queen's, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester. In 1766 Cumberland County was erected, Gloucester in 1770, and Tryon and Charlotte in 1772. Cornwall was in the present State of Maine and Dukes in Massachusetts, and both were re-ceded to the latter colony; so that at the time of the Revolution there were but fourteen counties in the State of New York, all of which were recognized as such by the province on the Declaration of Independence and constitution of the provincial Congress of the State in 1776. Delegates were elected from each county, and rep- resented their constituencies in the provincial congresses and conventions, and assisted in placing the State upon a constitutional basis and inaugurating its government. Since then Gloucester and Cumberland, and a part of Charlotte County, have been ceded to Vermont.

The county of Albany, the most western one, as origi- nally erected, extended to the "line of property" on the west. Tryon County, so named in honor of the Governor of the province at the date of its erection (1772), was taken from Albany, and also bounded west by the "line of property." On April 2, 1784, the name of Tryon County was changed to that of the young patriot, General Montgomery. In 1788, Montgomery County was made to include the present counties of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, and Schuyler, besides other territory, its bounds being thus defined : " Bounded easterly by Albany, Ulster, Washington, and Clinton Counties, southerly by the State of Pennsylva- nia, and west and north by the bounds of the State in those directions." The town of Whitestown, in Mont- gomery County, was erected March 7, 1788, and was made to include all of that county lying west of the Unadilla branch of the Susquehanna, north and south to bounds of the State. On the 22d of March, the same year, the town of Chemung was erected, its boundaries being thus defined : " Beginning at the intersection of the partition line between this State and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania line, f and running from said point of in- tersection due north along said partition line to the distance of two miles north of Tioga River ; thence with a straight line to the Owego River (West Owego Creek), to intersect said river at the distance of four miles from the confluenee thereof with the Susquehanna ; then down the Owego and Susquehanna Rivers to the Pennsylvania line; and thenee along the same to the place of beginning." The first town- meeting in the new town was directed to be held at such time and place as the commissioners, James Clinton, Jolin Cantine, and John Hathorn, appointed to allot the town to settlers, should appoint.

+ The monument at the beginning of this boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania was thus marked: One side, "New York, 1774;" on top, "lat. 42º var. 4º 20'," __ planted on an island. On west side of Delaware River, a heap of stones piled up at high- water mark ; and 4 perches distant another stone was planted with the letters "Penn., 1774," on the south side, and on the top "lat. 42° var. 4° 20'." Due west 18 perches an ash-tree was marked. The monuments were established in 1774, and the line completed in 1786.

# The census of 1875 gives no statistics of manufactures. See preface of same for explanation.

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

The next act in the march of progress was the organiza- tion of the county of Tioga, which was effeeted by the act of the Legislature of Feb. 16, 1791, which defined the boundaries of the county as follows : " All that tract of land in the county of Montgomery beginning at the eighty- second mile-stone in the line between this State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and running thence north until the northwest corner of the township No. 21, in the Military Tract, bears east ; thence east across the Seneca Lake to the Cayuga Lake ; thence easterly to the northwest corner of township No. 23, in the Military Tract aforesaid ; thence east along the north bounds of the said township No. 23 and the north bounds of the townships Nos. 24 and 25, and so continuing the same course to the west bounds of the twenty townships lately laid out for sale by this State ; thence along the same twenty townships north to the north- west corner of the township No. 12 of the said twenty townships; thence cast to the Unadilla River; thence down the middle of the westerly stream of the same river to its junction with the Susquehanna River; thence southerly along the line commonly called the 'line of property' to the Delaware River ; then down the Delaware River to the beginning of the said partition line between this State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and thence along the same partition line to the place of beginning." The aet of erection also organized the following towns in the county : " All that part of said county of Tioga lying westward of the Cayuta Creek, and township No. 22, in the Military Tract, shall be and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Chemung." " All that part of said county of Tioga bounded south by Pennsylvania, west by the town of Che- mung as last limited, north by the north bounds of Tioga County, and east by township No. 24, in the Military Tract, the Owego River, and a line running from the mouth thereof south to the Pennsylvania line, shall be and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Owego." " All that part of Tioga County bounded south by Pennsylvania, west by Owego township, north by the north bounds of the county, and east by the Chenango and Susquehanna Rivers, shall be and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Union." The towns of Jericho, covering territory now in Chenango and Broome Counties, aud Chenango, wholly in Broome, were also erected.

The county of Tioga, as thus organized, ineluded in its limits the present counties of Tioga, Broome, and Chemung entirely ; all of Schuyler, except the towns of Tyrone and Orange ; all of Tompkins, except the town of Groton, and a part of Lansing; about one-third of Cortland County ; and nearly or quite half of Chenango County. The courts of this great county were ordered to be held at the settle- ment in Chemung, since known as Elmira, for the June term, 1791, and January term, 1792.

The county was given one assemblyman in the apportion- ment of seven to Montgomery County, and was also made a part of the western senatorial district.

On the 5th of March, 1794, Onondaga County was formed of the Military Tract, taking from Tioga her first gift to her sister counties, viz., the townships of Hector, Ulysses, Dryden, Virgil, and Cincinnatus,-an area of 300,000 acres. March 15, 1798, Tioga suffered her next

loss of territory, in the formation of Chenango County, which included the greater part of the present county, the south line of which is now as at first defined. The origi- nal towns of Greene, Oxford, Norwich, and Jericho were included in the territory thus taken from Tioga.

The next diminution of Tioga's area was in the forma- tion of Broome County, March 28, 1806, by which all of the present area of Broome, and the present towns of Owego, Newark Valley, Berkshire, and Richford, were shorn from Tioga's fair proportions. The territory included in these towns was restored to Tioga March 22, 1822, under the names of the towns of Owego and Berkshire. It was taken off under the name of Tioga. In 1800 the town of Tioga was erected from Union, and comprised the territory lying between the West Owego Creek and a line drawn south from its mouth to the Pennsylvania line, and the present eastern bounds of the county of Tioga.

In the revision of the statutes in 1813, the names of the towns of Tioga and Owego were exchanged, one for the other, as they now exist. On this same day, March 22, 1822, the act giving back to Tioga her lost territory on the east took from her the territory on the north now included in the towns of Danby, Caroline, and Newfield, and gave it to Tompkins, the act of cession to take effect March 22, 1823 .* Another and a last divorce awaited Tioga, which was consummated March 29, 1836, when the county of Chemung was taken from the old county with whom she had been joined in judicial bonds and geographieal bounda- ries for nearly half a century. Thus limited the county of Tioga stands to-day, having given from her ample domain three thousand square miles,-two entire counties and the greater portion of three others,-retaining for her own limits five hundred and forty-two square miles only.

The name of the county is derived from that of the river that once flowed through its western portion, now the county of Chemung. Morgan, in his " League of the Iro- quois," gives the derivation and signification of the word as follows : " The various tribes of the Confederacy had a different pronunciation for the word. In the Oneida dia- lect it was Te-ah-o-ge; in the Mohawk, Te-yo-ge-ga; in the Cuyuga, Da-a-o-ga ; and in the Seneca, Da-ya-o-geh ; but all meant ' at the forks.' In the text of the work quoted it is written Ta- ya-o-ga. On Guy Johnson's map of 1771 it is written Ti-a-o-ga. The eloquent Red Jacket pronounced it Tah-hiho-gah, discarding the suffix ' Point,' which has been universally added when applied to the locality known now as Athens, Pa. He said the Indian word carried the full meaning,-' the point of land at the confluence of the two streams,' or ' the meeting of the waters.' "

THE TOWNS OF TIOGA COUNTY.

Tioga, organized as Owego, Feb. 16, 1791 ; name changed 1813; taken from Chemung. Spencer was taken off in 1806, and Barton and Nichols in 1824.

Judge G. H. Barstow drew the bill for this alteration of bounda- ries, which was prononneed by the Governor, De Witt Clinton, a re- markablo one, inasmuch as it incorporated Owego and Berkshire at onec, and also retained Danby, Caroline, and Newfield for one year, until they could be assessed for public buildings, they having been exempt from any taxation in Tompkins County for such purposes.

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

Owego, organized as Tioga, March 14, 1800; name changed 1813 ; taken from Union (Broome County).

Berkshire was taken off in 1808, and a part restored to Union in 1810.

Spencer was organized Feb. 28, 1806, from Tioga (then called Owego). Candor, in Tioga County, and Caroline, Danby, and Newfield, in Tompkins County, were taken off in 1811, and Cayuta, in 1824.

Berkshire was formed from Tioga (Owego) Feb. 12, 1808. Newark was taken off in 1823, and Richford in 1831.

Candor was formed from Spencer Feb. 22, 1811.

Newark Valley was formed from Berkshire, as " West- ville," April 12, 1823, and its name changed March 24, 1824.

Barton was formed from Tioga March 23, 1824. Re- ceived an addition of territory from Chemung County in 1836.

Nichols, fron Tioga, March 23, 1824.

Richford, from Berkshire, as " Arlington," April 18, 1831; name changed April 9, 1832.

Owego village was first incorporated April 4, 1827.

Waverly was first incorporated in 1854, and re-incorpo- rated as a village in 1863.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE LAW COURTS.

Common Pleas-General Sessions-Circuit and Oyer and Terminer- County Court-Supreme Court-Causes Celebres-The Board of Supervisors-Assessment and Taxation-The Taxes of a Century- Railroad Aid and Assessment-Stato Loans and United States Deposit.

THE LAW COURTS .*

THE courts of justice were first introduced into the county of Tioga by the act organizing the same, which

# The courts of the Colony and State of New York have been as follows :

UNDER THE DUTCH.

A Supreme Court (the Council), the Nine Men of Manhattan, the Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam and Fort Orange, the Orphan Court, the Patroon's Court of Rensselaerswyck.

UNDER THE ENGLISH.

1665-83 .- The Court of Assizes, Court of Sessions, and Town Courts under " The Duke's Laws."

1683-91 .- Justices' Courts, City Courts, Court of Sessions, Oyer and Terminer, Chanecry, and Prerogative Court (Probate).

1691-1777 .- The same as last named, and in addition Courts of Common Pleas and a Supreme Court, the Oyer and Terminer being merged in the latter under the Constitution.

1777-1821 .- Court for trial of impeachments and errors (the Senate and judge of Supreme Court), Court of Chancery, Supreme Court of Judieature, Exchequer, Cirenit, Oyer and Terminer, Court of Pro- bates, Common Pleas, General Sessions, City Courts, and Justices' Courts and Surrogates. Court of Admiralty abolished 1788.

1821-47 .- The same as last above, with modifications in constitution and jurisdiction of same. The Court of Exchequer was aholished in 1830 hy the repealing act of 1828, and the Court of Probates in 1823.

1847-78 .- Court for trial of impeachments (the Senate and judges of Court of Appeals), Court of Appeals, Supreme Court, Surrogates, County Courts, General Sessions, New York Common Pleas, Superior Courts of Cities, and Justices' Courts. The Circuit Courts and Oyer and Terminer are held. by the justiees of the Supreme Court.

provided for the holding of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions at the house of George Hornwell, in the town of Chemung, the first term to be held in June, 1791, and the second in January, 1792. The Circuit and Oyer and Terminer were to be held in the county at such time as the judges of those tribunals should deem proper.

THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

was held by Hon. Abraham Miller, first judge, three asso- ciate judges, and one assistant justice ; Thomas Nicholson, clerk, and James McMasters, sheriff, also being present. Vincent Mathews, David Woodcock, and David Powers appeared as attorneys, and the first suit that was brought before the court was one of Solomon Bennett versus Josiah Greenc, on a breach of contract to convey Chemung Island, and on which suit the plaintiff recovered damages at the January term, 1793.

The first judgment entered in the court was rendered at the January term, 1792, on a suit also brought at the first terni, between Joel Thomas and John Sheppard, Vincent Mathews attorney for plaintiff, and David Powers appearing for the defendant. The plea was one of assumpsit on the sale of a yoke of cattle, and damages laid at £40. A jury tried the facts, and gave a verdict for the plaintiff, assessing his damages at £25, and costs at £10 13s. 9d. The judg- ment-roll was signed by Abraham Miller, judge, Feb. 3, 1792, and filed by Thomas Nicholson, clerk. In 1792, Abraham Ten Broeck, Peter Loop, Samuel Miles Hopkins, and John Wickham were added to the roll of attorneys of the court.

THE GENERAL SESSIONS.

The first term of this court was held at the same time and place as the Common Pleas, but no record of business at the term is extant. The first recognizance was made returnable to the January term of 1792, as far as we have been able to learn, and was taken before John Miller, Jus- tice of the Peace, Dec. 3, 1791, and by which Henry Castle- burg and his wife Elizabeth were bound to appear before the sessions on the fourth Tuesday of January, 1792, and in the mean time to keep the peace towards all people, and more particularly towards Mary Cooley. Daniel Cruger was security for the parties in the sum of £40.

The first indictment found in the General Sessions was reported by the grand jury at the May term, 1793. It charged Wm. Moore with " uttering a false and forged certificate" of the Land Commissioner of New York for a tract of land in Chenango County. The defendant, on - being arraigned on the same in the Oyer and Terminer, pleaded " non culpa eod. die," and was recognized by Judge Hobart to the next Oyer and Terminer, to be held July term, 1794, when he was again recognized to the Oyer and Terminer of 1795, and then again to July, 1796, at which term the indicted and much-recognized individual and his security were discharged by proclamation, no one appearing to prosecute the charge. The judges holding the session of the General Sessions at the finding of the in- dictment were Bezaleel Seeley, John Miller, Lebbcus Ham- mond, and Elijah Buck. The grand jurors were John Konkle, Samucl M. Coon, Walter Waters, George Hull, Peter Van Deventer, Nathaniel Landon, Solomon Lane,

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

Timothy Smith, Ephraim Tiler, Samuel Luellenn, Jno. Morris, Joshua Carpenter, John Hendy, Stephen Gardner, Samuel Midaugh, and Daniel Cruger.

An indictment was also reported by the grand inquest against one of their fellow-citizens for an assault and battery, in which the indictment charged that the indieted, on the day specified, upon the assaulted, " then and there being in the peace of God and of the people of the said State of New York, with force and arnis an assault did make, and him (tlie said assaulted) then and there did beat, wound, and evil intreat, and then and there to him other enormous things did, to the great damage and hurt of him (the said assaulted), and to the evil example of all others offending the like kind, and against the peace of the said people and their dignity."

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 17

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