USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 21
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 21
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 21
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 21
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1810 .- Calch Baker, Phineas Catlin, Lewis Beers, Joseph Speed, Ilenry Wells.
1814 .- August Boyer, John Cantine.
1816 .- Joshua Ferris, Noah Goodrich, Stephen Beers. 1820 .- Thomas Floyd.
1821 .- William Jenkins, Jacob Willsey, Henry Miller, Benjamin Jennings.
1823 .- Latham A. Burrows, David Williams, John HI. Knapp. 1825 .- John MeConnell.
1827 .- Darius Bentley, J. Taleott Waldo.
1828 .- John G. MeDowell, John R. Drake.
1832 .- Joseph L. Darling, Elijah Shoemaker.
1833 .- George Fisher.
1836 .- J. Westlake, Ira Clizbee, Samuel Baragar. 1838 .- Elisha P. Higbe, Arthur Yates. 1844 .- Clark Hyatt.
ASSISTANT JUSTICES.
1810 .- John Konkle, Thomas Floyd, John Robinson, Joel Smith. 1816 .- John Cantine, Benjamin Wynkoop, Elijah S. Iliuman.
JUSTICES OF SESSIONS.
Designated yearly from among the Justices of the County, to preside with County Judge.
1848-49 .- J. Talcott Waldo, Thomas Yates. 1850 .- Gamaliel II. Barstow, Samuel Baragar.
1851 .- J. Talcott Waldo, Israel S. Iloyt.
1852 .- J. Taleott Waldo, Sylvester Knapp. 1853 .- Oliver A. Barstow, Samuel Baragar. 1854 .- Gaylord Willsey, Aug. T. Garey. 1855-56 .- Robert B. Miller, Samuel Baragar. 1857 .- Nathaniel F. Moore, John L. Howell. 1858 .- Nathaniel F. Moore, Thomas Yates. 1859 .- Edwin II. Schoonhover, Aug. T. Garey. 1860 .- Robert B. Miller, Lorain Curtis. 1861 .- Robert B. Miller, Samuel Baragar. 1862 .- Samuel C. Bidwell, Samuel Baragar. 1863 .- Iforace C. Hubbard, Samuel Baragar. 1864 .- William E. Gec, Luther B. West. 1865 .- Lorain Curtis, Samuel Baragar. 1866 .- Oscar Glezen, John II. Yontz. 1867 .- Samuel C. Bidwell, William F. Belden.
1868 .- IIerhert Richardson, John H. Yontz.
1869 .- IIerbert Richardson, William F. Belden. 1870 .- Samuel C. Bidwell, John II. Yontz. 1871 .- Luther B. West, H. II. Bidwell. 1872 .- Luther B. West, George Cooper. 1873 .- Luther B. West, Daniel B. Nash. 1874 .- Anson M. Kimball, John C. Parmelee. 1875 .- Daniel B. Nash, John C. Parmelee. 1876 .- Gershom A. Clark, Robert B. Miller. 1877 .- Chas. F. Curtis, Robert B. Miller. 1878 .- Daniel B. Nash, Junius Collins.
# Created by constitution 1846; terms originally four years ; since 1871 six years.
t Under aet of April 10, 1849, terin three years.
{ This list is incomplete by reason of loss of records.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Appointed previous to 1826.
1811 .- Jacob Kress, Chemung ; Elijah Shoemaker, Owego; Benjamin Jennings, Stephen Beers, Danby ; John Stubbs, John White, John Lyon, Cayuta; Ephraim Chambers, William Rounse- ville, Abraham Blackman, Caroline; George Allen, Thomas Gridley, William Scott, Candor; Samuel Westbrook, -; Isaac Swartwood, Spencer; Joel Smith, Candor; Seneca Ilowland.
1812 .- John Robinson, Robert Lawrence, Elmira; Eli Y. Barnes, . Catherine; Ludowiek Light, Owego (Tioga).
1814 .- Nathaniel Schofield, Asa North, Walter IIerriek, Candor; John MeConnel, Elmira.
1816 .- Emanuel Coryell, Tioga; Caleb Baker, Henry Wells, Che- mung ; Phineas Catlin, Joshua Ferris, Noah Goodrich, John Konkle, Elmira; Thomas Floyd, Johu Cantine, Benjamin Wynkoop, Elijah S. Hinman, Robert Miller, John Gragg, Charles Deming, Joseph Barker, Enos Canfield, Gamaliel II. Barstow, John . Light, Charles Taylor, John Newcomb, Jared Patchin, Erastus Granger, Benjamin Starr, Jacob Miller, Elinira; Salmon Johnson, James Ashley, Caroline; Josiah Perry, Hudson Jennings, Augustus Lyon, Samuel Winton, Thomas Mills, Catherine; Samuel Barclay.
1819 .- Orange F. Booth, Candor; Geo. K. IIall, Spencer ; Richard Denton, Danby ; Amos Bonney, Claudius Townsend, Cath- erine; James Murray, Benjamin Vickery, Cayuta; Wright Dunhamu, Tioga; Eleazar Owen, Elmira; Joseph Hollister, Speneer.
1820 .- Herley Lord, George C. Edwards, Elmira.
1822 .- Jesse Carpenter, Darius Bentley, Elmira; William Benson, Seneca Baker, Southport; Alvah Bennett, George Shryver, Big Flats; Asa Camp, John Jewett, Ziba A. Leland, Owego : Anson Highe, Gad Werthington, David Williams, W. H. Moore, Berkshire; John Tuthill, Alexander MeKey, Erin.
1823 .- Jotham Rounds, Latham A. Burrows, Wm. Platt, Owego; John Brown, Big Flats; Horace Tupper, Samuel Sterling, John Crawford, Lewis Thompson, Catlin; Jacob Weller, Theodore Vallean, Ira Dodge, Jesse D. White, Veteran ; Mareus Jones, Samuel Agard, Catherine; Elizur Goodrich, Berkshire; Jacob Willsey, Samuel Baragar, Joel Tallmadge, Jr., Candor; Gilbert Smith, Tioga; Thomas Peart, Spencer ; John L. Darling, Catherine; IIarmon Sawyer, Arden Aus- tin, Green M. Tuthill, Erin ; Asahel Buek, Jacob Lowwan, Ephraim Strong, Henry S. Fry, Chemung; Wm. Lowe, Elmira; John A. Knapp, Samuel Strong, Southport; Alfred Fry, Joseph Chandler, Big Flats.
1824 .- Nathaniel I. Potter, John Crotsley, Jonathan Barnes, Barton ; Isaac White, Jed. Middaugh, James Van Etten, Caynta; Peter Wilson, Elisha P. Higbe, Newark ; John Hedden, John Butts, Spencer; Ziba Miller, David Wallis, Tioga; Ezra Canfield, Nichols.
1825 .- Luke Sanders, Barton; Jacob King, Catlin ; Aaron Jackson, Chemung; William Maxwell, Elmira ; Daniel Vaughn, Erin; Jos. Benjamin, Francis Armstrong, Newark ; John Coryell, Nichols.
IN THE COUNTY.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS .? Date given is that of appointment.
March 31, 1796 .- William Stuart, Sixth District. If March 2, 1802 .- William Stuart, Seventh District. T
March 12, 1813 .- Vincent Mathews, Seventh District.
¿ These officers were first called assistant attorneys-general. The office of district attorney was created April 4, 1801. The distriets, under act of Feb. 12, 1796, wero very large, and embraced several connties. In 1818 each county was made a district. Under first con- stitution, the officers wero appointed by Council of Appointment ; uuder the secondl by the courts of General Sessions in each county ; under that of 1846 they are cleeted for terms of three years.
|| Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, and Tioga Counties.
" Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tioga, Allegany, from 1806; Broome, 1806 to 1817; Seneca, 1804 to 1813; Genesee, 1802 to 1813; Chatanqua and Niagara, from 1808 to 1813; Cattarangus, from 1808.
12
90
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
Under act of 1818 and second constitution.
June 19, 1818 .- John L. Tillinghast. March 21, 1822 .- William Maxwell.
May, 1823 .- Eleazer Dana. January, 1826 .- Aaron Konkle. March, 1835 .- Andrew K. Gragg.
July, 1836 .- Stephen Strong.
July, 1838 .- Ezra S. Sweet.
June, 1841 .- John J. Taylor.
Fchruary, 1843 .- George Sidney Camp.
February, 1844 .- Stephen Strong.
Under constitution 1846. Elected for three years.
June, 1847. Ezra S. Sweet.
1850. Alanson Munger.
1853 and 1856. B. F. Tracy.
1870. Eugenc B. Gere.
1859 and 1862. D. O. Hancock.
1873 and 1876. Lyman Settle.
COUNTY CLERKS .*
1791. Thomas Nicholson.t
1852. Leroy W. Kingman.
1792. Matthew Carpenter.
1858. Thomas C. Platt.
1819. Thomas Maxwell.
1861. llorace A. Brooks.
1828. Green M. Tuthill.
1873. John J. Van Kleck.
1834. David Wallis.
1876. John C. Gray.
1843-46. Moses Stevens.
SHERIFFS.İ
1791. James McMasters.
1834. John Jackson.
1795. Joseph Ilinchman.
1837. Prentice Ransom.
1799. Edward Edwards.
1840. Robert L. Fleming.
1800. Guy Maxwell. 1843. Charles R. Barstow.
1804. John Cantine.
1846. John J. Sackett.
1805. William Woodruff.
1849. Nathan H. Woodford.
1806. William Jenkins.
1852. Robbins D. Willard.
1810. Jonathan Platt.
1855. Samuel Mills.
1811. Miles Forman.
1858. Daniel L. Jenks .¿
1813. Jonathan Platt.
1860. Frank L. Jones.||
1815. Miles Forman.
Barney M. Stebbins. T
1819. Elijah S. Hlinman.
1861. Hiram W. Shoemaker.
1819. Henry Wells.
1864. Joseph B. Upham.
1821. Miles Forman.
Barney M. Stebbins .**
1822. William Jenkins.
1866. Lewis W. Truesdell.
1825. E. Shoemaker.
1869. Thomas F. Pearl.
1828. Henry McCormick.
1872. Charles C. Brooks.
1831. Lyman Covell.
1875. Wm. II. Rightmire.
COUNTY TREASURERS.IT Date given is that of first appointment.
1793. Jonathan Fitch.
1847. William P. Stone.
1795. Orringh Stoddart.
1848. Charles Platt.
1798. David Pixley. 1851. Franklin Slosson.
1803. Samuel Tinkham.
1854. Ezra S. Buckbee.
1804-36. Joshua Ferris.
1860. Gordon G. Manning.
1837. John Carmichael.
1863. John B. Brush.
1843. Daniel Armstrong.
1872. Eli W. Stone.
Appointed under first and second constitutions ; terms three years under second ; elected under present constitution for same term. They are clerks of all the courts of record held in the county.
+ Died soon after appointment.
į Under the Dutch the sheriff was called the "Schout Fiseal," and was the attorney-general as well. Under the first constitution the sheriff was appointed annually, and could not hold the office longer than four years successively. Under second and present constitution the terms are three years, and the incumbent is ineligible for the next suceeeding term.
¿ Removed by Governor, Jan. 28, 1860.
| Appointed vice Jenks, removed-resigned.
T Appointed vice Jones, resigned.
## Appointed.
tt Previous to constitution of 1846 appointed by Board of Super- yisors; since then clected for terms of three years.
SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.##
1843. William Williams. 1859 and '60. William Smyth.
1845. Robert Harlin. 1863 and '66. Andrew J. Lang.
1846. Elijah Powell. 1869. Wm. H. Cole.
1856. Elijah Powell. 1872 and '75. Lemuel D. Vose.
CHAIRMAN OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Elected by the board each year at the annual meeting.
From 1791 to 1811 there is no record of the choice of a presiding offi- cer. Joel Smith, 1811 ; Stephen Beers, 1814-15; John McConnel, 1816; Thomas Hoy, 1817 ; John McConnel, 1821-22; Alexander McKey, 1823; Solomon Williams, 1824-25; Matthew Carpenter, 1826; John Tuthill, 1827 ; Jolin MeConnel, 1828; David Wil- liams, 1832; Samuel Barager, 1833-35 ; David Williams, 1836; Samuel Barager, 1837-38 ; A. W. McKey, 1839-43; G. H. Bar- stow, 1844-45; D. Wallis, 1846; Alexander W. McKey, 1847-48 ; Win. Pierson, 1849-50; Gilbert Strang, 1851; Horace Booth, 1852; 11. Coryell, 1853; S. D. Leonard, 1854 ; Dr. Ezekiel Love- joy, 1855 ; Franklin Slosson, 1856; F. H. Todd, 1857-58; T. I. Chatfield, 1859; P. 11. Joslin, 1860; Watson L. Hoskins, 1861 ; Chas. C. Thomas, 1862; D. M. Pitcher, 1863-1871; Harry Jew- ett, 1872; Daniel M. Pitcher, 1873; W. 11. Corey, 1874; F. I. Chatfield, 1875; T. S. Armstrong, 1876-77.
CLERKS OF THE BOARD. Elected by Board of Supervisors.
John Konkle, 1795-1800 ; John H. Avery, 1801-6; Robert Lawrence, 1807-9; Elijah Carpenter, 1810-11; Joshua Ferris, 1812-13; Thomas Fisher, 1814-22 ; Thomas Maxwell, 1823-35; D. Wallis, 1836-45; Chas. F. Wallis, 1846; John Ripley, 1847-49; G. S. Leonard, 1850-1852; D. Wallis, 1853-54; Franklin Slosson, 1855; A. Munger, 1856; C. A. Munger, 1857; Geo. W. Fay, 1858; G. S. Leonard, 1859; E. W. Stone, 1860; Franklin Slosson, 1861; James A. Nixon, 1862 ; Samuel Hunt, 1863 ; E. W. Stone, 1864- 68; Francis Armstrong, Jr., 1869-70 ; Theodore D. Gere, 1871- 73; W. A. Jewett, 1874; Henry L. Armstrong, 1875-76 ; Horace A. Brooks, 1877.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR. 22
Appointed hy the Board of Supervisors.
1832-33. Elihu Butts.
1845. Nicholas Shoemaker.
Henry McCormick.
1846. Ephraim Leach.
Charles Evans.
1834-37. George K. Ilall.
1836-37. Waterbury Smith. Seymour Wright.
1847-48. John H. Arnold.
Daniel Bacon. Edward W. Suydam.
1845. Ilenry Armstrong.
Elected hy the people for terms of three years.
1849. Charles Ward. 1860-62. Alhert Williams.
1849-50. Christopher Burbank.
1862-64. Newton C. Cooley.
1849-51. John H. Arnold.
1863-65. Jeremiah T. McMaster.
1850-52. Louis P. Legg.
1865-67: Albert Williams.
1852-54. Charles Evans.
1866-68. Chauncey T. Woodford.
1853-55. Anthony M. Tyler.
1867-69. Henry Young.
1854-56. Charles T. Bell. 1868-70. Jerome B. Landfield.
1855-66. David Taylor .- 1871-73. llenry Young.
1856-58. Charles Evans. 1871-78. Benjamin Golden.
1857-59. Joel Robinson.
1874-76. Enos S. Farnham.
1859-61. Robert Curtis.
1877-79. Warren Hooker.
LOAN COMMISSIONERS. Appointed by the Governor.
STATE LOANS.
1792. Lebheus Hammond. 1832. David Wallis.
Lodowick Light. 1835. John H. Yontz.
1813. Robt. Lawrence, vice Ham- mond.
1843. Thomas Maxwell. Charles T. Bill.
1820. Emanuel Coryell.
1825. Jesse Carpenter.
1845. H. C. Steadman.
1826. John Hendy. Henry Light.
1847. W. W. Davis.
1831. Smith Forman.
1848. Anson Ball.
¡¡ Appointed by Board of Supervisors 1843-1847; office abolished in 1847, re-enacted in 1856, and commissioners elected since then for terms of three years. ¿¿ This list is incomplete by reason of loss of records.
.f.
1832-35. George Coryell. Wyatt Carr.
1832-37. Jared Huntington.
John Frier.
1840. D. W. Moore.
1846. Franklin Slosson.
1865. Isaac S. Catlin. 1867. D. O. Hancock.
91
AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
UNITED STATES DEPOSIT FUND.
1837-40. Samuel Baragar.
1857-59. William Smyth.
Smith Forman.
1859-60. Charles Stebbins.
1840-42. Samuel Baragar.
Charles F. IIill.
Charles R. Barstow.
1861 1861-64. David Goodrich.
1843-44. Horatio Collins. Gilbert Strang.
Forman S. Highe. 1865-69. R. W. Clinton. Thomas Pert.
1845-47. Miles Forman.
J. A. Niehols.
1870-72. Charles E. Ransom.
1848-55. T. I. Chatfield.
David M. Goodrich.
Charles Higbe.
1873-76. John B. Stanbrough.
1855-57. J. H. Arnold.
Forman S. Iligbe.
John Danforth.
1877-78. John B. Stanhrongh.
1857-59. W. P. Raymond.
James R. Wilmot.
COMMISSIONERS OF EXCISE.
1857-60. Stephen B. Leonard. Josiah Lawrence. Daniel D. MeDowell.
1865. Marcellus A. Morse, vice Leonard.
1868. Richard Spendley, vice Morse. 1869.ª Stephen P. Bedell, vice Davis.
CHAPTER XX.
EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS.
The Log School-House and God's first Temples-Schools of the Bor- der and of the City-County Teachers' Association-The Church of the Wilderness and of the last Quarter of the Nineteenth Cen- tury-County Bible Society and Sunday-School Association.
-
what channels of seet it eame, or under what Church ban- ner they served. And the School and the Church flour- ished apace as the settlements grew more populous, the clearings more extended, the people more comfortable, and the desire for higher and better knowledge more en- grossing.
SCHOOLS.
The first school opened in Tioga County was one taught by David MeMaster, in the Newark Valley settlement, in the year 1796-97, in the bark-covered shanty of Elisha Willson a portion of the time, and in Josiah Ball's shoe- shop the remainder. Log school-houses were built previous to 1800 in several of the settlements of the county, the first framed one being in Owego, about 1802. The first publie moneys raised for schools in Tioga County were the taxes of 1796 for that purpose, the list being as follows : New- town, £54; Chemung, £21 10s .; Oswego (Tioga), £35 7s. 8d .; Union, £87 16s. 2d .; Chenango, £47 8s. 10d .; Jericho, £40 7s. 2d .; Oxford, £38 5s. 4d .; Norwich, £53 14s. 8d .; total, £378 9s. 10d. ($946). The sum was raised under the law of 1795, requiring the county to raise in each town a sumi at least equal to one-half of the amount received from the State by the town; therefore it is presumable that at least as much was received from the State as was raised by tax, though no record is extant of any amount being received from the State at that time. Taxes were levied for school purposes, and public moneys received from the State, until the extinction of the appropriation of 1795, which occurred in 1800. We find no record of school money being raised by tax or received from the State from the last-named date until 1813, when the suni of $411.81 was distributed by the State among the towns of the county under the act of 1812, as follows : Elmira, $113.09; Cath- erine, $43.17 ; Chemung, $35.61; Owego (Tioga), $56.49; Danby, Candor, Cayuta, Caroline, and Spencer, each $32.62. A sum of $475 was raised by tax in the towns, the total amount of money received for school purposes being $886.81. Since 1812 to the present time, the amount of money received from the State, and raised by tax for school purposes, is as follows :
Rec'd from State. Raised by tax.
1813-50
1851-77 ..
$52,590 354,253
$69,545 138,970±
Total
$406,843
$208,515
t The first appropriation for schools by the State was made in 1789, by an act directing the surveyor-general to set apart in each township of the public lands two lots for gospel and literature pur- poses. In 1795 the sum of $50,000 per annum, for five years, was appropriated for distribution among the several counties for support of common schools, and the supervisors were required to raise by tax in each town a sum equal to one-half of the State appropriation re- eeived by the town. In 1801, $100,000 were authorized to be raised by lotteries,-$12,500 to be paid to the Regents of the University, aud $87,500 to be paid into the State treasury for the use of the common schools. In 1805 the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of the public lands were appropriated for a permanent fund for the support of common schools, the avails to he invested until the interest amounted to $50,000, when an annual distribution of that sumn was to be made. In 1812 the school system as it existedl up to 1840 was adopted, which left it optional with the electors of each town to accept their share of public money, and raise an equal amount by tax.
¿ Does not include amount raised in distriets for building sehool- houses, etc., but is the amount returned to the State hy the county."}
# Office abolished and town commissioners substituted.
.
THE first settlers in the wilds of Tioga were from the liberty-inspiring hills of rocky Berkshire. Born amid their rugged peaks and in their quiet, sequestered vales, they in- haled the very breath of freedom fresh from the mountain- heights of the grand old Commonwealth, in whose roeky, sterile soil liberty and progress seem to spring spontane- ously. With such sentiments aglow in their breasts, the pioneers planted the institutions of their native State, the school and the church, side by side. Before a log cabin was raised, the song of thanksgiving and the voice of melody rose upon the air from beneath the canopy of overarching elms and maples, mingling with the murmuring of pines, the musie of warbling birds, and the rippling of running brooks. Schools were established before there was a build- ing erected for their especial use, and the schoolmaster was abroad in the land. Churches were organized, and for years the people worshiped in dwellings and barns, in the woods, -" God's first temples,"-and later, in the log school-house. The Church of England reached out its sheltering arms to the Confederate nations of the Iroquois, and gathered some dark-skinned warriors and their women and children into the fold ; Jayne, the pioneer Baptist, formed his little eon- gregations all over the wilderness; Williston preached glad tidings of great joy to many people, and gathered them into the fold of Congregationalism ; Asbury extended his itinerating tours through the valleys of the Susquehanna and the Owego, and prepared the way for the itinerants of Wesley to follow ; and the eccentric Lorenzo Dow visited the border, and proclaimed his views in his peculiar and striking manner to attentive listeners. All found a wel- eome who preached the orthodox faith, no matter through
1861. Austin Clark, vice Law- renee.
1853. Nathaniel W. Davis, vice MeDowell.
92
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
By the report of the school commissioner for the year ending Sept. 30, 1877, the statistics of the schools of the present are shown, and are as follows: there were 200 licensed teachers employed at one and the same time; and during the year there were 339 employed, of whom 86 were males and 253 females. There were 10,094 children of the school age in the county, of whom 7940, together with 367 non-resident pupils, attended the schools, which were taught 4665 weeks. There were 153 frame and 5 brick school- houses in the county, valued at $96,215, and their sites at $23,312; total, $119,527; 7648 volumes in the school libraries were valued at $5396. The assessed value of tax- able property in the county was fixed at $5,411,682. There was a balance of eash in the school treasuries of the sev- eral towns, on Oct. 1, 1876, of $4412.85. The amount apportioned to theni by the State Superintendent was $23,832.07 ; the amount raised by tax in the several dis- triets was $34,177.98; amount received for teachers' board, $3693.11 ; received from all other sources, $7768.99 ; total assets, $73,885.00. Disbursements : for teachers' wages, $49,835.95 ; for libraries, $59.61 ; for school apparatus, $141.19 ; for school-houses, sites, repairs, improvements, furniture, etc., $11,344.78 ; for all other incidental expenses, $5328.19. Total expenditures, $66,709.72. Balance on hand, Sept. 30, 1877, $7175.28.
THE TIOGA COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.
This Association was organized in 1870,* under the ad- ministration of School Commissioner Cole. Prof. J. Ten- ney was elected the first president of the Association, and the second meeting was held in February, 1871. The annual meetings are held in May, and arc full of interest. The last mecting was held in Owego, and convened Thurs- day evening, May 30, and continued its sessions until Saturday noon. The exercises were of the most interest- ing character, and included a literary and musical pro- gramme of a high standard of excellence. Leetures were delivered during the progress of the sessions by Dr. C. D. Vail, of Geneva, Prof. H. H. Hutton, and Hon. O. W. Chapman, of Binghamton, and papers were read by several of the teachers present. The drill of the school-room was exemplified by teachers and their classes from various parts of the county, and mueh credit was given to Professor L. D. Vose, School Commissioner, for the efficiency displayed at the gathering, and the consequent good resulting from the meeting of the teachers in joint session. The present president of the Association is Professor L. D. Farnham, and H. W. Child is the secretary.
The New York State Teachers' Institutes are held yearly in the county, under the auspices of the Department of Public Instruction, and have been so held since 1847.
THE CHURCH.
The earliest record that exists of a religious service held in accordance with the forms of the Christian Church in
the territory onee included in Tioga County is that one which Andrew Ellicott, one of the commissioners to sur- vey and run out the boundary line between Pennsylvania and New York, gives under date of Aug. 6, 1785, from which the following extract is taken. It was in a letter written to his wife :
" BANKS OF SUSQUEHANNA, " Twelve miles from the Indian town Shanang.
" I have just returned from attending divine service of the Indians in their camp. This will, no doubt, appear strange to you, but stranger yet when I assure you I have found more true religion and Christianity among them than with the white inhabitants on the frontier. They are of the Church of England, and have the service complete in their own language ; they sing psalms to admiration, much superior to the Dutch Methodists in Baltimore."t
The first church organized in the limits of the present county of Tioga was one called the " Baptist Church of New Bedford." It was formed Feb. 20, 1796, by several families residing along the Susquehanna in the limits of the present town of Tioga, who came from Bedford, West- chester Co., N. Y., Rev. David Jayne being the minister, assisted by a deputation from the Baptist Church of Che- mung (organized 1790). The original members were but nine. Mr. Jayne continued as pastor of this pioneer church for fourteen years. Subsequently, as the settlements cx- tended northward, a portion of this society formed a new organization at Tioga Centre, and the old one became es- tablished at Halsey Valley, and in 1847 became known, as now, as the Tioga and Barton Baptist Church. The fur- ther history of this church is given in the history of the towns of Barton and Tioga.
The first ehureh edifiee was erected in the limits of the present town of Newark Valley, by the Congregational Society of that town, in 1803-4.
The first Congregational Church was organized in New- ark Valley, in 1803; and in 1811 it became, by change of church polity, the first Presbyterian Church in the county.
The first Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1809, in the town of Spencer.
The first Protestant Episcopal Church in the county was organized in 1832, in the town of Candor.
The first Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1843, in the village of Owego.
The census of 1875 shows the following condition of the church, in point of organizations, edifices, number of sittings, membership, value of property, and salaries of the clergy, in the county :
Methodist Episcopal .- Twenty-six organizations and as many church edifices, with 9810 sittings ; 2506 members. Value of church edifiec and lots, $160,982 ; value of other real estate, $20,600 ; annual salaries of clergy, $12,440.
Baptist .- Thirteen organizations, 13 cdifiees, 4875 sit- tings, 1876 members. Value of church edifiees and sites, $130,400 ; value of other real estate, $6150; annual sal- aries of clergy, $7300.
Congregationalist .- Six organizations, 6 edifiecs, 2850 sittings, 868 members. Value of edifices and sites, $50,200 ; value of other real estate, $6500 ; annual salaries of clergy, $6050.
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