History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 26

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 26
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 26
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 26
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 26

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 Ahwaga Chief was first issued Feb. 23, 1872, as an independent Republican paper, by Horace A. Brooks, County Clerk from 1861 to 1873, and during that period one of the most active members of the Republican party. Upon the organization of the Liberal Republican party the Chief espoused the cause of that party, and upon the nom-

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ination of Mr. Greeley for President at onee plaeed his name at the head of its columns, and with all the earnest- ness, zeal, and ability of its editor advocated his election. The Chief was remarkable for the excellence of its literary and poetic contributions, all written by home talent. Among its contributors were the gifted Munger, Mrs. E. A. B. Mitchell, the poetess, Rev. George P. Porter, William Bixby, D.D., Mrs. Rev. George P. Porter, Mrs. Henry M. Wheeler, and Rev. D. C. Olmstead. The Chief elosed his brief though brilliant campaign with the defeat of the party he had so ably championed, a supplement issued Dec. 28, 1872, assigning the editor's reason for his eourse. Mr. Brooks was subsequently engaged in the newspaper busi- ness at Elmira, where his work will be further noticed.

The Tioga and Bradford Democrat was published at Waverly, by F. H. Baldwin, as editor and proprietor, the first issue bearing date Jan. 7, 1863. Its publication was continued four years, and then the paper was removed to Port Jervis.

The Waverly and Athens Democrat was established in 1867, by D. P. Schultz. It was a sheet 24 by 36 inches, but was short lived.

The Owego Christian Tribune was a religious monthly of eight pages, and a sheet 13 by 24 inches, published by John F. Seaman, for a short time only.

AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS.

Tioga County has been the home, for a time more or less extended, from a lifetime to a few summers, of some writ- ers and authors of note in the world of letters. Foremost among them must be named one whose songs have echoed around the world, and who, though not a son of the old county, yet for some time was a citizen thereof:

Nathaniel Parker Willis for some years resided near Owego, at his homestead, ealled by him "Glen Mary," a quiet little rural retreat, where many of the rarest days of the poet were spent, and where his noted "Letters from Under a Bridge" were written, and some of his eomedies. The fame of Mr. Willis is world-wide, and belongs to no locality. His songs are read in every tongue, and have fluttered from the press of all lands, and need no repetition here. His "Sacred Poems" have awakened the deepest and truest emotions of the human heart, and led thousands to look upward to diviner things, and see a beauty in heav- enly charity not seen before.

Charles A. Munger, Esq., a member of the Tioga County bar, was more of a poct than a lawyer. The muse had so enraptured his soul that the dull, prosaie forms of brief and bill, demurrer and complaint, possessed little interest for him, and he therefore gave himself up almost exclusively to the dalliance of the goddess of song, and found his chiefest pleasure and broadest and highest growth in her service. His writings were rather voluminous, but save a select few, which were compiled by his sisters after his death, and published for them by G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New York, no collection of them exists other than in the files of the weekly and periodieal press for which he wrote.

Mrs. E. A. B. Mitehell, a daughter of Benjamin V. C. Brooks, of Smithboro', both father and daughter being na- tives of the town of Tioga, has written very many sweet

poems, and touching tributes of affection for friends who have passed away. She is also a story-teller of considerable power, her tales having been eagerly sought for by the rural press as well as by metropolitan magazines, for which she has written largely. There has been as yet no eompi- lation of her poems or prose writings, in the latter of which her greatest power and abilities are exhibited. A faet in Mrs. Mitchell's life which lends an added interest to her writings is the painful one that since her nineteenth year she has been more or less of an invalid, confined to her room much of the time by paralysis of the optic nerve. Sinee then she has been able to read but little, and has acquired the information with which her mind is fairly stocked, by absorption, from others' reading and conversa- tion. With the aid of strong lenses she has been enabled to write, with difficulty, and many of her most touching songs and tributes have been written while confined to her bed, and breathe a peace and trust that none but those who have passed through the deep waters of affliction and sorrow, and found support from some unseen but loving hand, ean appreciate. Behind her songs, simple in their melody, rich in their trust, beams a soul chastened by sorrow, but strong and hopeful. The sentiment of her poems is lofty and pure, and many of the latter are full of genuine poetic fer- vor. The "Lake of Peace," though unique in its figures, is touching in its pathos, and is considered one of her best poems. None but a heart schooled in sorrow and found not wanting in time of trial eould prompt such words as these :

" I know a vale within the heart, And there, shut from the world apart, A lake reposes. It is a fair and beauteous thing ! An emerald bank of fadeless spring This lake ineloses ; And all along its margin twino The lowliest, loveliest little vines, Called Sweet Submission ; And flowers rare, flowers of rich perfume, Faith, Hope, and Love, together bloom In this seclusion.

" But towering far above all these, God's promises, those grand old trees, In strength are growing. Their roots lie in the heart so deep, From o'er this lake they ever keep Rough winds from blowing. And thus from passion's storms secure, It looks so placid and so pure, So beautiful, I know God hath been in this place, Transforming all things by his graco Most wonderful !

" The still small voice doth often wake Soft echoes o'er this quiet lake, The silence breaking ;

And happy thoughts here sail and sing, Those birds of brightest, swiftest wing, Glad music making. This is the soul's beloved retreat ; Here oft she comes with weary feet, With wounded feeling;

And 'neath these trees, where all is calm, She ever finds some soothing balin, Finds leaves of healing."

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HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

Her " Woof of Life" is a charming faney, most beauti- fully wrought in poctie figures. We give an extract from it :

"We weave in the woof of life earth's sweetest things : The smile of our mother, the song that she sings, The kiss of a dear one, the thrill of delight,

The low, loving words, the tender ' good-night !' An l sorrows that bow us to earth and to God, The grace which sustains us when under the rod, The words of the dying, the look that endears, . We weave them in softly, in silence and tears.

" Of all that makes life is this strange fabric wrought : Of motive and impulse, of feeling and thought ; Of threads many-colored, and constantly spun In th' soul's secret chamber, seen only by One. And still at life's sunset we sit by the loom To weave the last rose-tints and shadows of gloom. We weave in our heart-strings, we weave in our all- And is this alone for a funeral pall ?"

We have space but for one more of her songs, and that is a pretty little girlish coneeit, simply told, of the tradi- tional origin of the name of a lovely little wild-wood flower, written by her when about seventeen years old, and ealled

" NODDING WAKE ROBIN."

" There bloomed a sweet flower Far down in the dale, But morning's gry hour Found her cheek wet and pale.

"She wept for her lover Asleep in his nest, She longed to be pillowed Upon his soft breast.

" She sighed for the robin Whose rich strains would woo, Who'd kiss from her eyelids The bright tears of dew.

"' Oh, wake, robin, wake!' Was her low, plaintive sigh, And her warm, perfumed breath Reached the robin near by.

"With a song he came flitting Close down by her side, And elaimed her that morning His beautiful bride.

" On the bank of the streamlet The fond pair were wed ; She blushed at the altar, And hung down her head.

"She still wears that blush, And bends her fair brow, So we call the sweet flower 'Nodding Wake Robin' now."

Mrs. Mitchell was born in Smithboro', Mareh 7, 1831, and married Henry Augustus Mitchell, Oet. 20, 1853. He was a merchant of Smithboro', a prominent and highly- estcemed citizen of the county. To good native abilities hc added a finely-cultivated intellect, and a memory well stored with useful knowledge. He was an honorable business man, and dying, left behind him a stainless reputation for the inheritance of his widowed companion. He died July 8, 1877. Mrs. Mitchell's tribute to her dead father is one alike honorable to both father and ehild, and is a most

touching rehearsal of the virtues of the deceased, and a token of filial reverenec and love that expands the soul to nobler conceptions of life and its duties. Her tale " Taken Up," which appeared in the Ahwcaga Chief, published by her brother, Horaee A. Brooks, is one of her most eharm- ing stories.

Raphael Pumpelly, a citizen of Owego, is a traveler of some note, and has given to the world his observations in various lands in a volume called " Across America, Asia, Arizona, Japan, China," Leypold & Holt, 1870, publishers. However well informed and social in his " inner man," he affeets to shun congenial intereourse, and is but little known.

Rev. Washington Gladden, now of Springfield, Mass., a preacher of note and a writer of considerable power and acknowledged ability, began his career in the Gazette office, learning the art preservative of Mr. Beebe. His position in the Congregational Chureh has been an honorable as well as a leading one. He was for some years on the edi- torial staff of the New York Independent, where his bright, racy articles attracted much attention and elicited much favorable comment. His little work, " From the Hub to the Hudson," is a most charming description of the bean- tiful seenery along the Western Railroad, and which rises to the sublime as the Berkshire Hills are reached. In deseribing this loeality Mr. Gladden's faeile pen seems tipped with fire from the very scat of the muses, so eharm- ingly, poetieally, and artistically does he picture the glories of those grand, liberty-inspiring summits, clothed in the royal garniture of October.

William C. Tobey, another graduate of the Gazette office, wrought for himself a name in the temple of litera- ture by his correspondence with the New York Herald and other metropolitan journals, over the signature of " John of York," from the battle-fields of the Mexican war, 1846-48.

Judge Charles P. Avery has already been frequently mentioned as the author of the sketches of the "Early History of the Susquehanna Valley," which appeared in the St. Nicholas, 1853-54. Judge Avery was enthusi- astic in the work, and spent much time and money in in- terviewing the old settlers, and thus seeured and preserved what, without his work, must have inevitably perished with the pioneers,-the true knowledge of the faets of early settlement of Tioga County. Judge Avery also ae- eumulated a rare collection of Indian and prehistoric curi- osities and relies from this region of country, but which have been removed from this eounty since the judge's death, which oeeurred in Michigan.

William F. Warner, Esq., a lawyer of Waverly, is the author of the " Centennial History of Tioga County," pre- pared for reading at the celebration of the national anni- versary, July 4, 1876, and published in the papers of the county. Mr. Warner spent much time in the preparation of his work, and deserves the thanks of the people.

Dr. D. W. Patterson, of Newark Valley, is a writer of genealogieal records, and in his researches has gathered more information of the early and old families of Tioga County than all others combined. His researchcs extend through various family trees of every State in the Union. His knowledge of the early times, of the settlement of this

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region of which we treat, obtained by personal interview with the settlers themselves, is most extensive and reliable.

Rev. Mare Fivas, a resident of Newark Valley, where he died in July, 1876, at the age of eighty-four years, was a noted man in the literary world, and especially so in the world of science. He was born in Vevay, Switzerland, in 1792; was a clergyman in the National Church, and pro- fessor of natural sciences in the Academy of Lausanne, and one of the first teachers of Prof. Louis Agassiz. By reason of political trouble in his native land, he came with Prof. Matile and others to Newark Valley in 1849, and his son still lives there. He was a member of historical and seien- tifie societies in Europe, and lectured before the scientific societies of New York and Philadelphia. Ile was a man of fine culture and ripe scholarship.

CHAPTER XX XXIII.

SOCIETIES.

Agricultural Societies-Farmers' Clubs-Patrons of Husbandry --- Fire Insurance-Pioncer Temperance and Total Abstinence-Tioga County Lodge, No. 51, I. O. G. T .- Lodge of Protection.

THE TIOGA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

As early as Nov. 10, 1819, there was an agricultural society in Tioga County, as the following extract taken from the American Journal of Dee. 1 of that year, a news- paper published by Ebenezer Mack, testifies :

"At an adjourned meeting of the Tioga Agricultural Society at the house of Andrew Purdy, Esq., in Spencer, on Wednesday, the 10th of November, 1819,

" The president, in hehalf of the committee appointed for that pur- pose at the last meeting, reported the following system of

" BY-LAWS :

" Ist. Special meetings of the society may be convened by the presi- dent or the exceutive committee. Notice of all society-meetings shall be given in the newspapers of this county, and those of Ithaca and Owego, at least twenty-one days previous to the time of holding such in cetings."

Then follow fifteen other by-laws, of which the seventh and sixteenth read as follows :

" 7th. It shall be the duty of the viewing committee in cach town, when any member of the society believes he has made any valuable improvement in the order and arrangement of planting and sowing seeds, or the culture of thom after sown, so as to insure greater re- turns from a given quantity of land, to view the same at his request, and report their opinion of the facts to the executive committee ; and »the like as to various implements of husbandry. It shall be the duty of the executive committee, in every instance of real improvement, to award a premium according to its value and the ability of the society. It shall he the duty of the viewing committee to superintend the concorns of the society in their respective towns; to distribute all seeds, plants, animals, ctc., which may be intrusted to them for that purpose ; and view farms that are offered for premiums, and re- port their comparative state to the executive committee.

" 16th. It shall he the duty of the members of this society, indi- vidually, hoth by precept and example, to discourage the debasing and pernicious practice of Intemperance hy all means in their power. To this end the faith of the society is pledged to promote the increase of orchards and tho culture of barley and hops: and that they will consider it their duty to expel from the society any member who shall be notoriously intemperate."

The by-laws were then adopted, and the following resolu- tions passed :

" Resolved, That il be recommended to the members of this society to appear at the next annual meeting clothed in the manufacturer of our own country. as far as practicable.

" Revolred, That the editors of the American Journal, the Owego Gazette, and the Vedette be requested to give the foregoing proceed- ings an insertion in their respective papers.

(Signed) " T. MAXWELL, Secretary. " Nov. 10, 1819."

This is the only reeord extant, so far as the compiler has been enabled to ascertain, of the first agricultural society formed in the county, with the exception of a notice in Hough's " State Gazetteer" for 1872, which states that this society received, under the act of 1819* distributing $10,000 annually for two years to the connties of the State for the promotion of agriculture and family domestie man- ufactures, the sum of $150. In 1841 the sum of $50 was received. The first sum was distributed on condition the county raised as much more for the same purpose. The society was reincorporated March 28, 1837. The present Agricultural Society was first organized Aug. 11, 1855, with the following official roster : Harvey Coryell, President ; Louis P. Legg, First Vice-President ; Benjamin HI. Davis, Second Vice-President ; Thomas Farrington, Third Vice-President; William Smyth, Secretary ; Thomas I. Chatfield, Treasurer ; Calvin Ames, Daniel G. Taylor, Chester Randall, Calvin Bradley, David Taylor, William R. Shoemaker, Directors. An exhibition was held the same year, October 17 and 18, which was very creditable to the county. The premiums paid were as follows: Horses, $33; oxen, $13; cows and young cattle, $13; fat cattle, $13; bulls, $9; sheep, $15; swine, $11 ; dairy products, $15; mechanical and agricultural implements, $20; plowing, $9; garden vegetables, $11 ; poultry, $3; gold and silver ware, $5; needle and fancy work, $13; fruit, $2; total $185. The his- tory of the society has been a checkered one, several reor- ganizations having been effected. The records of the society previous to 1869 were destroyed by fire that year, and no complete showing ean now be made of the doings of the society.

On Oct. 1, 1871, a reorganization of the society was had at a meeting held in Owego, at which Hon. T. I. Chat- field was elected President of the new organization, with a vice-president in each town in the county,- William Smyth, Corresponding Secretary ; George Worthington, Recording Secretary ; S. S. Truman, Treasurer. A new code of by- laws was adopted. Fairs have been held annually since. The receipts and expenditures since that date have been as follows :

1873. Receipts of the fair, $360 ; from the State, $140. $500.00

Premiums and expenses 1000.00

1874. Receipts of fair and from Slate .. 757.00

Premiums and expenses. 957.00

1875. Receipts from fair, $528; from State, $148 676.00

1876. Receipts from fair and State .. 739.00

Premiums and expenses 922.00

1877. Receipts from fair, $1073.85; State, $148.69. 1222,54

Premiums, $506; expenses, $765.41

1271.41

# Market-days, or fairs, were established by hw in 1692, and were not abolished until 1788. In 1764 the " Society for the Promotion of Arts, Agriculture, and Economy in the Province of New York, in North America," was established. In 1791 the "Society for The Pro- motion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures" was instituted, and incorporated 1793. Its charter expired 1804. The State Agricul- tural Society was formed 1832, reorganized 1841. County societies began to be formed in 1817.

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HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

The premium-list of 1877 included the following : Horses, $66; racing, $152; plowing-match, $10; cattle, $85; sheep, $13; swine, $39; poultry, $17; butter, honey, etc., $8; kitchen products, canned fruit, etc., $14 ; mechanics, hard- ware, wagons, etc., $23; vegetables, $28; domestic manu- factures, $33. Several special premiums were offered also by individuals and competed for, among them one for the " best and handsomest baby," which was awarded to Mrs. M. A. Bailey for her " wec girlie," nine months old.

The presidents of the society since 1871 have been as follows : T. I. Chatfield, 1871; Herbert Richardson, 1872-73 ; Louis P. Legg, 1874-75; Frederick W. Rich- ardson, 1875-76 ; John S. Giles, 1876-77. Present officers : W. H. Armstrong, President ; George J. Nelson, Frederick Lowman, Vice-Presidents; Leroy W. Kingman, Secretary ; A. Chase Thompson, Treasurer.

A farmers' club was organized Nov. 22, 1855, for the diseussion of agricultural topics. Hon. S. B. Leonard was elected President, H. W. Shomaker, Secretary ; T. I. Chat- field, Treasurer. Another farmers' club for the county was organized Aug. 31, 1872, with Herbert Richardson as President and Hon. William Smyth Secretary.

PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.

This order has a County Grange formed of delegates from the subordinate granges of the county, and which is known as Pomona Grange, and was organized at Candor Grange Hall, Dec. 19, 1876, by W. A. Armstrong, Secretary of the New York State Grange. The present membership numbers fifty-three, and the regular meetings are held quarterly at Candor.

There are at present nine subordinate granges in the county, the first one being North Barton, which was the forty-fifth one formed in the State, which is now in a very flourishing condition, and has a successful grocery-store con- nected with it. The county deputies have been Benjamin Golden, J. S. Giles, O. H. Van Alta. Tompkins and Tioga Counties were consolidated in 1878, and C. Louns- berry appointed deputy for both counties. George F. Nourse is the purchasing agent for both counties. The present officers of Pomona Grange are George Woodford, Master ; Alfred Seeley, Overseer; Simeon Barrett, Lec- turer; C. N. Benjamin, Treas. ; O. H. Van Alta, Sec- retary ; Mrs. Alfred Seeley, Pomona.

TIOGA COUNTY PATRONS' FIRE RELIEF ASSOCIATION.

This association was organized Oct. 3, 1877, for fire in- surance purposes, on the mutual plan. The risks of the association are confined to farm buildings and contents, di- vided into three classes of risks, according to distance of building insured to external exposure. The first-class risks are taken at one-tentli of one per cent., second class at one- eighth, and class three at one-sixth of one per cent. ; all for a term of five years. Three-fourths of the actual cash value of property only are covered, and actual losses only are paid by the association. Losses are paid by assessments on the members, as also is any deficit in the expenses of the asso- ciation.

The annual meetings of the association are to be held in

the Candor Grange rooms, on the first Tuesday of June in each year.

The first officers were as follows: S. Alfred Seeley, of Spencer, President; L. W. Hull, of Spencer, Secretary ; Board of Directors : W. H. Coffin, of Apalachin Grange ; O. H. Van Allen, of Sullivan Grange ; A. H. Krom, of Candor Grange; E. A. Ford, of Gaskill Corners Grange; W. B. Moulton, of Gibson's Grange ; S. P. Foreman, of River Valley Grange; Robert Fray, of North Barton Grange; L. W. Hull, of Spencer Grange.

THE TIOGA COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

was incorporated April 1, 1837, Asa Woolverton, Henry McCormick, Anson Camp, F. Armstrong, Thomas Farring- ton, Stephen Strong, William Platt, and others, being the incorporators. It went the way of all the earth many years ago.

THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY

in the county on the principle of total abstinence was formed Feb. 22, 1836, at which time a constitution was adopted fixing the name of the same as the Temperance Society of Owego. The article of organization was signed by a large number of the citizens, and the following officers were chosen : B. B. Curry, President ; Dr. L. H. Allen, E. Raynsford, Vice- Presidents ; W. H. Platt, Secretary ; E. W. Warner, Treas- urer; Cyrus Dana, William Platt, Colonel Henry McCor- mick, B. C. Crandall, and A. P. Storrs, Executive Com- mittee. The membership of the society numbered 267 during its existence of five or six years. John M. Parker was the Secretary in 1837, and Ezra S. Sweet and Judge Clizbe were prominent members of the society. On March 19, 1841, Gurdon Hewitt offered a resolution, which was adopted, and by that means threw the society into politics, and shortly afterwards the meetings of the society eeased. This resolution was as follows :

" Resolved, That temperance principles are as commendable in public officers as in private citizens, and that withholding our suffrages from all spirit-drinking candidates for office will be to promote the general welfare; and in that view it is a duty we owe to our country, to posterity, and to ourselves to raise our voice and cast our votes in favor of men possessing, among their other qualifications, those of temperance and morality."

TIOGA COUNTY LODGE, NO. 51, I. O. OF G. T.,

was organized July 28, 1876, at Owego, by John B. Fineh, Grand Lodge Lecturer. Mr. Finch had been organizing lodges in the county for two or three weeks previous, and the delegates met in Owego with Oasis Lodge and organ- ized the County Lodge ; since then two new lodges have been instituted by the County Deputy, A. S. Hooker, and the county now has fourteen subordinate lodges, with a total membership of 800. At the organization G. M. Jordan was clected C. C. T., F. W. Newell C. S., and A. S. Hooker C. D., all of Oasis Lodge. These officers served the County Lodge to the best of their ability, and under their administration the lodge grew in number and influ- ence, and to-day it stands recognized by the people and press of Tioga County as an organization to be supported by the people.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 26

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