History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 30

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 30
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 30
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 30
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 30

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).

Cayuta Chapter, No. 245, R. A. M., was instituted Aug. 22, 1869. The first principal officers were O. W. Shepard, H. P .; R. A. Elmer, Chief K .; A. J. Vanatta, S. ; E. P. Curtis, See. ; Thos. Marsh, Treas. The present chief officers are W. H. Spaulding, H. P .; F. M. Snook, K. ; J. T. Buek, S .; G. H. Grafft, Treas .; J. M. Buley, See. Membership, 56. Regular convocations, second and fourth Monday of each month, at Masonie Hall.

Manoca Lodge, No. 219, I. O. O. F., was chartered Jan. 30, 1850 ; reinstituted Sept. 7, 1869. The first prin- eipal officers were Silas Fordham, N. G .; James B. Myers, See. Those after the lodge was reinstated were O. H. P. Kinney, N. G .; J. E. Hallet, V. G .; L. A. Waldo, Sec .; Wmn. Polleys, Treas. Present number of members, 159. Present chief officers : M. F. Hanford, N. G .; W. B. Campbell, Sec. ; Perry Wetherly, Treas. Meets in Odd- Fellows' Hall Tuesday evenings.

Spanish Hill Encampment, No. 52, was instituted on the 13th of August, 1870. The present chief officers are

J. W. Barnum, C. P .; W. T. French, Seribe; J. B. Sliter, Treas.

Cuyuta Lodge, No. 35, A. O. U. W., was organized August 19, 1876. The first principal officers were S. D. H. Browne, M. W .; R. C. Bennett, Recorder ; A. Mul- -lock, Receiver. Those filling the offices above named in 1878 are S. D. H. Browne, S. M. Layton, and W. L. Watrous. Present membership, 51. Meets every Wednes- day night in Masonie Hall.

Waverly Lodge, No. 293, Knights of Honor, was in- stituted June 1, 1875. John R. Murray, Dictator ; Frank P. Harkness, Reporter; Charles Sweet, Treas. Member- ship, 28. Present chief officers: P. C. Hall, Dictator ; Mark White, Reporter ; Charles Sweet, Treas. Meets every Friday evening at Masonic Hall.

POST-OFFICE.

The post-office was established at Waverly in 1849, and Benjamin H. Davis was appointed first postmaster. He was succeeded by Alva Jarvis, who retained the office until July 1, 1861, when William Polleys received the appoint- ment from Abraham Lincoln. The present incumbent is 0. Il. P. Kinney, who succeeded to the office in May, 1876, receiving his appointment from President U. S. Grant.

As an evidence of the moral, material, and social progress of Waverly, we may mention that it has six churches, de- nominationally classified as follows : one Methodist Episco- pal, one Baptist, one Presbyterian, one Protestant Episcopal, one Christian, and one Roman Catholic. It has four dry- goods stores, some of which occupy rooms as large and spa- cious, and contain stocks of goods that will successfully compete with any in the county. There are fifteen grocery- stores, four drug-, two hardware-, three jewelry-, three ready-made clothing and gents' furnishing goods stores, four boot- and shoe-stores, three prodnee and commission houses, two furniture stores, two banks, four publie halls, one of which is an opera-house, several harness-shops, mil- linery establishments, boot- and shoe-shops, four black- smitheries, three wagon-shops, and various other mechanical occupations too numerous to mention. It has five hotels, the principal one of which, the " Tioga House," is unsur- passed by any on the line of the Erie Railroad, between Elmira and Jersey City. Although temporarily closed, it is anticipated that it will be opened to the public again at no distant day. The " Courtney House" and " Hotel War- ford" are both good houses, as also is the "American House." There are several first-class restaurants, ice-ercam saloons, confectionery-stores, ete. There are nine lawyers and eight physicians resident in the village. The educational and lit- erary institutions are among the best in the country, notably the high school, with its admirably-conducted academie department, and its ably-managed auxiliaries, the publie schools. There are three newspapers published here, namely, the Advocate, Free Press, and Review, which are generally well-managed political and family newspapers. It has one Masonic lodge and one chapter of R. A. Masons, one lodge and one eneampment of Odd-Fellows, one lodge of A. O. U. W., and one lodge of Knights of Honor.

The location and business facilities of Waverly are not

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surpassed by any other village in these four counties, and the abundance, cheapness, and quality of its domestic mar- ket makes it desirable as a manufacturing or retiring location. It is a prominent railroad centre, being in com- munication with Philadelphia by the Lehigh Valley Rail- road route, and with all points east and west on the Erie Railroad, while the Geneva, Ithaca and Sayre Railroad opens a direct communication with desirable points north and south,-and this, too, without the financial ineumbrance of heavy bonded indebtedness to the village. The muni- eipal government of the village is vested in a President and Board of Trustees, and its civil order is maintained by a uniformed police force. With the fine natural advantages for improvement and growth that the village enjoys, it is not extravagant to prediet that ere many years the entire plain, including the villages of Sayre, Athens, and Factory- ville, will be merged into Waverly and be one fine city, eclipsing in magnitude and general importance any interior city in this part of the State. And this grand achievement will be accomplished by the same indomitable energy and enterprise that has characterized the growth and prosperity of the village in the past.

"The eternal step of progress beats To the great anthem, calm and slow, Which God repeats."

We are indebted to the following-named gentlemen, citizens of Waverly, for information and assistance in the preparation of the above history of the village: Wm. F. Warner, Esq., Joseph E. Hallet, Owen Spaulding, J. N. Dexter, R. A. Elmer, Revs. Vincent Coryell, George R. Hair, and J. A. Brown, O. H. P. Kinney, James B. Bray, Ira L. Wales, Hatfield Hallet, M. H. Mandeville, W. B. Campbell, Prof. H. H. Hutton, W. H. Allen, and others.

CHAPTER XXVI.

BERKSHIRE.

THIS town lies upon the east border, north of the centre of the county. According to the census of 1875, it has an area of 17,443 acres, with 12,474 acres improved, and contains a population of 1302. The surface is hilly, with fertile valleys. The hills have a mean elevation of from 1200 to 1400 feet, those on the east of the centre being the highest. The soil is tough clay. The soil in the valley of East Creek, on the west side, is yellowish loam, elay under- lying; on the east is gravelly loam. The valleys and west hills were timbered with beech, maple, and iron-wood, the east hills with pine and hemlock. It is watered by the East and West Owego Creeks and their tributaries. The former enters the town on the north, near the eentre, and flows in a southerly direction, and passes out near the centre on the south side. The latter is the dividing line on the west between the town and the towns of Caroline and Candor.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

Eighty-seven years, with their shifting scenes and varied events, and the wondrous changes from dense forests and an

unbroken wilderness to highly-cultivated fields and thriving villages, have passed since the first white persons settled in this beautiful valley.

On the 23d day of February, 1791, four young men, Elisha Willson, Captain Abram Brown, Isaac Brown, and Daniel Ball, left Stockbridge, Berkshire Co., Mass., with ox- teams and sleds, loaded with goods, westward, to brave the trials and difficulties incident to pioneer life in an entirely unbroken region, for at that time nothing was to be seen even suggesting the presence of the white man, except the blazings on the trees that marked the lines and track of the corps of surveyors who, in 1786 and 1790, surveyed this territory. Two of the party, Elisha Willson and Captain Abram Brown, were with the surveyors in 1790, and while out selected this valley as the " Land of Canaan" in which they would finally settle. After a long and tedious journey of thirty-seven days (the details of which are given in the history of Newark Valley), they arrived at a point about three miles above Newark Valley, where they encamped. Elisha Willson had selected lot 184, where Mr. Levi Ham- mond now lives, when here in 1790, but Daniel Ball, a son of Josiah Ball, one of the original purchasers, and Abram and Isaac Brown, nephews of Samuel Brown, the leading proprietor, selected lots from his apportionment after arriv- ing here. Daniel Ball settled on lot 305, where Charles Manning now lives; Isaac Brown, on lot 305, where J. S. Cummings resides ; and Abram Brown, on lot 257, where William Ball now lives; Willson and Abram Brown settling what is now Newark. Each commenced chopping and clear- ing the land on his own lot, meeting together only Satur- days, and spending the Sabbath talking over old times with their pleasant associations, and discussing their progress in work. The Brown brothers made the first clearing for wheat, and applied themselves to raising grain, which they sold for seed to those coming in the next spring. This grain was charged on the books of their elder brother John, in Stockbridge (who remained there with his mother and sister until 1796), at four shillings and sixpenee per bushel for wheat, and one shilling per bushel for corn in the ear, which was the price in Stoekbridge. In some cases it was paid for in kind.

In the fall of 1791 they (except Willson) returned to Stockbridge to enjoy the winter with their parents and friends, and Daniel Ball improved the time in persuading a Yankee girl to go back to his western home with him in the spring, as by a church record at Lenox, Mass., Oct. 31, 1791, the same doth appear: " Daniel Ball was joyned in marriage to Lucia Wells."

In the spring of 1792, Daniel Ball, Abram and Isaac Brown returned to the settlements, and with them came Esbon Slosson, Asa Bement, Daniel Gleason, and one or two other young men to assist them, Slosson and Bement settling below in the valley. At this time the little settle- ment began to be known as Brown's Settlement for a long distance down the valley, and was so known until 1808. During this season the mighty oaks and the towering pines and hemlocks fell beneath the quiek-falling strokes of the sturdy pioneers. The patient oxen, bending beneath the yoke, slowly but steadily turned up the virgiu soil, rich with future harvests. The little clearings bceame larger ; the

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rude shanties gave way to more pretentious one of logs ; wheat and corn were sown in larger quantities; and im- provements were made constantly. Several of the settlers returned again to Stockbridge in the fall.

In the spring of 1793, Enoch and Esbon Slosson, with their wives and a daughter of Esbon, now Mrs. Ezekiel Rich, and living at Richford ; Stephen Ball (son of Josiah Ball), aged nineteen years ; Captain Asa Leonard, and his son Solomon, and Peter Willson, brother of Elisha, came through with sleds loaded with goods drawn by oxen and driving-cattle. The Slossons and Peter Willson settled in Newark, Stephen Ball settled near Daniel Ball, and near where Asa Ball, his son, now resides ; and Captain Asa Leonard and his son Solomon went still farther up the valley to lot No. 344, where J. W. Leonard, grandson of Asa, now lives. Captain Asa Leonard worked by the month, in Stockbridge, in the marble business, and paid for this land before they settled upon it. The deed is dated Oct. 20, 1792, and declares that he paid Silas Whitney £109; Asahel Churchill and Henry Moore signed the deed as witnesses, Sept. 5, 1793. Asahel Churchill, brother of Mrs. Leonard, then living at Choconut (now Union), as witness to the original deed, swears that he was one of the witnesses, and saw Silas Whitney sign, seal, and deliver the above deed ; and that Henry Moore was also a witness before Jeremiah Fitch, judge of the court of Common Pleas, Tioga County. This deed was recorded in 1805 in Tioga County. His family came through to near the mouth of Nanticoke Creek, or Choconut; but Mrs. Leon- ard was in feeble health, and remained at her brother's, and returned to Massachusetts in the fall, and it was not until the summer of 1797 that they finally settled here. On the journey they again stopped at her brother's, and while there, in the month of August, a son was born who was afterwards known as Deacon Henry Leonard, who lived in Ithaea many years and died there. They had a large family of children ; of them is still living a daughter (Amanda), who is the wife of Colonel John B. Royce, living in North Berkshire. Captain Asa was among the most prominent of the early citizens, enterprising, energetie, and progressive. An old account-book, kept by him, shows accounts elosed in Massachusetts as late as February, 1794, and opened here in 1798, and contains many eurious, and to us, singular items. He represented his county in the Assembly in 1818, and died March 24, 1836.

In 1793 many settlers eame in, among them Captain Heman Sınith, Samuel Hosford, Artemus Ward, Enoch Williams, Paul Stephens, Ebenezer Persons, Ripley Man- ning, Consider Lawrence, Ebenezer Cook, Henry Moore, Daniel Carpenter, Caleb and Jesse Gleazen. In March, 1794, Daniel Ball brought his wife and daughter Ann to the home he had prepared for them, and in the September following appeared a little stranger "to the manor born," who from that time to the present has been made manifest to men as William W. Ball, and is still hale and hearty, having seen the changes from that wild state to its present prosperous condition, and was the first white child born be- tween Ithaca and Owego.

In the winter of 1794-95, Josiah Ball, one of the pro- prietors and father of Daniel and Stephen, with his wife

and the rest of a large family of children, eame in by means of sleds drawn by oxen and horses, and settled on lot 137, now occupied by his son-in-law, Luke Winship. Between 1795 and 1809, Dr. Joseph Waldo, Nathaniel Ford, David and Ransom Williams, John Brown, Abel, Azel, and Na- thaniel Hovey, Jonas Muzzy, John Carpenter, and others came in.

In 1796, John Brown settled on lot 296, where Henry and two sisters now reside, called the Broome lot. In the ori- ginal appointment this lot was set off to Jonathan Edwards, of New Haven, but had passed into other hands. It was considered the best lot in that section, and contained 340 acres, but was estimated at 272} acres, and $1000 were paid for it. John Brown married Mehitable Willson, a sister of Elisha, Feb. 20, 1800. He was one of the first justices in the old town of Tioga, and his docket contains a record of eleven marriages from 1800 to 1805, and are the only public records that have been found earlier than 1821. He was also judge of the court of Common Pleas of Broome County from 1809 till his death, Oct. 14, 1813. David Williams settled on the north half of lot 345. Ransom Williams on south half of same lot, near where George Wil- liams, son of David, now resides. David Williams served upon the bench of the court of Common Pleas of Broome County from 1815 to 1826 continuously, with the excep- tion of one year, having been transferred to the bench of Tioga County Court by appointment after the change of boundaries. He was supervisor for nine years, and dis- charged the duties of many minor offices with exactness, good judgment, and ability. From 1827 to 1831 he repre- sented his county in the Legislature, and ever retired from office with the increased regard and respect of his eonstitu- ents. He died in 1867, ninety-two years of age.

Dr. Joseph Waldo came in October, 1800, and settled on the corner where Mr. Myer now lives. He was the first physician in this valley, and the only one for many years. He was a brother of the celebrated Daniel Waldo, chaplain to Congress.

Seth Akins, Lyman P. and Robert, his sons, Blackman Rawson, and others settled early in the valley of West Creek.

Captain Bill Torrey came in 1808, with a large family of children, from Greene County, N. Y., and settled where his son and daughter, John and Betsey Torrey, now live. He was a Revolutionary pensioner, and died at ninety-one years of age.

Artemus Ward settled on lot 336, but did not remain long, selling his lot to William Dudley, who soon after, with his son Chester, went south with a drove of mules, and both died before 1806. The council for ordination of Rev. J. Osborn was held at the house of Widow Dudley, in February of that year.

Nathaniel Ford settled in February, 1801, on north half of lot 304, where Mrs. Geo. Andrews lives. He died March 22, 1838, aged ninety years.

Samuel Collins, John Gregory, and others came about 1806, and settled farther up the valley. In 1813, Asahel Royce, wife, and six children settled where Fred Royce lives. The next year Dcodatus Royce, with a drove of cat- tle and sheep, eame out and settled near his father. Colonel

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HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

John B. Royce, in 1815, came out on horseback, following the route from what is now Centre Lisle to Berkshire by blazed trees. After a visit of three or four weeks he re- turned to Pittsfield, Mass., and in March, 1816, came with his father and mother, who had been back to the old hearth- stone on a visit, and settled on the place where he still lives.

INITIAL EVENTS.

Dr. Joseph Waldo and John Brown raised the first frame houses the same day in 1806, and they are still standing. Josiah Ball, John and Abram Brown erected the first saw-inill. . David Williams built the first grist-mill, on the ground where the present one stands. Stephen B. Leonard earried the first mail on horseback, from Berkshire to Owego, in 1812. Eben Gleazen succeeded him. Wm. H. Moore was the first postmaster. Luke Winship, in 1820, had the first mail contract by coach, from Berkshire to Owego, and made the route three times a week.

Josiah Ball erected a large double log house in 1795, for the purposes of a shop and accommodation for families coming in until they could build on their lots. Two frame barns were built in 1804 by Josiah Ball and Isaac Brown, the lumber being drawn from Harrington's mills, Owego.

In 1800, Ebenezer Cook built the first tannery, where C. P. Johnson's store stands ; afterwards a tannery was built by Cook and Captain Asa Leonard, on Leonard's lot.

The first store was kept by Joseph Waldo, a nephew of Dr. Waldo, and the first mails were distributed from there, near where Mr. Olivier's house stands.

Ebenezer Cook and Stephen Ball built the first black- smith-shop, in 1808, across the road from where the brick church stands, and a Mr. Thomas was the first blacksmith.

Samuel Ripley, in 1817, carried on a harness-shop. A distillery was built, in 1807, by Captain Leonard, Ebenezer Cook, and Stephen Ball, and was kept in operation about twenty years ; the building is now used for a barn by J. W. Leonard. This evidently was not the first in this town, as there is an account on Captain Leonard's books with Blackman & Rawson over on West Creek (Rawson Hol- low ) for whisky before this time.

Captain Leonard carried on the shoe business in 1803, as per account "To Widow Ersly, Slippers for Sally, 11 shillings."

A carding-mill was erected, in 1806, by Elijah Beleher, Barnabas Manning, and Isaac Ball, and was in operation about forty years.

Thomas Payne was a weaver, and October 15, 1802, bought a loom for five shillings and fourpence of Captain Leonard, and wove cloth for several years. He lived near Padlock.

In 1827, Stephen Ball started a brick-yard on his farm, and supplied the brick for the church and houses up and down the valley a long distance, and continued the manu- facture for about eight years. Colonel J. B. Royee built the first briek house in the town.

The first marriage was Isaac Brown to Clarissa Ball, in 1795, and his death was the first also of an adult. He died April 10, 1797, aged thirty-nine years, and a son, Isaae, was born Oet. 4, 1797. John Carpenter, living at Esbon Slosson's, died April 13, 1797, three days after

Brown. They were buried in the Brown Cemetery, a plat of ground taken from the farm of John Brown, and set aside for that purpose, and which is still used. This ceme- tery was the only one used for many years. About this time a Mr. Fellows, of Spencer, Mass., came here with his son to locate a lot for him. They selected the lot Jonas Muzzy afterwards purchased, now owned by Geo. Rich, of Owego, and in the town of Newark Valley. After com- pleting his arrangements, Mr. Fellows started for Mas- sachusetts, and the son commenced chopping, feeling that now he was eommeneing life in good earnest, and that every stroke was for his own future good. Some time during the day a limb fell from a tree he was chopping, by which he was killed. That night Jonas Muzzy, who worked for Elisha Willson, taking one of his horses, started to overtake Mr. Fellows. After a long and terrible ride he arrived about daybreak at a tavern where Colesville now is, just as Mr. Fellows was preparing for breakfast. After getting some refreshment and rest they returned to the settlement, and the son was buried in the Brown Ceme- tery.

Squire Brown's docket is in the possession of Dr. D. W. Patterson, the genealogist. It is without cover, contains 38 pages, and is 63 by 9 inches. The irreverent nice have gnawed the corners, but enough remains to be a silent witness to the marriages contained therein; and the suit brought before him Oct. 11, 1800, appears to be the first case : " Edward Edwards vs. Elijah Dewey." The plaintiff was nonsuited, and charged with costs, 6 cents; judgment, 123 cents. The list of marriages is on the last leaves of the docket :

" Mr. Jesse Gleazen was lawfully married to Miss Mercy Adzdell, Oct. 29, 1800.

" Mr. Geo. Vieery to Miss Susannah Pieree, December, 1800.

" Mr. Stephen Ball to Miss Polly Leonard, July 12, 1801.

"Mr. Jonas Muzzy to Miss Thersey Moore, Aug. 27, 1801.

" Mr. Nathan Ide to Mrs. Sally Doud, Oct. 12, 1802.

" Mr. Joseph Gleazen to Miss Vieery Bailey, May 16, 1803.

"Mr. Enos Slosson to Miss Rebecca Culver, Aug. 8, 1803.

" Mr. Timothy Williams to Miss Phebe Hedges, Dec. 12, 1803.

" Mr. Josiah Ball, Jr., to Miss Luey Leonard, Jan. 11, 1804.

" Mr. Daniel Gleason to Miss Rebecca Barnes, Jan. 26, 1804."

Josiah Ball opened a house of entertainment for man and beast in 1814; and - Crane and Ann Ball, daughter of Daniel Ball, and Luke Winship and Cynthia Ball, daughter of Josiah, were married in the tavern, Feb. 22, 1815, by Rev. Jeremiah Osborne. Luke Winship and his wife took the tavern in 1816, and kept it for twenty- five years, and he is still living there.

A REVOLUTIONARY VETERAN.

Frederick Sehaff came to Berkshire in 1838, and lived with his son, Joseph Schaff, the remainder of his days. He died in 1860, at the advanced age of one hundred and seven years, having served in the Revolutionary war three months under General Washington, and seven months under General Lafayette. He was in the battle of Mon- mouth.

SCHOOLS.

The pioneers of Berkshire manifested an interest in edu- eation ; for as early as the winter of 1796-97 a school was

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kept part of the time in Josiah Ball's shoc-shop,-where Luke Winship now lives,-and part of the time in Elisha Willson's bark-covered shanty. The first teacher was David McMaster. Mrs. Ezekiel Rich, still living at Rich- ford, attended school at both places. Thersey Moore taught school in Asa Bement's barn in the summer of 1799, now in Newark, and in 1800 she taught in a log school house that was built in the corner of Captain Asa Lconard's orchard. An account of his with Henry Moore shows in August, 1800 : " By his daughter Thersey, time to keep school, 12.weeks at 5s. 4d. = £3 4s." In 1807 the first frame school-house was built near where the present one now stands in the village, and was afterwards moved to near where the Methodist church stands. The first teacher in this house was Ransom Williams.

The first written record in reference to schools is a call for a special meeting, March 23, 1813; and at that mect- ing they were organized under the State law. Captain Asa Leonard, Henry Moore, and Edward Edwards were ap- pointed commissioners; Nathaniel Ford, Solomon Williams, Peter Willson, and Joseph Waldo (2d), inspectors of com- mon schools.

Voted that the town be divided into school districts, in accordance with the act passed in 1812 for the cstablish- ment of common schools in the State of New York.

It was also voted that the town lay a tax double the amount received from the State fund for school purposes. Also voted to allow the school commissioners seventy-five cents per day for their services. In 1814 the commis- sioners reported the town divided into twelve districts. The towns of Newark Valley and Richford were set off in 1823 and 1831, respectively, and the school districts were changed in accordance.

Rev. William Bradford, in 1845, built a seminary called Brookside Family Boarding-School for Boys. After it was completed, Rev. Frederick Judd and John F. Judd (nephews of the Hon. Theo. Frelinghuysen) bought the property, and opened the school in November, 1847. It was kept successfully for about twelve years. J. F. Judd died about 1857, and it was diseontinued in about two years after.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 30

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