History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 47

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 47
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 47
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 47
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 47

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).

Conductress ; Mrs. J. B. Gilson, Asst. Conductress ; Mrs. James Webb, Warder; Miss Hattie Field, Adah ; Miss Lucy Johnson, Ruth ; Mrs. W. F. Paine, Esther; Miss Lottie Ryan, Martha ; Miss Iva Every, Electa ; Miss Lena Raff, Organist.

The following organization, working under the dispensa- tion of the Phila d'Afrique Grand Lodge of the State of New York, named the Evening Star Lodge, No. 9, of F. and A. M., was instituted in Owego in 1852 : Charles King, W. M .; Mose Habrun, S. W .; Tom Williams, J. W .; Dick Thompson, Sec. ; Frank Pairce, Treas. ; James Taner, S. D. ; Frederick Whitom, J. D. ; Henry Benson, Tyler.

OWEGO LODGE, NO. 204, I. O. O. F.,

was instituted by District Deputy Grand Master E. J. Horn, Feb. 6, 1846, with the following charter members : C. J. Manning, F. C. Steele, B. C. Whiting, and E. S. Johnson.

The first officers were B. C. Whiting, N. G. ; C. J. Man- ning, V. G .; E. S. Johnson, Treas .; F. C. Steele, Sec. ; S. Churchill, W .; C. P. Avery, C .; John C. Dean, O. G .; E. S. Sweet, Chap .; W. H. Bell, R. S. S .; E. S. Gibson, L. S. S .; Lucius Truman, R. S. N. G. ; Charles Platt, L. S. N. G. ; A. H. Miller, R. S. V. G .; Alanson Munger, L. S. V. G. The lodge continued in a prosperous condi- tion until Sept. 27, 1849, when the lodge-room and contents was burned. The lodge never fully recovered its loss and prosperity. The last lodge-meeting on record was June 29, 1852. They had initiated about 170 members, many of whom were of the best class of citizens.

TIOGA LODGE, NO. 335, I. O. O. F.,

was instituted in Masonic Hall, Owego, by Grand Master T. P. St. Johns, Oct. 28, 1872, with the following charter members : Gilbert Newell, C. M. Haywood, B. D. Tuthill, William Ira, Newell Hyde, H. A. Brooks, and A. B. Beers.

The following were the first officers : G. Newell, N. G .; W. Ira, V. G .; C. M. Haywood, Treas .; B. D. Tuthill, Sec. ; N. Hyde, W .; O. L. Newell, C .; O. B. Hyde, I. G .; G. White, R. S. N. G .; L. T. Goodrich, L. S. N. G .; E. S. Lyons, R. S. V. G .; J. Frank, L. S. V. G .; F. L. Ben- edict, R. S. S. ; H. B. Benedict, L. S. S.

The present officers (June, 1878) are G. W. Storm, N. G. ; E. S. Williams, V. G .; B. D. Tuthill, Treas .; O. L. Newell, Sec. ; John Fields, W .; J. A. Voorhis, Chap. ; W. F. Briggs, I. G .; O. B. Hyde, O. G .; Elias Storm, R. S. S .; Andrew Carter, L. S. S .; C. M. Haywood, J. Frank, and L. T. Rising, Trustees.

OWEGO LODGE, NO. 54, KNIGHTS OF HONOR,

was instituted in G. A. R. Hall, Front Street, by D. Wilson, S. D., Dec. 30, 1874.

The following were the charter members: C. M. Hay- wood, D. C. Anthony, G. A. King, James Wilson, O. T. Gorman, N. A. Stevens, T. Holder, W. A. Bandler, S. F. Fairchild, A. H. Keeler, C. J. Stevens, D. Tripp, C. White, B. F. Field, P. Kelley, T. S. Armstrong.

The following were the first officers: C. M. Haywood, Dictator; G. A. King, V. D .; W. A. Bandler, A. D .; A . H. Keeler, Treas .; O. T. Gorman, Reporter ; N. A. Stevens, F. R .; Thomas Holder, G .; Charles Williams, Chap.

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AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

The present offieers are T. G. Newell, D. ; J. A. Wileox, V. D .; N. R. Bennett, A. D. ; J. J. Vankleek, Rep. ; B. Bandler, F. R. ; S. F. Fairchild, Treas .; W. Mawhiney, G .; D. Tripp, Chap. Present membership, 58.

ANCIENT ORDER UNITED WORKMEN.

This organization embraees all elasses; those who work with the head as well as those who work with the hands. It is a beneficiary society, and has " a positive guarantee of two thousand dollars to the heirs or assigns of a deceased member." The terin Ancient is evidently misused, as it " is essentially a modern institution." The conditions of mem- bership are, "No person shall be admitted to membership unless he be a white male of the full age of twenty-one, and not over fifty years ; of good moral character, able and eom- petent to earn a livelihood for himself and family, a believer in a Supreme Being, a Creator and Preserver of the uni- verse."

STARR LODGE, NO. 91, OF OWEGO, N. Y.,

was organized May 23, 1877. The charter members were C. P. Starr, C. R. Heaton, F. C. Coryell, W. Millrea, E. W. Muzzy, E. H. Owens, C. W. Evans, J. B. Gardner, D. S. Legg, G. A. King, V. Ellis, A. W. Gould, J. H. Coppins, F. M. Baker, E. H. House, J. M. Smith, B. H. Davis, R. J. Carr, C. F. Parmelee, G. M. Writer, F. N. Mabee, D. C. Burgess, C. Bunee, W. Cairnes, T. F. Pearl, E. B. Davison, J. B. Jones, C. S. Gardner, C. H. Wilson, F. R. Green, F. O. Cable, H. E. Spring, B. R. Jones, M. E. Hollister, H. B. Adams, B. J. Davis.

The following officers were duly eleeted and installed for 1877, and re eleeted and installed January, 1878, exeept H. B. Adams, Overseer, in the place of J. B. Gardner : C. P. Starr, P. M. W .; C. R. Heaton, M. W .; C. W. Evans, F. ; J. B. Gardner, Overseer ; C. F. Parmlee, Re- eorder ; D. S. Legg, Finaneier ; G. A. King, Receiver; J. H. Coppins, Guide ; William Millrea, J. W. ; J. B. Jones, O. W.

OWEGO BRASS BAND.

This was formed in the fall of 1857, under the leader- ship of S. B. Skinner, with seven horns and two drums, and continued to praetiee about six months, when the mnem- bers united with a new organization, all numbering seven- teen instruments, under the leadership of L. W. Ferris, till 1861, then under Nathaniel Jenks, until the fall of 1862, when the band was reorganized under the leadership of Prof. Joseph Raff. He resigned in 1868, when F. E. Wildman was chosen leader. Subsequently H. B. Adams took charge until the spring of 1873, when Raff again led, and gave way to Mr. Adams, who led until the spring of 1878. About this time the band consolidated with Raff's silver eornet band, which was originally "The Wave House Band," started about 1870. The new band has twenty-two members, consisting of the best players contained in the two from which it was formed. Prof. Joseph Raff is musical director, and II. B. Adams assistant.

In October, 1877, Prof. Raff, in connection with the best musical talent of the eity, started " The Philharmonie Society of Owego." The musical talent of the eity is now fully awake to the culture of " the art divine."

THE MEDICAL SOCIETY.

It may be surprising, yet it is true, that the medieal fraternity is seldom represented in society form except iu the old school or that of the allopaths. This is true in Owego, and even this is denominated a county organization. This society was organized Oct. 13, 1806, when perhaps the majority of physicians were in the county, an account of which will be found elsewhere, and in full; hence, in this mention it will be unnecessary to say more than that the meetings are now mainly attended by eity physicians, and we will be exeused if seemingly disposed to praise, for having spent the most of our life in the active practice of medieine and surgery, it came natural to find our way to their meeting, to which we were most cordially invited. And it affords us no small gratifieation to state that " the business of the evening" was not only strictly professional, but highly instruetive. It has ever been our pride to hold up the standard of medicine and to foster its true interests ; and it is with no less pride that we reeord the advanced state of medical and surgical knowledge evineed by the members of " The Tioga County Medieal Society" at their meetings, held at the residence of Dr. Phelps. It must be gratifying to the citizens of Owego to realize such gentlemanly deportment and continuous studiousness with such fraternal friendship as we found in her physicians.

STEAMBOATING AT OWEGO.

The steamer " Lyman Truman," built in the fall of 1875, and launched the following Mareh, is the largest steamer ever launched at Owego, and has a eapaeity of seven or eight hundred passengers. It was built for exeursions to the island, four miles up the river, known to the early settlers as " Big Island," and on which the steamboat eom- pany have built a hotel for the accommodation of their patrons.

The little steamer " Clara," capable of earrying thirty- five or forty passengers, just suited for small parties, owned by the same company, is a very pleasant boat to ride in.

The boating season opens about the 5th of June, and eloses the 1st of October. The trip is a pleasant one.

THE OWEGO BRIDGE COMPANY.

The importance of trade at Owego has long sinee neees- sitated a means of erossing the Susquehanna River, which at this point is broad and often very deep. This want was met as long ago as 1826, when a bridge was built, and of sueh proportions that it was not finished until 1828. It was then as now a toll-bridge, which is undoubtedly a mis- take, as a free bridge would now, at least, invite trade that goes elsewhere. The contract was let to Ephraim Leach. The capital stock of the company was then $13,150, and James Pumpelly was the first president. The bridge was partially destroyed by fire Sept. 27, 1849, was rebuilt, and destroyed by fire Oet. 5, 1867, and rebuilt in the spring of 1868, and soon after nearly all of it was carried away by ice and high water. The present structure was finished Nov. 4, 1868, and cost $54,550.01. The superstructure was designed and built for the company by Hon. W. H. Bristol. The capital stoek was raised when the new bridge was built to $50,000. The president of the company is

180

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

A. P. Storrs. The stock now pays a dividend of seven per cent. The superstructure 920 feet long. The road-bed 32 feet above low-water mark.

OWEGO GAS-LIGHT COMPANY.

Villages, in common parlance, do not reckon such luxu- rics as gas among their necessities, and consequently its introduction marks the eventful donning of " city airs ;" and. while this beautiful place still wears the name of " Owego village," we find that a change came o'er the spirit of her dream as far back as March 20, 1856, for then the following-named gentlemen, Wm. F. Warner, W. H. Bell, Prentice Ransom, A. P. Storrs, Orin S. Truman, S. S. Truman, F. E. Platt, John Danforth, L. N. Chamberlain, T. I. Chatfield, assembled in Wm. F. Warner's office and organized the Owego Gas-Light Company, with a capital stock of $40,000, and elected William F. Warner president.

The gas-works were built by contract by Wm. Bucknell, of Philadelphia, Pa., and gas was first let into the street mains about the 15th of October, 1856. This has been a paying investment, and the stock is now valued at $60,000. The president of the company is A. P. Storrs.

INTEMPERANCE AND TEMPERANCE.

In the early settlement of Owego village liquor was almost as free as water ; nearly every one drank. Whisky was the common drink. In some instances a pail of free whisky and a tin cup were left on the counters of the stores of the lead- ing merchants to encourage if not enliven trade.

In 1795, Captain Luke Bates built his tavern on the present site of the Ahwaga House, which he kept until 1803. This tavern was the only one at the time in the settlement of Owego, and was the scene of many drinking- bouts and wild pranks of the rough jokers who were wont to congregate there. Captain Bates subsequently moved two miles up the river, where he had a still-house, near the little Nanticoke Creek, and where he died.

There was anotlier distillery in the vicinity in early times, just above where the Southern Central shops now are ; it was close under the bank, and a favorite resort for tipplers. Tansy was planted near by, which grew so rapidly in a few years as to be a nuisance. The patrons of the still were accus- tomed to mash tansy in their tumblers, pour whisky upon it, and drink. Who owned or conducted this distillery can- not now be found out, although the fact of its existence was mentioned to the writer by the late Wm. Pumpelly, who came to this country in 1802, and who had passed by it when a boy. Another still-house was located on the west side of the turnpike-road (now North Avenue), just west of the railroad, on the premises of Lemuel Brown, deceased. Later, a distillery built by John Laning, in what was then a swamp, back of where James Hill's planing- and saw-mill is now located, on Central Avenue.

A brewery, the first one in Owego for many years, stood on the west side of North Avenue, opposite the Presbyte- riau church, and the pond ncar by was known as the Brewery Pond. This was the property of Chas. Pumpelly. The last of the still-houses was that of Curtis, located about two and one-half miles east of Owego, and closed at the

breaking out of the war in 1861, and the Pettigrove dis- tillery, two miles north of the village.

The beginning of Temperance in Owego .- The Wash- ingtonian movement originated among a club of six hard drinkers in Baltimore, Md., in 1840. After a hot dispute with the landlord of a tavern on the temperance question, they formed the " Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society," and adopted a pledge of total abstinence. Nightly meetings were held, and thousands signed the pledge. John B. Gough was converted at this period (1842), and in the first year of his work delivered 383 addresses on temperance. The Washingtonians organized in Owego in 1844, and com- inenced work in Washington Hall, situated on the corner of Main and Liberty Streets. David C. Burdick was pres- ident, and Samuel C. Clizbe (now of Athens) secretary of the association. Mr. Burdick had reformed from drink about this time. He died in Owego, March 18, 1861. Mr. Burdick delivered many temperance addresses in Owego and other places. On one occasion he brought in incidents from his travels among the Pennsylvania Dutch, regarded as vast in its way. Among the speakers at the meetings of the Washingtonians were Dr. L. H. Allen, Colonel B. B. Curry, H. A. Beebe, Joel L. Pinney, Isaac Lillie, Edward S. Madan, Silas Totten, Anson Garrison, and James Macbeth. In October, 1845, the Owego Division Sons of Temperance was established, and proceedings published in the Gazette.

On the 12th of September, 1853, Neal Dow, author of the celebrated Maine Anti-Liquor Law, spoke here in de- fense of the principles and effects of the law, and set forth the reasons for its adoption in this State. He was received " with marked enthusiasm,"

A convention of delegates from every town in Tioga met in the village hall May 12, 1854, and organized the " Tioga County Temperance Society." Gilbert Pearsall, of Nichols, was chairman of the meeting, and subsequently elected pres- ident of the society. One object of the organization was to clect a candidate for member of the Assembly who was in favor of the Maine law. At the fall election, however, Rev. James M. Coley, the temperance candidate, was de- feated. The Maine law was adopted in the town of Owego by a vote at the town election. The law proved a failure, and was finally repealed.

THE MURPHY MOVEMENT,

in which the pledges were printed on cards, signed, and kept in possession of the signers, camc next. The question assumed an entirely new phase. The lower and more dis- reputable the convert the more valuable his services were esteemed, provided he was able to speak in public and relate his experience as a means of reform. The more disgusting his previous life, and the more crude his efforts at describing it, the greater the enthusiasm of the audience. The Murphy movement has been productive of much good, however ; it has given some men who were moderate drinkers an excuse to shake off old associations and become temperate, although the risk of being advertised as reformed drunkards was not always overlooked. Unlike meetings during the Washing- tonian movement, "the Murphys" have been largely re- ligious, and in place of stirring temperance songs, modern hymns of the Moody and Sankey order are sung.

HON. JOHN MASON PARKER represented the Twenty- seventh (now Twenty-eighth) Congressional District of the State of New York in the United States House of Represent- atives two consecutive terms, from 1855 to 1859. In 1859 hc was elected a justice of the Supreme Court of the State, and was continued in that exalted position until his death, in 1873, having been, by the designation of Governor Hoffman, during the last six years of that period, a justice of the General Term of the Third Department.

He was born in Granville, Washington Co., N. Y., June 14, 1805: obtained his preliminary education at Granville Academy, of which institution the distinguished teacher, Salem Town, LL.D., was then the preceptor, and graduated with high honor at Middleburg College in 1828. He pursued the study of law in the office of Hon. John P. Cushman, in the city of Troy ; was admitted to the bar in 1833, and soon after settled at Owego in the practice of his profession.

The bar of Tioga County was thien an unusually able one, of which the most skilled in the trial of causes were Stephen Strong, John J. Taylor, E. S. Sweet, and N. W. Davis. Judge Parker, by his thorough legal training and severe application, soon took rank with the foremost. Marked deference was at once universally accorded to his legal opinions by all his rivals in the profession, both in his own and in neighboring counties.

Judge Parker married for his first wife Catharine Anne, daughter of Charles Pumpelly, in September, 1835. She died in December, 1845, leaving four children, of whom two only now survive,-Charles Edward, who is engaged in the prac- tice of law at Owego, and is one of the most prominent lawyers of the Tioga County bar; and Francis Henry, who is a major in the United States army, at present having charge of the ordnance department at Fortress Monroc.

On the 1st day of March, 1854, Judge Parker married for his second wife Stella A. Pumpelly, who still survives him. She was a sister of the first wife.

As a member of the bar, Judge Parker's opinions were characterized by great thoroughness of research, and his preparation of causes by an absolute completeness that left

no point unprovided for. At all times he bore a personal character not only exempt from reproach, but absolutely above all suspicion. His conversation and personal de- meanor were always cultivated and refined, uniformly exempt from anything that would have offended the most delicate and fastidious.

On the bench he was invariably courteous to all. He heard with the utmost patience and equanimity everything that suitors had to urge. He never impatiently interrupted or captionsly criticised counsel. He never availed himself of his position on the bench to demonstrate his own personal superiority to those who were before him. He never con- sciously allowed any extrancous considerations to bias his opinions, or tolerated officious and irregular attempts to in- fluence him. A temperament naturally and constitutionally nervous was subdued to cquanimity by severe control, and suitors uniformly went from the tribunal presided over by him with the conviction that, if not successful, their cases had at least been thoroughly examined and considered, and fairly, impartially, and honestly decided.

The numerous opinions delivered by him, and spread through the volumes of reports from 1859 to 1873, are, after all, his best memorial.

The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Middle- burg College in 1865. In his personal history he has thus added lustre to a long line of legal celebrities with which his ancestry abounds. « His father, John C. Parker, was a dis- tinguished and able jurist of Washington County; the Hon. Amasa J. Parker, of Albany, is his second cousin, and the genealogy of the Parker family for a century back abounds with lawyers.

Judge Parker was an active member of St. Paul's Church of Owego, and at the time of his death its junior warden.

On the evening of Dee. 6, 1873, Judge Parker died of apoplexy, at his residence in Owego. He was thus called away by death in the midst of his activity and usefulness, universally esteemed and much regretted. Future genera- tions will regard him as the great lawyer, the wise counselor, the impartial judge, and the honest man.

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AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

THE TURF.

A fancy for improved stock has long been one of the channels through which men of almost every occupation in life have sought recreation from business cares and perplexi- ties. It has become a common thing for men of eminence in the various professions and mercantile pursuits to devote to the study of improved live-stock not only the advantages of ample capital, but the same diserimination and business tact that raised them above their fellows in other respects. Perhaps no subject is capable of rendering as much gratifi- cation to the mind that has a natural bent for that kind of investigation as the reproduction of the better styles of domesticated animal life, unless we except the beautiful kindred study of the improvement of fruits, flowers, vege- tables, and cercals. Just as surely as that he who causes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before is a public benefactor, so is he a helper of mankind who im- proves the forms and capabilities of domestic animals.

There is a quaint and beautiful old tale of Abou Ben Adhem, the patriarch of his tribe, and an improver of its herds, to whom the angel appeared in his dream, writing in a book of gold. When asked its mission the presence replied. " I write the names of all who love the Lord." " And is mine one ?" asked Abou Ben Adhem. " Not so," was the reply. Then said the sage, sorrowfully, yet cheerily, " Write mine as one who loves his fellow-men." The presence van- ished, but came again to show the names of those whom love of God had blessed, " and lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest."

As long as association for laudable objects counts for any- thing, therefore, there is no more worthy amusement, com- bining profit, than the improvement of the breeds of do- mestic animals, and to this end we represent what Owego has donc.

BLOODED HORSES.

About 1863, George J. Pumpelly brought into this county imported Swectmeat, a running horse of good stock but unknown lineage ; he was taken out of the State on account of not meeting the expected patronage. The next horse brought here was Ahwaga Chief, owned by Armstrong, Corey & Thompson. He was by Rysdyk's Hambletonian and Belle Brino, and was a horse of good spced, but met with an accident which resulted in his death.

In the fall of 1868, Dr. Armstrong visited D. B. Erwin, of Middletown, Orange Co., N. Y., and bought Venango, of the same stock. He is a favorite with horsemen and the people generally. During the few years since the intro- duction of blooded horscs, the beauty and power of the thoroughbred and the magnetism of his speed has had its influence, and enthused the people generally to such a degrec that the

OWEGO DRIVING PARK ASSOCIATION

was formed in March, 1871, by Dr. T. S. Armstrong, W. H. Corey, A. D. Thompson, G. M. Writer, R. C. McNeal, George Kipp, and others, who procured a char- ter from the Legislature, and leased grounds for a track. The track is as fine a half-mile track as any in the State,

beautifully situated in the west part of the village. In 1874 the Tioga County Agricultural Society was attracted to this handsome park, and made arrangements for holding their annual meetings there, which they continue to do.

Frederick C. Hewitt has a fine young horse got by Ahwaga Chief from a fine mare brought from Ithaca.

G. H. Pumpelly has some promising colts by Venango.

Gco. Mercereau has a mare got by Venango, and an unknown mare, -- very promising.

Dr. T. S. Armstrong has a full sister to Venango Chief, son of Venango, and is a handsome animal ; also a brown gelding by Venango, and dam by Dr. Kane, a noted sire of Brown County ; also a bay gelding by Venango dam, by Backus, brought from Long Island ; also a mare by Royal George, of Buffalo ; also a marc, ealled May Harris, a fine animal ; and two fine colts by Venango.

W. H. Armstrong has seven colts got by Venango,- very promising.

D. H. Hayner, near Campville, has a very fine mare by Venango dam,-Mambrino stock.

John Brown, of Owego village, has a very nice horse by a horse brought from Virginia, and dam American Eagle, -" a lively one."

G. H. Pumpelly has a mare, by Venango, that shows 2.35ł. " Gurd" feels proud of her.

W. H. Corey owns a mare by Wilkie Collins, dam (the old trotting mare) Empress,-a fine family mare, and speedy.

Dr. W. L. Ayer has a Venango mare that could do a better business than hauling physic.

"Ad" Cortright has a gelding by Venaugo dam, by American Star. "Ad" thinks that if he don't break when he goes, other horses will break their necks and not catch him.

A. D. Thompson has Idaho, a son of American Star, dam Abdallah ; he is attracting merited attention.

There are a number of stylish roadsters having good stock in them.

THE FIRST TANNERY

was built about 1795, by Lemuel Brown, who died in Owego in 1815. The tannery was built of logs, near where Geo. B. Goodrich & Co.'s dry-goods store now stands (on Front Street). The river-bank caved in until the tannery slid in about the year 1801. It was then removed about one-quarter of a mile north of the railroad, on North Avenue, a few rods south of the residence of Abram Brown. The tannery was in operation until about 1819.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 47

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