History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 49

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 49
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 49
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 49
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 49

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).

+ Mrs. Eliza A. Mitchell, although a life-long invalid, is au able, soulful writer, both in prose and verse.

Chloe Minerva has been in the Tioga County clerk's office for fourteen years, much of the time as deputy.

WILLIAM A. ELY

was a representative of the early settlers of Tioga County. He was born in Saybrook, Conn., Oct. 16, 1789. His father, Elisha Ely, who was a physician and surgeon in the Revolutionary army, emigrated in 1798, with his family, consisting of a wife and eight children, to Owego. A few settlers' homes, scattered here and there, constituted Owego at that period. Having grown up with the village, W. A. Ely was identified as much as any man with its development and prosperity.

For more than half a century he was one of the most prominent business men in Tioga County. Largely engaged in mer- chandise, he was no less occupied in the manufacture of lumber, which at that period was the staple product in the southern tier, giving employment to large numbers of laboring men, who always found a friend and protector in their employer, and one who was always reliable and ready to afford a helping hand in adversity.

In 1841, Mr. Ely married Ann S. Gregory, of Newburg, N. Y., who survives him. They had six children, of whom five are now living.

The reputation of Mr. Ely for business

energy, clearsightedness, and sterling in- tegrity was above all criticism. His ear was ever open to the calls of charity, and no unfortunate sufferer was ever sent empty- handed away. He was one of the few whom the tongue of slander seldom, if ever, as- saulted ; whose motives were never ques- tioned, and whose acts were entirely con- sistent with the purity of his principles. He was a firm believer in the Christian faith, taking the Bible precepts for his guide.

For many years he was active in local politics, being an ardent Whig of the Henry Clay stamp. He held different posts of trust, always with that stern integrity and principle that were characterized in every department of his life. Deceit and guile were never resorted to for the accomplishment of any object. His unspotted life and enviable reputation were a princely legacy to his children, and his unblemished virtues fur- nished a bright example for the rising gen- eration. Such is the tribute all who knew him pay to his memory.

After a long and useful life, he died Nov. 27, 1873, revered by his relatives and friends, and honored by the community in which nearly all his life was spent.

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erations yet to come; and as if the Lord God would, at the closing seene, invite us to his pavilion, he commanded his servant of old, and said, "Get thee up into this moun- tain, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, then thou shalt be gathered to thy people, as Aaron, thy brother, was gath- ered." With such historie memories, we go up into yonder mountain, and, communing with "Our Father," find a reconciliation that comes from no other souree. The sol- emn realization of these facts is found in Evergreen Ceme- tery, in its monumental architecture and floral decoration most beautiful. There, as in the brow of the mountain, like a queen, with eyes half closed on the dreamuland around, vying with those older and larger cemeteries, "Greenwood," " Cypress Hills," "Calvary," and " Mount Olivet," of which New Yorkers are so justly proud, -there, bedewed by many_a tear, blooms the choicest of Flora's gifts, dif- fusing odorous sweets on every passing breeze; and there may we raise our hearts and voiees, in company with the feathered choir, chanting "Jubilate Deo !"

POETS, ETC.

GEORGE P. PORTER, preacher and painter, was born in Berwiek, Columbia Co., Pa., June 20, 1820. At an early age he became a civil engineer, and laid out much of the work in the construction of the North Branch Canal, Pennsylvania. From this position he entered the studio of Mr. Sartain, of Philadelphia, well known to art. Here he cultivated his talent for painting, in which his true forte undoubtedly was, notwithstanding he subsequently won a fine reputation as a pulpit orator, and produced a very readable book, entitled " From Atheism to Christianity," albeit the dedieation is very presumptuous. We do not follow Mr. Porter, however, in his changes in religious views; and however heterodox his opinions may have been, we esteem him religiously sineere. Artists are always truly religious, notwithstanding their deviations from creeds. Creeds are often rudely constructed or crudely expressed ; whereas the laws of beauty and harmony, which they are gifted to see and portray, are by the Divine One never varying, and always charming. Mr. Porter was admitted to the Methodist Episcopal Conference in 1848; about this time, also, he married Frances S. Worthing, daughter of Rev. J. Worthing. She had been a teacher in Wyoming Seminary. In 1852 he was stationed in Owego, for two years. It is said that he was a man of severe logie. This led him to repudiate ereeds. The labors of the itineraney enfeebled him ; he was a great sufferer. Preaching was evidently an unfortunate digression from the work in which he most exeelled, for his friends aver that " the passion of his life was painting, his preaching was from a sense of duty."

Of all his landscapes, he considered his " Nature's Ca- thedral" best. Of this he made three copies, one of which is now owned by F. H. Root, Esq., of Buffalo; another by Captaiu John Jackson, of England ; and the third remains at home. Among his other choice pieces is " Trout-Fish- ing," near Lake Superior ; his " Lake of Peace." Among his finest portraits are two children of Thomas Farling, Esq., of Buffalo, N. Y.

NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS was born in Portland, Me., Jan. 20, 1806. His father was the venerable Nathaniel Willis, who in 1816 founded the Boston Recorder, the first religious newspaper ever published. The future poet re- eeived an excellent preparatory education, principally at the Boston Latin School, and then entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1827. Previous to this he had written and published anonymously some poems of merit, chiefly of a religious character, and won a prize of fifty dollars (at that time a very liberal one), for the best poem, offered by the publishers of one of the annuals. Soon after leaving college Mr. Willis collected and published his poems in one volume, which attracted no little attention. Mr. Willis' taste and talents induced him to devote himself to literature as a pursuit, and soon after graduating he assumed the editorship of the " Legendary," a series of tales published by S. G. Goodrich. He next published in Boston the American Monthly Magazine, and rallied around him a eirele of talented contributors, whom he inspired with his own ambition and zeal. To the pages of this work he con- tributed many brilliant papers, and its Editor's Table, in which he treated of current literary topics, of art, books, and personal experience, was eminently sparkling and read- able. At the expiration of two years the magazine was merged into the New York Mirror, the most flourishing literary journal of the day, conducted by George P. Morris, and Mr. Willis gratified a long-cherished desire by visiting Europe. His first impressions of the Old World, received at the most enjoyable period of life, were communicated to the Mirror in a series of sparkling letters, which met with a prodigious success. Europe had not "been done to death," and dashing sketches of its seenery, its art, its dis- tinguished men and women, as viewed by an ardent and gifted Ameriean, young, impressionable, with the keen per- eeptions of a poet and artist, came upou the publie like a series of revelations. The style of these sketches was ad- mirable, and possessed such a faseinatiou that it was impos- sible to begin a detached extraet without finishing the paragraph. Mr. Willis was well received abroad, and en- joyed facilities which gave him the entrée of the highest society on the continent and in England. His portraits of Lady Blessington, Disraeli, Bulwer, and D'Orsay were graphic and artistic. In European society Mr. Willis well sustained the reputation of a refined and high-toned Amer- ican gentleman.

While in England, in 1835, Mr. Willis married Mary Leighton Staee, a daughter of Commissary-General William Staee, commanding the Royal Arsenal, at Woolwich, who distinguished himself at Waterloo. Returning to this country, Mr. Willis purchased a small farm in the valley of the Susquehanna, near Owego, where he built a pretty eot- tage, in which he hoped to pass the remainder of his days in rural and literary employment. This place he called " Glen Mary," in compliment to his wife; it is noted " the wide world o'er," as the American poet's home; for Mr. Willis, of all the American poets, had won the admiration of all Europe, as well as America; it was here, at Glen Mary, he wrote also his " Letters from under a Bridge," containing some of the most beautiful and truthful pietures of American country life eyer penned. With a felicity

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which only belongs to art, he wove out of the simplest ma- terials, spells which have entranced readers of all tastes. In this sylvan solitude his daughter, Imogen, was born and died ; and Mr. Willis has shown us the beauty and pathos of his nature in his

" THOUGHTS WHILE MAKING THE GRAVE OF A NEW-BORN CHILD.

" Room, gentle flowers ! my ehild would pass to heaven ! Ye look'd not for her yet with your soft eyes, O watchful ushers at Death's narrow door ! Angels, beyond, stay for her ! One loving kiss From lips all pale with agony, and tears, Wrung after anguish had dried up with fire The eyes that wept them, were the eup of life HIeld as a welcome to her. Weep! oh mother ! But not that from this eup of bitterness A cherub of the sky has turn'd away.

" One look upon thy faee ere thou depart ! My daughter ! It is too soon to let thee go ! My daughter ! With thy birth has gush'd a spring I knew not of,-filling my heart with tears, And burning with strange tenderness to thee- A love-oh God ! it seems so ; that must flow Far as thou fleest, and 'twixt heaven and me, Henceforward, be a bright and yearning ehain, Drawing me after thee ! and so, farewell."

This little bud of his heart was laid away in the heart of " Glen Mary," as he says, on

" A bank where I have lain in summer hours, And thought how little it would seem like death To sleep amid such loveliuess."

Heartfelt as was this grief, there was hid in the womb of time other sorrows that rushed unbidden into his path- way, and it became necessary for him to quit the quiet vale on Owego Creek (his home was about a mile from the confluence of Owego Creek and the Susquehanna,-this mention is for the benefit of those at a distance) ; and this secluded spot, onee teeming with happiness, will henceforth be known as the seholar knows it, " Glen Mary" having passed into history.

Mr. Willis was more heartily appreciated after leaving Owego ; and we find him engaged in writing various tales : "Loiterings of Travel," "Bianea Visconte," and " Tortesa the Usurer," published in "The Corsair;" being attacked by brain fever, this being too trying a task, was transferred (with the consent of General Morris, with whom he was associated) to other hands ; they next appear in The Home Journal, a literary weekly, which from the outset was em- inently successful, and amply repaid the care bestowed on its columns.

In 1846 we find a record of his marriage with Cornelia, only daughter of Hon. Joseph Grinnell, of New Bedford, Mass. Their residenee from this time until his decease was on a charming estate on the banks of the Hudson, above West Point, to which he gave the name of " Idlewild." Few Ameriean authors were known to a wider circle of readers than N. P. Willis. He eamc before the publie for the first time when our literature was passing from the delicate bloom of infaney to the florid and lusty vigor of early youth ; everything was in a state of transition ; but

everything was rich with the glow of promise. Irving was in the fullness of his fame; Bryant had won the vernal honors which have since ripened into glorious maturity ; R. H. Dana had struck a chord in many hearts by the mystie strains of his melancholy musie ; Pereival was hailed by waiting and sanguine spirits as the morning star of a new day in poesy ; Pierpont had gathered green laurels on the banks where " Hermon sheds its dews," and decked his eouch with "Sharon's deathless rose;" Longfellow was beginning to gather around him gracious sympathies by the tender pathos and felicities of his diction.

It was during this glorious dawning that Mr. Willis ap- peared, not on the horizon, but in the firmament. Among the traits in his character on which his friends delighted to dwell was the persistence with which he encountered the conflicts of life, notwithstanding his infirmities. He will be remembered also for his hospitality ; he died at " Idle- wild," Jan. 20, 1867, in the sixty-first year of his age, leaving a wife and several children, and the world to mourn his loss.

CHARLES ALANSON MUNGER, lawyer and poet .- At the time of his death the press recited the sorrow, and dwelt on his virtues with much feeling, and now history comes to do her office-work with equal justice ; for our best society, in whatever portion of the world we find ourselves, is made up of those who have attained a well-eultured inind, and found their way into the ranks of the workers for the eom- mon good, and there is an intertwining of affection's chords that sustains the whole; and this community, though sus- taining a shock of no unusual character, was only eager to pay him tribute. The Owego bar, at a ealled meeting, gave expression to sentiments not only sincerely their own, but shared by all, so that it is proper to reproduce them :

" Whereas, Death has suddenly and unexpectedly strieken down one of our most esteemed members, who had long held a prominent and honorable position at the bar of this eounty ; therefore,

" Resolved, That we, the members of the bar, yield with profound sorrow to the sad event, which has takeu from us aud the community our beloved brother and associate, Charles A. Munger, who, at a com- paratively early age, attained a distinguished professional positior, alike useful and honorable, and that in his deeease we recognize the loss of an able lawyer, and eloquent, accomplished, and scholarly advocate.

. " Resolved, That in the deeease of Mr. Munger, literature has lost a gifted and brilliant contributor, whose genius was widely known, recognized, and admired, and rarely excelled.

" Resolved, That society at large will long miss and mourn the loss of our deceased friend and associate, whose good disposition, and many marked and exeelleut traits of character, endeared him to many per- sons, and surrounded him with many friends, who appreciated his privato worth, and esteemed him for his many admirable qualities of mind and heart.

" Resolved, That we tender the aged and mueh respected parents of the deceased, and his sisters and other relatives who mourn his loss, our warmest sympathy in their bereavement.

" Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the parents of the deceased, and also published in the various county papers.

" CHARLES E. PARKER, " D. O. HANCOCK, " GEORGE SIDNEY CAMP, Committee. "OWEGO, Sept. 6, 1873."

Mr. Munger was born at Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y., July 13, 1830, and died in Owego, Sept. 3, 1873.

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IN MEMORIAM OF CHARLES A. MUNGER.

BY MRS. E. A. BROOKS MITCHELL, OF OWEGO.

Weep, Owego! fold around thee Blackest robes of grief and woe, For the Son in whom thou gloried'st Lies within his coffin low !

Hle who gave thy sorrow language, Sung the requiemis of thy dead, Left not liere one soul so gifted, None to sing for him instead.

Nature, thou alone canst offer Fitting utterance to our grief, Tears of rain and wind low moaning, Fading flower and fallen leaf.

Susquehanna, how thy dirges Ever more the heart will thrill, Chant on, chant on the poet's requiem, Through the ages chant it still !

With each spring will come the "Blue Bird" Made immortal by his pen, Tenderest love and faith inspiring, Till beyond we meet again.

Thus we have seen " Charles" as through the eyes of the bar with whom he associated, and through the touching lines of poesy by Mrs. E. A. B. Mitchell, another sweet singer of Owego, and it is fitting that we should listen now to the sacred harp as its chords sway in symphonies almost divine, and breathe new ecstasies as we watch his hands sweep the strings. Hear him in his refrain :

THE GUEST OF GOD.

IN MEMORIAM OF MRS. FREDERICK E. PLATT.

Obiit, Owego, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1873.

The Saviour called ! she heard his accents tender, And waiting angels sing ; And putting on white robes of heavenly splendor, She went on willing wing.

Willing to go-the gentle wife and mother Passed to the golden shore- Sadly, yet gladly, hence to mansions other, Ah, Earth will miss her sore !

The flowers will miss her, when the breezes vernal With kisses wake their bloom ; But they with beauty and balm eternal Shall gather 'round her tomb.

Music will miss her ! for tho love she bore her Was dear as Ruth's of old;

But song shall linger in hush'd hymnings o'er her, With her rich harp of gold.

And Poesy will miss her ! with sad weeping Chanting her requiem, Ever in fondest, holiest mem'ry keeping " The Star of Bethlehem."

Friendship will miss her ! sick ones forsaken Will miss hor kindly aid,

Iler cheering smile, the hand they oft have taken, Her heart in love arrayed.

Tho Church on earth will miss her fond endeavor, Her sweet, her saintly zeal,

Hor prayer, her praiso which failed or faltered never Till death her lips did seal !

And Home will miss her ! on its hearth are ashes, And vacant is her chair ;

But in that circle, where heaven's fireside flashes, She sits-immortal there !

We miss her ! but through tears of love terrestrial Over her hallowed sod, We thankful smile, in that House celestial She is the Guest of God!

CHAPTER XXXIL.

RICHFORD.

TILIs is the northeast town of the county, and contains an area of 21,835 acres, of which 12,183 acres are im- proved. It has a population of 1449 inhabitants as per census of 1875. The surface is mostly upland, broken by narrow valleys. The soil in the valleys is a fertile, gravelly loam. The hills are the highest in the county, reaching from 1400 feet to 1600 feet above tide, the soil of which is strong, moderately fertile, and inelined to clay. Its streams are the east and west branches of the Owego Creek, which flow southerly, the former through the centre of the town, the latter separating the town from Caroline, Tompkins Co. Lumbering is carried on to considerable extent.

The territory embraced by this town was not entered by actual settlers until after the beginning of the present cen- tury. Before this time all the settlers in the valley of East Owego Creck had been slowly pushing their way up the valley from Owego.

In February, 1809, a young man, Evan Harris, from Stockbridge, Mass., after getting beyond his old associates and out in the trackless forests, selected the first lot that was settled upon in this town, commenced clearing, and built a log house at the foot of the knoll near where the school-house in the village now stands. But little is known of him or his family. The first death was that of Mrs. Evan Harris.

About 1811, Beriah Wells came up from Berkshire and built a low log tavern, and used blankets for doors for some time, where the hotel now stands.

In 1816 the Esopus Road, afterwards called the Catskill Turnpike, was commenced and built through the town. In 1817 there were but three houses here, the tavern, then occupied by Samrel Smith, a log house occupied by Na- thaniel Johnson, and the seven-by-nine house of Samuel Gleazen. In the month of March, 1818, Wiliam Belden came in with an ox-team, built a frame house, and went back after his family, who came out with a two-horse wagon-load and a buggy. The last six miles was through the woods, all of the way following the Catskill Turn- pike. They erossed the Hudson River at Athens, and were eight days making the journey, spending the Sabbath at Chenango Forks.

He taught the first school in his house that winter, and had twenty-four pupils. He taught subsequently two win- ters. In 1819-20, Paul Stevens, Jeremiah Campbell. Caleb and Jesse Gleazen, Ezekiel Rich, and William Dunham and Deacon Stephen Wells settled, many of them from lower

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down the valley. In 1818 there were toll-gates every ten miles on the Catskill Turnpike; one stood north of the village near the bridge. The toll was one shilling for a team and six eents for a single horse, and practically was for the privilege of getting stuck fast in the mud and ruts.

In 1823 stages commenced running three times a week (Joel Bartlett driver), and in 1826 daily, and mails were then brought through regularly. William Dunham was the first postmaster, and also kept the first store in the old tavern stand, then called the old Abbey, living in one part and keeping store and the post-office in the other.

Ezekiel Rich came up from Berkshire in 1820 with his wife, who was the daughter of Esbon Slosson. He had carried on the business of tanning deer-skins and manufac- turing buckskin mittens and brecches in Berkshire. He established himself in the tavern, oceupying one room for cutting gloves and mittens, O. L. Livermore being the cut- ter. Then gloves and mittens were distributed among the women in the village to be made. Mr. Rich continued the business until 1822, when O. L. Livermore and L. R. Griffin began and continued for ten or twelve years, when the busi- ness was discontinued for want of the raw materials.

The first burglary was while Mr. Rich was making gloves. He sold a pair to a man who afterwards hid in the barn, and at night broke into the glove-room and stole some skins and gloves ; but dropping one of the latter he had bought the day before, he was tracked, caught, and sent to State prison.

INITIAL EVENTS.

The first marriage was Elizah Dewcy to Lucy Johnson, July 3, 1817. Squire Samuel Collins performed the cere- mony. The first saw-mill built in the town was on West Owego Creek, by Caleb Arnold, before 1818. The first one built in the valley of East Creek was erected by Gad Worthington, in 1819. The first blacksmith-shop was built by Amzi Norton, in 1823.

Dr. Ezekiah Seamau came in from Trenton in 1825, and practiced for a year or two, and went to Newark, and returned to Riehford, and was associated with Dr. Elijah Powell, both in practice and in the drug business. In 1827, Dr. Elijah Powell settled here, and for many years followed his profession, highly esteemed and respected, and died in 1876, seventy-three years of age.

Hubbard Wells built the first brick dwelling, and it is still standing near the creek. Dr. E. Powell built a brick building used for a store, and later known as the " Eagle Hotel."

The first sehool-house was built in 1820 in the village, and Miss Eliza Wells was the first teacher. The first school-meeting was held in 1813, at which it was voted to raise a tax equal to the amount received from the State.

H. L. and C. W. Finch built the first steam saw-mill in 1870, and employed about twenty men, with a capacity for 3,000,000 feet per annum ; a grist-mill is now run in con- nection with it.

INDIAN TRAILS.

" One of the communications from the Susquehanna* to the 'Council Fire' of the Iroquois at Onondaga was

located upon the east branch of Owego Creek. The trail followed the creek to the point not far from its source, where it divided into two branches, one passing over by a short route to a tributary of the Tioughinoga, and up the latter to its headwaters in Onondago ; the other crossed to the headwater of what is now called Fall Creek, and thence to the head of Cayuga Lake. These trails were observable to the early surveyors of the Military Tract and explorers for several years."

CHURCHES.

Among the settlers who came from Lenox, Mass., was Stephen Wells, who was acting as deacon when he left there. He commeneed holding Sunday services in the school-house in 1820. There was a circuit-rider, known as Father Kendall, through that section before. The first record of a meeting for the organization of a church was held in the school-house, Dec. 4, 1831, to take into con- sideration the subject of building a meeting-house the following summer. The meeting adjourned from week to week at the tavern-house of Ezekiel Rich. After several meetings, it was determined to build a house at the cost of $500 without a stecple, or for $700 with onc. At a sub- sequent meeting it was decided to build the steeple, and during the summer of 1822 it was erected on the ground where the church now stands. A part of the lot was ap- propriated for a cemetery, and is still in use for that pur- pose. There had been several burials on the Deacon Wells farms, but the remains were afterwards removed to this cemetery. Nathaniel S. Johnson was the first one buried here.

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 49

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