USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 6
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 6
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 6
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 6
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There was but one royal grant of lands to individuals direct (other than the Massachusetts eharter) in the terri- tory of our four counties, and that was for a tract of 29,812 acres, lying in the present southerly half of the town of Owego and a portion of Niehols. This tract was patented to Daniel, William, and Rebecca Coxe, and John Tabor Kemp and Grace (Coxe), his wife, Jan. 15, 1775, and has since been known as Coxe's Manor, or Patent. It was a portion of 100,000 acres patented to them in eonsid- eration of the surrender of their rights in a " provinee ealled Carolana, consisting of a territory-on the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, together with the islands of Veanis and Bahama, and all other islands off that eoast, between the 31st and 36th degrees of north latitude, as granted by Charles I., Oct. 30, 1629, to Sir Robert Heath, and from him devised to the present grantees through their father."+ 47,000 aeres were granted in Oneida and 23,000 aeres elsewhere (in Otsego or Delaware Counties) to these grantors. The petition for this grant was filed Oct. 31, 1774, and deseribed the tract as being in the county of Tryon, and as " beginning at a plaee ealled Owegg, on the Susquehanna River, and runs along the northern boundary of Pennsylvania." On Jan. 4, 1775, a return of survey was made for the parties named in the patent, which de- seribed the tract as beginning "opposite the mouth of Owegy Creek."§
The portion of the present town of Owego south of the Susquehanna and the town of Nichols was called the town- ship of Hambden. The lands in the township, aside from
waong wa dokease tsi nihayerha isehen sesyadon gi yatyogh. understand as he says he has written on paper.
Neneha ha wake Oghgwesen.
This shall be held by Partridge.
Names of chiefs :
Done 1786.
SHONDARI DI (not translated).
DEKANAGHKWAS (The Thankful). YOKEARADARIIIEA (In the Middle of the Heavens). OGHSON WA DAGEDE (He that carries the Bells). RODIGHYA (not translated).
-The Susquehanna Valley, by Judge Charles P. Avery, in St. Nicholas, 1854.
# Book I. of Deeds, p. 52, Tioga County Clerk's office.
+ New York Book of Patents, xv., pp. 197-204.
¿ Vol. xxxiv., p. 116, Land Papers, Secretary's office, Albany.
¿ Vol. xxxv., p. 9, Land Papers, Secretary's office, Albany.
Coxe's Manor, were sold as follows; to Robert Morris, sev- eral traets in Owego; Alexander Macomb, 6930 aeres in Owego and Vestal, Feb. 15, 1785, vol. xliii., p. 123, Land Papers, New York; Nicholas Fish, 7040 acres in Owego, and 6400 aeres in township 7 of the traet purchased of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, in Owego and Niehols, vol. xliii., pp. 84 and 85, Land Papers; William Butler, return of survey for 3000 acres in Nichols, adjoining Coxe's Patent on the west, Jan. 12, 1775, vol. xxxv., p. 14; John Reid, similar return for 3000 aeres adjoining Butler on the west, Jan. 12, 1775, vol. xxxv., p. 15; Richard Robert Crowe, similar return, Jan. 20, 1775, for 2000 lying between Reid's tract and the Susquehanna, which bounds it on the west, vol. xxxv., p. 23, Land Papers.
On the 10th of November, 1784, Rebeeea, John D., and Trench Coxe filed a eaveat in the land-offiee protesting against the granting by the State of any certificates of loea- tion, warrants of survey, or letters patent for lands west of the Delaware River, bounded south by Pennsylvania, until the elaim of said protestors, or their assigns, to a traet of 29,812 acres of land, on the east bank of the Susquehanna, was lawfully and fully recognized.|| The elaims of the Coxe heirs were confirmed subsequently, and the traet, as surveyed in 1806-7, was found to contain 30,900 aeres.
Gospel and literature traets [ were also set off in Owego township, comprising about three square miles, adjoining Coxe's Manor on the north. Colonel Nichols subsequently acquired a large traet of land in the towns of Owego and Nichols.
In 1788, on March 22, the Legislature erected a new town in Montgomery County, the boundary-line beginning at the intersection of the pre-emption line of Massachusetts with the Pennsylvania State line, and running due north from the point of interseetion along the pre-emption line to the distance of two miles north of Tioga River ; thenee in a direct line at right angles to the pre-emption line east to the Owego River (West Owego), to intersect said river at a distance of four miles on a straight line from the conflu- enee thereof with the Susquehanna ; then down the Owego and Susquehanna to the Pennsylvania line ; and thence along said line to the place of beginning. This traet, which covers the present town of Barton and the greater portion of Tioga, in Tioga County, and the towns of Southport, Elmira, Ash- land, Baldwin, and Chemung, and a portion of Big Flats, Horseheads, Erin, and Van Etten, in Chemung County, had been settled by a number of persons, who could not agree upon a proper division of their locations, and the act ereating the town appointed John Cantine, James Clinton, and John Hathorn commissioners to inquire into and set- tle the disputes which had arisen among the settlers coneern- ing their possessions, and to assign and allot lands to the claimants who were actually settled on the lands, or who had made improvements, intending to settle. The allotments were to be not less than 100, nor more than 1000 aeres each, and also provided that the lands were to be settled within three months after the State acquired the Indian title. The
| Vol. xxxvii., p. 52, Land Papers, Secretary's office, Albany.
" Lands reserved by the State, in early surveys, for the support of churches, schools, and academies.
25
AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
lands were to be bought at one shilling and sixpence per acre. These commissioners procecded under their author- ity to survey and plat the town, and Feb. 28, 1789, the Legislature confirmed their report, and authorized the Com- missioner of the Land-Office to patent the lands to the par- ties named on the lots on the map submitted by the com- missioners of the town, and extended the time of settlement to one year after the State had acquired the Indian title. Certificates of location were issued by the commissioners, which were assignable, and thus parties acquired large tracts, which were patented to them under one patent. Some of the larger tracts granted in the old town of Chemung, were as follows (made previous to the survey of the commissioners or the granting of patents) :
Isaac D. Fonda, Jacob Ford, Peter W. Yates, Josiah Richardson, and Thomas Klump, certificate of location 8000 acres, on northwest bank of the Susquehanna River, now in Tioga, Tioga Co., Jan. 26, 1789, vol. xlvi., p. 25, Land Papers.
Henry Wisner, 4000 acres, on the northerly side of Tioga River, now in town of Big Flats, Chemung Co., vol. xlvi., pp. 27 and 47.
Wheeler Douglass, 4450 aeres, in Barton, Tio Co., vol. xlvi., p. 46, Feb. 17, 1789.
Thomas Palmer, 3450 acres, in town of Tiog vol. xlvi., p. 54, Feb. 26, 1789.
Joseph Benedict, 8000 aeres, adjoining Dot ass, in Barton, Feb. 28, 1789, vol. xlvi., p. 62.
Archibald Campbell, 3000 acres, in Tioga, on the river, including two islands, June 53, 1789, vol. xlvii., p. 37. Lewis Brodhead, lot 158, 1000 acres, Feb. 22, 1792.
Thomas Burt, Richard Willing, and Thomas Willing, 2300 acres, Nov. 6, 1788.
Jacob R. De Witt and Philip Cuddeback, 2000 aeres, March 23, 1791.
Dirck Romeyne, Daniel Jansen, and William Peek, 2850 aeres, Nov. 8, 1788.
John Jackson, Benj. Jackson, John Donton, Joseph Elliott, Reuben Hopkins, James White, Daniel Jackson, Phineas Case, Timothy Duncan, Wm. Elmer, Wni. Thomp- son, and Anthony Dobbin, lots 177, 171, 182 to 187, inelusive, 9360 acres, Nov. 6, 1788.
The following is a list of the patents in the old town of Chemung :
No. of Lot.
Name of Patentee.
1. Wm. Wynkoop.
2. Isaac McBride.
3. Elijah Buck.
4, 5. Daniel McDowell.
6. Elijah Drakc.
7. Thomas Walling, Jr.
8. E. Buck and Solomon Ben- nett.
9. Charles Ennot.
10. Israel Parshall.
11. Azrael Bates.
12. Hugh Frazer.
13. Solo. Bennett.
14. Christian Christ.
15. Elisha Griswold.
16. Gideon Griswold.
17, 18. Roger Conut.
19. John Spalding. 4
No. of Lot. Name of Patentee.
20. Thomas Baldwin.
21. Wm. Wynkoop.
22. Thomas Baldwin.
23. Jocl Thomas and Thomas Baldwin.
24. Joel Thomas,
25. Nathan Van Aukin.
26. Wm. Buck.
27. Samuel Westbrook.
28. E. and J. Tunishyn.
29. Guy Maxwell.
30. Abijah Pattorson.
31. John Squires.
32. Ebenezer Green.
33. Benj. Burt.
34. Justus Bennett.
35. David Burt.
36. Peter Roberts.
No. of Lot. Name of Patentec.
37. Abiel Fry.
38. Asa Burnham.
39. Jasper Parish.
40. Green Bentley.
41. Abner Wells.
42. Isaac Baldwin.
43. Aaron Kelsey.
44. Elisha Brown.
45. William Webber.
46. Stephen Kent.
47. Stephen Gardner.
48. Solomon Lane.
49. Lebbens Hammond.
50. Abraham Miller.
51. Benj. Clark and Abraham Miller.
52. Lebbeus Tubbs and Benj. Clark.
53. Jabez Calver and Lebbcus Tubbs.
54. Jabez Culver.
55. Jacob Stull.
56. Jabez Culver.
57. Sol. Bovier.
58. Wm. Jenkius.
59. J. Dunham, P. Vande- water.
60. Elijah Griswold.
61. Daniel Purdy.
62. David Griswold.
63. Jacob Stull.
64. Samnel Tubbs.
65. David McCormick.
66. Cornelius Roberts.
67. Titus Ives.
68. Jacob Stull and Eph. Tyler.
69. Jacob Stull.
70. John Jamieson.
71. Abraham Stull.
72. Ambrose Ives.
73. Jacob Boin.
74. C. Westfall and J. Mid- daugh.
75. John Bay.
76. Abraham A. Cudderback.
77. Walter Waters.
78. John Bay.
79, 80. James Cameron.
81. William Jacques.
82, 83. Richard Wisner.
84. Jeffry Wisner.
85. John Konkle.
86. Solomon Bovier aud Fred Ilymes.
87. Cornelius Roberts.
88. William Latta.
89. Joshua Carpenter.
90. James Loundsberry.
91. Gilliam Bartolplı.
92. S. Ilills Paine and George C. Paine.
93. Richard Edsall (3}).
94. Thomas Whitney.
95. Phebe Pettebone.
96. John Suffern.
97. Mathew MeConnell.
98. John Miller.
99. Brinton Painc.
100. N. Seeley, Jr., 2553 acres.
101, 102. John Wair.
103. Abner Hardenburgh.
104. Isaac Wells.
105. Daniel De Witt.
No. of Lot. Name of Patentee.
106. Amos Finton, March 31, 1849.
107.
108. Thomas B. Carr, part.
108. Lewis B. Miller, part, Nov. 8, 1847.
109, 110. James Couover.
111. Stephen Garlinghame.
112. James Rockwell.
113. James R. Smith.
114. John Hendy.
115. Thomas Hendy.
116. Simon HIann (July 1, 1837).
117. Christian Minier.
118. James Dolson.
119. John Harris.
120. Thomas Ilendy.
121. J. Bay and Mark Platuer.
122. Abijah Whitney.
123. David Perry.
124. T. Culver and J. Culver.
125. James Thornton.
126. Thomas Thomas.
127. Isaac Baldwin.
128. Bezalcel Sceley and Il. Ilo well.
129. Bezalecl Sceley.
130. Not patented.
131. Hovey Everitt (sub-lot 1 and 3).
131. Phin's Blodgett (sub-lot 2).
13I. T. Mulford (sub-lot 4).
132. Abraham Brown.
133. John Bay.
134. J. Bay and Mark Platner.
135. Tho. Stoddard.
136. Henry Vose.
137. Geo. Suffern, 1890 acres.
138. D. Delevan and P. Stevens, 6400 acres.
139. William Duer, 7680 acres.
140. D. Holbrook et al., 2807 acres.
141. Tho. Whitc.
142. Obad Gorestal, 3850 acres.
143. A. Rummerfield and J. Edsall.
144. R. Starrett and D. Mout- gomery.
145. E. J. and J. R. De Witt.
116. Joseph McConnell.
147. T. Nicholson, 3792 acres.
148. John Bay, 3724 acres.
149. George Suffern, 2322 acres.
150. Thomas Thomas.
151. Thomas Moffitt, et al.
152. Benoni Bradley, et al., 2250 acres.
153. Wm. Rose and J. Wallace. 154. John Wood.
155. John Sufferu.
156. Gerritt II. Van Wagenen.
157. John Hathorn.
158. Jolın C'antine.
159. Jonas Poirs and B. Kolc.
160. Jonas Williams and Amos Draper.
161. L. Light, et al.
162. Samuel Ransom.
163. Nathaniel Goodspeed.
161. Silas Taylor.
165. Samuel Rausom.
166. Thomas Thomas.
167. James Clinton, et al.
26
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
No. of Lot.
Name of Patentee.
No. of Lot. Name of Patentee.
168. James Clinton.
191. Jeffrey Wisner.
169. John Dunham.
192. Included in 197.
170. Win. and E. W. De Witt.
193. Charles Cantine.
171. Solomon Bovier.
194. Belden Burt, included in 198.
173, James R. Smith.
174. Michael Connelly.
175. D. Romaine, et al.
196. H. Wisner, Jan. 29, 1790.
176. Abraham B. Banker.
197. Charles Cantine, includes 192.
177. James De Hart.
178. John Lawrence.
198. Belden Burt, includes 194.
179. William Duer.
199. John Miller.
180. John Lawrence.
200. John Cantine.
181-187 inclusive, James De
201. Thomas Ten Eyek.
Hart, containing, with 177, 9360 acres.
203. William Duer.
188. Abraham Banker.
204.
204. James and Robert Bennett.
189. John Ransom.
205. Benajah Brown.
190. Israel Wells.
The earliest patented lots were Nos. 17 and 18, to Roger Conut, 91 to Gilliam Bartolph, 191 to Jeffrey Wisner, all dated April 16, 1790. One lot, 107, was patented as late as March 31, 1849, to Amos Fenton ; another one, part of lot 108, Nov. 8, 1847 ; another, 116, to Simon Hann, July 1, 1837 ; and one is yet unpatented, lot 130. Lots from 1 to 158, and 190 to 203, inclusive, are now ineluded in Chemung County, the balance being in Tioga, in the towns of Barton and Tioga.
" The Military Tract," so called, was a tract of twenty- eight townships laid out west of a line forming the west line of Oneida County and south of Oneida Lake prinei- pally, and dedicated to the payment of officers and soldiers in the Revolutionary army. The tract was laid out in 1788-89 into townships of one hundred lots of 600 acres each, in a form as nearly square as possible, which town- ships were to be named by the Commissioner of the Land- Office, who proceeded to perpetuate the names of heroes of classic Greece amid the wilds of the Iroquois, as may be seen by consulting the maps of the counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Cortland, Tompkins, Schuyler, and Wayne, in which the Military Tract is included. Two lots for gospel and literature purposes were assigned in each town, and the balance of the lots, excepting six, were allotted by ballot to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Revolutionary army, the same being granted by the State of New York. Settlements were re- quired to be actually made within seven years from Jan. 1,1790.
All of Tompkins County, save the three southern towns of Newfield, Danby, and Caroline, is included in the Military Tract, as is also the town of Hector in Schuyler County.
THE WATKINS AND FLINT PURCHASE.
On Aug. 4, 1791, John W. Watkins, a lawyer in New York City, and Royal W. Flint, and certain associates, applied to the Commissioners of the Land-Office for the ungranted lands lying east of the Massachusetts pre-emption, west of the Owego Creek, south of the Military Tract, and north of the town of Chemung, as then laid out,-estimated to contain 363,000 acres,-for which they agreed to pay the price of three shillings and fourpenee per acre. (Vol. xi., Land Papers, p. 141.) The proposition was accepted, and
the tract surveyed, and a return made April 7, 1794, and a patent issued, June 25, 1794, to John W. Watkins, who subsequently conveyed to his associates, as their interests indicated.
The lands were described in the patent as follows : " Be- ginning at the northwest corner of the township of Che- mung, as originally surveyed and laid out, on the east bounds of the lands ceded by this State to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and running along the line run for the north bounds of said township of Chemung south 87º 40', east 2857 chains to Owego Creek, being the west bounds of a tract of 230,400 acres, also ceded by this State to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; thenee up along same bounds northerly to the township of Dryden, being onc. of the townships of the tract set apart for the troops of this State lately serving in the army of the United States; thence along the south bounds of the townships of Dryden, Ulysses, and Hector, and the same continued west 2786 chains to the line run for the east bounds of the said first above-mentioned ceded lands, which line is commonly called the pre-emption line; then along the same a true south course 1220 chains to place of beginning." From this tract so described were reserved the following tracts thereinbefore granted :
A. Campbell, 1200 acres, April 26, 1790.
John Bay, 2000 aeres, Sept. 26, 1792.
Henry Wisner, 1460 aeres, February, 1792.
Gillian Bertolph, 400 acres, Jan. 31, 1793.
Ezra L'Hommedieu, 5440 acres, March 21, 1791.
Peter Himepough, 800 acres (in Danby), April 27, 1791.
Preserved Cooley, 200 aeres, 1792.
John Carpenter, 400 acres, March 26, 1791.
Phineas Catlin, 200 acres.
James McKown, 600 acres.
John Hollenbach, 400 acres.
Lawrence Schoolcraft et al., 2600 acres (in Spencer), June 10, 1791.
Direk Tenbroek, 600 acres (in Spencer), Sept. 13, 1791. James and Robert MeMaster and James Wood, 1350 acres (in Dix), Feb. 18, 1792.
John Bay, 2705 acres (in Dix), March 5, 1792.
John Cantine, 2400 acres (in Caroline), March, 1792.
John Cantine, 2000 acres (in Candor), March, 1792.
John Cantine, 800 acres, March, 1792.
James Clinton, 200 acres, March 16, 1792.
Nathan Parshall, 200 acres, March 16, 1792.
Jonas Seeley, 500 acres, Jan. 31, 1793. John Nicholson, 700 acres, in Tioga.
Mathew Carpenter, 200 acres.
John Gazley, 600 acres.
Caleb Bentley, 600 acres.
Henry Wisner, 200 acres.
Henry Wisner and John Carpenter, 660 acres.
Jacob Ford, 350 acres.
John Watson, 1200 acres.
John Hathorn and John Suffern, 400 aeres.
Zephaniah Platt, 5000 acres. Heirs of A. Campbell, 1000 acres.
The lands actually conveyed contained 336,380 acres.
172. John Cantine.
195. Moses De Witt, April 26, 1790.
202. John Lawrence.
27
AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
All gold and silver mines were reserved to the State, and 5 acres in every 100 were reserved for highways. Settlc- ments were to be made on certain areas within seven years of the date of the patent.
This tract includes the present towns of Spencer and Candor, in Tioga County ; a portion of Horscheads, Erin, Van Etten, and Big Flats, and all of Veteran and Catlin, in Chemung ; the towns of Dix, Montour, Catharine, and Cayuta, and the eastern portion of Orange, in Schuyler ; and the towns of Newfield, Danby, and Caroline, in Tomp- kins County.
James Watson, on the 4th of August, 1791, purchased a tract of land lying on the west side of Seneca Lake, between the lake and the pre-emption line which covered the pres- ent town of Reading, in Schuyler County. He also pur- chased all of the unappropriated lands in the southwest part of the old town of Chemung, which lies south of the Chemung River,-14,550 acres,-now in the town of Southport, Chemung Co.
The foregoing comprise the sources of title under which the principal portions of the lands of our four countics are held.
Some large transfers of real estate were made by parties under the Watkins and Flint purchase, several of the deeds covering a square yard of parchment. One deed from James Greenleaf, one of Watkins' and Flint's associates, to Robert C. Johnson, dated May 5, 1795, conveys 119,992 acres in Tioga, Tompkins, and Chemung Counties, the con- sideration being 8993 pounds, New York curreney, and is recorded in Liber of Deeds, M. R., page 514, Secretary of State's office, Albany. Watkins and his wife convey to Robert C. Johnson 10,725 acres, now in the town of Cath- arine, Schuyler County, for 3082 pounds .*
CHAPTER V.
GEOLOGY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS, AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES.
THE rocky record of the four counties embraced in this history is a very simple one, and will require for the gen- eral reader no extended description. Necessarily, for the most part, their account is based upon the investigations made for the State by those able geologists Lardner Vanuxem and James Hall, as recorded in their reports of the third and fourth geological districts. We shall freely use the exact language of these reports-it may be often without note of credit or sign of quotation-when it shall seem so best for our purpose.
Although the fossils are abundant in many of the rocks, neither their character nor the limits of this article will war- rant special mention of any. The reader is referred for such details to the works above named, where the characteristics of the several groups are fully described and illustrated.
Of the rock formations in the four counties, the lowest exposed rocks are in the county of Tompkins. The deep basin of Cayuga Lake and the ravines traversed by its prin- cipal tributaries, which in some cases are cut down nearly to the lake-level, afford the naturalist rare opportunities for studying the structure, thickness, and succession of strata that make up the lower groups.
The dull shales of the Hamilton group, the lowest visible roeks in the county, are of great extent, and form the shores of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes for more than half their length. The six ininor divisions of this group are especially well developed on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, north of Ludlowville. This group is of small practical importance in its relation to the four counties, and is chiefly distinguished for its great thickness and wide distribution over the State. Its thickness is from three to seven hundred feet, yet it is quite deficient in building materials. " It abounds in fos- sils, such as shells, corals, trilobites, fucoids, and a few plants resembling those of terrene origin. In organic remains it is the most prolific of all the New York rocks."
The Tully limestone succeeds the Hamilton shales, and first appears about three miles southward from Kidder's Ferry, presenting a thin and occasionally undulating stra- tum, which varies from ten to sixteen feet in thickness, the bottom layer being frequently five fect thick. The color is blackish-blue and brown.
" Blocks of this limestone are very common along the lakc-shore, where the ledge is seen, requiring but to be en- cased with ice, the water of the lake raised, and then trans- ported south and deposited, to account for the blocks of the same limestone which there exist and are burnt for lime,- one of which is so large and so much buried as to appear to be in its original place, and was supposed to be the pro- jecting part of a ledge of limestone rock. These transported bloeks are found at various levels to the south and east of Ithaca."+
" The mass is too thin to be of importance in its effects upon springs or upon the character of the soil. It is the most southern limestone in the State from which lime is burned, and in this respect is important to the inhabitants of the district along which it extends. Being from six to eight or ten miles south of any other point where limestone is quar- ried, it becomes of great value, both for burning to lime and as a rough building-stone."
The Tully limestone and the rocks of the Hamilton group disappear under the lake three miles north of its head.§
The Genesee slate succeeds the Tully limestone, and con- tinues its darker line two miles farther south before it in turn disappears. In the ravines east of Ludlowville the slate is well exposed, from the limestone upwards, present- ing a mass from eighty to one hundred feet in thickness, and forming several high falls. The greatest exposition of this rock is along Cayuga Lake, south of Ludlowville. This rock is of jointed structure, intersected by vertical
# Pumpelly estate papers, in care of F. L. Jones, Owego.
+ Report of Third District, p. 167.
į Report of Fourth District, p. 215.
¿ The average dip of the rocks of this part of the State is about twenty-five feet to the mile. Direction of dip, a little west of south. - bid., p. 239.
28
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
planes placed nearly at right angles. "It often shows, where sheltered, a saline effloresence of two or more differ- ent salts."
Because of the higher level of Seneca Lake, the several rocks we have mentioned pass under its surface somewhat farther north than the points of disappearance of the same rocks along Cayuga Lake.
The Genesee slate above and the shales below the lime- stone, yielding more readily to destructive forces, have given up much of their substance to form the beaches of flat gravel that occur in their vicinity, while the harder limestone remains, projecting in bold, suspended ledges.
The Portage and Ithaca groups occupy the northern part of the counties of Tompkins and Schuyler, being there the highest rocks. The Ithaca group, holding a middle position between the Portage and Chemung masses, has many of the characteristics of both, and appears to assimi- late more nearly to the former in the eastern district, and to the latter in the western. Mr. Vanuxem says, "The fossils which will show this mass to be a distinct one, should it be such, will be found towards the lower part of the inclined plane."* Mr. Hall, in his report of the fourth district, gives as his reason for merging the Ithaca and Chemung groups "the impossibility of identifying them as distinct by any characteristic fossils."
The line of division between these rocks and those below is distinctly traced on Cayuga Lake in a compact sand- stone, in some places exceeding a yard in thickness, resting on the Genesee slate, and gradually approaching the lake surface in its course southward. The mass consists of coarse shales and sandstones, of varying thickness and little regularity of arrangement, but of marked continuity. Many of the sandstones furnish building materials and "flags" for sidewalks, of good quality, and the hill-sides about Ithaca are dotted with quarries and workings, old and new.
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