History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 7

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 7
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 7
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 7
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 7

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).

"Buttress" cliff, near South Point, on Cayuga Lake, and thence extending two miles northward, is a very picturesque portion of the Portage rocks.

The sandstones of the Portage group produce falls in the streams which flow over them, as well as some of the most beautiful cascades in the State. Taghkanie and Hector Falls are thus produced ; the former, with its sheer plunge of 215 feet, is the highest perpendicular fall in the country east of the Mississippi.

The line of division between the Ithaca and Chemung groups is not well defined, and many of their contained fossils are similar, if not identical.

The Chemung group rests upon the Portage and Ithaca rocks (called " Portage" henceforward for convenience), and may be characterized as " a series of thin-bedded sand- stones, or flag-stones, with intervening shales, and fre- quently beds of impure limestone, resulting from the ag- gregation of organic remains."

The sandstones of this group are coarser, with a greater admixture of clay, than those of the group immediately below. In the high hills south of Cayuga Lake this group first appears, and is well exposed in the upper part of the

" inclined plane" at Ithaca, increasing in thickness with the elevation farther south. All the southern portions of the counties of Schuyler and Tompkins, including the southeast part of Dryden, and that part of Tioga and Che- mung Counties north of the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers, are occupied by the rocks of the Chemung group, as also are the highest elevations of Hector in Schuyler County.

In the deep ravines within the territory named, and espe- cially at the Chemung " Narrows" and in the valley of Cayuta Creek, these rocks are well exposed and afford fine opportunities for examination.

Although the high hills bordering the Cayuta rise to nearly six hundred feet above the stream, no other rocks appear than those of the group we are describing.

Some of the layers afford good building-stone, but often the proportion of argillaccous matter is so great that it will not bear exposure without crumbling. Notwithstanding this fact, many quarries have been opened ncar Ithaca, Owego, Factoryville ( Waverly), Elmira, Millport, Horse- heads, and other places, some of which have been worked many years, and still supply satisfactorily all local demands for building purposes.

The best stones for flagging found in this part of the State are quarried at Ithaca from the lower strata of this group. They range in thickness from three to six inches.

The imposing and solid stone structures of Cornell Uni- versity, built of materials quarried on the spot, bear witness to the economic value of the most solid portions of the two groups last described.

The removal of the rocks of the Chemung group in the southern counties has formed the magnificent, fertile val- leys of these two large rivers, whose waters unite at the southern limit of that broad plain which extends from Athens to and beyond Factoryville.

This plain shows " four distinct terraces of alluvion, the highest rising some sixty or eighty feet above the river."

North of Factoryville the hills reappear and continue for fifteen miles unbroken, until they reach a series of east and west valleys connecting the valley of the Catatunk, at Candor, and the south end of the broad plain at Spencer with the valley of the Cayuta, at Van Ettenville.

The hills again appear north of Van Ettenville, and continue northward unbroken to Cayuga Lake, showing their highest and most rugged elevations near the junc- tion of the four counties, from whence they decline, with smoother features, until they reach the lake.

From the "summit" of the valley at North Spencer, which is 1059 feet above tide and 672 feet above Cayuga Lake, the waters of Cayuga Inlet descend through the lower portion of the Chemung and nearly the whole of the Portage groups. This valley is so bordered with " rounded, alluvial hills (spurs) or terraces" that no cousiderable expo- sure of the strata there exists ; while the Catatunk, rising in Danby, at an elevation greater by 254 feet and flowing southward, runs a parallel course through rocks of the Chemung group only.

The county lines separating Tompkins and Schuyler from Tioga and Chemung follow nearly the line of natural division in those counties between the waters flowing north-

# The old railroad plane at Ithaca.

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

ward to Seneca and Cayuga Lakes and those flowing south- ward to the Susquehanna .*

South of the Susquehanna River, the next higher roeks, those of the Catskill, or Old Red Sandstone group, first ap- pear, but are not largely developed until the State line is passed. They present no valuable features within the territory we are describing.

Iron pyrites occurs in abundance in most of the shales of the several groups mentioned, which on decomposing im- parts a rust color to the rocks. "The same gives origin to numerous small beds of bog-ore which occur in many localities. One of them near Elmira and another at Big Flats furnishes a tolerably pure orc, but in most places it appears as a ferruginous tufa. In Southport there is a small deposit of bog-ore, which apparently owes its origin to the destruction of the conglomerate of the Carboniferous system."}

Along Seely Creek, a tributary of the Catatunk from the west, at North Spencer, is to be seen a vein of ferruginous shale, two or three feet in thickness, composed of kidney- shaped masses of various sizes.

The shales of the Portage and Chemung groups are highly bituminous, and probably are the source of the car- buretted hydrogen gas emitted from many of the springs of the district. At Ithaca it has often appeared in newly-driven wells, in some cases rushing out with considerable force, and burning freely at the surface.

A spring, highly charged with sulphur, breaks forth from the side of Six-Mile Crock ravine, while at the " Steamboat Landing" is an old-fashioned " bored" well, which has been flowing, sinee 1839, a copious stream of like strength and quality.

Ncar Watkins, on the Seneca Lake, is a chalybeate spring ; also an unimportant brine spring which gives some traces of iron.

All the springs named oecur within the limits of the Portage group.

Thin lamina of coal are found in the black shales, but are not evidenec of its existence in any considerable quantity in these rocks. The specimen found is usually the extent of the deposit. Ignorance of the structure of these rocks and their relation to the Carboniferous system has caused a waste of much time, labor, and money in search for beds of coal or salt, based upon slight and occasional traecs of the one or the other occurring in them. "It is unncces- sary to say that these attempts always fail, as do all similar undertakings in the roeks of this period."

Marl is abundant in many localities. There is an exten- sive bed about six miles south of Ithaca, and other small ones near Newfield, while in the low ground at the head of Cayuga Lake there are several deposits. At Ithaca the Tully limestone, being accessible, is preferred for lime- making ; hence the marl there remains intact.

There are also sundry beds of marl in Chemung County, neat Millport, and one about two miles northcast of John-

son's settlement. A bed exists also ncar Horschcads, and in the town of Dix, at the Bcaver dam, an extensive deposit, which is burned for lime.

Springs .- The country underlaid by the rocks of the Chemung and Portage groups is well watercd by never- failing springs ; but the practice of indiscriminately clearing the woods from hills and valleys will, in time, result in drying up their sources of supply, which now send refresh- ing waters through many mysterious, hidden channels to the surface. The vertical joints in the thicker masses of black shale often afford vents for the waste of water down- ward. The only remedy, in such cases, is to bore through the black and porous to the more solid green shales below.

Some remarkable results have been obtained by means of sundry "driven" wells in the towns of Dryden, Dauby, and Ithaca. In several the water rises from three to thirty feet above the surface,-one in Danby attaining the latter elevation, and another, at Ithaca, the height of from twelve to thirteen fcet.

Agricultural Considerations .- In the valleys and on the low northern slopes of the Portage groups, in the counties of Tompkins and Schuyler, the soil produces wheat with the same case and certainty as the formations farther north. This is true also of the deep valleys farther south, including those of Chemung and Tioga Counties, which have received, intermixed with the northern " drift" deposits, a liberal supply of calcareous materials. The higher lands in the southern portion of the district, having little or no lime, or equivalent ingredients, are naturally best adapted to grazing and the coarser grains. The application of certain manures or phosphates may modify these conditions ; but experience alone can determine how economically.

CHAPTER VI.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The First Railroad Train in America-The Mohawk and Hudson- Opened in 1831-Seventeen Miles in Length-Miles of Road in Operation in New York in 1845-Location-Miles of Road in Operation in New York in 1870-Cost of Construction and Equip- ment-The Second Railway in this State-The Caynga and Susque- hanna-The New York, Lake Erie and Western-The Northern Central-The Chemung-Canandaigua and Corning-The South- ern Central-The Lehigh Valley-The Ithaca and Towanda-Tho Geneva and Ithaca-The Cayuga Lake-The Utica, Ithaca and El- mira-The Syracuse, Geneva and Corning-The New York and Oswego Midland-The Tioga and State Line-The Chemung Canal.

THE first railroad company incorporated in the State of New York was chartered April 17, 1826, under the name of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Company, and under its charter the first link in what is now known as the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad was construeted, seventeen miles from Albany to Schenectady.

It was opened for traffic in 1831, and was operated by inclined planes, and partly, it is believed, with stationary engines. There were no Westinghouse air-brakes or other modern appliances for checking the momentum of the cars ; brakesmeu used the simple hand-lever bolted to the truck, and operated by pressing downward with the hands. In 1831

# The three grand natural passes between the river and lake sys- tems of Central New York aro within the four counties under consid- eration, and are now traversed cach by a railroad, and one (that of Catharine Creek ) also by a canal.

+ Report of Fourth District, p. 479.

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

a locomotive engine weighing four tons, and named the " John Bull," was imported from England, and in the same year the first steam railway passenger-train in America was run over this road. The coaches were old-fashioned stage-coach bodies, and were suspended over the trueks by leather through-braces. These coaches had seats inside and outside. The first train over the road had two of these coaches, containing fifteen passengers.

The following deseription of this train is given by Thur- low Weed, who was among the passengers : " The first train of steam-ears ever run in America was on the old Mohawk and Hudson Railway, the first section of the present New York Central. It then extended from Albany sixteen miles to Seheneetady. The trial trip was made on the last day of July, 1831. For a train, two ordinary stage-coaches had been shorn of their bodies, which were placed on single four- wheel trneks adapted to the traek. Nothing could be eon- ceived more primitive, as compared with the present stately locomotives, than the ugly and clumsy engine, which was imported from England at an expense of $5855.63. There was no eab. The engineer, who wore a silk hat, had be- hind him, on a single-truek fender, a pile of fagots, and two flour-barrels filled with similar fuel. There were fifteen pas- sengers, eight in the first coach and seven in the second (one passenger being on the box and one in the boot of eaeli eoaeh).

"I remember the oeeasion very well. They hadn't dis- covered the engineering tricks of railroading in those days. The road was sixteen miles long. But instead of going around an obstacle in the shape of a hill, as they would now, they went over it. They did not understand the principle of overcoming steep grades. The first half-mile out of Albany was very steep, as was also the first half-mile out of Schenectady. To pull the train up these steep inclines, stationary engines were used, with drum and eable, the en- gines being placed on the summits. Between these two hills, a stretch of fifteen miles, the grades were very easy, and the locomotive carried us along at a rapid rate. If I remember aright, we traversed the fifteen miles in less than an hour ; remarkably good time, all things considered. I know the train was earefully timed, and we all had our watches out.

" The passengers were all men of some prominence either at Albany, Schenectady, or New York. Ex-Governor Yates was in the ear or stage with me. John Townsend, a promi- nent merchant, and formerly mayor of Albany, sat by my side. 'Billy' Winne, the penny postman, as he was ealled, sat in the boot. Other passengers were Lewis Benedict, of Albany, John I. De Graff, Mayor of Schenectady, and onee member of Congress, John Meigs, chief of the Albany poliee, and Jacob Hayes, of the New York poliee.

" A Philadelphia gentleman named Brown, who stood looking on, when the train was about to start, and who was very expert in cutting silhouette likenesses, eut out the pro- file of the train and the passengers in black paper."

The enterprise proved a sueeess, and other links in the road from Albany to Buffalo were soon after constructed, and, in 1845, fourteen years after the opening of the first road, there were about six hundred and sixty-one miles of railway in operation in this State, viz., from Albany to

Buffalo via Auburn, Syracuse, Rochester, and Batavia ; Lockport to Lewiston; Buffalo to Lewiston ; Troy to Mas- sachusetts State Line via Chatham ; Troy to Saratoga via Mechanicsville and Ballston; Troy to Schenectady ; Schenec- tady to Ballston ; Brooklyn to Greenport; New York to White Plains ; Piermont to Middletown ; Ithaca to Owego ; and Painted Post to the Pennsylvania State Line.

From this period the railroad interests developed with almost marvelous rapidity, until at the present time the State is traversed with a net-work of railway, embracing about 5360 miles, eosting in its construction and equip- ment about $510,000,000.

THE CAYUGA AND SUSQUEHANNA RAILROAD.

The Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad Company was the second railroad chartered in this State. It was ineorpo- rated Jan. 28, 1828, with a eapital stoek of $150,000, and authorized to construet a road from Ithaea and Owego.

No attempt, however, was made to construet the road until the building of the Chemung Canal from Elmira to Watkins. The sueeessful accomplishment of this project was regarded by the citizens of Ithaea and Owego as detri- mental to the interests of their towns, and a movement was started by Simeon De Witt, then a resident of Ithaea, and others to build the road. In March, 1832, the capital stock was inereased to $300,000, and the road was opened in April, 1834. In the following month the capital stock was inereased to $450,000, and in April, 1838, the Legislature authorized a loan to the company of $250,000, taking a lien upon the road and its appurtenances.

The "panic" of 1837 erippled the company ; it failed to pay the interest to the State, and on May 20, 1842, the comptroller sold it at quetion to Archibald McIntire and others for the sum of $4500. The road as originally eon- structed was twenty-nine miles in length, with two inelined planes ascending from Ithaca. The first of these was 17333 feet long, with 405 feet rise, and the second was 2125 feet in length, with a rise of one foot in twenty-one. The total elevation in eight miles was 602 feet above its southern terminus at Ithaea. It was operated on the first plane by a stationary steam-engine, while horses were used as the motive-power on the balance of the road. After passing into the hands of Mr. McIntire, the inelined planes were replaced by others of lesser grade, traversing the mountain in a zigzag manner, and locomotives superseded the horse-power and stationary engine. The main line of the road is now 34.61 miles in length, and the total track mileage is 40.61. The road is leased to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, and is operated by them as the Cayuga Division. It is 34-61 miles in length, with six miles of sidings, and traverses the towns of Ithaea, Danby, and Caroline, in Tompkins County, and Candor, in Tioga County.

THE NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY.

The New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Com- pany was incorporated as the New York and Erie Railroad Company, April 24, 1832. In 1861 it was reorganized as the Erie Railway Company, which organization was eon-

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

tinued until 1878, when it was again reorganized, this time as the New York, Lake Erie and Western.

The first seetion of this road was opened for traffie from Piermont to Goshen in 1841 ; from Goshen to Middletown in June, 1843; to Port Jervis in January, 1848; to Bing- hamton in December, 1848; to Elmira in October, 1849 ; to Corning in January, 1850 ; and through to Dunkirk, the then western terminus, May 14, 1851. The opening of the road brought a wealthy and comparatively isolated seetiou of the State in communication with the sea-board, and soon became the outlet for a large Western traffie. Al- though the " Erie," as it is familiarly known, has had a eheekered eareer, it has ever been regarded as one of the representative railways of the United States, and under its present efficient management its interests will doubtless be extended.

The total line operated by the Erie Road is 1032 miles ; double track, 319} ; on branches, 283 ; total, 348 miles ; sidings, 157} ; total length of traek, 15474. Gauge, 6 feet ; and on 643 miles by extra rail, 4 feet 83 inches.

The road crosses the towns of Owego, Tioga, and Bar- ton, in Tioga County, and Southport, Horseheads, and Big Flats, in Chemung.

THE NORTHERN CENTRAL RAILWAY.

That portion of the Northern Central Railway lying within this State is a consolidation of three roads, viz. : the Cheruung Railroad, leading from Elmira to Watkins; the Canandaigua and Corning Railroad, leading from Canan- daigua to Watkins ; and the Williamsport and Elmira Road. The Chemung road was incorporated in May, 1845, and opened in 1849, having been leased while in course of eon- struetion to the New York and Erie.

The road from Canandaigua to Jefferson (now Watkins) was constructed under the charter of the Corning and Can- andaigua Railroad, granted May 11, 1845. The building of the road was commeneed July 4, 1850, and in the fol- lowing year, 1851, it was in operation, the New York and Erie furnishing engines, ears, etc., at a specified rate per mile. It connected with the Chemung road at Jefferson (Watkins), and Sept. 11, 1852, its name was changed to the Canandaigua and Elmira Railroad, and May 1, 1857, the entire road from Elmira to Canandaigua was sold and naine changed to Elmira, Canandaigua and Niagara Railroad. This road was under the management of the Erie Railway until 1866, when the unexpired term of leases held by that corporation were assumed by the Northern Central, and in 1872 a majority interest in the stoek was purchased by the Northern Central.

The Williamsport and Elmira Railroad was organized under the laws of Pennsylvania in 1852. The contractors for building the road were John S. King, of Geneva, and L. J. Staneliff and A. S. Diven, of Elmira, under the firm- name of King, Staneliff & Co. Major Wm. H. Arnold was chief engineer.

The road was open for traffie in 1854, with A. S. Diven as president. It was leased to the Northern Central Road in 1863. These three roads form an important seetion of the 325 miles of rail now operated by the Northern Central from Baltimore to Canandaigua.

This road enters New York State in the town of South- port, and traverses the towns of Southport, Elmira, Horse- heads, and Catlin, in Chemung County, and Montour, Dix, and Reading, in Schuyler County.

THE SOUTHERN CENTRAL ROAD.

The Southern Central Railroad Company was incorpo- rated in September, 1865, as the Lake Ontario, Auburn and New York Railroad, but subsequently its present corporate title was substituted. The company was authorized to con- struct a road from Fair Haven, on Lake Ontario, to Athens, on the Pennsylvania State line. 25 miles of the road were opened in 1869 ; 43 in 1870 ; 27 in 1871; and the remain- ing 22 miles in the winter of 1871-72.

The Southern Central Railway is 117 miles in length. It crosses the towns of Groton and Dryden, in Tompkins, and Riehford, Berkshire, Newark, and Owego, in Tioga County.

THE LEHIGH VALLEY. RAILROAD.

That portion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad lying within the bounds of this State embraces what are known as the Ithaea and Towanda, and Geneva and Ithaca Roads.

The Ithaca and Towanda Railroad Company was in- eorporated in December, 1865, and in 1868, by a special aet of the Legislature, its name was changed to the Ithaca and Athens Road. It was completed and opened for traffie in 1870. It was subsequently merged with the Geneva and Ithaca Railway, under the title of the Geneva, Ithaea and Athens Railroad. This name was afterwards super- seded by Geneva, Ithaea and Sayre, and is operated by the Lehigh Valley Road.

The Geneva and Ithaca Railroad was incorporated in 1870, and in October, 1874, was opened for business. As mentioned above, it was consolidated with the Ithaea and Athens, and is now operated by the Lehigh Valley Road.

The branch known as the Ithaca and Athens Road traverses the towns of Ithaca, Danby, Newfield, Speneer, Van Etten, and Barton, in Tompkins County ; and the braneh known as the Geneva and Ithaca passes northwest through the towns of Ithaea and Ulysses into Sencea County.

THE UTICA, ITHACA AND ELMIRA RAILROAD.

This company, as at present constituted, is a consolida- tion of the Ithaea and Cortland, and Utiea, Horseheads and Elmira Railroad Companies, the former of which was organized July 31, 1869, and the latter April 2, 1870.

It traverses the towns of Horseheads, Erin, Cayuta, and Van Etten, in Chemung County, Speneer and Candor, in Tioga County, and Caroline, Danby, Ithaca, Dryden, and Groton, in Tompkins County.

CAYUGA LAKE RAILROAD.

This company was organized to build a road from Ithaca to Cayuga, on the New York Central Railroad, a distance of 38 miles. The road was opened in 1872. In 1873 the road-bed was damaged to such an extent by heavy freshets that traffie was entirely suspended. The damages were, however, soon repaired, and in August of the same year the road was again in operation. After leaving the town

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

of Ithaea it passes through the town of Lansing into Cayuga County.

THE SYRACUSE, GENEVA AND CORNING RAILROAD.

This road was incorporated in August, 1875. The pioneer mover in the enterprise was General George J. Magee, a wealthy eapitalist and extensive eoal operator residing in the village of Watkins. It was built ostensibly for the purpose of forming a direet outlet for the Fall Brook Coal Company from Corning to the New York Central Railway.

The road is 58 miles in length, and was construeted at a eost of about $1,500,000. It was opened for business Dee. 10, 1877, and has met with a sueeess even beyond the anticipations of the most sanguine. It passes through a wealthy country, heretofore comparatively isolated. It erosses the famous Watkins Glen, near its head, which is spanned by one of the finest specimens of railway archi- tecture in the State. The bridge is 150 feet above the stream, and the highest railway bridge in the State, exeept Portage.

The road has proved a substantial benefit to the country which it traverses as well as to the people of Corning, and the Fall Brook Coal Company, and its publie-spirited pro- genitor, General George J. Magee, is entitled to mueh eredit for his indefatigable efforts in building the road, and through whose untiring energy it has reached its present prosperous condition.

The present organization of the board of directors is as follows : General George J. Magee, Daniel Beach, and John Lang, Watkins; Alexander Oleott, Corning; William T. Hamilton and Frank Hiseock, Syracuse; George H. Bur- rows, Rochester ; James Tillinghast, Buffalo ; E. D. Wor- eester, Albany ; Augustus Schell, S. F. Barger, and I. P. Chambers, New York ; and D. W. Pardee, Brooklyn. Gen- eral Magee is the aeting President, Mr. John Lang is Treasurer, and Alexander Olcott, Secretary. The road is leased and operated by the Fall Brook Coal Company.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 7

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