USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 89
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 89
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 89
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 89
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Alfred Stout, private, 20th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. September, 1864, one year.
Benj. J. Alexander, private, 86th N. Y. Inf .; enl. October, 1861, three years ; re-enl. December, 1863.
Eden Hunt, private, 89th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. January, 1864, three years. Jolin Dickens, private, 8th N. Y. Cav .; enl. February, 1865, one year. Martin Bailey, private, 15th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. October, 1864, one year. Isaiah Slater, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. Mareli, 1865, one year. Richard Personious, artificer, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; en !. August, 1862, three years. Elnathan Personious, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. August, 1861, three years; re-enl. January, 1864, three years.
Eli Personious, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. February, 1864, three years. Chauncey C. Johnson, private, 107th N. Y. Inf .; enl. July, 1862, three years. Harrison Johnson, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. August, 1862, three years. Elmer E. Johnson, corporal, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. August, 1861, three years ; re-eul. Jan. 18, 1864, three years.
Joshua Kendall, artificer, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. August, 1862, three years. Levi H. Weed, artificer, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. August, 1862, three years. Lorin O. Cooly, private, 129th Ill. Inf. ; enl. August, 1862, three years. Jno. Cummings, private, 107th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. July, 1862, three years.
Chas. R. King, musician, 48th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1861, three years ; re-enl. navy September, 1864, one year.
Albert King, private, 141st N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1864, one year. Elijah Scott, private, 188th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1864, one year. Israel Kimball, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. March, 1865, three years. C. Vandemark, private, 147th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1863, three years. Ilerman C. Curry, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. December, 1863, three years. Horace B. Kimball, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. March, 1865, three years. Joseph H. Price, private, 5th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Feb. 13, 1862, three years;
re-enl. Feb. 26, 1864 ; slightly wounded at Piedmont, June 5, 1864. Jacob Weaver, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Aug. 23, 1864, one year. Jno. H. Webber, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. August, 1864, one year. James Webber, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. August, 1864, one year. Wm. Rowley, private, 5th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. June 1, 1862, three years. Benj. Middangh, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Dec. 22, 1863, three years. John Middaugh, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Dec. 22, 1863, three years. Brant Kimball, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. October, 1864, one year. Wni. Hovey, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. December, 1863, three years. Wm. Morgan, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. September, 1864, two years. Joseph Smalley, private, 107th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. Aug. 7, 1862, three years; wounded at Dallas, May 25, 1864.
Wm. H. Ostrander, private, 107th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. July 11, 1862, three years. John Price, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. December, 1863, three years. Amos Kimball, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Dec. 22, 1863, three years. J. Elbert Hubbell, private, 153d N. Y. Inf .; enl. August, 1862, three years; wounded at Cedar Creek, Oct. 18, 1864.
Lewis J. Kimball, private, 15th N. Y. Eng .; enl. September, 1864, one year. John II. Bedford, private, 5th N. Y. Il. Art .; enl. August, 1862, three years. Minor B. Colegrove, private, 147th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1863, three years. Chauncey Robinson, private, 147th N. Y. Inf. ; ent. July, 1863, three years. Frank Savery, private, 107th N. Y. Inf .: enl. August, 1862, three years. Harley Hazen, musician, 140th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. September, 1862, three years. Mark S. IIazen, private, 188th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1864, one year. Samnel R. Hazen, private, 140th N. Y. Inf .; enl. September, 1862, three years. John Small, private, 5th N. Y. II. Art. ; enl. December, 1863, three years. Oscar Savery, private, 3d III. Art .; enl. September, 1862, three years. John Perrigo, private, 15th N. Y. Eng .; enl. September, 1864, one year. Elias Green, Jr, private, 12th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. August, 1864, one year. Wm. C. Saylor, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. August, 1864, one year. Phineas R. Stevens, private, 15th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. September, 1864, one year. Geo. A. Ringer, private, 23d N. Y. Inf .; enl. May, 1861, two years; re-enl. Glst N. Y. Inf., September, 1864; was prisoner at Richmond two months. Henry Crawford, corporal, 141st N. Y. Inf .; enl. August, 1862, three years. Charles Cole, private, 107th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. August, 1862, three years; wounded and taken prisoner in North Carolina, March 8, 1864. Amos Johnson, private, 147th N. Y. Inf .; enl. Oct. 2, 1863. John Webber, private, 5th N. Y. H. Art; enl. June 1, 1862; re-enl. 1863. Sylvester Bailly, private, 107th N. Y. Inf. ; ent. July, 1862. Lewis Weaver, private, 141st N. Y. Inf .; enl. Aug. 1862; wounded July 22, 1864, near Atlanta, Ga.
Chas. B. Ilubbell, private, 153d N. Y. Inf. ; enl. Ang. 1862. Henry C. Saylor, private, 3d N. Y. Inf .; enl. Oct. 1861, three years. Isaac Bedford, private, 3d N. Y. Inf .; enl. April, 1861, three years. Jolin Johnson, private, 50th N. Y. Eng., enl. Aug. 1862. Wallace W. F'ulkerson, private, 3d N. Y. Inf .; enl. Oct. 22, 1861, three years. Jolin Quigley, private, 38th N. Y. Inf ; enl. April, 1861, three years.
John Savery, private, 14th U. S. Regs .; enl. July, 1861, three years; wounded at second Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862.
II. S. Woolsey, private, 23d N. Y. Inf .; enl. April, 1861, three years. Oliver Cady, private, 194th N. Y. Inf .; enl. March, 1865, one year. Stephen Ward, private, 194th N. Y. Inf .; enl April G, 1865, one year. Oliver Larknın, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Oct. 1861, three years. Timothy Dean, private, 23d N. Y. Inf. ; enl. April, 1861, three years. James Pearce, private, 194th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. April, 1865, one year. John Kendall, private, 5th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Aug. 1862, three years; wounded
at Piedmont, June 5, 1864; taken prisoner, June 9, at Staunton ; paroled Sept. 11, 1854.
Jacob Perry, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Sept. 1861, three years. Jason Smart, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Sept. 1, 1861, three years.
John Dingman, private, 134th N. Y. Inf .; enl. Aug. 1862, three years; wounded at Antietam.
Wm. H. Shaw, engineer, 71st N. Y. S. M .; enl. April 20, 1861, three years. Phinney F. Gridley, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. Aug. 15, 1864, one year. Ilenry F. Wicks, private, 8th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Dec. 21, 1863, three years; . wounded at Cold Harbor, June, 1865.
Timothy Connelly, private, 8th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Dec. 21, 1863, three years. Win. Hovey, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Dec. 22, 1863, three years. Wim. Brooks, private, 16th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Dec. 21, 1863, three years. Sam'l Johnson, private ; enl. Dec. 28, 1863.
Marshall Smith, private, 5th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Dec. 28, 1863; killed at Suick- er's Gap, Va.
Frederick Sullivan, private, 16th N. Y. H. Art. ; eul. Dec. 23, 1863. De Witt C. Wilber, private, 16th N. Y. H. Art .; enl. Dec. 29, 1863. Daniel D. Tompkins, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Aug. 22, 1861; re-enl. Jan. 2,1864.
Jolin II. W. Bailey, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. Aug. 24, 1864, one year. Geo. Hoag, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; enl. March 16, 1865, one year. Oscar Weaver, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. March 18, 1865. Daniel Hoag, private, 50th N. Y. Eng., enl. March 29, 1865.
Geo. Westlake.
Henry Backer 0
Julia Gould Backen.
HENRY BACKER.
Henry Backer, the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Lebanon, Hunterdon Co., N. J., Sept. 25, 1815. His father, Matthias Backer, and his grandfather, Christopher Backer, were both born in Hunterdon County. His great-grandfather, Mat- thias Backer, was born in Germany, and came to this country in 1750. His ancestry on his mother's side was from Holland. He was the oldest of eleven children. When he was sixteen years of age his father came to Catlin, which was then one dense forest. When he was twenty-two years of age he devoted his time to study, and fitted himself for school-teaching, in which he engaged for some time. He has held numerous offices of trust. He finally, devoted his whole time to farming, and has become a substantial farmer, and by constant labor and good management has acquired a comfortable home. Hc resides on the old homestead of one hundred and twenty-eight acres, and has another farm in the same town of one hundred and sixty aeres.
At the age of twenty-eight he married Julia Gould,
an estimable young lady, seven and one-half years his junior. Four children have blest their home, the older two of whom died in infancy. The re- maining two have grown to womanhood, and engage in school-teaching.
The subject of this sketch is sixty-three years of age, is of good health, energetic, strong will, and has always been an early riser, to which may be attribu- ted his good health and youthful appearance.
Julia Gould Backer, wife of the above, was born March 16, 1823, in Sussex Co., N. J., the dangh- ter of Gideon and Mary Gould. When Julia was six years of age her father died, leaving her mother with six children.
In 1835 the mother and children came to Catlin to reside. At the age of twenty she was married to Henry Backer. She has always been a devoted wife and a faithful mother. Her health has been of the best until latterly. She comes of a long-lived family on her mother's side, and has a fine con- stitution.
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AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
Wm. O. Cady, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; ent. March 30, 1865. Daniel Ladue, private, Ist Army Corps; enl. April 3, 1865.
Walker V. Personions, capt., 50th N. Y. Eng. ; three years.
Eleazer Perry, private, 38th N. Y. Inf .; enl. April, 1861, two years ; died at Rock Point Hospital, March 4, 1865,
Levi Hong, private, 106th N. Y. Inf. ; enl. 1864.
Wm. Whitford.
Archibald Demun.
George A. Ringer. Henry Crawford. Phineas R. Stephens. Madison Owens.
Emery Johnson. Franklin Cogswell. John HI. Perry.
Lemuel Colegrove. John R. Frank, private, 23d Inf. ; ent. Sept. 1861. Isaac Weller.
John A. Knoop, ent. 1864.
Charles R. King, private ; enl. Sept. 1864, navy vessel "Seneca."
DIED IN SERVICE.
Edward Matson, private, 161st N. Y. Iuf .; ent. Aug. 1, 1862; died at Baton Ronge, La., Sept. 6, 1863.
James M. Gonld, private, 86th N. Y. Inf .; enl. Nov. 5, 1861; re-enl. Feb. 1864; killed at Spottsylvania, May 10, 1864.
Dyer F. Gibbs, private, 50th N. Y. Eng .; cul. Dec. 1863; died at Washington Brigade Hospital, Oct. 26, 1864.
Richard M. Kimball, private, 15th N. Y. Eng .; ent. Sept. 3, 1864; died at City Point, Va., April 11, 1865.
Mahlon Davenport, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; ent. Dec. 1863 ; died at Washing- ton llospital, Feb. 21, 1864.
Watson Cogswell, private, 8th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Feb. 1865 ; died at llarper's Ferry, April 22, 1865.
William Loomis, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; ent. Ang. 1862 ; died at Washington, Sept. 4, 1864.
Andrew Cady, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; eul. Aug. 1861 ; died at Washington, Jan. 1862.
Datus E. Buck, private, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. Aug. 1862; died at Washington, Nov. 28, 1862.
Isaac L. Miller, private, 24th N. Y. Cav .; enl. Dec. 1863; wounded, and died at Washington, July 4, 1864.
Wm. J. P'ersonious, sergt., 107th N. Y. Inf .; enl. July, 1862 ; died at Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 5, 1864.
De Witt Johnson, artificer, 50th N. Y. Eng. ; enl. Aug. 1862; died at Washing- ton, April 11, 1864.
Henry Brown, private, 23d N. Y. Inf. ; enl. May, 1861 ; killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862.
Enlisted from town, 132; substitutes and bought, 58; total, 190.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
J. J. COOPER
was born at Southgate, England, Feb. 19, 1820, and eame to America with his parents when but twelve years of age, in the " Princess Royal," an English vessel. His father first settled on Long Island, in the neighborhood of Pat- ehogue, but subsequently removed to the town of Catlin ; but the son, J. J., went to Ithaca, where he learned the saddler's and harness-maker's trade of A. A. Standard. Soon after attaining his majority, ou account of his health, he abandoned his trade, and returned to his father's home and farm, where he assisted in agricultural labors until he beeame strong and robust. Then, in connection with his brother William, he " took up" a lot of wild land, which they elcared and improved. The country was then a wilderness, and the only houses were those built of logs, with huge fireplaces that consumed wood by the eord. Coal and kerosene were unknown, and there was not a railroad in this part of the State. He afterwards sold to
his brother, and purchased of Jacob Backer, Dee. 12, 1853, the farmn on which he now resides.
He was married, Jan. 18, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth Frank, at Moreland, Schuyler (then Chemung) Co. Their children are as follows : Fred. B., born March 18, 1859; John R., born Feb. 15, 1861; Carrie Belle, born Feb. 5, 1869; and Fannie A., born Sept. 29, 1875.
Mr. Cooper is of the Democratic school of politics. In 1854 he was postmaster at Catlin Centre. In 1865 he was eleeted town elerk, and again in 1875. He has been a very successful farmer. A view of his residence, with por- traits of himself and wife, may be seen on another page.
CHAPTER LII.
CHEMUNG.
THE town of Chemung is the southeast corner town of the county, and contains an area of 27,624 acres, of which 16,420 aeres are improved. It had a population of 1998 inhabitants according to the eensus of 1875, of which 1901 were natives and 97 foreign born; 1996 white and 2 colored ; 997 males, 1001 females, 17 aliens. A voting population of 5410, of which 495 were natives and 45 naturalized ; males of military age, 393 ; persons of school age, 244 males 311 females; number of land-owners, 259; persons twenty- one years of age and upwards unable to read or write, 28.
The surface of the town is a hilly upland, broken by deep and narrow valleys. The principal water-courses are the Che- mung River, which, flowing in an easterly dircetion, erosses the town in the south part, and Wynkoop Creek, which, flowing southerly through the eentre of the town, beeomes a tributary of the Chemung. Baldwin Creek forms part of the boundary line on the west border. The soil in the valleys is a deep, rieh alluvium, and a gravelly loam upon the hills; all of it being well adapted to the pursuits of agriculture, in which occupation most of the people are en- gaged. Abundant erops of corn, fruit, and the cereals re- ward the husbandman for his toil. The tobacco plant is also quite extensively cultivated along the rich bottom-lands of the Chemung River.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
A majority of the early settlers of Chemung viewed this country for the first time as soldiers under General Sullivan, when he invaded and laid waste the villages and cultivated fields of the bitterly-hostile Iroquois. These hardy Continental troops, coming as they did from the cold, sterile soil of New England and Eastern New York, the Jersey sands, and the inhospitable companionship of the Pennamites of Pennsylvania, were astonished to behold sueh a fertile region as here lay outstretched before them.
The vast fields of corn, pumpkins, beans, and other prod- ucts, planted and cultivated with the rudest implements, in the hands of a savage people unaecustomed to the pursuits of agriculture, assured them that this was the land they had long sought. As one views this valley to-day, is it at all surprising that they resolved to return and settle here
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HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
when peace permitted ? Though peace with England and her savage allies was concluded in 1783, and the Indians never made another fight in this State after their terrible chastisement by Sullivan in 1779, still numerous and large parties of them returned to their old hunting-grounds, and committed many outrages and murders upon the venture- some frontiersmen who had pushed too far out from the established settlements. This fear of the treacherous savage, and the long distance to be traversed with wives and little children before reaching the valley of the Chemung, deterred any from attempting a settlement until about 1786. It is possible that two or three families may have settled here as early as 1785, but, in the absence of any written record to the contrary, we believe that no permanent settlement was mnade here until the spring of 1786, when William Wyn- koop, William Buck, and his son, Elijah Buek, Daniel MeDowell, Joseph Bennett, Thomas Burt, Enoeh Warren, and his son, Enoch Warren, Jr., came up the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers in canoes and Durham boats, and made a settlement extending from Wynkoop's Creek west to the second Narrows Hill. Israel Parshall, Samuel Bei- delman, Jonathan Griswold, John Squires, Abijah Batter- son, Jacob Kress, Thomas Keeney, and Isaac Baldwin and his sons came the next year (1787), and settled in the valley west of the Narrows Hill (Squires, Batterson, and Keeney taking up a location on the south side of the river); and they were followed soon after by Ebenezer Green, Jacob Lowman, James Wilson, Uriah Wilson, David Burt, Justus Bennett, Benjamin Wynkoop, John Hillman, Joseph Drake, Moses De Puy, Jacob Decker, Samuel Westbrook, and at least twenty other families, prior to 1800.
Major William Wynkoop came from Saugerties, N. Y., and located on lot No. 1, a tract of 515 acres, lying near the mouth of Wynkoop Creek. He was of a Holland Dutch family, and served as a volunteer in the American army at the battle of Saratoga. A gentleman of decided ability, energetic and generous in his business relations, he was ever to be found among the foremost in any under- taking which led to the advancement of publie enterprise or the welfare of his neighbors. He died in 1827, aged seventy-four years.
William Buck, with his sons Aholiab, Asahel, and Elijah, emigrated from New Milford, Litchfield Co., Conn., and settled first at Wyoming. The sons were all in the Conti- mental army. Captain Aholiab Buck, with his nephew William (a son of Asahel, and a lad but thirteen years of age), were in the fort at the massacre. William was killed before the garrison surrendered. Captain Buck was one of the ill-fated fourteen who met their death by the hands of murderous Queen Esther. Lieutenant Asahel Buck was killed in an encounter with the Indians in February, 1779. During these years of savage warfare, Sergeant Elijah Buck was serving with the Continental army, in New Jersey. After the war closed he returned to Wyoming, and remained there until 1786, wlien he journeyed up the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers, and settled on lot No. 3 (the site of Chemung village). His father (William Buck) came up from Wyoming soon after, and died here in 1799. Esquire Elijah Buek was a very prominent citizen during the early settlement of the valley. He filled many positions of trust
and honor in his town, county, and for the government, and, after a long life of usefulness, died in 1830, at the age of eighty-one years.
His son, Asahel, was also a gentleman of superior attain- ments, and as a lawyer, citizen, and friend, was universally respeeted.
George W. Buck, a son of Asahel, represented his county (Chemung) in the State Legislature in 1840 and 1867, and was an active participant in all matters relating to the advancement and prosperity of his town and county.
Mr. A. H. Buck, the only surviving son of Asahel, is a resident of the town at the present time, and is justly es- teemed as a surveyor, farmer, and worthy citizen,
Captain Daniel McDowell, a Scotchman by birth, and a soldier of the Revolutionary and Indian wars, settled here in 1786, and located on lots 4 and 5. He was a remarkable man,-remarkable alike for his superior scholastic abilities as well as for his eourage, endurance, and feats of strength and agility. Though but twenty-five years of age when he came to Chemung, he had already passed through scenes which fall to the lot of but very few men in a lifetime. With true Higliland zeal, he had espoused the cause of the colo- nists, and in that seven years' struggle, as the captain of a company of scouts, the Tories and Indians had learned to fear and respect him. While on a scouting expedition near Stroudsburg, Pa., his brother was killed and himself wounded, but, after a long race for life, he finally escaped capture by swimming a river.
At Shawnee, Sept. 12, 1782, he, with several of his command, were taken prisoners by the Indians ; from thence they were taken to Niagara, where, in the presence of a large body of Indians, they were compelled to run the gauntlet. The muscular frame, almost superhuman bravery, and extreme agility of Captain McDowell enabled him to pass through that terrible ordeal, and he was the only one, among many, who eseaped death.
He was subsequently banished to Quebec, where, after undergoing many acts of cruelty at the hands of his cap- tors, and languishing in prison a year, broken in health, he was allowed his liberty. While on his way to Niagara as a prisoner, the route led along an Indian trail near the present location of Chemung Depot, where the party halted at a spring to quench their thirst. Captain McDowell was so impressed with the beauty of the scene, the broad bottom- lands, with here and there patches of eorn, pumpkins, and beans, and the abundance of wild fruit, that he determined, if ever released, to return and settle in this fertile and in- viting region. This determination, as we have seen, was carried out. The Indians gave him a name very expressive of his character, physically and mentally, -- " Keto" (mean- ing the iron man). In the Confederation of the Iroquois he was well known, and being conversant with the Indian tongue, was both feared and respected by them.
Captain MeDowell was intimately associated with the early development of the Chemung Valley, and was fore- most in the formation and organization of the old town of Chemung. He died in 1808, while yet in the prime of his life, in his forty-fourth year.
Hon. Jno. G. McDowell, son of Captain McDowell, was born in Chemung, Feb. 27, 1794, and at the time of his
STEAM SAW MILL.
( PHOTO
H. W. OWEN .
R
"MINNIEDALE FARM " PROPERTY OF JE
KEN )
JESSE OWEN.
DAIRY BARN, OPPOSITE HOUSE.
OWEN AND CO., CHEMUNG, NEW YORK.
LiTh. S . L. H. EVERTS, PHILADA
329
AND SCHIUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
death was seventy-two years of age. During the war of 1812 he was appointed first lieutenant and aid-de-camp, and subsequently captain and paymaster. Under the old con- stitution he was the contemporary in political life of Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, Governor Marey, and General John A. Dix, with all of whom he held intimate personal relations. He was much in public life, and repre- sented his district in the Assembly during the years 1830- 31. In the fall of 1831 he was elected one of the four senators from the old Sixth Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Delaware, Broome, Otsego, Chenango, Tioga, Cortland, and Tompkins. About this period he was appointed president of the Chemung Canal Bank, and, under the act for loaning the surplus revenues of the United States, Judge McDowell was appointed by Governor Marcy Com- missioner of Loans. His last appearance in public life was as presidential elector in 1852. In every relation of life John G. McDowell possessed the faculty of creating strong personal friendships, and his greatest pride and pleasure was to meet and give generous hospitality to the old pioneers. His memory will ever be cherished and revered as a true gentleman of the olden school. Two of his sons, R. M. and J. L. McDowell, are residents of the city of Elmira.
Among the prominent citizens who settled here in the earliest days we should not forget to mention the names of Thomas Burt, who came from Connecticut, and located on lot No. 7, containing about 700 acres. He lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. Of Enoeh Warren and his son Enoch Warren, Jr., who came from Connecticut, and settled just west of the Second Narrows. Sands War- ren (a grandson of Enoch Warren, Jr.), now nearly ninety years of age, resides in the central part of the town.
Israel Parshall came from Long Island, and settled on the property now owned by his grandson, Asa Parshall. At the treaty held with the Indians at Newtown, in 1790, Asa, one of the sons (and father of the present owner of the homestead), ran a foot-race with one of the fleetest Indian runners, and came off victorious. Samuel Beidel- man was from Easton, Pa., and located on the farm now owned by Gordon Snell, in 1787. He was a most worthy citizen. Henry S. Beidelman, a grandson, and many other descendants now reside on the homestead or in the imme- diate vicinity. Thomas Kecney, a Revolutionary soldier, eame from Hartford, Conn., and settled on the south side of the river. He lived to be over ninety years of age. Jacob Kress, another veteran of the Revolutionary war, came from Ulster Co., N. Y., accompanied by his son, John Kress. They settled on lot No. 14. The father lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. Jacob Lowman, another very prominent citizen and active business man, came from Middletown, Danphin Co., Pa., in 1788, and first located about one-half mile west of the Lower Narrows, where Robt. C. Wilson now lives. Until about 1800 he was engaged in boating on the river. He brought up and sold to the settlers such merchandise as they needed in that early day, and received as pay such produce as the people had to sell. He afterwards settled down on the farm now owned by his son, Mr. George Lowman, who was born in this town in the year 1795.
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