USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 23
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The following persons have served as presidents of the village since the incorporation: J. T. Howc, elected 1873; E. C. Gregg, 1874; John Van Duyn, 1875-76-77; J. D. Bouton, 1878-79; Truman Boardman, 1880-81; John C. Kirtland, 1882; F. D. Barto, 1883; H. L. Strobridge, 1884; John C. Kirtland, 1885; O. M. Wilson, 1886; L. W. Carpenter, 1887 resigned before qualifying, and H. A. Mosher appointed to the vacancy; R. H. Stone, 1888; L. E. Dake, 1889; Edward Camp, 1890; Samuel Almy, 1891-92; Frederick C. Biggs, 1893.
The officers of the village for 1894 are as follows: Ezra Young, pres- ident; Edward Murphy, George A. Hopkins, Edwin P. Bouton, trus- tees; A. P. Osborn, elerk.
SCHOOLS.
The first "school" in Trumansburgh was established about 1800. It was a private enterprise and was short lived. The first publie sehool building was on or near the site of E. M. Corcoran's present store.
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Some time in the twenties this building was sold and moved to the extreme east end of the village and a new two-story school building built on "McLallen's Hill." As the village grew this became too small, and the district was divided and another building erected next to what is now the agricultural works of Samuel Almy.
About 1844 the districts were reunited and the "Union School House" was built. This in ten years became inadequate to the grow- ing needs of the community, and a meeting was called June 29, 1854, to take into consideration the establishment of an academy and erecting a suitable building. A committee was appointed, and the matter was decided favorably.
Hermon Camp was chosen first president. Subscriptions were ob- tained, and, September 5, 1854, a building was commenced. School was opened October 9, 1855. William Whittemore, a graduate of Yale College, was chosen principal, and Miss Felicia A. Frisbee, a graduate of Mount Holyoke, as assistant. Mr. Camp retained his position as president until March, 1878, when Hon. Truman Boardman was elected.
The Union Free School was established in School District No. 1, of Ulysses and Covert, by a vote of the inhabitants at a meeting held in school house at Trumansburgh, June 11, 1878.
At a later meeting, "the Union School" in Trumansburgh having been, by a vote of the district, changed to a free school, an academic department has been established by the Board of Education.
The original stockholders, or their representatives, have transferred to the district their interest in the property long known as the Tru- mansburgh Academy, making of the building and grounds, the philo- sophical apparatus and library, a free gift to the district.
It is proposed to establish in the building thus acquired a school "which, in connection with the free school, shall give to the scholars of the district, and to such foreign scholars as may choose to avail themselves of its privileges, such advantages as will be commensurate with the age in which we live and in keeping with the advancement of the community in all respects."
The faculty is as follows: Daniel O. Barto, principal; Mrs. Daniel O. Barto, assistant; Grammar School, Miss M. E. Swartwood, inter- mediate department; Miss Louise Hedger, primary department.
Thus it followed that the "academy" and Union School, although in two buildings, were one and practically the same. The system,
1892-
TRUMANSBURGH ACADEMY.
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although inconvenient in many respects, was in the main satisfactory; yet it was becoming more and more evident that even with increased facilities the accommodations were inadequate, and it was becoming something of a problem as to the future. Accident, however, furnished the solution, for on February 17, 1892, the old academy was burned to the ground. On April 7, 1892, at a school meeting called for the purpose, it was resolved to build a new school building, and on June 25 the Board of Education advertised for bids.
This resulted in the building of the present edifice, at a cost of $20,- 000, which is perhaps as complete a building for the purpose as can be found in Central New York. The structure is in dimensions 100 by 60 feet, two stories high, supplied with a perfect system of heating and ventilating apparatus, and has a capacity of over 400 pupils. The old Union School building has been sold and all departments are now under one roof.
The present Board of Education is B. F. Tompkins, Henry Rudy, jr., Albert F. Mosher, Richard H. Stone, Levi J. Wheeler, Chauncey P. Gregg, M. Truman Smith.
Officers of the board: Levi J. Wheeler, president; M. T. William- son, secretary ; Jonah T. Howe, treasurer; M. T. Williamson, collector.
Faculty : E. Ernest Scribner, principal, Greek, mathematics, sciences, and Teachers' Class; Miss Clara Chapman, preceptress, Latin, German and literature; Miss Ada Weatherwax, assistant principal, French, English, mathematics, and Teachers' Class; Miss Edla Gregg, music and painting; Miss Anna Hart, Grammar School; Miss Lena Wagner, junior department; Miss Eva Farr, intermediate department; Miss Sara K. Bradley, primary department.
Under the present management the school has attained a high degree of excellence, and although the expense was something of a burden on a small tax-paying community, no one now regrets the outlay. The standard of scholarship has been raised to a most satisfactory degree, owing largely to the efforts of the principal and faculty, whose every effort in this direction has been promptly seconded by the board. The influence of this school is now reaching far into the surrounding coun- try, and the number of foreign scholars is constantly increasing.
Trumansburgh has suffered severely from several fires, the most disastrous of which took place on February 22, 1864. Before giving an account of this conflagration, we will quote from the Free Press pamphlet the following description of the place as it appeared just be- fore the fire :
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It is within the memory of those now living when Main street presented a strag- gling and exceedingly uninteresting aspect; there was no uniformity either in archi- tecture or grade; every one built as it seemed to him best. The street west of the bridge previous to 1864 was several feet lower than at present, although it had been filled in several times; yet it was at that time so low that it was seldom dry. Up to the time when the corner now occupied by the Camp Block was built upon, the dam covered most of the ground covered by that building, and at times even in mid- summer there was sufficient water to afford young America opportunity to indulge in aquatic sport. Crossing the dam on the site of the present stone bridge was a wooden structure of not more than one-half the width of the street and raised so high above the grade on each side as to amount to quite a formidable hill, and yet its upper surface was much lower than now. All that portion of the street between the bridge and the foot of the McLallen Hill has been raised from eight to twelve feet, and the buildings on either side which are now on grade have in many instances their cellars where the original structures had their first story, and even this story was reached by a long flight of steps from the board sidewalk below. Going east from the bridge the street was divided nearly in half from a point in front of the Page Block to the corner of Elm street by a wall, the south side of which was filled in to make a driveway to the residence of H. Camp, the building now occupied by J. D. Bouton, leaving a narrow roadway for ordinary traffic. The turnpike from Mc- Lallen's store northwest made a bend several rods further to the north than the present roadway, passing but a few feet from the James McLallen homestead. This hill was very steep, and with the depression at its foot gave the brick store the ap- pearance of being on a hill, as in fact it was, compared to the street below. It was not an unusual occurrence during the season of high water in the creek to see the street between the bridge and the hill submerged to the depth of several feet and remain so for several days. At almost all times the slack water from the dam ex- tended as far as where Bennett's livery barn now stands, and during the spring floods the slightest gorge of ice in the dam flooded the whole lower part of the town. In 1843 the Baptist Society decided to build a new church, and the old one was sold to Abner Treman, who moved it on the corner lot now occupied by the Camp Block. The building was partially over the water and it was not until several years after that a substantial foundation was put under the east side. The property was sold several times, and finally fell into the hands of David Trembley, who added another store on the east overhanging the dam. At the time of the great fire, on Feb. 22d, 1864, this building was owned by Lyman Mandeville, and as this conflagration re- moved all the ancient landmarks from this corner to the Presbyterian church, a de- scription of the burned district as it then existed will be interesting. The corner store where the fire started was occupied by Woodworth & Bowers, the next room east was used by them as a store-room, then came the harness shop of J. S. Hunter. The first building across the creek was the harness shop of Mosher & Kelly; this was on the lot now occupied by the Ostrander building; Dr. Clough had his dental rooms in the second story. John Eber Thomas had a meat market next door. Next came a building occupied by Mrs. W. H. Teed as a dressmaking shop; adjoining this was the saloon and restaurant of W. H. Teed, who also had his residence in the second story and in the rear; then followed the cabinet shop of Fayette Williams. The first floor of the next building was occupied by John Blue as a jewelry store, and the sec-
29
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ond story by Dr. L. Hughey as an office and residence; next was the dwelling of Francis Creque. The saloon kept by Thomas Sarsfield came next, and on the corner stood a dwelling owned by S. G. Williams and occupied by Thomas Sarsfield; just below on the mill road was the blacksmith shop and residence of Samuel Williams. On Union street the first building from the corner was the shoe shop of Thomas Wells. The next building had a blacksmith shop on the first floor run by a Mr. Snow, a son-in-law of David Trembley, who had a paint shop in the second story; then came Creque's foundry. Continuing up the hill, the next building was used by John Creque, jr., as a tin shop; then a dwelling house occupied by Jacob Creque; a house owned by H. Camp and occupied by Jerry Johnson, and the Wolverton house. The first building east of the mill road and on Main street was a dwelling and saloon occupied by Peter Letts; the next was the furniture and undertaking warerooms of C. P. Bancroft; the building occupied the lot where the stores of W. A. Fuller and E. Corcoran now stand; there was also a millinery shop in the upper story. Mosher & Burch had a general store where the Stewart building now stands; next came the residence and store of J. R. Emery, on the same lot now occupied by him; Wickes's drug store, and millinery shop kept by Esther Stewart, a dressmaking shop by Misses Jones & Hoag were next. There were also a couple of small buildings be- tween this block and the Dr. Lewis Halsey homestead; a large brick house owned and occupied at this time by David Trembley; next to this was the Union House and barns; then the brick store of S. Allen; a small building formerly occupied by Eliphlet Weed, esq., and later by Charles Lyon as a shoe shop, but at the time of the fire it was a millinery store; then came the dwelling house and store of the Quigleys, and next to the church stood the new house of D. C. Quigley. With the exception of the Allen store, and residence of David Trembley, all of these buildings were wood, and for the most part old, although in good repair; some of them had been altered over from residences into stores, and in some instances two had been united by a common front, introducing show windows, etc., giving the buildings a pretentious appearance not borne out by a more careful examination of premises.
The great fire was discovered about one o'clock in the morning of February 22, 1864, in the corner store, then occupied by J. S. Hunter. There was no fire extinguishing apparatus of any kind in the village, the buildings were old and dry, and the flames spread rapidly. Lines of men and women were formed and buckets of water passed along to the devouring flames; but little impression was made upon the confla- gration. Furniture and goods were removed in advance of the flames as far as possible. On Main street from the bridge to the Presbyterian church, and Elm street to the corner of Whig, the buildings were filled with household goods and merchandise, considerable of which was taken out to places of safety. Buildings were finally blown up in efforts to check the fire, and it looked at one time as if the fine church must go; but by heroic efforts it was saved. The heaviest loss was the destruction of the stone mill owned by J. D. Bouton, which had then
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recently been refitted and improved. It was believed that the fire was the work of incendiary.
This was a hard blow to the village, but the lesson was a salutary one, and resulted in the large district burned over being promply built up with a far better class of structures.
Most of the original owners either had no disposition or were unable to rebuild. On the subject being agitated the lots were eagerly sought for on account of the desirable location. The first change was the pur- chase of the Lyman Strobridge lot by H. B. Jones. This was followed by the sale of the triangular lot between the Strobridge lot and the dam to J. S. Hunter, and the lot on the east owned by H. Camp to Joseph H. Biggs. Building was commenced on these lots during the summer and in the fall they were occupied. Then followed the building of the brick block on the hill. Dumont bought the Union House lot and the Trembley lot and erected two stores; Wickes rebuilt on his lot; the Quigleys built a store next door, and Titus Hart built the store now occupied by J. S. Halsey; J. R. Emery rebuilt with wood on his original lot; Lyman A. Mandeville sold the corner lot to H. Camp, who also purchased from David Trembley the adjoining lot on Union street and that portion of the lot which had been taken from the dam on the east, and erected the present building. Subsequently S. Earle built his present store, having purchased from the Biggses a portion of their lot, and from Seneca Daggett all the ground now oc- cupied by the engine housc, which he afterward sold to the corporation of the village. It will be seen that with but two or three exceptions
none of the original owners rebuilt. Mr. Bouton rebuilt the mill, the community generously coming to his aid with substantial contributions.
Some two years after this fire, while some of the buildings were un- completed, the sash, blind and door factory on Main street, on the lot now occupied by J. E. Hall's paint shop, was burned.
Money was plenty at this time and rebuilding went on rapidly. New structures were erected on Union street, in which old boundary lines were largely obliterated. The site of the first building above the furnace, owned by John Creque, is now covered by the Pease block and adjoining structures. Morris Sarsfield's store is on a piece of land bought by H. Camp of David Trembley. John Van Aiken's black- smith shop and barn occupy part of the old Furnace lot. Asher Wolverton built on his original lot. The result of the fire was to change the whole aspect of the village east of the bridge; but the alter-
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
ation due to the next fire was still greater; the latter took place at two o'clock on the morning of May 22, 1871, starting in an alley between two stores. The buildings were of wood and there was little hope of saving them, while the Washington House, on the opposite side of the street, caught fire several times. After the flames had progressed for some time, some person suggested that the fire engine, which had been purchased several years earlier, should be brought into use. This was donc, it being found stored in a barn, and it served to aid materially in checking the flames; but not until a terrible work of destruction had been accomplished. The territory burned over extended from the bridge to the shop of Cuffman & Clark on the south, and from the Wash- ington House corner to, and including, Stone & Biggs's store on the south side of the street. The condition of this part of the village previous to the fire, and the changes wrought in the rebuilding, are thus described in the Free Press pamphlet :
Prior to that time, commencing at the bridge on the south side of the street, was the market of George Wolverton, a small wooden building remembered as the place where for many years Asher Wolverton had done business. Originally this building was set high above the street, partially overhanging the dam, and approached by a flight of steps leading to a sort of platform. Next, and separated from it by a nar- row alley, was the " Bee Hive." This was built and owned by H. Camp; it was of wood, three stories high, and derived its name from the large number and variety of occupations carried on within its walls. There were two stores on the ground floor which, at the time of the fire, were occupied by Jarvis Stone (who had just purchased the property), and Mrs. Giltner, milliner. The upper floors were used as living rooms, photograph gallery, and a large room in the northwest corner of the third story had been used as a band room for many years. Next was an alley, the right of way of which belonged to Wolverton; next the store of Eber Lovell, formerly the hardware store of Wm. G. Godley; next the store of Atwater & Tompkins, owned by Clark Daggett; another covered alley in which also the Wolvertons held the title; then came the hardware store of Pratt, Rumsey & Allen; this building was the orig- inal shop of Uriel Turner, and had undergone many changes; a roof had been put on, uniting this with the building on the east, covering the alley; next west of the hardware was the old stand of John Jamieson, but which at this time (1871) was oc- cupied by Pratt, Rumsey & Allen as a store room, and as a residence by John Green; then came a small building which had been fitted up as a saloon by A. V. Bush; next to this was the building formerly owned by T. N. Perkins and used as a marble works, but at this time occupied by B. P. Sears as a grocery; next were the sheds of the Washington House barn; quite a space intervened between this and the black- smith shop of Douglass, with the livery stable of J. K. Follett in the rear; then came the wagon shop of Cuffman & Clark, with Fayette Williams occupying his present stand. On the opposite side of the street stood the Washington House; next the jewelry store of Jacob Blue; the shoe and leather store of S, A. Sherwood; the store
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of Wm. H. Teed, and the Home Building, a fine block extending to the brick store of Stone & Biggs. The Home building was owned by Wm. H. Teed and J. L. Stone, and had three stores on the ground floor; the west one was oeeupied by Mr. Lieber- man as a clothing store, the center one as a bakery, and the east one by Mrs. Ban- croft as a millinery store; W. A. Fuller lived in the second story, and the third was the Masonic Hall. Between this building and the store of Himrod there had been an alley, wide in front and narrowing toward the rear; upon this lot Mr. Teed had erected the store which he was occupying at the time of the fire.
The blow to the town was a severe one, and for a time seemed to paralyze the sufferers, yet the vitality of our people once more exhibited itself, and within twenty- four hours a new building was in process of erection on the site of the Douglass blacksmith shop by Pratt, Rumsey & Allan, who occupied it until the present store of Biggs & Co. was completed. In rebuilding the burned district history was re- peated, old boundary lines were changed, lots were divided, portions of some added to others. George Wolverton bought of W. J. Stone the alley between the old stores and erected the building now used as a post-office. W. J. Stone sold the west half of the Bee Hive lot to G. H. Stewart; F. B. Stone built on the east half the store now oceupied by C. L. Chapman; Stewart built a fine building on his lot, the west line of which is the center of the old alley-way which was surrendered by Wolverton. E. Lovell's Sons built on their lot and the west half of the alley. Clark Daggett re- built, as did Pratt, Rumsey & Allen. E. S. Pratt built on the Jamieson lot, and A. V. Bush on the Perkins lot. The Washington House lot remained vacant for some time, and is now occupied by W. H. Teed, the Farmers' Inn, and the L. H. Owen office. J. C. Kirtland built on the Blue lot, and also erected a briek store for W. H. Teed, who sold his interest in the Home building lot to Mrs. C. P. Gregg, who in connection with J. L. Stone and D. S. Biggs built the present Opera House Block. L. H. Owen built an office and store house on the south side of the street, which, with a temporary building erected for a roller skating rink, was destroyed by fire on May 3, 1885. The building which occupied the site of the present Page Block was burned August 28, 1872.
MANUFACTURES .- The early manufacturing operations in Trumans- burgh, as well as in other parts of the town of Ulysses, were chiefly confined to the grist mills, saw mills, and the various shops in which wagons, boots and shoes, furniture, domestie tinware, etc., were pro- dueed. Several of these early in lustries have already been mentioned, and are deseribed in later pages devoted to the other small villages of the town.
Of some of the early industries the writer of the Free Press pamphlet says :
Who has the honor of being the first metal worker to settle here is somewhat in doubt, but that David Williams found a blacksmith already at work is beyond ques- tion ; but probably Mr. Williams was the first to engage in what might be called manufacturing. A man named Holliday built and for some years operated a fur- nace located on the flat just below Bush's Hill. In 1812 a young Jerseyman named
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John Creque, a blacksmith by trade, attracted by the favorable reports of the new country, shouldered his kit of tools and started on a tour of investigation. Some time previous to this a family of Updikes, with whom he was connected, had moved into the country and founded what was known as the Updike Settlement, a few miles south of this village, and as was quite natural Mr. Creque sought out his old ac- quaintances. He saw no opening for him in that immediate locality and decided to try his fortunes at the " Holler," as Trumansburgh was then known. He had mar- ried a wife, Catharine Updike, in 1808, who with his family of three children, the youngest a babe, he had left in New Jersey. After deciding to remain, he went back for his family, and on his return rented a disused building near where the house of Linus Waring now stands, and after making such repairs as was necessary for comfort moved in.
In those days blacksmiths were forced to do all manner of repairing of farm utensils. The plows then used were of wood, iron shod and steel pointed and made by blacksmiths. John Creque, who was a man of shrewd business capacity, heard of the first cast iron plows of Jethro Wood at Wolcott. He made a visit there and arranged to buy castings of Wood, which enabled him to also make the new plows. Soon after- ward he joined his friend, Lyman Strobridge, in partnership. They continued successfully in the business, buying their castings of Wood until about 1832, when Mr. Creque built a furnace nearly on the site of the present residence of John Van Auken. He. put in a steam plant of primitive character, the engine having been made in Auburn prison. When his shop became too small Mr. Creque in 1836 built the furnace on the site of the first blacksmith's shop, which building was burned in the great fire of 1864. Besides Mr. Strobridge, Mr. Creque had as partners at different periods, a Mr. Hildreth, Benjamin Burgess and his sons, Washington and James, who in 1854 rented the works for five years. They were succeeded by Perrigo and Keeler, and William Douglass and John Van Auken. About the beginning of 1864 Wash- ington and James Creque proposed to buy the property, but the great fire prevented the consummation of the arrangement. Mr. Creque died November 2, 1866.
The first mill by Abner Treman has been described. The fine water power of the creek naturally attracted early attention from the pioneers. Soon after 1800 a dam was built above the bridge at Rightmire's quarry, and at the end of the raceway on the west bank a saw mill was built. It was of great utility to the settlers in making lumber for early build- ings. A short time afterward a grist mill was built near that point, and later a plaster mill just below. In 1835 a part of this property was converted into an oil mill, which was operated many years. Albert
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