USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 25
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
In the act above mentioned the town of Owego was described as follows : "And all that part of the said county of Broome bounded westerly by the bounds of the county ; southerly by the Pennsyl- vania line ; northerly by Berkshire, and easterly by a line begin- ning on the northwest corner of lot No. 171 in the township of Nanticoke ; thence running southerly on the line of lots to the southwest corner of lot No. 121 in the same township; thence on the line of said lot No. 121 to the northeast corner of lot No. 117 in said township ; thence southerly on the east line of the last men- tioned lot to the south line of the Boston purchase ; thence along said south line to the northeast corner of Coxe's patent ; thence southerly along the east line of said patent to the southeast corner thereof ; thence due south to the Pennsylvania line, shall be and continue a town by the name of Tioga."
The first town meeting in Union was held on the fifth Tuesday in April, 1791, at which time the following officers were elected : Town clerk, Silas Hutchinson ; supervisor, Joshua Whitney ; as- sessors, Daniel Seymour, Silas Hutchinson, William Bates ; poor- masters, James Lyon, Silas Gaskill ; commissioners of highways, Amaziah Hutchinson, William Whitney, Nathan Howard, Will- iam Bates, Amos Draper.
The first meeting for the election of officers in the town of Tioga
247
TOWN OF OWEGO.
(now Owego) was held at the tavern kept by Captain Luke Bates, in the village of Owego, on the third Tuesday in April, 1800. Colonel David Pixley was chosen moderator, and the following officers were elected : Town clerk, Lemuel Brown ; supervisor, John Brown ; assessors, Asa Bennett, Asa Camp, Henry Steward ; collector, Jesse Gleazen ; overseers of the poor, Vine Kingsley, Lemuel Brown ; commissioners of highways, William Roe, Asa Bennett, Stephen Mack ; constables, Henry Steward, Stephen Ball, Stephen Mack ; fence-viewers, Vine Kingsley, Stephen Bates ; pound-master, Vine Kingsley ; path-masters, Silas Gaskill, John McQuigg, Edward Paine, John Freeman, Asa Leonard, Laban Jenks, John Barney, Wilder Gaskill, David Buriel.
At that time there was no regularly laid out thoroughfare of travel in the town other than the old and well broken Indian trails leading up and down the river on both banks. Indeed, all the pioneers came into this part of the valley following the course of the river, and, unless compelled to journey on land looking after stock, the usual means of travel was a broad flat-bottomed boat, sufficient in carrying capacity to accommodate an entire family and all necessary farming implements and household furniture and utensils. Therefore, when the organization of the town was made complete the first duty of the officers was to lay out and open roads in all directions to prepare the way for other settlers. James Pumpelly surveyed the McMaster half-township soon after 1800, and of course made all due allowance for roads, and it re- mained only for the settlers to put them in proper condition for use.
POPULATION .- According to the census tables, within the broad area of Owego in the year 1800 were living 1,284 persons, but in 1808 at least one-half of the territory of the town was set off to form Berkshire, hence the inhabitants in 1810 numbered only 1,083. However, as the population of a town at stated intervals is a fair index of its growth and development, reference may be had to the census reports, both federal and state, to show the increase, and occasionally the decrease, in number of inhabitants in Owego from the year 1800 to 1892.
The population in 1800 was 1,284; 1810,-1,083 ; 1814,-1,099;
€
248
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
1820,-1,741; 1825,-2,260; 1830,-3,076; 1835,-4,089; 1840,- 5,340 ; 1845,-6,104; 1850,-7,159 ; 1855,-8,328 ; 1860,-8,935 ; 1865,-8,865 ; 1870,-9,442; 1875,-9,729 ; 1880,-9,884 ; 1885, no enumeration ; 1890,-9,008 ; 1892,-8,762.
From this it will be seen that the town attained its greatest population in 1880, since which time there has been shown a grad- ual decrease in number. This, perhaps, has been due to the same causes that have contributed to the decrease in population in other interior towns of the state, whose people are chiefly agriculturists. It is a fact that for the last score of years there has been little in agricultural pursuits to attract labor to that field of action, for in that time the immense and limitless farming areas of the great west have arrayed themselves against the less extensive but more expensive lands of the east ; and while farm products are grown in the west at far less cost of time and labor than in the east, the same products are shipped from any western metropolis beyond the Mississippi to the Atlantic seaboard at no greater cost to the producer or shipper than from almost any point within Tioga county. Again, during the last quarter of a century the youth of the rural districts have shown a strong inclination for city life, and a corresponding dislike for the farm, and the result has been a constant flocking to the commercial centres, and the old home- stead must perforce be neglected or worked at unusual expense by employes who have no direct interest in maintaining the pro- ducing qualities of the soil.
The first twenty years of history and settlement in Owego was a period of development and progress. Settlers from the east were coming almost every day and were casting about for lands suited to their tastes and to their means. Outside the principal valleys of the Susquehanna, Apalachin, Owego and Nanticoke creeks, there was little choice as to the best locations on the ridges. The bottom and valley lands of course commanded the greater price, but they were readily taken and at once improved.
The first disturbing event which in any manner affected the settlers in the region was the war of 1812-15, but the Indians had then nearly all departed, and the security of home and family and property was assured. All the able-bodied men were in the en-
249
TOWN OF OWEGO.
rolled militia, and a few were drawn for service on the frontier ; but they were absent hardly more than a few months, and the period of the war was chiefly a subject for discussion at the fire- side and at the public houses where settlers were accustomed to assemble and hear the news of the day.
After the town was restored to Tioga county, and after Owego had been definitely fixed upon as the shire town, the prosper- ity of the people was an assured fact, and between the years 1814 and 1825 the population was more then doubled. The great- est benefit, however, from this designation was to the village of Owego, although the entire town profited by it. In 1830, came that period of depression, uncertainty and doubt, which has ever been known in history as the anti-rent conflict ; a period during which agricultural and business interests in certain of the western and central counties suffered seriously, and while the inhabitants of Tioga county were not materially affected by it, the subject was the main topic of conversation at resorting places, and as well the principal news in the papers of the time.
Again, in 1849, the New York and Lake Erie railroad was com- pleted to Owego village, and general rejoicing prevailed through- out the town. Still better,' property was increased in value all along the line of the road, and the little hamlets of Apalachin and Campville and also the village of Owego, at once felt the impulse of increased importance and worth. The old Ithaca and Owego road, organized April 9, 1828, as a company, was a benefit in its way and day, but the proposed Owego and Cortland railroad com- pany of eight years later, but never built, occasioned a temporary lack of faith in such enterprises.
In 1860, Owego, town and village, contained a little less than nine thousand inhabitants, yet during the four years of war, which began in 1861 and closed in 1865, the territory mentioned furnished for the service an aggregate of more than five hundred men, begin- ning with volunteers in the third regiment of infantry, and con- tinuing on through the period of the war, contributing both men and means for nearly every important command recruited in the county. In Company H of the third regiment were such familiar names as Isaac S. Catlin, who was promoted from captain to the
250
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
rank of brigadier-general, lawyer, soldier and patriotic citizen, and still a summer resident in the town; Willoughby Babcock, who was mustered as lieutenant, and eventually became lieut .- colonel of the 75th regiment, and who died on the battle field, and Major Lewis W. Truesdall and Capt. Henry L. Jewett, who were the two first men in Owego to enlist in the service.
Recalling to notice the old 5th cavalry, company G, mention must be made of the names of Major Abram H. Krom and Capt. Eugene B. Gere. In the same company were Tribe, Noble, Adams, Camp, Phelps, and others to the number of about forty.
In the old hard-fighting 23d, Co. C, were Captain Sumner Bar- stow, Lieutenants Van Benschoten and Durland, and privates Camp, Probasco, the De Groats, and others. In Company E were Captain George H. Powers and Lieutenant Hugh J. Baldwin, of Waverly. The 50th Engineers had many Co. I volunteers from the town, with Lieutenant Reynolds, Sergeant Whitmore, Musi- cian Forsyth, and many privates from families of prominence in the region.
Then, in 1862, General Tracy, organized the 109th infantry, the old hard fighters of the 9th corps. He was its colonel ; Captain Catlin, of the 3d regiment, was lieutenant-colonel ; James S. Thurston, quarter-master ; William A. King, quarter-master-ser- geant, and Dr. Seymour A. Churchill, surgeon. The town's con- tingent of men in the regiment was mainly in companies C and H. In Co. C John Gorman was captain ; Wm. H. S. Bean, 1st lieutenant, and Solomon Oakly, 2d lieutenant. In Co. H the com- mandant was Austin W. Alvord, and John S. Giles, 2d lieutenant. Captain Gorman was killed May 31, 1864, and lieutenant Edward C. Jones died of wounds July 1, 1864.
In the fall of 1862, the town furnished a fair proportion of the men of companies C and H of the 137th regiment. The offi- cers credited to Owego in Co. C were captain, W. L. Hoskins ; 1st lieutenant, David R. Russell ; 2d lieutenants, Ambrose Thompson and William K. Porter. In Co. H the local contingent was small, chiefly privates and a few sergeants and corporals. These were the more important commands in which were volunteers from Owego, yet a reference to the military rolls, in a preceding chap-
251
TOWN OF OWEGO.
ter, will disclose the fact that the town furnished recruits for many other regiments.
SCHOOLS .- Unfortunately, there has not been preserved any re- liable record of the first schools in the various parts of this town, and untrustworthy tradition and the memory of old inhabitants are equally defective and uncertain. One publication incorrectly says that the first school in the town was that opened at Owego village in 1792, taught by John Kelly, while another account of later date fixes the year as 1794. The first school was taught by Mr. Quincy. Mr. Kelly was a farmer near Campville, and never taught school here. It is also said that the first school outside the village was in the Park settlement, and that a school-house was built there in 1817.
As disclosed by town records, the earliest attempt to establish school districts in Owego was made in 1813, when Eleazer Dana, James Pumpelly and Asa Camp were commissioners of common schools. In July of that year these worthy officers divided the territory of the town into seven districts, the boundaries of each being as follows :
No. 1. Extending from Owego creek, on the west bounds of the town, to the mouth of Little Nanticoke creek on the east, and from the south bounds of the town northerly to the Narrows, in- cluding lot 9 in McMaster's Half-township.
No. 2. Extending from the north line of lot number 9 one-half the distance to the north town line.
No. 3. Extending from the north line of No. 2 to the north line of the town.
No. 4. Commencing on the north side of the "Susquehannah " river, at the mouth of Little Nanticoke creek, and extending east- erly halfway from thence to the easterly bounds of said town.
No. 5. Extending from the easterly bounds of No. 4 to the east bounds of said town.
No. 6. "Commencing at the east line of the town, on the south side of the river, and extending westerly as far as the division line between Nos. 4 and 5, on the north side of the river."
No. 7. Extending from the west line of No. 6, to a point oppo- site the mouth of Little Nanticoke creek.
252
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Inspectors of schools were first elected in 1815, the incumbents of the office for that year being John H. Avery, William Jones, Abram Hogland, Nathan Camp, John R. Drake, and Daniel Fer- guson. The same board was re-elected in 1816.
At the time this division was made the inhabitants of the town numbered about one thousand, but the next fifteen years wit- nessed a twofold growth in population, and in 1829 the number had increased to thirteen entire and five fractional districts. The number of children attending school was one hundred and ninety- five. The commissioners at that time were James Pumpelly, Cyrenus McNeil, and Eleazer Dana. In 1834 the town contained twenty-one whole, and seven fractional districts, and the total number of children of school age was 1,041. In 1858 the districts numbered thirty-nine.
According to the present disposition and arrangement of school interests, the territory of the town is divided into thirty-seven dis- tricts, one of which, No. 10, is joint with Maine and Newark Valley, and has no school-house in this town. No. 4 is a joint district with Union, in Broome county. The total number of school-houses is forty-one, of which thirty-nine are of frame and two of brick. The value of school sites is estimated at $12,270, and sites and buildings at $67,695. From the commissioner's re- port for the current year 1895 it is learned that the amount of public moneys apportioned to the several districts was $9,482.10 ; raised by tax, $14,296 ; received from other sources, $1,062.90. Dur- ing the year there was paid to teachers, $20,892.37 ; for libraries, $665.02 ; for apparatus, $194.58 ; for repairs, $1,747.04, and for all other expenses, $3,812.09. The assessed valuation of taxable property in the town was $5,093,899. Sixty-six teachers were employed, inclusive of those in Owego village, and the whole number of children between the ages of five and twenty-one years was 2,103, of whom 1,131 were in the village.
VILLAGES AND HAMLETS .- During the period of its history, there have been built up and established within the limits of this town one incorporated village, and three of less importance, neither of which has ever attained to the dignity of corporate character. In addition there are two post hamlets, one in the north and the
253
TOWN OF OWEGO.
other in the south part of the town. The village of Owego, the seat of justice of the county, is the largest and most important municipality in the town and county, and is one of the most his- toric places in all the southern tier. By reason of this prominence it is made the subject of a special chapter in this work.
The other villages and hamlets, enumerated in the order of im- portance, are Apalachin, Flemingville, Campville, Gaskill Corners, South Owego, and Gibson Corners, each of which, except the last named, has a postoffice.
APALACHIN .- In the year 1786 Isaac Harris came from Provi- dence, Rhode Island, and settled on the site of this village. Harris, with a partner, had made a contract for the purchase of Coxe's patent, and paid a part of the price in cash. The partner started for Philadelphia with the money to pay the balance, but suddenly disappeared and was never heard of afterward. In 1787 pioneer Harris returned to the east and brought his young wife and all their property and effects to the town, making the journey from Cooperstown by boat. He made his first improvement on Apa- lachin creek, on the afterward laid out river road, the locality known as the Glann farm and the Pardon Yates farm. Amariah Yates, Caleb and Simeon Nichols, John and Abel Bills, John Hicks Horton, and Major David Barney, all of whom are mentioned on preceding pages, were pioneers and early settlers in the immediate vicinity of Apalachin.
Benjamin Tracy, son of Thomas Tracy (a pioneer of Vestal, in Broome county) and father of Gen. Benj. F. Tracy, the present owner of "Marshland," settled on Apalachin creek, where he raised to maturity a large family of children. Col. Asa Camp was another early settler in this vicinity, and in the same connection may also be mentioned John Jewett, and his sons, Asa and John, Jr., in 1816 ; Henry and Chauncey Billings, about 1822, and also Joseph S. Dean, Vincent Glann, Josiah Mead, David Foster, Josiah Griswold, John Goodenow, Deacon Armstrong, the La Montes, the Billses, the Mortons, and others of later years.
The statement has been made that the first step in the direction of founding a settlement was made in 1820, when a branch of John Hollenback's. Owego store was opened on the site of the vil-
254
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
lage ; and two years later Henry Billings opened public house and gave the place early importance among travellers down the valley, both on the river and along the old Indian trail on the south bank. However, the settlement at Apalachin was not in fact founded until William S. Pearsall and his brothers, Thomas, Gil- bert, Nathaniel, and Robert, and Ransom Steele came to the place and made permanent improvements ; and in all that was done in this vicinity during the next quarter of a century, William S. Pearsall and Ransom Steele were the principal factors. David Beers, it has been said, opened a store in 1824, and was succeeded by Squire Steele in 1830, but as a matter of fact Squire Steele came here from Owego to manage the Hollenback store, but at least ten years later than 1824.
The Pearsall brothers, William S. being the active operator, came to this region in 1833 or 1834, and looked over the country to determine the character and quantity of the timber, for they were lumbermen, from Chenango county, and were in search of a new field of operation. On the present village site William S., or the firm, purchased two hundred acres of land, on which they built a saw mill in 1836, and within the next few years their lum- bering operations extended into Hooper's Valley, and also on Pea Island. They in fact controlled the lumbering interests of the region for a time, but the business depression of 1837 forced them into insolvency. They recovered, however, and soon afterward resumed operations. In the meantime Gilbert Pearsall had estab- lished a store at the Corners, as Apalachin was then called, but soon afterward sold out to Squire Steele and removed to Hooper's Valley. About the same time Squire Steele purchased one hun- dred acres of the Pearsall tract, and was for many years the only merchant in the settlement. Then the Pearsall firm was dissolved, and about 1840 William S. and Gilbert built grist mills at Apa- lachin and Hooper's Valley, at a cost of from $5,000 to $6,000 each. The local mill was 50x60 feet in size, had four "run of stone," and was the largest in the entire region. It eventually passed into the hands of John and Ransom S. Pearsall, and still later was owned by R. S. Pearsall and Lorenzo L. Buck, then by Buck & La Monte, and finally by Camp & Burr. It was burned in 1872. About 1855
255
TOWN OF OWEGO.
William S. Pearsall rebuilt the saw mill, and combined with it a rake factory. These were important industries for many years, furnishing employment to several workmen. The fame of the Apalachin rake was known throughout the counties of the south- ern tier. However, these factories were also burned in the fire of 1872.
In 1849 the New York and Erie railroad was completed, and although the line lay along the north side of the river, it was of much benefit to all local interests. The management of the road promised Mr. Pearsall and Squire Steele that a station would be erected opposite Apalachin if a bridge could be built there. They at once set to work and spanned the river with a substantial wooden bridge, at a cost of about $7,500, but the company failed to keep faith with its promise, and yielding to the persuasions of Camp- ville residents, placed the depot about two miles down the river. The bridge was built by a stock company, in 1849, and Squire Steele and Mr. Pearsall were the largest shareholders. A portion of the structure was carried away by high water in 1852, but was soon restored. An accident happened soon afterward by which one McNiel and his team broke through the bridge and fell into the river. A damage suit followed, and to settle the matter Mr. McNiel took the structure with all its privileges. But the bridge was again taken away by high water, after which a ferry was established for the accommodation of the public, and has been maintained to the present day.
Apalachin was made a post station in 1838, Ransom Steele, post- master. He held the office about twenty-five years and was then succeeded by his son Aaron Steele, who served a like period. The next incumbent was Frank J. Knapp, followed by Hiram J. Cooper and Ransom S. Pearsall, Mr. Pearsall having been appointed in August, 1893.
Fifty years ago Ransom Steele was the only merchant doing business at Apalachin, and the other interests of the period were Peter Cochran's blacksmith shop; Lorenzo Dow Frisbee's wagon shop, and the old Exchange Hotel, which Squire Steele built in 1838. From these small beginnings the present village has grown, but that growth did not in fact show substantial results until the
L
256
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
construction of the New York and Erie railroad. In 1855 the Pres- byterians took the first steps toward erecting a church edifice, and in later years the Baptists and Methodists also organized societies.
As now constituted Apalachin has a population of about four hundred inhabitants within the area of a square mile of land. It has several good stores, two or three factories, three churches, a good union free school, and all the essential requisites of an incor- porated village. Union school district No. 15, was formed in 1880. The first board of education contained nine members, but soon afterward the number was reduced to three. The present board comprises Aaron Steele, Gilbert Holmes, and John S. Giles.
The leading business interests of the village at the present time are the grist mill of Frank O. Palmer ; planing mill, Isaac W. Campbell ; saw and cider mill, James Holmes ; general stores, Miller Bros. (John K. and Franklin G.) and John H. Gray ; grocery stores, Chauncey B. Goodenow and John S. Barney ; drug store, Lancy N. Hopkins ; meat market, W. E. Beardsley ; coal dealer, A. Steele, also a milk station and creamery, and a good village hotel.
The Presbyterian church at Apalachin was organized in 1855, with five constituent members, and was the result of the efforts of Mrs. Asa Camp, assisted by Rev. O. N. Benton. The church edi- fice, still in use, was erected in 1856 at a cost of $3,000. Mr. Benton was the first pastor and remained with the society until 1861, when he was made chaplain of the 51st N. Y. Infantry. He was killed in battle at Newberne, N. C., March 14, 1864, and his re- mains were buried at Owego. This society was for many years the strongest in the eastern part of the town, but later on its member- ship declined to such an extent that a regular pastor could not be supported, hence the church was closed and the congregations at- tended the Free Will Baptist meetings. However, Rev. J. Forbes Robinson has recently been sent to supply the pulpit, and the church is now reopened. The present members number about thirty.
The Free Will Baptist church of Apalachin was organized in 1869, and was incorporated May 8 of that year, but it was not until 1874 that a church home was erected. It cost $3,000. This
257
TOWN OF OWEGO.
society has suffered hardships, like its predecessor in the village, and in recent years one is closed while the other is open. The last pastor of the church was Rev. Samuel S. Snell. The members now number about twenty-five.
The Methodist Episcopal church at Apalachin had not more than an informal organization previous to 1887, when the church edifice was built ; and even now it forms a joint charge with South Owego and Campville. In the three churches are 135 members and 30 probationers. The present pastor is Rev. S. H. Flory.
In the locality called South Apalachin a Free Will Baptist church was organized by the early settlers in 1816, and numbered fourteen members. Rev. John Gould was the first pastor, but the early meetings were held in school-houses and private dwellings. In 1844 a meeting-house was built, but was burned in 1859, and re- placed with a more substantial structure in 1865.
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.