USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 39
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
son household. Isaac Rawson and Nathaniel Blackman also settled here about the same time.
Stephen Williams, Jonathan Hedges, and Joseph Waldo, 2d, the latter a nephew of Dr. Joseph Waldo, came to what is now Newark Valley in the year 1801, and all were afterward well known in the town's history. Mr. Hedges located on lot 183, and was both farmer and weaver, and in 1802 Joseph Waldo opened a stock of goods and began to trade.
Mial Dean was one of the pioneers of Owego, he having settled there in 1793, but after the unfortunate death of Wm. S. Lawrence, he came up to Brown's settlement and took a part of lot 63, on which he built a dam and also a saw mill, both pioneer industries in that vicinity. The dam was said to have been the first con- structed across the creek.
Joel and Linus Gaylord, Enoch Slosson Williams, Pynchon Dwight, and Adolphus Dwight were all settlers in the town in or before the year 1802. All were earnest, hardworking men, and descendants of nearly all are still in this part of the county. Joel Gaylord was a shoemaker, but left the town and went to Erie county. Linus Gaylord met an accidental death June 29, 1820, being killed by a falling limb while chopping in the woods. Enoch Williams was a wheelwright and cabinet maker in the settlement, and learned the trade with that worthy old pioneer of Owego, Joel Farnham. Williams had a family of thirteen children, one of the largest in the settlement. Pynchon Dwight lived in the settlement fifteen years, then removed to Royalton, N. Y .; thence in 1840 to Jackson, Mich., where he died. Mr. Dwight is remembered as a man of much intelligence and of excellent personal appearance. He was an early school teacher. Adolphus Dwight was a farmer.
Parley Simons settled on lot 19, Richard Colt Ely on lot 224, and John and Gaylord Harmon on lot 257, all during the year 1803. About 1814 Mr. Ely sold his farm to Capt. Levi Branch, his son-in- law, and returned to Massachusetts. In 1831 John Harmon built a large brick house on the old meeting house site, and was charged with extravagance when he went to Stockbridge, Mass., for marble caps for his doors and windows. Gaylord Harmon died in Mans- field, Pa., in 1850.
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TOWN OF NEWARK VALLEY.
David Hovey, Samuel Addis, Daniel Churchill, Alanson Dewey, Rev. Jeremiah Osborn (first pastor of the first church in the set- tlement), and John Waldo were added to the settlement in 1806, as near as can be determined at this time; and some of them were among the leading men of the town in later years. David Hovey was the son of pioneer Azel Hovey. Samuel Addis died in Canada. Daniel Churchill died in this town in 1847. John Waldo was a brother to Joseph Waldo, 2d, and nephew to Dr. Waldo.
John Bement and his wife and six children came to the settle- ment in 1807, his being one of four families to settle in the town in that year, according to the records of Dr. Patterson. In his family were twelve children. The other comers in the same year were Hart Newell, who afterward removed to Cayuga county, but who died in Erie county ; John Rewey, who came into the region in 1794, and who on coming to this locality learned blacksmithing with his cousin, Asa Bement. In 1812 he built a shop, but ten years later moved to a farm in the town.
Edward Edwards came to the Boston purchase from the old city of Elizabeth, in New Jersey, about 1807 or '8, lived on lot 143 several years and then removed to Union. Jonathan Edwards came from the same place, but about one year later than his brother. His family lived several years at Moore's Corners and then removed to Broome county. Jesse Truesdell was a settler of about the same time, and is remembered as the maker of spinning wheels, which he sold all through the region in early days.
Otis Lincoln was one of the most prominent early settlers in Newark Valley and one who did as much for the welfare of the town as any man in its history. Mr. Lincoln was a native of Worcester, Mass., and came to the Boston purchase about the year 1803, with his father, Thomas Lincoln, and the family of Thomas. They settled first at Owego, but soon moved up to Brown's settlement, where they afterward lived. About the same time, possibly a little later, came Ezekiel Rich, also a New Eng- lander, aud as early as 1808 we find these men, Otis Lincoln and Mr. Rich, actively engaged in business, tanning and making and selling all through this part of the state buckskin gloves and mittens. After about ten years they dissolved and Mr. Lincoln
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
continued the business and his many other enterprises, while Mr. Rich removed to Richford and built up that village. In Newark Valley Mr. Lincoln started and operated a tannery, built and kept a good hotel, opened and kept store, and in fact founded, it is said, the village settlement. In later years in Newark Valley Mr. Lin- coln was associated in business with his son, William S. Lincoln, the latter concededly one of the foremost men in the county in his time, and who was honored with an election to congress for the session of 1867-69. However, for further facts of the life of both Otis and William S. Lincoln reference is had to the personal chronology department of this work.
Elijah Curtis was one of the later settlers in the town, having come from Stockbridge with his wife and three children in the fall of 1817. He was an earnest and industrious farmer and a man much respected in the town. He died Oct. 19, 1856, and his wife died Nov. 14, 1860.
The pioneer and early settlement of this part of the county began at a time when the region formed a part of Montgomery county and continued through the organization of several towns and later subdivision of towns. It cannot be claimed that pioneer- ship extended much beyond the year 1800, or that early settlenient in the same manner continued beyond the time old Berkshire town was formed from Tioga. Still the later settlement was of such a character that at least a passing mention should be made of persons and families who came to the locality previous to the year 1820, after which, it nfay be said that settlement was lost in the rapid increase in the town's growth. However, for the pur- pose of making a record of the names of all early residents or heads of families in Newark Valley previous to or in 1820, recourse is had to the publications of the late Dr. Patterson, from which it is learned that the additional residents in the town in or before 1820 were these :
George Sykes. Jonathan Belcher. John Bunnell.
Alex. F. Wilmarth.
John Watkins.
Adolphus Pieree.
Alex. McDaniel. Eleazer Robbins.
Elijah Higbe.
Ebenezer Pierce.
Stephen Williams, Jr.
Marcus Ford.
Dexter Parmenter.
Jonathan Hedges.
William Wilbur.
Nathan A. Gates. John Belden. Benj. Walter.
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TOWN OF NEWARK VALLEY.
Tunis Decker.
Joseph Allen.
Hosea Eldridge.
William Millen.
Silas Allen.
Elijah Johnson.
Lyman Legg.
Harvey Marshall.
William Jaynes.
Lyman Waldo.
John Gould.
George Lane.
Roswell Livermore.
John Stedman.
Seth Stevens.
Jason Hedges.
Spencer Spaulding.
Elijah Walter.
Duick Whipple.
Alanson Higbe.
Luke McMaster.
Luke Baird.
Samuel Johnson.
John Millen.
John Allen.
Jacob Conklin.
Zelotes Robinson.
Oliver Williams.
Simeon Galpin.
Joseph Freeman.
Henry Williams.
Jabez Stevens.
Levi Branch.
Chester Goodale.
Charles Brown.
Lucius Wells.
Alanson Dean. John Brown.
Joseph Prentice.
Moses Spaulding.
Wm. Richardson.
Mial Dean, Jr.
David Beebe.
Jolin Bunnell, Jr.
William Baird.
Elihu McDaniel.
Loring Ferguson.
Horace Jones.
Daniel Mead.
Lyman Barber.
Wm. Gardner.
Jacob Remele.
Stephen Wells.
Daniel Churchill.
Ethan Brown.
Absalom Baird.
Richard Perkins.
ORGANIZATION .- According to the compilation made by Dr. Pat- terson, the population of the territory comprising Newark Valley at the present time had 655 inhabitants in 1820, and even then the people were agitating the question of a division of old Berkshire and the creation of a new town. The matter took definite form in the early part of 1823, and on April 12 the legislature passed an act erecting a town by the name of Westville, comprising 28,679 acres taken off the south end of Berkshire. However, the name Westville was changed to Newark March 24, 1824, which was re- tained until April 17, 1862, when the present name, Newark Val- ley, was adopted.
In accordance with the provisions of the creating act, the first town meeting was held March 24, 1824, and officers were elected as follows :
Supervisor, Solomon Williams ; town elerk, Berialı Wells ; as- sessors, Francis Armstrong, Ebenzer Pierce, Benj. Waldo ; inspec- tors of common schools, Benj. Walton, Win. B. Bement, George Williams ; commissioners of common schools, Henry Williams, William Richardson, Otis Lincoln ; commissioners of highways, Anson Higbe, Abraham Brown, Reuben Chittenden ; constable, William Slosson ; collector, Lyman Legg ; overseers of the poor,
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Peter Wilson, Ebenezer Robbins ; sealer of weights and measures, Joseph Benjamin.
Town records are generally regarded a fruitful source of informa- tion in all matters pertaining to local history, and whatever is there written may be considered truthful and reliable ; but unfortunately, in October, 1879, the Dimmick house in Newark Valley was burned and with it were also burned several valuable town record books. However, having recourse to county and other records there has been prepared a succession of the supervisors of Newark Valley, that being the principal office in the town.
1825-Solomon Williams. 1826-30-Anson Higbe. 1853-54-Otis Lincoln.
1831-John Waldo. 1855-John M. Snyder.
1832-36-Elisha P. Higbe.
1856-Sanford Comstock.
1837-Otis Lineoln.
1857-59-Fred H. Todd.
1838-William Slosson.
1860-62-Aaron Ogden. 1863-64-C. H. Moore.
1891-Jira F. Councilman.
1892-Sherwood B. Davidge.
1845-49-Ozias J. Slosson. 1867-68-Lyman F.Chapman. 1893-94 -- Fred W. Richardson.
1850-Daniel G. Taylor,
1851-Ozias J. Slosson. 1872-Jerome B. Landfield.
1869-71-Chas. A. Clark. 1895-96-Theo. F. Chamber- lain.
POPULATION .- In the year 1820 Amos Patterson, of Union, made the census enumeration of Broome county, which shire of course. then included all the territory of this county east of Owego creek. In the town of Newark Valley. as erected three years later, he found 655 inhabitants. In 1825, the first regular enumeration of inhabitants after the town was set off, was shown a considerable increase over the number as counted by Mr. Patterson five years before. However, we may briefly turn to the census reports and notice the several changes in population in the town from 1825 to the last count in 1892.
In 1825 the population was 801 ; 1830, 1,027; 1835, 1,385 ; 1840, 1,616; 1845, 1,728 ; 1850, 1,983 ; 1855, 1,945; 1860, 2,169 : 1865, 2,133 ; 1870, 2,321; 1875, 2,403 ; 1880, 2,577 ; 1885, no count ; 1890, 2,339 ; 1892, 2,296.
From this it is seen that the greatest population in the history of the town was attained in 1880, since which time there has been a gradual decrease in number, due perhaps to the same causes
1885-89-Royal W. Clinton. 1890-Robert Donley.
1839-40-James P. Hyde. 1841-44-William S. Lincoln. 1865-66-Wm. S. Lineoln.
1852-Elliot W. Brown.
1873-79-Edward G. Nowlan. 1880-82-William Elwell.
1883-Sherwood B. Davidge. 1884-Chas. L. Noble.
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TOWN OF NEWARK VALLEY. 407
which have created a like diminution in population in nearly all the inland towns of this state, and also of other states. The prime causes of this decrease have been the general desire of the youth of the country towns to find employment in cities and to the still more important fact that agricultural pursuits during the last twenty years have been unprofitable ; and while a residence in the city can only add to the unfortunate condition of affairs on the farm the pleasures and excitements of city life are erroneously supposed to more than compensate the loss. However, it may be said that in Newark Valley there has been less tendency to quit the old home than in many farming towns in the region. This is in part accounted for in the fact that Newark Valley is an excellent farming town, and has been so regarded from the time pioneers Elisha Wilson and Abraham Brown came into the region in 1790 and selected what they considered the most desirable locality in which to found a settlement.
More than this, Newark Valley has ever been regarded as one of the patriotic towns of the county, for among its pioneers were men who had seen long and arduous service in the American army during the revolutionary war, and several of the early settlers came here with titles won on bloody battlefields in that memora- ble struggle. A little later on in the history of the town we find a number of the young men in the service in the war of 1812-15, but, unfortunately, no record of old Berkshire's soldiery in that strife has been preserved. At that time the settlement was sub- stantially completed and the inhabitants were reasonably well prepared for the struggle.
After the close of the second war with Great Britain there fol- lowed a long and uneventful era of peace ; uneventful so far as war and turmoil were concerned but eventful in the fact that dur- ing that period the resources and capacity of the town were fully developed and the greatest advances were then made in all the various directions of civil and social life. Therefore, when in 1861 the war of the rebellion began, Newark Valley was as well pre- pared to withstand its shock as any town in the southern tier ; and in the four years of constant war which followed, the patriot- ism of the people was fully tried and fully proven. In a preceding
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
chapter of this work the history of Tioga county in the war of 1861-65 is told, and a record is there made of the contribution of men from this town so far as can be determined from the imper- fect state records, for as yet New York has not published a relia- ble roster of her soldiery. The work is in progress, but not com- plete. The 44th, 50th, 76th, 109th, and 137th regiments of in- fantry, the 15th and 21st cavalry, and the 16th battery were the more important commands having recruits from Newark Valley.
FIRST EVENTS OF TOWN HISTORY.
1790 -- Elisha Wilson and Abraham Brown first visited the Boston purchase.
1791 -- Elisha Wilson, Abraham Brown, Isaae Brown, Daniel Ball and John Carpenter made the first settlement.
1796 -- David MeMaster taught the first school in Elisha Wilson's bark-covered cabin.
1797 -- John Carpenter died April 13.
1797-Asa Bement and Elisha Wilson built the first grist mill.
1799-Thersey Moore opened a school in Asa Bement's barn.
1800 -- Enos Slosson opened a tavern on the village site.
1803 -- A Congregational ehureh society formed.
1803-Michael Jenks built a saw mill at Jenksville.
1806 -- Ezbon Slosson erected the first frame house at Newark Valley.
1808-Otis Lineoln and Ezekiel Riel began the manufacture of gloves and mittens at the village.
1812-Newark Valley was made a post office, Enos Slosson, postmaster ; and Stephen B. Leonard carried the mails from Owego, also the Gazette to his subscribers up the valley.
1814 -- Michael Jenks built a grist mill at Jenksville.
1825-David Settle built the first regular tannery, located about three miles east of the village.
1830 -- The first steam saw mill built by Chester Patterson and Jonathan Day.
VILLAGES AND HAMLETS .-- During the period of its history there have been built up within the limits of the town four villages and hamlets, only one of which has ever attained sufficient importance and population to become incorporated. Named in the order of business importance they are Newark Valley, Jenksville, Ketchum- ville, and West Newark. To name them in the order of seniority would be more difficult as neither pioneer Slosson, Jenks, nor Ketchum had any thought to found a hamlet when the first im- provement was made on the site whereon the settlements were subsequently established.
Jenksville is a small hamlet in the northwest corner of the town,
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TOWN OF NEWARK VALLEY.
in the locality where Michael, Laban, and Elisha Jenks settled in 1797. The hamlet, however, owed its existence to the efforts of Michael Jenks, who built a saw mill there in 1803, and followed that industry with a grist mill in 1814. This mill gave the hamlet a start in business importance ; and as it increased a postoffice was established and has since been maintained there. A store has also been kept at Jenksville and both saw and grist mills a portion of the time. The public buildings of the present time are the Alpha M. E. church and the district school. The merchant here is Alonzo Blanchard, who also is postmaster, while Charles D. Nixon is owner of both saw and grist mills, and Jay White of a grist mill. The Jenksville steam mills were built in 1879, by Daniel L. Jenks. The grist mill was built in 1882 by Jenks & Nixon. Mr. Nixon became their sole owner in 1884.
The Alpha Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1852, with twenty-five constituent members. From that time the men- bership has remained about the same in number, and the church has formed a joint charge with another M. E. church. The church edifice was erected in 1852.
West Newark is a postoffice in the west part of the town about two miles south of Jenksville. The place is without industries or stores, and the only public building is the Congregational church, which will be mentioned in connection with the church at Newark Valley of which it is a branch.
Ketchumville is a small hamlet in the northeast part of the town, in the locality where Samuel Ketchum and other prominent mem- bers of the same family lived for many years. However, during the last twenty-five years this settlement has lost much of its old time importance and all that remains of a once busy hamlet is a single store, two creamneries, two churches, a postoffice, and the district school. Half a century ago Ketchumville was the rival of Jenksville and second in importance among the villages of the town. The merchant here is Charles Finch, at whose store the postoffice is kept. The creameries are owned by Charles E. Dean and the Standard butter company.
The Reformed Methodist church at Ketchumnville was organized with nine members in 1830 by Samuel Ketchum. The meeting
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
house was built in 1832, and from that time the society has main- tained a healthful existence. The present pastor is Rev. Willis C. Bailey.
In the same locality for many years has been a Methodist Epis- copal class and society, but only within the last three years has a church edifice been built. This church forins a joint charge with Maine.
SCHOOLS .-- To the honor of the inhabitants of the Boston pur- chase the statement has ever been made, and the fact is conceded, that in no part of the state did the pioneers have a higher regard for the educational welfare of their youth than in the region first mentioned ; and in the original town of Union, or the later towns of Tioga, Owego, Berkshire and Newark Valley, of which this town at some time formed a part, the inhabitants from first to last made ample provision for schools and their maintenance. Elsewhere in this chapter is told how in 1796 David McMaster opened a primitive school in pioneer Wilson's cabin, and also how in 1799 Thersey Moore began teaching in Asa Bement's log barn. In Newark Valley this was only the beginning of the system, and as soon as old Berkshire was created from Tioga, or as soon as the legislature passed the act establishing a uniform school system for the state, the territory was divided into twelve districts for school purposes. Later, in 1823, after this town was erected, commis- sioners Henry Williams, William Richardson and Otis Lincoln divided its territory into new districts, and made provision for a school in each ; and in later years, as the population increased, these districts were changed to suit the convenience of the iuhab- itants.
With a present population of about 2,300, Newark Valley is di- vided into thirteen districts, each of which has a good school. According to the commissioner's report for the year ending July 31, 1896, the town received public moneys to the amount of $2, 122.35; received from the regents, $252.03, and raised by town tax, $3,- 241.54. In that year there were paid to teachers, $4,853.69, and for libraries, $58.33. The number of children of school age in the town was 459, for whose instruction twenty teachers were ent- ployed. The school buildings, except that in the village, are of frame, and all are estimated to be worth $17,700.
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TOWN OF NEWARK VALLEY.
THE VILLAGE OF NEWARK VALLEY.
September 18, 1894, the electors of Newark Valley held a special election and then voted 106 for and 71 against a proposition fo incorporate the village, including within its limits 678 72-100ths acres of land. The certificate of election was filed in the county clerk's office September 22, 1894, and in October following the first village officers were elected.
Just one hundred and two years before the incorporation was effected Ezbon Slosson settled on the site of the village and built a log cabin, near the bank of the creek. In 1795 the waters of the stream were swollen with heavy rains and pioneer Slosson and family were compelled to vacate their domicile and seek refuge with his father, Enoch Slosson, another pioneer of the town. Mr. Slosson then built a new dwelling in a safer place, on the site after- ward occupied by the lecture room of the Congregational church. However, Ezbon Slosson had little thought of founding a village settlement, although he built a framed house in 1806, and about the same time kept a tavern, opened a small store, and built and operated a distillery. The distillery was not an innovation for the fime, as good home-made whiskey was almost as much a staple article of trade as tea, sugar, cloth, and many other wares ; and few indeed were the families of that period who did not keep in their homes a supply of whiskey.
Among the factors in early village history were Ezekiel Rich and Otis Lincoln, who as partners started a fannery and began making gloves and mittens in 1808, and kept up the industry until 1820, when Mr. Rich sold out and removed to the town afterward named in his honor. But Mr. Lincoln continued operations at our little hamlet and did as much to build it up and promote its inter- ests as any man in its early history. He purchased a considerable tract of land in the vicinity and laid out and donated to the public a park tract, although the action was wholly informal ; and it was not until within the past year that Mr. Lincoln's heirs quit-claimed the park to the village. This worthy proprietor also built and kept a large hotel, and was engaged in tanning and also in mer- cantile business on a large scale. He was for many years partner
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with his son, William S. Lincoln, and the firm was looked upon as one of the strongest in the county. The Lincoln hotel stood on the site now occupied by the high school, and was for many years an assembling place in the village. The tannery was on the site of the present industry of the same character, although the pres- ent one is much larger and conducted on quite different plan. Nevertheless, a tannery of some kind has been in operation on this site for almost 90 years.
From its infancy in Newark Valley there has been an almost constant growth in business interests and population, yet in all this time the number of inhabitants has not exceeded 850. It is the youngest and one of the four incorporated villages in the county. The now called Lehigh Valley, but originally the Lake Ontario, Auburn & New York railroad, was constructed through the town during the years 1869-71, and was an important factor in promoting the welfare of the village, but the chief factor of all has been the enterprise, generosity, and public-spiritedness of the people which have made Newark Valley what it is to-day.
The village is pleasantly situated in the very centre of one of the best agricultural regions of the county, and although but ten miles from the county seat the principal part of mercantile trade is kept at home. All branches of business incident to small vil- lages are well represented, and there is little indication that over- competition has worked to the disadvantage of any interest. Several of the stores are large and well stocked, and all appear to be conducted on safe principles. The tannery is by far the lead- ing manufacturing industry of the vicinity and furnishes employ- ment to about forty workmen, and directly supports as many families. During the period of its history, the buildings have been twice burned. In its present capacity the firm of Allison, Davidge & Co., began tanning in 1865. Two years later Mr. Allison became sole owner, but in 1868 Davidge, Landfield & Co., succeeded, and under that management, and that of S. B. Davidge & Co., the plant was operated until the firm joined interests with the United States Leather company in May, 1893.
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