USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 41
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George Douglass was of Irish birth, Osgood Ward was a New Hampshire Yankee, and both settled in Candor in 1812. Reuben Fletcher came from Moravia and settled in the west part of the town about the same time. John J. McIntyre first came in 1813, driving from northern Vermont with a yoke of oxen and a team of horses, and he was then only eighteen years old. The next year his father and family came and the name has ever since been known in the locality.
James Ross came from Barkhamsted to Candor in 1814. Caleb Sackett was here in 1815, and built a saw mill north of the old brick mill. Timothy C. Reed, Joel Robinson, John Whitley and Beri Strong were settlers here in 1816, and came, Reed from near Penobscot, Maine ; Robinson from Vermont, and Beri Strong from Duanesburg. All had families and were men much respected in the town. Mr. Reed lived in Candor village thirty-two years, and was a substantial farmer. In 1820 Isaac Comstock came from Smithfield, Rhode Island, and bought a 400 acre tract of land on west Owego creek, and in the same year Captain William Scott came from Adams, Mass., and settled on the farm which remained so long in the family.
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TOWN OF CANDOR. 425
Samuel Barager came to Candor in 1815. He was a prominent man in both town and county ; was justice of the peace many years, and was elected to the assembly in 1829.
In this chapter so far as progressed it is believed that mention has been made of nearly every settler in the town previous to the year 1820. True, there may have been others whose names are lost with the lapse of years, or who lived in the town for a short time and then removed to another locality. However, for the pur- pose of recalling the names of as many as possible of both pion- eers and early settlers mention may be made of still later arrivals in Candor, each of whom in some manner was identified with the events of history in this special locality. Joel C. Strong came soon after 1825. Daniel Lounsbury settled in Tioga in 1816 and about ten years later came to this town. Abel Owen came from Tompkins county about 1821. Jonathan Hart came in 1825 and was for half a century an undertaker in the town. Josiah Hatch settled here in 1823, and Charles Dennis in 1826. Stoughton S. Downing came in 1837, and Mansfield Bunnell three years earlier.
Other old residents who were in some manner associated with the history of the town in the past were Rowland Van Scoy, Lewis J. Mead, Charles C. Howard, Van Ness Barrott, Radaker Fuller, Samuel Miller, John M. Van Kleeck, William L. Fessenden, John E. Robbins, Henry Hull, Augustus Holmes, William White, Aaron Lovejoy, Cyrenus Elmendorf, Richard Field, Frederick L. Par- mele, William L. Carpenter and others of still later date. How- ever, in writing of village and hamlet history, in another part of this chapter, allusion will be made to early settlers in each local- ity, and to still others whose names have not been mentioned.
Among the settlers in Candor were several who had served in the American army during the revolution. Their names have been preserved from one generation to another and it is appro- priate that they be again recorded in this volume for the reason, first, that service in that struggle was in itself an honor both to the patriot himself and his descendants ; and second, that during the last score of years there has been a tendency on the part of descendants of the revolution to organize into social bodies, and proven eligibility thereto is often sought by the present genera-
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tion. The old patriots of the revolution who came to settle in this town were Captain Joel Smith, Job Judd, Thomas Gridley, Israel Mead, Captain Thomas Park, Hiram Williams, Bissell Woodford, Elias Williams and Aaron Whitley. Special mention should be made of the service of settler Whitley, who was forcibly pressed into the British service and compelled to serve four and one-half years before he could effect his escape.
Captain Thomas Park, the founder of Park settlement, was also in the service during the war, in command of a sailing vessel, and the fact is handed down to us that his services to his country in that struggle were of great value.
No less praiseworthy or patriotic was the record of the town during the second war with Great Britain, the war of 1812-15. The men of Candor who served in that struggle were Miles An- drews, Ephraim Personeus, Lewis Wheeler, Capt. Daniel Park, Capt. Eli Bacon, Wait Johnson, Thomas Hewitt, and Phineas Judd.
ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL HISTORY .-- The pioneer and early set- tlement of the town now called Candor was begun and substan- tially accomplished while the territory formed a part of the origi- nal township of Owego ; and unlike the majority of towns in this county, settlement in Candor was not begun until after the civil authority of both county and town were extended over the region. However, settlement in this part of the old town of Owego, al- though somewhat delayed, progressed rapidly after the proprie- tary perfected the title and made the necessary survey. Soon after the beginning of the century the legislature was asked to create a new jurisdiction in this part of the county. Therefore on February 28, 1806, Spencer was erected, including all that is now Candor and a vast area of other territory.
Candor was formed from Spencer by an act of the legislature passed February 22, 1811, and tradition has it that there was a strong desire on the part of many of the town's people to call the new jurisdiction Washington, in honor of the commander of the American army during the revolution and the first president of the United States, on the anniversary of whose birth the creating act was passed. But it so happened that in the old county of
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TOWN OF CANDOR.
Dutchess there was a town of Washington, created March 13, 1786, therefore the revolutionary patriots who lived within the proposed new jurisdiction adopted the name of Candor ; but why so named, or at whose suggestion, no past writer of local history assumes to state. The present writer, too, confesses to lack knowledge on the subject, and so far as inquiries have been di- rected among the oldest and best informed men in the town no satisfactory answer is obtained. The honor of suggesting the name is said to have been delegated to Thomas Gridley, better known as "Squire Hemlock " Gridley.
In area Candor is the largest but one of the towns of the county, and contains 51,334 acres of land. Owego has 53,651 acres. The topographical conditions and natural physical features in Candor are not specially remarkable. The surface is generally a high, broad rolling upland, separated into ridges by the valleys of several streams, the streams flowing generally in a southerly direction. The west branch of Owego creek forms the eastern boundary, and is the principal water course of the town. Catatonk creek flows through the centre of the town, and near the central western part has two branches, one from the north and one from the west. The soil generally is a gravelly loam, very fertile in the valleys and moderately so on the highlands, where shaley loam prevails.
Such were the natural conditions in Candor three-quarters of a century ago, and such are they to-day. Yet it must not be as- sumed that the town has not progressed from the condition of things in the pioneer times, for such is not the case ; and it is a well known and conceded fact that Candor at this time, and for all time since its organization, has been regarded as one of the best and most productive of the county's sub-divisions, and has fur- nished as many men of mark and of moral, public, and professional worth as has any town in the county when we consider conditions, advantages and numbers.
The act creating the town directed the freeholders and electors to meet at the house of Captain Abel Hart March 5, 1811, and elect town officers. This was done, and the result was as follows :
Supervisor, Joel Smith ; town clerk, Asa North ; assessors,
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
William Scott, Orange F. Booth, Samuel Smith ; commissioners of highways, Nathaniel Sackett, Seth Bacon, Charles Taylor ; con- stable and collector, Truman Woodford ; overseers of the poor, Abel Hart, Asa North ; constables, Eldad Pickett, Daniel Park ; fence viewers, Joseph Delind, Charles Taylor, Eli Bacon, Job Judd ; poundmasters, Thomas Park, James McMaster, Ezra Smith ; overseers of highway districts (of which there were thirteen), Jacob Harrington, Seth Bacon, Ozias Woodford, Joseph Kelsey, Daniel Cowles, George Allen, Reuben Hatch, William Taylor, Joseph Schoonover, Thomas Baird, Daniel H. Bacon, Jacob Clark, Alex- ander Scott.
Having thus mentioned the names of the first officers, it is ap- propriate that there also be given the succession of incumbents of the supervisorship, that being regarded as the chief office in the town. In Candor this succession has been as follows :
1812-17-Nathaniel Saekett. 1856-N. L. Carpenter 1818-21-Asa North. 1857-Thomas Forman. 2
1875-76-Jerome Thompson. 1877-78-John Ryan.
1822-28-Samuel Barager. 1858-Jerome Thompson.
1879-Chas. F. Barager.
1829-30-Orange F. Booth. 1859-Thomas Forman.
1880-82-Dr. Daniel S. Miller.
1831-37-Samuel Barager. 1860-Jerome Thompson. 1883-Enoch S. Williams.
1838-39-Dr. A. W. McKey. 1861-Solomon Oakley.
1884-John R. Chidsey.
1840-43-Horace Booth. 1862-Edwin A. Booth.
1885-George A. Matthews.
1844-45-Rich. H. Sackett. 1846-E. Comstoek. 1865-66 -- Edwin A. Booth.
1863-64-John R. Chidsey.
1886-Enoch S. Williams.
1887-Dr. W. E. Roper.
1847-48-Dr. A. W. McKey. 1867-Abel H. Booth. 1888-91-E S. Williams.
1849-N. H. Woodford.
1850-52-Horace Booth.
1853-55-Josiah Rich.
1868-69-Edwin A. Booth. 1892-93-Epenetus Howe. 1870-71-Wm. H. Hubbard. 1894-96-Jas. H. Jennings. 1872-74-U. P. Spaulding.
POPULATION, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT .- In his brief centen- nial history of the county and its towns, William Fiske Warner says that in 1800 the population of the territory now comprising Candor was 135, and at that time the voters of the same region numbered 23. This would indicate at the tinie the presence within the town of about fifteen heads of families, a few more than are mentioned in our early settlement record. Mr. Warner also says that in 1800 the number of acres of land under cultivation was 390, and in 1825 had increased to 8,350 acres. In 1855 the number of acres under cultivation was 30,769, about three-fifths of the town's area.
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TOWN OF CANDOR.
However, if it is assumed that Mr. Warner's calculations are correct, and that the territory contained 135 inhabitants in 1800, it will be seen that the next fourteen years witnessed a somewhat remarkable growth in population, as in 1814, at the first enumera- tion of inhabitants under recognized authority after the town was erected, the reports show a population of 1,098. Turning to the census reports we may note the fluctuations in population in the town, as through this means the reader gains a fair idea of its growth and development.
In 1814 the inhabitants numbered 1,098 ; 1820, 1,655 ; 1830, 2,556; 1835, 2,710; 1840, 3,370 ; 1845, 3,422; 1850, 3,433 ; 1855, 3,895 ; 1860, 3,840; 1865, 4,103 ; 1870, 4,250; 1875, 4,203; 1880, 4,223 ; 1885, no count ; 1890, 3,674 ; 1892, 3,525.
From this it will be seen that the maximum population in the town's history was attained in 1880 and that the growth between the years 1865 and 1880 was hardly more than 200 inhabitants. Indeed, the fact appears that the zenith of prosperity in the town was reached in the period indicated, and that since that time there has been a gradual decrease in many local interests, and particu- larly in agricultural and kindred pursuits. But this condition, whether unfortunate or otherwise, is not single to Candor alone for few indeed are the farming towns in this state where like changes have not been witnessed during the period mentioned, only in a more marked degree. It is a fact that Candor has been a progres- sive town generally since the days of pioneership, and such depressions as have come upon its people have also come to other localities and are due to exactly the same causes as have prevailed elsewhere. Farming in the east, conducted as our husbandmen understand it, is no longer a profitable pursuit, for the lands valued at from $20 to $100 per acre, with labor at from $1.50 to $2.00 a day, cannot be made to successfully compete with lands in the great west worth from $2.00 to $6.00 an acre, and labor at from 75 cents to $1.25 a day. Still, the writer is not disposed to serious- ly lament the condition of the farming classes in the east, much less in Candor, but these observations are made from the fact that certain classes assert that eastern farming is profitable if the farmer shows proper energy and thrift. The inhabitants of Candor for
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
the last century, since the pioneers first came to this densely wooded region, have been noted for thrift, for energy, for progres- sion. The one great cause above all others which has been a factor in bringing about this condition of affairs on the farm is that the youth of the present day are too susceptible to the allurements and pleasures of life in the city to remain contentedly at the old home in the country.
The pioneers of Candor previous to 1800, and indeed for many years afterward, were both lumbermen and farmers. Many of them were attracted to the region by reason of the remarkable quality of standing timber which so densely covered the land, giv- ing in itself abundant evidence of a superior soil underneath. Nor were the pioneers mistaken in their belief, for when the lands were cleared fine farms appeared and often in early days was the thrifty husbandman able to provide for his family a pretentious framed house, and for his cattle and crops a substantial and comfortable barn. They came here from the well settled localities of New Eng- land, chiefly from Connecticut, and a few from Massachusetts, and as descendants of Yankee stock knew something of the comforts and pleasures of life. They came to make new and better homes for their families and success marked their efforts from the begin- ning ; and the result was that even in the early years of the cen- tury Candor was remarked as one of the most substantial farming and lumbering towns of the county.
Among the pioneers was a strong contingent of Congregation- alists and Baptists, and as early as the year 1796 that faithful chris- tian missionary, Rev. Seth Williston, came and preached to and taught spiritually the inhabitants of the region. In the east part of the town the Baptists formed a society in 1802, the second of that denomination in the county, and a few years later the Con- gregationalists organized their church. Other denominations fol- lowed as soon as strong enough, and from these primitive elements the christian church in the town has grown and developed.
SCHOOLS .- As to the first school past writers are in conflict, one authority saying that in 1798 Joel Smith built a log school house on his farm and in which he taught in that year, while Mr. War- ner's narrative has it that pioneer Smith's school was not opened
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TOWN OF CA NDOR.
until after 1800. All the early settlers are now gone and the ques. tion cannot be determined accurately ; nor is it important, but the fact appears that in Candor the settlers were as mindful of the educational welfare of their youth and made as generous provision for schools as did other towns. Of course, previous to 1811 the schools of this locality were a part of the system then in force in the mother town, Spencer, but after Candor was set off, and after the adoption of the first state system, schools were organized in conformity with the new law. The first meeting for this purpose was held at the dwelling of Abel Hart, Monday, October 4, 1813. Joel Smith, Nathaniel Sackett, and Joseph Delind were chosen commissioners of common schools, and Asa North, Ebenezer Wood- bridge, Daniel H. Bacon, Walter Hermit, and Russell Gridley were elected inspectors of coninion schools.
During the fall of that year the commissioners divided the town into nine districts and made provision for a school in each ; and from the informal system then established the educational insti- tutions of the town at the present time have developed, of course subject to and modified by the changes put in force by the state authorities from time to time. To follow them all in this narra- tive would be both difficult and uninteresting, but the fact appears from the town records that Candor has ever made ample provision for all educational work within her borders. For more than thirty years Candor village and the surrounding district have supported one of the most advanced higher grade schools in the north part of the county, and the township at large has likewise liberally maintained its district system.
Under the present arrangement and disposition of school inter- ests the territory of the town is divided into 25 districts, of which Nos. 4, 16 and 19 have no school building. As shown by the com- missioner's report for the year ending July 31, 1896, the amount of public money apportioned to the town was $3, 156.50, added to which was $328.39 received from the regents for the benefit of district No. 9. During the year the town raised by tax for school support $3,443.98. The number of children of school age was 753, for whose instruction 35 teachers were employed, and were paid $5,717.95. The value of all school property is estimated at $18,070.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
and the assessed valuation of the town for the year was $1, 247,975.
RETROSPECTIVE .- Glancing back into the period of early history in Candor, we find a population of about 1,000 inhabitants in 1812, all earnestly engaged in the peaceful arts of agriculture and lum- bering. At that particular time when this town had just been separated from Spencer, and the affairs of the new jurisdiction were taking tangible form, there came the second war with Great Britain, for which this struggling people were ill prepared. How- ever, the martial spirit born with the revolution was still alive and the call to arms met with ready response from the loyal sons of Candor. The militiamen from the town are mentioned else- where in this chapter, and the only effect of the period on the people was to strengthen their faith in American institutions.
At that time and indeed for many years afterward the people of Candor were not given the advantage of the internal improve- ments made in the southern portions of the county. True, in 1810 the old Ithaca and Owego turnpike was completed and opened for traffic, and a great advantage at once accrued to all local interests. The little settlement of Candor village was on the line of the road, and being ten miles distant from Owego, the southern terminus of the road, this was a natural and convenient resting place. It was not an unusual thing for as many as 500 teams to pass along the turnpike in a single day, carrying loads of salt and other mer- chandise from Ithaca to Owego, from which point it was shipped to markets down the Susquehanna. Then came the stage and mail coach with all their bustle and business and the settlers were reg- ularly greeted with the familiar figure of Stephen B. Leonard car- rying the mail pouch and also the copies of the Owego Gazette along this old familiar highway.
At a little later period the inhabitants were promised a still greater blessing in the incorporation of the Cayuga and Susque- hanna railroad company (in 1828), although it was fully six years more before the road was completed and opened for traffic. It ex- tended from Ithaca to Owego and passed through this town. Horses were used for power for several years, but in 1837 financial disturbances worked disaster to the enterprise, hence the franchise was sold. Its existence and operation, however, have always
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TOWN OF CANDOR.
been maintained, and a part of the old line is now held under lease by the D., L. & W. R. R. company, and is known as the Cayuga division and also as the Ithaca branch.
One of the brightest pages in its history was the record made by volunteers from Candor in the war of 1861-65. A glance at the military chapter in another part of this work will show that this town contributed men to the formation of nearly every important command recruited in the county, from the third to the 179th in- fantry; but among them all by far the strongest contingent of men were in the veteran 26th, the famous 109th, the fighting 137th, or the 179th infantry. Still, in the artillery and cavalry arms of the service were volunteers from the town in fair num- bers, while a few were found in the navy. In the aggregate the town sent into the service about four hundred men, or the equiv- alent of ten per cent. of the total population in 1865.
During the period of its history, there have been built up with- in the limits of the town several small villages for the accomino- dation of the inhabitants who were living in parts remote from the centre. As is well known, Candor is a large town and it be- came necessary to establish trading points where people might find the articles most needed in domestic country life. Indeed, Candor has been called the town of many villages, and in this re- spect it outnumbers the county town. Named about in the order of importance these hamlets are Candor, Willseyville, Weltonville, Catatonk, West Candor, Gridleyville, South Candor, East Candor, and Perryville. None of these, however, has ever attained to the corporate character, although Candor has business interests and population sufficient to warrant such a measure. A brief mention of each of these settled localities in this chapter is appropriate.
THE VILLAGE OF CANDOR.
Candor is the largest unincorporated village in Tioga county, and, excepting Owego and Waverly, it ranks among the first in point of business and commercial importance. Indeed, it is doubt- ful if incorporation would in any substantial degree add to the worth or materially contribute to the welfare of the people, for such improvements as are sought by incorporation have been accom-
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
plished through the voluntary action of the residents and tax- payers. However, about 1873, the electors of the village voted on the question of incorporation, and rejected the proposition.
According to record and established tradition, Elijah Hart and David Whittlesey came to the village site in the winter of 1794-95 and laid the foundation for the settlement in building a small grist and saw mill on the site of the present Ryan lumber yard, or about where Mr. Ryan's tannery building formerly stood. However, we must not forget that Smith, Luddington, Hollister, and Judd made the first clearing here in 1793, on the cemetery site. The first mill here was burned, in 1813. In 1796, Abel Hart and son Abel came to the settlement from Union, and from that time the several mem- bers of this family by their work completed in fact the foundation for the subseqent village. Thomas Hollister was also a factor in the work and built the first tavern in 1795. In 1810, Captain Hart, the son, built a good framed house, which he opened as a tavern. Later on he built a blacksmith shop, erected a distillery, and also built a " weave house " for the accommodation of the settlers in the town. In 1806, in company with Thomas Gridley, he built a saw mill further up the stream. Other factors in early village his- tory were Horatio Durkee, who came from New Hampshire and built a tannery on the site of the present blanket factory ; Dr. Hor- ratio Worcester, the first physician, and Joel Smith, the first school teacher, who also gained much celebrity in his office of justice of the peace.
However, in 1813, the settlement was visited with a destructive fire, by which many of the primitive industries were swept away. They were at once replaced with other and more substantial build- ings, and by this time Candor became a hamlet of importance. on the line of the old turnpike leading from Owego to Ithaca. In- deed, between these points were in operation at one time more than twenty public houses, all doing a successful business. Caleb Sac- kett came into prominence about this time as the builder of a grist mill and as proprietor of a tavern, the tavern on the corner where is now Ryan's lumber yard. In this old hostelry James McMaster died, and his bones lie buried in an unmarked and solitary grave in the back part of a residence lot in Main street. The Sackett
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TOWN OF CANDOR.
mill was replaced with a better one by Kirk & Tryon. In 1824 Artemas and Isaac V. Locey built a woollen mill, the same after- ward owned by Joseph Matthews. Isaac Locey was also a manu- facturer of machinery used in wool carding.
In the carly history of the village the settlement was divided, one portion being in the upper part, which took the name of Can- dor Centre, while the settlement lower down the creek was known as Candor Corners. Nature provided two excellent water power privileges within what was then the settlement and these enter- prising Yankees were ready to avail themselves of its advantages. This fact, and not an unfriendly rivalry, made necessary the divided hamlet. At the Centre Elijah Hart built the grist mill on the site of the present Gridley mill. The brick mill was built about fifty or more years ago and was at one time owned by Smith & Thomas. The present owners are S. E. & D. E. Gridley. Be- yond the north end of the dam was the Sackett Tavern, a later landlord of which was Stephen T. Smith. A school was kept in this part of the settlement at an early day, and when a boy Edwin A. Booth was a pupil there. The Ryan tannery was built in 1861, and was operated by John Ryan until 1887 and then made into a saw mill. The old hotel land adjoining is also owned by Mr. Ryan and is used as a lumber yard.
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