USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 43
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Samuel Ransom was, however, one of the grantees, and also one of the pioneers of the town. His father was a captain in the American army during the revolution and was killed in the battle at Wyoming, July 3, 1778. From the best authority obtainable, although accounts differ somewhat, Samuel and William Ransom, sons of Capt. Ransom, the patriot, with Prince and Andrew Alden,
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came up the Susquehanna from Wyoming some time during the year 1785 and made the pioneer settlement and improvement in what is now Tioga. They located near the mouth of Pipe creek, William Ransom and Andrew Alden quite near the stream, and Samuel Ransom and Prince Alden two miles further down.
Samuel Ransom was born at Canaan, Conn., Sept. 28, 1759, and when about 24 years old was married with Mary Nesbitt. How- ever, he met an untimely death by drowning in the river, near Tioga Centre, in 1807, by the overturning of his boat. Later on his family removed west. During his brief life in this town, Mr. Ransom was a leader in all measures forimprovement, and to him is credited the honor of having built the first tavern and the first school house. He owned a good property but before his death reverses swept away nearly all he had.
William Ransom, brother to Samuel, was born in Canaan, Conn., May 26, 1770, and was only fifteen years old when he came with his brother to this part of the valley. In 1792, he married with Rachel, the daughter of pioneer James Brooks. This was the first marriage in the town. Like his brother, Major Ransom, as he was best known, was an important factor in early history in this region and a man of influence in the county. His children were Ira, Sibyl, David, Benjamin, Rachel, William, Charles, Harriet, Mary and Printice Ransom. Nearly all these children were resi- dents in Tioga county and their families were prominent both in the civil and social history of the region. Major Ransom died at Tioga Centre, January 8, 1822.
Colonel Willian Ransom, fourth son of Major Ransom, was born at Tioga Centre, April 9, 1801, and from the age of eighteen to the time of his death, Feb. 7, 1883, was one of the foremost men of the town and one who did as much for the welfare of the locality as any man in all its history. He began as farmer and lumberman, and in 1827, in company with David Wallis, his broth- er-in-law, started a large mercantile business at Tioga Centre. He was interested in other business enterprises, and took an active part in local politics. He was a strong democrat, and through his efforts and influence Tioga was many years held in the democratic column. His title of Colonel came from his connection with the
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53d regiment of state militia, of which he had command. Col. Ransom married with Angeline, the daughter of Amos Martin, of Owego. They had several children all of whom died in infancy. In 1854 Col. and Mrs. Ransom adopted the daughter of his brother Ira. She married with Jonathan C. Latimer, of Tioga Centre.
Prince and Andrew Alden were companions and fellow workers with the Ransoms in founding the settlement in this town, but any extended record of their antecedents or history is not to be found. The name is not known in Tioga, and few indeed are the facts to be learned of them in the town to-day. They came up from Wyoming and are believed to have come originally from Connecticut. Prince Alden died in 1808, and Andrew removed to Ohio in 1808 or '9.
Jesse Miller, the pioneer head of one of the most respected fam- ilies of the town, was born Oct. 3, 1747, and came to this locality during the winter of 1786-87, with his sons Jesse and Amos, then aged respectively, 16 and 14 years. They came from Bedford, Westchester county, on horseback, and all their effects were car- ried in like manner. They stopped for a time in Nichols, but soon crossed over to Tioga and built a cabin between the hamlets now known as Tioga Centre and Smithboro, where Mr. Miller had a large tract of land. This tract was known as the Light and Miller location, and the settlement which grew up around where Mr. Miller built his cabin was soon known as New Bedford ; and as pioneer Miller's house was the stopping-place for all travelling ministers, and also the place for holding religious worship, the his- toric old " Baptist church of New Bedford " was organized there. After the Miller log cabin was completed the pioneer returned to his old home for his family. The family consisted of his wife Keziah, two sons (besides Jesse and Amos), Ziba and Ezra, and his daughters Jerusha, Lucy and Polly. Another son, William B., died just before the family started for the west. Jesse Miller, the pioneer, is remembered as an earnest christian, and a sturdy plodder along life's path. He, with Lodowick Light, Thomas Thomas and Enos Canfield, purchased from the state 2, 765 acres of land, and to each of his sons Mr. Miller gave 150 acres. He died
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of apoplexy April 9, 1812. For many years he was justice of the peace,
Lodowick Light, the associate and co-worker of Jesse Miller, located lands in Tioga county in 1788, but not until 1791 did he come to this town as a settler. He, too, came from Bedford, West- chester county, where he had carried on a tannery and shoemak- ing business. Indeed, Mr. Light made shoes for the American soldiers during the revolution. From family recollections it is learned that Pioneer Light was also a " minute man," and " served on the line " during the war. On one occasion Gen. Washington visited his house and remained over night. In the New Bedford settlement in Tioga Mr. Light was an enterprising, energetic man, and one who possessed strong common sense. His manner was always dignified, and to strangers he sometimes appeared stern, yet he was kind and generous. He was a native of Germany, born July 23, 1752, and came to Westchester county with his brother and sister. He married with Martha Seely, and to them were born these children : Orlie, who married with Stephen Dodd ; Amy, who married with James Brooks ; Seely, who died unmarried ; Sara, who married with Ezra Miller ; Hester, who died at 17; John, who married with Hannah Allen ; Elizabeth and Catharine, twins, the former of whom died unmarried and the latter in infancy ; Lewis, who married with Lydia Layton ; Henry, who married with Sibyl Ransom, and Catharine, 2d, who married with John Kress. Lodowick Light died Aug. 26, 1830, his wife died Sept. 28, 1842. Both were buried in the old graveyard on meeting-house hill. The Light homestead and farm were west of and adjoining Enos Canfield's land.
John Light, brother to Lodowick, and Eli and Thaddeus Seely, his brothers-in-law, came to the settlement at the same time, 1791, and took up tracts of land. They sold their claims after a short time and removed to other localities.
Enos Canfield, the pioneer, whose homestead adjoined that of Lodowick Light, and who among the pioneers of the town was re- . garded as one of the best men of his time, was also a previous resi- dent of old Bedford, and came to the new region to make a more comfortable home than he had in the east. He was prominently
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identified with the history of the Baptist church and in fact was one of its founders. Pioneer Canfield died December 14, 1822, aged 55 years. His wife was Polly Robinson, who died May 7, 1849. In their family were fourteen children.
Ezra Smith was the pioneer on the site of Smithboro. He came here in 1791 from Westchester county and took up the land which had been assigned to his brother, Jesse, by the proprietors of the so-called Poirs & Koles tract. Pioneer Smith kept a tavern on the village site, but about 1809 removed to Candor.
James Brooks was the pioneer head of one of the oldest and most respected of the early families of Tioga, where he settled in 1791. He was one of three brothers who sailed from Dublin to America, but came originally from the west coast of England. The brothers were Cornelius, John and James. Cornelius settled in Delaware, John in New England, and James in Hunterdon county, N. J. From there he came to Tioga and took up lands. James Brooks served in the American army during the revolution as private in Captain Giles Mead's company, 1st regiment of New Jersey Continentals. His wife was Mary Johnson. Both were possessed of firm Christian character and their influence was al- ways for good. In their family were eight children, viz .: Corne- lius, who married with Mary Johnson and settled in Olean; John, who married with Bertha Goodspeed and removed to Ohio ; Ra- chel, who married with Major William Ransom and settled at Tioga Centre ; Anna, who married with Gilbert Farrington and settled in Ohio ; James, who married with Amy Light ; Benjamin, who married with Patty Warren ; Polly, who married with Eben- ezer Centre and settled in the West ; David, who became a clergy- man of the M. E. church, and who late in life left Tioga county and removed to Michigan. James Brooks, the pioneer died at Tioga Centre January 7, 1812, aged 83 years. After his death John Brooks, son of the pioneer, came from Cincinnati and took his aged mother to Ohio, she riding the entire distance in a wagon. She died May 21, 1831, aged 92 years.
James Brooks, 2d, fifth child of the pioneer, married with Amy, the daughter of pioneer Lodowick and Patty (Seely) Light, and to them were born four children, one of whom died in infancy. Pat-
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ty, the eldest, died unmarried. Chloe, the youngest, married with John H. Yontz, at one time a prominent merchant at Smith- boro. Benjamin Van Campen Brooks, only son of James and Amy Brooks, married with Lucy G. Miller, daughter of Amos Miller. Their children were Horace Agard, who was county clerk twelve years; Martha, George, Henry, Eliza, Eliza Amelia (widow of Henry A. Mitchell), Charles Benjamin, Chloe M. (pres- ent deputy county clerk), Mary Mandane, Chester Prentice, Lucy Adele (wife of Edward A. Price of Media, Pa.), and Alice Cornelia, wife of E. L. Wyckoff of Elmira.
Colonel David Pixley, who is mentioned at length in the history of Owego, was a pioneer in Tioga, and was, withal, one of the foremost men in the county in his time. According to the best obtainable information, Col. Pixley came to the region in 1788, al- though the time may have been a little later. He was identified with many pioneer measures and also was one of the proprietors of the Boston Ten Towns. In 1802 he sold his lands in Tioga to Noah and Eliakim Goodrich and removed to Owego Settlement.
Dr. Samuel Tinkham came to Tioga at about the same time as Col. Pixley, about 1791 or '92, settling in the eastern part of the town. He, too, soon removed to Owego settlement.
Joel Farnham is also to be mentioned among the pioneers of Tioga, and in some respects he was one of the most useful of the early settlers. He was born at Windham, Conn., Jan. 3, 1774, and emigrated from his native state to the Wyoming valley in company with his mother and other settlers who sought to better their condition in that new and then little known country. In 1792 young Farnham left old "Forty Fort," and with his mother and others came up the Susquelianna in a "dug-out," and made a brief stop at the little settlement of Owego. However, they soon started up Owego creek, travelled about two miles and on the west side of that stream Mr. Farnham found lands suited to his pur- poses. He bought several hundred acres in this beautiful valley, and to the honor of his descendants it may be said they are still its owners. Pioneer Farnham was a wheelwright and cabinet maker, a native Yankee who possessed all the ingenuity of his people, and it was not long before he had built a dam across the
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creek and erected mills for the manufacture of spinning wheels and other domestic articles then much used by the settlers. His business was successful and he sent wagons loaded with his wares all over the region. Several of his inventions Mr. Farnham caused to be patented, and among them one of the most remarkable was a horseless carriage propelled by the use of strong springs. It worked well and one day Mr. Farnham took his wife to Owego, but on returning a neighbor's team became frightened and ran away, whereupon the inventor destroyed his vehicle. Mr. Farn- ham was also a surveyor, but his wool carding, cloth dressing and finishing mills were of the greatest practical benefit to the settlers. He also invented a cider mill, and a turning lathe for making wooden utensils. In 1797 Mr. Farnham was married with Ruth, the daughter of Enoch and Sarah Slosson, of Newark Valley. The children of this marriage were Sylvester, Fidelia, Ann Maria, Joel, Jr., Charles, Caroline, George, Sarah Catherine, Enoch, and Frederick Augustus Farnham. Joel Farnham, the pioneer, died August 15, 1853. His wife died August 30, 1862.
John Hill came from Pittsfield, Mass., in the spring of 1793, in company with one or two of his sons, and took up land in the eastern part of the town. In the fall his family came. About 1800 pioneer Hill built a large plank and timber tavern on his land and kept public house until about 1816 when all the family except two sons removed to Orwell, Pa. The children in his family were Sul- livan, John, Harvey, Chauncey, Chester, Daniel, Samuel, and four girls whose names are not recalled. Harvey and Chauncey Hill remained in Tioga, and both were millwrights by trade, as indeed were all the sons of pioneer John Hill. Harvey married with a Catlin and had three children. Chauncey married with Lucy Sex- ton and had twelve children, one of whom died at birth. The others were Susan, James N., Amanda M., Lucy D., Sabrina, Mary Ann, Sarah, Charles, Emily, Sir William Wallace, and Frances Adeline Hill.
Francis Gragg was also one of the pioneers, although the exact date of his settlement is unknown. He came from Pennsylvania and soon after arrival occupied the old hotel stand which John Brooks had built, but later on removed to the site of the Kuyken-
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dall house of later days. Still later he lived on the site of the Van- Norstran property. Mrs. Gragg died in 1824, and her husband in 1854. The Van Norstran family came into the region soon after the century began, and in 1819 moved into the old Brooks tavern. Sally Gragg married with John Van Norstran, and to them were born eight children.
William Taylor, who settled in this town in 1794, came into the Susquehanna valley with James McMaster and companions in 1785, and has ever been mentioned in history as "the bound boy " in the McMaster family. However, he became one of the most thrifty farmers in the town and was one of the very first to "raft " corn to Wilkesbarre to mill. In 1801 Mr. Taylor removed to Candor, and in that town he died in 1849. The Henry Young farm of later years, known as one of the best in the county, was the site where- on pioneer Taylor made his settlement.
The same year, 1794, also witnessed the arrivals in the town of Daniel Mercereau, Jeremiah White, and Cornelius Taylor. Mr. Mercereau had served with the British during the revolution, being pressed into the service, but all his sympathies were with the Americans. He was one of the substantial farmers of old Owego, later Tioga, and died here in 1848. Cornelius Taylor came up the valley from Wyoming and lived next to Mr. Mercereau, who took part of the Taylor farm. He died in 1848. Mr. White was a mechanic and a useful man in the settlement. He was the first husband of Mrs. Whitaker, who was made captive by the Indians at Wyoming, and who was held by them and their white allies for two years. It was the fruitful memory of Mrs. Whitaker that gave to history many interesting facts of early Indian and other accounts of life in the valley of the Susquehanna. Mr. White afterward lived at Catatonk, and there he met an accidental death in a mill, in 1805.
Among the other early settlers in the town, chiefly along the river, all of whom are believed to have been here previous to the year 1800 were John Gee, Kobus and James Schoonover, Nathan- iel Goodspeed, Moses Fountain, and Josiah Cleveland, good worthy men, all of whom came to make new and better homes for their families. Between Tioga Centre and the west town line the first
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settlers were chiefly from Westchester county and the Wyoming valley region, while between the centre and the eastern line Massachusetts and Connecticut Yankees were in the majority among the pioneers. However, all were sturdy and determined workers, and asa result of their efforts the lands were cleared and fine farms were developed in this part of the valley. Their work also gave the town an enviable standing in the region even in the earliest years of the century. Indeed, for several years in the early history of this region the little settlement west of Owego creek was regarded as the rival of the Owego settlement east of that stream. It is a fact known in local history that previous to 1800 the pioneers of what is now Tioga sought to build up a set- tlement similar to that at Owego, and after that time the attempt was continued although a fatal blow was struck against the west- ern locality by the removal to the east town of some of her fore- most men. However, let us turn from these scenes and note the coming of other early families to the town, for they are worthy of at least a passing mention although not pioneers.
Jonathan Catlin, of whom mention is elsewhere made, came in 1800, locating in what is known as the Goodrich Settlement. He bought the Taylor improvement, but in later years his sons, Ste- phen, Jonathan, Joseph, James, and Nathaniel settled on Catlin hill, a name which is preserved to this day. From this head the Catlin family in Tioga county is descended, but several of its best repre- sentatives have removed from the town and have helped to make histories in other localities.
Judge Noah and Captain Eliakim Goodrich came from Glaston- bury, Conn. in 1799, and purchased from Colonel Pixley 400 acres of land in Owego and Tioga. paying therefor $3 an acre, and taking hill and flat together. These pioneers were for years identified with the best history of the towns of Tioga and Owego, as their pur- chase included lands in both. Noah Goodrich was born August 30, 1764, and died July 19, 1834. His sons were Erastus, Anor, and Norman by his first marriage, and Ephraim by the second. Eliakim Goodrich, who was cousin to Judge Goodrich, married with Sarah Leland, and to them were born these children : Ansel, Ira, Cyprion, Lucy, Alanson, Silas, Sarah, Fanny, Jasper, Wil- liam, and Fanny, 2d, the first child so named having died.
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Rev. David Jayne came to Tioga county from near Tunkhan- nock, Pa., about the year 1795, and from that time he was identi- fied with the best history of the region. His deed of land came from Col. Pixley and conveyed to the pioneer 330 acres just below Smithboro. Later on Mr. Jayne deeded to Anne Layton all of this tract except two acres. On February 20, 1796, at the house of Jesse Miller, near Smithboro, Mr. Jayne organized the first church society in Tioga county, that commonly known in early local history as "the Baptist Church of New Bedford." He was pastor of this church for fourteen years. He had purchased a farm on Shepard's creek, ten miles from Watkins Glen, to which he removed with his family, but at the same time this worthy christian worker thought little of travelling thirty miles from his home to the church to preach. About 1815 Mr. Jayne gave the farm to his son, David, and then removed to Steuben county, where he died at the age of 86 years.
Among the other and perhaps later settlers in Tioga whose names are worthy to be mentioned were John DuBois, Frederick Castle, Henry Primrose, Jacob Crater, Dr. David Earll, James Garrett and others whose names are equally worthy to be pre- served in this record, but which have become lost with passing years. John DuBois came to the town about the year 1800 and made a purchase of land one mile west of Tioga Centre. He was a strong business man and one of the best known in the town for several years. Among his children were John, Joseph, Ezekiel and Abel, the first of whom, John Jr., afterward removed to Penn- sylvania and engaged in extensive lumbering operations, and with such remarkable success that he was one of the wealthiest men in that state. He founded DuBois city, which was named for him. He died in 1886. The DuBois homestead at Tioga Centre still stands and is to-day one of the most attractive dwellings in that pretty little hamlet.
John Gilbert Smith was another of Tioga's prominent and suc- cessful men, and one of the county's most active Democrats. He had a large saw mill at the Centre and was a valuable man for the place. He died in 1885. Josiah Stowell came up from Smithboro about 1835 and built a saw mill at the Centre. He was also inter- ested in a hotel and store at the same place.
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Glancing over the pages of old, time worn records and docu- ments, the names of still other early residents of Tioga are brought to light, and while they were not identified with pioneer events their names have been so associated with later history in the town that at least a passing mention of them seems necessary. In this connection we may recall John Waterman, who came to the town about or soon after 1800 and lived at Smithboro. From him descended a family well known in later years. Jared Foote and Stephen Jones are also to be mentioned in the same connec- tion. Mr. Jones came from Massachusetts and John Whitley from Vermont, the latter settling first in Candor.
In this chapter, so far as progressed, we have endeavored to bring to mind the names of as many as possible of the pioneers and early settlers in Tioga as now constituted. Among them were many men of strong character and personality, and it was through their efforts that the town assumed the prominence it held for many years during the close of the old and the beginning of the new century. On the east and west sides of Owego creek and situate about equi-distant from that stream were rival settle- ments, each striving for the greater importance and population. All along the valley of the Susquehanna were the most desirable farming and lumbering lands of the region, and the proprietors were men noted for enterprise and thrift. At that time, as the reader knows, the present town of Tioga was known as Owego, and Owego was known as Tioga. Settlement in each was begun about the same time, with the advantage perhaps in favor of the eastern locality. Both, however, progressed rapidly in all that tended to benefit, and the result was that in the course of a very few years all the lands along the valley were taken and improved, and Tioga county had at the beginning of the century at least two towns as prosperous as any along the south border of the state. Whatever there may have been of rivalry between the settlements was passed when that on the east was designated as the place wherein should be kept the county records, and when Owego be- came the county seat its prominence was acknowledged.
Among the towns of the county which have furnished men of mark Owego stands first, and Tioga second. The pioneers who
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laid the foundation for the later success have been mentioned on preceding pages, and those who were factors in its intermediate history have also been recalled, but there were still others who were not pioneers nor were they early settlers, but were neverthe- less men of mark, and worthy to be briefly noticed in this chapter.
Charles Frederick Johnson, scholar, linguist and literateur, came to Tioga and purchased the Meadow-Bank farm in 1837, two years after his marriage with Sarah Dwight Woolsey, the daugh- ter of William Dwight Woolsey, one of the old-time merchants of New York. Mr. Johnson lived in the town until 1876, when he removed to the home of his daughter, Mrs. Anna J. Bellamy, of Dorchester, Mass., where he died July 6, 1882.
Nathaniel P. Willis, the poet, was a resident of this town for a period of about five years, but aside from the fact that he was the founder of "Glenmary," one of the most beautiful homes and estates in the county, Mr. Willis was not closely identified with local history. He came to the town at the solicitation of George J. Pumpelly, and undoubtedly through the same influence made the purchase of property across Owego creek, opposite the foot of Talcott street, to which he gave the name before mentioned, and which is now in part the Glenmary home. Mr. Willis came here in 1837 and left in 1842 ; and while he was an author of unusual talent he was ungrateful in the treatment of those who had favored him with friendship and loans.
Wheeler H. Bristol, who occupied " Glenmary " after the de- parture of Mr. Willis, was one of the most worthy and one of the most honored men of Tioga town or county during the period of his residence therein. He was a native of Columbia county, born January 16, 1818, and after an active business life in other fields came to Tioga with the construction of the Erie railroad. . Later on his business interests called to other localities, and during the period of the war he was building bridges for the government. In politics he was an ardent democrat and one who stood high in the councils of the party in the state. He was twice supervisor of the town and was elected state treasurer in 1867. Mr. Bristol was also associated with some of the best local industries, notably the Bristol Iron works with a place of business in Owego village. In
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