USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 48
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503
TOWN OF BERKSHIRE.
good, 1874 ; W. B. Kinney, 1875 ; Richard Varcoe, 1878 ; Richard Hiorns, 1879 ; R. D. Briggs, 1882 ; W. F. Wright, 1885 ; G. O. Beers, 1886 ; I. J. Smith, 1889 ; W. J. Cook, 1892-97.
The hamlets in Berkshire, other than Berkshire village are of little importance in the history of the town. East Berkshire no longer has a postoffice and the only public buildings are the M. E. church and the near-by district school. The only industry is the creamery owned by the Standard Butter Co., of Owego. Wilson Creek is also in the east part of the town, and has only a postof- fice ; postmaster, Norton Hart.
BERKSHIRE VILLAGE .- Although this pretty and healthful little village has not been separated from the surrounding territory of the town for any purpose whatever, there nevertheless seems to have been a general understanding on the part of the people of the village that they will maintain their hamlet in the same manner is if it were in fact incorporated. The first step toward the hamlet was taken when Josiah Ball in 1795 built the double log house for the accommodation of recently arrived settlers, and when Ebenezer Cook built the tannery and Joseph Waldo opened a store the future of the hamlet was assured. Then Stephen Ball built the large hotel, and Carlisle P. Johnson started a store on the corner, all of which contributed to the early importance of the village.
Half a century or more ago William Henry Moore was in trade in a store just south of Dewey & Darbonnier's store, and Mr. Johnson was doing business at the corner of Main and Elm streets as now known. He began about 1838 or '39, and for many years was one of the best merchants in this part of the county. Stephen Ball built the old Berkshire temperance house about 1820, and was in some manner connected with it till 1849. Mr. Johnson was in business here, with certain exceptions of time, until his death, March 12, 1879. Aaron P. Belcher was his early partner. Mr. Johnson was in the legislature in 1855.
The public institutions of the village are the Congregational and Methodist churches, of which mention has been made, and the district school, the latter one of the best of its class in the county. The stores of the village are located in Main street, and are rep-
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
resented about as follows : Hardenberg & Brown, general store, successors to E. O. Eldredge & Co .; Eugene Freeland, general store ; Frank Leonard, grocery and hardware ; Horatio Clark, general store ; J. Wallace Holcomb, grocer and druggist ; Dewey & Darbonnier, general merchants ; F. A. Witter & Co., general merchants. The manufacturing industries are the saw mill and novelty works of Japhet & Son, and the grist mill now operated by John Vite, but formerly the Sykes mill. The village has two hotels, the Crawford house, the same built by Stephen Ball about 1820, and the Buffington house, built in 1896.
The Berkshire tannery, as it has long been known, is the chief industry of the town. It was built in 1849 by S. & J. W. Leon- ard & Sons, and was at first operated by water power. It passed into the ownership of Davidge, Horton & Co., May 12, 1865, still later was owned by James Davidge & Co., and has since been managed by that firm and by the United States Leather company, by the latter since May, 1893.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE TOWN OF RICHFORD.
W ELL established historical record informs us that as early at least as the year 1808, Evan Harris made a settlement in what is now the town of Richford, but pioneer Harris only knew that he was making a start in the northern part of the vast Boston purchase, and it mattered little to him what town or county he was in as a settler. His wife died here February 19, 1812, and her body was buried in the Brown settlement grave-yard, a few miles down the creek. A little later, Evan Harris, son of the pioneer, was seriously burned by falling in a kettle of boiling sap. The accident happened April 10, 1812, while the father was away, and the little sufferer ran to the home of Jeremiah Camp-
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TOWN OF RICHFORD.
bell, a full mile away, and Mrs. Campbell dressed his injuries. Evan Harris had another son, born August 17, 1811, but further details of the family history are meagre.
Nearly all that is known of the family was sought out by that patient and untiring student of history and distinguished genealo- gist, the late Dr. D. Williams Patterson, of Newark Valley. The present writer acknowledges free access to Dr. Patterson's manu- scripts and published records, and also acknowledges, as material and valuable assistants in the preparation of this chapter, the possession of the printed reminiscences of the late William F. Belden, of Richford, and as well the generous aid of the fertile and reliable memory of Calvin J. Robinson, practising lawyer and for more than half a century a resident of the town.
Elisha Harris, thought to have been a relative of Evan Harris, was a settler in the region in 1808, and was a taxable inhabitant in old Tioga as early as 1802, in that part afterward set off as Car- oline. He had three children, whose names are not recalled.
Paul Stevens is thought to have been the next settler, but the year of his coming is not stated. In 1821 he sold out to Gad Worth- ington and left the vicinity. Among his children were Paul, Seth, David, and one other, whose name is forgotten.
John Watson and family came in April, 1810, and settled in the southwest corner of the town. Later on he removed to Michigan, where he died. His children were Susan, Rebecca, Mary, Sally, Samuel S., John, James L., and Jane. Samuel S. Watson mar- ried with Betsey Rounsville, settled in Newark Valley, in 1838, and died in that town. James L. married with Mary Gilbert and settled in the northwest corner of Berkshire, where he died.
Artemas Watkins and wife, who was Phebe Gilbert, came from Peru, Mass., and settled in Richford in 1812, on lot 461, west of where the turnpike was built. John Watkins, brother to Artemas, settled in Newark Valley about the same time. Phebe, wife of Artemas, died May 30, 1840, and he died May 20, 1865. Their children were Betsey, Anna, Semantha (who married first with John B. Leonard, and after his death with Daniel Rawley, of Rich- ford), Benson G., Reuben, Lyman, Polly, Ira W., Amanda M., Amos G., (for several years justice of the peace of Richford),
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Cynthia A., and Harriet (who married with Squire D. Freeland, of Richford.)
Samuel Smith was one of the first settlers on the village site, to which place he came, probably, in 1813. He built a small house and kept tavern until about 1817, when he was succeeded by Beriah Wells, and then moved out into the town, where he died May 3, 1846. Tradition says, according to Dr. Patterson, that one of the children of pioneer Smith died while he lived on the village site, and that the body was buried in what is now the hotel gar- den. His other children were Hannah, (born in Richford, Nov. 29, 1813), Miriam, Ezekiel D., Lucy T., and Charlotte.
Nathaniel Jolmson, says Mr. Robinson, was the third settler in the town, having moved into the house previously occupied by Evan Harris, in 1814. His home, says the same authority, was the stopping place for all travelling preachers, but at the end of sixteen years pioneer Johnson left the vicinity and moved west. He is recalled as an upright man, and among the settlers was known as "brother-in-law" Johnson, and also as "the good sinner." He came from Vermont. His children were Lucy, Rachel, Eber, Nor- man and Zilpha.
Heman Daniels was a native of Rutland county, Vt., and came with his parents to Paris, N. Y., soon after the revolution. Heman married with Elvira Walker, and in 1816, after a few years' resi- dence in the Susquelianna valley in Pennsylvania, moved to Rich- ford, settling on lot 574, this being the first settlement east of the valley and north of the village. Mr. Daniels was a soldier in the war of 1812-15, and died in Richford at the ripe old age of 96 years. His children were Heman, Elmon W., Elvira, Calvin W., Betsey Maria, Jason, and one other who died in extreme infancy.
Samuel Gleazen, a native of Stockbridge, Mass., settled on the village site in 1817, and is said to have built there the fourth house, standing near the church property. Mr. Gleazen afterward lived in the town, except for two years, and died there in August, 1865. In his family were nine children : Horatio J., Abigail P., Nancy, Lorain G., Mary, Mary, 2d, (the first child so named having died), Hannah, Caroline, (who died an infant), Samuel, Samuel, 2d, (the first having died), and Caroline E. Gleazen.
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TOWN OF RICHFORD.
Beriah Wells is remembered among the most prominent of the early settlers of Richford. He was a native of Richmond, Mass .. born Feb. 1. 1782, and was by trade a painter and chairmaker. He came to Berkshire in the spring of 1813, and in August, 1817, moved to Richford, on the village site, and kept public house on the turn- pike, east of the square. His domicile was made of two small houses drawn together, but was sufficient for the time, and a comfortable and much patronized hostelry for four or more years. Samuel Smith had built one of the houses and Nathan Johnson the other, and landlord Wells was their successor. In 1821 Mr. Wells exchanged his hotel property for a farm and then removed to Newark Valley, where he died June 30, 1861. His children were Frederick T., Palmer and Edwin Lucius Wells.
Stephen Wells was the father of Beriah Wells and came to Newark Valley from New England about 1815, and removed to Richford about 1821. He was thrice married and had a family of five children, Stephen, the eldest . son, was a chair maker and painter in this town, and withal a useful man in the settlement. The second son was Beriah, of whom mention is made in this chapter. The other children were Betsey, Love, and Lucius Wells. Stephen Wells died June 14, 1838, aged 84 years. Stephen Wells, Jr., lived in Richford from 1815 to about 1818, and then removed to Steuben county.
Ezekiel Dewey was another prominent early settler, and came to the town in 1816 from Westfield, Mass. He lived on the village site and at one time about a mile to the west of the settlement. His first wife was Lucy Johnson, who died Dec. 27, 1828, after which he married with Eunice Smith. His children were, with the exception of the youngest, born of his first marriage, and were Lucy, Semantha, Jane Elizabeth, David Wesley, Charles Johnson, Ezekiel Hannum, Amanda, and one other, the eldest, who died at birth.
William Belden came from Berkshire county, Mass., and with his family settled in Richford in the year 1818. For a few months they lived in a log house then recently vacated by Paul Stevens, the house standing a mile south of the village. Later on Mr. Belden built a more substantial dwelling, into which he moved,
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
the same occupied by his son William F. Belden when he, in 1878, wrote his personal recollections of early life in Richford. How- ever, pioneer William Belden gained his greatest prominence in the town as the teacher of the first school, which he opened in his own house. He lived in the town until his death, April 2, 1859. His wife having died May 13, 1855. Their children were Fanny Maria, William Franklin, and Frederick Carlos Belden.
Gad Worthington, who was related to the Beldens, came to the town in 1818. He was a Connecticut Yankee by birth, but came here from Lenox, Mass. In 1819, Mr. Worthington built one of the first saw mills in the town, an industry much needed by the settlers. The next year he built a grist mill and thus added an- other to the necessary conveniences of the region. He likewise built several houses and opened the first store of goods in the village, according to the reminiscences of Mr. Belden. Mr. Worth- ington dwelt east of the turnpike road, on the south half of lot 424. His wife was Fanny Belden, by whom he had these children : Dan Leander, Gad Belden, Fanny, Samuel Kellogg, John, Mary Ann, and Robert Worthington.
George T. Pierce settled on the north half of lot 548 in the year 1818, although he had visited the town in 1817 and selected his land. By a mistake his house was built on the wrong part of the lot, but Mr. Pierce suffered nothing more than inconvenience through the error. His was the second settlement in the valley on the east side north of the turnpike.
George P. Simmons came from Paris, Oneida county, in 1818 and settled on the south half of lot 548.
Augustus Van Buren came to the town in 1818, and was the first colored settler in the vicinity, except the few slaves who were brought to the region by their owners. But Van Buren was not a slave, as his freedom had been purchased several years before he came to Richford. Mr. Belden, in his reminiscences, says that Van Buren paid his master 115 pounds, English money, as the purchase price of his manumission, and also that the negro often said he had carried Martin Van Buren in his arms when a child ; and after the settlement in Richford, and when Augustus was grown old, the ex-president frequently sent small sums of money
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TOWN OF RICHFORD.
to him with which to purchase tobacco. Augustus was a worthy and thrifty settler in the town and died generally respected, at the good old age of 102 years. He was married twice and had four children, all by the first wife. They were Hetty, Sarah, Joseph, and one other, the first born, who died in extreme infancy.
The persons and families here mentioned were the pioneers of Richford, through whose efforts the beginning was made, the lands in part cleared, and who laid the foundation upon which the town structure was afterward built up. True, they made the be- ginning, but the real development of the town and its resources remained to be accomplished by a later generation of occupants, and the greatest steps in local advancement were the results of their endeavors.
Peter Perry who settled in the west part of the town in 1821, was a native of Berkshire county, Mass., born Nov. 22, 1769. In 1796-97 he emigrated to Green, Chenango Co., but after his mar- riage with Jane Surdam, which took place in Salisbury, Conn., they removed to Cincinnatus, and thence in the later part of April, 1821, to Richford, and settled on a part of lot 460. In 1833 two of Mr. Perry's sons purchased the lot from Eleazer Dana. The property remained in the family until 1894. Peter Perry died Feb. 27, 1845, and his wife on June 19 following. The children in . this family were Norman, Luther, Francis G., Daniel Meade and Edwin Perry.
After 1820 settlement in this northern part of old Berkshire be- came far more rapid than formerly, for the inhabitants below then saw that this narrow valley was fertile and productive both in farm products and work in mechanical pursuits.
In December, 1820, says Dr. Patterson's narrative, Chester Pat- terson, of Union, Broome county, made the census enumeration of inhabitants then in the territory later set off to form Richford ; and the result of his count showed the town to contain forty-five families, and a total of 271 inhabitants. As they were in the town at that early day, although not pioneers, they are nevertheless entitled to at least a passing mention in this record. In the order noted by Dr. Patterson the heads of families were as follows :
Beriah Wells, of whom mention has been made, had seven per- sons in his family.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Henry Krum whose family name is still known in the town, lived on or near the village tract, and then had but one child al- though others were born later. His wife was Harriet Rounsville.
Benjamin Rathbun lived at the village and was a teamster. Five persons comprised his family.
Isaac Goodale had a family of seven and was a farmer. He afterward removed to Michigan. In 1820 his father lived in Berkshire, on west hill.
John Newton had a family of three, and lived, it is thought, on the same lot with Isaac Goodale.
Henry Morgan, and his family of five, lived on a farm on lot 501. Later on he built a saw mill and utilized the waters of Trout Run to drive the machinery.
Zelotes Olney and his family of nine lived on lot 501, but was in this part of the county previous to 1800. He had several children.
Benjamin Olney was in the historic Brown settlement as early as 1798, but of the family history little is known.
Dr. Elisha Briggs was the pioneer physician and lived north of the old Catskill turnpike, on lot 501. His family had seven members.
Caleb Arnold, with a family of six, lived on lot 500. He was one of the pioneers, and built the first saw and grist mills in the town, the saw mill, probably, in 1813, and the grist mill later on. He also had a carding mill, and all were on west Owego creek. Mr. Robinson says that Arnold made cut nails, in which industry he was a pioneer in the country. The Arnold saw mill was rebuilt in 1835, but the others were suffered to decay.
Jacob Roads and his wife lived on the turnpike, on lot 498. He was an Englishman by birth and a mason and quarryman by occupation.
Wheeler Wood, farmer, whose household included seven per- sons, lived in one of the five houses which comprised the settle- ment once called Padlock ; and so called from the fact that the denizens of the place always locked their doors with a padlock, and the ever thoughtful house-wife likewise made fast the doors on going to the spring for water. But neither record nor tradition says whether this custom prevailed previous to the robbery of Ezekiel Rich's mitten factory.
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TOWN OF RICHFORD.
Elijah Gilbert, whose family numbered eight persons, was an early tavern keeper and also made hand-rakes and bedsteads for the settlers. He lived on lot 461.
Amos, Daniel, and William G. Raymond, who were probably brothers, and whose families comprised, respectively, two, four, and ten members, were also residents of the Padlock locality.
Russell Freeland was an early settler in the southwest corner of Richford, and a man of some note in the town although he died of fever as early as 1837. In his family were twelve members, of whom seven were children in 1820. They were Emerilla, Lydia, Clarissa, Mary, Vesta A., and Orin M. Freeland. In Mr. Free- land's house also lived his widowed mother, his sister and brother. The brother was Joseph Freeland who owned a part of the lot. Descendants of these families are still.41 the county.
David and Timothy Draper are also to be mentioned in this con- nection, though they were not freeholders in the town.
Daniel Harrington, farmer, with a family of five, lived on lot 460.
William Lynch also lived on lot 460, was a farmer, and had a family of seven members.
Jesse Gleazen, 2d, in 1820, lived in a log house on lot 422. Three persons then comprised his family. Caleb Gleason, father to Jesse, also lived in this town and the vicinity, and is remembered as an old survivor of the revolution, in which he was a soldier.
Thomas P. Brown, sometimes called Deacon Brown, lived on lot 422. In later years he removed to Maine, Broome county, where he died, after which his family emigrated to Michigan.
Abraham Burghardt was the head of a numerous and prominent family in the town, and lived on lot 223. His sons, Jacob, Isaac, John R., and Abraham Jr., and his sons-in-law, Thomas P. Brown, (who married with Polly Burghardt), and Samuel Olney (who mar- ried with Caroline Burghardt), were also conspicious persons in early Richford history. They were farmers and substantial men.
Martha Tracy, widow of James Tracy, lived on lot 421. In her family were ten children.
Thomas Tracy, Ezra Howland, Abraham Dudley and Solomon Russell were in 1820 living in the eastern part of the town, and
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
were farmers with families, and most of them with children. Alexander S. Lamb dwelt in the same locality, but at that time had no family. Thomas Keeny lived on lot 339.
Thomas Robinson, who in 1820 lived on the west border of the town, was both farmer and a maker of buckskin gloves and mit- tens ; and when that industry started in the village Mr. Robinson found his trade of more profit than farming, hence removed to the settlement, and was there noted as manufacturer. Eight persons were in his family.
Ezekiel Rich became a resident of the town now called Richford in the year 1821. He was a native of Cherry Valley, N. Y., born August 14, 1783, and was the son of Simon and Lucy (Lincoln) Rich. His wife was Caroline Slosson, daughter of Ezbon and Electa (Williams) Slosson, and was a native of Stockbridge, Mass., born Feb. 23, 1791. Mr. Rich came to Newark Valley soon after the year 1800, and as early as 1810 was in business with his broth- er-in-law, Otis Lincoln, manufacturing gloves and mittens. He lived in Newark until 1821 when he exchanged for the Beriah Wells property at Richford settlement, and in April removed with his family to the place. From that time to his death he was closely identified with the best interests of this town, and when Richford was set off from old Berkshire it was named in honor of its founder in fact-Ezekiel Rich. On coming to the town Mr. Rich at once established a glove and mitten factory, and although he was con- nected with it only a few years he by no means retired from busi- ness. He opened a store in 1821, built and kept a hotel, dealt in land and engaged in farming. He died April 18, 1854. His chil- dren were Mary Ann, who died in 1847 ; Chauncey Le Roy, for forty years a merchant in Richford and for twenty years connected with the Southern Central railroad, and withal one of the best men for the town in all its history ; Angeline Eliza, who married with Dr. Lewis Halsey Kellogg ; Lucien Densmore, always a res- ident of the town ; William Dunham, who died an infant ; and Maria Louisa, who married with John Moore Benjamin.
William Dunham, founder of the little settlement south of Richford village that once was called Dunhanville, was born March 20, 1787, and came to Richford with Ezekiel Rich, in whose
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TOWN OF RICHFORD.
employ he was, travelling with a wagon and selling the product of Mr. Rich's mitten factory and buying skins for future manu- facture. At length Mr. Dunham determined to found a village and to that end purchased a large tract of land south of Richford settlement, a portion of which he laid out into lots and made some attempt to sell. The first school was opened in this vicinity. Mr. Dunham had occasion to borrow considerable money to carry on his operations, and not being able to pay promptly he was sold out, and his village scheme came to naught. In later years he removed to New York, where he died July 16, 1855. His children were Willian S., Matilda Orcelia, and Robert H. and Isaac S., twins.
John Stedman was the head of a numerous and highly respected family in Newark Valley, from which town he came to Richford in 1821. His children were Sophronia, Almira, Eliza, John Catlin, Sarah, Mary, Sylvia, and Anna Stedman.
William Tremble Jayne came from Orange county to Newark Valley in 1819, and thence removed to Richford, in 1825, where he (lied Nov. 24, 1850. His children were Caroline, Frances, Mary Ann, Amzi Lewis, Samuel Armstrong, William T., and Mary Pitney Jayne.
Dr. Elijah Powell, who came to Richford in 1823 and began the practice of medicine, was one of the foremost men of the village and town for many years, and one who did as much to build up and establish the town as any man ever within its limits. In 1824 he built the large three storied brick building at the northeast corner of the park and here he had an office and drug store for many years. He was interested in every measure looking to the welfare of the town, active in church as well as in political affairs, and was in all respects a worthy citizen. He was the last but one of the superintendents of common schools of the county, which office was abolished in 1847, and was the first county commissioner of schools under the laws of 1856. However, so much is said of Dr. Powell in the medical chapter that further mention here is a repetition, and we may only add that when he canie to Richford he was unmarried, but soon took for his wife Lydia Wells, who died July 18, 1833. His second wife was Jane Anderson, who bore him seven children. Dr. Powell's practice extended through-
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
out northern Tioga and southern Tompkins counties, and as the result of long drives and almost endless labor his system became worn out, and at the age of 73 years, on January 12, 1876, he died.
The men and heads of families whose names have been men- tioned in this chapter were the founders of the town of Richford. They came during the undeveloped period of its history and by their efforts established what became one of the best outlying towns in the county, and that notwithstanding the fact that Richford in- habitants were compelled to contend against obstacles not met in all the towns, for in this isolated valley of East Owego creek there was little to attract settlement other than the general fertility of the soil and the substantial character of the very first settlers. Indeed, the northern extremity of old Berkshire had no inhabitant previous to 1808, and here on the highest land in the county Evan Harris made the pioneer beginning. The term "highest land" is used in a general sense, for it is conceded that the most elevated lands in Tioga are in this town ; and being so elevated they are healthful, consequently desirable. But there were other settlers in the town previous to its organization and are worthy to be recalled in this connection, although the mention must necessarily be brief.
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