USA > New York > Tioga County > Owego > Owego. Some account of the early settlement of the village in Tioga County, N.Y., called Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, which name was corrupted by gradual evolution into Owago, Owego, Owegy and finally Owego > Part 26
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The boat was built under a shed 70 by 26 feet in size constructed for the purpose on the bank of the river below the bridge on Robert Cameron's land. The boat was planned by an Ithaca boat builder by the name of Van Order. It was 75 feet long and 26 feet wide and capable of carrying 200 passengers. When empty it drew eight inches of water and when loaded twelve inches. The work of building the boat was begun Oct. 13 under the superintendence of Alonzo W. Spring-
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stead, of Geneva, and it was launched sideways with about forty persons on board in March, 1874. The cost of the boat, when furnished, was about $3,000.
The boat was named in a novel way. In April, 1874,$2,500 of stock had been taken, $170 additional had been do- nated for purchasing furniture, and it was necessary to raise $500 more to complete the furnishing of the boat. A public meeting was held at Ahwaga hall, when a vote was taken to decide who should name the boat. The price of votes was ten cents each and there were seven contestants for the honor. The canvass was a hotly contested one. The total amount realized was $377.50 and Joseph S. DeWitt was the successful contestant, he having re- ceived 1,453 votes. Mr. DeWitt named the boat "Owego."
Another election was held April 11 at Ahwaga hall to choose a captain. A vote was taken at ten cents a vote, $116 were realized, and George Tru- man, Jr., was elected. George A. King was afterward chosen superintendent and he was superintendent of all the boats built by the company from 1874 to 1884.
A trial trip of the boat was made April 22. She ran up to within about three miles of Binghamton, making the round trip in ten hours. The next day the boat, with an excursion party and Prof. Raff's cornet band on board, went through to Binghamton.
The plan of the steamboat company had been to lease a portion of Big island, which was owned by Cyrenus M. LaMonte, for a pleasure resort for picnic and excursion parties, and to run the steamboat in conjunction
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therewith. To that end the company had in October, 1873, leased the small grove at the upper end of the island, and the next spring cleared the ground of brush, graded it,made gravel walks, and built a large dancing pavilion, ar- bors, and a building for a billiard room and a bowling alley. The total cost of the steamboat and the fitting up of the grounds was $7,818. With excursions, picnics, clambakes, etc., the season was a remarkably success- ful one, the net earnings of the boat being $2,692.96.
At about 10:30 o'clock in the even- ing of Nov. 2 an attempt was made by an incendiary to burn the boat while she was tied up at her wharf above Paige street. A passer-by gave an alarm and the fire was extinguished, after it had caused damage to the amount of $200.
During the winter changes were made in the boat, to increase her speed. The engine was replaced with two new ones of forty-horse power, made at the Bristol iron works in Temple street, and the paddle-wheels were made two feet larger in diam- eter, with buckets eighteen inches wider than the old ones. The upper deck, which was too low, was raised eighteen inches. The work was done by a boatbuilder named Canby from Geneva. A barge was built at a cost of about $600. It was 75 feet long and 18 feet wide, and drew about 14 inches of water. February 28, 1875, the re- constructed "Owego" started for Bing- hamton on her trial trip with about fifty passengers on board. Near Campville the 700-pound mortice wheel broke, disabling the boat, and
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the passengers were compelled to re- turn by railroad.
In the spring of 1876 Capt. Eugene B. Gere, who represented Tioga county in the state assembly that year, ob- tained the passage of a bill through the legislature authorizing the Owego steamboat company to remove all dams, rocks, etc., in the channel of the Susquehanna river between Owego and Binghamton, for the purpose of deepening the channel. The bill be- came a law April 18. The object of the law was to provide a channel of water deep enough so that the steam- boat might make trips between Bing- hamton and Owego regularly. It was the intention of the company to build landings and docks at different points along the river, but nothing was done in the matter and the various boats were used for transporting excursion and picnic parties to and from Big island. Some of the largest excursion parties that ever visited Owego came here while the island was conducted as a summer resort.
In the spring of 1876 the steamboat company built a hotel at the northeast part of the island among the trees, which had been named Hiawatha grove, and the hotel was known as the Hiawatha house. The building was 80 feet long, 40 feet wide, and two stories high. It was later made into a four- story building.
The first manager of the hotel was R. W. Decker. He was soon sue- ceeded by B. J. Davis, the proprietor of the Central house at Owego, and he by Warren Hooker. In April, 1881, Capt. E. J. Richardson, proprietor of the Clinton house in Brooklyn, pur- chased a one-third interest in the hotel
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and the little steamboat "Clara" and. assumed personal charge of the hotel. This year the dock, near Paige street, was abandoned. and a new one con- structed at the foot of Church street. In the following July E. G. Brown and E. J. Cunningham, of Brooklyn, pur- chased controlling shares of the Owe- go navigation company and assumed the management of the hotel and is- land, Capt. Richardson remaining as manager. About forty rods west of the hotel a new building two stories high and 60x26 feet in dimensions, was built. which was used as a barroom. billiard and bowling alley. The hotel was of sufficient capacity to accommo- date 150 guests.
In 1884 W. W. Dilts became mana- ger of the hotel for E. G. Brown, and the next year Mr. Dilts and George A. Smith, of Owego, conducted it. In 1886 Stephen Paris conducted the house. In August, 1887. Mr. LaMonte purchased of the E. G. Brown estate the lease of the Hiawatha house, which had ten years yet to run, together with all the personal property and six shares of steamboat stock for $1,750, and then sold the island, which con- tains 112 acres of land. together with everything on it for $13,750 to Dr. A. S. Kilmer and Jonas M. Kilmer, of Binghamton. The proposition of the Kilmers was to establish a sanitarium there on a large scale, but after hold- ing the property five years A. S. Kil- mer sold his one-half interest to his brother for $9,000. In August, 1900. J. M.Kilmer sold the island for $11,000 to MIrs. Elizabeth Ransom Goodrich, of Brooklyn, who expended a consider- able amount in improving the build-
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ing and the premises and established her summer home there.
the steamboat business was so prosperous that the "Owego" was found too small for the purposes in- tended and it was decided to sell her and build a larger boat. She was ac- cordingly sold in the summer of 1875 to J. B. Shiffer and George Smith, of Pittston, Pa., who purchased her to do a passenger and freight business. The boat was to be delivered in the fall. She left Owego Oct. 18 on her trip down the river, making the trip of 130 miles to Pittston in ten and three- fourths hours. At Pittston the boat was cut in two and enlarged by the ad- dition of 25 feet in her midships. The paddle-wheels were also enlarged. The name of the boat was changed to "Pittston."
The same month the model of a new boat was made at Owego. The boat was 120 feet long in the keel, with 20 feet beam, 6 feet in the hold, with 16- foot wheels and five-foot buckets. She drew 13 inches of water without her machinery. The ladies' cabin, 33 by 24 feet, was at the stern, and the men's cabin, 24 feet square, was be- tween the ladies cabin and the engine room. In front of the engine house was a smoking room, 10 feet long. In front of this was an open deck at the bow of the boat. The deck above was 124 feet long and 33 feet wide. The boat when completed, with her ma- chinery, cost between $8.000 and $9,000.
The boat was built in the fall and winter of 1875-6 by B. W. Springstead. a ship carpenter and father of the builder of the "Owego." It was built on the same spot where the "Owego"
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was constructed, in the open air, with the stern toward the river, and when launched went into the water stern foremost. The engine of 150-horse power was made at the Bristol iron works at Owego and the boiler at the manufactory of Shapley & Wells at Binghamton. The boiler was 15 feet long, with 147 flutes.
In testing the boiler at the works in Binghamton a serious accident hap- pened. It had been placed in the street. When the guage indicated a pressure of 120 pounds of steam, a boy was sent into the building to procure some additional weights to place on the safety valve. Suddenly the boiler exploded, killing the foreman and a boy, who was standing near by, and fa- tally injuring another man. Ten other persons were injured. A suit was sub- sequently brought in the supreme court by the family of the boy against Shapley & Wells for $5,000 damages, and the jury gave a verdict for $575.
The new steamboat, which had been named "Lyman Truman," was launched by John Combes, of Geneva, March 9. At 10:30 a. m. the fire alarm at the court house was struck, so that the people who might wish to see the launching could do so. The bank of the river and the bridge were soon filled with people, and Adams's cornet band on the bridge played as the boat slid from the stocks into the water. She was towed up to her dock, a little above Paige street. This dock had been lengthened to seventy feet.
A new boiler was made by Shapley & Wells and was placed in the boat May 15. Her trial trip took place May 22. when she ran up to and around Big island in 55 minutes, making all the
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landings. Geo. Truman, Jr., was cap- tain of the boat and George A. King superintendent and general manager.
The centennial celebration of the fourth of July was held that year in the grove on Big island. Col. Archie E. Baxter, of Bath, delivered the ora- tion, Capt. Eugene B. Gere read the declaration of independence, and Dr. John B. Benton read an original poem. The boat made daily trips to the island during the summer and fall.
In November a large truss 60 feet in length was constructed for the pur- pose of holding the boat at the centre in its proper position, as she drew nine inches more of water than she should have drawn. In the winter she was tied up in the Little Nanticoke creek.
While the "Lyman Truman" was a great success as a pleasure boat through the seasons of 1876 to 1880, she was not financially profitable. owing to her large size, and was an elephant on the hands of her owners. In October, 1880, she was sold, to- gether with the steamboat company's interest in a small steamboat called the "Clara," which had been pur- chased some time before of Charles Kellogg, of Athens, Pa. The sale was made on a judgment for $1,500 in favor of the superintendent, Mr. King. The property was sold for $1,150 to Dr. James W_son, who also held a judgment of about $1,500 against the company. The Hiawatha house, which with its furniture and fixtures was inventoried at $3,000, was also sold to Dr. Wilson.
The new owners of the "Lyman Truman" reorganized in January, 1881. under the name of "The Owego Nava-
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gation Company," with a board of di- rectors composed of Geo. A. King, Dr. James Wilson, Geo. W. Sweet, John J. Van Kleeck, and Frank M. Baker.
In the following April the steam- boat, which had cost $8,500, was sold to the Plymouth steam navigation company of Pittston, Pa., for $6,000. The name of the boat was changed to "Susquehanna" and she was run as a passenger boat between Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke dam. In the morning of .July 2, 1883, her boilers exploded while she was at her dock at Wilkes- Barre and she was torn to pieces. The fireman was fatally injured and other persons were badly hurt.
The capital stock of the steamboat company was $10.000. C. M. Haywood was president in 1893-4. Dr. James Wilson was president from 1875 to 1884, and W. E. Dorwin from 1884 to 1887. inclusive. Geo. A. King was su- perintendent and Frank M. Baker gen- Eral passenger agent during the ex- istence of all the boats.
The "Owego" had been found to be too small for the purposes intended and the "Lyman Truman" was larger than was needed, so in the fall of ISS1 it was decided by the steamboat man- agers to build another boat, to be in size between the two boats and to carry two or three hundred passen- gers. A new company was formed under the name of the Owego Steam Navagation Company. The new com- pany was not incorporated until March, 1884. The directors were George A. King, Jefferson C. Dwelle, Dr. W. L. Aver, Geo. E. Rich, Frank M. Baker, Wm. E. Dorwin, Dr. C. R. Heaton, and John G. Sears. Mr. Dorwin was chosen president and
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Clarence A. Thompson secretary and treasurer.
The hull of the new steamboat was built at Ithaca and was put together on the bank of the river under the pine trees east of this village, where River avenue runs nearest to the river. The builder was B. F. Tabor, of Ithaca, a boat builder. She was a side-wheeler, 105 feet long and 16 feet wide. She drew about fifteen inches of water. The motive power were two sixty-horse power engines, which with her boilers were made at Binghamton. Her cost was about $5,250. The steamboat company built a waiting room and ticket office 30 feet square on the south side of Front street on Mrs. C. S. Carmichael's land, where the second house above Church street now stands, with a dock in the rear at the river, which was reached by a long platform and steps.
The new boat was named "Marsh- land," a name which had been some time previously given by Gen. B. F. Tracy to his stock farm, near Apala- chin. The boat was launched June 16, 1884, sliding into the water sidewise. In order that the boat might come down the river as far as her dock in low water, a dam was built by the steamboat company at a cost of $600 above Church street and across the river. It was built by Jasper L. Pur- ple, who drove piles and fastened planks thereto. This raised the water about one foot. It was not a perma- nent dam, and was knocked out and broken up by the ice the next spring.
The steamboat proved to be too small for the purpose intended, and in November a contract was made with John Combs, of Auburn, to cut her in
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two and lengthen her thirty feet, so that she would be large enough to carry 800 passengers. The work was done at the foot of Ross street and was completed in February, 1885.
In August, 1890, the "Marshland" was sold for $800 to W. E. Renshaw, of Plymouth, Pa., the man who pur- chaseu the "Lyman Truman." The purchasers expended about $300 in calking and refitting the boat, but did not pay the amount due on the pur- chase, leaving her in the hands of the old owners.
The "Glenmary," a larger steamboat than the "Marshland," was built in 1884 by Alonzo W. Springstead, of Geneva, N. Y., on the ground at the foot of Ross street where the houses of Grant M. West and Frank S. Tru- man now stand. She was 90 feet long and 16 feet wide. The paddle buckets were two small and were en- larged in the spring of 1885. The boat could carry 800 passengers. The en- gine and boiler were made in Bing- hamton. She proved to be the fastest of all the steamboats that had been built here.
In April, 1887, the "Glenmary" was sold at sheriff's sale to George W. Bar- ton for $4,525 on an execution in favor of the Owego national bank for $4,350. In June, 1889, she was again sold for $6,000 to W. E. Renshaw, of Plymouth, Pa., who intended to run her as a pas- senger boat between that place and Wilkes-Barre every thirty minutes. The boat was taken to Wilkes-Barre with about sixty passengers on board, the greater portion of whom left the boat at Towanda. When the boat reached Plymouth the deal fell through. As the water fell in the river
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at this time the boat was not brought back to Owego until the next year. In June, 1893, she was again sold to a New York company, and was to have been run from Key West, Fla., to the fibre fields, a distance of 140 miles along the coast. This deal also fell through. The boat remained here un- til October, 1894. She was anchored below the bridge, and one night she broke loose from her fastenings and went down the river, going ashore be- low the dam, near the mouth of the Owego creek. She was afterward broken up and the lumber of which she was composed was carted away.
In the summer of 1886 another dam was built across the river, a few yards above the mouth of the Owego creek, at a cost of $4,000. The amount was raised by subscription. The promo- ters were members of the steamboat company. The D., L. & W. railroad company subscribed $500 and the vil- lage trustees appropriated $300. The dam was built by contract by A. F. Chapman, of Watkins, under the su- pervision of Stephen W. Leach. It was constructed by driving three rows of piles across the river, which were covered by an apron of planks above and below, bridge shape, and caulked with brush and stone. The dam raised the water four feet at the dam and two and one-half feet at Church street. One night, about a year after the dam was built a hard cider party of men. with axes and crowbars, tore a hole in the dam one night, allowing the water to escape, and the dam was never re- paired. All of it has disappeared, hav- ing been torn out and washed away by successive floods.
The reason for selling the "Glen-
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mary" was that after the destruction of the dam the water was so low that she could not be run to any advantage or profit. This was the last steamboat of any size built here for business pur- poses. There were other boats of some pretensions-the "Dora," owned by C.A. Thompson; the "Welles," built by E. A. Saxton; the "Success," owned by Seth L. King; a catamaran built by W. H. Shaw and Richard S. Stout; the "Augusta," owned by W. C. Ren- wick. and the "Dewey." another cata- maran, owned by Chas. F. Hill ..
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Post-Riders Who Ride Horseback through the Country to Deliver Mails, Are Succeeded by the Early Stages-Stephen B. Leonard Estab- lishes the First Stage Route from Owego to Bath-Lines Are Extend- ed throughout the State and In- crease in Number Until Stage Coaching Is Killed by the Comple- tion of the New York and Erie Rail- road.
In the early days of this county's settlement, the mails were delivered by post riders, who rode on horseback through the woods, leaving the mails at the small settlements and log cabins, as they passed throught the country.
The Owego Gazette in those days was the only paper published in Southern New York, and as its sub- scribers were scattered about the un- settled country, long distances apart, the only method of delivering their papers to them was by men on horse- back.
When Stephen B. Leonard pur- chased the Gazette office, in 1813, he at first delivered his papers himself, after they were published, riding over his route on horseback. He afterward secured several mail routes, for which a certain price a year was paid by the government, and hired post-riders. By this means he secured a free delivery of his papers with the mails. His routes were to Binghamton, Norwich. Penn Yan, and other points. Other routes were afterward awarded to other persons. As a curiosity a copy of a post-rider's advertisement of a later period, which was printed in the
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Gazette of December 6, 1824, is here given:
POST-RIDER'S NOTICE.
RRIN VERY, Post-Rider, informs his pat- 0 rons in Newark. Berkshire, Caroline, and ('andor, that his termi for carrying the mail ex- pires on the 1st of January next-All persons indebted to him for papers are therefore hereby notified, that their respective accounts must be settled by that time Grain will be received if delivered according to contract, otherwise the money will be expected .- Not. 30.
As soon as possible wagon roads were broken through the forests, gen- erally along the Indian trails, and soon the primitive stage made its ap- pearance.
The first regular stage to visit Owe- go came from Newburgh. The owner's name was Stanton, and he lived at Mount Pleasant. His stage was a three-horse lumber wagon, with hick- ory poles bent over to form a top, and covered with canvas. By this stage the mails from the east were carried once in each week, reaching Owego every Saturday afternoon.
In 1811 Conrad Teter, of Wyoming. Pa., began carrying the mail from Wyoming to Tioga Point (Athens), Pa., with a one-horse wagon, succeed- ing a mail carrier who had been de- livering the mails with a small mail bag on horseback. Mr. Teter soon purchased a covered wagon and used two horses. He for a few years car- ried the mails between Wilkes-Barre and Painted Post, N. Y., making the round trip once a week. After a time he ran a covered Jersey carriage, drawn by four horses, between Wilkes-Barre and Athens.
In 1814 he came to Owego and suc- ceeded Mr. Stanton as proprietor of the Newburgh route. He drove the stage himself, making weekly trips from Owego to Newburgh. From
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Newburgh passengers went by water to New York. This stage went over the ronte afterward taken by the New- burgh and Geneva stage line. Mr. Teter had a partner named Hunting- ton.
Teter's brother-in-law, Miller Hor- ton, of Wilkes-Barre, was at this time carrying the mail for Teter between Wilkes-Barre and Athens. He came to Owego and became Teter's partner, the partnership with Huntington hav- ing been dissolved.
February 14, 1816, an act was passed by the legislature of this state, which gave Teter and Oliver Phelps, of Lud- lowville, the sole rigut for six years to run stage coaches for passengers be- tween Newburgh and Monticello, on the road leading through Montgomery and Chenango Point (Binghamton) on the mail route, and between Chenango Point and Geneva on the road running through Owego, Ithaca, Trumansburg. and Ovid, and between Ithaca, and Auburn on the main mail route, through Ludlowville. The act pro- vided that no other persons could run stages over this route under a penalty of $500, and prescribed that trips should be made in three days, twice each week, and oftener if the public good should require, the fare not to exceed seven cents a mile.
In 1818, a new company was formed. with Oliver Phelps at its head, and Ithaca was made the western termina- tion of the route instead of Owego. A better line of stages was put on the route, making tri-weekly trips.
In 1819 Dr. Tracy Robinson and Major Augustus Morgan, of Bingham- ton, became proprietors of the route. In 1822 the same company, but with
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additional proprietors, established a daily line on the route, making Geneva the western terminus.
Stephen B. Leonard established the first stage route from Owego to Bath, in 1816. It required two days to make the trip, the passengers staying over night at Elmira. This was considered a great undertaking in those days, and Mr. Leonard was highly complimented by the newspapers for his enterprise. The following is a copy of Mr. Leon- ard's advertisement, which was pub- lished in the Gazette, and which may be read with some interest at the present day :
Owego & Bath Mail Stage. ( CUT OF STAGE AND HORSES. TWICE A WEEK. HIS line runs regularly twice a week, between T the villages of Owego and Bath .- Days of starting and arrival as follows :- Leave Owero on Mondays and Fridays, at 6 a. m., and break- fasting at Athens, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. m. Leave Elmira on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4 a. m., and breakfasting at Painted Post, arrive at Bath at 6 p. m.
R. turning .- Leave Bath on Mondays and Fri- days. at 4 a. m .. and breakfasting at Painted Post, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. m .- Leave Elmira on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4 a. m., and breakfasting at Athens. arrive at Owego at 6 p. m.
This line of stages intersects the Newburgh and Buffalo line at Owego-as also the Philadelphia- the Wilkes.Barre line, at Tioga Point-and the Geneva line at Bath,-at which latter place it also intersects a line leading directly to Angelica situate about 30 miles from Olean, one of the places of embarkation on the Allegany river, and about 1> miles from Oil Creek, the nearest place of embarkation. and which empties into the Al- legany at Olean; at which place boats of any size are always kept realy for travellers, for the purpose of descending the Ohio river.
Persons travelling from New York, or from any of the Eastern States, to the S. W. States. will find this the shortest, cheapest, and most expeditions route. The distance from New York, via Owego. Painted Post and Bath, to Angelica, is 316 miles, which is performed in about 5 days.
Good teams and careful drivers will be kept on the route, and no pains spared to accommo- date passengers. The Stage houses are good. S. B. LEONARD.
March 30, 1319.
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Di For seats in the above line, apply at E. S. Marsh's or Amos Martin's in Owego-at Salt. marsh's, Athens-at Daris's, Elmira-and at Barnard's, Bath.
At a later period, Mr. Leonard had two four-horse coaches running be- tween Owego and Montrose. In De- cember, 1823, he sold his lines to a stage company, which was then or- ganized, and of which he became one of the proprietors. The route was ex- tended to New York city, and became a strong opposition to the Newburgh and Geneva line. This company was composed of Joseph I. Roy, John Bur- nett, Zephania Luce, Abraham Bray, Gould Phinney, Silas Heminway, Stephen B. Leonard, Jacob Willsey, Augustus Morgan, Isaac Post, Ithimer Mott, Miller Horton, A. P. Childs, and others.
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