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 30
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
The corner was afterward occupied as a grocery store by James Cameron, Charles T. Bell, and others. It was burned Oct. 16, 1870, in a fire which burned all the solid row of wooden stores and shops extending from the old jail building in Main street, now the telephone central office, to the L. D. Durphy building in Lake street. At the time of the fire the corner was oc- cupied as a hardware store by Houk. Truesdell & Co.
The Croton House.
On the west side of Lake street, on the ground now occupied by the Hill and Parker brick block, stood the dwelling house of deacon Lorenzo Reeves, one of Owego's early mer- chants. Col. Benoni B. Curry, who married deacon Reeves's widow, con- verted the building into a temperance hotel in 1848 and called it the Croton house. It was painted white, stood a little back of the street, and had a long porch in front, as was common to all
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the taverns of that time. It was burned in the great fire of September, 1849, the year after it was built.
When Col. Curry reconstructed the building in 1848 he gave a mortgage on the property to Abner J. Ely, of New York city. As Col. Curry lost all his property in the fire, he was unable to pay the mortgage, which was fore- closed and Mr. Ely purchased the lot. In 1862 Mr. Ely sold it to Martin Ash- ley, who built a block of three brick stores on it, with a large hall on the second floor, which he called Ashley hall. In 1867 Mr. Ashley sold the prop- erty to Dr. James Wilson, who con- verted the hall into a theatre. The building was burned April 24, 1868, and immediately rebuilt. The theatre part was partially burned Nov. 9, 1899, and the whole block was entirely burned in the morning of Feb. 28, 1904. Soon afterward judge Charles E. Parker and F. C. Hill purchased the site and erected the brick block which now stands thereon.
The Mansion House.
In 1813 Judge John R. Drake built a large farm house on the west side of the old Ithaca and Owego turnpike, now North avenue. The house was at that time far out of the settlement, now called Owego, which was not in- corporated as a villige until fourteen years later. It was a large two-story building, painted white, and stood among the trees about fifty feet back from the highway and a few rods north of West avenue. It was occupied by judge Drake as a residence until 1832, when he removed down into the vil- lage, and the building was converted into a tavern. Its first landlord was Seth Mosher.
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A few years previous to this time Mr. Mosher and Jacon Hand, who were sawyers, had come to Owego from Ot- sego county, having been hired by judge Drake to work in his sawmill on the south side of the Susquehanna river. Mosher had worked there four or five years when he opened the tav- ern. He did a successful business, and was able, in 1839, to purchase the old tavern which occupied the ground at the Lake and Main street corner on which now stands the Owego hotel.
In June, 1849, the Mansion house, which had been entirely refitted, was reopened as a public house by Isaac B. Gere, judge Drake's son-in-law, who kent it until March, 1856. He then discontinued hotel keeping, but con- tinued to occupy it as a private resi- dence. Mr. Gere died at Owego in February, 1860. The house was owned by Wheeler H. Bristol and unoccupied at the time it was burned in the night of April 13, 1869.
Legg's Temperance Hotel
The construction of the New York and Erie railroad to Owego, in 1849, gave an impetus to hotel building and several public houses were opened. Some of them were built for hotel pur- poses, while others were dwelling houses enlarged and converted into hotels. Among them were Legg's tem- perance hotel, the Railroad house, the Western hotel, the Hudson house, and the Union house.
In 1850 a public house was built on the west side of Lake street where the block now occupied by Cuneo & Bo- nugli and A. W. Bunzey stands. It was a wooden building and was opened by Frank Legg, of Speedsville, as a temperance hotel. It did not
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prove to be a profitable investment and was soon converted into stores, one of which was was for several years occupied by Charles S. Car- michael as a jewelry store. The build- ing was burned in the night of April 14, 1872, and Mr. Carmichael erected the present brick block in its place. The Railroad House.
The railroad house, afterward known as the United States hotel, is still standing. a deserted building, at the northwest corner of North avenue and Delphine street. It was built by Ezra S. Clark, a carpenter, who came to Owego in December, 1844, from Brook- lyn and opened a grocery store on the west side of North avenue, opposite the Tioga house. In 1848 he built the hotel,of which he was the landlord six- teen years. In 1865 to 1869 he was proprietor of the Ahwaga house. In IS69 he removed to Brooklyn, where he died Aug. 28. 1892, aged 81 years.
After Mr. Clark sold the hotel it be- came the property of various persons in succession. It was kept at various times by Sidney Calkins, who changed its name to United States hotel: by Eli English, Joseph B. Day, Marvin Day. Mrs. W. A. Melick, P. W. Trimmer, R. B. Sigler, Capt. G. W. Lason. Henry Wavel, C. D. Watkins, D. C. Grahamı. Brazilla Grover, Henry Tappan, James B. Davison. and others. John Hale kept the hotel for a short time, when it was known as Hale's hotel.
The Western Hotel.
The two-story and basement build- ing. which still stands at the south- west corner of North avenue and Fox street, was built by Mrs. Harriet G. Tinkham in 1851 and called the West-
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ern hotel. It was kept by her son-in- law, E. G. Gibson. So many other hotels had been opened in that part of the village that it proved unprofitable and after a few years it was closed as a public house and occupied by Mrs. Tinkham as her residence during the rest of her life. .
The Hudson House.
The Hudson house stood opposite the Presbyterian church on the west side of North avenue, at what is now the Temple street corner. The land was a part of the estate of Harmon Pumpelly, of Albany.
Col. Jacob Edwards, who had come from somewhere on the Hudson river to these parts, worked with some teams for one of the contractors in building the New York and Erie rail- road to Owego. In June, 1851, Col. Edwards took the land on a contract and built a hotel thereon. It was a three-story wooden building with a long porch in front. The back part was above the old Dodd pond and was supported by long timber posts extend- ing down into the water. It was kept by Ephraim B. Garland the first year or two and afterward by Col. Edwards, Wm. T. Johnson, Samuel Garland, and John Gardiner. It was always con- sidered a disreputable place, and one of its landlords was arrested for coun- terfeiting, while keeping the hotel.
Soon after the hotel was built it was purchased by Hiram N. Moore, of Wa- verly, who in July, 1861, gave Col. Ed- wards a ten years' lease of it. When Wheeler H. Bristol built the iron works in Temple street the old hotel had been abandoned as a public house two or three years. The first floor was
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used for a time as a blacksmith shop and storeroom in connection with the iron works. It was feared that in its dismantled and deserted condition some incendiary might be tempted to set it on fire, so it was torn down in May, 1875.
The Union House.
The Union house stood on the west side of North avenue, midway between Fox street and the Erie railroad and a little north of John R. street. It was built in 1851 and was kept several years by William Barnes. Later it was kept by Vorhees Cafferty and William G. Thompson, and afterward by Charles Harris, who changed the name to Harris house. It was burned Dec. 29, 1875, while vacant and undergoing repairs preparatory to reopening.
Some Account of the First Brass Band Organized at Owego by James Conk- lin and of Its Successor, Led by Wiliam H. Platt, together with the Bands Led by Lewis W. Truesdell, Lemuel W. Ferris, David Wallis Reeves, Prof. Joseph Raff, Frede- rick E. Wildman, and Others.
The first musical organization in Owego that was dignified by the name of a band, came into existence about the year 1834. It was organized by James Conklin, a wagon maker, who lived in a little yellow house, which stood on the southwest corner of Main and Church streets.
The band numbered about eight persons. Nicholas Kittle was the leader and played the clarionet. He lived west of the Owego creek oppo- site the "deep well" in the town of Tioga. The stream called Kittle creek
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takes its name from him. His son, Nicholas B. Kittle, removed from this vicinity and acquired some distinction as a portrait painter. He considered the name Kittle rather commonplace, and consequently gave it an aristo- cratic twist by spelling it "Kittell." He removed to Hamilton, N. Y., and thence to New York city, where he died in 1894.
David A. Allen, generally known as Atwood Allen, played a bassoon-a black instrument resembling some- what a length of stove pipe, with an open brass mouth. He lived two miles north of the village. He died Dec. 29, 1861. James Conklin played a piccolo flute. Gen. Isaac B. Ogden and Jared Huntington were also members.
The members of the band were ac- customed to meet at the houses of the different members each week for prac- tice. They played for dances, celebra- tions, etc.
This band lasted about ten years, when a new set of about a dozen younger men, among whom was Wil- liam H. Platt joined the organization and the old ones gradually dropped out. The newly organized band did not retain any of the old instruments ex- cept a flute and a clarionet. A man named Sykes instructed and led the band, and later Mr. Platt was the leader. Five or six years afterward the instruments were sold to Charles and William Conklin. To these they added other instruments, which they bought at Union.
There were three Conklin brothers in the band, sons of James Conklin. William Conklin played a trombone, Charles Conklin an E flat bugle, and
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A. Putnam Conklin a cornopean. The three brothers constituted the band. The last playing done by them was about the year 1848, when they left Owego on a tour, giving concerts in vocal and instrumental music. Charles Conklin was taken ill at Geneva and was brought home, dying soon after- ward. The party gave concerts about two months. The receipts paid their expenses, but they made no money. Wm. S. Huntington took Charles Conklin's place in the band, but as A. P. Conklin could not stand the strain of blowing the E flat bugle, the organ- ization was soon broken up.
Owego succeeded in getting along without a band until 1851, when an- other one was organized. The mem- bers were accustomed to meet for practice at the house of Julius Pearl, a milkman, which house still stands on the bank of the river in the eastern part of this village and was known for many years as the Hollenback farm house. Thomas J. Canham, a noted circus band leader of his day, who lived at Binghamton, was instructor.
Lewis W. Truesdell, who was one of the two first men to enlist in the fed- eral army at Owego in the civil war and in whose honor L. W. Truesdell post, G. A. R., is named, was a mem- ber of the band and soon became suffi- ciently proficient to lead it. He played a cornet and Mr. Pearl a tuba. The band was in a weak condition for want of members until 1853, when Lemuel W. Ferris came here from Fort Ed- word, N. Y., and joined it. Other ac- cessions were the Tennys (a father and two sons), Ralph Hibbard, and Wil- liam H. Camp.
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Another band was organized in 1855 by some younger men of from four- teen years old upwards, among whom were Theo. S. Mersereau, William H. Ellis, Cicero B. Curtis, M. E. Hollister, Wm. H. S. Bean, Gilbert T. Forsyth, and James H. Johnson. A musician named Skinner was hired as teacher and the band met for practice at the old wooden school building in Temple street. This band was soon afterward consolidated with the Ferris band and Mr. Ferris was the leader.
Later leaders of the band, which had been known as the "Owego Brass Band," the "Owego Cornet Band," and "Ferris's Brass Band," were J. W. Lyons, Nathaniel D. Jenks, Isaiah Irwin, and David Wallis Reeves. When Mr. Reeves left Owego in 1862, Joseph C. Raff became leader of the band and its name was changed to "Ahwaga Silver Cornet Band." In 1869 Frede- rick E. Wildman was leader, and later Horace B. Adams.
In April, 1870, members of Wave hose company, No. 2, organized an- other band with Prof. Raff as leader.
There were two bands until the spring of 1873 when they were con- solidated under the name of "Ahwaga Silver Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff as leader and Mr. Adams as business manager. Dissensions soon followed. The band was disbanded and two sepa- rate bands were soon reorganized, the "Ahwaga Silver Cornet Band" re- taining its old name and the new one assuming the name of "Prof. Raff's Band." The two were finally consoli- dated in 1878 under the name of "Owe- go Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff as musical director and Mr. Adams as assistant musical director. Afterward
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Mr. Adams became leader of the band and it was subsequently known as "Adams's Cornet Band" during the rest of its existence.
Prof. Raff was a native of Switzer- land. a good violinist, but a better pianist. He was a brother of the emi- nent musical composer, Joachim Raff. He came to Owego in 185S. He re- moved to Binghamton in 1SSS and died there July 13, 1893, aged 63 years.
David Wallis Reeves, the youngest son of deacon Lorenzo Reeves, an early merchant of Owego, was born in 183S. He received his musical educa- tion in Binghamton, when at the age of 15 years he was appenticed to Thomas J. Canham, a celebrated band leader of his day. At the age of 19 he was the leader of a circus band in the summer and in the winter played with Dodworth's orchestra in New York city. He was a few years a member of Dodworth's band. In February. 1866, he became leader of the cele- brated American band of Providence,. R. I., and was leader of that band at the time of his death in March, 1900.
A Record of the Principal Fires That Have Burned Valuable Property at Owego from the Burning of the In- dian Village by Gen. Sullivan's Army in 1779, to the Present Day.
Within the last sixty years the stores and houses in the entire business por- tions of Front, Lake, and Main streets have been burned and replaced by larger and much better buildings. As has always been the case in the his- tory of villages, its improvement has followed disastrous fires.
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The first fire at Owego of which there is any record was the burning of the Indian village by a detachment of Gen. Sullivan's army in 1779.
The next fire of any account burned Maj. Horatio Ross's store, which stood on the bank of the river on the south side of Front street, a little west of Lake street. It was a large red build- ing, two stories high in front and three stories high in the rear. The fire broke out at about daylight in the winter of 1826-7, and as at that time there were no means of extinguishing fires except with pails of water in the hands of neighbors, the building was entirely burned. At the time of the fire the upper floor was occupied by an old man named Perry and his fam- ily, but the store below was unoccu- pied. So rapid was the progress of the flames that the occupants had barely time to escape from the burn- ing building in their night clothes. Truman & Parmenter's store stood a little east of the Ross store and was saved by holes being chopped through the side and water thrown from the interior of the building upon the flames. At the present day a fire of this kind is considered of little ac- count, and this one is notable only as being the first one that had happened in the business portion of the village.
The old Bates tavern, which stood at the northwest corner of Front and Church streets, was the first fire of any note. It was the first tavern built at Owego and was burned in March, 1829, just before supper time.
One of the early fires in Owego burned the old wood-colored school- house, which stood a little west of
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where the rectory of St. Paul's Epis- copal church now stands on the south side of Main street. In the early his- tory of the village all public meetings were held here. The second story was occupied by the masonic, fraternity as a lodge room. The fire broke out at noon on Feb. 7, 1835, while school was in session, and burned it to the ground. Erastus Evans was teacher of the school at the time. The east end of the M. E. church, which stood at the southeast corner of Main and Academy streets, was considerably scorched and the church would have been burned if it had not been for the old fire engine, which was manufac- tured by Ephraim Leach and was the only protection from fire Owego then had. This was the first fire at which the engine was worked and the water was obtained from private cisterns, there being at that time not a single public cistern. No attempt was made to save the school-house.
The Owego steam furnace and ma- chine shop of H. W. Camp & Co. was burned May 30, 1836. It stood at the southeast corner of the lane known as Parker's lane and Main street, opposite where St. Paul's church now stands.
A fire, which was followed by the sensational suicide of the incendiary, burned the store of John Bassett. which stood on the south side of Front street, a little above the bridge. This fire was in the night of February 13, 1839. Bassett owed $6,000 for his goods, which were insured for $5,000. He had sold about $3,000 worth, and. in order to defraud an insurance com- pany, concealed a quantity of goods in his room and set the store on fire. He
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was suspected of having set the fire and a watch was set on his move- ments. One evening, not long after- ward, a party of citizens went to his house, which was on the opposite side of the street, to investigate, and as they entered Bassett went out into the wood house, where he cut his throat with a razor, while the house was be- ing searched for stolen goods.
The first really destructive fire at Owego broke out early in the morning of August 5, 1841, and burned Gen. Isaac B. Ogden's cabinet shop, which was on the north side of Main street, opposite where the new Owego hotel now stands. The fire burned all the property to the corner of Ithaca street (now North avenue). Gen. Ogden's dwelling house,James Conklin's wagon and carriage shop, and Gad Worthing- ton's residence were burned. The Ti- oga County house on the east side of North avenue and the barn connected therewith were on fire, but were saved by the exertions of the firemen. The cabinet shop was rebuilt and again burned in 1854.
The next large fire broke out at mid- night on April 27, 1846, burning the Mosher tavern, which stood on the corner of Main and Lake streets. where the new Owego hotel now stands. The tavern barn, Wm. Dun- can's house and shop, and a house and barn occupied by George Riley were also burned.
On this occasion the fire department did excellent service. In acknowledg. ment of their appreciation of the vigi- lance and exertions of the fire- men at this fire, the citizens of Owego gave a dinner to Neptune.
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Rescue, Croton, and Deluge fire companies at the old Owego hotel on the 6th of the following May. At eleven o'clock in the morning a pro- cession of firemen was formed in front of the hotel, under the direction of Ezra S. Sweet, Esq., marshal of the day, and headed by Pease's martial band. They marched to the Congre- gational (now Presbyterian) church in North avenue, where they were ad- dressed on the part of the citizens by I. N. Jerome, principal of the Owego academy. John J. Taylor, chief engi- neer of the fire department during the two years previous, responded in behalf of the firemen. After the ex- ercises, the firemen marched back to the hotel, where a dinner was served by Lewis Manning & Son, the proprie- tors, followed by cold water toasts without limit. In the evening the firemen had a torchlight procession through the principal streets.
The most destructive conflagration in the history of Owego, long known as "the great fire," broke out at about three o'clock in the morning of Sep- tember 27, 1849, in the hall of the Sons of Temperance, over the store of James & William A. Ely, on the south side of Front street, and burned the entire business portion of the village. Only three stores were left standing, and one hundred and four buildings, exclusive of barns, were burned, en- tailing a loss of about $300,000. All of the buildings on both sides of Front street, from Church street to the park, were burned, and all on Lake street. to the Central House on one side and Jared Huntington's residence on the other. The bridge across the river was also partly burned.
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When first discovered the fire might have been easily extinguished. One of the engines was throwing water upon the flames. The chief engineer insisted upon changing engines, in spite of the remonstrances of others. The position of the engines was changed and during this operation the flames made such progress that they could not be checked.
The next fire worthy of any mention was the one that burned the fire en- gine house in Main street. This was a two-story wooden building, which was built in 1844 on the east side of Court street on the ground now occupied by the county jail, and which was then between the old court house and the county clerk's office. This building was moved in the spring of 1851 to the north side of Main street, where the brick engine house now stands, and was burned in the night of January 6, 1853, together with Susquehanna en- gine and Wave hose carriage.
Gen. Ogden's cabinet shop, which had been rebuilt and which was at the time occupied by J. L. Matson, was again burned in the night of February 16, 1854. The fire broke out in John Cafferty's livery stable in the rear. Everything from the present residence of Dr. D. S. Anderson to North avenue was burned, including John Cafferty's dwelling house, H. J. Hodge's oyster saloon, and D. Corsaw's dwelling house, all of which were in Gen. Ogden's block, and Parmenter's meat market, H. W. Cornell s eating saloon. H. W. Billings's dwelling house and oyster saloon, and Lincoln & Steb- bins's grocery.
In the night of October 20, 1856, a fre burned Clark, Coyle & Perry's
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wagon factory on the west side of North avenue, and the residences of Chas. T. Bell and Mrs. Wood.
In the night of the following May, the Ahwaga house barn in Church street was set on fire, and the black- smith shop of George Riley adjoining was also burned. The flames ex- tended to Lake street, burning the livery stable and residence of Charles Beers, which stood where the post office is now, and Adam C. Gould's blacksmith shop north of them.
Bliss's sash factory and steam mill, situated in Front street, just east of the Erie railway, was burned at about noon on October 24, 1857, and J. F. Howes's planing mill in Main street, above the Erie railway, was also burned in the morning of Dec. 30 of the following year. The tannery of Samuel Archibald, on the south side of the river, was burned in the morning of January 31, 1860.
An exciting fire was that of the morning of March 21, 1860, which burned out the Empire block of Stone & Co., Eldridge & Smith's hat and boot store, and Link & Michael's cloth- ing store on the south side of Front street, east of Lake street.
Simon Springsteen's foundry and machine shop, which stood on what is now the northwest corner of McMas- ter and Delphine streets, was burned in the evening of June 13, 1860, and on the 16th of the following December Arba Campbell's tannery in Canawana was burned.
The next large fire was June 22, 1866, and burned Crane & Sweet's planing mill in Temple street.
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A very destructive fire in the night of October 5,1867, burned all the build- ings on the south side of Front street from Dr. S. W. Thompson's present residence up to the brick store of Geo. WV. Hollenback, the sixth store above the bridge, now occupied by Millrea Brothers, including Camp's foundry, one span of the wooden bridge, and several dwelling houses. The fire also burned all the buildings from Park street to Parker's lane, including Robert Cameron's brick block at the north- west corner of Front and Park streets, the Exchange hotel, and George Sidney Camp's house. John J. Taylor's brick block at the corner of Front and Court streets was also burned.
Wilson hall on the west side of Lake street, with the stores beneath it, and L. N. Chamberlain's brick block ad- joining at the south, and George W. Patrick's wooden block and L. M. Wicks's wooden building at the north, were burned in the night of April 24, 1868.
The old Baptist church, which had been moved a few years previous from the southeast corner of Main and Church streets to the north side of Main street, a little east of Lake street, was burned in the night of De- cember 23, 1868, and the Erie railway bridge shop in the night of June 5, 1869.
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