USA > New York > Steuben County > Pioneer history & atlas of Steuben County, N.Y. : compiled from historical, statistical & official records > Part 5
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now to be undertaken the development and sale of this vast estate.
Captain Williamson did not enter half- heartedly into any of his many enterprises. He was ever mindful of the rights and interests of his principals, and also kept faith with his promises to the settlers.
The proprietors of the Pulteney estate in- dulged in visions of boundless wealth to result from the settlement of their lands. They sup- posed that the natural avenue to market from the rich "Genesee Country" was down the Sus- quehanna, and that a city might be founded upon some of the headwaters of that stream which would command the entire trade of the West. The Pulteney associates, being foreigners and non-residents, were never in a position to fully appreciate the situation of affairs in their terri- tory in New York, nor the fact that their agent was engaged in an effort to settle quite undesir- able land in competition with some of the most fertile and beautiful tracts for which western New York is and ever has been noted. To ac- complish this it became necessary for the agent to make outlays in building a principal thorough- fare of travel from far across the Pennsylvania border into the very center of the region he sought to dispose of at best advantage. And it became necessary, too, to found a new village in the re- gion, and to this end the pioneers were sent up the Conhocton and pitched their camps on the site of the village of Bath. Captain Williamson had previously made headquarters at Northum- berland, from which point he did effective work, but the necessities of the occasion and the situa- tion of the lands in New York demanded a change, hence his action in founding the settle- ment which soon afterward became the shire town of one of the largest and most important inland counties of this great state.
"The first comers," were not romancers, but stern workers who braced themselves for the toils and privations before them. Thomas Reese, Jr., the surveyor, with a corps of assistants, be- gan at once to plot the village, locate the streets and squares, and number the lots. Cameron and his helpers cleared the site for Bath.
Bath was named for Lady Bath, only child and heiress of Sir William Pulteney of London.
36
This is questioned by some historians. Some write that the village was named Bath on account of its similarity in some respects to those of Bath, England. Lady Bath was succeeded July 15, 1808, by Sir John L. : Johnstone of Scotland, who appointed Robert Troup agent. The Indian name for the location was Tanighnaguanda.
The first settlement was made at Bath vil- lage in 1793 by Charles Williamson. The first settlers were Dugald and Charles Cameron, Thomas Metcalf, Hector Mckenzie, Andrew Smith, George McClure, James McDonald, Henry McElwee, James Reese, Robert Campbell and William Dunn who settled in the town in 1793; William Kersey, John Wilson, George D. Cooper, Daniel Mckenzie and Gustavus and Brown Gillespie came soon after. They were mostly of Scotch and German descent. Charles Williamson Dunn, born in 1795, was the first male child born in the town. The first saw and grist mills were built in 1793, by Charles William- son; and the first inn was kept the same year by John Metcalf.
Bath was formed March 18, 1796. Pulte- ney was taken off in 1808, a part of Howard and Cohocton in 1812, a part of Wheeler in 1820, Urbana in 1822, a part of Avoca in 1843 and a part of Cohocton in 1852; a part of Urbana was annexed April 26, 1839. Bath lays a little north- east of the center of the county. Its surface is broken and hilly. The Conhocton Valley, ex- tending southeast through the center, divides the town into two nearly equal parts. The south half is a hilly upland, and the north half consists of a series of wide valleys broken by several steep and isolated hills. The streams are Con- hocton River and its tributaries, Five Mile and Mud Creeks, from the north, and Campbell and Stocking Creeks from the south. The Crooked Lake Valley extends southwest and northeast and opens into the Conhocton Valley at the village of Bath, 340 feet above the lake. The soil is chiefly a gravelly and clayey loam, with deep alluvium in the valleys.
Bath Village, incorporated April 12, 1816, is situated upon the north bank of the Conhoc- ton River. It commands the trade of a rich agricultural district and has a manufacturing business of considerable importance. In 1855 it
contained the county buildings, six churches, two banks and two newspaper offices. Population in 1855 was 2,012.
The first newspaper was printed at Bath in 1796 by William Kercey and James Eddie. It was the "Bath Gazette & Genesee Advertiser". About six months after the first issue its circu- lation reached 1,000 copies. In 1816 David Rum- sey published the "Farmers' Gazette" in Bath, and Benjamin Smead started the "Steuben & Allegany Patriot".
Every inducement was held out to lure set- tlers; and for several years the markets of Bath proved a mine of wealth to the few who raised more than enough grain for their own use. Williamson erected a theatre within a few years after the first settlement, in anticipation of the future metropolitan character of the place.
In 1796 Colonel Williamson, in order to ad- vertise to the surrounding territory the benefits to be derived from a residence in Steuben County, prepared at considerable expense, a one-mile race course about one-half mile from the village. This brought a good many people to Bath to witness the races and also brought some sportsmen with their horses. Some from as far away as New Jersey. These races passed off brilliantly and were of great value for advertising. The races were held primarily to point attention to the Bath settlement and stimulate the sale of real estate. The race course and theatre brought considerable prominence to the village. The golden visions of civic and metropolitan gran- deur were never fully realized.
The first resident minister was the Rever- end John Niles, who moved to the town in 1807. In 1855 there were nine churches in the town- ship of Bath,-three Presbyterian, two Baptist, two Methodist Episcopal, one Protestant Episco- pal and one Roman Catholic.
The first court of common pleas held in and for Steuben County, convened June 1, 1796. The first court of general session was held in 1796. The first clerk of the county was George C. Cooper, formerly of Rhinebeck on the Hudson River. Making Bath the "County Seat" alone was a sufficient inducement to attract set- tlers, and professional men, merchants, me- chanics and agriculturists alike hastened to the
37
village, hoping to be first in their class and thus become early established in general favor and popularity. The court house was completed 1797. The first town meeting in Bath was held at the inn of John Metcalf, on April 4, 1797.
During the year of 1797, Captain William- son organized a splendid regiment of militia, he being appointed its lieutenant - colonel, from which time he was ever afterward styled "Colonel" Williamson. In 1798 the first bridge across the Conhocton was built at Bath, and in the same year a raft of lumber was safely sent down the river to Baltimore markets. Among the settlers in this year were Henry A. Town- send, Joseph Grant, William Howe Cuyler, John Wilson, James Woodruff and Daniel Bennett.
In March, 1800, Swing & Patterson built an ark eighty feet long by twenty feet wide, loaded it with wheat and lumber and shipped it to Balti- more. Other similar ventures followed, with equal success, to the great satisfaction of Colonel Williamson and the entire townspeople, and the result was the construction of several store- houses at convenient points along the river.
The now growing settlement was much in need of post and stage accommodations. Up tc this time Captain Williamson had employed his own post-riders to and from Northumberland 140 miles distant; and the trips were made once, in two weeks. A permanent post office, with all necessary facilities for transmission of mails, was established at Bath in 1800.
In the same year, the Colonel erected a frame building on the northwest corner of Pulte- ney Square for use as a public school. A public hall or theatre was likewise built in due season and Bath was brought into prominence as a de- sirable place for all kinds of entertainments ; and to the present day the county town of Steuben is noted for its excellent annual fairs. The chief object of these improvements was to attract at- tention to the Pulteney purchase and Bath. Colo- nel Williamson was anxious to make rapid sales of the land in his charge, and he knew that it was necessary to create some excitement which would draw strangers to the locality. Mr. Weld, an Englishman and traveler, visited in the town in 1796, and described Bath as the principal town
in the western part of the state, containing about thirty houses, and increasing very fast.
Among the settlers in the town in 1796 were Dr. B. F. Young, Dr. Shults, Philip Gilma, George D. Cooper, William Cook, Daniel Curtis, James Eddie, James Miller, Fisher Whitney, John Woodward, Josiah Wright, David Jones, James Love, Leonard Beaty, George Dixon and Finla McClure.
Schools in Bath
At the first town meeting held in Bath in April, 1797, three school commissioners were elected.
The first schoolhouse built in the village of Bath was before 1800. It was a small frame building facing Pulteney Square.
In a small frame building south of the county clerk's office on Pulteney Square a school was taught by Elam Bridges of Prattsburg in 1811.
A building known as the "Old Academy" was erected about 1812. This school building burned and a new frame building was erected in 1825.
On July 8th, 1846 a Union School was form- ed by the consolidation of districts 2 and 5.
Adam Haverling donated to the Union School District the lot on which the present Haverling High School stands. It was voted to erect a school building of brick and stone, which was finished and occupied in the fall of 1848. In 1866 this building was destroyed by fire. In 1868 a new building for the Haverling High School was opened with an academic course.
The efficient organization of the school was by the Rev. A. B. Hyde of Meadville, Pennsylva- nia. Professor Z. L. Parker served as principal the first year.
It was voted to erect a new building in 1922. This was opened for school in the fall of 1924, the cost, $225,000.00 was partly raised from the "Old Haverling Bond Issue". Mr. Haver- ling, in his will made a bequest to the school of the bulk of his property. The high school was organized December 7, 1897.
Today Bath High School is a credit to its (Continued on page 39, column 2)
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38
AYNI.
Mun LAKE
JERSEY
BRADFORDO
SADI
1885
SO BRADFORI
100
CAMPBELL
D
BRADFORD
Bradford was formed from Orange, Schuy- ler County, April 20, 1836. A part was reannexed to Orange April.17, 1854. It lays near the center of the east border of the county.
Its surface is a hilly upland, broken by the valley of Mud Creek. Mud Lake, near the east border in Schuyler County is 1,100 feet above tide and the summits of the hills are about 600 feet above the lake. The soil is generally gravelly clay loam and best adapted to pasturage.
Bradford, on the outlet of Mud Lake in the northeastern part of the town, in 1855 contained 1 church, 1 grist mill and had a population of 260. South Bradford contained 1 church and 20 houses. The first settlement was made in 1793 by Frederick Bartles and John Hervey from New Jersey. Among the first settlers were John Hem- iup, Samuel S. Camp, Abram Rosenburg, and Henry Switzer.
Frederick Bartles built the first saw and grist mill about 1795. Charles and Frederick Bartles opened the first store about 1800 and the first inn in 1806. The first school was taught by Mr. Smith in 1810. The first preacher was Rev. E. Sanford; and Rev. Lazelle, (Baptist) was the first settled minister in the town in 1816. The two churches in the town were Baptist and Methodist.
Captain Hight killed the first panther and the first bear on the Caleb Hedges farm.
Peter Low made a clearing to the extent of six acres and sowed it to wheat. Deer destroyed the entire crop.
David Dennis at an early date, drew straw 12 miles from Wayne, through the pines and hem- locks to feed his stock through the winter. He went to mill in the summer with sleighs having wooden shoes.
The first physician was Peter Rose. Captain Hight was the first surveyor. One of the first blacksmiths was Samuel Thacher. The first wag- on maker was Azariah Genung. Bradford later had its postmaster, cooper, harnessmaker, shoe- maker, etc.
Michael Scott came from Maryland in 1805. He experienced the usual conditions of all pio- neers. He was surrounded by wild beasts and In- dians. On one occasion Mr. Scott was away from
39
home; he had to leave his little children alone. When he returned he found the Indians in posses- sion of the house. The dusky savages were gath- ered around a blazing fire on his hearthstone. The Indians thereafter made friendly calls on Mr. Scott.
In 1798 Mr. Bartles rafted 100,000 feet of boards from his mills to Baltimore.
The following record was made by the coun- ty clerk of Steuben County :- "This fourth day of April, eighteen hundred, started from the mills of Frederick Bartles, on the outlet of Mud Lake, two arks of the following dimensions :- 72 feet long, by 15 feet wide,-one built by Charles Wil- liamson of Bath and the other 71 feet by 15 feet, by Nathan Harvey," were conducted down the Conhocton, (after coming through Mud Creek without accident) to Painted Post for "Balti- more." "Those arks are the first built in this coun- ty, except one built on the Conhocton, at White's saw mill, five miles below Bath by Mr. Patterson, Sweeney and others from Pennsylvania,-70 feet by 16 feet, which was finished and started about the 20th of March of the same year." "This min- ufe is entered to show at a future date the first commencement of embarkation in this, (as is hoped) useful invention." "By Henry A. Town- send, Clerk of Steuben County."
In the early days there were two hotels at Bradford, a wagon shop, two blacksmith shops, a cooper shop. Also, a brick kiln about one mile down Mud Creek. Today beavers inhabit the stream above and below Mud Lake.
In 1855 Bradford had four churches,- Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Episcopal.
The Bradford Baptist Church was consti- tuted a separate church on October 28, 1834. In 1833-34 the house of worship was erected. The first Methodist Episcopal Church of South Brad- ford was organized in the school house on the 23rd of February, 1847. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Bradford held their first meetings in the Baptist Church and in the school house. The church was dedicated September 11, 1877. St. Andrews Episcopal Church of Bradford com- menced services on October 8, 1850 with the Rev. William Atwill and the parish was organized on the 8th of June, 1851 under the name of St. An- drew's.
"The early settlers were fully mindful of the educational and spiritual welfare of their fami- lies, and made generous provision for schools and the support of public worship. A flourishing school was maintained as early at 1814".
In 1929 the Bradford Central Rural School was organized as a Junior High with one year of High. It has eight districts, five of Bradford and three of Orange. The building was erected in 1930 and has all modern equipment. It has an auditorium of 500 seating capacity. The athle- tic instructor has charge of the gymnasium and athletic activities,-baseball and basketball teams. The registration of today is 250 pupils,-with the faculty numbering 15.
BATH
(Continued from page 37)
founders and to the educational system of New York State. It has a registration of 1,044 pupils. The faculty numbers 41. The athletic instructor has charge of all sports. The auditorium and gymnasium has a seating capacity of 600.
The administrative buildings of the county are located here.
The Davenport Public Library is commem- orative of the foresight of its founder, Colonel Ira Davenport.
The Davenport Home for female children was the free and voluntary gift of Colonel Tra Davenport. He founded and built the home and endowed it abundantly.
THE NEW YORK STATE SOLDIERS' and SAILORS' HOME was located at Bath. The corner stone for its erection was laid June 13th, 1877. The institution was founded for the care of Civil War Veterans and opened for in- mates June 23, 1879.
The Veterans' Facility
The Veterans' Facility is credited with being Bath's major industry. The institution membership for June was given as 1,433 while fall and winter averages approximate 1,800 men. The payroll for the first six months of 1942 totaled $347,545.27.
(Continued on page 41)
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A
4
SETINÃO ITVOS
SGO
stock
V
0
2
0
1850
3
AVERIL MILL
.4
MERON
WES
CAMERON
0
5 1100
1850
1500
13
CAMERON
12
Homer Cr.
1730
-
N
E
10
SOUTH IMBRON
4
1
86
5
1620
Boyds
5
0
DHULL
CAMERON
Cameron was named for Dugald Cameron, an agent of the Pulteney estate. It was formed from Addison on April 16, 1822. Thurston was taken off in 1844 and a part of Rathbone in 1856.
Cameron lays a little south of the center of the county. Its surface is a high rolling upland, broken by the deep valley of the Canisteo River, which flows southeast through the near center of the town. Its soil is a clay and gravelly loam.
The first settlement was made in 1800 by Rich- ard Hadley and he built the first saw mill. Phones Green, Samuel Baker, and Ira Pratt, Joseph But- ler, John Sauter, and John Hallett were early set- tlers. The first grist mill was built by Samuel Baker. The first inn was kept by John Hallett, and the first store by Andrew G. Erwin. The first meeting of the Christian Church in the town of Cameron was held in the old log school house by Rev. John Stocking in 1831.
As late as 1804 Indians were scattered along the valley on the north bank of the river. They raised corn which was carefully gathered for win- ter use. Amos White, the hunter and trapper, was a great favorite with the Indians, teaching them and learning from them the arts of wood- craft.
Milling trips were excursions of pleasure down the river in which several would join, tak- ing their bags of grain and rifles in a canoe and watching through the night for deer which came to the river.
Lumbering was commenced along the river by the early settlers, selling the most accessible trees along the river's bank and the manufacture of long shingles, 2 feet in length, which were put up in long barrel-shaped bundles and sent down the river in arks.
In 1828 and 1829 there began a general swarming of lumbermen and the erection of saw mills at every available point along the river. The boards were made into huge rafts,-160 feet long by 16 feet wide, provided with a temporary cabin and large and long oars. They were propelled over rapids by long oars. A sheet iron stove and bunks for the three men who generally made up the crew, were part of the equipment. Cooking utensils, an axe, auger and saw made up the rest.
MERANI
Cameron
0
1720
41
Long straight logs of Norway pine, 80 to 120 contained two churches, and 35 houses. It is a sta- tion on the Erie Railroad.
feet, free from limbs or knots, rafted whole, and fastened together with withes, were run to the seaboard for masts of ships.
Among the leading lumbermen of early years was Captain Luther White, who ran as many as 40 rafts of 40,000 to 60,000 feet each in a season.
A carding mill was erected by Amos Cald- well. John F. French had a custom tannery near the M. E. parsonage. There were two blacksmith and wagon shops, four dry goods stores, drug store, furniture store, warehouse, etc.
Averill Hill was the home of General Aver- ill, a graduate of West Point, and a distinguished soldier, fighting the Indians in the Northwest. He became a brilliant cavalry officer in the Civil War, obtaining a brigadier general's commission.
The Wheeler grist and saw mill was just east of Cameron village on the river. In 1859 Cameron
The first meetings of the Christian Church were held in the old log school house, a mile north of the church on the Rowe farm, by the Rev. John Stocking, who held revival meetings there in the winter of 1831 and 1832. He was the first pastor.
The first religious meeting's in the town of Cameron were held by the Rev. Abner Chase, a preacher who was admitted to the M. E. Confer- ence in 1812 and preached at the house of Phones Green, in the Canisteo valley in the same year. Rev. Chase at that time made his circuit of 400 miles on foot, preaching several days in a place and doing much to awaken an interest in religion. He followed the circuit for a number of years.
The Presbyterian Society was formed in 1853.
BATH
(Continued from page 39)
KANONA
Kanona in Bath township, was a thriving village many years prior to 1870. It had a ship- yard and stockyard.
Arks and rafts were built for the trans- portation of grain, lumber, livestock and other commodities of the region, to tidewater. Buyers for these commodities were located at Kanona, and they shipped down the Conhocton River or drove the livestock to Hammondsport for ship- ment by canal to the Hudson River.
There were three hotels in the early days in Kanona, built to accommodate buyers, drovers, etc. There was also located here a sawmill, tannery, two grain warehouses, wagon shop, market, shoe shop, blacksmith shop, livery barn.
Kanona had an early school, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
SAVONA
Savona was known for many years as Mud Creek, since it was at the confluence of the Con- hocton River and Mud Creek, both navigable streams in the spring and early summer.
The first settler was Thomas Corbit, who came from Pennsylvania with Colonel William- son in 1793. John Doleson removed from the Chemung region to Savona in 1794. Henry Bush and Henry McElwer settled at Savona sometime in 1794. Other settlers followed and the settlement grew. With its growth came a
saw and shingle mill, a grist mill, two wagon shops, blacksmith shop, pump factory, hotel, schoolhouse, warehouse and two churches, Bap- tist and Methodist, and several stores.
Savona Central Rural School
The first school was in a wooden building built prior to 1850 on the corner of Church and McCoy streets. This is the site of the old Union School building. In 1855 the front wing of the Union School was built. A charter for the Jun- ior High School was received which called for the establishment of an academic department in the Savona Union School. This required addi- tional room so in 1902 the north wing was added. The principal at this time was A. O. Tucker, who was later followed by A. D. Miller who later be- came N. Y. Inspector of Attendance. Among the students at this time were James Erskine and Ernest E. Cole, later Commissioner of Education for the State of New York.
The school was centralized in 1930, when it became the Savona Central Rural School. The principal at this time was Alfred Spencer, who was followed by Virgil H. Hussey and George R. Daulton. It has a modern and fully equipped school building. There are 18 in the faculty.
SONORA
Sonora at an early date prior to 1870 had a school, Methodist Church, saw and shingle mill, two blacksmith shops, a wagon shop and store.
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-
BR
A
D
0
-
194
NO
6
1
1840
ACAYIPBELL
ISanHI
CAMPBE
Y
1050
3
CURTISVILLE
HOO
653
Creek
-- -
7 /310
ADDISON
CALLIO 1E R2W 13
4 MILES
CAMPBELL
It was named from the Campbell family, who were early and prominent settlers. Campbell was formed from Hornby April 15, 1831. It is an interior town laying southeast from the center of the county.
Its surface consists of high broken ridges separated by the valleys of the streams. The de- clivities of the hills are generally steep and their summits are 300 to 500 feet above the valleys. The streams are Conhocton River, flowing south- east through the west part of the town and its tributaries, Wolf Run, McNutt Run, Meads Creek and Dry Run, Stevens and Michigan Creeks. The valley of the river is about a mile and a half wide. The soil is a clayey and gravelly loam upon the high lands, and rich alluvium in the valleys. Campbell village on the Conhocton is a station on the Erie R. R. and D. L. & W. R. R.
It contained one church, three saw mills, a flouring mill and two tanneries, and about twenty houses in 1859. Curtis is a station on the same railroads. Settlement was commenced in 1800.
The first settlers were Samuel Caulkins, Elias Williams, Joseph Woolcott, the Rev. Robert Campbell and his son, Archibald. Campbell and Stevens built the first saw mill, Campbell and Knox the first grist mill. Robert Campbell kept the first inn and Frederick Stuart the first store.
The first meetings for the organization of a Presbyterian church were held in 1811. The first regular preaching began in 1830. The Rev. B. B. Smith was the first resident pastor.
The Methodist people were organized in some form as early as 1827 or 1828. Circuit preachers and visiting clergymen officiated quite regularly. Their house of worship was dedicated January 21, 1869.
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