USA > New York > Steuben County > Bath > The official records of the centennial celebration, Bath, Steuben County, New York, June 4, 6, and 7, 1893 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
114
THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
part of the ancestral estate three miles below this village; William Mc- Cartney, the first settler in Dansville, and one of its most prominent citi- zens ; Hector Mckenzie, who removed to the West Indies about 1802, and there died ; Henry Tower, the builder of the mills at Alloway, a large dealer in produce, once a merchant in Elmira, where he entertained Louis Phillipe and his brother-these four were young men from the neighbor- hood of Williamson's home near Balgray, Scotland ; Thomas Corbett, the first settler at Mud Creek : Thomas Rees, Jr., the surveyor who surveyed and made a plot of the village, which is the standard now in use ; Alexan- der Ewing, who subsequently settled at Mt. Morris, and had a daughter who married John H. Jones, of that place ; William Ewing, a surveyor, who later removed to Ohio, and became the progenitor of a distinguished family of that State ; John Metcalf, the first innkeeper, the father of John Metcalf, who served for years as county clerk, and Thomas Metcalf, a for- mer merchant and innkeeper in Bath ; James Henderson, the mill-wright, later a prominent citizen of Ontario county : Samuel Doyle, a Revolution- ary soldier, the great-grandfather of Miss Nancy Smith, of this village ; his brother-in-law, Joseph Arbour, Richard Armour, John Scott, Charles McClure, Peter Loop, Mr. Upton. Benjamin Patterson, the hunter, and Joseph Bivens, who kept the first inn at Bloods, now Atlanta-most of these were Scotch-Irishmen from the west branch.
We have reason to believe that the following named persons, or some of them, were also of the party, as they were here during the summer of 1793, their names appear on Captain Williamson's books and they had been residents on the west branch in the neighborhood of Northumber- land : Hector Mckay, William Lemon, Samuel Ewing, John Ewart, Sam- uel Ewart, George More, George Baittie, Francis Conway, William Carol, Robert Biggers, the tanner, who in 1793 purchased thirteen acres lying on the south side of Morris street, west of the cemetery, where he erected a tannery (some years ago Jared Thompson discovered the remains of tan- vats in the edge of the swamp, but there was no one living who could remember the tanner or his works) ; Obadiah Osborn, the mill builder, who subsequently purchased a farm in Addison ; George Mccullough, a black- smith, who became the purchaser of the mills below Corning, and died in that town ; Robert Hunter, the schoolmaster ; Jacob Glendening, Andrew Shearer, Dr. Schott, Gottleib Dougherty and one Paul.
Captain Williamson, it would seem, had previously advised Mr. Pat- rick Colquhoun, who had the management of the affairs of the syndicate, of the name and location of the town, for under date of June 15, 1793, he writes the Captain as follows : "I am glad you are so much pleased with your new town of Bath. I hope it may prove a healthy spot, for on this much depends. It is certainly a position infinitely more convenient than Williamsburg, and on this account I am glad you mean to fix your resi-
115
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
dence there." The Captain, out of compliment to his friends and patrons, had named the principal street running east and west, Morris ; the public square, Pulteney ; the broad street parallel to it with a similar square, St. Patrick ; the street between them, Steuben ; and that connecting them, Liberty-names which they have ever since borne, except St. Patrick, which was foolishly changed to Washington a few years since.
On the 27th of September, Christian, the eldest daughter of Captain Williamson, died, aged eight years, and lies buried in the old cemetery on Steuben street. It was the first death in the settlement. According to tradition, the first birth was a daughter of Samuel Doyle. The Captain states in his published narrative that previous to the setting in of winter a grist-mill and saw-mill located across the Conhocton (at the end of the bridge) were nearly completed, and that already fifteen families had set- tled in the town. Besides his own, the only families that are known to have been living here at that time were those of Metcalf, Doyle, Dunn, Corbett, Turner, Aulls, Paul and a German family named Gottleib.
1794 .- A stalwart young Scotch-Irishman, Henry McElwee (always called Harry), made his entry into the new town on New Year's day, 1794, and tells us : "I only found a few shanties in the woods. Williamson had his house near the site of the present land office, and the Metcalfs kept a log tavern upon Morris street nearly opposite the Mansion House. I went to the tavein and asked for supper and lodging ; they said they could give me neither, for their house was full. I could get nothing to eat. An old Dutchman was sitting there, and he said to me, 'Young man, if you will go with me, you shall have some mush and milk and a deer skin to lie on, with your feet to the fire, and another to cover yourself with.' We went up through the woods to where St. Patrick Square now is. There the Dutchman had a little log house ; there was no floor to it. I made a sup- per of mush and milk, and laid down by the fire and slept soundly." In the spring, under the direction of Williamson, McElwee made the first substantial clearings, being the Pulteney Square and four acres behind the agent's house for a garden, for the cultivation of which the Captain imported a gardener from England. His name was Dominic Quinn. He was the father of Edward Quinn, a prominent attorney who resided at Watkins forty years ago, and married the eldest daughter of General Will- iam Kernan. He further states that the trees on the square were carefully chopped close to the ground. A single pine was left standing in front of the agency house for a " Liberty Tree." It was trimmed so as to leave a tuft on the top, and bid defiance to the elements until after 1820. It was blown down not long after that.
In the spring of '94, George McClure, another Scotch-Irishman, in company with his uncle, James Moore, from Northumberland, after vari- ous adventures reached the new town and thus describes his advent : " We
116
THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
put up at the only house of entertainment in the village-if it could be called a house. Its construction was of pitch-pine logs, in two apartments, one story high, kept by a kind and obliging family by the name of Met- calf. This house was the only one in town, except a similar one for the temporary abode of Captain Williamson, which answered the purpose of parlor, dining-room and land office. There were besides some shanties for mechanics and laborers. I called on Captain Williamson and introduced myself as a mechanic. I told him that I had seen his advertisement, and in pursuance of his invitation had come to ask employment. 'Very well.' said he, ' young man, you shall not be disappointed.' He told me I should have the whole of his work if I could procure as many hands as were nec- essary. We entered into an agreement. He asked me when I should be ready to commence business. I replied, as soon as I could return to North- umberland, engage some hands and send my tools and baggage up the north branch to Tioga Point, that being then the head of boat navigation." As agreed, he went back, shipped his baggage and tools, and forthwith returned to Bath on foot, procured his effects at Tioga Point, boated them up, and commenced with a will to build up the town.
A large number of settlers came in this year ; and among them were Isaac Mullender, with his wife, three sons and three daughters, direct from Scotland (One of the daughters afterwards married Charles Cameron. Mr. Mullender removed to Geneva in 1797. A grand-daughter, Miss Jane Mullender, now resides in Waterloo), Richard Cuyler, John Shearer, Rich- ard Carpenter, Dr. William Pretre, the surgeon of the settlement, John Weyman, William McElwee, Frank Scott, Gustavus and Brown Gillespie, Joseph and Robert Dunn, Robert Sterret, James McFarland, Samuel and John Metler, Samuel Baker, Amos Stone, William Barney, William and Eli Read, who with their families settled in Pleasant Valley near William Aulls, and Daniel Mckenzie, a carpenter direct from Scotland.
THE DISTRICT OF WILLIAMSON.
The previous winter, Charles Williamson had been appointed one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of Ontario county. As yet there were no towns with prescribed boundaries in the county. The act of the Legislature erecting the County of Ontario pro- vided that the Justices of the Sessions should proceed to divide the new county into two or more districts for town purposes. They had, in 1791, made the " District of the Painted Post," which embraced the entire ter- ritory of the present County of Steuben. All the then settlers were located on the Chemung, Tioga and Canisteo Rivers. In 1793, Jedediah Stephens, of Canisteo, was elected Supervisor of the district. At the Janu- ary session, 1794, through the influence of Captain Williamson, there was
117
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
made a new district, embracing all the territory west of the second range, under the name of Williamson, as appears by the adjustment of certain accounts between the district of Erwin, or Painted Post, and the district of Williamson, made by Eli Mead and Eleazer Lindsley, of the first part, and Jedediah Stephens and George Hornell, of the other, on April 26, 1794, recorded in the minutes of the district of Painted Post, by E. Lindsley, Jr., town clerk of that district. There is no record of this division to be found in the Clerk's office of Ontario county. Bath was included in the new district ; but when and where its town meetings were held is not now known. The records of the town clerk have been destroyed, or lie mould- ing in the rubbish of some garret. If they could be brought to light they would furnish a rare treat to the local antiquarians.
As yet there were but few post-roads or postoffices in the country. The nearest place for deposit of letters on the south was at Northumberland, one hundred and forty miles distant. To meet the want, Captain William- son employed his own post- riders to and from that place, who made the trip once a fortnight. Tommy Corbett rode to the Block House and exchanged packages with Alexander Smith, of Lycoming, who filled the route from that place to Northumberland. Charles Cameron was the local distributor of the letters here. After his removal to Sodus, William Kersey performed the duties until the Government office was established, January 1, 1801. with Dugald Cameron postmaster.
THE SIMCOE IMBROGLIO.
In mid-summer, while McClure, with his deft workmen, was busy erecting new dwellings and McElwee, with his stout woodsmen, was mowing down the green forest and the gallant Captain was dashing here and there projecting settlements and improvements, a real war cloud loomed over his new possessions and caused much alarm. The Indians in Western New York were sullen and by no means pleased with the rapid intrusion of white settlers upon their old hunting grounds. The British Government still held their posts at Niagara and Oswego. Colonel Simcoe, the Canadian Governor, who himself had no good feeling toward the intruders, hearing of Captain Williamson's newly formed settlement at Sodus Bay, in hot haste dispatched a trusted Lieutenant, on August 16, to notify the Captain to "vamose the ranch " forthwith, or suffer the con- sequences. Fortunately, the Captain was absent, or there would have been a genuine casus-belli.
The whole country was aroused. An express was forthwith sent to Governor Clinton, informing him that the sovereignty of New York was denied. His Scotch-Irish blood was up. On September 11, he issued orders to Colonel Gansevoort to prepare immediately for the defence of
118
THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
the new settlements. The Colonel commissioned Captain Williamson to build a suitable block-house in Bath, as well as at Sodus, for protection. The Captain was not idle ; he called for proposals to prepare the timber and prosecute the work. Young McClure, aching to get a blow at the bloody prelatists who had so bitterly persecuted his covenanting ancestors, dropped his hammer, girded on a rusty sword, recruited a company and commenced drilling them at once.
The United States Government took the matter in hand ; negotiations were opened ; the British relinquished their arrogant demands, offered ade- quate apologies, and the threatened storm blew over. The old swords were turned into plow-shares ; the timber for the block-house was used for better purposes ; and the stockades for Pulteney square made capital fence posts. News was first received here of Wayne's great victory over the Western Indians in August, resulting in the absolute submission of the whole race, and was transmitted to Albany.
In the fall, Colonel Pickering held a treaty with the Six Nations, at Canandaigua, and settled all differences with them and buried the hatchet forever. William Savary, a Quaker minister from Philadelphia, selected by the Indians to look after their interests, attended the conference. He passed over the Williamson road as far as Blood's Corners, going and returning from the treaty. We learn from his published journal that there was not a settler between Bivin's (now Atlanta) and Bath, and that Tommy Corbett's tavern, at Mud Creek, was the only house between Bath and Painted Post. He tells us that Captain Williamson entertained him right royally at his mansion for the night, on his way home, but makes no men- tion of the growth or size of the town.
1795 .- Peace being assured and all apprehensions from Indian raids having been allayed, 1795 opened brightly for the Genesee country, and Captain Williamson was on his "high-heels," as they say, and pushed improvements vigorously. Strangers came pouring in from far and near and the Captain sometimes was put to it to entertain them ; but he did it. McClure tells us that the Captain said to him one day that he expected much company shortly and had not the room to entertain them. " He asked me how long it would take to erect and complete a house forty by sixteen feet, a story and a half in height, all material delivered, no plaster- ing, all ceiled. I replied, 'Three days.' He said, "Do it.' Working night and day, the work was accomplished to his satisfaction in forty-eight hours. He paid me $400 for the job." In June the Captain was visited by the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, a French exile, and several of his companions, and sumptuously entertained them for many days. From the Duke we learn that some settlers had recently established themselves at Kanona, but their names are not given.
119
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
This year the sales of land were brisk, emigration heavy, the crops promising ; and the Captain resolved to commemorate the same in this town by a grand fair and elaborate races. A race course of regulation standard was carefully cleared and graded east of May street, upon the farm now occupied by Freeman D. Hopkins. It was a half-mile track ; David W. Lyon remembers well the line of it near the foot of the rising ground upon which Mr. Hopkins' house now stands. That that grand affair was widely advertised is clear from a notice inserted by the Captain in the Western Sentinel, of August 11, 1795, a paper published at Whitestown, Oneida county, which states that the " Fair and races at Bath were post- poned to the 21st day of September, on account of the meeting of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and Circuit at Canandaigua, of which he, as Judge, was compelled to attend on the first Monday of September."
Among the new settlers will be found the names of Robert Campbell, the father of Lieut .- Governor Campbell, Alexander McDonald, John Mor- rison and Dugald Cameron, the grandfather of Messrs. John and Ira Dav- enport-all Scotch ; also Daniel Cruger, father of General Cruger ; Dr. B. B. Stockton, from New Jersey, and William Kersey, the Quaker, a sur- veyor, for years employed by Williamson.
COUNTY OF STEUBEN.
1796 .- March, 1796, a new County was erected from the south part of Ontario, and named Steuben, through the influence of Colonel Benjamin Walker, a close and intimate friend of Captain Williamson. The Colonel had been the aide of Baron Steuben, who had just died, leaving the Col- onel his residuary legatee. It was provided in the act as follows :
" That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Justices of the Court of General Sessions for the said County of Steuben, or a majority of them, at any General Sessions of the peace, to divide the county into as many towns as they shall deem necessary, and that the said Justices, at any such General Sessions, shall fix and direct the place or places, in each of said towns so made, at which the first town meeting for electing town officers shall be held, and all future meetings in any such town shall be held at such place as a majority of the inhabitants thereof shall by open vote at any town meeting appoint."
The county officers were appointed by the Governor and were as fol- lows : Charles Williamson, first judge ; William Kersey, Abraham Brad- ley and Eleazer Lindsley, judges ; Stephen Ross, surrogate ; George D. Cooper, county clerk : William Dunn, sheriff. All of them duly qualified except Charles Williamson.
On June 21, 1796, in pursuance of the act, the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the peace met in the land office, at Bath,
120
THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
William Kersey presiding, assisted by Judges Bradley and Lindsley, and some of the justices of the peace in commission, and an order was made and entered that the said Justices report upon the erection and division of towns at the next October term of the Court. At that term the min- utes show that all the justices of the peace of the county were present, and it is presumed that they then and there performed their duty, but no report can be found. The Albany Gazette contains the following state- ment :
"Agreeably to a provision in the law erecting a part of Ontario into a new county by the name of Steuben, the Court of Sessions have divided that county into the six following towns, viz : Bath, Painted Post, Fred- erickstown (afterwards Wayne), Middletown (afterwards Addison), Canis- teo and Dansville."
Bath was bounded on the north by the county line, east by Lake Keuka and Frederickstown, south by Painted Post and Middletown, and west by Dansville, as subsequent records and the exercise of municipal jur- isdiction show.
Bath was now the capital town of Steuben county. Captain William- son determined to make it all the name implies. His first move was to establish a newspaper. William Kersey, the newly appointed Judge, an attache of the land office, was dispatched by him in the spring to Pennsylvania to procure the necessary material. Kersey, from York, Pa., under date of April 18, 1796, writes the Captain : "The printing press is not yet completed, but the workmen tell me they will have it done in a few days." James Edie, of Northumberland, a practical printer, was engaged to bring on the press and inaterial, which he did early in the sum- mer, and formed a partnership with the Judge, under the style of "Ker- sey & Edie," and set up their press in a log building on the south-west cor- ner of St. Patrick Square, where now stands General Averell's residence. It was there, on October 19, 1796, that was issued the first number of the " Bath Gazette and Genesee Advertiser, published by William Kersey and James Edie, Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., $2.00 per year." This was the first newspaper printed in the State west of Oneida county. It was print- ed as a small folio sheet, fifteen inches by nine, with three broad columns, and was fairly done. According to Turner, it was running in 1799. It was probably discontinued in 1800, on the retirement of Captain William- son from the agency. What became of the press is not known.
He erected this year a frame building on the north-west corner of Pul- teney Square for school purposes. It was there the late Colonel W. H. Bull used to say that he attended school and received his preliminary education. During the summer he directed his men to put the race track in thorough order, and caused a flaming advertisement to be published in the New York and Pennsylvania newspapers, announcing that a fair and races would
121
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
be held at Bath on the twentieth of September. It is said that not less than two thousand persons were gathered in the new capital to witness them.
Judge G. H. McMaster, in his history, gives the following graphic account of the affair : "On the day and at the place appointed for the race in the proclamation, sportsmen from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore were in attendance. The high blades of Virginia and Mary- land, the fast boys of Jersey, the wise jockeys of Long Island, men of Ontario, Pennsylvania and Canada, settlers, choppers, gamesters and hunt- ers, to the number of fifteen hundred or two thousand, met on the pine plains to see the horses run-a number as great, considering the condition of the region where they met, as now assembles at State fairs and mass meetings. * * The races passed off brilliantly. Captain Williamson, himself a sportsman of spirit and discretion, entered a Southern mare, Virginia Nell. High-Sheriff Dunn entered Silk-Stocking, a New Jersey horse-quadrupeds of renown even at the present day. Money was plenty, and the betting lively. The ladies of the two dignitaries who owned the rival animals, bet each three hundred dollars and a pipe of wine on the horses of their lords, or as otherwise related, poured seven hundred dollars into the apron of a third lady who was stake-holder. Silk-Stocking was victorious."
Captain Williamson's object in these displays was to attract attention to his purchase and new metropolis. He 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 bring strangers to look at them. If a Meth- odist camp-meeting like that at Ocean Grove had promised similar results, he would have resorted to that device.
Weld, an English traveler, who visited the town in the fall of 1796, writes : "Bath is a post and principal town in the western part of the State of New York. Though laid out only three years ago, yet it contains about thirty houses ; it is increasing very fast. Among the houses are several stores and shops, well furnished with goods, and a tavern that would not be thought meanly of in any part of America. The town of Bath stands on a plain, surrounded on three sides by hills of moderate height. The plain is almost wholly divested of trees, but the hills are still uncleared and have a very pleasing appearance from the town. At the foot of the hills runs a stream of pure water over a bed of gravel, which is called Con- hocton Creek. There is a very considerable fall in the creek just above the town, which affords the finest seats for mills possible. Extensive saw and flour mills have already been erected upon it."
He also says that speculation was at a fever heat (as in Chicago in 1836-7), and gives us the following letter :
122
THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
To the Printers of the Wilkes-Barre Gazette :
GENTLEMEN-It is painful to reflect that speculation has raged to such a degree, of late, that honest industry and all the humble virtues that walk in her train are discouraged and rendered unfashionable. It is to be lamented, too, that dissipation is sooner introduced in new settlements than industry and economy.
I have been led to these reflections by conversing with my son, who has just returned from the Lakes or Genesee, though he has neither been to the one or the other ;- in short, he has been to Bath, the celebrated Bath, and has returned both a speculator and a gentleman ; having spent his money, swapped away my horse, caught the fever and ague, and what is infinitely worse, that horrid disorder which some call the terraphobia. We can hear nothing from the poor creature (in his ravings) but of the Captain, Billy (Williamson and William Dunn meaning), of ranges-town- ships-numbers -- thousands-hundreds-acres-Bath-fairs-races-heats -bets-purses-Silk-Stockings-fortunes-fevers-agues, &c. My son has a part of a township for sale, and it is diverting enough to hear him nar- rate its pedigree, qualities and situation. In fine, it lies near Bath, and the Captain himself once owned and for a long time reserved it. It cost my son but five dollars an acre, he was offered six and a half a minute after purchase, but he is positively determined to have eight, besides some pre- cious preserves. One thing is very much in my son's favor-has six years' credit. Another thing is still more so-he is not worth a sou nor ever will be at this rate.
Previous to his late excursion he had worked well, and was contented at home on my farm, but now work is out of the question with him. There is no managing my boy at home, these golden dreams still beckon him back to Bath, where, he says, no one need either work or starve, where, though a man may have the ague nine months in the year, he may console himself in spending the other three fashionably at the races.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.