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 13
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Professor Joseph Henry, the distinguished scientist, in a conversation had with him many years ago, stated that during the year 1816, he was a member of a corps of surveyors who were engaged in running the line of State road from the Hudson to Lake Erie by the way of Bath. When they reached this village they were received with quite an ovation from the citizens, and Dugald Cameron gave a grand ball in their honor. They were anxious to attend, but they were somewhat travel-stained and their linen was sadly defective, and there was no chance to correct it by pur- chase or otherwise. In their dilemma they bethought themselves that their drawing paper, with the aid of knife and shears, could be transformed into cuffs, collars and bosoms, which was speedily done, and they made a respectable appearance. This was the first introduction of paper collars.
On a quiet and balmy day in the spring of 1818, when but few were on the street, startling outcries brought to the doors and windows all the villagers, who saw an immense covered Canastoga wagon drawn by five horses with mounted driver, followed by a brawny fellow with a great whip in his hand. It contained living freight that sent out yells and screechies which would have frightened Pawnee Indians. Captain Helm, with confederates, had seized a number of his old slaves and their families, pitched them into his great wagon, and was now on his way to Olean where he expected to ship them to Kentucky for sale. There was no in- terferance here, but before their arrival at Olean most of them had es- caped. He, however, succeeded in getting off with two of the children of Harry Lucas. Helm was indicted for kidnapping, and, in 1820, was tried and convicted. He was imprisoned a short time in the county jail and fined a small sum-which he never paid. Thomas McBurney, first Judge of the county, was tried the same year in the Court of Oyer and Terminer for a similar offense, was convicted and fined $1,000.
1820 .- Erastus Shepard issued the first number of the Western Repub- lican, in Bath, on the 18th of July, 1820. It was the organ of the Buck Tail party, so called, and made things hot for Captain Smead's Patriot. The factions of the Democratic party having coalesced, in 1823, it was suspended.
1821 .- Stephen B. Leonard, a newspaper man of Owego, had a con- tract for a weekly mail from Owego to Bath in 1816. In 1821, in company with a Mr. Bacon, he established a semi-weekly stage line over the same
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route. The'stage was a two-seated lumber wagon drawn by two horses, and was the only public conveyance to and from Bath, until John Magee, in 1825, started his magnificent four-horse Troy coaches to be run daily to Owego, Rochester and Angelica. The hour of departure from Bath was four o'clock in the morning. These grand carriages, resplendent with plush and paint, drawn by four mettlesome steeds, as they rattled at early dawn in summer over Pulteney Square and up and down the streets to pick up passengers and mails, were a sight that richly repaid the loss of a few hours of sleep. The drivers' horns heard from a distance gave early notice of their arrival in the evening. The rumble of the loaded coaches and the rhythmical tread of the steeds, as they quickened their pace under the startling crack of the coachman's whip, broke the quiet of the closing day. The villagers then were all a-stir, as well to hear the news as to observe the dust-covered and perhaps distinguished passengers who came in such state ; and the town put on the appearance of a wide-awake commercial center. This mode of conveyance was regarded a great advance, for passengers could now reach New York by these stage coaches in three days and nights so comfortably, as was then thought. Colonel Williamson, a bold rider, could make the journey to that city on horseback in less than seven full days, which he did many a time, out-stripping all the then public conveyances.
Perhaps no event in the village during the past century made so marked an impression upon the people at large as the trial and public exe- cution, April 29, 1825, of Robert Douglass for the murder of Samuel H. Ives, of Troupsburgh. The gallows was erected on the first elevation north of the village on the south side of Geneva street, ever since known as Gallows Hill. The execution was attended with much ceremony. The culprit, seated on his coffin, was drawn in a wagon by a white horse to the place of execution, guarded by several military companies. John Magee was the sheriff. An immense crowd was gathered from far and near to witness the affair. Douglass was the first person to pay the penalty of the Divine as well as civil law in this county, and his execution and the at- tendant circumstances furnished household gossip for years. It was an epoch from which the citizens of that day measured time and counted years.
1826 .- The most notable event occuring the next year was the trial of Sundown and Curly-Eye, two Seneca Indians, charged with the murder of Joshua Stephens, of Canisteo. The famous Red Jacket and other promi- nent chiefs were gathered here at the time with their interpreters, Horatio Jones and Jellees Clute. A rough element from the Canisteo was also on the ground, having no friendly feeling toward the red men. The In- dians had a camp in a grove near the cemetery. One night, Mr. D. W. Lyon says, there was a gun fired into their camp, causing great alarm amongst the Indians, and leading them to fear that the Canisteo men
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might do them some injury. Immediately upon the acquittal of the pris- oners the whole party departed at once, and no Indian has been seen in this vicinity since.
Colonel Bull had erected the first brick house in the village, as well as in the county, in the summer of 1824. In 1825, P. C. and J. R. Gansevoort began to erect, and finished the next year, the first block of brick stores on the east side of Liberty street, generally designated as the Masonic Hall. It was three stories in height, and arranged for three stores. J. G. Hig- gins and John R. Gansevoort occupied two of them as variety stores, and Dr. Gansevoort kept some hardware and drugs in the other. The Masons had their lodge room in the third story. The building stood upon the ground now occupied by the Davison and Wilkes blocks. Later, Under- hill & McBeath occupied the portion abutting upon the alley for a book- store and bindery. It was burned during their occupancy. The abduction of Morgan by the Masons, in 1826, created great excitement and intense feeling against the fraternity, which lasted for several years and eventual- ly led to an abandonment of the lodge. It was Lodge No. 57, and was organized in 1797.
1827 .- In 1827, the old wooden Court House erected by Colonel William- son, on the east side of Pulteney Square, was removed and replaced by a large two-story one of brick. On April 17, 1828, David Rumsey, Sr., issued the first number of the Steuben Messenger, the organ of the Anti-Masonic party. Judge David McMaster was for some time its editor. In August, William M. Swain commenced the publication of a campaign paper called the Steuben Whig. It opposed the election of General Andrew Jackson. Swain removed to Philadelphia and established in that city the Public Ledger, which was a success, and is now owned by G. W. Childs.
In 1831, our citizens, having abandoned the project of opening a canal from the Conhocton to Crooked Lake, procured a charter for a railroad instead. Surveys were made, but the scheme failed. The Steuben County Bank was incorporated March 9, 1832, under a charter running thirty years, with a capital of $150,000. On its organization it met with great oppo- sition from a portion of the residents, growing out of the distribution of the stock. Notwithstanding, it succeeded financially, and during the period of its existence paid annual dividends of 11 per cent. and accumulated a surplus of $96,000, or thereabouts. In 1833, William P. Angel bought the good will of the Steuben Messenger and established the Constitutionalist as the Whig organ in the county.
1836 .- In 1836-37, a spirit of speculation similar to that of 1796-97 pre- vailed throughout the country. Buffalo was the centre of it in this region. Many of our citizens caught the fever. Some took up their residence in that city, and remained long enough to reap a profit ; but those who lived here suffered sorely from its fruits. For several years after, the village felt
-
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the effect and few or no improvements were made. With the hope of checking this decadence, a new act incorporating the village was obtained from the Legislature, May 6, 1836. The first election under it was held at Gould's Hotel (the old Clinton House), June 7, following, and John D. Hig- gins, TenEyck Gansevoort. Benjamin Smead, Moses H. Lyon and John T. Andrews were elected Trustees ; Ziba A Leland, John M. Campbell and Henry Brother, Assessors ; Robert Campbell, Treasurer ; Levi C. Whiting, Clerk ; Elisha Hempstead, Collector, and O. W. L. Warren, Constable. By that charter, as amended from time to time, the village is still governed. The political campaign of 1840 was an exciting one; commencing in 1839, it continued even after the election had passed. Business was almost entirely suspended. Mass meetings, pole raisings and mammoth parades took place. It is still known as the Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign. There were in it many amusing episodes that would make an interesting chapter, but we must pass them by.
After the canals had been opened (to the north), diverting the cur- rents of trade from this place, its people looked to the construction of the Erie railway, which was then in progress and approaching, for relief ; but unfortunately, some would say, the line was diverted to the Canisteo val- ley ; so Bath was left out in the cold, and Corning and Hornellsville received the benefits that would otherwise have been hers.
We will give a picture of our village at that time (1841), with the story of its wonderful resurrection, and how came about its present beautiful appearance :
In 1841, the public squares and streets were open pastures, ungraded, unenclosed and unadorned-they lay just as they were when first cleared. There was not a shade tree, except a few scraggly Lombardy poplars on the south-west corner of Pulteney Square. That now beautiful piece of ground was then rough and uneven ; well trod paths crossed it in every direction. Vagrant cows grazed thereon ; "mendicant swine" (as a learned counsel- or designated them) rooted and wallowed in soft places, and squawking geese, even, at times pastured there. It also served as parade ground for the militia floodwood, at their annual trainings. Captain Ralph K. Finch there drilled his ragged Invincibles. Caravans and circuses spread their ample tents, where the ground was smooth enough to admit of it. Politi- cal gatherings and parades found ample scope for evolutions upon it. There were no sidewalks. The streets were as uneven as a rail-fence, and intersected by mud-holes and bordered by ponds. Such was our village in 1841.
A few country villages in the State had commenced to beautify their public grounds and streets by grading and planting shade trees. Ours caught the infection, but the old fogies opposed the innovation, lest it should interfere with their surplus. And at last it became an issue at the
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charter election. The bachelors of the village, of which there were a goodly number, resolved quietly to take a hand and set the ball in motion. The night before the election they secretly organized and made the fol- lowing ticket : For Trustees, John McCalla, Amos Babcock, James Shan- non, Robert Campbell, Jr., and Levi C. Whiting ; Assessors, Addison F. Ellas, George Edwards and Marcus C. Warren ; Treasurer, Lewis Shoe- maker ; Clerk, Charles W. Campbell ; Constable and Collector, Thomas Hess. The ticket was successful, and there was great excitement. The veteran editor, Captain Smead, in his Democratic Bugle, the next week, gave the following account of the result, which we copy verbatim :
" BACHELORS TRIUMPHANT."
OUR GOVERNMENT UNDER THEIR CONTROL.
"Our Charter election was held on Tuesday last (May 6), a day to be remembered in the annals of our village. A keen-eyed politician would have discovered early on that day, from the patrolling of our streets and the marshalling of troops, that a contest was approaching-that an impor- tant event was at hand. We filled an extra pipe and sat down quietly in our editorial chair to reflect on our favorite doctrine of equal rights, and to admire its beauties, until the hour of battle should arrive. We mar- shalled the Democratic Phalanx, and marched from the Advocate office to the polls, to slaughter their ancient foes, the Federalists ; judge then of our astonishment, when the announcement was made to us, 'The Bachelors are in the field with a ticket of their own " We rallied all our matri- monial forces, and called upon the ' Blue Light Federalists' of the Consti- tutionalist, to come forward and aid us once more in ' saving the coun- try !' But then, our labors were in vain ; we were routed-horse, foot and dragoons !"
The Board of Trustees at once organized by electing John McCalla, a typical bachelor, President, who forthwith issued the following inaugural, explaining the movement, and the reasons therefor :
" Brothers and Citizens:
Like all rebels against constitutional, as well as petticoat govern- ments, the Bachelors of Bath feel called upon to give this explanation : We can now with propriety state some of the reasons which have impelled us to make Bachelor and Anti-Bachelor the distinctive parties in the late contest. It is not necessary to notice the many contemptible flings by which the opposition endeavored to lessen us in the estimation of the com- munity. A single instance will suffice. 'A few years since, a prominent and distinguished gentleman, General George McClure, who claimed to
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represent us in the Legislature of this State, had the audacity to propose a repeal of the tax on dogs, and place it on old bachelors. The insults on insults, wrongs on wrongs, which have been heaped upon us, we have borne with patience, and could still bear, but we believe there is a point where patience ceases to be a virtue. We resolved, therefore, to say to our opponents in a manner not to be misunderstood, 'Thusfar, and no farther !' Notwithstanding our corporation taxes have been very considerable here- tofore, our village, beautifully situated, and possessed of great natural advantages, presents none but a dilapidated and somber appearance, ten- fold worse than any bachelor's wardrobe; our public squares are an eye- sore-lumbered with rubbish-our main streets defiled with mud-holes, floating old hats and drowned cats. We propose to make a change in the condition. Under the auspices of the present Board of Trustees we antici- pate our beloved village will rise Phoenix-like, and become the admiration of all beholders-a spot where the traveler would love to dwell. This is about similic."
Aroused by this stirring appeal the trustees threw off their coats, took hold of the plow, the hoe and the scraper, and the work of grading the Square was prosecuted with such vigor that the results will be found re- corded in the Constitutionalist of October 6th, 1841, as follows: "Our bachelor corporation have commenced the promised improvements in good earnest under the supervision of the President of the Board. The work of grading the Square has been completed. In the last two weeks, plows, scrapers and wagons have been in active service and the trustees with hoes, shovels and spades, contemplating the piles of earth, reminded us of so many deputy grave-diggers. To a countryman inquiring, "What on earth are they digging?" a wag replied, "Digging the grave of bach- elorism." And so indeed we trust it may be; not that we wish them to die off, but that they may be joined to their idols.
President McCalla was a rare character-famous for his dry jokes, quaint sayings, and queer catch-words. Every villager and countryman always called him "Uncie John." His residence was on Morris street, and his maiden sister, Nancy, kept his house for him. Edward Hubbell, when a callow youth, scarcely nine years old, made him a theme of one of his extemporized ballads, commencing thus :
"'Uncle John !' he was a hatter by trade, He lived with Aunt Nancy, Aunt Nancy, a Maid,"
He took great pride in his office, and during his term Pulteney Square was graded, fenced and ornamented with those beautiful trees which have added so much to the adornment of the village, and furnish a lasting mon- ument to the Bachelors of Bath. In this country, however, parties and politics are very changeable. The Bachelor party proved no exception.
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Self-interest or passion induced most of its members to desert its ranks, and "go over to the enemy." It is even hinted that it was to win the favor of the ladies, who always encourage improvement and adornment, that the major part engaged in the movement. All, with the exception of "Uncle John " and Tom Hess, the alpha and omega of the ticket, joined the army of benedicts; these two were true to their colors to the end. Not one of the goodly company of bachelors is now living. Reforms never go backward. From the work thus begun has been evolved our two beautiful parks, and the embellishment of our avenues and streets with a magnificent border of most beautiful shade trees that charm every beholder, realizing the promise of the Bachelor President, that by these improvements, Bath would become "a spot where the traveler would love to dwell."
1843 .- April 15, 1843, rounds out the first fifty years of the existence of this village, and your chronicler proposes here to close his narrative with a general description of the village and its residents at that time, as the newspaper files and public records from that date are full and complete, so that any future historian will have at his hand all the material facts neces- sary to write up its history. Besides, it is expected that there will be present to-day many gentlemen who can give you from memory all the principal occurrences since that period, whom all desire to hear, and for that reason the field should be left open to them. The village then seemed gradually improving and new buildings and blocks were going up. Colonel Bull, in 1842, surveyed and plotted William street, now one of the most beautiful avenues in the whole village. It was not fully opened for some years on account of legal complications. For preservation we give below the names of the leading men and firms then doing business in the village :
William S. Hubbell represented this district in Congress. Will- iam W. McCay was the Pulteney agent; John W. Fowler and James Read were his assistants. Mr. McCay was president and John Magee cashier of the Steuben County Bank ; Constant Cook, County Judge ; David Rumsey, Surrogate; William Hamilton, County Clerk; Hiram Potter, Sheriff; Edward Howell, District Attorney ; Ralph K. Finch, County Superintendent of Schools; Levi C. Whiting, Postmaster. The settled clergymen were, Rev. Isaac W. Platt, Rev. P. L. Whipple, Rev. O. Frazier and Rev. Mr. Powers. The law firms were E. & W. Howell, McMaster & Read, Rumsey & Van Valkenburgh, Barnes & McCall, Leland & Ferris, and James Shannon ; the physicians, J. D. Higgins, G. A. Rogers, E. B. Pull- ing, J. C. Morse, Daniel Seever ; druggist, Alexander Hess ; book-sellers, R. L. Underhill & Co. and Frank Metcalf ; newspaper publishers, Benjamin and Henry D. Smead and Whittemore & Co .; merchants, Magee & Cook, W. S. Hubbell, Henry Brother, Robie & Hunter, Amos Babcock, Dudley & Edwards, Tilman & Woodruff, John R. Gansevoort, George S. Ellas, Tim- othy & Levi Whiting ; grocer, E. L. Platt ; flour-mill, B. Hallock ; shoe-
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makers, Orrin Smith and Secor & Rose ; saddlers, Moses H. Lyon and John Abel ; carriage-makers, Disbrow & Ward ; tailors, Briggs & Hess, William Woodward and T. A. Wilcox. Nichols & McPherson kept the Clinton House ; R. Brower, the Eagle ; James -Lewis, th . Mansion House, and James French, the Farmers' Inn. The only survivors of them all are John Abel, Simon Bovier, Caleb R. Disbrow, S. D. Hunter, M. F. Whitte- more and myself.
The office of the great Pulteney Estate stands to-day where it was originally located a century ago, in full operation, untainted with embez- zlements or defalcations, a monument to the integrity and wise policy of the various agents who have controlled the management, during a period, unaffected by foreign and civil wars, anti-rent and other domestic con- vulsions.
On the doctrine of compensation, Bath can console herself, if she has not become famous or blossomed into a city, that she has escaped the ills that usually follow such advancement. No destroying flood, devastating fire. death-dealing cyclone or wasting pestilence in one hundred years has visited her border.
In this narrative it has been my aim to give a truthful, plain and unvarnished statement of the history of our village, that can be verified. No facts have been distorted for the purpose of embellishment or to round out periods.
In conclusion, let me say that the object of this celebration has been, in a great measure, attained-securing Colonel Williamson's portrait, and widely advertising Bath. Much valuable historical material has been gathered which in a short time would have been lost forever. An interest has been aroused in the young, as well as in the old, in local historical study which will extend to that of the country and of the world at large. It has also awakened a desire in our citizens to learn something of their noble pioneer ancestors who left them so precious a patrimony, and must induce them, if they possess a spark of patriotism, to revere their names and memory, and preserve them untarnished forever.
PART THREE. SYMPOSIUM AT THE CASINO. TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 6, 1893.
REMINISCENCES.
BY WILLIAM HOWELL.
[Before commencing the duty assigned to me, I desire to pay a kindly tribute to the memory of one who has doubtless been in the thoughts of many of those here present ; one who would have felt the greatest interest in this anniversary. We have known him as a poet who had brought honor to his birthplace, and whose labor and research had constituted him an authority in all matters pertaining to the early records of the county ; indeed, it would seem difficult to mention the history of Bath or Steuben county without calling to mind the name of Guy Humphrey McMaster.]
The practical requirements of life, at the present time, seem to leave but little opportunity for sentimental reflections on the past ; but, in assem- bling here to-day, we are testifying to a desire to turn aside for once, at least, and to permit ourselves on this occasion the free indulgence of retro- spect. We will soon go back to the routine of life that Providence has marked out for us, but to-day we will give ourselves up to the past, and, in turning over the torn and worn pages of the old book, endeavor to bring back again the life and the spirit of one hundred years ago.
A great writer of history has said that the circumstances which have most influence on the happiness of mankind, the changes of manners and morals, the transition of communities from poverty to wealth, from igno- rance to knowledge-these are, for the most part, noiseless revolutions. Their progress is rarely indicated by what historians are pleased to call " important events." If this be true, the materials at our hand to-day are not unworthy of our attention as a study in social progress and develop- ment. Our pursuit will not be diverted by any so-called great events ; there are no wars and tumults to record, no long descriptions of battles and bloodshed ; whatever we may find to interest us must be drawn from uneventful, every-day life and experience.
I shall not attempt to refer at length to the individual history of those whose names stand out prominently in the course of events beginning with the year 1793, but my endeavor will be confined merely to a brief ref- erence to points that may illustrate life and character, in the effort to awaken your further interest in the subject.
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It may at first be stated that the country around us was a part of the territory ceded to the State of Massachusetts by the State of New York on the 16th day of December, 1786, and conveyed by the State of Massachu- setts to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, on the 31st day of March, 1788. Two townships of the same, lying on the Canisteo River, No. 3 in the fifth, and No. 4 in the sixth range, containing 23,040 acres each, were conveyed to Arthur Erwin, Solomon Bennett. Joel Thomas and Uriah Ste- vens, on the 17th day of September, 1790. These persons, and others who came in the spring of 1791 to settle on their lands, were the first white inhabitants of the territory afterwards comprised in the county of Steuben.
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