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 19
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As I recall Mr. Fellows, he was tall, slender and ungraceful in his habits, and lacked the polish and culture of Mr. W. W. McCay, the sub- agent at Bath. He was a bachelor, very modest and retiring in manner, had few intimates, and was not a popular man with the settlers, being regarded as eccentric and peculiar by those who knew him but slightly. He was always honorable, exactly just and fair in his dealings. He con- ducted the business of the Estate with strict integrity, and was really, as I believe, as indulgent and liberal as his predecessors had been. There are many of the old settlers who could testify to the kindness he had shown them in extensions and acts of leniency, kindness and sympathy. Regarded by many as miserly, he was, on the contrary, really a man of charitable impulses and of a good heart. He died at Corning in 1873, two years after he had surrendered his agency.
THE BLACKS.
Slavery existed by law in New York when Steuben county was first settled, and at the commencement of this century. Among the leading men who came, many were slaveholders in feeling, and many in fact.
In 1803, Captain William Helm came and settled in Bath. He was a wealthy planter from Prince William county, Virginia, and brought with him a large number of slaves, with whom he attempted the management of farms and mills. Tradition says that he brought one hundred slaves, but it is beyond doubt that he brought only about fifty. John Shether,
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THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
who took up the land from the Pulteney Estate where the village of Ham- mondsport now stands, in 1796, was a Captain of Dragoons in the Revo- lutionary army, and enjoyed the confidence and favor of General Washing- ton. He was from Virginia, and brought a few slaves in, as did other planters and settlers from Maryland and Virginia, among whom I can name Major Thornton and Captain John Fitzhugh, who subsequently married a daughter of Captain Helm. From an early day there was a large black, or colored, element in the population of Bath.
The Rev. John Smith, a Presbyterian divine, who lived at Hammonds- port, N. Y., from 1845 to near the time of his death in 1856, was born in Virginia, in 1776, and was married in 1808 to Mary Laird, of Virginia. She was the daughter of a Revolutionary officer and a slaveholder. The bridal party traveled from Virginia to Cherry Valley, N. Y., (where he was called to preach) in the saddle, the young clergyman, mounted on horse- back, with his bride riding on a pillion behind him ; and her favorite slave, Hannah, who refused to be separated from her mistress, riding another horse beside him.
Hannah lived in his family till after his death, and that of his wife, her mistress, and in the family of their children, one the wife of Morris Brown, serving both Mrs. Brown and her children, and later in the family of another of Mr. Smith's daughters, the wife of Fletcher M. Hammond, M. D., of Penn Yan, and the grandchildren of each, until her quite recent death at the advanced age of ninety-five years.
General Samuel S. Haight, grandfather of Governor Haight, of Cali- fornia, and father of Mrs. Henry Welles, bought of Captain Helm a negro lad named Simon Watkins, whom he held as a slave until 1813, when he was manumitted, as appears from a record filed in the office of the town clerk of Bath, dated April 25, 1815, signed by Elias Hopkins, one of the Judges of the Steuben Common Pleas.
The town records of Bath show that Captain Helm filed a list of the birth of his slaves' children in 1805, and William Dunn registered the birth of his slaves' children in the town clerk's office in 1800.
Mr. John Fitzhugh, who came from Virginia, sold a slave to General Howell Bull, who filed a certificate of the manumission of the slave, Aaron Butcher, November 24, 1813. The act freeing slaves was passed April 9. 1813. The act of emancipation brought the black race into immediate con- tact with the whites, politically and socially, and this colony and their descendants formed no inconsiderable part of the population in Bath, much more than in any other town of Western New York.
Simon Watkins was the most distinguished, and ablest of the colony of blacks. Born a slave, in 1785, he was in his nineteenth year when Captain Helm brought him to Bath. He was, by universal acclaim, the uncrowned king of his race in Bath, from the date he had purchased his freedom from
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General Samuel S. Haight to the day of his death. Unable to read or write, he was a man of extraordinary power, both physical and intellectual. He engaged in business ås a butcher and purveyor, for which he showed great adaptation and ability. He was, at the same time, although black as night, one of the leading and most conspicuous figures in Bath, as long as he lived, in many respects.
As one who enforced the laws without judicial powers, quieted disturb- ances without writs, punished small offenders without the trouble of trials, and compelled among his people observance of the laws by the force of his example and his strong will-Simon Watkins exercised more power and influence than any Justice of the Peace in Bath for forty years. He was always an aid to the Sheriff on extraordinary occasions, and when Sheriff John Magee took the condemned murderer, Douglass. to Albany, before the Supreme Court. Simon Watkins had him in charge. He performed the same service for Henry Brother, Sheriff, in the case of Nero, convicted of the murder of Jim Pease, at Hammondsport.
He ruled the refractory and turbulent of the colored element of Bath with a rod which, while it was as of iron, was always for their and the public good. He had the confidence and the esteem of every prominent man, not only in Bath, but in the towns around it, and until the day of his death was a unique and a conspicuous feature in Bath, and a power and factor in its civilization.
There were several men in this colony of Blacks who, deprived of the benefits of any education, demonstrated their ability to succeed and over- come obstacles in a marvelous way. I may mention among these, Pratt, whose family showed good traits ; Harry Lucas, so long a resident and barber at Bath, and universally respected ; the Shethars, who settled at Prattsburgh, and who were successful and respected farmers.
Old residents of Bath will recall Simon Watkins, his brother, King Watkins, Old Black George, and Jimmy, who lived up by the foot of Magee's Hill. The most polite of the negro colony, by a large majority, was Stephen Henry, who was attached to and very devoted to the Cameron family.
I recall two famous men among the negro race, whose origin I am unable to state, but whose ancestors, I think, came in as slaves with the early settlers. Peter Gilbert was a giant physically. I would match him . against three Indians in a fight, and I don't recall any white man of his day who would wish to tackle him in a rough and tumble fight. He could chop, easily, double the usual amount of cord-wood in a day, and cradle two acres of wheat as easily in a day as an ordinary man would one. Peace- able, kind-hearted, true to his friends, and devoted to those he loved, Peter Gilbert was a warm friend of mine when a lad, and his own worst enemy.
Sol Perry lived at Prattsburgh, when I was a boy attending school
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THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
there at Franklin Academy, in 1849 and 1850. He was tall, coal-black, powerful, and in all ways a conspicuous man of his type. He had an insurmountable and almost unparalleled taste for rum, which he never overcame, never outgrew. He had the rare faculty of getting outside of it without seeming to swallow. This gift furnished him with untold drinks among the students of Franklin Academy when I was a student there. No matter what you gave him, he would put the bottle to his lips, and it would run down his throat like a rivulet, without a gurgle, and without any perceptible swallow. It was a most unique physiological mystery. I do not quote it on hearsay. I have repeatedly, in my school days, wit- nessed the phenomenon, which he seemed to enjoy as much as I did. He was a successful farmer,notwithstanding his love for grog, and bought and paid for his farm, which he left to his children, and was quite successful as a man of business and affairs throughout his life.
I recall the woman Hannah, who lived with Rev. John Smith, at Hammondsport, and with his children and grand-children. She was a straight-forward consistent, God-fearing woman and devoted her life to the comfort and welfare of her mistress, Mrs. Smith, during her life, and was as devoted, as affectionate and as much trusted by her children and grand-children, whom she had known, loved, and most of whom she had nursed in their infancy. Thoroughly aware of her rights to freedom, she never exercised or considered it in that family, and in her case, slavery ought to be said to present the least repulsive aspect possible under our civilization.
Judge Lazarus Hammond brought Jim Pease into Hammondsport. He lived with his wife, Dolly Pease, in a small cottage next door to the school house, where I went to school, when a boy, when Darius Read was a teacher. He was a very successful fisherman for trout in the lake, which avocation he followed as a calling when not at work for Judge Hammond, and he was also a good man for work when required, when the trout were not in season. Whether he was ever a slave, I do not know. He paid for the house and lot in which he lived, and had the deed made to his wife. He always called himself "Judge Hammond's nigger." He was most devoted to the Judge and his family.
He was killed by Nero, who cut his head open with an axe in a quarrel. Judge Hammond, as I recall the circumstance (and I saw Pease when dead, the day of the homicide), was present and incited Pease against Nero, to compel Nero to be quiet. Nero seized the axe and struck Pease in an encounter, after Pease had twice knocked Nero down with his fist. It was not a deliberate murder, and Nero had been drinking and was quite intoxicated. Public sentiment was strongly against him, and so was Judge Hammond, and he was executed in the county jail, having been convicted of murder in the first degree.
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Peter Howell was the slave of Edward Howell's father. He had his freedom after the act of manumission. In 1833, he gave a power of at- torney to Edward Howell, Esq., of Bath, to bind out his son, Charles Howell, to Albertice Nixon, as an apprentice to learn the trade of a tanner and currier. Peter Howell, who had assumed the name of his old master's family, then lived in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York.
Through the courtesy of William Howell, Jr., Esq., son of the late Edward Howell, Esq., I am enabled to give a copy of the power of attor- ney, under which Edward Howell was authorized to sign articles for Charles, the son of his father's old slave:
Know all men by these present :- That I, Peter Howell, of the Town of Unadilla in the County of Otsego, and State of New York, have made, constituted and appointed, and by these presents, do make, constitute and appoint Edward Howell, Esquire, of Bath, in the County of Steuben, and State aforesaid, my true and lawful attorney for me, and in my name to execute an indenture of Apprenticeship binding my son, Charles Howell, a minor, an apprentice to Albertice Nixon, of the said Town of Bath, for the purpose of learning the tannery and currying business, and for what- soever my lawful attorney shall do in or about the premises, these presents shall be to him, a sufficient warrant.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this eleventh day of September, in the year 1833.
Signed and sealed in presence of HENRY OGDEN.
PETER HOWELL.
I copied the letter in which the power was enclosed:
DEAR SIR :- Peter is in good health and gets along comfortably, and feels gratified by your kind attention, and friendly regard. He is much obliged by your offer to bind his son Charles in his behalf, and is glad to find Charles willing to be bound, and that he is pleased with his situation and business. He is anxious that Charles should stick steadily to the busi- ness, and become master of his trade. Himself, also family, are in good health. He desires to be affectionately remembered to you, etc.
Respectfully yours, etc.,
H. OGDEN.
REMINISCENCES.
LETTER BY E. H. BUTLER,
[Mr. E. H. Butler, of Buffalo, was to have been the next speaker. On account of illness in his family he could not be present. The following letter, however, from him was read by the Chairman :]
Hon. J. F. Little, Bath, N. Y.
MY DEAR MR. LITTLE :- Your letter of April 29th, inviting me to attend the celebration of the Anniversary of the settlement of your town, is at hand. I will certainly be present if I can be ; I am always interested in anything that concerns Bath's welfare, and it will do me good, I know, to see you all enthusiastic over the progress, socially and politically, your town has made in the past one hundred years.
I cannot contribute anything, though, unless I prevail on someone to give me the points, and to whom could I turn but yourself-the walking encyclopedia of Steuben? I might contribute lots of things, but would they take? I might, like the average historian, tell the people that Mossy Bank and Spaulding Bridge were contiguous once upon a time, that where the Methodist church now stands and the site of Perry Breen's cafe were identical before the volcanic eruptions of years ago which changed the old landmarks and wiped out the Corning gravel train. I might go further and say that the bounds of Hodgmanville extended to the artistic knoll upon which Gov. Campbell placed his mansion where he studied statecraft, and the inheritance of which by his son is just now the talk of the country, according to the New York World.
To deal with personages would be beyond me. Do you think I could tell them that Judge McMaster was a merry soul, and that " Nub" Barker was the Chesterfield of the early days? Could I say that our modern hotels were nothing compared with that of "Abe" Yost? Could I say that Judge John Butler, of Cohocton, was the Beau Brummel of later days without directing the glances of the assembled multitude to the con- firmed bachelor, Capt. John Little? In fact, I do not know what I could tell them, unless I pointed out the prospects of the place during the next one hundred years. I might picture Editor Parkhurst as sitting on the
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bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, "Tony" Underhill as Post- master-General, the descendants of all the old soldiers comfortably ensconced in the Soldiers' Home, voting for Bath's village trustees, Mr. Davenport sitting in the Presidential chair at Washington, a bronze and gold statute erected to the memory of your Ward McAllister, Mr. DePeys- ter, and one of ivory to commemorate the greatness of that apothecary, Sam Seeley. What could I tell them ? I will try to be with you on that occasion, but as for the paper, I fear I will have to be excused. With best wishes I am,
Very truly your friend,
E. H. BUTLER.
THE SCHOOLS OF BATH.
BY CHARLES F. KINGSLEY, ESQ.
In the very first year of the settlement of the town of Bath, 1793, a school was established here, and Robert Hunter was the school master. This fact is authenticated by Charles Williamson's cash book, which is now in the hands of Hon. A. J. McCall, in this village. In this cash book we find the following original entries :
"1793, June 13. To cash advanced Mr. Hunter as school master at Bath, $20.
" 1794, February 7. Robert Hunter, on acct. of salary, $1.61.
"1794, April 23. 1 doz. spelling books and } ream cartridge paper, 1 shilling, 1 pence."
The first school house was built on the north-west corner of Pulteney Square, where Mr. Hewlett's furniture store now stands. In the picture of the village of Bath in 1804, from personal recollections of W. H. Bull, which is printed in the History of Steuben County, published in 1879, * locates the site where this first school house stood. This school house was probably erected before 1800, as Colonel Bull states he went to school in that building in 1805, and that it had been built some years then. A Mr. Dixon was then the school master. This school house was removed when the old stone jail was built, in 1808.
A school was kept in a small frame building on the east side of Pul- teney Square, a little south of the old Clerk's office, and was taught by Elam Bridges, of Prattsburgh, in 1811. This building was not on property owned by the District, nor was it built for school purposes.
The first conveyance for school purposes was on October 4, 1803; Sir William Pulteney to Samuel Baker, William Read and Eli Read, of fifty acres of land in Pleasant Valley, for the use and benefit of public schools. This was then in the town of Bath. Afterwards, by an Act of the Legis- lature, chap. 115, laws of 1815, the grantees in said deed were directed to convey the fifty acres to Cornelius Younglove, Amos Stone and Lazarus Hammond, Trustees for School District No. 7 of the town of Bath, which was done.
* This map is reproduced in this book.
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THE SCHOOLS OF BATH.
1815, February 1, the Duke of Cumberland, and others, conveyed to Thomas Aulls, William Holmes and Otto F. Marshall, Trustees of School District No. 5, of Bath, two acres in lot No. 33, of Kersey's allotment, on the west bank of Canoni Creek. This is now in the town of Wheeler.
The first conveyance I find on record of land in the present boundaries of this town was on December 29, 1812-Henry A. Townsend, and wife, to Dugald Cameron, Howell Bull, Luman Hopkins, and Samuel C. Haight, Trustees of Bath school ; consideration $50; conveyed sixty feet on the north side of Steuben street, where the most easterly building of Abram Beekman's sash and blind factory now stands. In 1813, a two story-build- ing was erected on these premises, the lower story of which was used for a district school, by District No. 5 of this town, and the upper story for the society of Free Masons, and it was known as the " Old Academy."
In the spring of 1824, the Old Academy was burned down, and what was known as the "Red School House" erected in its place ; and on October 8, 1824, Henry Townsend, who had conveyed the same lot in 1812, as before stated, conveys the same to George C. Edwards, Lewis Biles and Daniel G. Skinner, Trustees of School District No. 5, in the town of Bath, as a site for a school house, and for no other purpose.
Henry W. Rogers, in a letter published in the Steuben Farmers' Advo- cate, January 17, 1879, states that this was the first school organized under the District system, which commenced in 1824 ; that he was the first teacher ; that his salary was $250 for twelve months ; had no vaca- tions except January 1, July 4, and Christmas ; and while he was teach- ing he made " liberal use of the ferule and rule," with satisfactory results. He also, in this letter, states that prior to this time "schools were main- tained by private enterprise."
And I was fortunate to find one of the first subscriptions, which is still in a good state of preservation, and reads substantially as follows :
"BATH, 20th November, 1812 .- James Read agrees to take charge of the school and teach reading, writing and arithmetic (and surveying to those who wish it), for space of four months, commencing 1st Dec., at $2 per quarter for each scholar, surveying to be extra."
This was signed by the following persons :
Samuel S. Haight, $4
Dugald Cameron, paid.
3
Robert Campbell, paid 5
Daniel Cruger 1
Samuel Nixon. 2
Elisha Hanks, paid. 1
Henry A. Townsend, paid.
2
William Helm.
3
Benjamin Roberts. 2
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THE CENTENNIAL OF BATH.
Ira Pratt, paid.
1 James Clark.
2
Samuel Marther 2
Russell True. .
1
George W. Hyde, paid.
1
1 W. Feenthmer, paid.
John Smith. 1
The Red School House was burned down September 11, 1849, and the lot upon which it stood was afterwards the cause of an expensive law-suit, brought by Reuben Robie, et al., Trustees, against William Sedgwick and Richard Hardenbrook, and was decided in favor of the Trustees, and is re- ported in 35 Barb., 319, and 4 Abb., Ct. App. 73. Judge Johnson, in deliver- ing the opinion of the General Term. states that the evidence in the case shows that no record of the original organization of this District can be found ; that corporations of this description may exist by prescription.
After a very thorough examination of all the records in the Town Clerk's office and in the County Clerk's office, I have been unable to find any records of the formation of our school districts prior to 1847. At the first Town Meeting held in the town, April 4, 1797, at the tavern of John Metcalf, the following persons were elected Town Commissioners of Com- mon Schools : George D. Cooper, John Sheather, Charles Williamson and Benjamin F. Young. And while such Town Commissioners and Town Inspectors of Schools were annually elected, there is no record of their proceedings, and it is fair to presume that they have been lost, or destroyed by fire.
Said Commissioners were to divide the town into school districts, each to have three Trustees. The Trustees were to report to the Town Commis- sioners, and they to the County Clerk, and the County Clerk to the Super- intendent of Common Schools ; and by act, Chap. 152, laws of 1815, the Town Clerk to be Clerk of Town Commissioners.
In 1784, the Regents of the University was formed. Governor George Clinton was the first Chancellor, by Chap. 242, laws of 1812, a Superin- tendent of Common Schools, to be appointed by Council of Appointment, at a salary of $300 a year. Under this act, Gideon Hawley, of Saratoga county, was appointed such Superintendent, without any clerk, and held the office until February 22, 1821, when the office was abolished, and the Secretary of State was to be, ex-officio, Superintendent of Common Schools, which state of things continued to April 4, 1854, when the first Superintendent of Public Instruction was elected ; salary $5,000 a year. The total expenses of his department for 1892 were $37,220.42, a very large increase over the $300 paid to the Superintendent of Common Schools in 1812.
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THE SCHOOLS OF BATH.
In February, 1844, Town Superintendents of Schools were elected at the annual Town Meeting, the offices of Town Commissioners and Town Inspectors having been abolished ; and at the Town Meeting in 1844, Peter Halsey was first elected such Town Superintendent, and this system con- tinued until 1856; Dr. Joseph S. Dolson, who is now living in Hornellsville, being the last Town Superintendent, having been elected in February, 1855. In 1856, Town Superintendents were abolished, and the Board of Super- visors was authorized to appoint County School Commissioners, to hold office until January, 1858. In the fall of 1857, George McLean, of Pratts- burgh, was the first one elected School Commissioner for this school district.
In the old District No. 2 was what was known as the "White School House," where the colored church now stands, on the east side of Pine street. William Howell taught school there in 1826. Mrs. Sally Ann Woodruff taught there in 1838. At this time the white and colored chil- dren went to this school without regard to "age, sex or previous con- dition." Marcus Bauter followed Mrs. Woodruff as teacher. John Emer- son also taught a number of terms in this same school house. After the law was passed allowing colored people to have a school by themselves, women teachers were generally employed, among whom were Misses Helen G. Pawling and Maria Faulkner. 1867, March 1, the district leased this building to the colored people for a church, and it has been used as such ever since.
There was a school established at Kanona at a very early date. We find the following records among some of the old papers which are still in existence :
" At a school meeting, November 23, 1813, Reuben Montgomery, Mode- rator, and Brigham Hanks, Clerk, Voted that where the school house now stands be the site for the school,"-showing that a school house was built before 1813, but the site was not owned by the district. "May 5, 1815, Dauphin Murray entered into a contract with Elisha Hanks, Jared Spaulding and Erastus Glass, Trustees of School District No. 3, in the town of Bath, to keep and teach a common English school, to-wit : reading, writing and common arithmetic, for the term of one year, in the school house next adjoining the blacksmith shop, owned and occupied by Brigham Hanks, Esq." It also appears that said Dauphin Murray taught this school in 1814. He was also one of the early hotel keepers in the place.
The first school house erected in the south-eastern part of the town was built of logs, near the four corners where the Marshall Stewart house stands. John Wicks was one of the earliest teachers in that section. He made his home with Andrew Smith, grandfather of John L. Smith. Re- ligious meetings were held in this school house.
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