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 23
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Hon. Guy H. McMaster was born in 1829. He was graduated at Ham- ilton College, in the class of '47. He was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 1852. In 1863, he was elected County Judge and Surrogate, and was re-elected in 1867. He was again elected to the same office in 1877. In 1883, he was elected Surrogate, the office of County Judge and Surrogate having been separated. He was the author of the "Old Continentals " and a " Pioneer History of Steuben County." Speaking of him as a Judge, the " Historical Gazetteer of the County " says : "His rulings were given with promptness, and so accurate was his judgment and so great his knowl- edge of the law, that during the fourteen years that he was County Judge, no new trial was ordered by the Supreme Court in any case tried by him."
Hon. William B. Ruggles was born in Bath, May 14, 1827. He was graduated from Hamilton College in 1849. He was for many years one of the ablest practitioners at the Bar in the county. In 1876 and 1877, he was a member of Assembly from this district. In 1877, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General of the State, and was afterwards elected Super- intendent of Public Instruction by the Legislature. In 1883, he was ap- pointed Deputy Superintendent of Insurance. Mr. Ruggles was an earnest student, and a man of extensive range in literary knowledge. He always took an active interest in the local affairs of the village, especially in edu- cational matters. He was for a number of years a member of the Board of Education, and took a leading part in establishing the Bath Library.
Hon. William E. Bonham read law with Hon. Washington Barnes, with whom he practiced for a number of years in this village. In 1864 and 1865, he was a member of the Legislature from this district. "Judge " Bonham, as he was called by his friends, possessed a rare legal mind. He was most courteous in manner to all with whom he came in contact. When he left Bath for Hornellsville, where he lived the last years of his life, his departure was generally regretted, not only by his clients but by the com- munity at large. He was deeply attached to Bath, and was never hap- pier, while a resident of Hornellsville, than when seated in company with any old friends from the First District, he recalled memories of the years that he had spent here.
Perry S. Donahe came from Avoca to Bath in the early forties. He studied law with A. P. Ferris. After gaining admittance to the Bar, he practiced law in the village until his death, in 1879. He was Town Clerk from 1845 to 1851. In 1851 he was elected County Treasurer, and re-elect- ed in 1854. Mr. Donahe, in the early years of his residence in Bath, varied
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the monotony of legal practice, by teaching school. He taught for a time in the old red school house which stood on the present site of the Beekman factory. His influence on the present generation of lawyers in Bath was fully as great as a teacher as it was as a lawyer. He did not spare the rod and he did not spoil the child.
Hon. Robert Van Valkenburgh was born in Prattsburgh in 1821. He was educated at Franklin Academy in that village. He took an active part in the political campaign of 1840 as the editor of the Constitutionalist. He was then a student at law in the office of Hon. David Rumsey. He was admitted to the Bar in 1841, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Rumsey, which continued until 1862. He married, in 1842, Catherine F. Rumsey, a sister of his partner. Mr. Van Valkenburgh was a stirring, active man, a great favorite with all who knew him. He was a member of the Champion and Eagle Fire Companies, a prominent figure in the State Militia from 1855 until the breaking out of the War, and was a member of the State Legislature for four years. He was Captain of the old Bath Artillery, organized by himself. In 1855, he was made Colonel of the 55th Regiment of New York State Militia. He had command of the rendezvous for volunteers at Elmira from the day after the call for troops by Presi- dent Lincoln until the year 1862. He was elected Member of Congress in 1860, and re-elected in 1862. During the darkest days of the War he was called upon, together with Gen Diven, of Elmira, also a Member of Con- gress at that time, by the President to raise a regiment for service in the field. They raised the 107th Regiment N. Y. Volunteers. Mr. Van Valken- burgh was made Colonel, and commanded the regiment at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. His wife was taken seriously ill at that time, and he soon afterwards resigned his command in the army to care for her. She died not long after. In 1867, Col. Van Valkenburgh was appointed, by President Johnson, Minister Resident to Japan. He re- turned from Japan, in 1871, with a second wife, Mrs. Anna Schoyer. He went to Florida, and, in 1872 he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court, which office he held until his death in 1887.
Such, in brief outline, were the men who, during the past one hun- dred years have been the representatives of the Bench and Bar of Bath. The list does not include a Seward, a Conkling or a Folger, but I will ven- ture the assertion that there is not another village in this State that can claim as her sons so many lawyers who have been eminent for their ability on the Bench and at the Bar. The English author, James Bryce, says: "The lawyers are the aristocracy of America." A hasty glance at the fee bill may tend to confirm this view. However, Mr Bryce bases his opinion upon other grounds, viz: their intelligence and patriotism. He finds that much of the success of our complicated system of government, with its
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numerous checks and balances, has been due to the wise direction and paramount influence of the lawyers of the country.
As in the old wars, the lawyers of Bath were well represented, so in the last great war, several of Bath's attorneys bore a brave part. Besides Gen. Van Valkenburgh, Col. William Rumsey, now Justice of the Supreme Court, and Captain John F. Little, formerly Surrogate of the county, went to the front for the Union cause.
THE LOCAL PRESS.
BY GEORGE B. RICHARDSON.
I stand here to-day in answer to an invitation from the Centennial Committee of Bath "to prepare an article on the Local Press."
The first pioneer of this section of the country was the hunter with his trusty rifle ; the next, the sturdy woodsman with his ponderous axe, and close behind these came the great lever of civilization, the Printing Press.
Not many years ago the people of Prattsburgh held a loan exhibition, and among the articles exhibited was an old writing-book, made up of several sheets of foolscap paper, tacked together and covered with a news- paper. Upon examination, the cover proved to be a newspaper printed in Bath village nearly ninety-seven years ago. The name of this sheet was the Bath Gazette and Genesee Advertiser. This was unquestionably the first paper printed in Bath. William Kersey and James Edie were the publishers, and the first number was issued early in October, 1796. The materials for the production of this paper were brought from Northum- berland, and the printers were from the same place. The publication of the Gazette was continued some four years. In 1798, Colonel Williamson said : "The printer of the Ontario Gazette dispenses weekly not less than one thousand papers, and the printer of the Bath Gazette from four hun- dred to five hundred."
In 1816, Captain Benjamin Smead was setting type in Albany, and in the latter part of that year made arrangements with Daniel Cruger, of Bath, to establish a printing press at the county seat of "Old Steuben." In pursuance of this agreement, he purchased an outfit for a printing office and came to Bath, and near the first of December, 1816, issued the first number of The Steuben and Allegany Patriot. This was the second paper printed in Bath. The Patriot, under different names, remained in the Smead family up to April 4, 1849, when it passed into the hands of William C. Rhodes, who continued its publication as the Steuben Farmers' Advocate. On January 30, 1857, the office took fire, and the establishment was entirely consumed.
Mr. Rhodes sold the good will of the concern to P. S. Donahe, who, on the 31st of May, 1857, resumed the publication of the Steuben Farmers' Advocate, A. J. McCall, editor. In the summer of 1860, Mr. Donahe sold
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out to A. L. Underhill. Up to this time the Advocate had been printed, first on a "Ramage," and afterwards on a "Washington " hand-press. Soon after Mr. Underhill took possession, he introduced a power press, driven by a steam engine ; since then he has added more presses and other materials, laid aside his engine and introduced a water-motor in its place, and to-day has one of the best equipped printing offices in this section of the State. The Advocate has been in the Underhill family for a third of a century, and from present indications it looks as though it might remain there down to the " third and fourth generations.""
Erastus Shepherd commenced the publication of the Western Republi- can at Bath, in September, 1819. In November, 1822, he changed the name to the Steuben Republican, and in February, 1823, its publication was sus- pended.
The Steuben Whig was published in Bath during the political campaign of 1828, by William M. Swaine, who afterwards established the Philadel- phia Ledger.
The Steuben American was started in Bath, January 1, 1856, by A. L. Underhill, and published until the summer of 1857, when it was sold to P. S. Donahe, who used the materials when he commenced the publication of the Steuben Farmers' Advocate.
The Steuben Messenger was commenced in Bath by David Rumsey, the first number of which was issued on the 17th day of April, 1828. On the second day of December, 1830, Mr. Rumsey sold out to S. M. Eddy, who continued its publication for a time, and sold out to W. P. Angel. When Mr. Angel got control of the paper, he changed the name to The Consti- tutionalist, and continued its publication until sometime in 1834, when it passed into the hands of Charles Adams. On the 10th day of February, 1841, Mr. Adams sold out to R. L. Underhill, and the paper was continued in the name of M. F. Whittemore & Co., R. B. Van Valkenburgh, editor, until the spring of 1843, when it passed into the hands of George B. Rich- ardson and John Dowe, who continued it as the Steuben Democrat until some time in 1844, when its publication was suspended. In 1848, the Democrat was revived by L. J. Brush, and in 1849 it passed into the hands of George H. Bidwell, by whom it was continued until 1852.
The Primitive Christian was printed in the office of Richardson & Dowe, in 1844. Rev. Jabez Chadwick was the editor and publisher. It was an octavo, and issued monthly. It lived less than two years.
The Temperance Gem was printed in the Advocate office, for Jennie and Caroline Rumsey, in 1854. It was afterwards printed in Elmira.
The Rose, a literary monthly, was published in the office of Richardson & Dowe, for J. C. Vincent, in 1844, and was discontinued when the editor enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican War.
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THE LOCAL PRESS.
In the spring of 1843, when the firm of M. F. Whittemore & Co. dis- solved, the Constitutionalist went down; this left the Whigs without an organ. At this time Henry H. Hull was at Corning, publishing a small paper called the Corning and Blossburg Advocate. The leading Whigs of the county wanted an organ at the county seat, and therefore gave Mr. Hull a call to move to Bath-an offer he gladly accepted, and soon after came on with his printing materials. He took in Moses F. Whittemore, a practical printer, as a partner, and commenced the publication of The Steuben Courier, with the name of Henry Clay at the mast-head as a can- didate for President. The Courier was for a long time printed on a Wash- ington hand-press, but after a time Mr. Hull added a Potter newspaper power press, and soon after connected it with machinery, by means of a wire cable in the sash and blind factory of A. Beekman. The Courier was at first a six-column paper, 21 x 31 inches, and was the only Whig organ in the county. Mr. Whittemore retired in two years, and Mr. Hull conducted it alone until 1856, when Charles G. Fairman, of Elmira, was taken into partnership for nine months. In 1854, upon the formation of the Republican party, the Courier became, as it is to-day, the exponent of Republican principles. In 1864, Mr. Hull formed a partnership with Enos W. Barnes, and the firm of Hull & Barnes existed, with the exception of six months in 1868, until July 1, 1875, when Mr. Barnes retired, and Harry S. Hull, son of the senior partner, took his place, and the firm name was H. H. Hull & Son, for a year, when the partnership ended by the death of the senior member. Harry S. Hull conducted the paper alone until his death, July 9, 1890. Some months after, the Courier was bought by the Courier Company, Limited, which is now conducting the business. The form of the Courier has recently been changed to a quarto, the job depart- ment enlarged, and it is to-day a first-class establishment, with most of the modern improvements. J. F. Parkhurst is the editor-in-chief, and H. Oliver Elkins is the assistant editor.
The Saturday News was established by Enos W. Barnes, who issued the first number on April 25th, 1868. It only lived some five or six months.
The Tri-Weekly Conservative. Chas. Clute commenced the publica- tion of this paper in August, 1868, and continued it for about six months. It was a spicy little sheet.
The Bath Echo was published by Clute & McCall for four or five months, in 1874.
The Bath Sunday News was published about six months, in the year 1881, by L. R. Smith & Co., A. Ellas McCall, editor.
The Bath Plaindealer was started May 5th, 1883, by A. Ellas McCall, Orson L. Drew and William Black, with office in the basement of the Opera House Block. It was afterward moved up stairs and now occupies a store in the Ives Block. Mr. Drew retired in May, 1884 and Mr. Black in
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December the same year. It has since been run by Mr. McCall alone. It is an eight page paper, containing forty-eight columns, and has recently entered upon its eleventh year. It is said to be established on a sound financial basis.
The Savona Rustler, issued weekly, was established May 19th, 1888, by S. L. Ward, and is at present published by Claude Wall as the Savona Weekly Review.
I will here correct a few errors which have been published in regard to the "Local Press" of Bath. J. H. French who issued a Gazetteer of the State of New York in 1860, in speaking of Bath, says: "The Steuben and Allegany Patriot was started at Bath in 1815, by Benj. Smead." I have a letter in my possession, written by Captain Smead, addressed to General Cruger, of Bath, dated Albany, July 28th, 1816, in which he says: "My residence in this city during the last session of the Legislature, enabled me to learn your character and influence in the Assembly and in your county." This letter was written with a view of establishing a paper in Bath, as will be seen by Captain Smead's letter to General Cruger, dated at Albany, September 25, 1816, in which he says: "I received your reply to my propo- sition for establishing a Republican paper in Bath." He further adds: "I beg you to write to Judge Buel, editor of the Argus, Albany, and to Mr. John A. Stevens, editor of the Messenger, Canandaigua, for any knowl- edge you may require of my moral and political character, and mechanical and editorial ability. With the former I have assisted to complete the laws and journals of the last Legislature, and with the latter have had about two years' intimate acquaintance. Since completing the laws, I am upon Smollett's and Hume's History of England." Mr. French says: " The Farmers' Gazette was commenced in Bath in 1816, by David Rum- sey." This statement also lacks confirmation. He further says of the Constitutionalist : "Its publication was continued successively by R. L. Underhill, Whittemore & Van Valkenburgh, etc.," when the truth is R. L. Underhill owned the materials, M. F. Whittemore was the printer and R. B. Van Valkenburgh the editor.
In 1868-69, one Hamilton Child, published a Gazetteer and Business Directory of Steuben county, and as he copied from French instead of ascertaining facts for himself, we have these same errors brought down as truth. If these pretended historians would work half as hard to get facts to put into their histories as they do to get dollars out of them, they would probably get just as many shekels and the people would get much more authentic history.
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PART FOUR,
EXERCISES AT THE FAIR GROUNDS.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 7, 1893.
١
OUR PIONEERS. i
[The exercises on Wednesday morning took place upon the Fair Grounds, no building in the village being sufficient to accommodate the thousands of citizens and strangers present to participate in them. A unique feature of the occasion, and one worthy of more than passing mention, was the presence of the school children of the town (fully a thousand in num- ber), who had marched in procession to the Grounds, and completely filled the Grand Stand, each carrying a small flag. The children added much of enjoyment to the exercises by their excellent and hearty rendering of patriotic songs. After prayer by the Chaplain of the Day, Rev. Marcus N. Preston, the following song, written by the Chairman of the Centennial Committee, General Averell, was rendered by the children .- ED.]
Where pioneers undaunted Left homes and kindred dear, Sought wilds with danger haunted, Now happy roof-trees rear, Our homes belov'd are here.
Where perils aye beset them And toils untried, severe, Shall we for aye forget them ? Not while our homes are here, Our homes belov'd are here.
Their legends shall not perish, Of trials, want and care, Their relics proudly cherish And keep like jewels rare, In homes belov'd while here.
And as each generation Shall pass with smile or tear, Let every consecration Exalt the pioneer, In homes belov'd then here.
THE WILLIAMSON MEMORIAL.
[Not the least interesting feature of the Wednesday morning exercises at the Fair Grounds, was the presentation of a portrait of Captain Charles Williamson, the founder of our village, the gift of his grandson. After a graceful introduction by the President of the Day (R. E. Robie, Esq.), the gift was presented to the village by James McCall, Esq., and accepted on behalf of the Corporation of Bath, by Byron L. Smith, Esq. The full remarks of each follow .- ED.]
MR. ROBIE :
Two gentlemen of Bath, while traveling abroad, last season, visited the ancestral home of the Williamson family, and there met the present head of the family, the grandson of the first settler of this vil- lage, Colonel David R. Williamson. As a result of that visit, Colonel Will- iamson has sent to them a portrait of his noted grandfather, with the request that it be presented to and preserved by the corporate authorities of the village of Bath. That portrait will now be presented on behalf of Colonel Williamson to the village of Bath, by James McCall, Esq., and accepted on the part of the corporate authorities of the village by Byron L. Smith, Esq.
MR. MCCALL :
MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- Go back to 1793, June 7. It is Friday. The busy villagers are still discussing the news of the second inauguration of George Washington, the coalition formed by Pitt against France and the violent death meted out to Louis XVI. by the French revo- lutionists, accounts of which are contained in a well-thumbed New York newspaper brought in last evening by Benjamin Patterson. From the broad-mouthed chimney of the small log house, which dots the little clear- ing south of Pulteney Square, rises a curling blue column of smoke deli- cately outlined against the dark green background of South Hill. The sun cannot yet shoot his rays into the clearing, and the odor of pine and fir sweetens the air. The rough-hewn door of that log building opens, and out of it walks a tall, slender man of thirty-five. He is erect, and has the manly bearing of a soldier and the carriage of a courtier. Beneath a broad-brimmed felt hat looks out a smooth-shaven countenance that would remind you of Robert Burns. Upon his brow is the mark of Scotch frank- ness, Scotch vigor and Scotch grit. Across his features is the play of
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THE WILLIAMSON MEMORIAL.
humor and the smile of gentility. Clad in a cutaway coat, velvet waist- coat, buckskin knee-breeches and high-topped boots, whip in hand, he strides toward the well-groomed bay mare which, saddled and bridled, stands in charge of faithful Michael. With the grace and agility of a cavalier he vaults lightly into the saddle, and, casting an eagle eye over the busy woodsmen and builders, gallops off through the cuttings of Mor- ris street for Canandaigua.
That man is the Pole Star of the great Genesee country. It is his head that has planned the development of this new region. It is in pursuance of his orders that these men are laboring in this clearing ; others checking the Conhocton with a dam two miles above ; those working in that high- way between Dansville and Williamsburgh ; and others still building Dur- ham boats at Northumberland. To him apply all strangers searching for new homes ; upon him are poured the complaints of those whose lack of thrift and hatred of work have led to bad harvests ; in him is to be found the sympathy of a fellow Scotchman and the generosity of a comrade in the British service ; and upon him depends the success of all industrial improvements and all social gatherings. He must be in New York or Al- bany this week buying new supplies or settling with his banker ; next week he must be in Bath entertaining some English traveler or French exile ; the week after he must go to Williamsburgh to parley with the Indians or remonstrate with the Germans; and before the month is out he must in- spect the improvements on his farm at Geneva, and write long letters to his principals in England. To successfully accomplish all this required a man of wonderful versatility and endurance. Such this young man we have just seen dashing through the woods proved himself to be.
His position as agent, with the fullest of powers, was indeed unique and important ; his opportunities for experiments with men and nature were many, and his manner of life exceedingly fascinating to one of his make-up. In his enthusiasm, Rochefoucault of him exclaims : "He is here universally respected, honored and beloved. How glorious in my esteem is his career ! How fortunate and enviable his situation ! How much more important than that of a dissipated courtier or a mercenary stock-jobber !"
Gerome has wrought on canvass a wonderful picture of Napoleon standing alone in the African desert and contemplating the herculean labor represented in the Sphinx and the pyramid of Cheops. And it has been said that he who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew is mightier than the conqueror of armies. Have you ever thought what a stupendous work it was to transform Western New York from a dense for- est into fertile farms ?
This same young man sternly braved the dangers and stoutly bore the toils that he might lay the foundation of this pyramid of industry. Ere
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this you must have guessed the name of this "Baron of the Backwoods." It is Captain Charles Williamson, and his features are now before you.
As a matter of explanation and a condensation of the remarks of yes- terday, I will simply add that Colonel Charles Williamson had two chil- dren who survived him, Charles A. and Ann. Charles A. Williamson resided in this country for a long time, and married a Miss Clark, of Roch- ester. They had several children, the oldest of whom was David Robert- son Williamson, of Crieff, Scotland.
In the foot-hills of the Scottish Highlands, in that fair county of Perth, where the broad and fertile valley of the Earn leads from Crieff to the gray-topped mountain of Ben Vorlich, which looks down into the clear waters of Loch Earn, stands Lawers House, a handsome white building, the ancient seat of the Robertson family. Set in a background of beeches and oaks, which fill to the top the sloping hillside, the ancestral home looks to the southward down a broad avenue of greensward bordered by stately oaks, and extending unbroken across the valley. From the hospitable porch we see sleek cattle grazing in the meadows; swans are floating in the curling pond below ; a small lodge is to the left ; a handsome little fami- ly house to the right ; trim hedges of thorn ; a few maples whose seed came from the Genesee valley ; pretty drive-ways which circle through the grounds ; a neat chapel in the distance ; while a clock in the quaint belfry at the western extremity of the big house marks the hour of day. That is now the home of David Robertson Williamson, Esq. He is a worthy scion of a most distinguished grandfather-a leading gentleman of his county, foremost in every industrial enterprise, honored and revered by the country wide, a good shot and an expert horseman. When I saw him, last October, he appeared greatly interested in hearing of the present con- dition of Steuben, and pleased to learn that his grandfather and himself were not forgotten in the land of his birth.
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