F 127 .S34C78 
 
 Historical and blograpliicai reminiscence 
 
 3 1924 025 959 788 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 DATE DUE 
 
 
 '^^^fysd 
 
 ^ep-^ 
 
 «e6&> 
 
 GAY LORD 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S. A 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924025959788 
 
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL 
 REMINISCENCES OF SCHUYLER ;rjv^ 
 
 BY A LOCAL HISTORL\N 
 
 i/^ito,,<t->t^^r 
 
 Published in the Watkins Express Beginning in 1889 
 by John Corbett, Assistant Editor 
 
 In attempting to prepare for pub- 
 lication a series of articles, connec- 
 ted with the brief but not unevent- 
 ful history of Schuyler County, and 
 biographical notes of prominent men 
 who were instrumental and influen- 
 tial in its creation and have since 
 ben identified with is progressive de- 
 velopment, it is best to begin at the 
 beginning and devote the 1st sketch 
 to its origin and formation as a sep- 
 arate and sovereign geographical 
 division of the State. 
 
 In the task that has been under- 
 tajcen the writer has but one history 
 SBEne county to draw upon for facts, 
 dates and names; and that, like all 
 other works of its kind is far from ' 
 beilig accurate and perfect. The one 
 aUfidled to is embraced in the "His- 
 tory 1 of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins 
 and L Schuyler counties," published 
 by werets & Ensign, of Philadelphia 
 in »e year 1879. While this source 
 of iiaformation will necessarily have 
 to tie depended upon for many 
 thiit^s, as the sketches multiply 
 from week to week, the writer — ^who 
 has been a resident of the county 
 durift^ nearly the whole period of 
 its Ikistance, and personally ac- 
 guanted with most of the leading 
 cil^iins in all its towns and villages 
 — ^wai rely in many respects on his 
 owuftpersonal knowledge and reool- 
 i$0tfia. of public and noted men, and 
 the occurrence of important and in- 
 terst|ng events. 
 
 The territory now embraced in 
 tbejounty of Schuyler, at the date 
 oC^ren. Sullivan's expedition against 
 tl^^ix Nations, (1779) was, like all 
 this section of the State of New 
 York, ;an unbroken wilderness, in- 
 habited! only by Indian savages and 
 wild teasts of prey. After the pow- 
 er of the Six Nations, or Iroquois 
 'Confederacy, was broken, the terri- 
 tory was rapidly settled, mostly by 
 immigrants from New England, 
 New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and 
 it early became parts of the great 
 counties and towns into which Cen- 
 tral and Western New York were 
 divided. 
 
 Ontario, the first county organ' 
 ized west of the so-called "Pre- 
 emption Line," was created in 1789, 
 and included a part of what is now 
 in Schuyler; and Tioga county, 
 which was formed in 1791, took in 
 all of the territory of the present 
 county except tl>at now embraced 
 in Orange and /Tyrone. Onondaga 
 county, erected iin 1794, embraced 
 that -jart now constituting the town 
 of Hfictor. Steuben cresited in 179|S, 
 included all now embraced in Read- 
 ing, Tyrone and Orange, — ^but long 
 before they became towns. Cayuga, 
 Seneca and Tompkins counties suc- 
 cessively possessed old Hector, whose 
 boundary lines, inclosing ten miles 
 square, or an area of 100 square 
 miles, has never been broken since 
 it became a town, though subject 
 to many masters. 
 
 April 10th, 1792, the town of Peru 
 in Onondaga county was formed, 
 and covered all the territory be- 
 tween Seneca and Owasco Lakes, in- 
 cluding that now embraced in Hec- 
 tor. On the 5th of March, 1794, the 
 town of Ovid was formed and in- 
 cluded the territory now embraced 
 in Hector. March 17th, 1796 Fred- 
 erickstown was formed in Steuben 
 county and comprised all the terri- 
 tory of Orange, Tjrone and Read- 
 ing, now embraced in Schuyler and 
 also that of Starkey and Barring- 
 ton in Yates, and Wayne and Brad- 
 ford in Steuben. At that time the 
 present territory of Schuyler was 
 all embraced in the towns of Pred- 
 erickstown, Steuben county, Ovid, 
 Onondaga county, Newtown, Tioga 
 county, which contained Dix, Mon- 
 tour and a part of Catharine, as 
 far east as the line of Cayuta ex- 
 tended. The town of Chemung em- 
 braced the territory between this 
 line and the Cayuta Creek, and east 
 of the creek belonged to the town of 
 Owego. 
 
 March 15th, 1798, Newtown was 
 divided on the present east and west 
 line of Veteran and Catlin, and the 
 north part was changed into the 
 town of Catharine. In 1799 Onon- 
 
 1: 
 
 s, 
 
'Bagief Two 
 
 daga county was divided and the 
 western part erected into the county 
 of Cayuga. March 30th, 1802, the 
 Military-tract township No. 21 was 
 formed into a new town and called 
 Hector, which name was given to 
 it by the Land Commissioner. On 
 March 29th, 1804, Seneca county was 
 erected from that part of Cayuga 
 I county lying west of Cayuga Lake 
 and east of Seneca. February 17th, 
 1806, Predrickstown was divided and 
 >that portion of it lying north of a 
 line continued west from the south 
 line of Hector, formed into a town 
 called Reading, which then embrac- 
 ed the present town of Starkey in 
 Yates county. Feb. 28th, 1806, the 
 town of Owego was divided and the 
 west part adjoining Catharine was 
 called Spencer. April 16th, 1808, 
 Frederickstown was changed in 
 name to Wayne, and then the pre-- 
 sent territory of Schuyler was em- 
 braced in the towns of Reading and 
 Wayne in Steuben county, Cathar- 
 ine, Spencer and Chemung in Tioga 
 county, and Hector in Seneca coun- 
 ty. 
 
 February 23rd, 1811, Cayuta was 
 formed from the north part of 
 Spencer. It included the exact terri- 
 tory of the old town of Newfield 
 and extended west from the pre- 
 sent town of Newfield to the ling 
 of Catharine at Cayuta Creek. On 
 February 12th, 1813, the town of 
 Jersey was erected out of the south 
 part of Wayne, and included the 
 present towns of Orange and Brad- 
 ford. 
 
 April 17th, 1817, Tompkins coun- 
 ty was erected from the south por- 
 tions of Cayuga and Seneca coun- 
 ties. Danby, Caroline and Newfield 
 (formerly Cayuta) were added from 
 Tioga, March 22nd, 1822; and then 
 Hector and that part of Catharine 
 east of Cayuta Creek, were includ- 
 ed in Tompkins county. March 29th, 
 1822, Erin was formed from the 
 north part of Chemung township, 
 and included the present Cayuta. 
 April 16th, 1822, Tyrone was formed 
 from Wayne. In March 1823, Cath- 
 arine was divided and Catlin was 
 formed from its western portion, 
 which included the present terri- 
 tory of Dix. March 20th, 1824, a new 
 town of Cayuta was taken from 
 Spencer and embraced those por- 
 tions of the present VanEtten and 
 Cayuta east of Cayuta Creek, ex- 
 cept the north part of the latter, 
 which was taken from Newfield. 
 At the same time Starkey was form- 
 ed from the north part of Reading. 
 April 17th, 1835, the town of Dix 
 was formed from the north part of 
 Catlin. Feb. 20th, 1836, Jersey was 
 divided into two towns, losing its 
 own identity of name in those of 
 
 Orange and Bradford, which ab- 
 sorbed its territory. Feb. 29th, 18db, 
 the county of Chemung was created, 
 taking into its jurisdiction with oth- 
 er territory all that part of the 
 present Schuyler, lying south of Xhe 
 head of Seneca Lake, and a line 
 running some distance east arid 
 west from it, which had been m 
 Tioga county since the year 1794. 
 
 The various changes in the ter- 
 ritory which now constitutes our 
 little county have thus been traced 
 from the time it was redeemed suf- 
 ficiently from its primitive wilder- 
 ness condition to be embraced in 
 townships and constitute portions 
 of the three adjacent counties of 
 Steuben, Tompkins and Chemung, 
 so that there may be a clear under- 
 standing of where the county came 
 from, and the incipient territorial 
 transformations that finally called 
 it into being. 
 
 The proposition to have the Leg- 
 islature of 1854 form a new county 
 out of the territory taken from the 
 three counties abovenamed, met 
 with strenuous opposition in all 
 three of them. Steuben, though large 
 enough for four good sized coun- 
 ties did not like the idea of losing 
 Reading, Orange and Tyrone — and 
 part of Bradford and Wayne. Tomp- 
 kins did not at all relish parting 
 company with the large and weal- 
 thy agricultural town of Hector. 
 Chemung did not believe in being 
 bereft of the fine towns of Dix, 
 Catharine (Montour had not then 
 been formed), and the little town 
 of Cayuta, besides having her nor- 
 thern boundary line crowded eight 
 to ten miles south of the head of the 
 beautiful and attractive Seneca 
 Lake. Neither did she, nor Tompkins 
 desire a county seat at either Wat- 
 kins or Havana; and therefore the 
 "new county scheme" was denoun- 
 ced by all three of the older ones 
 interested, and strong and numer- 
 ously signed remonstrances against 
 the dismemberment of their terri- 
 tory were sent to Albany, and a 
 determined effort made to "kill the 
 bill" that was introduced for its for- 
 mation. All the Members of Assem- 
 bly from those three counties fought 
 like tigers against it, and all kinds 
 of amendments were sprung with a 
 hope of defeating it; but Charles 
 Cook of Havana, then in the zenith 
 of his overshadowing infiuence and 
 power, a close personal friend o ! 
 Thurlow Weed and a strong mai 
 in the Whig party, which was sti' ' 
 in existance,— the Republican part 
 not having then been organized- 
 was behind the measure; and as i 
 was not opposed by the people o 
 Watkins, and but slightly by an 
 portion of the people within th 
 
proposed new county borders, it was 
 triumphantly carried through both 
 branches of the Legislature, after 
 the name had been changed from 
 "Webster" to "Schuyler", on the 
 17th day of April 1854,— the Assem- 
 bly voting for it 84 to 8, and the 
 Senate 22 to 4; and by the approval 
 of Governor Horatio Seymour it 
 became a law. 
 
 The peculiar nature of the new 
 born county's organization and the 
 struggle it was compelled to pass 
 through in maintaining its exist- 
 ance, until it was finally recognized 
 and woven into the polity of the 
 commonwealth, and placed on a par 
 with its sister counties by virtue of 
 a decision of the Court of Appeals, 
 will be treated of in "Article Second" 
 and be of increasing interst to all 
 who wish to become better acquain- 
 ted witlLthe history of the young- 
 est county of the Empire State. 
 
 No sooner was the new county of 
 Schuyler bom of the law making 
 power, than the imperfections of 
 the legislature enactment that gave 
 it birth began to be manifest and 
 its long and, at times doubtful 
 battle, for perpetuating its feeble 
 hold on life, commenced. It was with 
 the greatest difficulty that its pro- 
 jectors were able to embrace within 
 its boundary lines a sufficient am- 
 ount of territory and inhabitants, 
 taken from Steuben, Tom.pkins and 
 Chemung, to answer the require- 
 ments of Article III, Section 5, of 
 the Constitution of 1846, which de- 
 clared that, after its adoption, no 
 new county should be erected un- 
 less its population should entitle it 
 to a Member of Assembly. There is 
 no doubt that in this respect the 
 new county was deficient. But as 
 it was a well settled principle of 
 law that the Legislature, in deter- 
 mining the question of population, 
 was not confined bo the last census, 
 nor restrained in regard to the na- 
 ture of the evidence accepted as 
 their basis of action and were thus 
 made judges of its sufficiency, it 
 gave a gleam of hope that the act 
 creating the county would be sus- 
 tained; and on this assumption its 
 inhabitants proceeded, as far as 
 the organic law would permit, to 
 exercise the power of local self- 
 government that had been confer- 
 red upon them. 
 
 They were organized as a county 
 for all purposes, until after the cen- 
 sus of 1855, except voting, as such, 
 for Member of Assembly and State 
 Senators, Justices of the Supreme 
 
 Page Three 
 
 Court, and for the holding witiiin 
 their borders of Supreme and Cir- 
 cuit Courts and Courts of Oyer and 
 Terminer; and after that census 
 and the apportionment under it, 
 they were to be invested with full 
 county powers and privileges. In 
 the meantime they were to vote for 
 the officers above named in the 
 counties to which they had prev- 
 iously belonged, but for State offi- 
 cers and Members of Congress as 
 a county: and for the latter pur- 
 pose, Schuyler was placed, by the 
 act erecting it, in the 27th Con- 
 gressional disitrlct with Steuben, 
 Tompkins and Chemung. 
 
 Under these somewhat confusing 
 provisions the county's first vote for 
 state officers was cast in the fall 
 of 1854. Horatio Seymour was the 
 Democratic candidate for Governor 
 and Myron H. Clark the Whig and 
 "Maine Law" candidate. Clark's ma- 
 .iority in the county was 215, and 
 Seymour was supposed to have been 
 elected, until the vote of the un- 
 known county of Schuyler, which 
 could not be found on the map in 
 the State, was received at Albany; 
 and so close was the canvass that 
 the vote of Schuyler elected Mr. 
 Clark, to the great amazement and 
 disappointment of the Democratic 
 party. Because of delay in the ap- 
 portionment under the enumera- 
 tion of 1855, Schuyler was not ac- 
 corded a Member of Assembly until 
 1857: but in the fall of 1854 county 
 officers, whose duties were not to 
 commence till January 1st, 18S5] 
 were elected, as follows: County 
 Judge and Surrogate, Suneon L. 
 Rood; District Attorney, Lewis F; 
 Biggs — who subsequently resigned 
 and was succeeded by Marcus Ly- 
 on; Sheriff, John J. Swarthoiit; 
 County Clerk, Algernon S. New- 
 comb; County Treasurer, Charles 
 J. Broas. Dr. Wm. Guliok of Tyrone, 
 (now of Watkins) was appoin- 
 ted School Commissioner; and the 
 internal political powers of the 
 county were thus set in motion; buc 
 as the sequel wUl show, luxt to work 
 harmoniuosly, but with much jar- 
 ring and discord for a succeeding 
 term of years — caused by a long 
 conflict on the question of locating 
 the county seat, which had In the 
 meantime been developed ,and was 
 under fuU headway, between tihe ad- 
 herents of Watkins and Havana. 
 
 It may now be said without cast- 
 ing any unjust reflections upon Hon. 
 
Page Pour 
 
 Charles Cook and the other lead- 
 ing citizens of Havana — ^most ol 
 whom have passed away from the 
 scenes of humian life and action — 
 that in putting forth their strong 
 and united efforts for the creation 
 of a new county, they unquestion- 
 ably and ardently desired, and in- 
 tended, that the county seat should 
 be located in that village. This was 
 perfectly natural, and it was equal- 
 ly as natural that George G. Freer, 
 \ then the principal property owner 
 and the other leading citizens of 
 Watkir:s, should be equally anxious 
 and determined to have the county 
 seat located in their village. They 
 alleged that an understanding was 
 entered into with Mr. Cook that 
 the location of the county seat 
 should be left, by the terms of the 
 act, to a 'rote of the people; and it 
 may be that an arrangement to 
 this effect was agreed to in good 
 faith; but when the bill was pend- 
 ing in the Legislature such a pro- 
 vision was regarded by good legal 
 minds as an unusual and loose 
 method or phase of legislation, and 
 a dangerous one, as it might be 
 claimed by the enemies of the bill 
 to be unconstitutional and urged up- 
 on the Governor as a sufficient rea- 
 son for its being vetoed. Whether 
 from this or some other cause, tlie 
 act as passed provided for the lo- 
 cation of the county biuldings by 
 commissioners; and Delos DeWolf 
 of Oswego county, Edward Dodd of 
 Washington and Vivus W. Smith 
 of Onondaga, were named as such 
 commissioners, and charged with 
 that very important and unenviable 
 duty. These commissioners visited 
 Watkins and heard the claims that 
 were earnestly put forth in its be- 
 half, as the most central point in 
 the new county, its situation at the 
 head of Seneca Lake, etc.; and ,they 
 listened very attentively to the ar- 
 guments presented in its favor, and 
 the propriety of making it the lo- 
 cation.— one great consideration be- 
 ing that it was the choice of a de- 
 cided majority of the Supervisors 
 and people of the county The com- 
 missioners then left for Havana and 
 heard the claims and arguments of 
 the people of that village. GreaA in- 
 terest and feeling were apparent at 
 both hearings, and a high degree 
 of confidence was felt in regard to 
 the result desired, by the people as- 
 sembled at both localities. 
 The commissioners, however, with 
 
 what was regarded by the Watkins 
 interest, as "unseemly haste, "—-a™ 
 which gave rise to the suspicion that 
 the whole thing had been preair 
 ranged before they came into w.e 
 county — proceeded at once, on the 
 22nd day of May, 1854, only about 
 one month after the passage of the 
 bill, to locate the county buildings 
 — Court House, Clerk's office. Jail- 
 or's residence and jail — at Havana, 
 designating the sites of the three 
 structures, on the premises selected, 
 just where they were subsequenUy 
 erected, and where, with the excep- 
 tion of the jail, they still stand. 'The 
 news of the location aroused an in- 
 tense excitement and indignation 
 in Watkins and the northern towns 
 and the action of the commission- 
 ers was denounced in unmeasured 
 terms of condemnation, and follow- 
 ed by many meetings in which the 
 public mind was inflamed by im- 
 passioned orators and lashed almost 
 into frenzy; and resistance was 
 urged by all means, legal and politi- 
 cal, against what was termed an 
 outrage on the ruling popular senti- i 
 ment of the county. Thus origina- 
 ted the famous bitter and long con- 
 tinued' "County Seat War" o: i 
 Schuyler, — ^now happily ended, with I 
 all its animosities, leaving scarcely j 
 a trace of its many hard fought ' 
 battles, at the caucuses and ballot- ■■ 
 boxes, in the Board of Supervisors, 
 in the courts, and in the legislative I 
 halls at Albany to remind the peo- 
 ple of today that such a fierce 
 struggle of many years ever oc- 
 curred. 
 
 Mr. Cook and the Havana inter- 
 est, wholly undaunted by the loud 
 clamor of Watkins and the northern 
 towns, moved onward with the de- 
 velopment of their program with- i 
 out needless delay, and the build- 
 ing commissioners, who were als-o 
 named in the act— Madison Treman 
 and David Sears of Hector, Roswell 
 Holden and Hiram Chapman of 
 Reading, and Guy C. Hinman o* 
 Cathai-ine. — proceeded to erect 
 county buildings on the designated 
 location — ^Mr. Chapman, who was 
 in favor of Watkins, declining to 
 act. The building commissioners 
 without any consultation with the 
 Supervisors, entered mto a contract 
 with W. C. Gillespie and Nathan 
 Coryell for the erection of county 
 bulldSngs as provided for in the ac*, 
 the contract price being $1^,000, and 
 Mr. Cook executed a deed for the 
 
premises, ■which contract and deed 
 had, by tne terms of the act, to be 
 approved by the Board of Super- 
 visors. 
 
 The courfss of the county, as di- 
 rected in the act, were to be held at 
 such place in the county, until the 
 buildings were completed, as the 
 Boai'd of Supervisors, whose mem- 
 bers came to the new county with 
 the several towns of which it was 
 composed, might direct; and the 
 prisoners were to be conlined in 
 the Chem.ung county jail at Elmira. 
 Such records in ,the county clerk's 
 offices of these counities from which 
 Schuyler was formed, as related to 
 the territory taken, were to be trans- 
 cribed and become a part of the , 
 records of the new county; and John 1; 
 Crawford of Dix, Thomas Shannon ,; 
 of Orange, and Daniel Tuttle of^^ 
 ■Reading, wiere named in the act as ^ 
 transcribing commissioners. The v] 
 transcribed records dtUy certified , 
 •were, it was dieclared, to have the- 
 same force and effect in evidence. \ 
 as the originals. In Steuben oounty\ 
 the clerk was legally advised to re- 
 fuse access to the records for trans- 
 cription, on the ground of the un- 
 constitutionality of the new coun- 
 ty; and Judge Larrowe of the coun- 
 ty, in an excise suit that originated 
 in Tyrone, held that the oovmty 
 was unconstitutional and that Ty- 
 rone was still a part of Steuben, 
 on the ground that the representa- 
 tion of the number of its popula- 
 tion to the Legislature was false, 
 and that its erection was, there- 
 fore fraudelent and void. The case 
 was appealed to the Supreme Court 
 and Justices Johnson, Strong and 
 Welles, reversed Judge Larrowe's de- 
 cision after hearing it argued at 
 Rochester in September 1854, and 
 held the county constitutionial on 
 the ground thai no matter how 
 false the evidence in regard to pop- 
 ulation was before the Legislature, 
 they were the judges concerning it, 
 and if they believed the testimony 
 was true they had an undoubted 
 right to create the new county, and 
 a county it would have to remain 
 until the act was repealed. 
 
 The decision was founded on good 
 law and sound common sense, and 
 ought to have silenced all clamor 
 on the subject of the county's un- 
 constitutionality, and been accepted 
 as a final adjudication of the mat- 
 ter. But it was not so received; and 
 this "bone of contention" was sup- 
 
 Page Five 
 
 er-added to the county seat turmoil 
 both of which leading issues in the 
 county's early history will have bo 
 be treated of to some extent, in 
 detail, fairly and without prejudice 
 as an indispensible prelude to the 
 life sketches of the prominent char- 
 acters concerned in and connected 
 with them. 
 
 The singular enactment that made 
 Schuyler a county, provided among 
 many other things, that a good un- 
 encumbered title to the premises 
 selected for the public buildings 
 should be furnished free of cost to 
 the county, which, when delivered 
 to the Board of Supervisors, should 
 serve to render the location, "final 
 anc! conclusive." The deed executed 
 by Mr. Cook, however, for the chos- 
 en site of Havana, contained a re- 
 versionary clause which provided 
 that if the premises at any time in 
 the future ceased to be used for the 
 purpose specified in the act erect- 
 ing the county, they should revert 
 to the village of Havana, which vil- 
 lage corporation proposed to pay 
 $4,900, in addition to the $15,000 
 authorized by the act, toward the 
 construction of the court house, 
 clerk's office and jail. 
 
 The reversionary clause in Mr. 
 Cook's deed was, of course, inserted 
 to prevent the possibility of the 
 county seat being moved to Watkins 
 by the Board of Supervisors, under 
 and by virtue of the law of 1849, 
 which empowered Boards of Super- 
 visors to change the location of 
 county buildings, by a vote of two- 
 thirds of their number for two years 
 in succession, at their annual meet- 
 ings. Mr. Cook certainly had good 
 reason to believe that the Board of 
 Supervisors — judging from the tem- 
 per of the people in the towns of 
 Hector, Dix, Reading, Orange and 
 Tyrone — would take such action un- 
 less they could in some way be fore- 
 stalled and prevented; but he made 
 a great mistake in his deed that in- 
 volved himself and the Havana in- 
 terest in much after trouble and 
 dire tribulation, as it gave the Board 
 just the pretext it - desired for at- 
 tempting to make Watkins the coun- 
 ty seat. 
 
 The first meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors of the new county 
 was held at the Jefferson House in 
 Watkins, August 30th, 1854, and its 
 members were : LeRoy Wood of Cay- 
 uta, Phineas Catlin, of Catharine, 
 Winthrop E. Booth of Dix, Henry 
 Pish of Hector, Edwin C. Andrews 
 of Reading, Algernon S. Newcomb 
 of Orange, and George Clark of Ty- 
 rone. Mr. Booth was chosen chair- 
 man, and Henry M. Hillerman of 
 Watkins, elected clerk. 
 
Page Six 
 
 Mr. Catlin presented the deed of 
 Charles Cook for the site of the 
 recently located county buildings at 
 Havana, and it, together with the 
 bonds of the building commission- 
 ers, subject to the approval of the 
 board, was laid on the table for 
 future consideration. At a second 
 special meeting of the board, held at 
 the same place, October 25th, 1854, 
 at which six of the seven members 
 were present, (Orcnge not being 
 represented) by a vote of four yeas — 
 Cayuta and Catharine not voting — 
 the deed was rejected, as not con- 
 veying to the county a legal title 
 such as the act required. The build- 
 ing commissioners were censured 
 for their unwarrantable action in 
 presuming to proceed to contract for 
 the erection of county buildings be- 
 fore a deed of the site had been 
 approved, and without consulting 
 the Board of Supervisors in regard 
 to the amount to be expended; and 
 a resolution was also passed, by the 
 same vote, authorizing the employ- 
 ment of counsel and the commence- 
 ment of an injunction suit to re- 
 strain the commissioners from fur- 
 ther action in the erection of said 
 buildings. 
 
 A suit in the Supreme Court was 
 at once begun in the name of the 
 Board of Supervisors of the county 
 of Schuyler. It was argued before 
 Judge Shankland of the sixth Jud- 
 icial District, who decided that the 
 deed did not comply with the re- 
 quirements of the act creating the 
 county, and was therefore null and 
 void; and that the bond of the 
 building commissioners not having 
 been approved, they were erecting 
 buildings on private property for 
 which the county could not be held 
 liable. And on the grounds that its 
 taxpayers were in no danger of being 
 harmed he dismissed the proceed- 
 ings—thus leaving the commission- 
 ers unrestrained, though their acts 
 were declared Illegal. 
 
 This decision was claimed as a 
 great victory by both sides; and as 
 a consequence of it the erection of 
 the buildings at Havana was prose- 
 cuted with increased energy, while 
 the Board of Supervisors were en- 
 couraged by it to commence the pre- 
 liminary arrangement for locating 
 the county seat and erecting pub- 
 lic buildings at Watkins. 
 
 It has frequently been suggested 
 that Judge Shankland might very 
 properly have enjoined the building 
 commissioners from proceeding with 
 their illegal work, as asked by the 
 counsel for the Board of Supervis- 
 ors, on the grounds that the erec- 
 tion of such buildings, remotely if 
 noo directly, threatened to become 
 a burden to the taxpayers. In the 
 
 light of subsequent events there is 
 force in this suggestion, as ultima- 
 tely the taxpayers had to pay M" 
 the Havana buildings after paying 
 for a court house legally erected at 
 Watkins; but Judge Shankland 
 seems to have supposed that a decis- 
 ion distinctly declaring Mr. Cooks 
 deed worthless and uterly void, 
 would deter the commissioners from 
 continuing the work until a proper 
 deed was given. If the withholding 
 of the injunction prayed for was 
 based on that reason, the Judge did 
 not have a just estimate of the fear- 
 less and indomitable traits of Mr. 
 Cook's character; for that remark- 
 able man always entertains an un- 
 shaken confidence in his own abil- 
 ity to overcome all obsticales op- 
 posed to his iron and imperious will, 
 and that if things were crooked he 
 could make them straight, and if 
 wrong, for the accomplishment of 
 his cherished purposes, he could 
 make them right. 
 
 At this point Mr. Cook, and the 
 Havana interest, as against the 
 Board of Supervisors and the Wat- 
 kins interest, really joined issue, and 
 the county seat war was soon rag- 
 ing in all parts of the county, as 
 well as in the two villages most 
 deeply interested and concerned. 
 And from the date of that decision, 
 to quote substantially the language 
 of a former writer, "Throughout 
 the long and determined struggle, ' 
 the press of the two villages— the 
 Watkins Republican and the Havana ^ 
 Journal — ^bandied charge and coun- 
 ter charge, crimination and recrim- 
 ination, and the beligerent parties 
 were continually plotting and plan- 
 ning, counterplotting and planning, 
 to get the advantage of each other; 
 while the courts were kept busy 
 with application for, and arguments 
 pro and con, on injunction, writs 
 of mandamus and certiorari, and 
 answers thereto, and pleas and rep- 
 lications almost innumerable, where- 
 in and whereby the locating and 
 building commissioners, and the lo- 
 cation and buildings, were thorough- 
 ly ventilated at heavy cost and ex- 
 pense to the people of the two vil- 
 lages, as well as to the county" Nor 
 was the battle of years (as hereto- 
 fore intimated) hmited to the area 
 of Schuyler; but the legislature was 
 annually besieged with petitions for 
 the confirmation of the county seat 
 at both localities, and bills were in- 
 troduced and argued for the our 
 pose, sometimes defeated and at 
 others successful, until the countv 
 seat question was first apparentiv 
 settled in favor of Havana ffi 
 much legislation, enforced bv tho 
 rulings of the court under a second 
 confirmatory act passed in 1860 and 
 
finally in favor of Watkins under 
 an act passed in 1867, removing the 
 location of the county seat and 
 buildings to the last named village, 
 and there establishing them to per- 
 manently remain. 
 
 An attempt to give outline 
 sketches of Schuyler county, and 
 at the same time ignore the main 
 features of this protracted county 
 seat contest — the most noted and 
 remarkable that ever occured in the 
 state — ^would be like playing Ham- 
 let with the character representing 
 the illustrious Dane left out; but 
 is not essential to the end in view 
 that the intense feud which so long 
 existed between the two rival vil- 
 lages and the fierce personal, though 
 temporary hatreds, that were en- 
 gendered between many Individuals 
 in Watkins and Havana, should be 
 further alluded to, only as glimpses 
 of them may incidentally appear in 
 the narration of public events, and 
 the means and methods of this very 
 uncivilly civil warfare resorted to 
 by both parties engaged in the his- 
 torical drama. In this connection, 
 and before proceeding further, it 
 is proper for the writer to give an 
 assurance that while "naught shall 
 be set down in malice," there will 
 in many instances be much said 
 (as well as left unsaid) in extenua- 
 tion of the extreme action of both 
 parties, and prominent men, em- 
 broiled in the vindictive and excit- 
 ing struggle. 
 
 After the decision of Judge 
 Shankland in 1854 the Watkins 
 members of the Board of Supervis- 
 ors were convinced that a legal lo- 
 cation of the county buildings had 
 not been made at H vana, or rath- 
 er that the location made by the 
 commissioners had failed because of 
 the insufficiency of Mr. Cook's de- 
 fective deed. Therefore at the an- 
 nual meeting of the Board in Nov- 
 ember and December of that year, 
 all of the towns being represented, 
 a motion to approve the action of 
 the building commissoners was tab- 
 led, and a bill of $66.08 presented 
 lor costs and expenses in prosecut- 
 ing the injunction suit against 
 them was allowed, greatly to the dis- 
 like of the two Havana location 
 members, it being the first blood 
 drawn in the opening conflict; and 
 the report of the commissioners in 
 regard to their progress in erect- 
 ing county buildings was denied 
 even a reading by a vote of five to 
 two — ^Dix, Hector, Beading, Orange 
 and Tyrone, against Cayuta and 
 Cfitharine. 
 
 Another resolution offered by Mr. 
 GatUn to raise $15,000 by tax or loan, 
 to pay the expense of erecting the 
 county buildings at Havana, was 
 
 Page Seven 
 
 payable by the same vote by five to 
 two; and a subsequent resolution of 
 a similar naoure offered by Mr. 
 Wood was in like manner disposed 
 of. 
 
 As the annual session drew to- 
 ward its close the plans of the Wat- 
 kins majority, under the silent lead- 
 ership of Supervisor Booth of Dix, 
 (who was a man of great reticence, 
 shrewdness and sagicity) deepened 
 and took a decided and tangible 
 form; and at the evening session of 
 December llth. Supervisor Harry R. 
 Barnes of Orange, (appointed m 
 place of A. S. Newcomb who had 
 been elected county clerk) read the 
 affidavit proof of publication in the 
 Watkins Republican of an appli- 
 cation to the Board of Supervisors 
 signed by eighty freeholders of the 
 county, asking for a change of the 
 site of the county buildings from 
 Havana to Watkins, and that they 
 might be located on the premises 
 where they were subsequently built, 
 which were particularly described 
 and their bounds defined — the lot 
 containing over one acre of ground, 
 lying between what are now Ninth 
 and Tenth Streets, fronting west on 
 Franklin street and nearly oppos- 
 ite the entrance to Watkins glen. 
 
 Mr. Barnes then introduced a pre- 
 amble (followed by a resolution) 
 reciting all the main facts of the 
 case, the inadequacy of Mr. Cook's 
 deed, his refusal to convey the site 
 selected by the commissioners at 
 Havana according to the terms of 
 the act requiring the same, by rea- 
 son of which the Board of Super- 
 visors deemed the selection null and 
 void, as decided by the Supreme 
 Court; and that as a large number 
 of the freeholders of the county had 
 applied for a change of this site 
 from Havana to Watkins on prem- 
 ises designated by them which would 
 be more convenient to and more in 
 accordance with the wishes of a 
 large majority of the people of the 
 county, and as a precautionary 
 measure (in case the Havana loca- 
 tion should unexpectedly be held 
 valid) a resolution of removal ought 
 to be passed, therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That the site for the 
 court house, jail and clerk's office 
 of Schuyler county, selected by the 
 commissioners appointed to deter- 
 mine the same, situated on Genesee 
 and Main Streets in Havana, be 
 changed and removed to the vil- 
 lage of Watkins, to and upon the 
 premises above indicated." 
 
 This preamble and resolution of 
 removal was passed by a vote of 
 five ayes to two nays; and then Mr. 
 Booth introduced a suplementary 
 resolution declaring explicitly the 
 determination of the board that 
 
Page Eight 
 
 there existed no legal site for the 
 county buildings, the one made by 
 the commissioners having failed by 
 reason of illegal and defective deed 
 having been given for the same, 
 and therefore under and by the 
 authority conferred upon the Board 
 of Supervisors by the law of April 
 3rd, 1849, the board then and there 
 selected for the site of the county 
 buildings the village lot in Watkins 
 before described, having contracted 
 for them in fee — and that any doubt 
 of the legality of such resolution 
 of removal and designation might 
 be placed beyond all contingency, 
 and future Utigation and expense 
 avoided, it was resolved that the 
 Legislature be invoked to pass a law 
 confirming the location made by 
 the board at Watkins. This resolu- 
 tion, like the formal one of remov- 
 al, was passed by five to two which 
 was destined to become a talisman- 
 ic "standing vote" on all controver- 
 ted matters relating to the county 
 seat question at many subsequent 
 annual and special meetings of the 
 board. 
 
 At the first annual meeting of the 
 Board of Supervisors — that of 1854 
 — during which the first resolution 
 of removal of the county seat from 
 Havana to Watkins was passed, the 
 board also directed the county 
 courts to be held in the last named 
 village until a court house was leg- 
 ally erected, and appointed a com- 
 mittee to procure a suitable place 
 for that purpose; and the commit- 
 tee subsequently selected "Guin- 
 nip's Hall," then the principal one 
 in the village, but long since num- 
 bered among the things that were. 
 The County Clerk was also directe4 
 to keep his office in Watkins; and 
 until a county clerks office was "leg- 
 ally erected" suitable rooms were 
 to be provided for him by the chair- 
 man of the board, and the annual 
 meetings were also ordered to be 
 held in Watkins. 
 
 At the next town rneetings the 
 same members of the board were 
 all re-elected; and at a special 
 meeting held in Watkins Jan. 23i-d, 
 1855, in which all the towns were 
 represented but Hector, a proposi- 
 tion from Mr. Catlin to raise $15,- 
 000 to pay for county buildings at 
 Havana by a loan was tabled, and 
 a resolution was passed to raise $12,- 
 000 by tax in three annual install- 
 ments of $4,000 each, to go into the 
 County Treasury for county build- 
 ing purposes, without specifying 
 how it should be applied. The clerk 
 was directed to forward to the Leg- 
 islature certified copies of the action 
 taken at the annual meeting of 1854 
 on Mr. Cook's deed, and the opin- 
 ion of Judge Shankland thereon 
 
 and also the action of the board on 
 the designation of a county -«« 
 and the resolution for the removal 
 of the county seat to Watkms. 
 
 A bill was introduced in the Leg- 
 islature of 1855 to confirm the loca 
 tion of the county buildmgs ax 
 Havana but failed to pass, having 
 been vigorously opposed by the Wat 
 kins interest. Had Mr. Cook, after 
 Judge Shankland's decision, insteaa 
 of seaking legislative relief from ms 
 embarassing position, Pi'oceeded to 
 execute a new deed, first taking a 
 quitclaim from the yillagc oj "A: 
 vana of all its reversionary mtere^ 
 in and to the site, for the county 
 buildings in that village,. and thus 
 given the county an "unincumber- 
 ed title," he would have transferred 
 his heavy county seat burden to 
 the Board of Supervisors; but tnis 
 the natural stubbornness of his dis- 
 position would not permit hun to 
 do, and in not embracing the gold- 
 en opportunity he left the way wide 
 open for the legal erection of coun- 
 ty buildings at Watkins— in the ab- 
 sence of which, Havana would prob- 
 ably have become the permanent 
 county seat. 
 
 No such deed having been execu- 
 ted and tendered, the Board of Sup- 
 ervisors held a special meeting at 
 Watkins, April 24th, 1855, all the 
 members being present. The Wat- 
 kins majority, acting under the rea- 
 sonable assumption that there was 
 no legal location, nor legally erec- 
 ted buildings at Havana, the site 
 which had been designated at Wat- 
 kins, aside from the first resolution 
 of removal, was visited and exam- 
 ined, and a resolution to proceed 
 immediately to erect a court house, 
 jail and clerk's office thereon, was 
 adopted by the usual vote of five 
 to two. A committee was appoint- 
 ed, with full power to carry the 
 resolution into effect, consisting of 
 W. E. Booth, Edwin C. Andrews and 
 H. R. Barnes— LeRoy Wood having 
 declined to become a member of 
 such committee. This conunittee 
 was also instructed to consider and 
 report to the board the best method 
 of raising the means with which to 
 pay for the erection of the pro- 
 posed county buildings. Gulnnip's 
 Hall was confirmed as the place for 
 holding the county courts, and the 
 clerk — H. M. Hillerman — ^was direc- 
 ted to return to Mr. Cook the deed 
 by him executed, containing the re- 
 versionary clause, with an official 
 notice of its rejection by the board. 
 
 At a special meeting held May 5 
 1855, a favorable opinion was read 
 from Judge Amasa Dana of Ithaca, 
 that on solicitation had been ob- 
 tained, in regard to the legal pow- 
 er of the board to raise money fori 
 
the erection of county buildings on 
 the Watkins site selected by them, 
 and the building committee was 
 authorized (as they had suggest- 
 ed) to borrow not to exceed $12,000 
 for the erection and completion of 
 such buildings at Watkins — the loan 
 to run three years. A form of bond 
 was adopted and the chairman and 
 clerk were authorized to execute the 
 same. The vote on these proceed- 
 ings stood five to one — Oayuta not 
 being represented. 
 
 At the October election of 1855 
 Daniel Jamison of Watkins was 
 elected District Attorney over Owen 
 M. Mead, of Havana, and thus that 
 ofBce was filled with an incumbent 
 friendly to the Watkins location 
 and ready to co-operate with the 
 County Judge, 
 
 At the apnual meeting of 1855, 
 all efforts on the part of Mr. Cat- 
 lin and Wood td obtain any recog- 
 nition whatever, of Havana as the 
 county seat, or the legality of the 
 buildings erected in that village, 
 failed by a vote in all cases of five 
 to two; and the resolution for the 
 removal of the county seat to Wat- 
 kins was again passed, by the same 
 vote as in 1854 in accordance with 
 the general law of 1849 in such 
 cases made and provided, due pub- 
 lication having been made and veri- 
 fied, and two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers of the board voting for the 
 same. 
 
 The resolution of January 23rd. 
 to raise $12,000 in three annual in- 
 stallments for county buildings, by 
 taxation, was recinded, and another 
 one adopted to levy $3,000 in the 
 next assessment for that purpose; 
 and orders for that amount were 
 directed to be drawn on the Coun- 
 ty Treasurer in favor of Drake & 
 Newman, with whom a contract had 
 been made by the building commit- 
 tee for the erection of the county 
 buildings at Watkins. Supervisor 
 Catlin made a final presentation 
 of his resolution for raising $15,000 
 by tax or loan for the county build- 
 ings at Havana, but tt suffered the 
 fate of all its predecessors. 
 
 The second resolution of remov- 
 al having thus been adopted, the 
 people of Watkins, and friends of 
 that location throughout the county, 
 regarded the county seat as firmly 
 established in that village; but they 
 had only begun to test the inde- 
 fatigable and unyielding pertinacity 
 and political strength of Charles 
 Cook, with whom they were fully 
 able to cope, by and through the 
 Board of Supervisors — the local 
 legislature of the county— but not 
 in the Legislature of the State at 
 Albany, and not in all respects (as 
 
 Page Nine 
 
 will hereafter appear) in the coun- 
 ty of Schuyler. 
 
 At this stage of the county seat 
 fight the Board of Supervisors clear- 
 ly had the advantage of Mr. Cook 
 and the Havana interest, but were 
 by no means exempt from the most 
 annoying vexations. The County 
 Clerk, Algernon S. Newcomb of 
 Orange, turned out to be an ad- 
 herent and ally of Havana, and re- 
 fused to locate his ofQce at Wat- 
 kins or recognize it in any way 
 as the legal county seat; and 
 charges were preferred against him 
 to the Governor of the State by 
 the Board of Supervisors, asking for 
 his removal from ofiice. He was 
 charged with not only refusing to 
 obey the mandate of the board. In 
 regard to the place of his ofBcial 
 location, but with embarassing the 
 administration of justice in trying 
 to prevent the holding of courts, 
 (appointed by the County Judge 
 to be held in Watkins), refusing 
 to attend, by himself or deputy, the 
 October term (1855) of the county 
 court and court of sessions, and in 
 refusing to draw jurors for that 
 court, and withholding, papers of 
 the court, and drawing jurors con- 
 trary to law, and causing them to 
 be summoned to appear at Havana, 
 (where no court was appointed to 
 be held) and giving them certifi- 
 cates of attendance and mileage 
 
 These were grave charges, and 
 all true; but Mr. Cook had great 
 infiuence with Gov. Myron H. Clark 
 and seems to have convinced him 
 that Havana was the true county 
 seat of the county. At all events 
 the clerk was not removed but held 
 his office till his term of three years 
 expired, on the last day of 1856— 
 though he was once subsequently 
 arrested for contempt, by order of 
 Judge Rood, for refusing to attend 
 the county court at Watkins. But, 
 as the county was at that time re- 
 garded by good legal minds as un- 
 constitutional, it was not deemed 
 safe, or wise, to impose penalties, 
 and he was discharged, greatly to 
 the discouragement of the Watkins 
 interest and the glory of Havana. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors, held July 22nd, 1856, 
 —all the old members in the Wat- 
 kins towns having been re-elected, 
 and Samuel Roberts representing 
 Cayuta, and Abraham Lawrence, 
 Catharine,- the building commit- 
 tee, for the erection of the county 
 buildings at Watkins, presented a 
 report, accompanied by the contract 
 made by them with Drake & New- 
 man for erecting the court house 
 at Watkins, which was then com- 
 pleted. The board visited the build- 
 
Page Ten 
 
 ing in a body, (the Supervisor of 
 Cayuta being absent) and after ex- 
 amining it, appointed a committee 
 to settle with the contractors— Mr. 
 Lawrence voting against the prop- 
 osition. Supervisors Booth, Pish and 
 Andrews were appointed such com- 
 mittee. 
 
 It is essential to a correct com- 
 prehension of the county seat ques- 
 tion to understand that early in 
 the contest the friends and parti- 
 sans of the Watkins location dis- 
 carded local party politics in the 
 five Watkins towns, and nominated 
 all candidates for town offices and 
 later for county offices, including 
 Members of Assembly, in non-par- 
 tisan caucuses and conventions, , 
 composed of those favorable to the 
 location of the county seat at Wat- j 
 kins; while the Havana interest ad- ; 
 hered to and used first the Whig 
 and then the RepubUcan party, i 
 through which to prosecute the i 
 county seat war. As these were in \ 
 succession the dominant parties 
 in the county, and especially the 
 Republican, commencing as a nat- 
 ional organization in 1856, and as 
 Schuyler was naturally so to speak, 
 a "free soil" county, this policy on 
 the part of the Havana party— at 
 the head of which, and the life and 
 soul of the interest, stood Charles 
 Cook — it had a great advantage over 
 its Watkins opponents, whose lead- 
 ing man, George G. Freer, was 
 identified with the Democratic 
 party. In 1856 he was known as a 
 strong supporter of James Buch- 
 anan, while a large majority of the 
 people of the county enthusiastic- 
 ally favored the first Republican 
 presidential candidate, John C. Fre- 
 mont, "the Pathfinder," who was 
 placed in nomination that year. 
 In the town elections Cayuta and 
 Catharine were overwhelmingly in 
 favor of Havana from the open- 
 ing to the close of the conflict; 
 while Dix, Reading and Tyrone were 
 almost as decidedly in favor of Wat- 
 kins, and Hector and Orange suf- 
 ficiently so to be invaribly carried 
 for the Watkins location candidates 
 when the issue was open and un- 
 disguised. And even when, as in few 
 instances, the Watkins Candidates 
 for Supervisors were beaten in Hec- 
 tor and Orange by alleged Watkins 
 men, nominated by Havana cau- 
 cuses and claimed after their elec- 
 tion as Havana men, and their suc- 
 cess as Havana victories, the Wat- 
 kins interest, by a little sharp "dip- 
 lomacy", and bringing the public 
 sentiment of their towns to bear 
 upon them, held their support in 
 the Board of Supervisors; and would 
 then nominate and re-elect them, 
 while the Havana caucuses gener- < 
 
 ally and vainly tried their chances 
 on other candidates. ^ 
 
 In 1856 a new sheriff was to be 
 elected, and the Watkms interest 
 strongly desired an incumbent oi 
 that position who would heartuy 
 co-operate with the County Judge 
 in holding the courts at Watkins, 
 while the Havana interest was 
 equally as desirous of havmg a sner 
 iff who would wholly ignore Wat- 
 kins, and with the county clerK 
 recognize Havana as the legal coun- 
 
 Under these circumstances with 
 the location for the county build- 
 ings removed from Havana to Wat- 
 kins by the action of the Board of 
 Supervisors, and with court nouses 
 at both localities, the Watkins coun- 
 ty convention nominated Moses fc>. 
 Weaver of Reading, and the Havana 
 convention Elvin K. MandevUle of 
 that village— who then held the oi- 
 fice by appointment, as the succes- 
 sor of John S. Swartout, resigned— 
 and he was not only personally pop- 
 ular, but well acquainted with the 
 people in all sections of the county 
 and had a large party preponder- 
 ance in his favor. 
 
 The campaign was one of the most 
 vigorously contested that has ever 
 occurred in the county; and not- 
 withstanding that Fremont carried 
 "Little Schuyler" by 1,559 majority 
 over Buchanan, Mr. Weaver, the 
 Watkins nominee for sheriff, was 
 elected by about 200 majority— to 
 the great joy of the friends of that 
 location, and the discomfiiture of 
 Charles Cook and the friends of 
 Havana. 
 
 As a consequence of their victory, 
 the friends of Watkins took fresh 
 courage, and began to realize the 
 practical meaning of the time-hon- 
 ored adage that, "There is policy 
 in war," and if this saying was ever 
 well verified, outside of actual battle 
 fields, it certainly was in the county 
 seat war of Schuyler County— which 
 fact will be frequently illustrated 
 as the principal details of the 
 struggle for mastery are unfolded. 
 The election of Sheriff Weaver was 
 undoubtedly owing to the fact that 
 the Watkins republicans supported 
 John C. Fremont for president. The 
 paper in June of that year went 
 into the possession and control of 
 Mr. M. Ells, formerly from the state 
 of Connecticut, who had resided in 
 Elmira some seven years, and was 
 a part of that time connected with 
 the Elmira Advertiser, before com- 
 ing to Watkins at the earnest and 
 persistent solicitation of Gearge G. 
 Freer, to take charge of Its village 
 paper in behalf of the Watkins lo- 
 cation. The paper had previosuly 
 been conducted somewhat under 
 
Democratic auspices but as a pro- 
 fessed neutral or independent sheet, 
 and ran up the Fremont flag very 
 much against Mr. Preer's wishes, 
 as he was decidely anxious to have 
 it sustain the Democratic State and 
 National nominations. But its edi- 
 tor evidently foresaw that such a 
 policy would end in disaster, and 
 the inevitable defeat of the Wat- 
 kins interest, and firmly asserted his 
 prerogative, previously agreed upon, 
 to exercise his own judgment in 
 political matters, and in the coming 
 campaign which he seems to have 
 regarded as involving the issue of 
 life or death on the county seat 
 question. Had the Watkins Republi- 
 can supported the Democratic State 
 and National tickets in 1856, there 
 is no doubt whatever that Mr. Wea- 
 ver would have been defeated, the 
 Watkins county ticket of the next 
 year would have shared the same 
 fate, and the Watkins interest would 
 have been wrecked beyond all pos- 
 sibility of recovery, and buried be- 
 yond the hope of resurrection. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the 
 Board of Supervisors, in 1856, the 
 bills of the Havana building com- 
 missioners were again rejected, and 
 $2,854.11, the first installment on the 
 money loaned for the public build- 
 ings at Watkins, was put into the 
 tax levy of that year, and also $2,- 
 818.00 for orders of the committee, 
 drawn on the County Treasurer in 
 favor of Drake & Newman, which 
 included the sum, of $63 for at- 
 torney's fees; and thus the board, 
 with the consent of the people, com- 
 menced, with funds raised by tax- 
 ation, to pay for the county build- 
 ings erected at Watkins, while "not 
 a cent of tribute" was voted for 
 those in Havana. The act declar- 
 ing Guinnip's Hall the place for 
 holding courts was declared no long- 
 er binding, and the county judge 
 and surrogate, and also the county 
 clerk, were notified to hold the 
 courts and their respective ofBces 
 in the rooms prepared for them in 
 the new court house. Bills for court 
 house furnishing purposes, etc., 
 were also audited, amounting to 
 $500; and at that time the whole 
 amount that had been incurred for 
 court house expenses, including the 
 balance of the loan made by the 
 building committee, was $8,694.30. 
 A resolution was adopted to borrow 
 of the comptroller $4,500 more, on 
 five years time, to complete the 
 buildings, by the erection of a jail 
 and clerk's ofBce; and Supervisors 
 Booth and Pish were appointed a 
 committe to superintend the con- 
 struction of such buildings. On all 
 these questions the vote stood uni- 
 formly 5 to 2, as in former year.s 
 
 Page Eleven 
 
 These decisive acts of the Board 
 of Supervisors, superadded to the 
 election of a Watkins sheriff, great- 
 ly alarmed the Havana interest, and 
 an injunction, to restrain that body 
 and its new building committee 
 from the erection of any more build- 
 ings at Watkins, was speedily in- 
 stituted. And on the 1st of January, 
 1857, a special meeting of the board 
 was held, at which Supervisor W. E. 
 Booth of Dix, and Thomas L. Nic- 
 hols of Orange, (an ardent and in- 
 fiuential Iriend of the Watkins lo- 
 cation who succeeded Mr. Barnes) 
 were appointed a committee to pro- 
 cure counsel and defend the board. 
 
 At another special meeting held 
 March 24, 1857, Mr. Booth was ap- 
 pointed a committee to procure the 
 preparations of an answer, for the 
 board, to a writ of certiorari grant- 
 ed against them by Justice Thomas 
 A. Johnson of the Supreme Court, 
 on the application of Adam G. 
 Campbell, William Skellenger, Peter 
 Tracy, Robert P. Beebe and Nathan 
 Coryell, citizens of Havana, who 
 desired to know by what authority 
 they presumed to erect and pay for 
 county" buildings at Watkins and 
 refused to obey the law erecting 
 the county, in not authorizing pay- 
 ment for those erected at Havana. 
 On the 8th of January Mr. Booth 
 piresented to the board an answer, 
 which was probably — as were most 
 ot the legal documents of the board 
 — drawn by George G. Freer, who 
 was an able and experienced law- 
 yer of good legal attainments, and 
 a constant unpaid counsellor of the 
 board. These and all other suits 
 commenced against the board were 
 decided in favor of the supervisors, 
 their acts, and the Watkins location, 
 as long as the then existing status 
 of the controversy remained undis- 
 turbed by state legislation. 
 
 A new difBculty, however, soon 
 presented itself to the Board of 
 Supervisors, which greatly exasper- 
 ated them and'inpeded their pro- 
 gress in the work they had imder- 
 taken — ^instigated, like all other hin- 
 drances, by Charles Cook. The 
 County Treasurer, C. J. Broas of 
 Havana, elected for three years in 
 1854, refused to accept the orders 
 of the board issued to Drake & 
 I^ewman in payment for the erec- 
 tion of the court house at Watkins. 
 although the funds raised for that 
 purpose by taxation had been paid 
 into the county treasury. This trou- 
 ble was surmounted temporarily at 
 least, by the diversion, on the part 
 of the board, of $3,000— the amount 
 of the Drake & Newman orders — 
 into the school funds of the county; 
 and then the treasurer was directed 
 to pay over to the State the school 
 
Page Twelve 
 
 tax due out of the $3,000, so diver- 
 ted. He was further directed to take 
 from the school tax levied for 1856, 
 when the same should be paid in, 
 the sum of $3,000, and apply the 
 same, as far as necessary to the 
 payment of the Drake & Newman 
 orders; and as the town collectors 
 had been authorized to receive these 
 orders at par in the collection of 
 taxes, the treasurer was also di- 
 rected to receive them from the 
 town collectors. This was a shrewd 
 piece of policy, and seems to have 
 put the treasurer in a position to 
 confront the State, and he appears 
 to have deemed it discreet to pay 
 over the school tax from the Drake 
 & Newman funds, and apparently 
 received from the collectors the 
 Drake & Newman orders taken by 
 them; but he subsequently gave the 
 board much trouble in various ways, 
 one being the payment for a time 
 of school moneys received from the 
 State to the Havana towns, and 
 withholding them from the Wat- 
 kins towns, which was entirely un- 
 justifyable and was soon abandon- 
 ed, as all the towns were surely en- 
 titled to such moneys, if any of 
 them were. 
 
 The affairs of the county were 
 in this unsettled condition, the 
 county clerk and treasurer still re- 
 fusing to recognize the validity of 
 the Watkins location and buildings, 
 when Mr. Cook applied to the Leg- 
 islature of 1857 for an act confirm- 
 ing the county seat at Havana; and 
 such an act was passed on the 13th 
 of April in that year, when the con- 
 ditions were more favorable to Mr. 
 Cook's purposes than in 1855. This 
 act not oiily confirmed the action 
 of the locating commissioneirs in 
 selecting the site for the county 
 buildings at Havana, but in order 
 to make such confirmation effec- 
 tual, it required the trustees of Ha- 
 vana to convey to the county all 
 their reversionary interest in and 
 to the site of said buildings, there- 
 by furnishing to the county an un- 
 incumbered title, such as the act 
 erecting it required. It furthermore 
 made it the duty of the Board of 
 Supervisors to levy, collect and pay 
 into the county treasury the sum 
 of $15,000 in three annual install- 
 ments, the first to be paid in May 
 8th, 1858, with interest on the whole 
 sum from January 1st 1856, less the 
 amount of sums raised for county 
 building purposes then in the treas- 
 ury. All records filed in the county 
 clerk's office were declared by this 
 act to be valid, except in cases 
 wherein their legality was in ques- 
 tion before the court, and all the 
 acts of the sheriff and county clerk 
 
 were in like manner legalized and 
 
 ""BfTeltlation in 1857^^Schuyler 
 was also annexed to the 27.th Sena- 
 torial District, and 6th Judif^, ,?'!s 
 trict, and the Supreme Court Judges 
 of the latter, were directed to horn 
 circuit court at Havana. These en- 
 actments, the confirmatory one be 
 ing entirely unanticipated, lell witn 
 crashing weight upon the Watkms 
 members of the Board of Supervis- 
 ors, as it provided that the delivery 
 of the deed to be executed by the 
 trustees of Havana to a single pp- 
 ervisor, should be deemed a suf- 
 ficient delivery thereof." 
 But after the first shock of the con- 
 firmatory act had passed away: a gen- 
 eral feeling of indignant determina- 
 tion followed, arid a stem resolve 
 to "fight the battle out to the bit- 
 ter end" took possession of the Wat- 
 kins members of the Board of Sup- 
 ervisors, and of the friends of that 
 location in all the Watkins towns; 
 and the Imes of battle were solidly 
 formed for the local campaign for 
 that year, in which a member of 
 assembly, county clerk, county 
 treasurer and school commissioner, 
 besides coroners and justices of ses- 
 sions, were to be elected; and it 
 was also resolved that the county 
 seat should be again removed to 
 Watkins, by a two-thirds vote of 
 The Board of Supervisors two years 
 in succession as before under the 
 general act of 1849. 
 
 Under the strong impulse, alluded 
 to in closing "article fifth," a spec- 
 ial meeting of the Board of Super- 
 visors (John Woodward having been 
 elected to succeed Dr. Henry Pish 
 in Hector) was held Aug. 31st, at- 
 tended only by the Supervisors of 
 Dix, Hector, Orange and Tyrone; 
 and the following plucky, but rath- 
 er "rebellous," preamble and reso- 
 lution were adopted. The text is 
 given in full as a remarkable and 
 characteristic expression of that by- 
 gone and exciting period in our 
 county annals, that, like the days 
 of the American Revolution, tried 
 men's souls: 
 
 Whereas, The Legislature of 1857 
 annexed Schuyler county to the 6th 
 Judicial District, and by said act 
 the judges of the Supreme Court 
 are directed to hold a circuit court 
 at Havana, and the said judges have 
 appointed a court to be held there 
 Sept. 1st, 1857; and. 
 
 Whereas, The Governor of the 
 State (King) has by proclamation 
 appointed a court to be held there; 
 and. 
 
 Whereas, The Board of Supervis- 
 ors entirely disapprove of this un- 
 usual and extraordinary attempt, 
 
through arid by the Legislature and 
 the Governor of the State, to force 
 upon the people of Schuyler county 
 the illegally erectedl buildings at 
 Havana (known as Cook's Court 
 House, Clerk's ofHce and Jail,) when 
 the people of the county, through 
 the Board of Supervisors, and in 
 accordance with the law of 1849, 
 have built a court house in the vil- 
 lage of Watkins and have ordered 
 courts to be held therein; therefore 
 
 "Resolved, That the Board of 
 Supervisors will take such immed- 
 iate action as is necessary to re- 
 strain the sheriff of this county 
 from taking possession of the build- 
 ings at Havana, and from exercis- 
 ing any official act as sheriff there- 
 in." 
 
 Supervisors Booth and Nichols 
 were appointed a committee to 
 carry this determination of the 
 board into effect, which they pro- 
 ceeded to do without any unnec- 
 essary loss of time; and no court 
 was held, as Judge Rood, on appli- 
 cation and affidavits setting forth 
 the nature of the case, enjoined the 
 sheriff. 
 
 For this "patriotic" judicial act, 
 he was ordered under arrest by 
 Judge Balcom, on a charge of con- 
 tempt. The "Cornfield" Judge, as he 
 was called by the Havana lawyers, 
 boldly faced the charge and attend- 
 ed terms of court at Elmira, Bing- 
 hamton and Ithaca, at which latter 
 place he hod a hearing, and so ably 
 did he defend his action . as just, 
 legal and discretionary with him as 
 a judicial officer, that the proceed- 
 ings were dismissed, and, the old 
 hero of many a hard fought battle, 
 came off victorious. 
 
 In addition to this, his ability, 
 forensic eloquence and legal acu- 
 men, so favorably impressed the 
 judges, that at the suggestion of 
 Justice Mason, he was, without ask- 
 ing, accorded the high compliment 
 of being admitted, and without ex- 
 amination, to practice law in all the 
 courts of the State — an honor al- 
 most unprecedented in the records 
 of New York State jurisprudence. 
 
 At the same time notice was given 
 by the judges holding the general 
 term at Ithaca, that a term of the 
 supreme court would be appointed 
 by them, in and for Schuyler coun- 
 ty, and arguments would there be 
 heard in regard to the legal and 
 proper place in the county where 
 the court should be held. 
 
 The argument in favor of the 
 Havana location was made by J. 
 McGuire and E. P. Hart, from care- 
 fully prepared manuscripts; and 
 
 Page Thirteen 
 
 Dana '& Beers of Ithaca appeared 
 as counsel for the Watkins side of 
 the question. But, after consulta- 
 tion with Judge Rood, they insisted 
 on his malung the argument, which 
 be did without notes, as he was 
 familiar with the whole issue and 
 all of its details from beginning to 
 end. 
 
 The merits of the case were ex- 
 hausted by an all-day argument, 
 and the judges consulted far mto 
 l,he night, or until two o'clock the 
 next morning, but could not agree 
 in regard to the proper place at 
 which the court should be held; 
 and they, therefore, simply appoint- 
 ed one to be held "in and for the 
 county of Schuyler," without des- 
 ignating either Havana or Watkins. 
 As an inevitable consequence it fell 
 through, and no supreme courts 
 were held in the county during the 
 year 1857— although the confirma- 
 tory act declaring the county seat 
 to be at Havana was passed in the 
 month of April. 
 
 This difference of opinion, on the 
 part of the judges of the sixth jud- 
 icial district, encouraged the Board 
 of Supervisors to believe that the 
 confirmatory act of 1857 was un- 
 constitutional and would not be en- 
 forced; and as the constitutionality 
 of the county had been called in 
 question by Judge Gray, and the 
 case had gone to the court of ap- 
 peals, until that should be disposed 
 of there wa? but little prospect of 
 supreme courts being held at Ha- 
 vana. 
 
 In the fall of 1857 another mem- 
 orable political canvass, over the 
 election ot a member of assembly, 
 county clerk, county treasurer, 
 school commissioner and minor 
 county officers, ensued. The Havana 
 conventon nominated Aaron Han- 
 ley of Hector for the assembly; Al- 
 gernon S. Nye of Dix for county 
 clerk; C. J. Broas of Havana for 
 county treasurer, and Thomas Shan- 
 non of Orange for school commis- 
 sioner. The Watkins convention 
 nominated Dr. Henry Pish, the ex- 
 supervLsor of Hector, for member of 
 assembly; John Hollett of Orange 
 for county clerk; Cyrus Roberts of 
 Reading for county treasurer, and 
 Daniel Beach of ■ Tyrone for school 
 commissioner. 
 
 After a sharp and vigorously con- 
 tested canvass, in which both par- 
 ties did their utmost, the whole 
 Watkins ticket was elected by de- 
 cisive majorities, although the coun- 
 ty on the state ticket went strong- 
 ly Republican. So at the opening of 
 the year 1858, the Watkins interest 
 
Page Fourteen 
 
 . had the county judge, member of 
 assembly, county clerk, sheriff, 
 county treasurer, district attorney, 
 school commissioner and five of the 
 seven supervisors — ^which gave it 
 complete political control of the 
 county. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the 
 Board of Supervisors in 1857, all 
 the membei's being present, another 
 applica/tion was presented for the 
 removal of the county seat to Wat- 
 kins, and, as there was nothing in 
 the act confirming the locaticm and 
 buildings at Havana, to prevent the 
 Board of Supervisors from again re- 
 moving the county seat to Watkins, 
 the resolution was passed, — and in 
 accordance with the idea that seems 
 to have been distinctly in the minds 
 of the leaders, when they prevent- 
 ed the holding of the circuit court, 
 in September, at Havana. 
 
 All efforts to induce or compel 
 the board to levy a tax for the 
 county buildings at Havana failed. 
 Supervisor Lawrence of Catharine 
 moved that the sum of $4,989.47 be 
 levied under the confirmatory bill 
 of 1857, which was tabled; but a 
 motion was adopted to raise $5,700, 
 and pay it into the treasury, with- 
 out specifying for what purpose it 
 should be used. The bills of the 
 building commissioners for the 
 county buildings at Havana were 
 again rejected, and an appropria- 
 lion of $5,000 was made for the 
 county buildings at Watkins— all 
 test votes standing at the old fig- 
 ure, five to two. Another injunction 
 was served on the board, and an- 
 other committee of defense ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 The Board'-of Supervisors and the 
 adherents of the Watkins interest 
 generally, had hoped that if they 
 succeeded in electing a member of 
 assembly, and getting possession of 
 all the county offices, an act could 
 be carried through the Legislature, 
 in 1858, to repeal the confirmatory 
 act of 1857. But in this respect the 
 friends of Watkins were greatly 
 disappointed. Dr. Henry Pish, the 
 member of assembly, had to be 
 classed with the Democratic min- 
 ority, because of his antecedents, 
 and Mr. (3ook was found too strong- 
 ly intrenched in both branches of 
 the Legislature to be disturbed; and 
 it was finally concluded to depend 
 for relief solely upon the passage 
 of the second resolution of removal, 
 at the annual meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors in 1858. 
 
 When the 1st of January, 1858, 
 arrived there was more trouble in 
 the treasurer's offlce, Mr. Broas re- 
 
 fusing to hand over to his succes- 
 sor, Cyrus Roberts, The books, papesr 
 and moneys of the office. Therefore, 
 at a special meeting of the BjwJQ 
 of Supervisors, held January l«n, 
 1858, the bond of the old treasurer 
 was declared forfeited, and ms 
 bondsmen were ordered to be sued. 
 Supervisor Booth was appointed to 
 commence the action, and also an- 
 other one against the former coun- 
 ty clerk (Newcomb) to recover the 
 fee book of his oflace, which it was 
 alleged that he had removed. 
 
 At the town meetings in Febru- 
 ary, 1858, the Havana interest, fore- 
 seeing that unless the "five to two" 
 rule could be broken in the Board 
 of Supervisors, a second resolution 
 of removal would be passed, laid 
 their plans deep and well, put 
 "plenty of money in the canvass," 
 disguised and disclaimed the county 
 seat issue, and by dint of great ex- 
 ertion, elected their candidates in 
 Hector and Orange — ^Isaac D. Me- 
 keel over John Woodward, in the 
 former town, and Wm. Bevier over 
 WUson Kels, in the latter. A grand 
 jubilee followed at Havana — ^the fir- 
 ing of cannon, and all kinds of re- 
 joicing — similar to what had prev- 
 iously and frequently occurred in 
 Watkins — and Mr. Cook, and all the 
 other friends of that location re- 
 garded the power of the Board of 
 Supervisors as broken, and the con- 
 test as virtually settled in favor of 
 that village. It was not so regarded, 
 however, by the active and daunt- 
 less spirits in the lead of the Wat- 
 kins interest. They knew the men 
 elected in Hector and Orange, it 
 would seem, better than those who 
 nominated and elected them in op- 
 position to the Watkins candidates; 
 and the second day after the town 
 meetings were held, they had Sup- 
 ervisors Mekeel of Hector, Booth of 
 Dix, Andrews of Reading, Bevier of 
 Orange, and Clark of Tyrone, to- 
 gether, and in conference at the 
 Jefferson House in Watkins; and 
 they all united in a strong petition, 
 in behalf of their towns, and as 
 five of the seven supervisors of the 
 county, Bjsking the Legislature to re- 
 peal "Cook's Bill" confirming the 
 county seat at Havana, and pass an 
 act establishing the county seat at 
 Watkins. 
 
 Then a sudden change in the 
 scene took place, and it having be- 
 come reasonably certain that the 
 "second resolution of removal" 
 would be passed at the next annual 
 meeting of the board, a jubilation 
 and the firing of cannon was the 
 order of the day in Watkins; and 
 
the names of I. D. Mekeel and Wm. 
 Bevier stood as high in the estima- 
 tion of the friends of that locality 
 as did those of the other Watkins 
 members of the board, while the 
 indignation, chagrin and disappoint- 
 ment, that settled upon the minds 
 of the people of Havana, can be 
 much better imagined than des- 
 cribed. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors, held June 7th, 1858, 
 — John Wood, repr^enting Cayuta; 
 Edwin H. Downs, Catharine; W. E. 
 Booth, Dix; Isaac D. Mekeel, Hec- 
 tor; Wm. Bevier, Orange; Edwin C. 
 Andrews, Reading; and George 
 Clark, Tyrone, — ^Mr. Wood introduc- 
 ed a resolution appointing the sup- 
 ervisors of Catharine, Hector and 
 Reading a committee to "investi- 
 gate the financial affairs of the 
 county which was amended by 
 substituting the names of the sup- 
 ervisors of Dix and Orange, (Messrs. 
 Booth and Bevier) for those of 
 Catharine and Reading, the object 
 being to leave out Mr. Downs, and 
 as so amended it passed— the Wat- 
 kins members not deeming any such 
 investigation necessary. 
 
 The great object for which the 
 at^tagoiustic i>Eu;tie6 bent all their 
 energies that year was, on the Wat- 
 kins side of the controversy, the 
 second ptassage of the removal of 
 resolution of 1857, and, upon the 
 Havana side, the insuring of its de- 
 feat. In order to be carried through 
 it required the votes of Mekeel of 
 Hector as well as that of Bevier of 
 Orange, in addition to the votes of 
 Dix, Reading and Tjnxjne. As the 
 Havana interest had been greatly 
 instrumental in the election of 
 Messrs. Mekeel and Bevier, it had 
 strong hopies of eontroling one or 
 both of their votes on the removal 
 question; and every possible influ- 
 ence was brought to bear upon them 
 during the summer and fall, prev- 
 ious to the annual session of the 
 board, to pledge them against the 
 measure. 
 
 Mr. Bevier, who was a member 
 of the Democratic party, had no 
 political prospects to endanger, and 
 having (as before noted) joined the 
 Watkins members of the board with 
 Mr. Mekeel, shortly after their elec- 
 tion at the last preceeding town 
 meetings, in a pjetition to the Legis- 
 lature in favor of the Watkins lo- 
 cation, he stood, from the first, 
 "firm as a rock" in favor of the 
 removal resolution — and the more 
 he was importuned the firmer and 
 hiore deaided) and stubborn he be- 
 came. Mr. Mekeeel, however, occu- 
 pied a very different position, and 
 as a member of the opposite and 
 dominant ptarty, ultimaitely found 
 
 Page Fifteen 
 
 himself "between two fires", and 
 was quite confidently relied upon 
 to protect Mr. Cook and the Ha- 
 vana location from further trouble 
 and humihaition. 
 
 The managers of the Watkins in- 
 terest were shrewd enough to fore- 
 see that the Havana party would 
 probably nominate Mr. Mekeel for 
 member of Assembly, hoping there- 
 by, as he was a man of great per- 
 sonal popularity, to not only elect 
 him and thereby prevent any ad- 
 verse legislation on the confirma- 
 tory act of 1857, but also secure his 
 vote at the annual meeting of the 
 board against the removal resolu- 
 tion, before he went to Albany to 
 take his seat in the assembly at the 
 first of January, 1859. So, after the 
 Havana nominating convention had 
 been called to meet in that village, 
 the Watkins convention was called 
 to convene in Watkins a few days 
 earlier. When its organiza/tion had 
 been completed, the name of Isaac 
 D. Mekeel was presented to the con- 
 vention, and his nomination boldly 
 and eloquently advocated as the 
 strongest that could px>ssibly be 
 made for the benefit and safety of 
 the Watkins location. The oonven- 
 ition saw the point and force of the 
 argument and policy, and the sup- 
 ervisor of Hector was nominated by 
 acclamation. The convention also 
 nominated for county judge and 
 surrogate, Simeon S. Rood, (for a 
 re-election) and for district attor- 
 ney, Henry C. VanDuzer, Esq. The 
 Havana convention, as anticipated, 
 had no other alternative but to in- 
 dtorse Mr. Mekeeel's nomination, al- 
 though to use a common yet very 
 expressive phrase — it "went badly 
 against the grain." Clark J. Baskin 
 Esq., was nominated for county 
 judge and surrogate, and Hull Pan- 
 ton for district attorney. 
 
 As this was an election of much 
 importance, or was so regarded at 
 that time, it may be interesting to 
 state that lahe whole Watkins tick- 
 et was elected — that Mr. Mekeel's 
 total vote was 2,815, and his ma- 
 jority over Addison Swartout — who 
 received 886 votes on a side Demo- 
 cratic ticket — was 1,927. Judge 
 Rood's majority over Mr. Baskin, 
 was 284 — the side Democratic can- 
 didate, Hiram W. Jackson, having 
 received 347 votes. Mr. VanDuzer's 
 majority was 607 — ^he having receiv- 
 ed the side Democratic, as well as 
 the Watkins nomination and sup- 
 pwrt. 
 
 It was in that year (1858) that 
 John Arnot, Sr., (Dem.) of Elmira, 
 ran for member of Congress against 
 Alfred Wells (Rep.) of Ithaca; and 
 Mr. Arnot, having been regarded as 
 a friend of Watkins, and' being con- 
 
Page Sixteen 
 
 necjted with the Seneca Lake steam- 
 boating interests, he carried Schuy- 
 ler by 608 majority, and Mr. Wells, 
 in consequence narrowly escaped de- 
 feat in the district. CJov. Morgan's 
 majority in the county over Amasa 
 J. Parker, his Dsmocratic opponent, 
 was but 555 — ^many Watkins Repub- 
 licans voting against him, fearing 
 that he would prove (like Govern- 
 or King) too friendly with Charles 
 Cook — and later events showed that 
 their fears were not by any means 
 unfounded. These figures show what 
 a disturbing element the county seat 
 question was, and the popular sen- 
 timent; of the county on it at that 
 time. 
 
 It was soon after the close of such 
 a canvass that the question of pass- 
 ing the final resolution, which would 
 for a second time make Watkins 
 the legal county seat, — and leave 
 Havana where the confirmatory act 
 of 1857 found it — ^was to come up 
 before the Board of Supervisors, 
 and Mr. Mekeel's vote was abso- 
 lutely necessary to insure its pass- 
 age by the requisite vote of five to 
 two. The supervisor of Hector — ^nom- 
 inated for that ofBce by the Ha- 
 vana interest, elected by its hard 
 work and money, and subsequently ' 
 indorsed by it for the assembly — 
 was in great tribulation of soul in 
 regard to what course, under such 
 circumstances it was ' his duty to 
 pursue. He was sent for, taken to 
 Havana, and labored with assidu- 
 ously by Mr. Cook and other influ- 
 ential citizens of that locality, and 
 beseeohed to save them and their 
 village from the impending calam- 
 ity, by casting his vote against the 
 resolution. Never was any man sub- 
 jected to a more trying ordeal, and 
 never did a conscientious public of- 
 ficer seem more desirous of doing 
 the right, just and proper thing 
 than did Supervisor Mekeel, but 
 without being able to satisfy him- 
 self what that thing really was. 
 After the Havana interest had ex- 
 hausted all arguments and all forms 
 of persuasion, without being able to 
 obtain any promise from him to 
 vote as they desired, he was taken 
 m hand by the Watkins interest; 
 and a few nights before the resolu- 
 tion was to come up to be disposed 
 of, some of the prominent citizens 
 of the village, who took the deepest 
 interest in the matter — and knew 
 that unless he could settle his mind 
 on the subject there was gi-eat dan- 
 ger that the removal of the county 
 seat to Watkins would fail— set up 
 with him until almost daylight 
 trying to convince him that the 
 action they desired would only be 
 consistently and honorably follow- 
 ing up that of his signing the leg- 
 
 islative petition in favor of the 
 Watkins location, and but carrying 
 out the clearly expressed will ana 
 wishes of a majority of the peppie 
 of the county, and the undoutotea 
 sentiment of the Town of Hector. 
 He wrestled and almost agonized 
 over the problem for hours, and pro- 
 posed to resign and let the Hector 
 town board appoint his successor: 
 but an appeal to his manhood ana 
 self respect scattered the idea to 
 the winds. Finally he said: . You 
 Watkins men cleim ti\a,t a majority 
 of the people of Hector are in favor 
 of having the county seat located 
 in Watkins. The Havana men deny 
 this, and say that a majority of 
 the people in my town are in favof 
 of the county seat being located in 
 that village, and point to my elec- 
 tion as proof. Now I want to fairly 
 aiid honestly represent the people 
 of Hector and its taxpayers on this 
 question; and if I believed that a 
 majority of the people and property 
 owners of the town were now in 
 favor of Watkins, I would vote for 
 the removal resolution. But how am 
 I to know this to a certainty, so 
 that I can defend myself if I vote 
 for the resolution?" 
 
 Ths was a poser; but a happy 
 thought came into the mind o( one 
 man present, and it immediately 
 took form. He proposed that the 
 matter should not be huri:ied, and 
 that the Watkins interest would 
 promptly organize and quickly can- 
 vass the whole town of Hector, with 
 a petition asking its supervisor to 
 vote for the resolution to remove 
 the county seat form Havana to 
 Watkins, and that if they obtained 
 a decided majority of the electors 
 of the town, representing a major- 
 ity of its taxable property, Mr. Me- 
 keel should respect such an expres- 
 sion and vote accordingly. 
 
 No sooner was this proposition 
 submitted than Mr. Mekeel eagerly 
 accepted it, and pledged himself 
 without reserve in advance to vote 
 for the resolution, if asked so to 
 do by a majority of the electors and 
 taxpayers of his town— and the 
 yawning chasm was safely spanned. 
 Petitions were printed without de- 
 lay, the needful fund raised, the 
 work put into the hands of trusty 
 and active men, the territory divid- 
 ed between them, good horseflesh 
 called in requisition, and they were 
 instructed that affidavit evidence of 
 the correctness of their canvass 
 must be attached to" the returns. 
 
 Before the Havana people knew 
 what was going on, "Old Hector" 
 had spoken, and in no uncertain 
 tones, in favor of the Watkins lo- 
 cation. And when the resolution of 
 removal came up for action In the 
 
Board of Supervisors, cm Hectxjr be- 
 ing caaied by the clerk, Mr. Mekeel 
 arose at his desk, unfolded, a large 
 package of papers and said, "I hold 
 in my hand a petition signed by a 
 large majority of the electors and 
 taxpayers of Hector, and they ask 
 me to vote for the removal of the 
 county seat of Schuyler county, 
 from Havana to Watkins. I am here 
 to faithfully represent my town, 
 and therefore, on this resolution, I 
 vote aye!" The clerk announced the 
 result of the vote to be five for and 
 two against the resolution. It was 
 thereupon declared duly adopted by 
 a two-thirds vote, and under and 
 by virtue thereof, Watkins again be- 
 came the legal county seat of the 
 county of Schuyler. 
 
 After the passage of final reso- 
 lution of removal, at the annual 
 meetii^ of the Board of Supervisors 
 in 1858, a committee .was appoint- 
 ed to prepare and furnish an of- 
 fice for the county clerk in the 
 court house at Watkins; and it may 
 as well be noted in this cormection, 
 that v;hen it was ready for occupa- 
 tion. County Clerk HoUett secretly 
 removed the records from Havana, 
 Vjy night, or very early in the morn- 
 ing 'and the people of that village 
 (including Mr. Cook) knew nothing 
 of what was going on until they 
 were gone — ^when, as had been ex- 
 pected, there was intense excite- 
 ment manifested, which justified 
 the time and manner in which the 
 transfer to the new and second-itime 
 county seat was made. 
 '^^ During the year that Mr. Mekeel 
 was a member of assembly (1859), 
 Watkins being already the legal 
 county seat, needed no legislation, 
 and Havana could get none, as his 
 vote and the voice of his town 
 stood recorded in the records of the 
 Board of Supervisors, in favor of 
 the Watkins location; and there- 
 fore for one year the village at the 
 head of the lake was left in the un- 
 disputed possession of its hard- 
 earned county seat honors, while 
 Mr. Cook and Havana bided their 
 time, with only one future chance, 
 which was to elect a Havana mem- 
 ber of assembly ir the fall of 1859, 
 and procure another confirmatory 
 act in 1860, and also one erecting 
 a new town out of a portion of 
 Catharine, in order to brealr. the 
 two-third vote of the Watkins 
 towns, and prevent any future reso- 
 lutions of removal. 
 
 Many ardent friends of the Wat- 
 kins location deemed such a thing 
 
 Page Seventeen 
 
 impossible, and regarded the con- 
 troversy as virtually ended; but 
 those who had a correct apprecia- 
 tion of the character of Charles 
 Cook, still entertained some appre- 
 hension of future danger. They 
 knew that what most people might 
 look upon as impossible, he would 
 believe r to be not only impossible, 
 but also that he could ultimately 
 demonstrate it to be so. 
 
 The mem.bers of the Board of Sup- 
 ervisors elected in February, 1859, 
 were: Cayuta, John Wood; Cathar- 
 ine, Charles Cook; Dix, W. E. Booth; 
 Hector, Isaac D. Mekeel, (while he 
 wias a member of assembly;) Orange, 
 Ahram Barkley; Reading, Edwin C. 
 Andrews; Tyrone. George Clark. 
 These names are given as it was 
 Mr. Cook's first appearance in the 
 board, and because during that year 
 some very extraordinary and, to 
 him, astounding local legislation 
 took place against the Havana lo- 
 cation, that he had no ijower to 
 prevent, and he was thereby sub- 
 jected to greater humiliation than 
 had been any of his predecessors. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors, held May 12th, 1859, 
 they were served with a writ of 
 mandamus, granted by Judge Bal- 
 com of the Supreme Court, on the 
 application and affidavits of W. C. 
 Gillispie, Madison Treman and 
 Nathan Coryell, commanding the 
 board to forthwith provide means of 
 payment for the county buildings 
 at Havana, as directed by the con- 
 firmatory act of 1857; and as the 
 removal of the county seat to Wat- 
 kins did not impair that provision 
 of the law, the majority of the 
 board seeing no escape from obey- 
 ing the mandate, after taking le^l 
 counsel on the subject, at a subse- 
 quent meeting first held July 25th, 
 1859, and adjourned to August 15th, 
 resolved to provide for the Havana 
 buildings at the next arm.ual meet- 
 ing to be held in November. 
 
 After" the mandamus had been 
 thus reluctantly disposed of, Sup- 
 ervisor Booth, who had also taken 
 counsel on wiiat he was about to 
 propose, presented an elaborate res- 
 olution — ^which was probably drawn 
 by George G. Freer— reciting the 
 history of the action that the leg- 
 islature and the Board of Super- 
 visors had taken concerning the 
 location and removal of the county 
 seat, and the building of court 
 houses at Havana and Watkins, and 
 
Page Eighteen 
 
 the peculiar and vexatious circum- 
 stances by which the people were 
 surrounded, in the anomalous pos- 
 ition of being required to pay for 
 structures they did not need, and 
 •which they had no voice or will in 
 erecting, and as the Board of Sup- 
 ervisors had the legal right and 
 power to dispose of the buildings at 
 Havana, it was, therefore, resolved 
 that tiie same be sold at pubUc auc- 
 tion, at the court house in WatMns, 
 on the 15th of September, 1859, to 
 the highest bidder. 
 
 This resolution, which was passed 
 by a vote of four to three (Orange 
 voting with Catharine and Cajruta, 
 and Hector with the majority), fell 
 upon Supervisor Cook and the Ha- 
 vana interest like a thunderbolt 
 from a cloudless wintry sky and 
 was a most aggi-avating afterclap 
 to the enforced payment for the 
 Havana buildings under a man- 
 \, damns of Mr. Cook's procuration. 
 ' tTfever were larger drops of prespira- 
 tion seen on his Napoleonic brow 
 than there were when that resolu- 
 tion was passed by the board, in 
 which he had hoped to exercise a 
 controlling influence, and had met 
 with such a crushing defeat. Super- 
 visors Booth and Andrews were ap- 
 pointed a committee with full pow- 
 er to carry the resolution into ef- 
 fect, and in a short time there- 
 after "the court house, jail and 
 clerk's office, at Havana", were ad- 
 vertised for sale — which for a time, 
 however, was prevented by a sup- 
 reme court injunction. "This was, 
 after argument, disolved, and the 
 buildings and site were sold as or- 
 dered to the highest bidder, who was 
 George G. Freer, and the amount 
 bid was $9,000. 
 
 In the fall of 1859, the two prin- 
 cipal officers to be elected on the 
 county ticket, were member of as- 
 sembly and sheriff. And Mr. Cook's 
 plan, as subsequently . developed, 
 was to nominate a Havana candi- 
 date for the former, and a Wat- 
 kins man foi- the latter— the great 
 point being to elect the Havana 
 member, by drawing off enough of 
 the Watkins vote to insure 'that re- 
 sult. In pursuance of this program, 
 Edwin H. Downs, of Havana, was 
 nominated for member by the Re- 
 publican convention held in that 
 village, and Robert Lockwood of 
 Watkins for sheriff. The Watkins 
 convention nominated George Clark 
 
 of Tyrone for member, and Peter 
 C. H^er of Hectoi- for sherrfC. 
 
 The Watkins Repubhcan, tne 
 organ of the Watkins interest at 
 on^Tsounded the aJaxm, af^ called 
 "as with the voice of a tn™Pf ' 
 on the friends of thai locality no. 
 to be decieved, teUing them plamly 
 that another confirmatory act was 
 evidently in contemplation and 
 could only be prevented by tlje °f " 
 *eat of the whole Havana ticket, 
 ^ that the only object in nomina- 
 ting Lockwood, who had ever been 
 a strong Watkins man, was to ef- 
 fect the election of Downs. 
 
 But the Havana interest, through 
 its local paper, the Journal, denied 
 that the county seat question was 
 an issue in the campaign, and de- 
 clared that if Mr. Downs were elect- 
 ed he would ask for no legislation 
 on that subject at Albany. Mr. 
 Downs himself also made the same 
 declaration, and gave the same as- 
 surances, in all parts of the county. 
 Some of the leading Watkins men 
 were badly hoodwinked by these 
 specious pretenses, and others seem- 
 ed to be paralyzed by Lockwood's 
 nomination,— just as Mr. Cook ex- 
 pected they would be, and did not 
 dare to openly, boldly and earnestly 
 oppose the Havana ticket, for fear 
 of offending and defeating Mr. 
 Lockwood for sheriff, whom they 
 were perfectly willing to have elect- 
 ed—and some of them were silly 
 enough to hope 'that the people, in 
 an excited canvass, in a strongly 
 Republican county, would safely 
 discriminate between a Watkins and 
 Havana candidate, whose names (at 
 that timei were printed on the 
 same ballot, and in so doing de- 
 feat Downs while electing Lock- 
 wood. And as an almost inevitable 
 consevjuence both were elected. Mr. 
 Downs for member received 1884 
 votes, and his majority was 64. Mr. 
 Lockwood's vote was 1815, and his 
 majority 21. 
 
 With very good reason there fol- 
 lowed a grand oelebration of the 
 "great victory," at Havana; and 
 shortly after the Havana men, and 
 many Watkins friends of Mr. Lock- 
 wood, held a jubilee banquet over 
 the result, at the Jefferson House 
 in Watkins, to which the editor of 
 the Republican was invited, but de- 
 clined, without thanks to be present, 
 on the ground that he had no de- 
 sire tc help "celebrate his own 
 funeral." 
 
At the annua! meeting of the 
 Board of Supervisors in 1859, just 
 after the election of Downs and 
 Ijoclcvi'ood, Mr. Cook — ^who was 
 greatly elated — as the chairman of 
 a committee to investigate the fin- 
 ances of the county, that had been 
 appoint-ed at the previous special 
 meeting of July 15th and 16th, by 
 the concurrence of the supervisors 
 report, which was a voluminous, 
 carping and one sidted affair. The 
 committee was composed of Cook, 
 of Hector and Orangey-made his 
 Wood aRd Booth, (the' latter not 
 co-operating) and was chosen, so 
 far af the action of Supervisors 
 Barkley and Mekeel were concerned 
 •as they alleged, to "silence Havana 
 clamor" on the Fubjeot of the in-f 
 vestigation. 
 
 Pending action on the report and 
 after it had been read by Mr. Cook 
 he refused to let it go into the 
 hands of the clerk, claimed it as 
 his "privat-e property" and declared 
 that if any other report was want- 
 ed by the board, it must be made 
 withouit- any consultation and use 
 of his; and he offered a resolution 
 that the report be printed, under 
 the direction of the committee of 
 which he was chairman. 
 
 This singular and domineering 
 action was distasteful to a majority 
 of the members, and his resolution 
 was tabled by a vote of four to three. 
 A resolution was also adcvpted or- 
 dering the report to be placed in 
 charge of the officers of the board, 
 and not printed until it had been 
 accepted, and its publication auth- 
 orized. This order Mr. Cook refused 
 to obey, and subsequently published 
 and circulated the report on his 
 own responsibility and at his own 
 expense-^and yet he was not ex- 
 pelled from the board, nor punish- 
 ed for contempt. 
 
 Mr. Cook also at the same an- 
 nual meeting introduced a resolu- 
 tion to rescind the one ordering the 
 sale of the public buildings at Ha- 
 vana, and also one embodying a 
 proposition to "ai>peal to the legis- 
 lature" to settle the county seat 
 question— both of which were lost. 
 
 At the adjourned annual meeting 
 of Dec. 12th, 1859, Mr. Booth made 
 a minority report, as one of the 
 committee of investigation, which 
 was adopted, and it vindicated the 
 Watkins supervisors before the peo- 
 ple, from the charge of having im- 
 properly used the $19,200 that had 
 
 Page Nineteen 
 
 been ajppropriated for county ex- 
 penses; $12,000 of which was for 
 the county buildings at Watkins, 
 $4,000 for fees of the transcribing 
 comimissioners and over $1,000 for 
 counsel fees and expenses, incurred 
 by the board in defending its acts 
 against the numerous Havana pros- 
 ecutions. 
 
 At the last session of the Board 
 of Supervisers of 1859, held Feb. 6th 
 1860, the committee, appointed to 
 sell the Havana buildings, report- 
 ed, and the sale was confirmed. But 
 when Mr. Freer went to take con- 
 trol of the premises he was hotly 
 resisted by an excited gathering of 
 the people of Havana, and had to 
 be subsequently put in possession by 
 the sheriff, with a su£B.cient force 
 of sworn deputies. 
 /Previous to the meeting of Feb. 
 6th, above alluded to, Mr. Cook's 
 program had begun to be developed 
 at Albany; and at that meeting a 
 solemn protest was adopted against 
 the formation of the proposed new 
 town, and a second confirmatory 
 act. And so safe did the board feel 
 that $5,000 was appropriated to 
 complete the jail and build a new 
 county clerk's office at Watkins; 
 and Samuel Ross of Reading, Reu- 
 ben S. Smith of Hector, and W. E. 
 Booth of Dix were appointed a 
 committee to carry the determina- 
 tion of the board into effect — ^none 
 of the parties realizing that all their 
 acts would soon be "nipped in the 
 bud" by the master spirit, who was 
 shaping the county seat destinies of 
 Schuyler at the State Capitol, 
 though utterly unable to control 
 them by local legislation through 
 the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 No sooner had Mr. Downs fairly 
 become settled in his seat, at the 
 opening of the Legislature of 1860, 
 then he introduced the bill — ^just as 
 had been predicted — for again con- , : 
 flrmingjihe county seat at Havana, V 
 and /Snottref to erect the town of 
 Montour out of the western portion 
 of Catharine. And though these bills 
 were not only vehemently protested 
 against by the Board of Supervisors, 
 but also by a very large number of 
 the electors and tax-payers of the 
 Watkins towns, and battled against 
 fiercely by the Watkins interest, at 
 Albany — the ground having been 
 contested inch by inch — it was found 
 im{}ossible to prevent their passage. 
 
 The one great fact that Edwin H, 
 Downs of Havana, a brother-in-law 
 
Page Twenty 
 
 of Charles Cook, had been elected 
 to the assembly over a Watkins can- 
 didate, and a prominent member of 
 the Board of Supervisors, who had 
 four times voted in that body for 
 the removal of the county seat from 
 Havana to Watkins, was an argu- 
 ment, "final and conclusive," with 
 a decided majority of the Assembly 
 taken in connection with Mr. Cook's 
 overshadowing political influence; 
 and as the senatorial district, in 
 which Schuyler was embraced, was 
 represented in the higher branch 
 of the Legislature by Samuel H. 
 Hammond of Steuben county— a 
 personal and political friend of Mr. 
 Cook, who had been actively instru- 
 mental in his nomination and elec- 
 tion — there was no chance whatever 
 for the defeat of either bill in the 
 Senate. They therefore passed in 
 both houses; and though the farce 
 of a hearing was gone through with 
 before Gov. Morgan (who was re- 
 elected in 1859), he promptly ap- 
 proved them, and they became "iron 
 clad" laws, by virtue of which Ha- 
 vana became the county seat of the 
 county of Schuyler — whose erection 
 had, previous to their passage, been 
 held to be Constitutional by the 
 Court of Appeals — and the triumph 
 of Charles Cook and the Havana 
 interest was at last complete — ^unless 
 the confirmatory act could be de- 
 clared unconstitutional, of which 
 there was some doubt. And as the 
 Board of Supervisors were rendered 
 powerless to pass any future reso- 
 lutions of removal, and its members 
 and the people were worn out with 
 double taxation, litigation, legisla- 
 tion and contention, there seemed 
 no other alternative but submission 
 — especially as the confirmatory 
 law not only declared that the courts 
 should be held at Havana, but, to 
 obviate the difficulty connected with 
 the sale of the court house, clerk's 
 office and jail, provided that if 
 those buildings should from any 
 cause become incapable of being 
 used for the purposes named in the 
 act, it should become the duty of 
 the Board of Supervisors to provide 
 other places for such uses and pur- 
 poses in said village of Havana. 
 
 Although It may be of little con- 
 sequence now, and the question was 
 not tested in the courts, many 
 sound legal minds have always 
 doubted the constitutionality of both 
 of the confirmatory acts passed by 
 the Legislature in favor of the Ha- 
 
 vana location, and for several^d 
 reasons. The weightiest of these is 
 that the Legislature by the general 
 law of 1849, having, under a special 
 provision of the constitution, con- 
 ferred the right and Power to 
 change the locations of county seats 
 on boards of supervisors by a vote . 
 of two-thirds of their members, two 
 years in succession, at their annual 
 meetings, and that delegated right 
 and power having been m aU re- 
 spects legaUy exercised by the 
 Board of Supervisors of the county 
 of Schuyler, in removing the county 
 seat from Havana to Watkins, the 
 I,egislature could not thereafter in- 
 terfere and remove it back to Ha- 
 vana, and seek to esUbhsh it there, 
 without a plain infraction of that 
 provision of the constitution under 
 which it acted in conferring such 
 local power of legislation on coun- 
 ty boards of supervisors. 
 
 It may be claimed that the State 
 Legislature has paramount jurisdic- 
 tion in matters of this character; 
 but the answer is, that such i>ara- 
 mouht jurisdiction was exercised in 
 the passage of the act of 1849, when 
 jurisdiction on this subject was 
 transferred, according to the con- 
 stitution, to boards of supervisors; 
 and they, in behalf of the people, 
 were thus vested with the consti- 
 tutional right of its exercise, until 
 the general law, by which it was in 
 them vested, should be repealed. 
 Hence it seems obvious that the Leg- 
 islature could not at will, resume, 
 in isolated cases, jurisdiction to nul- 
 lify an act of legislation passed un- 
 der the unquestionable jurisdiction 
 which it had given to the inferior 
 legislative body; for the people, hav- 
 ing acted through their Board of 
 Supervisors, and established a coun- 
 ty seat in accordance with the pop- 
 ular win, and erected county build- 
 ings on the site to which the loca- 
 tion had been moved, and paid for 
 them by legally self-imposed taxa- 
 tion, they had acquired a "vested 
 right" in such site and buildings, 
 of which they could not be consti- 
 tutionally divested or deprived. 
 
 Again it may be urged that the 
 state and county legislators have 
 concurrent jurisdiction to remove 
 county seats. This is a great mis- 
 take, and very poor law. Courts have 
 concurrent jurisdiction over some 
 subjects — ^that Is, different courts 
 may have the right to act on the 
 same class of cases, the one first 
 
acting, thereby properly asserting 
 its jurisdiction. This is judicial ac- 
 tion, and subject to review and re- 
 versal by higher tribunals; but there 
 is no such thing as concurrent jur- 
 isdiction in legislative matters. The 
 State Legislature either has consti- 
 tutional jurisdiction in all cases for 
 the changing of county seats, after 
 they have been removed and estab- 
 lished according to general law be- 
 fore alluded to, or they have none; 
 iand the attempt to exercise such 
 jurisdiction, when they no longer 
 constitutionally had it to exercise, 
 gave the people of Schuyler coimty 
 great vexation and trouble. Let it 
 therefore be emphatically reiterated 
 that the State Legislature cannot 
 confer absolute legislative power on 
 local county legislatures to remove 
 county seats and establish them at 
 new locations, and after that pow- 
 er has t>een exercised, in strict con- 
 formity to law, re-assume jurisdic- 
 tion and undo all that has been 
 done, regardless of the vested rights 
 constitutionally acquired by the 
 people and other parties interested 
 and concerned. 
 
 It may be admitted that the Leg- 
 islature, in creating a new county, 
 had the right to provide for the lo- 
 cation of its county seat by nam- 
 ing the locality in the bill, or by 
 a commission named for that pur- 
 pose; and if Charles Cook had giv- 
 en such a deed for the site selected 
 at Havana, as the act erecting the 
 coiuity required, the location would 
 undoubtedly have been legal, and 
 fully sustained by the courts, in- 
 stead of being declared null and 
 void, as it was by Judge Shankland. 
 And the acts of the building com- 
 missioners would also have been 
 held legal and binding, in which 
 event the people of the county 
 could have been legally taxed for 
 the Havana buildings, and would 
 not have demanded a removal of the 
 site to Watkins, and the erection of 
 legal county buildings at that lo- 
 cality. 
 
 It may be further admitted that 
 the State Legislature can constitut- 
 ionally remove and re-establish a 
 county seat at the locality to which 
 it has previously been removed, and 
 there established by the legislative 
 power of a county— the same as it 
 finally did in Schuyler — as this was 
 but practically repealing its former 
 unconstitutional act in removing it 
 from the location where it was prev- 
 
 Page Twenty-one 
 
 iously and legally established by the 
 Board of Supervisors, acting for the 
 people. 
 
 It may also be admitted that the 
 Legislature had the power to erect 
 the new town of Montour, though, 
 properly that, as is now the almost 
 universal practice, should have been 
 left to the local legislature; but all 
 these admissions do not in the 
 least weaken the argument against 
 the constitutionality of the two aots 
 of removal passed by the State Leg- 
 islature in 1857 and 1860. 
 
 It follows, as a legal sequence of 
 this view of the case, that the 
 Board of Supervisors can at any 
 time in the future, in conformity 
 with the law of 1849, remove the 
 county seat back to Havana or else- 
 where; but such power is reposed 
 in them alone, as long as that act 
 stands on the statute books; and it 
 may be added, without fear of legal 
 contradiction, that the coniirmatory 
 act of 1860 was clearly unconstitu- 
 tional, in providing that if the coun- 
 ty buildings at Havana should, at 
 any time in the future, become in- 
 capable of being used for county 
 purposes, the Board of Supervisors 
 should furnish other buildings in 
 that village. This was an attempt, 
 by indirection to repeal the right to 
 remove a county seat, under the 
 law of 1849, so far as Schuyler coun- 
 ty and its Board of Supervisors and 
 people were concerned. And that 
 would have condemned the act in 
 its moist vital point, as unconsti- 
 tutional in the Court of Appeals; 
 for it would have been held as an 
 attempt to deprive Schuyler, its 
 people and Board of Supervisors, of 
 the same rights of soverign power, 
 privileges and immunities, as are ac- 
 corded to and enjoyed by aU her 
 sister counties in the State. 
 
 But as it would have taken years, 
 as it did the issue of the county's 
 constitutionality, to have carried 
 this question to the Court of Ap- 
 peals, and an expenditure of thous- 
 ands of dollars, which neither in- 
 dividuals nor the county were will- 
 ing to pay, and in the meantima 
 Havana would have remained the 
 county seat — as long perhaps as it 
 did without such a contest — ^though 
 at one time seriously contemplated 
 it is well that it was not done. 
 
 The new confirmatory act of 1860, 
 and the one erecting the town of 
 Montour, were the death knells of 
 the Watkins location, and lost to 
 
Page Twenty-two 
 
 that village and interest, on the 
 county seat question, at a single, or 
 rather double blow, all that had 
 been gained by six long years of 
 ceaseless warfare. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board 
 of Supervisors, held April 30th, 1860 
 — only about a month after the con- 
 firmatory act became a law— the 
 action taken on the 27th of the 
 preceding February for the com- 
 pletion of the jail, and the build- 
 ing of a county clerk's office at 
 Watkins, was rescinded, and a lease 
 authorized to be taken of George 
 G. Freer for the Havana buildings 
 at $900 a year and taxes. This rec- 
 ognition of Mr. Freer's ownership 
 of the Havana site and its court 
 house, clerk's office and jail, was 
 very distasteful to Mr. Cook, who 
 stubborrUy denied the vaUdity of 
 M. Freer's Title, although it had 
 been recognized by the courts, in 
 advance of the sale, by the removal 
 of the injunction as before stated; 
 and Mr. Cook's motion that his 
 name, (he still representing Cath- 
 arine) and those of John Wood of 
 Cayuta and Abram Bai-kley of 
 Orange, be stricken from the body 
 of the lease, because they were op- 
 posed to it, was lost. This was all 
 the important action taken by the 
 board until the annual meeting in 
 November of that year. 
 
 In the meantime the election of 
 1860 occurred — the Watkins county 
 seat party having virtually disband- 
 ed, its elements again seeking their 
 former political afinities, and giving 
 up the county seat question as a 
 "lost cause." The Republican count- 
 ty convention, held at Havana, nom- 
 inated Abram V. Mekeel of Hector 
 for member of assembly; Devalson 
 G. Weaver of Tyrone for county 
 clerk; Adrian Tuttle of Reading for 
 county treasurer; Charles G. Win- 
 field of Catharine (or Montour) for 
 school commissioner, and Joseph B. 
 Coats of Dix for sup't of county 
 poor. The Democratic convention 
 held at Watkins nominated Thomas 
 L. Nichols, M. D., of Orange, for 
 member of assembly; Calvin Van- 
 Duzen of Havana for county clerk; 
 LeRoy Wood of Cayuta for county 
 treasurer; Daniel Beach of Tyrone 
 for school commissioner, and Robert 
 Wilson of Hector for sup't. of coun- 
 ty poor. The contest was a spirited 
 one, and the old county seat feel- 
 ing was visable in the returns, even 
 though the whole Republican tick- 
 
 et was elected. Mr. Mek^I's n^' 
 inritv over Dr. Nichols was but af- 
 Tr Veaver's majority for county 
 clerk over the democratic can^- 
 date was 1-334. and over John Hoi- 
 lett who ran as an independent 
 watkins candidate, it was 594; over 
 both 129. Mr. Tuttle's majority for 
 treasurer was 800, he having been 
 SaS as "a good Watkins »'; 
 wMe Mr. Wood was rememberea 
 r^a stmng friend of the Havana 
 location. Charles G. Winfields ma- 
 iority for school commissioner was 
 254- and Joseph B. Coats was elec- 
 ted sup't of the poor by 592 major- 
 ity Gov. Morgan's majority in the 
 countv, for a re-election, was but 
 453, while tiat of Alexander S. 
 Diven, for Congress, was 736— 
 showing that the vote was still 
 somewhat perturbed by the old 
 grudge." 
 
 At the annual meeting of the 
 Board of Supervisors, after the elec- 
 tion in 1860, Mr. Cook appeared as 
 the representative of Montour, and 
 Phineas Cajtlin as that of Cathar- 
 ine. The furniture of the Watkins 
 court house was ordered to be ti-ans- 
 f erred to Havana; and a settlement 
 was made with ex-Treasurer Broas, 
 the board allowing him costs on the 
 various suits instituted against him, 
 and his books, papers and the coun- 
 ty funds in his hands, were passed 
 over to Treasurer Tuttle, having 
 been withheld from Treasurer Rob- 
 erts during that official's term of 
 three years. Provision was again 
 made for paying the indebtedness 
 on the Havana buildings— the Con- 
 troller having declined the loan of 
 $15,000, authorized for that purpose 
 at the annual meeting of, 1859, be- 
 cause of the "unsettled condition of 
 the county." A new loan of $10,000 
 was authorized, which the control- 
 ler finally granted. Peter Tracy sub- 
 sequently loaned the county $5,000, 
 and Charles Cook $3,000, which pro- 
 vided all necessary funds to place 
 its finances in good and easy con- 
 dition. The county clerk's office was 
 soon removed back to Havana, su- 
 preme courts were ordered and held 
 at "Freer's Havana Court House," 
 and even Judge Rood was con- 
 strained to order and hold the 
 county court and court of sessions 
 there; and the court house at Wat- 
 kins was leased, to Rev. F. S. Howe, 
 president of the Watkins board of 
 education, for the use of the Ac- 
 ademic school. 
 
Two years thereafter the mem- 
 bers of the Board of Supervisors of 
 1854, to whom the site of the Wat- 
 kins buildings had been conveyed 
 by Mr. Freer, on request of the 
 board of 1862, quit-claimed all right 
 and title they may possibly have 
 had therein, and at the annua! 
 meeting of 1863, in which year Mr. 
 Freer represented the town of Dix 
 and Adam G. Campbell Montour, 
 (as the successor of Mr. Cook, re- 
 signed because of illness) a propo- 
 sition was made by Mr. Freer to 
 sell the Havana buildings back to 
 the county for $6,000 (he having 
 received $3,000 or m.ore In rents) 
 and the cancellation of the mort- 
 gage held by the county against the 
 property; and the transfer of title 
 ■was duly made. It was also voted, 
 very much against Mr. Preer's 
 wishes, to sell the county site and 
 buildings at Watkins; and Super- 
 visors Campbell, Barkley and Bow- 
 er (of Hector) were appointed a 
 committee to effect the sale. 
 
 At the annual meeting of 1864, the 
 committee appointed to sell the 
 "Watkins site and buildings repwrted 
 that they had sold the same (Jan. 
 15th, 1864) to Mr. Howe, acting for 
 the board of education, for the sum 
 of $6,750, a payment of $1,687.50 
 having been made, and the Imlance 
 of $5,062.50 secured by bond and 
 mortgage on the premises. 
 
 Thus terminated, for a time at 
 least, the long county seat trouble, 
 and Havana was left in full possess- 
 ion of the laurels of victory, and the 
 coveted prize as well as of the coun- 
 ty buildings m the county; and the 
 "white winged angel of iieace" 
 reigned supreme throughout the 
 length and breath of the latest born 
 county in the State — Schuyler — 
 ■which because of this protracted 
 contest and the notoriety incident 
 to it, had become one of the best 
 known and most famous counties 
 in the Empire commonwealth. 
 
 This peaceful and harmonious 
 condition of things continued dur- 
 ing the years 1865 and 1866 — ^but the 
 end had not come. 
 
 At the annual meeting of 1866, on 
 the 13th of December, the Board of 
 Supervisors — which had adjourned 
 from Havana to Monterey, in the 
 tovm of Orange — ^startled and elec- 
 trified the whole county by adopt- 
 ing a well considered and carefully 
 ■written memorial to the legislature 
 praying, for many cogent reasons 
 
 Page Twenty-three 
 
 which were set forth in the docu- 
 ment, that the county seat of the 
 county of Schuyler be removed from 
 the village of' Havana and re-es- 
 tablished in the village of Watkins. 
 
 The members of the board which 
 adopted this imlooked for and (to 
 the Havana interest) astonishing 
 memorial, were: Cayuta, Martin D. 
 Hall; Catharine, Baton J. Agard; 
 Dix, Anson N. Ackley; Hectoi, El- 
 mer C. Spauldlng; Montour, Sajnuel 
 W. Sackett; Orange, Abram Bark- 
 ley; Reading, Edwin C. Andrews; 
 Tyrone, Lewis A. Knox; — ^E. C. 
 Spaulding, chairman; E. B. Mapes, 
 Clerk. It is understood that those 
 ■who voted for the adoption of the 
 memorial were Messrs. Hall, Ackley, 
 Spaulding, Barkley, Andrews, and 
 Knox — six; those who voted against 
 it, Messrs. Agard and Sackett — ^two. 
 The removal was asked for on con- 
 dition that citizens of Watkins 
 should bind themselves to furnish 
 a site and county buildings at that 
 locality, equal to those at Havana, 
 without cost to the county; and 
 such a bond in the sum of $30,000 
 was given and approved by the 
 board — the said citizens to have the 
 a^-ails that might be realized from 
 the sale of the Havana buildings 
 after the removal of the county seat 
 to Watkins. 
 
 The reasons which led to this re- 
 markable development, were to 
 some extent personal and political, 
 and it owed its origin to the mach- 
 inations of the sliunbering''Watkins 
 interest, which awoke as from the 
 dead, as soon as Charles Cook was 
 in his grave, and secretly resumed 
 the purpose that it had been com- 
 pelled to relinquidi xuider the con- 
 firmatory act of 1860. Mr. Cook had 
 been stricken with paralysis in 1863 
 and was obliged to retire from the 
 supervisorship of the town of Mon- 
 tour (as before stated) giving place 
 to Mr. Campbell, who was returned 
 in 3364, succeeded by M. T. Brod- 
 erick in 1865, and he by Mr. Sack- 
 ett in 1866. Mr. Cook's health was 
 much impaired by the schock it 
 had sustained, though he was still 
 a great power in Havana and in the 
 county; but in 1866 a recurrance of 
 his malady suddenly terminated his 
 eventful life; and no sooner had he 
 been laid to his final rest, than a 
 plot was inaugurated for the re- 
 moval of the county seat back to 
 Watkins. After the passage by the 
 legislature of tiie two acts of 1860, 
 
Page Twenty-four 
 
 it became a common saying that 
 "Watkins will never become the 
 county seat of Schuyler county 
 while Charles Cook lives." The 
 leading men of the Watkins interest 
 conceded the truthfulness of this 
 observation, but evidently believed 
 that such a thing might come to 
 pass after his death, though it 
 seemed a very remote possibility and 
 contingency; and had he continued 
 to live until the present time, there 
 is no probability that any attempt 
 would have been made to distm-b 
 his dearly-won county seat at Ha- 
 vana. When he passed away, how- 
 ever, its strongest friend, defender 
 and protector waa gone, and it be- 
 came feasible to accomplish, when 
 he was dead, what could not have 
 been done while he was in the land 
 of the living. And it should be re- 
 membered that while Mr. Cook no 
 longer survived at Havana, Hon. 
 John Magee, George G. Freer, Judge 
 Simeon L. Rood, Levi M. Gano, 
 John Ijang, Daniel Beach, P. Davis, 
 Jr., and many other active and in- 
 fluential men, were still residents 
 of Watkins. 
 
 At the November election of 1866, 
 Samuel M. Barker (Rep.) of Hector 
 was elected to the Assembly over 
 John Wood (Dem.) of Cayuta; and 
 as Mr. Barker favored the proposed 
 removal petitioned for, a bill was 
 drafted, under the supervision of 
 Judge Charles J. Polger of Geneva, 
 then representing the 26th district 
 in the State .Senate, and April 24th, 
 1867, it became a law by the ap- 
 proval of Gov. Reuben E. Penton— 
 who thus effectually helped to undo 
 the work done by his honored pre- 
 decessors. Governors Morgan and 
 King. The bill was strenuously op- 
 posed by the Havana interest, but 
 to no puiTXjse; and the people of 
 that village, and its friends in the 
 southern part of the county, could 
 for a time scarcely realize the sud- 
 den and overwhelming county sea;, 
 disaster and calamity that had fal- 
 len upon them and their favorite 
 and cherished location. 
 
 As the adoption of the memorial 
 to the Legislature, by the Board of 
 Supervisors, in 1866, and the act of 
 1867, passed in response thereto, 
 were the most important local and 
 legislative proceedings, connected 
 with the county seat question from 
 first to last, and were conclusive in 
 permanently reestablishing the coun- 
 ty buildings on the identical site, 
 
 whereon the board had located them 
 m 1854, it seems pertinent and prop- 
 er that both the memorial and tus 
 enactment that followed it should 
 be given, at this point in these 
 sketches, so that the history of the 
 last removal, and the foundation on 
 which the county seat has securely 
 rested for nearly twenty-two years, 
 may be clearly comprehended and 
 understood by the young people of 
 Schuyler, as well as by those more 
 advanced in years. 
 
 The memorial, substantially as it 
 was drafted for the consideration 
 of the board, after consultation with 
 the leading men of the Watkins in- 
 terest, by M. Ells, — former editor 
 of the Watkins Republican, and at 
 that time connected with the Schuy- 
 ler County Democrat — and as adopt- 
 ed, reads as follows: 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 WHEREAS, It is apparent to this 
 Board of Supervisors that the coun- 
 ty buildings of the county of Schuy- 
 ler were located at the vUlage of 
 Havana contrary to the wishes of 
 a decided majority of the people of 
 said county, and that said location 
 is not the natural and proper loca- 
 tion for said county buildings, and: 
 
 WHEREAS, The viUage of Wat- 
 kins is not only the geographical, 
 but also the acknowledged business 
 centre of the county, with a popu- 
 lation more than double that of 
 Havana, and rapidly increasing, and 
 is the most appropriate and con- 
 venient locality for the holding of 
 courts and the transaction of the 
 public business of the county, and: 
 
 WHEREAS, This board is assured 
 and believes that certain citizens 
 of ihe county, and of said village 
 of Watkins, in conjunction with the 
 people of said village, acting in 
 their corporate capacity, are anx- 
 ious and willing to furnish to the 
 county of Schuyler- a good and suit- 
 able site for county buildings at 
 Watkins, and also to provide for 
 and pay all the necessary expenses 
 of said site, and the cost of erect- 
 ing a new, substantial and commod- 
 ious Court House, Clerk's Office and 
 Jail thereon, less the amount which 
 may be realized from the sale of 
 the county site and buildings at Ha- 
 vana, and: 
 
 WHEREAS. The county buildings 
 at Havana ai-e in their finish infer- 
 ior, and of an ordinary construot- 
 ion and not of the most convenient 
 character, and the changing said 
 
buildings from Havana to Watkins 
 will vest in the county a sight and 
 buildings greatly superior to those 
 now in use, free of charge to the 
 county, and located in accordance 
 with the well-known and oft ex- 
 pressed will of the people — Now 
 therefore be it, 
 
 RESOLVED, That this Board of 
 Supervisors hereby respectfully pe- 
 tition the Honorable, the Legislature 
 of the State of New York, to pass 
 an act at the approaching annual 
 session, changing and removing the 
 comity site and buildings of the 
 county of Schuyler from Havana 
 to Watkins, provided that good and 
 sufBcient security shall be given to 
 the Board of Supervisors, that there 
 shall be electee conformably with 
 the suggestions in the foregoing pre- 
 amble contained, at the expense of 
 the citizens and corporation afore- 
 said, on a site in said village of 
 Watkins to be accepted by the 
 Board of Supervisors, and duly con- 
 veyed to said Board in fee, a good, 
 commodious substantial and well- 
 built Court House, Clerk's office and 
 Jail in accordance with a plan pre- 
 scribed and agreed upon by said 
 board, or a committee thereof, said 
 buildings to be by them officially 
 accepted and approved, and tBa 
 courts in the meantime, after the 
 passage of said act, to be held at 
 such place as the Board of Super- 
 visors may direct. 
 
 RESOLVED, That Hon. S. M. 
 Barker, Member of Assembly from 
 this county, be, and he is hereby 
 respectfully and earnestly request- 
 ed tc use his best endeavors, during 
 the ensuing session of the Legisla- 
 ture, to procure the passage of an 
 act substantially the same as that 
 petitioned for in the foregoing res- 
 olution. 
 
 RESOLVED, That the foregoing 
 preamble and resolutions be pub- 
 lished in the Havana Journal, Wat- 
 kins Express and Watkins Indepen- 
 dent, and that a printed copy there- 
 of be mailed by the Clerk of this 
 Board to each member of the Sen- 
 ate and Assembly, at Albany, im- 
 mediately after the meeting of the 
 Legislature in January next. 
 
 RESOLVED, That previous to the 
 presentation to the Legislature of 
 the foregoing resolutions asking the 
 chai:^e of the location of the Coun- 
 ty Buildings from Havana to Wat- 
 Uns, the citizens, or corporation of 
 the village of Watkins, bind them- 
 
 Page Twenty-five 
 
 selves in a bond, to be approved by 
 this board, that they will comply 
 with the resolution requiring them 
 to erect the said Court House, Jail 
 and Clerk's Office without any ex- 
 pense to the taxpayers of the coun- 
 ty. 
 
 The following is the law passed 
 by the Legislature of the State as 
 petitioned for in the foregoing 
 memorial i and as will be seen, it 
 was very carefully drawn and well 
 guarded in all its provisions. 
 
 CHAP. 768 
 AN ACT to change the county seat, 
 and county buildings, and courts 
 of Schuyler coimty, from the vil- 
 lage of Havana to the village of 
 Watkins. 
 
 Passed April 24, 1867; three-fifths 
 being present. 
 
 The People of the State of New 
 York, represented in Senate and As- 
 sembly, do enact as follows: 
 
 mon jail, for said county, and shall 
 build or provide on such site a suf- 
 ficient court house, county clerk's 
 office and common jail, for the use 
 of said county, and shall complete. 
 
 Section 1. If the village of Wat- 
 kins, in the county of Schuyler, or 
 the inhabitants thereof, or any por- 
 tion of them, shall procure in said 
 village, a suitable site for a court 
 house, county clerk's office and com- 
 and finish and furnish the same, 
 fitted ready in ail respects, for oc- 
 cupation and use, and shall cause 
 to be executed and delivered to the 
 board of supervisors of the said 
 county, a good and sufficient deed 
 to vest in the said county, an ab- 
 solute title in fee simple, and clear 
 of all incimdbrance, of said site, and 
 the said court house, clerk's office 
 and common jail, and the furniture 
 and fixtures thereof, and shall put 
 the said board of supervisors in the 
 peaceable and quiet possession 
 thereof, then and from the delivery 
 of the said deed, and from the ac- 
 quiring of such possession, the 
 county seat of the said county, and 
 ithe court house, clerk's office and 
 common jail thereof, shall be, and 
 remain at the village of Watkins. 
 
 §2. Isaac D. Mekeel of Hector, 
 Archibald Rofobins of Reading, Cor- 
 nelius Haring of Orange, Alexander 
 C. Kingsbury of Dix, and Abraham 
 Lawrence of Catharine, shall be 
 and are hereby constituted a board 
 of commissioners, whose duty and 
 power it shall be, together with the 
 
Page Twenty-six 
 
 supervisors of said county, when a 
 site or sites shall have been selected 
 by the village of Watkins or by the 
 inhabitants thereof, or any portion 
 thereof, to inspect the same and to 
 determine whether the said site or 
 sites, or either of them. Is suitable 
 in all respects, for said court house, 
 clerk's office and common Jail, which 
 determination shall be expressed in 
 writing, by a report or resolution to 
 the board of supervisors. If a ma- 
 jority of said commissioners and 
 supervisors shall concur in any res- 
 olution or report, the same shall be 
 taken as the determination of said 
 commissioners and supervisors And 
 if such determination is, that the 
 site, or one of them so selected, is 
 suitable as aforesaid, then the build- 
 ing or providing of the court house, 
 clerk's office and jail may be begun 
 and progress. But the building or 
 providing thereof shall not be be- 
 gun until the commissioners and 
 said supervisors, shall, in the man- 
 ner aforesaid, have adopted a reso- 
 lution or report approving of said 
 sites, or one of them, as suitable. 
 The said commissioners shall also 
 have the right, and it shall be their 
 duty to inspect and direct as to the 
 manner and sufficiency of the said 
 court house, clerk's office and jail, 
 while the same are in process of 
 erection, and as to the furnishing 
 and fitting up of the same, and af- 
 ter the same are finished, the com- 
 missioners shall determine in the 
 manner aforesaid — and said build- 
 ings shall be equal in material, 
 ^^lorkmanship, finish and conven- 
 ience for public use, to the buildings 
 now used at Havana — and so re- 
 iwrt to the board of supervisors 
 whether the buildings and furniture 
 are suitable in all respects for the 
 use of the county, for the purposes 
 for which they are intended. If the 
 commissioners shall, in manner 
 aforesaid, so determine and report, 
 then the said deed shall be deliver- 
 ed and accepted, and possession be 
 taken of said site and buildings, as 
 hereinbefore provided. In case, of a 
 vacancy, for any reason, occurring 
 in the number of said commission- 
 ers, the same shall be supplied by 
 the appointment of the county 
 judge of said county. No compen- 
 sation shall be allowed to any com- 
 missioner for services performed un- 
 der this act. 
 
 § 3. After the said board of sup- 
 ervisors shall have acquired the pos- 
 
 session mentioned in the A^st ac- 
 tion of this act, of the court house 
 and clerk's office and common jau. 
 all courts held in and for said coun- 
 ty which, by law, are to be held at 
 the court house thereof, ^l be 
 held a* the court house in said vu- 
 lage of Watkins, and all process 
 theretofore issued and returnable 
 at the Court House in Havana shall 
 be returnable and be returned at 
 the court house in Watkins. 
 
 § 4. Within three months after 
 the said board of supervisors shall 
 have received the said deed, and, 
 acquired the possession of the said 
 site, court house, clerk's office and 
 jail, as aforesaid, they shall sell the 
 corresponding buildings at the vil- 
 lage of Havana, and the lot on 
 which the same stands in such man- 
 ner, either at auction or private sale, 
 as will bring the highest price; and 
 the avails thereof, after deducting 
 the expenses of the sale, they shall 
 pay to such of the citizens of Wat- 
 kins as shall have procured said 
 site, and built or provided the build- 
 ings, mentioned in the first section 
 of this act. 
 
 §5. The said board of supervis- 
 ors may -permit the said commis- 
 sioners to take out of and remove 
 to the court house, clerk's office and 
 jail, to be erected at Watkins, such 
 furniture, fixtures and parts there- 
 of, as iron doors, axui door frames, 
 gratings and the like, from said 
 court house, clerk's office and jail 
 at Havana, as in their discretion 
 they may see fit to be so taken out 
 and removed to Watkins, during the 
 erection or preparation of, and to 
 be used in the erection or prepara- 
 tion of said buildings at Watkins. 
 
 § 6. In no case shall the inhabi- 
 tants of said county, or the taxable 
 property thereof except the inhabi- 
 tants or property of the said vil- 
 lage of Watkins, be in any manner 
 taken for the purchase of the said 
 site, or for the cost of the building, 
 providing, furnishing, or preparing 
 for use, the court house, county 
 clerk's office and common jail, or 
 for any cost tor expenses in any 
 maimer growing out of this act. 
 
 § 7. If the said court house, 
 clerk's office and common jail, are 
 not ready for use and occupation, 
 as in this act provided, on or before 
 the first day of October, in the year 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, 
 than this act shall cease and be of 
 no effect. 
 
It should be stated that the act 
 of 1867, given in, full in article elev- 
 enth, though originally drawn (as 
 before noted) under the supervision 
 of Senator Folger, as a matter of 
 personal favor on solicitation, was 
 subsequently submitted to Attorney 
 General Lyman Tremain by Assem- 
 blyman Barker, and that high legal 
 authority carefully revised it, and 
 some important changes and addi- 
 tions were made. 
 
 The bill passed the Assembly, in 
 chaise of Mr. Barker, with a whirl, 
 and by a very decisive vote, but for 
 a time seemed to "hang fire" in the 
 Senate; and L. M. Gano, of the 
 Watkins Express, was sent down to 
 Albany, by the citizens of Watkins, 
 to look after the matter and if pos- 
 sible see the biU through. He soon 
 interested Senator John I. Nicks of 
 the 27th district, then composed of 
 the counties of Schuyler, Chemung 
 and Steuben, in the measure, and 
 through him the movement and 
 adoption of some very essential 
 amendments, one of which permit- 
 ted the citizens, or corporate auth- 
 orities, of Watkins to build or pro- 
 vide a court house and other county 
 buildii^, etc., — ^thus giving an op- 
 portunity to re-purchase the old 
 site and utilize the court house that 
 had been erected thereon, much 
 cheaper than a new one could be 
 constructed. As so amended, the 
 bill, on motion of Senator Nicks, 
 was ordered to a third reading — ^the 
 Havana men, having as they sup- 
 posed, securely "pigeon-holed" it 
 previously in the Senate, for the 
 session, had gone home believing 
 that it was killed. 
 
 After it was ordered to a third 
 reading, Mr. Gano, not doubting 
 that the amendments would be 
 promptly concurred in by the As- 
 sembly on motion of Mr. Barker, 
 started for home also, first tele- 
 graphing to Watkins that the bill 
 had been ordered to a third reading 
 in the Senate, which was regarded 
 as virtually insuring its passage. His 
 dispatch seems to have been "taken 
 from the wires" in passing through 
 Havana, as on his arrival at Syra- 
 cuse, homeward bound, in changing 
 cars he accidentally discovered a 
 strong lobby from Havana, taking 
 the eastern bound train on their 
 way to Albany. He at once boarded 
 the same train and returned to the 
 State Capital, knowing that a final 
 
 Page Twenty-seven 
 
 and desperate effort would be made 
 to defeat the bill. 
 
 A postponement was secured on 
 the plea — which was no doubt a 
 truthful one— that Havana had been 
 "surprised" by the unexpected and 
 sudden forward movement of the 
 bill; and when it at last came lip 
 for final passage it barely escaped 
 defeat, because of the large num- 
 ber of absentees who appeared to 
 have been kept away by design, and 
 on the first roll call it failed of re- 
 ceiving a sufficient aflarmative vote 
 to pass it — even Senator Folger re- 
 tired to the cloak room so as to 
 avoid voting for or against it. He 
 was a warm personal friend of 
 Charles Cook, while the latter was 
 living, entertained a strong senti- 
 ment of regard for his memory af- 
 ter his death, and could not (though 
 admitting the justice of the bUl) 
 consent to vote for the removal of 
 the county seat from Havana, which 
 had cost his esteemed friend seven 
 years of his arduous life to establish 
 at that locality. As he passed into 
 the cloak room, after the bill was 
 called, he made the remark: "If 
 Charles Cook's portrait but hung 
 in this Senate Chamber that bill 
 could not be passed." But James 
 Terwilliger was then Clerk of the 
 Senate, and had previously become 
 acquainted and friendly with Mr. 
 Gano, when the former was Deputy 
 Clerk of the Assembly, and the lat- 
 ter Sergeant-at-arms of that body 
 in 1862 and 1863; and instead, as 
 he might have done, declaring the 
 bill lost on the first roll call, he 
 called the absentees as they appear- 
 ed until imder the presence and 
 eye of Senator Nicks, the requisite 
 votes to pass it were received. These 
 facts are recalled from the past, so 
 that the people of the present may 
 understand how near Watkins came 
 to being defeated on the county 
 seat question in 1867. Had not Mr. 
 Gano been sent to Albany the bill 
 would probably not have reached 
 a third reading in the Senate, and 
 had he missed the Havana delega- 
 tion at Syracuse, it would have been 
 lost in that body for the want of a 
 sufficient number of votes. 
 
 Having been passed, however, and 
 become a law with its Senate 
 amendments, the commissioners 
 therein named, at once commenced 
 operations for carrying it Into prac- 
 tical operation. They caused a thor- 
 ough examination of the court house 
 
Page Twenty-eight 
 
 building, then occupied for the Wat- 
 kins Academic School, to be made 
 by Buel Taylor, architect of New- 
 ark, N. Y.; Geo. E. Bartlett, builder 
 of Watkins; Abel Hodgklns, con- 
 tractor and builder of Watkins; and 
 A. J. Warner, architect of Roches- 
 ter. They unanimously reported that 
 the building was in fine condition 
 and could be easily made a good, 
 commodious and substantial court 
 house. 
 
 On the 17th day of May, 1867, a 
 public meeting was held in Watkins, 
 of which Judge S. L. Rood was 
 chairman and O. P. Hurd, secretary, 
 which resolved to present the court 
 house site, designated by the Board 
 o^" Supervisors in 1854, and to which 
 the county seat had been twice mov- 
 ed from Havana, as the location 
 selected for the future county seat 
 of the county, to the then existing 
 ' board and commissioners named in 
 the act of 1857; and L. M. Gano, 
 F. Davis Jr., S. L. Rood, E. C. Frost, 
 and Orlando Hurd, were appointed 
 a committee to present the same 
 to a meeting of those bodies, called 
 to be held on the 18th. 
 
 At that meeting — ^Abraham Law- 
 rence, chairman, E. B. Mapes, clerk, 
 — ^Mr. Gano, as the chairman of said 
 village committee, presented the 
 designated site on behalf of the 
 citizens of Watkins; and at the 
 same meeting, John Lang, presi- 
 dent of the village Board of Trus- 
 tees, presented the same site on be- 
 half of the corporate authorities — 
 the presentation being signed, John 
 Lang, president; Geo. E. Bartlett, 
 S. L. Rood, Archibald Robblns, Jas. 
 E. Birdsall, Wm. M. Kingsbury, trus- 
 tees, and attested by J. W. Hewett, 
 clerk. 
 
 The meeting took a recess after 
 these presentations of the proposed 
 site to examine the same, and on 
 reassembling, manifested their en- 
 tire satisfaction with an approval of 
 the proffered location, by adopting 
 an appropriate preamble and reso- 
 lutions accepting the same, for 
 which all voted except Supervisors 
 Wood, of Cayuta, Agard of Cath- 
 arine, Sackett of Montour and com- 
 missioner and president Lawrence 
 — ^the vote being nine for and four 
 against it. 
 
 The site having been approved, 
 the village of Watkins, at a public 
 meeting held June 24th, 1867, voted 
 to bond Itself for $25,000 to cover 
 the expense of purchasing the site 
 
 and erecting the buildings; and the 
 Legislature subsequently conflrmea 
 and legaUzed the bonds, declared 
 them a lien on the taxable property j 
 of the village, and required the 
 trustees to levy a tax annually, oy 
 installments, for their payment with 
 
 interest. , , .,,,„„ 
 
 The site and academy building 
 thereon were immediately purchas- 
 ed by the commissioners, and quick 
 and thorough work was made in 
 remodeUng the large structure and 
 erecting a good jail, clerk's office 
 and jailer's residence thereon,— the 
 latter being in excess of what was 
 required by law. 
 
 As the work progressed the people 
 and friends of the Havana loca- 
 tion looked sullenly on, and could 
 not make up their minds that they 
 were fated to lose what had been 
 won after so much anxiety, expense 
 and trouble, and as advised by un- 
 sound legal counsel, began to hope 
 and believe that the act of 1867 was 
 unconstitutional, and would certain- 
 ly be set aside by the courts. Elbert 
 W. Cook of Havana, having suc- 
 ceeded to the estate of his brother 
 Charles without possessing a moiety 
 of either his jjolitical or financial 
 ability and sagacity, nevertheless, 
 (like his deceased relative) inherit- 
 ed a goodly share of stubborn pug- 
 nacity, and sought by all manner of 
 expendients to checkmate the action 
 of the Board of Supervisors and 
 commissioners. But the subject was 
 beset with great difficulties. No ac- 
 tion could be brought by Havana 
 people on the plea of unjust or il- 
 legal taxation, as Watkins had to 
 pay the entire cost, and the great 
 thing wanting was to find plintlffs 
 who could allege in their complaints 
 a sufficient cause of action on which 
 to ground a plea of unconstitution- 
 ality, and procure an injunction 
 that would stop the work and pre- 
 vent the removal when the Wat- 
 kins buildings were completed, and 
 the sale of the abandoned site and 
 buildings at Havana. 
 
 It was finally determined that the 
 strongest point that could be made 
 was one of "vested rights" in and 
 to the site and buildings of the Ha- 
 vana location, on the part of the 
 village of Havana, because in its 
 corporate capacity, it had furnished 
 the site, reversionary interest and 
 all, to the county, and had helped 
 build the jail. On this plea, mainly, 
 during the year that followed the 
 
act ol 1867, some five or six injunc- 
 tion suits were instituted, mostly 
 by the village of Havana and by 
 :iST. Elbert W. Ck>ok, and dissolved 
 as fast as they could reach the 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, in 
 general or special term, and some- 
 times at their chambers. 
 
 These legal proceedings did not 
 materially prevent the work on the 
 "buildings from moving forward, and 
 as early as the 1st of February, 1868 
 — ^less than ten months from the 
 passage of the act of 1867 — ^the 
 buildings were completed and ready 
 tor examination and acceptance by 
 the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 In the meantime the newspaper 
 war between the two villages and 
 much of the animosity of former 
 ■years were revived, and the articles 
 published, especially those in the 
 Watkins Express and Havana Jour- 
 nal, and their discussions on the 
 county seat question were able, terse, 
 exhaustive of the subjects in dis- 
 pute, and at times peculiarly pun- 
 gent, caustic, bitter and acrimon- 
 ious. 
 
 On the 4th of February, 1868, the 
 «ommissioners, named in the act 
 of 1867, reported to the Board of 
 Supervisors that the buildings were 
 completed, and in all respects ready 
 for occupation and use; and a deed 
 lor the site and all things there- 
 Tinto pertaining was presented to 
 the board, on behalf of the cor- 
 TKirate authorities of Watkins, by 
 John Lang, President of the Board 
 'Of Trustees. After a full inspection 
 of the buildings, premises and deed, 
 the board adopted the following: 
 
 WHEREAS, Pursuant to an act 
 •of the Legislature of the State of 
 ■New York, entitled "An Act to 
 •change the county seat and county 
 buildings, and courts of Schuyler 
 ■county, from the village of Havana 
 to the village of Watkins, passed 
 April 24th, 1867," this Board of 
 ■iSupervisors, in connection with the 
 five commissioners in said act nam- 
 ■ed, did determine and fix upon a 
 site in the village of Watkins, which 
 "was selected by the Trustees of said 
 village, as suitable in all respects 
 tor a Court House, Clerk's OfSce 
 and common Jail for said county, 
 •which determination was duly re- 
 ported to said Board of Supervisors, 
 and reference being had to the rec- 
 ord of said Board of Supervisors, 
 all the particulars thereupon ■will 
 tfully appear, and reference being 
 
 Page Twenty-nine 
 
 had to the said act of the Legis- 
 lature, all the duties of said Super- 
 visors and said commissioners will 
 in like manner fully appear; and 
 
 WHEREAS, The said commission- 
 ers have this day reported in writ- 
 ing to this Board of Supervisors, in 
 substance, that they have, as re- 
 quired by said act, inspected and 
 directed as to the manner and suf- 
 ficiency of the said Court House, 
 Clerk's ofBce and Jail, while the 
 same were in process of erection, 
 and also as to the furnishing and 
 fitting up of the same, and further 
 that said Court House, Clerk's Of- 
 fice and Jail are now finished; that 
 said buildings are fully equal in 
 material, workmanship, finish and 
 convenience for public use, to the 
 buildings now or heretofore used 
 at Havana for the same purposes; 
 and that the said buildings at Wat- 
 kins, and furniture, are suitable in 
 all respects for the use of the coun- 
 ty, reference being had to said com- 
 missioner's report, the particulars 
 thereof will fully appear; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, The Trustees of the 
 village of Watkins have caused to 
 be executed and delivered to this 
 Board of Supervisors, a good and 
 sufficient deed, from Bradford C. 
 Hurd and wife, to the county, to 
 vest in the said county an absolute 
 title in fee simple, and clear of all 
 incumbrances of the said site, and 
 the said Court House, Clerk's Of- 
 fice and Jail, and the furniture and 
 fixtures thereof and also of the 
 Sheriff's or Jailor's residence there- 
 on, and have put this Board of 
 Supervisors in the quiet and peace- 
 able possession thereof; therefore 
 be it, 
 
 RESOLVED, That the aforesaid 
 deed of conveyance be, and the 
 same is hereby accepted; and that 
 the Clerk of this Board be directed 
 to have the same duly recorded. 
 
 RESOLVED, That in the opinion 
 of this Board, the aforesaid act of 
 the Legislature has been fully com- 
 plied with, and that, therefore, the 
 removal of the county seat, as there- 
 in contemplated and provided for, 
 is now an accomplished fact. 
 
 The' foregoing preamble and reso- 
 lutions of the Board of Supervisors 
 were adopted by the following vote; 
 Yeas — Anson N. Ackley of Dix, El- 
 mer C. Spaulding of Hector, Abram 
 Barkley of Orange, Bradford C. 
 Hurd of Reading, Harmon L. Greg- 
 ory of "Tyrone, — 5. Nays — John Wood 
 
Page Thirty 
 
 of Cayuta, Eaton J. Agard of Cath- 
 arine, Samuel W. Sackett of Mon- 
 tour, — 3. The deed of the site was 
 executed by Mr. Hurd on behalf of 
 the School Board, he having been 
 legally empowered to make the 
 conveyance. 
 
 On the next" day, Feb. 5th, the 
 Sheriff of the county (Chester M. 
 Hftger) and the County Clerk (Ed- 
 ward Kendall) were put in possess- 
 ion of the buildings, under a reso- 
 lution of the Board of Supervisors 
 and directed to forthwith remove 
 their offices and the county records 
 to Watkins; and the future meet- 
 ings of the board were ordered to 
 be held at the new Court House, 
 where a room had been provided 
 for that purpose. 
 
 Another injunction was obtained 
 by the Havana interest on the 6th 
 to prevent the Sheriff and Clerk 
 from taking possession of the Wat- 
 kins buildings, but it came too late, 
 as they had already done so; but it 
 also forbid the Board of Supervisors 
 to sell the Havana site and build- 
 ings; and having ordered the sale 
 to take place, at the south door of 
 the Jefferson House in Watkins, on 
 the 17th day of February, 1868, it 
 had to be postponed until the in- 
 junction could be vacated; and then 
 before the appointed day arrived, 
 another injunction was served on 
 the board, and still another post- 
 ponement was made to April 27th, 
 1868. When the injunctions had 
 been dissolved, the sale was made 
 to John Lang and Archibald Rob- 
 bins, in trust for the village of Wat- 
 kins, and when they were subse- 
 quently sold by those holding the 
 trust, to Hull Fanton of Havana, 
 the proceeds went into the village 
 treasury, as provided by the removal 
 law, to partially reimburse its tax- 
 payers for the expense of the new 
 site and structures. 
 
 The many legal points involved 
 in the various injunction suits, al- 
 luded to above, were clearly eluci- 
 dated by Judge Murray, before 
 whom one of them— which may 
 serve as a specimen for aU the rest 
 —was tried at the first term of 
 the Supreme court, held in the new 
 Court House in Watkins, April 30th, 
 1868, and soon after decided. The 
 argument for the Watkins side of 
 the case was made by Hon. H. 
 Boardman Smith, of Elmira, and for 
 the Havana interest by B. P. Hart, 
 also of Elmira. The whole matter 
 
 was thoroughly discussed, and w? 
 feel constrained to here introduce 
 Judge Murray's brief, but compre- 
 hensive opinion, an admirable legaj 
 digest of the whole controversy, W 
 a most able jurist, as covering all 
 other cases of a similar iM,ture, 
 commenced by Elbert W. Cook and 
 the Trustees of the village of Ha- 
 vana, the latter of whom were the 
 plaintiffs in this action, and the 
 Board of Supervisors the defend- 
 ants. 
 
 JUDGE MURRAY'S OPINION 
 l_"That the plaintiffs having 
 conveyed all their title to, and in- 
 terest in, the Havana site for the 
 County Seat of Schuyler County, 
 and the County buildings thereon, 
 in the year 1857, pusuant to an act 
 of the Legislature of that year, have 
 no equitable interest therein, that 
 entitles them to equitable relief for 
 the money paid by them, as such 
 corporation of Havana, for their 
 interest or title or for money ex- 
 pended in completing the county 
 buildings thereon. 
 
 2 — "That the plaintiffs, as a cor- 
 poration, have no (pecuniary) in- 
 terest in the location (for Havana 
 site) of the county seat of said 
 county. 
 
 3— "That the said village of Wat- 
 kins, having in due time caused to 
 be executed and delivered to the 
 Board of Supervisors of said coun- 
 ty of Schuyler, a good and sufficient 
 deed, to vest in said county an ab- 
 solute title in fee simple, and clear 
 of aU incumbrances of the said site 
 at Watkins, and county buildings, 
 and put the said Board of Super- 
 visors in peaceable and quiet pos- 
 session thereof, and in all things 
 complied with the conditions and 
 requirements of the said Act of 1867, 
 (vol. 2, pg. 1878) and said Act hav- 
 ing been in due time fully complied 
 with by the Board of Supervisors 
 of said county, the said county seat 
 of said county was duly changed to 
 the site at Watkins— If the said Act 
 of 1867 was valid. 
 
 4— "That the location of a county 
 seat is a matter of political arrange- 
 ment and expediency, and neces- 
 sarily the subject of Legislative dis- 
 cretion, and as to such location, the 
 Legislature has no power by any 
 legislation to preclude subsequent 
 legislation thereon. 
 
 5— "That there was no contract 
 made between the Legislatures of 
 
?.854, 1857, 1880, or either of them, 
 by the said several Acts of those 
 years, and the Trustees of the vil- 
 lage of Havana, by which it was 
 intended to preclude any subsequent 
 Legislature from repealing said Acts 
 or changing said location from Ha- 
 vana. Therefore, the said Act of 1867 
 is constitutional and valid; and the 
 county seat was legally changed, 
 and the proceedings of the defend- 
 ants, in regard to the site and build- 
 ings at Havana are legal and valid. 
 Therefore this action cannot be 
 sustained. The complaint must be 
 dismissed with costs." 
 
 Notwithstanding the unanswer- 
 able logic and legal soundness of 
 the above quoted opinion, an appeal 
 was taken from Judge Murray's de- 
 cision, or from one of a similar 
 nature, and the final argument was 
 not had thereon because of H. 
 Boardman Smith's absence in Con- 
 gress, until September 1874 at Bing- 
 hamton, where the same decision 
 was reached; and as the questions 
 involved were not taken to the 
 Court of Appeals Judge Murray's 
 decision stands as the undisputed 
 law of the case, aild the finality of 
 tte county seat question. 
 
 Having in the thirteen foregoing 
 articles glanced at the history of 
 Schuyler County, from the time of 
 its erection in 1854, until the per- 
 manent establishment of its coun- 
 ty seat at Watkins in 1868 — which 
 ended a struggle that continued 
 with but little intermission for 14 
 years — it is now in order to take 
 up some of the other subjects that 
 are properly embraced within the 
 contemplated scope of these weekly 
 sketches. 
 
 As the work progresses the field 
 seems to enlarge and the writer real- 
 izes that his labors have only just 
 fairly begun. 
 
 THE CIVIL LIST 
 
 As most of the prominent men of 
 the county, whose names, deeds and 
 characteristics, will be treated, of 
 in the biographical articles that' are 
 to follow, have been honored by 
 elevating them to positions of pub- 
 lic trust and honor, it is deemed 
 best to publish the civil list of the 
 county embracing all ofBcial^ elec- 
 ted on the county tickets, down to 
 and including superintendents; of 
 the jKJor, and make mention of 
 the names of such residents of the 
 county as have been connected with 
 
 Page Thirty-one 
 
 offices higher than those within the 
 gift of its people. It is also propos- 
 ed to give a complete list of the sup- 
 ervisors and clerks of the board, 
 from the date of the county's for- 
 mation till the present time, not 
 only as a matter of great public 
 interest, but for the further pur- 
 pose of perfecting a most useful 
 record for preservation and con- 
 venient future reference. 
 
 STATE SENATORS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Charles Cook, Montour . . . 1862-63 
 Theo. L. Minier, Montour . . 1870-71 
 In addition to the above named 
 state senators, Hon. John Magee 
 of Watkins was elected a delegate 
 at large to the Constitutional Con- 
 vention of 1867, on the 23rd of 
 April in that year, and Abraham 
 Lawrence, of Catharine, was, at the 
 same election, chosen a delegate 
 from the 27 Congressional district; 
 George J. Magee of Watkins, was 
 appointed January 1st, 1869, Pay- 
 master-General on the staft of 
 Gov. John T. Hoffman; and Dan- 
 iel Beach of Watkins, was, March 
 18, 1885, appointed Regent of the 
 State University, which position he 
 still holds. 
 
 MEMBERS OP ASSEMBLY 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Henry Pish, M. D. Hector ... 1858 
 Isaac D. Mekeel, Hector .... 1859 
 Edwin H. Downs, Catharine . . 1860 
 Abram V. Mekeel, Hector ... 1861 
 Alvin C. Hause, M. D. Tyrone 1862 
 Samuel Lawrence, Montour . . 1863 
 Lorenzo Webber, Orange . . . 1864 
 
 Lorenzo Webber, Orange 1865 
 
 Samuel M. Barker, Hector . . . 1866 
 Samuel M. Barker, Hector . . . 1867 
 
 George Clark, Tyrone 1868 
 
 George Clark, Tyrone 1869 
 
 Wm. C. Coon, Hector 1870 
 
 Wm. C. Coon, Hector 1871 
 
 Harmon L. Gregory, Tyrone 1872 
 Jeremiah McGuire, Montour . 1873 
 Harmon L. Gregory, Tyrone . 1874 
 Wm. H. Pish, M. D., Hector . . 1875 
 
 Wm. Gulick, M. D., Dix 1876 
 
 Wrii. Gulick, M. D., Dix .... 1877 
 Abram V. Mekeel, Hector ... 1878 
 Abram V. Mekeel, Hector ... 1879 
 
 Lewis Beach, Tyrone 1880 
 
 Lewis Beach, Tyrone 1881 
 
 Minor T. Jones, Hector 1882 
 
 Adrian Tuttle, Reading 1883 
 
 J. Pranklin Barnes, M. D., Dix 1884 
 
 Premont Cole, Dix 1885 
 
 Fremont Cole, Dix 1886 
 
 Fremont Cole, Dix 1887 
 
Page Thirty-two 
 
 Fremont Cole, Dix ,... 1888 
 
 Fremont Cole, Dix 1889 
 
 Charles T. Willis, Tyrone . . . 1890 
 It will be seen by the above rec- 
 ord that "Little Cayuta" has never 
 had a Member of Assembly, Cathar- 
 ine but for 1 year, Dix 8, Hector II, 
 Montour 2, Beading 1, Orange 2 
 and Tyrone 8 — 33 terms in all. Fre- 
 mont Cole was chosen Speaker of 
 the Assembly in 1888 and 1889. 
 
 JUDGES AND SURROGATES 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Simeon L. Rood, Dix 1855-8 
 
 Simeon L. Rood, Dix 59-62 
 
 George C. Shearer, Dix 63-66 
 
 Banj. W. Woodward, Dix ... 67-70 
 
 _XGeo. G. Freer, Dix 71-76 
 
 Oliver P. Hurd, Dix 77-82 
 
 M. J. Sunderlin, Dix 83-88 
 
 Samuel C. Keeler, Montour . . 89-94 
 Previous to 1866 the terms of 
 judges and surrogates were four 
 years, and after that year, by act 
 of the Legislature, changed to six 
 years. The village of Watkins in the 
 town of Dix has had all the county 
 judges (who in this county, are also 
 surrogates) since the organization 
 of the county in 1854, except the 
 present incumbent S. C. Keeler, 
 who was at the date of his elec- 
 tion, and still remains, a resident 
 of Montour. 
 
 DISTRICT ATTORNEYS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Lewis F. Riggs, Catharine Res'd in 55 
 Marcus Lyon, Catharine 'til Jan 1 56 
 
 Daniel Jamison, Dix 56-58 
 
 H. C. VanDuzer, Tyrone . . . 59-61 
 
 John W. Brown, Hector 62-64 
 
 Samuel C. Keeler, Montour . 65-67 
 
 Oliver P. Hurd, Dix 68-70 
 
 W. L. Norton, Reading 71-73 
 
 Chas. H. Fletcher, Dix 74-76 
 
 Chas. W. Davis, Dix 77-79 
 
 W. L. Norton, Reading 80-82 
 
 Wash'n Robertson, Montour 83-85 
 
 Waldo Bishop, Dix 86-88 
 
 Geo. E. Kellogg, Dix 89-91 
 
 Marcus Lyon was appointed in 
 place of Riggs, resigned Marsh 12th 
 1855, and held the office till Jan. 
 1st, 1856. 
 
 SHERIPPS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Jno. J. Swartout, Catharine 
 
 Till Jan. 26, 1856 
 E. K. Mandevllle, Catharine 
 
 Till Jan. 1, 1857 
 Moses S. Weaver, Reading 57-59 
 
 Robert Lockwood, Dix 61-62 
 
 Peter C. Hager, Hector 63-65 
 
 Chester M, Hager, Montour 66-6R, 
 Chas. C. Clauharty, Montour 69-71 
 John S. Swartwood, Dix .... 72-74 
 John Wood, Cayuta Till Dec. 19, 75 
 H L. Estabrook, Mon. Till Jan 1, 7T 
 Henry B. Catlin, Catharine 77-79 
 Geo. E. Hurd, Dix ... 80 to Feb. 3, 82 
 John M. Wakeman, Dix Till Jan 1, 83; 
 
 James W. Lyon, Hector 83-85 
 
 Lewis Wait, Dix 86-88 
 
 Chas. W. White, Reading .. 89-91 
 E. K. Mandeville was appointed 
 January 26, 1856, in place of Swart- 
 out, resigned; Herman L. Estabrook, 
 Dec. 19, 1876 in place of Wood, de- 
 ceased; John M. Wakeman Feb. 3, 
 1882, in place of Hurd, resigned. No 
 sheriff has ever been re-elected, al- 
 though eligible after an interim of 
 three years. 
 
 COUNTY CLERKS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 A. S. Newcomb, Orange 55-57 
 
 John Hollett, Orange 58-60 
 
 D. G. Weaver, Tyrone 61-6S 
 
 D. G. Weaver, Montour ... 64-66 
 Edward Kendall, Tyrone . . . 67-69 
 
 Edward Kendall, Dix 70-72 
 
 Edward Kendall, Dix 73-75 
 
 M. H. Weaver, Montour 76-78 
 
 Arthur C. Woodward, Dix .. 79-81 
 Arthur C. Woodward, ,Dix .. 82-84 
 Arthur C. Woodward, Dix .. 85-87 
 Arthur O. Woodward, Dix .. 88-90 
 The foregoing twelve terms cover 
 a period of 36 years, and there has 
 never been a break in any of the 
 three year terms— of which, D. G. 
 Weaver has held two, or six years; 
 Edward Kendall three, or nine 
 years; Arthur C. Woodward is now 
 in the last year of his fourth term, 
 or twelve years. 
 
 COUNTY TREASURERS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Charles J. Broas, Catharine . 55-57 
 
 Cyrus Roberts, Reading 58-60 
 
 Adrian Tuttle, Reading 61-63 
 
 Jacob Fitzgerald, Cayuta ... 64-66 
 
 James Cormac, Hector 67-69 
 
 Lev. Shepherd, Reading 70-72 
 
 Lev. Shepherd, ,Reading Jan 10 '73 
 A. S. Stothoff, Reading 73, Jan 74 
 
 Wm. H. Wait, Hector 74-75 
 
 Wm. H. Wait, Hector 77-79 
 
 Jesse Lyon, Catharine 80-82 
 
 Jesse Lyon, Catharine 83-85 
 
 J. Hobart Drake, Reading .. 86-88 
 
 Wm. H. Wait, Dix 89-91 
 
 A. S. StothofI was appointed Jan. 
 10, 1873, in place of Shepherd, re- 
 signed, for balance of that year 
 Wm. H. Wait, the present incum- 
 
bent is now in his third (but not 
 consecutive) term. 
 
 STATE COMMISSIONERS 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Wm. Gulick, M. D., Tyrone 55-57 
 
 Daniel Beach, Tyrone 58-60 
 
 Chas. G. Winfield, Montour 61-63 
 Lauren G. Thomas, Beading 64-66 
 
 James H. Pope, Dix 67-69 
 
 Duncan C. Maim, Dix 70-72 
 
 Chas. T. Andrews, Dix 73-75 
 
 Chas. T. Andrews, Dix 76-78 
 
 Lauren G. Thomas, Dix ... 79-81 
 
 Augustus C. Huff, Dix 82-84 
 
 Henry S. Howard, Jr., Reading 85-87 
 Henry S. Howard, Jr., Reading 88-90 
 Lauren G. Thomas was elected 
 for two terms of three years each, 
 but not in succession, and Charles 
 T. Andrews, two of three years each, 
 in succession. Mr. Thomas died dur- 
 ing his second term, and Mr. Huff 
 was elected to fill the vacancy, and 
 then for a full term. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENTS OP POOR 
 
 Name Town Term 
 
 Isaac P. Seymour, Tyrone .. 55-57 
 
 Anson N. Ackley, Dix 58-60 
 
 Joseph B. Coats, Dix 61-63 
 
 John M. Lyon, Catharine . . . 64-66 
 Geo. N. Wager, Catharine .. 67-69 
 
 Zalmon EUis, Hector 70-72 
 
 Ethan W. Prentiss, Tyrone . 73-75 
 Ethan W. Prentiss, Tyrone . 76-78 
 John H. Hall, Catharine .. 79-81 
 
 Alonzo Tucker, Orange 82-84 
 
 George H. Stilwell, Hector .. 85-87 
 George H. Stilwell, Hector .. 88-90 
 
 Here is presented an unbroken 
 succession of three year terms from 
 1854 to and including 1890. E. W. 
 Prentiss of Tyrone, and George H. 
 Stilwell of Hector, are the only two 
 superintendents who have held sec- 
 ond terms. 
 
 The complete list of the super- 
 visors will be embraced in "article 
 fifteenth." 
 
 It may perhaps be regarded by 
 some, as a work of supererogation 
 to give a complete membership list 
 of the Boafds of Supervisors, from 
 the formation of Schuyler County 
 to, and including, the present year; 
 but the writer does not so consider 
 it, as it will make a wonderful ar- 
 ray of historical names, of the lead- 
 ing men of all the towns, many of 
 whom have been chosen to fill high- 
 er and more responsible places; and 
 it cannot be perused without awak- 
 ening many personal and political 
 associations, and impressing on the 
 
 Page Thirty-three 
 
 mind of the reader, a vivid con- 
 sciousness of the brevity and un- 
 certainty of human life, as he sees, 
 numerous, well remembered names, 
 appear in the annual local legis- 
 lative record of the county, during 
 more than one-third of a century, 
 disappear, and re-appear like the 
 figures in a kaleidoscope, and fin- 
 ally (one after another) fade away, 
 no more to return. 
 
 BOARDS OP SUPERVISORS 
 Towns 1854 Names 
 
 Cayuta Leroy Wood 
 
 Catharine Phlneas Catlin 
 
 Dix Winthrop E, Booth 
 
 Hector Henry Fish, M. D. 
 
 Orange Harry R. Barnes 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 Henry Pish ch. — H. M. Hillerman, cl. 
 
 1855 
 
 Cayuta Leroy Wood 
 
 Catharine Phineas (3atlin 
 
 Dix Winthrop E. Booth 
 
 Hector Henry Pish, M. D. 
 
 Orange H. R. Barnes 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 Henry Pish, ch— H. M. Hillerman, cl. 
 
 1856 
 
 CasTita Samuel Roberts 
 
 Catharine Abraham Lawrence 
 
 Dix W. E. Booth 
 
 Hector Henry Fish, M. D. 
 
 Orange ... Thos. L. Nichols, M. D. 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 Henry Fish, ch— H. M. Hillerman, cl. 
 
 1857 
 
 Cayuta Samuel Roberts 
 
 Catharine Abraham Lawrence 
 
 Dix W. E. Booth 
 
 Hector John Woodward 
 
 Orange ... Thos. L. Nichols, M. D. 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 Thos. Nichols, ch-H. M. Hillerman cl 
 
 1858 
 
 Cayuta John Wood 
 
 Catharine Edwin H. Downs 
 
 Dix W. E. Booth 
 
 Hector Isaac D. Mekeel 
 
 Orange Wm. Bevier 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 George Clark ch.— E. P. Mapes, cl. 
 
 1859 
 
 Cayuta John Wood 
 
 Catharine Charles Cook 
 
 Dix W. E. Booth 
 
 Hector Isaac D. Mekeel 
 
 Orange Abram BarkTey 
 
Page Thirty-four 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone George Clark 
 
 Gporge Clark, oh. — ^Elias Byram, cl. 
 1860 
 
 Cayuta John Wood 
 
 Catharine Phineas Catlin 
 
 Dix W. E. Booth 
 
 Hector P. C. Hager 
 
 Montour Charles Cook 
 
 Orange Aforam Barkley 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone Alvin C. Hause, M.D. 
 
 A. C. Hause, ch — ^E. Byram, cl. 
 1861 
 
 Cayuta John G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine A. J. Cleveland 
 
 Dix Wm. Roberts 
 
 Hector P. C. Hager 
 
 Montour Charles Cook 
 
 Orange Alonzo Gaylord 
 
 Reading John H. Nichols 
 
 Tyrone Alvin C. Hause, MJ3. 
 
 A. C. Hause, ch. 
 
 H. R. Barnes, S. P. Griflfeth, els 
 
 1862 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine John McCarty 
 
 Dix Wm. Roberts 
 
 Hector I^euben S. Smith 
 
 Montour Charles Cook 
 
 Orange Alonzo Gaylord 
 
 Reading E. C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone Josiah M. Jackson 
 
 A. Gaylord, ch— E. B. Mapes, cl. 
 1863 
 
 Cayuta Samuel S. Brown 
 
 Catharine Abram Lawrence 
 
 Dix George G. Freer ^t 
 
 Hector Wm. Bower 
 
 Montour Adam G. Campbell 
 
 Orange Abram Barkley 
 
 Reading Benj. B. HoUett 
 
 Tyrone Wm. Guliok, M.D. 
 
 A. Barkley, ch— R. H. Marriott, cl. 
 1864 
 
 Cayuta Samuel S. Brown 
 
 Catharine — Abraham Lawrence 
 
 Dix Anson N. Ackley 
 
 Hector Wm. B. Ely 
 
 Montour Adam G. Campbell 
 
 Orange Abram Barkley 
 
 Reading Lewis Roberts 
 
 Tyrone Lewis A. Knox 
 
 A. Lawrence, ch — ^E. Mapes, cl. 
 1865 
 
 Cayuta Martin D. Hall 
 
 Catharine Eaton J. Agard 
 
 Dix A. N. Ackley 
 
 Hector Elmer C. Spaulding 
 
 Montour — Minor T. Broderick 
 
 Orange Abram Barkley 
 
 Reading Lewis Roberts 
 
 Tyrone Lewis A. Knox 
 
 E. Spaulding, ch— E. Mapes cl. 
 
 1866 
 
 Cayuta M. D- HaU 
 
 Catharine Eaton J. Agard 
 
 Dix A. N. Ackley 
 
 Hector E. C. Spaulding 
 
 Montour Samuel W. Sackett 
 
 Orange Abram Barkley 
 
 Reading Edwin C. Andrews 
 
 Tyrone L. A. Knox 
 
 E. spaulding ch— E. Mapes, cl. 
 1867 
 
 Cayuta John Wood 
 
 Catharine E. J. Agard 
 
 Dix A. N. Ackley 
 
 Hector Elmer Spaulding 
 
 Montour S. W. Sackett 
 
 Orange Abram Barkley 
 
 Reading Bradford C. Hurd 
 
 Tyrone Harmon L. Gregory 
 
 E. Spaulding ch— E. Mapes, cl 
 1868 
 
 Cayuta Nicholas Barr 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix George S. Ward 
 
 Hector Wm. C. Coon 
 
 Montour Hull Panton 
 
 Orange Wm. J. Humiston 
 
 Reading B. C. Hurd 
 
 Tyrone H. L. Gregory 
 
 B. C. Hurd, ch— E. B. Mapes, cl. 
 1869 
 
 Cayuta Nicholas Barr 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix Charles S. Frost ~ 
 
 Hector Wm. C. Coon 
 
 Montour Hull Fanton 
 
 Orange A. Gaylord 
 
 Reading Isaac Conkling 
 
 Tyrone H. L. Gregory 
 
 H. L. Gregory, ch— B. W. Scobey, cl. 
 1870 
 
 Cayuta John G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix Wm. HaringN 
 
 Hector Robert Burge 
 
 Montour Hull Panton 
 
 Orange A. Gaylord 
 
 Reading Isaac Conkling 
 
 'iyrone H. L. Gregory 
 
 Jesse Lyon, ch — Chas. T. Andrews cl 
 1871 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix Wm. Haring ^ 
 
 Hector Wm. H. Pish, M. D. 
 
 Montour Hull Fanton 
 
 Orange Curtis Maltby 
 
 Reading Isaac Conkling 
 
 Tyrone Edwin Hallock 
 
 J. G. Reynolds, ch— J. W. Osborn, cl 
 1872 
 
 Cayuta j. g. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix John Thompson, M. D. 
 
Hector Wm. Pish, M. D. 
 
 Montour Hull Panton 
 
 Orange Curtis Maltby 
 
 Reading George J. Magee^ 
 
 Tyrone Ethan Jackson 
 
 J. Reynolds, ch— C. H. Fletcher, cl. 
 
 1873 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix J. W. Thompson, M. D. 
 
 Hector Wm. Pish, M. D. 
 
 MonGour Elbert P. Cook 
 
 Orange Harvey Nichols 
 
 Reading George Mageey 
 
 Tyrone E. J. Hallock 
 
 J. Reynolds, ch— C. H. Fletcher, cl. 
 
 1874 
 
 Cayuta Samuel S. Brown 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix J. W. Thompson, M. D. 
 
 Hector Wm. Pish, M. D. 
 
 Montour Elbert P. Cook 
 
 Orange Harvey Nichols 
 
 Reading Geo. J. Magee -^ 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 J. Thompson, ch — O. Fletcher, cl. 
 
 1875 
 
 Cayuta Samuel S. Brown 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix S. B. H. Nichols, M.D. 
 
 Hector Elmer C. Spaulding 
 
 Montour Mjrron H. Weaver 
 
 Orange Alonzo Tucker 
 
 Reading Adrian Tattle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 Jesse Lyon, ch — Chas. A. Tracy, cl 
 
 1876 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Jesse Lyon 
 
 Dix S. B. H. Nichols, M.D. 
 
 Hector Abram V. Mekeel 
 
 Montour Eli A. Dunhain 
 
 Orange Alonzo Tucker 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 Jesse Lyon, ch — Chas. Tracy, cl. 
 
 1877 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Rejmolds 
 
 Catharine Martin D. Hall 
 
 Dix Levi M. Gano 
 
 Hector Abram V. Mekeel 
 
 Montour Eli A. Dunham 
 
 Orange Alonzo Tucker 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 Lewis Beach, ch— Chas. A. Tracy, cl 
 
 1878 
 
 Cayuta Ben. L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Martin D. Hall 
 
 Dix Wm. V. Smith 
 
 Hector J. Wesley StilweU 
 
 Montour Eli A. Dunham 
 
 Orange Andrew Ellison 
 
 Page Thirty-five 
 
 Reading Wm. N. Love 
 
 Tyrone Newton Weller 
 
 E. Dunham, ch— Chas. Tracy, cl 
 
 1879 
 
 Cayuta Ben. L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Martin D. Hall 
 
 Dix Chas. S. Frost 
 
 Hector D. Elbert Sears 
 
 Montour Myron H. Weaver 
 
 Orange George Kels 
 
 Reading Wm. N. Love 
 
 Tyrone Newton Weller 
 
 M. H. Weaver, ch— H. K. Hause, cl 
 
 1880 
 
 Cayuta Ben. L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Martin D. Hall 
 
 Dix Chas. S. Frost 
 
 Hector Minor T. Jones 
 
 Montour Myron H. Weaver 
 
 Orange George Kels 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone John Jackson 
 
 M. Weaver, ch— W. Humiston, cl 
 
 1881 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Martin D. Hall 
 
 Dix J. Hobart Drake 
 
 Hector Minor T. Jones 
 
 Montour Horace V. Weed 
 
 Orange George E. Sharp 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone James Disbrow 
 
 Adrian Tuttle, ch — Chas. A. Tracy, cl 
 
 1882 
 
 Cayuta J. G. Reynolds 
 
 Catharine Seeley Beardsley 
 
 Dix Levi M. Gano 
 
 Hector A. G. Becker 
 
 Montour Horace V. Weed 
 
 Orange Geo. E. Sharp 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone E. R. Bissell 
 
 L. M. Gano, ch — Chas. Watkins, cl 
 
 1883 
 
 Cayuta C. H. Smith 
 
 Catharine W. A. Cooper 
 
 Dix J. Franklin Barnes, M.J3. 
 
 Hector Andrew Morris 
 
 Montour Samuel J. Brown 
 
 Orange John C. Vine 
 
 Reading P. Davis, Jr. 
 
 Tyrone E. R. Bissell 
 
 F. Davis, Jr., ch— C. Watkins ,cl 
 
 1884 
 
 Cayuta C. H. Smith 
 
 Catharine O. S. Ensign, MX). 
 
 Dix Lewis H. Durland 
 
 Hector Andrew Morris 
 
 Montour A. G. Saunders 
 
 Orange John Bell 
 
 Reading W. Leroy Norton 
 
 Tyrone E. R. Bissell 
 
 E. R. Bissell, ch^-C. R. Watkins, cl 
 
Page Thirty-six 
 
 1885 
 
 Cayuta C. H. Smith 
 
 Catharine O. S. Ensign, M.D. 
 
 Dix Lewis H. Durland 
 
 Hector James Hanley 
 
 Montour Francis Vanduzer 
 
 Orange George Kels 
 
 Reading W. Leroy Norton 
 
 Tyrone James Disbrow 
 
 C. H. Smith, ch— C. R. Watlcins, cl 
 
 1886 
 
 Cayuta Ben L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Geo. G. Montgomery 
 
 Dix Lewis H. Durland 
 
 Hector James Hanley 
 
 Montour Francis Vanduzer 
 
 Orange George Kels 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone James Disbrow 
 
 L. H. Durland, ch— C. R. Watkins cl 
 
 1887 
 
 Cayuta Ben L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine . . . Geo. G. Montgomery 
 
 Dix Wm. H. Wait 
 
 Hector C. T. Potter 
 
 Montour Samuel C. Keeler 
 
 Orange George Kels 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 George Kels, ch — C. R. Watkins, cl 
 
 1888 
 
 Cayuta Ben L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Geo. G. Montgomery 
 
 Dix ..: Wm. H. Wait 
 
 Hector Robt. C. Durland 
 
 Montour Samuel C. Keeler 
 
 Orange John C. Vine 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 B. Swartwood, ch — C. Watkins, cl 
 
 1889 
 
 Cayuta Ben L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Geo. N. Wager 
 
 Dix James Gray 
 
 Hector Marvin D. Stilwell 
 
 Montour Hull Panton 
 
 Orange John C. Vine 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone E. R. Bissell 
 
 Adrian Tuttle, ch— C. R. Watkins, cl 
 
 1890 
 
 Cayuta Ben L. Swartwood 
 
 Catharine Geo. N. Wager 
 
 Dix J. Franklin Barnes, M.D. 
 
 Hector George A. Snyder 
 
 Montour Eli A. Dunham 
 
 Orange Jabez L. Buck 
 
 Reading Adrian Tuttle 
 
 Tyrone Lewis Beach 
 
 (Board not yet organized) 
 
 The proper point and time hav- 
 ing been reached for opening the 
 biographical sketches, it will be best 
 
 as it was in the historical articles, 
 to "commence at the beginning , 
 and it may be said that the earliest 
 and most illustrious name connect- 
 ed with the history of the terri- 
 tory now embraced in the County of 
 Schuyler, was 
 MAJOR GEN. JOHN StJLLIVAN 
 
 And although he did not perman- 
 enly settle within its present bor- 
 ders, as early as September, 1779— 
 over 110 years ago— at the head of 
 his victorious army, he passed 
 through the region now composing 
 it, from south to north, and north 
 to south, on his famous expedition 
 against the Six Nation Indians, and 
 did more than any other man to 
 open it up, and all the adjacent 
 surrounding counties, to white set- 
 tlement, and insure safety from the 
 tomahawk and scalping knife to 
 the pioneer families by whom it and 
 they were soon occupied after the 
 close of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 Gen. Sullivan— as we learn from 
 the addresses delivered and pro- 
 ceedings had at the Centennial 
 Celebration of the battle of New- 
 town, was born at Somerworth, in 
 New Hampshire, Feb. 18th, 1740; 
 and was, therefore at the time of 
 his Indian expedition, 39 years of 
 age. But little is known of him prior 
 to the struggle for American Inde- 
 pendence "in the days of '76." He 
 was born of Irish parentage, and his 
 youth and early life were occupied 
 with labor on a farm, which insured 
 to him a strong and vigorous con- 
 stitution, that was of great service 
 to his -country in after years. 
 
 In the intervals of work, he ac- 
 quired, under the instruction of his 
 father, who seems to have been a 
 man of learning (as he was a school 
 teacher) a good and competent edu- 
 cation; and after reading law with 
 Hon. Isaac Livermore, at Ports- 
 mouth, N. H., and admission to the 
 bar, he commenced the practice of 
 law at Durham in that State, which 
 continued to be his place of resi- 
 dence during the balance of his 
 eventful life. 
 
 The patriotic subject of our sketch 
 was an early and prominent ad- 
 vocate of the rights of the Colonies, 
 as against the usurptions of the 
 Mother Country, and was selected 
 as one of the two delegates to rep- 
 resent the province of New Hamp- 
 shire in the First Continental Con- 
 gress which met at Philadelphia, on 
 Sept. 5th, 1774; and associated with 
 
him in that memorable body were 
 such men as Washington, Jay, Ad- 
 ams, Patrick Henry, Rutledge, Rich- 
 ard Henry Lee and others. 
 
 In December of the same year, 
 and four months before the battle 
 of Lexington, he, with John Lang- 
 don, led a party to New Castle, near 
 Portsmouth, took possession of the 
 fort, imprisoned the British garri- 
 son, seized and carried away a hun- 
 dred barrels of powder, fifteen can- 
 non, and , quantity of small arms 
 and stores, some of which munitions 
 of war were used with good results 
 at Bunker Hill; and thus our hero 
 committed the first overt act of hos- 
 tility, by a military force, against 
 the royal authority, and gave an 
 earnest of his future career. In Jan- 
 uary 1775, a few weeks after this 
 brilliant exploit, he and his com- 
 patriot, Langdon, were elected rep- 
 resentatives to the Second Conti- 
 nental Congress; and on the 22nd 
 of June, hostilities having begun, 
 he was chosen one of eight Briga- 
 dier Generals, for the Colonial army. 
 Accepting the appointment, he re- 
 signed his seat in Congress, pro- 
 ceeded to the camp at Cambridge, 
 near Boston, and was assigned to 
 the command of one of the brigades 
 of the left wing of the army. He 
 participated with Montgomery and 
 Arnold in the expedition to Canada 
 and after its failure, safely with- 
 drew the troops and stores without 
 loss, to Crown Point, and soon after 
 rejoined the forces under Washing- 
 ton. He was promoted to the rank 
 of Major General, for meritorious 
 conduct, was in the battles of Long 
 Island, Trenton, Brandywine, and 
 Germantown, and was especially 
 commended by the Commander-in- 
 chief, for the gallantry and bravery 
 displayed in all these engagements. 
 
 After sharing in the winter pri- 
 vations at Valley Forge, he was as- 
 signed in the Spring of 1778, by the 
 orders of Washington to the com- 
 mand of the American Forces in 
 Rhode Island, to unite with the 
 French fleet under Count D'Estaing 
 in an attack on the British at New- 
 port, but the plan failed because of 
 the Count's failure to co-operate, 
 and his cowardly withdirawal on 
 the appearance of the English fleet, 
 to a safe refuge in Boston harbor. 
 After repulsing a spirited attack of 
 the enemy, and seeing no chance of 
 capturing the place without the aid 
 of the French fleet. General SuUi- 
 
 Page Thirty-seven 
 
 van withdrew his troops with such 
 skill and success that Congress on 
 the 17th day of September tender- 
 ed him a vote of thanks, and a sim- 
 ilar compliment was extended to 
 him by the New Hampshire legis- 
 lature. He retained his command in 
 Rhode Island until the spring of 
 1779, when Congress and the coun- 
 try having become aroused by news 
 of the Indian atrocities and massa- 
 cres at Wyoming, Cherry Valley and 
 other border settlements, saw the 
 immediate necessity of vigorous re- 
 taliatory and repressive action; and 
 Washington was directed to take 
 the most effectual measures to pro- 
 tect the Northwestern frontier, and 
 chastise the Indians for their re- 
 peated and barbarous cruelties. He 
 determined to effect these objects 
 by sending a strong force under a 
 skillful, energetic and vigilant lead- 
 er, into the country of the Six Na- 
 tions, in Central and Western New 
 York, disperse any organized force 
 of British and Indians, lay waste 
 their settlements, destroy all their 
 crops, and by thus depriving them 
 of sustenance and shelter, compel 
 them to seek a remoter refuge, with 
 their British allies in Canada. 
 
 The plan adopted was to concen- 
 trate a suflBcient amount of troops 
 at Wyoming, and then move north- 
 ward, up the Susquehanna river, to 
 its confluence, at what is now Ath- 
 ens, with the Chemung, there to 
 unite with a column under General 
 James Clinton, moving southwest- 
 erly, from Otsego Lake and the head 
 waters of the Susquehanna. Gen. 
 Sullivan was placed, by Washing- 
 ton, in command of the expedition, 
 with orders to make the entire 
 country of the Six Nations a deso- 
 lation, and leave literally nothing 
 on which its savage tribes could 
 subsist during the ensuing winter. 
 His main division was made up of 
 three brigades. The first was the 
 New Jersey, commanded by Briga- 
 dier General Wm. Maxwell; the sec- 
 ond was the New Hampshire, com- 
 manded by Brigadier General Enoch 
 Poor; the third was a brigade of 
 light troops, under Brigadier Gen- 
 eral Edward Hand, composed main- 
 ly of Pennsylvania regiments, and 
 embraced a company of riflemen, 
 and several companies of militia 
 from Wyoming and its vicinity, 
 whose members thirsted for re- 
 venge on the savage foe. There was 
 also a section of artillery, command- 
 
Pago Thirty-eight 
 
 ed by Col. Thomas Proctor of Phila- 
 delphia. These brigades with that of 
 New York under command of Gen- 
 eral Clinton numbered about 4,000 
 
 After various unavoidable delays, 
 and great hardships, the forces all 
 arrived at their destination, then 
 called Tioga point, together with all 
 the needful military stores and sup- 
 plies, were rapidly consolidated, and 
 on the 26th of August were ready 
 to move forward up the banks of 
 the Chemung, toward where the 
 city of Elmira now stands. On the 
 29th they encountered the British 
 and Indians under Brant, Butler 
 and Johnson at Newtown, as the 
 locality was then called, and the 
 battle of that name was fought, re- 
 sulting in the disastrous defeat of 
 the murderous allies, who barely 
 escaped capture in a body, and fled 
 terror stricken, most of them to- 
 ward the head of Seneca Lake, and 
 others up the Chemung River and 
 valley toward the present sites of 
 Big Flats and Corning. The Indians 
 could not withstan^d the thunders 
 of Sullivan's caimon, though pro- 
 tected by well constructed and stra- 
 getically located breastworks; and 
 after the battle of Newtown, could 
 not be induced to make another 
 stand, but retired precipitately, with 
 their women and children, as the 
 army advanced, leaving their vil- 
 lages, crops, many of their horses, 
 cattle, swine, etc., to the easy cap- 
 ture and utter devastation and des- 
 truction of the invading army, com- 
 mencing at Catharinestown, (now 
 Havana) and extending all along 
 both shores of Seneca and Cayuga 
 Lakes, and all the way west through 
 the Genessee country to near the 
 present site of Rochester. 
 
 In this awful campaign of retrib- 
 utive justice and vengance, a dread 
 necessity of war on which the fate 
 and destiny of nations sometimes 
 hang— and without which Ameri- 
 can Independence could not have 
 been achieved— no less than forty 
 Indian villages, consisting of com- 
 fortable and well constructed log 
 or slab cabins, roofed with bark, 
 were given to the torch, more than 
 350,000 bushels of corn destroyed, 
 and also large numbers of apple and 
 peach orchards loaded with fruits, 
 and vast amounts of field and gar- 
 den products, the results of an ag- 
 riculture, fostered for years by the 
 French and English, and far ad- 
 vanced beyond that of all other 
 
 aboriginal tribes. It is estimated 
 that 5,000 people, 3,000 of whom 
 were women and children, were left 
 homeless by this sudden and dread- 
 ful visitation, in the wilderness reg- 
 ion of Central and Western New 
 York to endure the terrors of fam- 
 ine, as they dragged their weary 
 way toward the British settlements 
 in Canada. 
 
 The expedition was, indeed, more 
 disastrous to the Six Nations— the 
 Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, Mo- 
 hawks, Onondagas and Tuscaroras 
 — ^than its most sanguine projectros 
 had ever anticipated. The power 
 of the Iroquois confederacy of Red 
 men, was completely shattered and 
 broken, never to be restored and 
 their ruined country was given to 
 the Pale faces, as the price of the 
 blood they had shed on the colonial 
 frontiers, at the instigation of Brit- 
 ish emisiaries, authorize by the Eng- 
 lish parliament and its merciless 
 King and throne. 
 
 Some of the warriors, after the 
 work of Carnage was ended, came 
 back to the dessolate and blackened 
 sites of their former homes, and 
 wasted cornfields, and gazed in 
 blank despair on the fearful pic- 
 ture presented to their agonized 
 view, and then realized that the Iron 
 they had so ruthlessly plunged into 
 the bosoms of others had been thrust 
 back, and entered deeply into their 
 own souls. Again they wended their 
 way to the British fort at Niagara, 
 where huts were built for them, 
 around that fortification. The fol- 
 lowing winter (that of 1779-80) was 
 one of the coldest, and deep in Its 
 snowfalls, ever known, which pre- 
 vented the Indians going on their 
 winter hunts, for fresh meats; and 
 cooped up in their little cabins, and 
 being obliged to subsist on salted 
 provisions, the scurvy broke out 
 among them and large numbers of 
 them died; and thus many that had 
 escaped the sword and famine, the 
 pestilence destroyed. 
 
 As soon as the objects of the ex- 
 pedition had been accomplished, the 
 troops all again centered at Tioga, 
 the last detachment arriving on the 
 30th day of September— only about 
 a month after the battle of New- 
 town— and after a great jubilee and 
 two or three days of rest, on the 
 4th of October the army commenced 
 its return to Wyoming, some on 
 foot, but the larger portion on boats 
 provided for their transportation; 
 
and the forces hastened to join 
 those under Washington, from 
 Whom General Sullivan and his 
 troops received the highest com- 
 mendation and praise; and Con- 
 gress not only extended to him and 
 them a vote of thanks, but order- 
 ed that the second Thursday of 
 December 1779, be set apart as a 
 day of Thanksgiving for the very 
 important results, tending to insure 
 American Independence which had 
 been secured by the entire success 
 of the expedition. 
 
 Owing to the exposure, and hard- 
 ships endured by Gen. Sullivan in 
 this expedition, and previously in 
 the military service of the country, 
 by which his health had become 
 somewhat impaired, he asked leave 
 to retire from the army, at the close 
 of the campaign, in November 1779, 
 which was granted, as Washington 
 entertained the greatest considera- 
 tion, confidence and friendship for 
 the gallant soldier; and his subse- 
 quent life was largely devoted to 
 public affairs. In 1780 and '81 he 
 was a delegate to Congress; in 1782 
 he was appointed Attorney General 
 of New Hampshire, and re-appoint- 
 ed under the new Constitution in 
 1784; in 1786 and '87, he was Chief 
 Magistrate of New Hampshire; in 
 
 1788 he was Speaker of the New 
 Hampshire House of Representa- 
 tives, and president of the conven- 
 tion that ratified the Constitution 
 of the United States. In 1789 he was 
 a presidential elector, and voted for 
 Washington for president; and in 
 March of the same year he was elec- 
 ted president (governor) of New 
 Hampshire for the third time. In 
 
 1789 he was also appointed by 
 Washington, Judge of the U. S. 
 District Court of New Hampshire, 
 which office he held until the date 
 of his death, January 23rd, 1795, 
 in the 55th year of his age. 
 
 It has been well said that with 
 such marks of approval, from such 
 sources, and with such a life-record. 
 General Sullivan's character and 
 ability, skill and bravery as a gen- 
 eral and for integrity and wisdom 
 as a statesman, is secure against all 
 assault, and its maintenance, un- 
 tarnished, is confidently commit- 
 ted to the next and succeeding cen- 
 turies; and surely the people of 
 Schuyler have abundant reason to' 
 gratefully honor and cherish his 
 illustrious name and memory. 
 
 Page Thirty-nine 
 
 In the last preceeding article, 
 which was devoted to a biograph- 
 ical sketch of Major General John 
 Sullivan, it was impossible to even 
 allude to the many interesting in- 
 cidents and reminiscences of his 
 memorable Indian Campaign; but 
 they will, to some extent, be em- 
 braced, incidentally, in the articles 
 that are to follow — so far as they 
 relate to the territory now embraced 
 In Schuyler county. What appears 
 to be next in order are brief sketches 
 of the Brigade Commanders, who 
 took an active part in the Sullivan 
 Expedition, and passing notices of 
 a few of the names that were prom- 
 inently identified with them, in the 
 very important and far-reaching re- 
 sults accomplished. 
 
 BRIG. GEN. JAMES CLINTON 
 Is a name not only connected in- 
 timately with the Sullivan Expedi- 
 tion, but with the general civil and 
 military history of the State of New 
 York. He was the son of Col. Chas. 
 Clinton, and was born in Orange 
 county, N. Y., August 9th, 1736. In 
 the French and Indian war, as early 
 as 1756, he was an officer, when but 
 20 years of age, and distinguished 
 himself at the capture of Port Pron- 
 tenac. In 1763 he was in command 
 of the troops raised to defend the 
 frontiers of Orange and Ulster coun- 
 ties against the incursions of the 
 Indians. With the rank of Colonel, 
 he accompanied Gen. Montgomery 
 in the invasion of Canada, in 1775. 
 He was appointed Brigadier General 
 August 9th, 1776, which chanced to 
 be his birthday anniversary— and 
 was in command of Port Clinton, 
 when, in October, 1777, it was at- 
 tacked by the British under Sir 
 Henry Clinton, in greatly superior 
 force, and finally carried by storm, 
 after a heroic defense, its com- 
 mandant being the last to leave the 
 works. During the greater part of 
 1778 he was stationed at West Point. 
 He was of great service to the Sul- 
 Uvan expedition of 1779, in the com- 
 mand of the New York Brigade, as 
 his avocation, which was that of an 
 engineer and surveyor, enabled him 
 to successfully and safely conduct 
 his Brigade from Albany to Lake 
 Otsego, and thence down the Sus- 
 quehanna to Tioga Point, the river 
 being made navigable for flat boats 
 by constructing a dam at the out- 
 let to hold back the waters of the 
 lake, which were discharged as 
 
Page Forty 
 
 needed. His later services were also 
 highly valuable and conductive to 
 the success of the expedition. 
 
 After the close of the Indian cam- 
 paign, Gen. Clinton with his Brig- 
 ade,— the whole invading force hav- 
 ing lost about 40 men— with the 
 returning army, joined the forces 
 under General Washington and near 
 the end of the struggle for inde- 
 pendence, was present at the siege 
 of Yorktown, and the surrender of 
 Cornwallis, October 19th, 1781. 
 
 After the war, he held several im- 
 portant positions in civU life, in- 
 cluding various terms of service in 
 the New York Legislature. He was 
 also a member of the State Consti- 
 tutional Convention of 1801, and an 
 original member of the "Society of 
 the Cincinnati." 
 
 He died at Little Britain, greatly 
 beloved, honored and lamented, on 
 Dec. 22, 1812, at the age of 66 years 
 —and like Gen. Sullivan, can be 
 numbered among the first pioneers 
 that aided in opening the way to 
 a permanent settlement of Schuyler 
 and all our Lake Country. He was 
 indeed of an illustrious family — a 
 brother of George Clinton — who 
 was several times elected Governor 
 of New York, during and after the 
 Revolution, also Vice-President of 
 the United States- -and the father 
 of Gov. DeWitt Clinton, who was 
 four times elected Governor of the 
 State, and because of his connection 
 with the origin of the Erie Canal 
 was "one of the immortal names 
 that were not born to die." 
 
 BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM MAXWELL 
 
 Who commanded the New Jersey 
 Brigade in the Sullivan Expedition, 
 was a man of refinement and a 
 military oflScer of high character, 
 but of his personal history and par- 
 ents but little is known. It is be- 
 lieved that he was born in Ireland, 
 and at an early age was brought to 
 dils coimtry by them, and they 
 seemed to have settled in New 
 Jersey. When quite young he en- 
 tered the military service of the 
 Colony, and at the breaking out of 
 the Revolutionary War, was made 
 Colonel of the 2nd Battalion of 
 what was termed the "First Estab- 
 lishment." He was with General 
 Montgomery in the Canada Cam- 
 paign. He was promoted to a Brig- 
 adier Generalship in October 1776, 
 and not only commanded the New 
 Jersey Brigade in the Sullivan Ex- 
 
 pedition but in the battle of Brandy- 
 wine, Germantown, and m all the 
 subsequent ones, in which it was en- 
 gaged, until July 1780, when, worn 
 down with long and almost inces- 
 sant service, he resigned lus com- 
 mission. He died in November 1798 
 —19 years after his effective and 
 laborious march through New York's 
 western wilds: and it is not improb- 
 able that he was related to the Max- 
 well pioneers, who were among the 
 early settlers of the valley of the 
 Chemung. 
 
 BRIG. GEN. EDWARD HAND 
 
 was the youngest of the Sullivan 
 Expedition Brigadiers, but held the 
 most important position in command 
 next to General Sullivan. He was 
 born in Ireland, on the last day of 
 the year 1744. He entered the Brit- 
 ish army, as Ensign, and served two 
 years after his regiment was order- 
 ed to this country, when he resigned 
 and settled in Pennsylvania. At the 
 commencement of the Revolution- 
 ary war he entered the Continental 
 service, as Lieut. Colonel, was made 
 Colonel of a rifle corps in 1776, was 
 in the battles of Long Island and 
 Trenton, and in the summer and 
 fall of 1777, having been made a 
 Brigadier General at the first of 
 April that year, he was in com- 
 mand at Pittsburg, where he ac- 
 quired such knowledge of the In- 
 dian character and their mode of 
 warfare, that his services were 
 deemed indispensible to the Sulli- 
 van Expedition. Washington placed 
 great confidence in his judgment, 
 and consulted with him freely in 
 regard to the feasibility of the con- 
 templated enterprise. In 1780, the 
 next year after the Indian cam- 
 paign, he was made Adjutant Gen- 
 eral of the main army, which re- 
 sponsible position he held to the 
 close of the war. He was commis- 
 sioned Major General after the war, 
 September 30th, 1783. Articles of 
 peace with an acknowledgement of 
 American Independence, on the 
 part of Great Britain, were duly 
 signed at Paris, Nov. 30th, 1782, and 
 peace proclaimed by Congress on 
 April 19th, 1783. 
 
 Gen. Hand was noted as a great 
 admirer of fine horses, and was an 
 excellent horseman. He died in Lan- 
 caster county, Pa., Sept. 4th, 1802, 
 aged 58 years — and Schuyler should 
 be proud to claim him as one of her 
 gallant soldier pioneers. 
 
BRIG. GEN. ENOCH POOR 
 was born in Andover, Mass., June 
 21st, 1736, but for mpst of his life 
 resided at Exeter, New Hampshire. 
 Immediately after the battle of Lex- 
 ington (April 19th, 1775) that state 
 raised three regiments, the third of 
 which was placed under the com- 
 mand of Col. Poor. He was commis- 
 sioned Brigadier General February 
 21st, 1777. In the hard fought battle 
 of Stillwater, Gen. Poor's Brigade 
 was so closely engaged that it suf- 
 fered more than two-thirds of the 
 total American loss, resulting from 
 that engagement, in killed, wounded 
 and missing. At the battle of Sara- 
 toga, which was followed by the sur- 
 render of the British army under 
 Gen. Burgoyne, October 17th, 1777, 
 Gen. Poor's Brigade led the attack. 
 The vigor and gallantry of the 
 charge, supported by an ardent and 
 furious onset by Morgan's regiment 
 of riflemen, could not be resisted, 
 and the British line was soon brok- 
 en, and one of the most important 
 victories of the war was gloriously 
 won. 
 
 Such a man, at the head of his 
 New Hampshire Brigade, was well 
 calculated to help make short work 
 of the British and Indians, as they 
 did at Newtown, in 1779. The next 
 year after the Sullivan Expedition, 
 two brigades of Light Infantry were 
 formed from the whole army, and 
 the command of one was given at 
 the request of Lafayette, to General 
 Poor. 
 
 This brave able, and meritorious 
 ofiQcer died of fever in camp at Hak- 
 ensack, N. J., Sept. 9th, 1780, aged 
 but 44 years and was buried, the 
 next day, with military honors. His 
 death was greatly mourned by the 
 army in which he was deservedly 
 very popular. General Wash- 
 ington declared him to be "an of- 
 ficer of distinguished merit, who as 
 a citizen and soldier had every claim 
 to the esteem of the country." 
 
 COL. THOMAS PROCTOR 
 who commanded the section of Ar- 
 tillery connected with the Sullivan 
 Expedition, was bom in Ireland, but 
 came to this country in early life, 
 and settled in Philadelphia, where 
 he worked at the trade of a car- 
 penter, until the commencement of 
 the war of the Revolution, when he 
 raised a company and was commis- 
 sioned as its Captain, Nov. 27th, 
 1775. He was prcunoted from Major 
 
 Page Forty-one 
 
 to Colonel, February 6th 1777, was 
 a most important factor in making 
 the success of the Sullivan Expe- 
 dition of '79 a complete and almost 
 bloodless success. He resigned on 
 April 9th, 1781. He was a man of 
 great executive ability, and seems 
 to have left the military service, 
 that he might be more serviceable 
 to the Government in other and 
 important capacities. In 1791 he 
 was sent on a mission to the Wes- 
 tern Indians — the duties of which 
 were most satisfactorily discharged; 
 and the journal that he kept while 
 thus employed, is printed in the 
 sixth volume, new series, of the 
 Pennsylvania Archives. He died at 
 Philadelphia, March 16th, 1806; but 
 lives in the history of the country 
 that he was so instrumental in help- 
 ing to become free and independ- 
 ent. 
 
 REV. JOHN GANO 
 
 the Chaplain of the Sullivan Expe- 
 dition, having joined it with Gen. 
 Clinton's Brigade, is a name well 
 worthy of being perpetrated In these 
 local annals. He was of French- 
 Hugenot parentage, and born at 
 Hopewell, N. J., about 1729. Though 
 from his youth, deeply imbued with 
 religious truth and sentiment, he 
 was not made a clergyman of the 
 Baptist commimion, to which he be- 
 longed, until he was 27 years of 
 age. In the following year he was 
 settled over a congregation in North 
 Carolina; but left on account of 
 the Cherokee war, in 1758, and pass- 
 ed a year in Philadelphia. He then 
 went to New York, where he gath- 
 ered a church, and was installed as 
 its pastor, in 1762, and continued 
 in charge until the British took 
 possession of the city, and "his 
 flock was scattered abroad." He en- 
 tered the Continental Army as a 
 Chaplain, and joined Clinton's Brig- 
 ade in 1778. In the transportation 
 of troops, from Albany, up the Hud- 
 son and Mohawk rivers and from 
 the last named to Otsego Lake, and 
 in moving the boats and provisions 
 over it, the fortitude and patience 
 of the soldiers wer6 severely ta^ed. 
 Chaplain Gano was constantly with 
 them, giving them good counsel, 
 cheer and encouragement. After 
 continuing a month at the outlet 
 of the lake, during which the dam 
 to hold back and utilize its waters 
 was constructed, the men became 
 very uneasy at the delay. One Sat- 
 
Page Forty-two 
 
 urday the Chaplain therefore, con- 
 ferred with Gen. Clinton on the sub- 
 ject, and was informed that the 
 army would move down the Sus- 
 quehanna on the next Monday, but 
 wished nothing said about it until 
 the order was issued. This was "glad 
 tidings", which the Chaplain had 
 no right to divulge; but on the next 
 day (Sunday) he cunningly took for 
 his text in preaching, "Being ready 
 to depart on the morrow," and so 
 near did he come to telling the 
 whole truth, that at the close of the 
 services. Gen. Clinton announced, to 
 the great joy of the soldiers, that 
 the army would move the next 
 morning at sunrise. 
 
 Mr. Gano accompanied the Ex- 
 pedition through what is now 
 Schuyler County, to and on its re- 
 turn, from the Genesee country, 
 little thinking that some of his name 
 and kin would become dwellers in 
 the land, of which he had but a 
 little more extended view than did 
 Moses of the Canaan of old. He re- 
 mained with the army during the 
 war; and when the British evacua- 
 ted New York on the 25th of Novem- 
 ber, 1783, he returned there only to 
 find his church building a desola- 
 tion, and his congregation almost 
 as effectually obliterated as if it 
 had never existed. Still he preached 
 there for a number of years, and in 
 1788 removed to Frankfort in Ken- 
 tucky, where he continued to preach 
 and labor as a faithful minister of 
 the gospel until the time of his 
 death, which occured August 10th, 
 1804, at the age of 75 years. 
 
 NOTE — The foregoing . biographi- 
 cal sketches have been drawn, with 
 some changes in language, from a 
 volume on Gen. Sullivan's Expe- 
 dition, published by authority of the 
 State of New York, in 1887 and can 
 be relied on, as, in all essential par- 
 ticulars, correct. "L. H." 
 
 There are two more prominent 
 names intimately connected with the 
 Sullivan Expedition of 1779, which 
 are worthy of being enshrined in 
 the hearts of the people of Schuy- 
 ler, and our section of the State; 
 and this article will be devoted to 
 them, and a brief outline sketch of 
 the most noted Indian queen, known 
 to the earliest annals of the terri- 
 tory embraced within the county, 
 after which will commence the bio- 
 graphies of actual pioneer settlers. 
 
 whose decendants, and successors 
 now possess the lands and former 
 homes of the departed SenecM 
 which were dominated by ineir 
 proud and dusky chiefs, queens and 
 braves, when and where. 
 
 Along the grand old forest glades. 
 Swiftly the antlered wild-deer 
 
 sprang. 
 And echoing through the dismal 
 
 shades 
 The Red man's deadly war-whoop 
 
 rang. 
 
 One of the prominent names alud- 
 ed to above, is that of 
 
 GEN. PETER GANESVOORT, 
 
 who was descended from one of 
 the oldest Knickerbocker families 
 of Albany— his great-grandfather, 
 Harmen Ganesvoort, having settled 
 there as early as 1660, or 230 years 
 ago. 
 
 Gen. Ganesvoort was born in what 
 is now the Capital city of the Em- 
 pire State, July 17th, 1749. He was 
 appointed Major in the Second N. 
 Y. Patriot Regiment, July 19th, 1775 
 before it joined the army under 
 Gen. Montgomery, which invaded 
 Canada. On the 1st of March, 1776, 
 he was made Lieut. Colonel, and on 
 Nov. 21st, of the same year, Colo- 
 nel, of the Third Regiment. In 
 April, 1777, he took command of 
 Fort Schuyler, and gallantly defend- 
 ed it against the British and In- 
 dians, under St. Ledger, who after 
 beseiging it from the 2nd till the 
 22nd of August, finding its capture 
 impossible, abandoned the siege. 
 
 In conducting the defense, and in 
 his diplomatic correspondence with 
 St. Ledger, Gen. Ganesvoort evin- 
 ced undaunted courage and great 
 tact and sagacity. To a messenger, 
 sent by the British commander, with 
 an arrogant and offensive demand 
 to surrender, he indignantly replied 
 "I consider the message you have 
 brought a degrading one for a Brit- 
 ish officer to send, and by no means 
 reputable for a British officer to 
 carry. For my own part, I declare 
 before I would consent to deliver 
 this garrison to such a murdering 
 set as your army, by your own ac- 
 count consists of, I would suffer my 
 body to be filled with splinters and 
 set on fire, as you know has, at 
 times, been practiced by such hordes 
 of women-and-children-killers, as 
 belong to your army." 
 
To a subsquent and more formal 
 demand to surrender, he nobly re- 
 plied: "Your letter of this date, 
 (August 9th, 1777), I have received 
 la answer to which I say, that it 
 is my determined resolution, with 
 the forces under my command, to 
 defend this fort to the last extrem- 
 ity, in behalf of the United States, 
 which have placed me here to de- 
 fend it against their enemies." In 
 thus preventing the intended co- 
 operation of St. Ledger with the 
 forces of Burgoyne, Gen. Ganesvoort 
 materially disconcerted that Gen- 
 eral's plan of campaign, and forced 
 his surrender at Saratoga; and by 
 this brave and successful . defense, 
 he greatly encouraged the Patriots, 
 and for it received the thanks of 
 Congress. 
 
 In the spring of 1779, he'was or- 
 dered to join Gen. Sullivan's Expe- 
 dition — his regiment forming the left 
 wing of Gen. Clinton's Brigade — 
 and he did valiant service, and shar- 
 ed in the labors, hardships and pri- 
 vations of that remarkable cam- 
 paign. In 1781, the State of New 
 York appointed him a Brigadier 
 General; and thereafter he filled a 
 number of important offices, among 
 which were Brigadier General in 
 the U. S. Army, Commissioner of 
 Indian affairs. Military Agent, for 
 fortifying the frontiers, Sheriff of 
 the county of Albany, Regent of 
 the State University, etc., all of 
 which show that he enjoyed, in a 
 marked degree, the confidence, ad- 
 miration and esteem of the people. 
 He was a man of commanding pres- 
 ence and most engaging personal 
 manners, an affable and agreeable 
 companion, and an able and fear- 
 less general. He died at Ms resi- 
 dence in Albany, July 2nd, 1812, 
 aged 63 years. 
 
 COL. PHILIP VANCORTLANDT 
 was the oldest son of Lieut.-Gov. 
 Pierre VanCortlandt, (who was elec- 
 ted in 1777) and the son was born 
 in the city of New York, on the 1st 
 of September, 1749. Soon after his 
 birth his parents moved to their 
 Manor House in Westchester County. 
 At the age of 15 years he became 
 a pupU in the Coldenham Acad- 
 emy in Orange county, and sub- 
 sequently became a practical sur- 
 veyor. He was made a Major, by 
 the English Colonial Governor, Wm. 
 "Tyron, (who held that office from 
 July, 1771, to April 1774) in a regi- 
 
 Page Forty-three 
 
 ment raised in the Cortlandt Manor 
 before the opening of the Revolu- 
 tionary period, and served for a 
 time in that compacity. In 1774, 
 when signs of coming hostilities be- 
 gan to appear. Gov. Tyron, accom- 
 panied by his wife and Secretary, 
 visited the Manor House, and tried 
 to gain the influence of its propriet- 
 or, Pierre VanCortlandt, for the 
 British Crown, but did not suc- 
 ceed. Tyron also offered the son, 
 Philip, an additional, and higher 
 appointment, but the young patriot 
 "threw the commission into the fire" 
 and was soon after elected a mem- 
 ber of the Provincial Convention of 
 the State of New York, from West- 
 chester county. 
 
 Two months after the battle of 
 Lexington, a commission, appoint- 
 ing him Lieut. Colonel in the Fourth 
 Batallion of New York Troops, un- 
 der command of General Montgom- 
 ery, was sent to the gallant soldier, 
 signed by John Hancock, President 
 of Congress, and dated June 18th, 
 1775. In the spring of 1776, after the 
 unsuccessful invasion of Canada by 
 General Montgomery, Lieut. Col. 
 VanCortlandt was ordered to join 
 Gen. Schuyler's forces and some 
 time after he joined Gen. Wash- 
 ington at King's Bridge, north of 
 New York, and for a time acted as 
 aide to the commander-in-Chief. 
 After the battle of White Plains — 
 at which place he was one of the 
 38 patriots who ratified the Declar- 
 ation of Independence, on horse- 
 back, July 9th, 1776 — General Wash- 
 ington appointed him Colonel, his 
 commission having been dated Nov. 
 30th, 1776. He was in charge of the 
 Second Regiment in Gen. Poor's 
 Brigade at the Battle of Saratoga, 
 which resulted in the surrender of 
 Burgoyne, Oct. 17th, 1777. 
 
 In 1779, he served through the 
 entire campaign against the New 
 York Indians, in the SuUivan Ex- 
 pedition, and did excellent service 
 in opening roads for the concen- 
 tration of the invading forces at 
 Wyoming. He continued in the 
 army, was present at the surren- 
 der of Cornwallls, and was promo- 
 ted to the rank of Brigadier Gener- 
 al, by brevet, for gallant conduct 
 in the siege and capture of York- 
 town. 
 
 At the close of the war he return- 
 ed to the Manor House in the town 
 of Cortlandt, in the county of West- 
 chester, and became a member of 
 
Page Forty-four 
 
 the New York State Convention that 
 ratified the U. S. Constitution of 
 1788. He accepted the first Super- 
 visorship of the new town of Cort- 
 landt in the same year, was a Mem- 
 ber of Assembly in 1789 and 1790, 
 and of the State Senate from 1791 
 to 1793. In 1793 he was elected to- 
 Congress, and contmued to repre- 
 sent his district in that body for 16 
 successive years, and then declined 
 a re-election. 
 
 In 1812 he was chosen an elector 
 for President and Vice-President of 
 the United States, and was one of 
 the original members of the Order 
 of the Cincinnati, and its first 
 Treasurer. He was on terms of great 
 intimacy with Gen. Lafayette, and 
 when that French nobleman visited 
 this country in 1824, entertained him 
 at the Manor House, and accom- 
 panied him on his memoriable tour 
 through the grateful country for 
 whose independence he had un- 
 sheathed his sword in the days of 
 '76. 
 
 Col. VanCortlandt was never mar- 
 ried, and died at his Westchester 
 Manor House, which is said to have 
 been a splendid mansion on the 21st 
 day of November, 1831, at the ad- 
 vanced age of 82 years. 
 
 QUEEN CATHARINE MONTOUR 
 the most famous feminine name, 
 connected with the aborginal his- 
 tory and legends of Central-South- 
 ern and Western New York, was the 
 daughter of a woman known as 
 "French Margaret" and a grand- 
 daughter of Madame Montour, who 
 was a noted personage in the early 
 history of Pennsylvania, before and 
 during the French and Indian War. 
 Catharine was born in that State, 
 and captured in early childhood by 
 the Senecas,, probably in the before- 
 mentioned war, when the Senecas 
 sided with the English. She was 
 brought to the Seneca country and 
 adopted into their tribe, where she 
 grew to womanhood, and was pos- 
 sessed of great beauty and person- 
 al attractions. 
 
 Her grandmother, Madame Mon- 
 tour, who was an Indian Princess, 
 seems to have acquired her name 
 from a distinguished French Can- 
 adian official, with whom she con- 
 sorted; and she once resided at 
 Montoursville and later at, or near, 
 Shamokin, Pa. She also had several 
 sons, all of whom were noted char- 
 acters in the early history of that 
 
 State. Her granddaughter; Cathar- 
 ine, (father unknown) became the 
 wife of a noted Seneca Chief, Tel- 
 e-ne-mut, whose territory was in 
 the vicinity of the head waters of 
 Seneca Lake, and the location of his 
 village on the present site of Ha- 
 vana, at the southern extreme of 
 the Seneca tribe's possessions. Eith- 
 er before or after his death, which 
 probably occurred during the French 
 and Indian war, that commenced 
 in 1754, the place was known as 
 Catharinestown; and Queen Cath- 
 arine either assumed, or had always 
 held her grandmother's name of 
 Montour, as at the time of, and 
 some years previous to the Sullivan 
 Expedition, she was known by that 
 name. 
 
 Catharine Montour — of blended 
 French and Indian blood — ^was a 
 woman of great intelligence and 
 superior ability, for her age and 
 savage life-surroundings, as is clear- 
 ly shown by her successful reign, 
 and the extraordinary influence she 
 exercised over her willing subjects. 
 She had one son named Am-oc-hol, 
 who was living in New Salem, in 
 Albany county, N. Y., in 1788, nine 
 years after the Sullivan canjpaign; 
 and two daughters, who seem to 
 have been living with her in 1779, 
 when her prosperous village of about 
 30 good houses and many other evi- 
 dences of progressive civilization, in 
 gardens, cornfields and orchards, 
 were totally destroyed by Sullivan's 
 army, on the night of Sept. 1st, and 
 morning of the 2nd, 1779 — its wo- 
 men and children having fled north- 
 ward with the discomfitted English, 
 and Indian warriors, in their flight 
 from the battlefield of Newtown, 
 fought two days before, on the 29th 
 of August. 
 
 Queen Catharine was the sister 
 of Queen Esther — whose village at 
 Tioga Point, near the present Ath- 
 ens, Pa., was destroyed in 1778, by 
 Col. Hartley's Pennsylvania rangers 
 — and whose name became infam- 
 ous, because of her barbarous butch- 
 ery of helpless prisoners at Wyom- 
 ing. She is believed to have been 
 killed at the battle of Newtown, as 
 one Indian squaw was among the 
 slain, and "Queen Esther" was never 
 heard of afterward. 
 
 Queen Catharine also had a sis- 
 ter Mary who was the wife of an- 
 other famous Seneca Chief — Kan- 
 agh-ra-gait, who was sometimes 
 known as "White Mingo," and lived 
 
on the Allegany and Ohio Rivers. 
 He died at Port Wayne, in 1790,, 11 
 years after the destruction of Queen 
 Catharine's village. 
 
 In company with the hapless re- 
 fugees of the Six Nations, this re- 
 markable woman, reached the pro- 
 tection of the British at Port Niagra 
 and was known to be living in that 
 vicinity in Canada as late as 1791, 
 or 12 years after her home, and that 
 of her people was desolated by the 
 ruthless, cruel and unrelenting hand 
 of war. But the time of her death 
 is shadowed in the same obscurity 
 which rests on the melancholy fate 
 that befell most of the fugitive 
 Chieftains of the once powerful 
 tribe and people to which she be- 
 longed. Her name and memory is 
 perpetuated in Schuyler county by 
 the names of the towns of "Cath- 
 arine" and "Montour", and also by 
 those of "Catharine Creek" and 
 "Catharine Valley" — and may these 
 living memorials remain while the 
 name of the county of Schuyler en- 
 dures. 
 
 In contemplating the biographi- 
 cal sketches of the early pioneers 
 and prominent men of Schuyler, a 
 wide field opens to our view, and 
 many names and characters are 
 presented as fit and, appropriate 
 subjects for consideration. 
 
 Most of the pioneers were from 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the 
 New England States, for the reason 
 that the Sullivan Expedition, which 
 redeemed the Lake, or Genesee 
 country, of Central and Western 
 New York, from the rule of the 
 Six-Nation, Iroquois Indian Con- 
 federation was composed of sold- 
 iers from these States, who were 
 greatly impressed with the natur- 
 al beauty, fertility and fruitfulness 
 of the region traversed along the 
 shores and around the head and 
 foot waters of Lakes Seneca and 
 Cayuga, and through the rich val- 
 leys westward from Geneva, to the 
 terminal point of the Expedition, 
 or Chen-e-see, the capitol of the 
 Senecas, and the confederated 
 tribes. This new and charming do- 
 main with its silvery lakes and 
 streams, and its great productive- 
 ness, as shown, even by the rude 
 culture of savage life, was not for- 
 gotten by Sullivan's observing men; 
 and as compared with the stony 
 and sterile portions of New England 
 and the other States named, it 
 seemed indeed a paradise and land 
 
 Page Porty-five 
 
 of promise, to those who had par- 
 tially explored it, and to many who 
 were inspired to migrate hither by 
 the glowing, and yet not overdrawn 
 tales told by the continental war- 
 riors, on their return to their homes 
 after the war of the Revolution was 
 ended, and peace, with National In- 
 dependence, had been proclaimed. 
 This historical circumstance clear- 
 ly accounts for the fact that so 
 many of the present inhabitants 
 of Schuyler county trace their an- 
 cestry back to Massachusetts, 
 (Maine not a State till 1820) New 
 Hampshire, Vermont, (admitted to 
 the Union 1791), Rhode Island, Con- 
 necticut, New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
 vania, in which colonial territories 
 were enlisted the brigades that 
 composed the greater part of the 
 Sullivan Expedition. And the man- 
 ner in which our hardy progenitors 
 came to this goodly heritage, which 
 they have left to their descendents, 
 and the great privations they en- 
 dured before plenty and comfort 
 surrounded their hearthstones and 
 firesides, and their rude log cabins 
 gave place to more costly and de- 
 sirable dwellings, would furnish vol- 
 umes of adventure and romance, of 
 which but the merest scraps and 
 outline glimpses can be given in 
 these brief local narrations. One of 
 the first of these sturdy and notable 
 pioneers, who settled within the 
 present limits of the county, was 
 
 JOHN DOW 
 known in after life as Judge Dow. 
 He was born in Voluntown, Wind- 
 ham county, Connecticut, August 13, 
 1769. In his boyhood he learned to 
 "read, write and cipher," and work- 
 ed with his father on the farm un- 
 til 17 or 18 years old, when he went 
 to learn the cabinet making trade, 
 and became a worker in wood, 
 which mechanical knowledge was 
 of much use to him as an early 
 settler in a new country. Having 
 earned a few dollars by working for 
 other people, and procuring a sad- 
 dle, he became anxious to migrate 
 to the Lake, or Genesee country, of 
 which he had heard such favorable 
 reports. His father gave him a 
 horse, and his approval, and on the 
 sixth day of April, 1789 — ^ten years 
 after the Sullivan Expedition — he 
 started on the long and tiresome 
 journey. He arrived at the head of \ 
 Seneca Lake, where Watkins is now \ 
 located, toward the end of that 
 
Page Forty-six 
 
 month and there found David Cul- 
 ver's family, which had preceeded 
 him from the same Connecticut 
 town, the previous year, and an- 
 other by the name of Smith, con- 
 cerning both of which more here- 
 after. Only portions of two or three 
 families resided anywhere in the 
 vicinity. The whole territory now 
 constituting the county of Schuyler, 
 and the surrounding country, was 
 an unbroken wilderness, inhabited 
 only by wild beasts, such as bear, 
 deer, wolf, panther, catamount, etc. 
 the two first named having been 
 the meac supply of the early settlers 
 — and the lake teemed with fine 
 fish. The only paths through the 
 forest wilds were half deserted In- 
 dian trails, and the larger one left 
 by Sullivan's avenging army, whose 
 route northward from Catharines- 
 town to Geneva, and its camping 
 grounds, could be traced for many 
 years after its desolating march. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival, Mr. Dow 
 was taken sick with the measles, 
 and was kindly cared for by Mr. 
 Culver and his family. After his 
 recovery, he went down Seneca Lake 
 to the Jemima Wilkinson, (or 
 Friend's) Settlement, a little south 
 of where Dresden now stands — 
 which was commenced in 1788, and 
 subsequently removed to Jerusalem, 
 now in Yates county— where he 
 worked the following summer on 
 the farm of Benjamin Brown, one 
 of the "Universal Friend's" leading 
 pioneers, and became well acquain- 
 ted with many others. In the fall 
 of that year, (1789) having lost his 
 horse, he traveled to his father's 
 house in Connecticut, on foot, a 
 distance of 350 miles. His father 
 gave him a well broken yoke of 
 steers, and two cows, that he train-.';' 
 ed to walk in a yoke ahead of them. 
 He got them shod, and with this 
 full team, and a sled-load or such 
 things as he most needed amid the 
 scenes of his newly chosen home, 
 on the 15th of February, 1790— 
 just a century ago this year— he 
 again started for the head of Sen- 
 eca Lake, arriving on the 20th of 
 March. His father came with him, 
 and before his return gave his son 
 a few dollars, by way of encourage- 
 ment in commencing for himself in 
 the almost unknown world by which 
 he was surrounded. 
 
 In the summer of 1790 he raised 
 a good crop of corn, probably in 
 the northern vicinity of where the 
 
 Glen Park Hotel now stands; and 
 in the following, and subsequent 
 winters, and a portion of the time 
 summers, he made spinning wheels 
 chairs, etc., for his incoming neigh- 
 bors, during a period of some 30 
 years. 
 
 In 1'791 he was married to the wid- 
 ow Mallory, one of the Friend's fol- 
 lowers, and the mother of Hon. 
 Meredith Mallory, who became a 
 member of Congress, representing 
 the counties of Steuben and Yates. 
 In 1794, soon after the "Watkins and 
 Flint" land purchase was made he 
 bought 200 acres of land, in what' 
 is now the town of Reading, of John 
 W. Watkins, — an older brother of 
 Dr. Samuel Watkins, the founder of 
 the village that bears his name— 
 and in the spring of 1798 moved on 
 to it — having lived at the head of 
 the lake eight years, and paid for 
 the land he had purchased, before 
 making it his life-home. The tract 
 of land in which his farm was situa- 
 ted, lay east of the old pre-emption 
 line, or between that historical "land 
 mark" and Seneca Lake, and was 
 then and for several years after, 
 within the old County of Cayuga, 
 but was subsequently annexed to 
 Fredericksburg, in Steuben County, 
 from a portion of which town Read- 
 ing was finally formed. He lived 
 there two years without any neigh- 
 bors nearer than the Head of the 
 Lake; but, in 1800, David Culver 
 moved to his vicinity, (at or near 
 what is now Reading Center) on 
 adjoining land, built a tavern there, 
 and the locality became known as 
 "Culver's Settlement." 
 
 At the annual town meeting of 
 Fredericksburg, in March 1804, Mr. 
 Dow was elected Supervisor. The 
 Steuben County Board held its 
 meetings In Bath, and there were 
 then but six towns within its wide- 
 ly extended borders; and the whole 
 number of taxable inhabitants in 
 Fredericksburg— then including the 
 present towns of Tyrone, Reading, 
 and Orange in Schuyler; Barring- 
 ton and Starkey in Yates; and 
 Bradford and Wayne, in Steuben— 
 was but 146. The town meetings 
 were held at Eddytown. In February 
 1806, an act of the legislature was 
 passed, of which Mr. Dow was an 
 influential advocate, erecting the 
 town of Reading, of which he was 
 elected the first supervisor in April 
 of that year. It embraced, in add- 
 ition to the territory of the present 
 
town, all that now included in Star- 
 key, Yates County. He was re-elec- 
 ted Supervisor from 1806 to 1819, 
 thirteen years insuccession, (a most 
 remarkable record), and was again 
 elected in 1834 — ^fifteen years there- 
 after. In 1806 he was also appoint- 
 ed Justice of the Peace, and in 1808 
 a Judge of the Court of Common 
 Pleas, and continued to hold those 
 offices till 1821. In 1826 he was again 
 appointed Justice of the Peace, and 
 continued in the position till Jan- 
 uary, 1851, making in all, a period 
 of 40 years in which he faithfully 
 served the people in that capacity. 
 
 Judge Dow was nominated by the 
 Democrats of Steuben for Member 
 of Assembly, in 1818, and elected, 
 and also in 1819 and 1820. He at- 
 tended three sessions of the Legis- 
 lature, and one extra session to 
 choose electors for President and 
 Vice-President of the United States. 
 
 The subject of our sketch was the 
 father of two daughters by his first 
 wife; and after her death was mar- 
 ried to the widow Leake, a woman 
 of many reputed accomplishments 
 and much intelligence; and he was 
 the grandfather of L. B. Davis, now 
 well advanced in years, and a resi- 
 dent of Watkins. 
 
 In personal stature Judge Dow 
 was above medium height, and in 
 the days of his manhood's prime, 
 he was remarkable for his osseous, 
 (or bony) and muscular develop- 
 ment. His private life was without 
 "spot or blemish", and he is not 
 known to ever have had an enemy, 
 being a man of kind and peaceful 
 disposition, though of strong and 
 decided traits of character, and was 
 held in high estimation by a large 
 circle of friends, and all who knew 
 him. He was a most exemplary mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Church for 
 more than 50 years and strongly 
 attached to that communion, with- 
 out bigotry or entertaining any nar- 
 row prejudices against other denom- 
 inations. 
 
 Judge John Dow was one of the 
 first pioneer settlers in what is now 
 the town of Dix, the first settler in 
 what is now the town of Reading; 
 and at the time of his death, which 
 occurred in 1853, at the age of 84 
 years, he was the oldest member of 
 the Masonic Fraternity in this part 
 of the state. His name and virtues 
 are well worthy of lasting praise 
 and a deathless memory; and his 
 honorable and useful life may well 
 
 Page Forty-seven 
 
 be emulated by all who seek to be 
 governed by strict integrity and 
 honor. 
 
 In the year 1788, the same in 
 which David Culver's family and an- 
 other by the name of Smith, set- 
 tled on what is now the site of Wat- 
 kins, and the year before John Dow 
 arrived from Connecticut, Silas 
 Wolcott and a Mr. Wilson, located 
 and commenced a settlement at 
 what is now Havana. 
 
 GEORGE MILLS, 
 
 a Revolutionary soldier, and per- 
 haps formerly with the Sullivan Ex- 
 pedition, passed through the Cath- 
 arinestown locality the same year, 
 but did not settle there until two 
 years after, or in 1790 — of which the 
 present is the centennial year. 
 
 Mr. Mills — who in his old age was 
 familiarly known as "Uncle George" 
 was a noted pioneer of the county, 
 and had much to do with its early 
 history. Though unable to give the 
 date and place of his birth, it is 
 certain that he came from Penn- 
 sylvania, by way of Newtown (now 
 Elmira) and thence northward, fol- 
 lowing the old Indian trail, and 
 that left by Sullivan's army. He was 
 accompanied by a man named John 
 Richardson; and at the head of 
 Seneca Lake they procured a bat- 
 eau, (a long boat,) and proceeded 
 down the lake to its outlet at Ge- 
 neva, down the Seneca River, to a 
 point between lakes Seneca and 
 Cayuga, thence around to the wa- 
 ters of Cayuga creek, and settled 
 on the east side of that creek, prob- 
 ably near where it takes its rise as 
 the outlet of Cayuta lake in the 
 present town of Catharine. As be- 
 fore stated, he settled permanently 
 at what is now Havana two years 
 thereafter; and as he informed Hon. 
 Hull Panton of that village in an 
 interview, some years previous to 
 his death, he there found several 
 new pioneers, namely Wm. McClure, 
 where Thomas McClure afterward 
 lived; Phineas Bowers, near where 
 the pottery was subsequently built; 
 two families named Stevens, and a 
 man by the name of John King. 
 One of the Stevens families lived 
 near the Havana Falls, and the 
 other near the McClure place. 
 
 Mr. Mills stated that he settled 
 where Campbell's store was, in af- 
 ter years, located, and where then 
 stood a little shanty, belonging to 
 John King, of whom he bought it, 
 
Page Forty-eight 
 
 and commenced life anew. The set- 
 tlement grew and prospered, and in 
 1805 he opened a store in company 
 with Isaac Baldwin of Newtown 
 (which name was changed to El- 
 mira in 1808) , his new building hav- 
 ing been erected on the present cor- 
 ner of Maui and Catharine Sts., a 
 little east of the inlet, or Catharine 
 creek bridge. It was also used as a 
 tavern, and occupied for that pur- 
 pose by its owner for a quarter ofi 
 a century, during which time he en- 
 tertained Louis Phlllippe, the ex-' 
 iled heir of the French Throne, who 
 shortly thereafter became King of 
 France. This royal sojourn lasted 
 about a week, while the "Citizen 
 King," as he was afterwards called, 
 was on a tour southward from Buf- 
 falo, via Canandaigua and Geneva, 
 to Philadelphia, and occurred in 
 1797, showing that the Mills tavern 
 had been erected prior to that date. 
 The distinguished tourist was ac- 
 companied by several members of 
 the royal family, two of whom were 
 his younger brothers, and reached 
 the little hamlet on foot, each carry- 
 ing, for himself, a little piece of 
 baggage, the party having come over 
 Seneca Lake in a small boat hired 
 for the voyage, to where Watkins 
 now stands. While at their resting 
 place, Louis took a sketch of the 
 She-qua-gah Falls — ^which signifies 
 "roaring waters" — and years after it 
 graced the Art Gallery of the Tuil- 
 eries in Paris. On leaving the Mills 
 tavern, the party shouldered their 
 packs, and trudged to Elmira on 
 foot, where they halted ten days, 
 and then descended the Chemung 
 and Susquehanna rivers in a well 
 fitted-up Durham flat boat. 
 
 George Mills was the first mer- 
 chant and tavern-keeper in prim- 
 itive Havana, and so far as is now 
 known, the first within the present 
 territorial limits of Schuyler Coun- 
 ty—although it is possible that the 
 "Culver Settlement" tavern, a little 
 north of Reading Center, may have 
 been built about the same time. As 
 early as 1792, only four years after 
 Its first white settlers arrived at 
 Catharinestown, Capt. Charles Wil- 
 kinson, who came to this region of 
 country as the agent of the great 
 Pulteney Estate, in writing of the 
 settlement, said that it contained 30 
 Inhabitants, while that started by 
 David Culver, where Watkins now 
 is, before he moved to his after 
 settlement in Reading, contained 70. 
 
 In 1804 Mr. Mills bought of Dr. 
 
 Watkins, who seems, even then to 
 
 have come into possession of his 
 
 brother John's estate,— a part of 
 
 the Watkins and Flint purchase— 
 
 the land that he had taken up east 
 
 of Catharine creek, on which his 
 
 r tavern-and-store was then, or soon 
 
 / after built, to the amount of 60 
 
 ' acres, — it having been a part of the 
 
 ( Ezra L'Hommedieu tract of several 
 
 thousand acres, exempted from the 
 
 above-named purchase in 1794, and 
 
 shortly after conveyed to John W. 
 
 I Watkins. 
 
 V ^ Mr. Mills was also one of the first 
 navigators of Seneca Lake; and 
 from "Mills' Landing," near his 
 store, which was then the "head of 
 navigation," in his Indian bateau 
 he transported the various pioneer 
 products of the soil, to New York, 
 down the Seneca, Mohawk and Hud- 
 son rivers, by way of Albany, and 
 received goods wherewith to replen- 
 ish his stock in trade. As the popula- 
 tion of the village and its vicinity 
 increased, he enlarged his boats, 
 augmented his tonnage, and did a 
 thriving business. The level of Sen- 
 eca Lake, at that period, long an- 
 terior to the canal and railway sys- 
 tems of the State and country, was 
 much higher than at the present 
 i\ time; and Catharine creek was 
 'much more like an inlet than now, 
 which made it navigable, especially 
 in spring and fall, for flat boats of 
 considerable size and capacity. 
 -It is said that none of the des- 
 cendents of "Uncle George Mills" 
 now reside in Havana. A son of the 
 old and always respected and hon- 
 ored pioneer. Dr. Madison Mills, 
 during the war for the Union, held 
 a distinguished position in the med- 
 ical department of the service; but 
 his later life-history is to the writ- 
 er of this sketch unknown. George 
 Mills was a brother of Jacob Mills, 
 who with his son Jacob, came from 
 Cumberland Co., Pa., and settled 
 in Dix in 1800, on the farm subse- 
 quently occupied by the son named, 
 and later by one of his grandsons- 
 Vine C. Mills. 
 
 The ideal and truly representa- 
 tive early Schuyler county pioneer, 
 —George Mills— who did so much 
 for its development and progress, 
 and who was a model man and 
 citizen— died in December, 1858— 
 almost a third of a century ago— 
 at the remarkable age of nearly 
 100 years. 
 
Cotemporary First Settlers 
 Cotemporaneous with Judge John 
 Dow, George Mills, David Culver, 
 and others of less note, who set- 
 tled on the present sites of Wat- 
 kins and Havana, were the Diven 
 and Baskln families, who settled [ 
 on the County Line road in the 
 present town of Dix, about a mile i 
 west of the head of Seneca Lake; 
 John W. and Charles Watkins, 
 brothers of Dr. Samuel Watkins, ; 
 and the Miller and Mills families, ■■ 
 who settled in the same town; the | 
 Mitchell, Johnson, Hinman, Beards- I 
 ley, Mallory, Winton, Booth, Meek- ' 
 er, Lyon, Shelton, Lovell, Chambers, 
 Taylor, and some few other famil- 
 ies, who settled at "Johnson Settle- 
 ment," Odessa and other points in 
 what, in 1798, became the town of 
 Catharine; the Ogden, Jajmes, White 
 Thomas, Ennis, Lockerby, Brown, 
 LangstafE, Compton, Reynolds, and 
 other families, who settled in Cay- 
 uta; the Wickham, Smith, Everts, 
 Livingston, Hanly, Ely, Trowbridge, 
 Pritchard, Mathews, Owen, Sayler, 
 Larrison, Hager, Gillespie, and oth- 
 er families, who settled in various-, 
 parts of Hector; and the Wixon and | 
 Bennett families, who settled in 
 Tyrone. All the foregoing, (or nearly 
 all) came within the first decade of -i- 
 the county's settlement, and within 
 the century that terminated with 
 the close of the year 1800. They 
 were rapidly followed by many oth- 
 er early settlers, who were not, 
 strictly speaking, cotemporaneous 
 with those above-named, but whose 
 most prominent names will be em- 
 braced within the scope of these 
 sketches, and receive due attention, 
 in future articles, together with such 
 incidents and experiences of bygone 
 days and years, as will be calcula- 
 ted to interest those who have, and 
 are to succeed them, on the stage 
 of action; and in turn, but under 
 greatly changed conditions are to 
 continue the "battle of life" for the 
 benefit of future generations. 
 
 In concluding this (the 21st) ar- 
 ticle of the series, whose number 
 has not been determined, it may be 
 allowable to say that among the 
 numerous biographical sketches to 
 appear in these columns, will be 
 those of John W., Charles, and Dr. 
 Samuel Watkins, Judge Simeon L. 
 Rood, Judge George G. Freer, Hon. 
 John Magee, and Hon. Alexander 
 Diven, Judge John Crawford, and 
 several others, all of whom were 
 
 Page Forty-nine 
 
 connected with the early history 
 of the present town of Dix. Also 
 those of Charles Cook, Phineas Cat- 
 lin, Abram Lawrence, and other 
 members of the Lawrence family, 
 and various others, connected with 
 the past histories of Catharine, Cay- 
 uta. Hector, Orange, Reading and 
 Tyrone. The task, though promising 
 to be arduous, will nevertheless be 
 a pleasing one, as the articles will 
 be required only in "weekly install- 
 ments"; and for the same reason, 
 they may not weary those for whose 
 perusal and information they are 
 written. 
 
 In the biographical sketches of 
 Judge John Dow and "Uncle George 
 Mills," given in the two last fore- 
 going articles, we gave precedence 
 to them, as among the first pioneer 
 settlers of the county; and the pro- 
 priety of adhering to this rule in 
 those that are to follow, will not 
 be questioned, regardless of the 
 towns in which they may have been 
 located or of the eminence to which 
 they may have attained among their 
 fellow-citizens. In accordance with 
 this plan the next name in order 
 seems to be that of 
 
 JOHN W. WATKINS, 
 whose history, as connected with the 
 present territory of Schuyler, com- 
 menced in 1794, as one of the prom- 
 inent men connected with the fam- 
 ous "Watkins and Flint Purchase" 
 of that year. 
 
 He was a native of Wales, in 
 Great Britain, and migrated to this 
 country with his father's family at 
 an early day, which seems to have 
 settled on Long Island near where 
 Brooklyn now is; but we are unable 
 because of the meagerness of the 
 family records (such as have been 
 preserved) to give anything of a 
 reliable nature concerning his an- 
 cestry, except that they were well 
 educated people of note, or the dates 
 of either his birth or death, or those 
 of his brother Charles, whose name 
 became associatied with his own in 
 the early history of our country, at 
 the head of Seneca Lake and around 
 Watkins Glen. 
 
 It is understood that John W., was 
 the oldest of the three brothers, of 
 whom we have occasion to write, 
 and Dr. Samuel Watkins the young- 
 est, who was born on Long Island 
 in 1771. Unless John W. was born 
 more than ten years previously he 
 could not have been (but probably 
 
Page Fifty 
 
 was) over 35 years of age at the 
 time of the Watkins and Flint Pur- 
 chase, which was made of the State 
 of New York and covered about 
 350,000 acres — ^the patent bearing 
 date July 25th, 1794. John W. Wat- 
 kins and Royal Flint, in making ap- 
 plication for this immense purchase, 
 represented a company consisting of 
 "Royal Flint, Jonathan Lawrence, 
 Robert C. Livingston, John Lamb, 
 Melancthon Smith, James Watson 
 and John W. Watkins," the first 
 and last named of whom, made the 
 application in behalf of themselves 
 and the other parties Eissociated 
 with them — hence the name given 
 to the purchase, which has ever 
 since been applied to the territory 
 and the descriptions connected with 
 its numerous sub-divisions and 
 transfers of title. This great body 
 of land lay mostly south of the head 
 waters of Seneca Lake, but extend- 
 ed, east and west, a distance of 35 
 miles and, north and south, over 15 
 miles. It embraced all of the present 
 towns of Cayuta, Catharine, Dix, 
 and Montour, and a small part of 
 Orange, now in the county of Schuy- 
 ler; Newfield, Danby and Caroline, 
 now in the county of Tompkins; 
 Spencer and Candor now in the 
 county of Tioga; Catlin and Vete- 
 ran, and parts of Big Flats, Horse- 
 heads and VanEtten, now in the 
 county of Chemung; and that part 
 of the "gore" lying between the old 
 and new pre-emption lines and 
 north of the south line of the pur- 
 chased tract, lying in the towns of 
 Hornby and Painted Post, and now 
 in the county of Steuben. It was 
 bounded and described as follows: 
 "Beginning at the Northwest cor- 
 ner of the (then) township of Che- 
 mung, as originally surveyed and 
 laid out, in the east bounds of the 
 lands ceded by this State to the 
 commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
 and running thence along the line 
 run for the north bounds of the 
 said township of Chemung, south 
 87 degrees and 40 minutes east, 
 2,857 chains, to the Owego Creek, 
 being the western bounds of a tract 
 of 230,400 acres, also ceded by this 
 State to the commonwealth of Mas- 
 sachusetts; thence up along the 
 same bounds northerly to the town- 
 ship of Dryden, being one of the 
 townships of the tract set apart for 
 the troops of this State, lately serv- 
 ing in the army of the United States 
 thence along the south bounds of 
 
 the townships of Dryden, Ulysses, 
 and Hector, and the same course 
 continued west, 2,786 chains, to the 
 east bounds of the said first above- 
 mentioned ceded lands, which line 
 is commonly called the "pre-emption 
 line;" thence along the same, a 
 true south course 1,220 chains to 
 the place of beginning." 
 
 Previous locations made and pat- 
 ented, within the area of this vast 
 domain, were exempted — the largest 
 being that of Ezra L'Hommedieu, 
 which embraced (as stated in a 
 previous article) several thousand 
 I acres, lying within, and between, 
 '. the present corporate limits of Wat- 
 
 ■ kins and Havana, and subsequently 
 I purchased by John W. Watkins. It 
 Iwill be perceived that, according to 
 
 the above described "Watkins and 
 'Flint Purchase," no land now em- 
 braced in the town of Reading could 
 have been included in the purchased 
 tract, as the northern line of the 
 boundary was the military-tract line 
 (which bounded Hector on the 
 j south) continued west, the same as 
 
 ■ that now marked by the county line 
 road, dividing Southern Reading 
 from Northern Dix. We are there- 
 fore forced to the conclusion that 
 
 ,John W. Watkins, as he sold 200 
 acres of land north of Reading Cen- 
 ! ter to Judge Dow in 1794, must have 
 ; purchased a tract in what is now 
 Reading, about the time that the 
 Watkins and Flint patent was dated. 
 _^ As soon as that purchase was con- 
 sumated, the great tract was divid- 
 ed into 12 townships, two towns deep 
 north and south, and six east and 
 west. They were apportioned among 
 the members of what would now be 
 called the "syndicate," mapped and 
 their lands put into the market for 
 settlement; but their boundary lines 
 long ago disappeared in the forma- 
 tion of towns, as they were, from 
 time to time, created by the Legis- 
 lature, and as they now exist. The 
 portion of the territorial purchase 
 set off to John W. Watkins, (in 
 ^whose name the whole patent was 
 j taken and who conveyed to all the 
 1 other interested parties) lay in one 
 \ body contiguous to the head of 
 I Seneca Lake; and he appears to 
 / have at once taken possession of it, 
 / and, in connection with his brother 
 Charles commenced improvements 
 looking to the establishing of a set- 
 tlement. 
 
 They do not seem to have contem- 
 plated the starting of a village on 
 
the low grounds, now occupied by 
 the corporation of Watkins around 
 the head waters of the Lake, but 
 on higher ground, and away from 
 the then much feared malarious in- 
 fluences of Catharine marsh. As a 
 fitting nucleus, therefore, John W. 
 erected, under great disadvantages, 
 and at heavy expense, a fine and 
 commodious mansion, a little north-' 
 west of the present Lake View Sani- 
 tarium, on the west hill, which com- 
 manded a splendid view of the Lake 
 and adjacent country, painted it 
 white, and it was a conspicious ob- 
 ject for many miles around. It was 
 known as the "White House" for 
 years, and attracted much atten- 
 tion, and visitation, on the part of 
 aU who came to this part of the 
 new Lake Country. 
 
 As there was, at that time, no 
 gristing mills nearer than the Je- 
 mima Wilkinson settlement, between 
 the present Long Point Hotel and 
 Dresden, and at Newtown, before 
 its name was changed to Elmlra, a 
 mill was built at the head of the" 
 upper big basin in the Glen, just 
 above what is called in the Glen„ 
 Guide book, "Omega Falls," and also- 
 in its near vicinity on the north 
 bank a blacksmith shop, and some 
 other buildings, the traces of which 
 are still visible; and at the lower 
 end of this big basin a saw mill 
 was erected, which may have been 
 the first in order, and furnished the 
 pine lumber of which the other ' 
 buildings, fincluding probably the 
 White House) were constructed. A 
 rough road was constructed down 
 into the big basin from the north 
 side, by which its fine timber and 
 the saw mill could be reached; but 
 the grist mill had no road to it, 
 and a bridle pathway was cut down 
 to it through the high bank and 
 cliS, diagonally, and several hun- 
 dred feet long, through which single 
 horses and oxen could carry grists 
 down to, and bring them back from 
 the mill; and the traces of this nov- 
 el pathway, overgrown with trees 
 and underbrush, are still to be seen, 
 notwithstanding all the improve- 
 ments were abandoned and went to 
 ruin at least 80 years ago. 
 
 There was no way in which to 
 make the Watkins lands profitable, 
 as the country was at that day, be- 
 fore canals or railroads were dream- 
 ed of, but slowly settled, and what 
 lands could be sold commanded only 
 very low prices. It is a matter of 
 
 Page Fifty-one 
 
 record that the 200 acres bought of 
 John W. Watkins by John Dow, in 
 1794, and paid for by boarding the, 
 men engaged in building the White 
 House, (in a log house built by Mr. 
 Dow, near where the Watkins. post 
 ofBce now stands) cost the purchas- 
 er, located half a mile north of the 
 present Reading Center, but $2 an 
 acre. The hospitalities of the White 
 House probably involved no small 
 amount of expenditure; the popu- 
 ; lation was too sparse to sustain the 
 i mills; no general system of agricul- 
 ture could for want of a market, 
 be adopted; the proprietor of the 
 wide wilderness estate became em- 
 barrased and despondent; both bro- 
 thers lost their health the "White 
 House" was destroyed by fire, and 
 they both finally returned to New 
 York; and after if not to some ex- 
 tent before their deaths, the prop- 
 erty passed into the possession and 
 under the control of their younger 
 brother. Dr. Samuel Watkins, who, 
 however, did not become a resident 
 of the village site that now bears 
 his name, and commence his im- 
 provements until 1828, which must 
 have been more than 20 years after^ 
 John W. and Charles abandoned the" 
 property. Whether Dr. Watkins held 
 mortgages against the estate of John 
 W. or purchased the mortgages and 
 judgment claims against it, after 
 his brother became involved finan- 
 cially and after the formec owner's 
 death, arranged a settlement with 
 other heirs-at-law, it is impossible 
 to say; but that there was much de- 
 lay and some litigation seems high- 
 ly probable, as little was done to 
 sell or improve any considerable por- 
 tion of the same prior to the time 
 when the Dr. came to manage it in 
 person, as its sole proprietor, at the 
 date above given. The progressive 
 stages of its development, from the 
 commencement of that new era in 
 the county's history, until the pre- 
 sent time, will be given in the 
 sketches of Dr. Watkins, and Geo. 
 G. Freer, who a few years after the 
 Dr's. death became the principal 
 proprietor of the residue and re- 
 mainder of the once famous Wat-, 
 kins estate. 
 
 It should be stated at this point 
 in the progress of our sketches, that 
 for many years during the settle- 
 ment period of the lands embraced 
 in the Watkins and Flint purchase, 
 and now lying within the county 
 of Schuyler — including those also 
 
Page Fifty-two 
 
 embraced within the towns of Hec- 
 tor and Reading, lying north of the 
 purchajse^ino- of that greut' tract- 
 there were more or less small bands 
 of the Seneca Indians, who having 
 come back to their desolated homes, 
 after the close of the Revolutionary 
 War became stragglers through the 
 country, hunting and visiting the 
 familiar scenes of former and bet- 
 ter days. But the residue of the 
 shattered tribe, which had escaped 
 the sword, famine and pestilence, 
 after their return from Canada, 
 never attempted the rebuilding of 
 any of their ruined villages, up to 
 the time that their lands were con- 
 veyed to the State by treaty, and, 
 in common with the remnants of 
 the other tribes of the Six Nations 
 Confederacy, they were located on 
 the Indian Reservations. Neither did 
 they again resort to the use of the 
 tomahawk and scalping knife 
 against the pioneer settlers, — ^the 
 Sullivan Expedition having "learn- 
 ed them a lesson" of retaliatory re- 
 tribution and vengence never to be 
 forgotten. Therefore they were no 
 terror, even to the women and chil- 
 dren of the log-cabin pioneers, and 
 were, as a general thing, well and 
 kindly treated, and often given food 
 and trinkets, including small articles 
 of utility, such as knives, needles, 
 pins, etc., in exchange for wild game 
 which they were much more dex- 
 trous and skillful in capturing than 
 were most of the white settlers. 
 
 Up to as late as 25 or 30 years 
 ago, occasional delegations of the 
 Seneca tribe visited Watkins, us- 
 ually in the latter part of summer; 
 and the Glen and its immediate 
 surroundings seemed to have for 
 them a peculiar charm; as in front 
 of its entrance, a little southeast 
 of where the county buildings now 
 stand, there was quite an extensive 
 Indian burial ground, which was 
 cut through in changing the chan- 
 nel of Glen creek, when the Che- 
 mung canal was constructed half a 
 century ago; and many skeletons 
 were exhumed, in a sitting posture, 
 and glass beads, tomahawks, scalp- 
 ing knives, arrow heads, war clubs, 
 ancient French silver coins — such as 
 were used prior to and during the 
 French and Indian war, by the Jes- 
 uit missionaries — ^in the form of a 
 rude cross. Little brass kettles, par- 
 tially filled with what was evident- 
 ly succotash, or corn, were also 
 found in a number of the graves. 
 
 some of which latter were evidently 
 those of warrior chiefs, who per- 
 haps received their death wounds 
 at Newtown-for the Indian cus- 
 tom was, as far as possible, to carry 
 their dead with them when forced 
 to retreat, to be entombed in the 
 land and burial places of their 
 fathers. ^, . „, 
 
 On their visits to Watkins Glen, 
 the Indian delegations in their best 
 native costumes, painted and with 
 heads feathered, would march in 
 single file, and work their way down 
 into the section that has since been 
 named "Glen Cathedral"— which is 
 more than a mile below where the 
 Watkins saw and grist mills, black- 
 smith shop, etc., were built over 90 
 years ago — and in that grand and 
 sublime presence chamber, where 
 "Central Cascade" sends up cease- 
 less praises to the great Architect 
 of the Universe, the representative 
 pilgrims of a crushed and depart- 
 ing race were wont to hold their 
 prolonged and mysterious ceremonial 
 services, or pow-wows, the purport 
 and meaning of which the pale face, 
 viewing them from his hidden eyrie 
 at the summit of the high cliffs, 
 300 feet above, could not understand. 
 These visitations were kept up with 
 Intervals of an increasing number 
 of years, until after the Glen was 
 opened as a popular summer resort, 
 in 1863, since which time the Red 
 man's coming, is well expressed by 
 that most mournful of words — 
 "nevermore" 
 
 Next after the settlements on the 
 present site of Watkins, and on the 
 County Line road, now in the town 
 of Dix, and on the present site of 
 Havana, now in the town of Mon- 
 tour, come those in what is now 
 Hector, which is the oldest town in 
 the county — it having been erected 
 with its present ten mile-square 
 boundaries in the year 1802, since 
 which time nearly nine-tenths of 
 a century has passed away. Twelve 
 years before the organization of the 
 town, or in the spring of 1790, it 
 is stated that a man whose name 
 is unknown came into the territory 
 of the present town with his wife 
 and child, and built a hut near 
 where Burdett now stands; but for 
 some reason he left his wife and 
 child in the wilderness during the 
 next winter, and came back the fol- 
 lowing spring, when, because of ap- 
 parent lonliness and discouragement 
 they left and settled in the eastern 
 
part of the State where there were 
 neighbors — and as he did not hold 
 out faithfully to the end, in the land 
 of promise, his name has not found 
 a place among his posterity in this 
 part of the goodly heritage possess- 
 ed by the pioneer fathers. 
 
 The first permanent settler of 
 Hector was 
 
 WILLIAM WICKHAM 
 who left Orange county, in Eastern 
 New York, with his wife and four 
 children, in the fall of 1790, and 
 came west as far as Tioga Point 
 (now Athens) where they passed 
 the winter. In the spring of 1791 
 they again took up their line of 
 march for the famous Seneca Lake 
 country; and such household goods 
 as they possessed were loaded into 
 a canoe, with a barrel of flour, and 
 some other little supplies that he 
 purchased for the journey and the 
 commencement of pioneer life in a 
 wild solitude, where the foot of a 
 white settler had never trod. The 
 canoe, was, by- dint of hard work, 
 paddled up the Chemung to New- 
 town, and the party wolked their 
 way thence, as best they could — 
 probably with one or two horses or 
 a yoke of cattle, hired there — over 
 the Sullivan trail to Catharinestown 
 (Havana), and then down Cathar- 
 ine Creek and Seneca Lake, till Mil- 
 itary lot No. 40 was reached, where 
 he had purchased land of his broth- 
 er before starting for $1.25 per acre, 
 and the script for which had been 
 previously issued to some soldier by 
 the State, as a reward for faithful 
 services rendered during the war 
 for American Independence. They 
 landed half a mile or more south of 
 the present Peach Orchard Point, 
 on the 3rd of May 1791, and built 
 a temporary cabin some little dis- 
 tance west of the Sullivan Expedi- 
 tion trail, which has since become, 
 at that and many other points, 
 what is now known as the "Lake 
 road," and at or near that trail they 
 commenced clearing. 
 
 As soon as a su£Scient amount of 
 logs had been provided, Mr. Wick- 
 ham invited his "neighbors" at the 
 present sites of Watkins and Ha- 
 vana, to assist him in putting up 
 his log house. It was commenced 
 on Saturday morning, but not com- 
 pleted till the next day, and stood 
 a short distance northwest of the 
 present residence of the pioneer's 
 grandson, M. L. Wickham, which is 
 
 Page Fifty-three 
 
 on the west side of the Lake road, 
 nearly a mile and a half south of 
 Peach Orchard, or Hector post-of- 
 fice. 
 
 This was undoubtedly the first 
 house of any kind, deserving the 
 name, built by a white settler in 
 the town; and the spot, and vic- 
 inity of its location are of great his- 
 torical, as well as heroic interest. 
 It is said that the barrel of flour 
 was left at the point where it was 
 loaded for some time before taken 
 to the new home, and as no horses, 
 or other animals, were in use, it 
 must have been no light task to 
 get it up the hill, a distance of not 
 less than half a mile. 
 
 One and a half acres were cleared 
 the first spring, the brush burned 
 and corn planted wherever it could 
 be, as the logs could not be burned 
 while green, and there was no team 
 to help pile them. For several years 
 this kind of work went on, the logs 
 being burned as fast as possible, and 
 then the "first settler" became the 
 owner, in part at least, of a pair of 
 oxen which were subsequently used 
 by himself and neighbors in their 
 logging operations, and perhaps to 
 harrow and plow. The nearest black- 
 smith shop was at Newtown, even 
 the John W. and Charles Watkins 
 blacksimth shop on the north side 
 of the Watkins Glen, not having 
 then been built. Mr. Wickham at 
 one time broke his yoke-staple, and 
 had to follow the Indian trail thru 
 the woods, to Newtown, over 25 
 miles, to get it mended- 
 
 William Wickham was born in 
 Goshen, Orange county, N. Y., Oct. 
 19th, 1746, and was 45 years of age 
 when the family came to this part 
 of the State. Mrs. Wickham's maid- 
 en name was Pheobe Rose, and she 
 came to Orange county at an early 
 day, from Eastern Long Island. As 
 before observed the pioneers brought 
 four children with them, and in aU 
 they had seven, (3 boys and 4 girls) 
 most of whom were bom in Orange 
 cpunty — ^the oldest of the girls whose 
 name was Esther, having been mar- 
 ried to a man named David Reeves 
 before the rest of the household mi- 
 grated westward. Another daughter, 
 Mary, married Harry Ely of Hec- 
 tor, who died in 1879, at the age of 
 91 years, and was the father of the 
 late Richard Ely of North Hector. 
 The youngest son, Clark Wickham, 
 was born, lived and died on the 
 old homestead property, and his 
 
Bage Fifty-four 
 
 youngest daughter is the wife of 
 County Treasurer Wm. H. Wait, of 
 Watkins— so it can be said of her 
 that her grandfather and grand- 
 mother were the first pioneer couple 
 of "Old Hector." Harris Wicliham 
 of Watkins, is a greatgrandson of 
 the first pioneer, and Clarence S. 
 Wickham of the same village, a 
 great-great-grandson. The family, 
 and its connections by intermarriage 
 is a numerous one, and their an- 
 nual reunions are events of great 
 interest and largely attended. 
 
 The pioneer father died Nov. 2nd, 
 1799, (not 1800 as has been erron- 
 eously graven on his tombstone) in 
 a sad and singular manner, aged 
 53 years. He had been down to the 
 "Culver Settlement," near Glen 
 Creek, (now Watkins) and on re- 
 turning homeward at night, over the 
 bar that formerly extended from 
 the traditional old county-line 
 boundary elm tree, (still standing 
 near the present outlet of Glen 
 Creek, at the head of Seneca Lake) 
 across or near the mouth of "Glen 
 Excelsior," a part of the way being 
 under water, his horse strayed out 
 of the course beyond his depth, and 
 his rider, though a good swimmer, 
 wajs drowned — his body having been 
 found the next day some distance 
 up the Catharine creek inlet. 
 
 Mrs. Wickham was thus left with 
 six children, and the farm not paid 
 for; but the boys and, girls were 
 large enough to help her to some 
 extent, and being a woman of re- 
 markable energy, fortitude and pre- 
 severance, she confronted her con- 
 dition and surroundings with un- 
 daunted courage. 
 
 At the time of Mr. Wickham's 
 death, they had but one cow, and 
 that was killed the next spring by 
 a large falling tree, leaving a calf 
 but a few days old, which was 
 brought up on hay-tea and eggs. 
 From this calf as a beginning, Mrs. 
 Wickham raised cattle, which she 
 sent to Orange county, and paid for 
 the farm. She also built the first 
 frame house which was of good size, 
 on the east side of the road; and it 
 is still standing, having been several 
 times repaired. After a time it was 
 made an Inn, for wayfarers and 
 the increasing population, and con- 
 ducted successfully for years by its 
 owner, whose fearless and resolute 
 character is shown by the fact that 
 having been attacked, when alone 
 one day, by a half-inebriated In- 
 
 dian, with a broomstock as a weapr 
 on, because she refused to let him 
 have more "fire-water", she go. 
 possession of the "war-club and 
 taught him a personal lesson al- 
 most as long to be remembered as 
 that administered to his red skinned 
 brethren by Gen. Sullivan and his 
 avengers in 1779; for she soundly 
 thrashed the presumptuous savage, 
 and quickly drove him out of the 
 house. ^ , 
 
 We have no means of learning 
 when thi.s first of Hector's wife-and- 
 mother pioneers— Mrs. Phoebe Rose 
 Wickham— died; but have been told 
 (from memory) by one of her des- 
 cendents, that it was about the year 
 1818, when, if two or three years 
 younger than her husband, her age 
 was about 70 years. 
 
 Editor's Note: We are indebted to 
 Mrs. Eugene Erway of Burdett for 
 the following: 
 
 "In your copy of the Express of 
 June 15th and 22nd, you tell of Hon. 
 John Dow. I would like to give you 
 a piece of information in regard to 
 descendents of Judge Dow. Mrs. 
 Mary Davis White, 85, whose home 
 is with her son, Frank E. White on 
 the Hector Lake Road, is a great- 
 granddaughter and has in her pos- 
 session an oil painting of Judge 
 Dow. She also has his cane, with a 
 rather unique handle. In the article 
 of June 22nd, L. B. Davis then liv- 
 ing in Watkins, is spoken of. He was 
 an uncle of Mrs. White. Her moth- 
 er's maiden name was Wilkerson, 
 of the once famous Wilkerson fam- 
 ily of Reading." 
 
 The first of the Hector pioneers 
 — William Wickham — of whom a 
 biographical sketch was given in our 
 last week's article — was soon follow- 
 ed, by others, who also settled in 
 the western part of • the town. 
 Among them was 
 
 JOHN LIVINGSTON 
 who arrived some time in the year 
 1791. Where he first located is now 
 unknown; but later he lived on the 
 place long after occupied by La- 
 moreaux Smith. He was a man of 
 good education, and a practical sur- 
 veyor, which made him a useful 
 man to the new settlers. He was not 
 only the first surveyor but also the 
 first school teacher of the town, and 
 seems to have brought a wife, and 
 perhaps one or more children with 
 
him, as one of his daughters, Betsy, 
 married a man named Stephen 
 Pratt, who was by trade a mason; 
 but Mr. Livingston having moved 
 West with the rest of his family, 
 and been drowned in Lake Erie, very 
 little is known of their subsequent 
 history. The name is not of frequent 
 occurrence in the early annals of 
 the county, although Robert C. Liv- 
 ingston was one of the parties or- 
 iginally connected with ihe Wat- 
 kins and Flint purchase, in 1794. — 
 Whether there was any relationship 
 between him and John Livingston 
 of Hector, who settled in that town 
 three years before the above men- 
 tioned purchase, is problematical 
 and uncretain. It can only be added 
 that Mary, a daughter of Stephen 
 and Betsy Livingston Pratt, mar- 
 ried a Wager, the mother of J. A. 
 Wager, who latterly lived about a 
 mile west of Logan; and that Rich- 
 ard Ely Smith married another 
 granddaughter of the pioneer Liv- 
 ingston. 
 
 Reuben Smith and Daniel Everts 
 accompanied by Jabez and Harry 
 Smith, sons of the former, left Salis- 
 bury, Conn., for the Seneca Lake 
 Country, and arrived at what is 
 now Peach Orchard, a short distance 
 north of the William Wickham 
 place, on the 1st of June, 1793. They 
 commenced a clearing, built a tem- 
 porary hut, did their own cooking, 
 and found venison and many other 
 kinds of game plenty, and an abun- 
 dance of fish in the Lake. They re- 
 mained during that season, raised 
 some corn, which had to be planted 
 late, put in some wheat, and in the 
 fall returned to Connecticut. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1794, Smith 
 and Everts came back to their clear- 
 ings with their families, the form- 
 er with his wife and five children, 
 and the latter with his wife and 
 eight children, and were accompan- 
 ied by Grover Smith, a brother of 
 Reuben. In making their long and 
 wearisome journey, Grover, and 
 Reuben's oldest son, Jabez, came on 
 foot, driving the ox-teams; and the 
 housekeeping utensils and supplies 
 were packed on sleds, which were 
 drawn m.ost of the way over snow, 
 as in the forests it remained much 
 longer on the ground than where 
 the land was cleared and open to 
 the sun. 
 
 Mr. Everts settled, with his fam- 
 ily, on the next lot north of the 
 Wickham farm, Reuben Smith a 
 
 Page Fifty-five 
 
 little further north, and Grover 
 Smith between Peach Orchard and 
 North Hector — all near the Sullivan 
 trail, now known as the Lake road. 
 
 Reuben Smith's children were 
 four sons — Jabez, Harry, Chauncey 
 W., and Caleb — and one daughter, 
 Amanda. Jabez married Betsy Ely, 
 and settled in 1801, on the farm 
 where his son Whitley J. Smith 
 subsequently lived near Logan. 
 Richard Ely Smith, the oldest son 
 of Jabez, died at Burdett, only a 
 short time ago — Jan. 24th, 1890, 
 aged 85 years. Harry married Me- 
 linda Warner; but none of his fam- 
 ily, it is said, now live in the town. 
 Amanda, the only daughter, mar- 
 ried Peter Hager, a son of one of 
 the first pioneers of the Hager fam- 
 ily, and they had seven children. 
 Chauncey W. married Hester Smith, 
 and they had six children. Caleb 
 married Lucy Peck, and they had 
 eleven children, and one of Caleb's 
 daughters married Wesley Reynolds. 
 
 Reuben Smith, the pioneer of the 
 Smith family, made many improve- 
 ments and cleared several acres on 
 the lot he had purchased all of 
 which he lost, as in, or shortly after 
 1799, a successful suit of ejectment, 
 by some prior claimant, was com- 
 menced against him at Auburn — 
 Hector then being in Cayuga coun- 
 ty. He next purchased 80 acres on 
 Lot 42, and acquired a clear title. 
 Before the suit of ejectment was 
 instituted, as early as 1795 or '96, 
 he built a saw mill on Peach Or- 
 chard Creek which was in all prob- 
 ability, the first one erected in the 
 town. It is to be regretted that the 
 only history, on which we have to 
 rely, does not give the date of this 
 early pioneer's death, nor the time 
 of his birth. As all of his five child- 
 ren, however, were born in Connecti- 
 cut, he was probably about 40 years 
 of age when he came with his fam- 
 ily to the new Seneca Lake country 
 — for the oldest son Jabez appears 
 to have been "quite a boy" at that 
 time. 
 
 The names of seven children of 
 Daniel Everts, are given (one of the 
 eight probably having died young) 
 as Aranthus, Charles, Polly, Daniel, 
 John, Asena, and Abraham. Aran- 
 thus became a Colonel in the war 
 of 1812, and settled near Logan on 
 Lot 42, where he bought 50 acres. 
 He had, to begin with no team, and 
 rolled the logs together for burning 
 as well as it could be done by hand 
 
Page Fifty-six 
 
 power. He, after a while, sold his 
 land to Jacob Brickly, and settled 
 farther south, on the present road 
 between Burdett and Bennettsburg. 
 The original 50 acres subsequently 
 went into the possession of Wm. 
 Couse. Col. Everts married Margar- 
 et Mathews, daughter of Amasa 
 Mathews, an old pioneer of the 
 Mathews family. He distinguished 
 himself in the before mentioned war 
 on the Canada frontier, and was a 
 man of much note and extensive 
 acquaintance. He was a practical, 
 popular, and thoroughly competent 
 civil engineer and surveyor, and did 
 much work in his profession in the 
 early history of the territory now 
 embraced in our county and beyond 
 its limits. He mapped and laid out 
 the village of Jefferson (now Wat- 
 kins) under which name it was in- 
 corporated in 1842, and was the 
 grandfather of C. H. Everts, a mem- 
 ber of the Schuyler county bar and 
 now practicing his profession in 
 Watkins. 
 
 Charles Everts (brother of the 
 Colonel) settled first at Logan, and 
 married Clarissa Peck. Polly mar- 
 ried Amasa Mathews, and they liv- 
 ed on what has since been known 
 as the Milford Mathews place. Dan- 
 iel married Ann Wightman and 
 they settled at Logan. John mar- 
 ried Hannah Wightman. Asena mar- 
 ried Jeremiah Howell. Abraham 
 married Rebecca German, daughter 
 of Deacon Henry German, and set- 
 tled on the place subsequently oc- 
 cupied by his daughter Helen Ev- 
 erts, at Logan. 
 
 Daniel Everts, the pioneer of the 
 Everts family, died in U.33, at tho 
 old age of 83 years. Hs was twice 
 married, his first (or Connecticut) 
 wife, Polls, died in 1317 at the age 
 of 63 years, and the second one. 
 Abigail, died in 1831, aged 62 years. 
 They wera buried in a family burial 
 gxound, near the Lake road, on the 
 farm tha-t was first settlel in 17)4. 
 
 GROVEB SMITE 
 the third of the three pirvr.eers of 
 ihe last mentioned year, bought Lot 
 21, containing 600 acre-s, or nearly a 
 mile square, on a portion of which 
 Alfred Everts and Hector Ely long 
 after lived. Though unable to say 
 who he married, the records show 
 that he had four children— Reuben, 
 William, Richard and Ezra. The 
 fact that one of these was named 
 Richard leads to an inference that 
 
 his mother was a daughter of Rich- 
 ard Ely, another early pioneer, of 
 whom more hereafter. He gave his 
 son Reuben 50 acres of land (prob- 
 ably not forgetting the other boys) 
 and moved for a short stay to the 
 shores of Lake Cayuga. Reuben 
 Smith's daughter married Aaron 
 Hanly, whose widow survived him 
 many years, and lived at Peach Or- 
 chard. Aaron Hanly was the son of 
 an early pioneer, Samuel Hanly, a 
 Captain in the Revolutionary army, 
 who for his services was entitled to 
 lands in the State military tract. 
 He selected Lot 39, where Perry City 
 now is, and settled on it, about the 
 year 1800, seUing a part of it to 
 Elisha Trcwbridge. In 1811 he re- 
 moved to the Peach Orchard locality 
 on the Lake road, and thus became 
 identified with the settlers in Wes- 
 tern Hector, having occupied the 
 place where his grandson Samuel 
 Hanly now lives. 
 
 RICHARD ELY 
 his wife and eight children were old 
 neighbors of the Smith and Everts 
 families, (above noted) in Salisbury, 
 Conn.; and having heard much of 
 the fertility of the soil on the shore 
 of Seneca Lake, the excellence of 
 the timber, and the many other ad- 
 vantages and attractions of the reg- 
 ion, they determined to try their 
 fortunes in the new country also; 
 and packed up their goods, they 
 started in the year 1795 and after 
 the usual trials, and privations of 
 such a journey arrived at the homes 
 of their old friends, and were ac- 
 corded a most cordial and hearty 
 welcome by the pioneer settlement. 
 They settled on the Lake road where 
 Rice Erway long afterward located. 
 The names of the Ely children 
 were Betsy, Richard, Augustus, Har- 
 ry, William, Irena, Hector and Cal- 
 vin, the last named by a second 
 Betsy married Jabez Smith, (prob- 
 ably the oldest son of the pioneer 
 Reuben); Richard married Sally 
 wife, none of whom are now living. 
 Boardman; Augustus married Olive 
 Scoville; Harry married Mary Wick- 
 ham; William married Fanny Curry; 
 Irena married John King; Hector 
 married Ann Hinckley, and Calvin 
 married Julia Hager. Hector Ely is 
 said to have been the first white 
 male child born in the town after 
 it was named, by the Land Com- 
 missioners before it was incorpora- 
 ted, and the event probably occur- 
 
red about the year 1796. As he and 
 Calvin were the only children born 
 after the family left Connecticut, 
 it follows that the six other chil- 
 dren made the journey with their 
 father and mother in 1795. 
 
 At that time the whole territory, 
 since embraced in the great town 
 of Hector, and the balance of what 
 is now Schuyler county, was, except 
 a few small clearings, here and 
 there, of a few acres each, a dense 
 forest, covered with gigantic pines, 
 oaks, maples and other varieties of 
 woods, while along the ravines, lake 
 shores and water courses the dark 
 and thick hemlocks afforded secure 
 covers for wild beasts of prey; and 
 the openings in the forests abound- 
 ed in wild berries, grapes, and plums 
 — ^the progenitors of many of the 
 varieties now cultivated in our gar- 
 dens, fruit fields and vineyards, 
 which cultivation and development 
 have rendered even more unlike 
 their originals than are the people 
 of today unlike their ancestors of 
 two or three generations ago. But 
 the eastern slope of Seneca was 
 then as now, regarded as a beautiful, 
 fruitful and romantic country in 
 which to dwell; and it has produced 
 a people from the sturdy old pion- 
 eer stock, second to none in any 
 other rural county of the Empire 
 State. 
 
 Notices of the other early pion- 
 eers (of the same decade) in the 
 central and eastern sections of Hec- 
 tor, will be given in succeeding ar- 
 ticles. 
 
 It was comparatively but a short 
 time after the settlement of Wes- 
 tern Hector coonmenced, before oth- 
 er portions of the town began to be 
 dotted with the cabins of pioneers, 
 who, like those that had preceded 
 them, came mostly from the New 
 England States, and quite a num- 
 ber of them had been soldiers in 
 the Revolutionary Army. It was 
 several years, however, after the first 
 pioneer families, of whom we have 
 thus far written, located along the 
 Sullivan trail, in the vicinities of 
 Peach Orchard and North Hector, 
 before there were any settlers east 
 of the vicinity of that trail, which 
 is now marked most of the way by 
 the Lake Road. 
 
 ■In the latter part of 1797, or about 
 five years after the Smith and Ev- 
 erts settlement, Elisha Trowbridge 
 and several other young men left 
 Cooperstown, Otsego county on a 
 
 Page Fifty-seven 
 
 prospecting tour, first going to 
 Cherry VaUey, and thence across 
 the country to the Delaware River. 
 Not finding the country as attractive 
 as they anticipated, his friends went 
 back, but he pushed on alone with 
 energy to the Lake region, and en- 
 tered what is now the town of Hec- 
 tor, from the east by way of Good- 
 win's Point, on Lake Cayuga, and 
 Truman's Settlement, (now Tru- 
 mansburg) dn Tompkins county, 
 and reached the present site of 
 Perry, (sometimes called Perry City) 
 January 28th, 1798. He located on 
 the southeast corner of Lot 39, built 
 a brush and bark cabin, and the 
 next spring, put in a piece of corn, 
 which he harvested in the following 
 fall, and then returned to Coopers- 
 town. 
 
 The next year he persuaded his 
 father to sell his farm and go with 
 him. to the new location; and the 
 household goods were loaded on an 
 ox-sled with the family, and they 
 had $500 in silver which was se- 
 creted among the articles — some of 
 it in a caldron-kettle, well covered 
 with other things to conceal it; and 
 this kettle and some of the other 
 old-time relics of the pioneer jour- 
 ney were long kept as family heir- 
 looms by their descendants. They 
 came by way of Tioga Point, then 
 the only feasible route, and thence 
 through what is now Owego, follow- 
 ing the Indian trail to the present 
 site of Ithaca, and then to Trumans- 
 burg, that being the roundabout 
 course followed by the early set- 
 tlers of that section. They passed 
 one night entirely beyond any shel- 
 ter of civilization, imder their sled 
 box beneath a large tree. The next 
 night near the end of their journey 
 they occupied the hut of an old 
 Indian, which was still located be- 
 tween the forks of Mecklenburg and 
 Taughannock creeks, and arrived at 
 their future home in February, 1799. 
 
 Caleb Trowbridge, Elisha's father, 
 built a .small log house on Lot 49, 
 and spent most of his time in hunt- 
 ing and fishing, at which he was an 
 expert, like many of the back-woods- 
 men of his time. He died at the age 
 of 86 years, leaving seven children. 
 Elisha was also an indefatigable 
 and successful hunter, and turned 
 his skill to good account in the 
 memorable famine year's of 1816 and 
 1817, when heavy frosts in every 
 month of the year killed nearly all 
 the crops, in Central and Western 
 
Page Fifty-eight 
 
 New York, and he kept seven fam- 
 ilies from starvation by the game 
 that he distributed among them. 
 
 Elisha and his brother Herman 
 married the two daughters of Na- 
 thaniel Pritchard, who came into 
 the town and settled a little north 
 of Perry, about the year 1800. The 
 names of the daughters were Abi- 
 gail and Susannah; and it is said 
 that while the brothers Trowbridge 
 were boiling sap one spring, the 
 Pritchard sisters were assisting 
 them, and under the sweet and ro- 
 mantic influences of sugar making 
 a double match was made, and the 
 sweet sisters became the wives of 
 the two sturdy pioneer brothers. 
 
 It is recorded of Elisha that he 
 lived five years in the original bark 
 hut before building a log house, and 
 that with all of their privations his 
 wife died at the age of 83 years and 
 he at 90. 
 
 AMASA MAHEWS 
 became a settler of Hector, with his 
 family, in 1798, when his son Aaron 
 K. was but 19, and his younger son 
 Amasa only 12 years old. The origin- 
 al pioneer of the family settled on 
 the Lake road, and had several 
 other children. He died at the age 
 of 78 years. Aaron, after his mar- 
 riage occupied the same farm, and 
 reached the age of 91 years. Amasa 
 married Polly Everts, the daughter 
 of Daniel Everts. Another daughter 
 married Wm. Himrod. The names of 
 other brothers were Milford, Daniel, 
 Sylvenus and Stephen, and they all 
 located east of Polkville, or Logan, 
 and lived with their wives until past 
 80 years of age. Many of the Mat- 
 hews name were buried in the Ev- 
 erts family burial ground, before 
 spoken of, near the Lake Road. 
 
 NATHANIEL OWEN 
 Capt. Jonathan Owen was an of5- 
 cer in the Revolutionary War, and 
 entitled to a military lot. He lived 
 at Mlddletown, N. Y. Wra. Bodle, 
 Sr., (father of James, Jonathan and 
 Wm. Bodle, Jr.) was a neighbor of 
 Capt. Owen, and traded a horse with 
 a soldier lor a land claim. In loca- 
 ting, one of the lots was taken in 
 the town of Ulysses, and the other 
 one selected was Lot No. 65 in Hec- 
 tor, They then divided, and traded 
 their lots, each one taking one-half 
 at the two locations. Capt. Owen 
 settled on his half lot in Ulysses, 
 and selected the north half of the 
 
 Hector lot, which he gave to his son 
 Nathaniel, who settled on it leaving 
 his newly wedded Orange county 
 yfrjfe, — whose maiden name was 
 Mehitable Tucker— early in 1798. He 
 made a small clearing, planted it 
 with corn, erected a rude shanty, 
 covered with bark, which he made 
 comfortable during the season, and 
 after his fall harvest returned to 
 Mlddletown, and during the winter 
 made preparations to return to the 
 new home in the wilderness. 
 
 In the spring of 1799, loading one 
 horse with his wife and little child, 
 clothing, etc., they started for the 
 eastern shore of Lake Seneca. The 
 Lot settled by him was that subse- 
 quently occupied by Thomas W. 
 Thompson, Deacon Henry Owen, 
 and Wm JB. Reynolds, and the apple 
 trees in their orchards were raised 
 by seeds brought by him in his vest 
 pocket, from Orange county. His 
 nearest neighbors for some time 
 were the Smith and Everts families 
 at Peach Orchard, and the Trow- 
 bridges at Perry. The Indians that 
 still lived in the vicinity or came 
 into the "neighborhood," were very 
 friendly, and he had many wrestling 
 matches with the wiry and muscu- 
 lar "red skins," always having the 
 best of them, and they gave him 
 the appellation of the "stout Yan- 
 kee." The Indians often borrowed a 
 large iron kettle of him in the morn- 
 ing, and at night would return it 
 with salt in, but would never di- 
 vulge the location of the salt spring 
 where they boiled down the water. 
 It is now believed to have been on 
 the west side of Catharine Marsh, a 
 short distance south of Watklns. 
 
 Nathaniel Owen had a family of 
 seven children— four sons and three 
 daughters— Willia,m. Jonathan, El- 
 eanor, Nancy, Alanson, Harry and 
 Caroline. The old pioneer died on 
 Sept. 6th, 1862, at the age of 89 
 years, and the age of his pioneer 
 wife, at the previous time of her 
 death, was 70. 
 
 HENRY SAYLER 
 In the year 1797, Henry Sayler, 
 came up the Susquehanna and Che- 
 mung Rivers in a flat boat, bring- 
 ing one horse with him, and loca- 
 ted at Painted Post, now in Steu- 
 ben county,— thus named because it 
 was the location of a painted post 
 erected, as supposed, in honor of a 
 dead Indian Chief, and probaJbly at 
 the place of his grave. Mr. Sayler 
 
became acquainted with Nathaniel 
 Owen of Hector, who offered him 50 
 acres of land, on the Owen lot, if 
 he would settle on it, which offer 
 was accepted; and in 1800 he moved 
 into the town and settled on what 
 was supposed to be the northwest 
 corner of Lot 65, but which finally 
 proved to be on a comer of Lot 64, 
 and belonging to another man. How 
 the matter was finally adjusted, we 
 are unable to say. 
 
 The father of Henry Sayler was 
 a native of Sweden and came to 
 this country and landed at New 
 Castle, in Delaware, before the com- 
 mencement of the Revolution. His 
 mother was a French lady, whose 
 family name was LaRoche, and they 
 settled in Frederick, Md. One of the 
 older sons was a soldier in the Rev- 
 olutionary War, and with Gen. Mor- 
 gan's Rifle Regiment at the battle 
 of the Cow-pens. Henry learned 
 the gunsmith trade at Harrisbui-g, 
 Pa., and after he settled In Hector 
 a part of his cabin was a gun shop 
 and a favorite resort for hunters 
 throughout a large region of coun- 
 try, who would spend days there, 
 while waiting for their guns to be 
 repaired, in telling stories of their 
 hunting exploits and adventures. 
 His old account book, still in the 
 possession of his grandson, Henry 
 Sayler of Mecklenburg, and dating 
 back to 1789, contains many very 
 interesting entries, in "pounds, 
 shillings and pence," one of which 
 contains charges against "Nethaniel 
 Can," for an ox-yoke, "mending a 
 pair of shuse, working at hay and 
 hailing wheat 3 dayses," showing 
 that he did other Shop work besides 
 on guns, and worked out of doors, 
 when not over busy, in harvest time. 
 
 While living at Harrisburg, before 
 corning to Painted Post, the pion- 
 eer married a German girl named 
 Catharine M. Slegl, and they had 
 four sons and one daughter — Jacob, 
 Daniel, John, Henry, and Mehitable. 
 Henry Sayler, Sr., died in April, 1821, 
 aged 63 years, and his wife died the 
 next year, 1822, aged 55. Jacob, the 
 oldest son, moved to Indiana; Dan- 
 iel also moved to that State, having 
 previously enlisted in the war of 1812 
 and was under General Scott at the 
 battle of Lundy's Lane, and in the 
 regular army for five years. It is 
 recorded of Daniel that at the rais- 
 ing of Sullivan D. Hubbell's bam 
 in 1810, a squirrel pot pie was served 
 for supper, containing 49 black 
 
 Page Fifty-nine 
 
 squirrsls, that he had killed in 50 
 shots — ^which was remarkably sharp 
 shooting. 
 
 John was also with Daniel in the 
 war of 1812, and after it closed, 
 married Deborah Hanly, daughter 
 of Capt. Samuel Hanly, (previously 
 mentioned) and they had a large 
 family of 12 children. Henry, Jr., the 
 youngest son, settled on that part 
 of his father's farm, embraced in 
 Lot 64, that was occupied by mis- 
 take. His first wife was Jane Potts, 
 a sister of James Potts, a noted 
 early settler who in his old age liv- 
 ed at Burdett, and his second wife, 
 was Hannah, daughter of Rev. Jas. 
 Reynolds. Meliitable, the only dau- 
 ghter of the first pioneer of the 
 Sayler family, married Otis Wil- 
 liams, and moved to another part 
 of the country. 
 
 Many interesting and romantic in- 
 cidents in the pioneer life of Henry 
 Sayler, Sr., are told, and also many 
 in the lives of other pioneers, in 
 various parts of the county, most 
 of which will be given in one or 
 more subsequent articles devoted to 
 that purpose, under the heading of 
 "Incidents of Pioneer Life," after 
 the biographical sketches are con- 
 cluded. 
 
 The story of the other early pion- 
 eers of Hector, who became set- 
 tlers before the close of the last cen- 
 tury, or between the year 1790 and 
 1800, is soon told. 
 
 DAVID LARISON, 
 who first located at Goodwin's 
 Point (now Tompkins county) came 
 into Hector in 1799, and settled on 
 military lot No. 67, of which he pur- 
 chased 75 acres. At that time there 
 was no settler between him and 
 Nathaniel Owen, who was on lot 
 No. 65, and no road, only an In- 
 dian trail, or foot path, through the 
 dense forest. His son Joseph Lari- 
 son subsequently located on, or near 
 the west line of Enfield, (Tompkins 
 county) but the family does not 
 seem to have become very numerous 
 within the limits of Schuyler. 
 
 CAPT. JOSEPH HAGER, 
 the Hector pioneer of the Hager 
 family, came into the town in the 
 latter part of 1799, but where from 
 does not fully appear; probably, 
 however, from Blenheim, Schoharie 
 county, which old town appears to 
 have been settled by the Hagers 
 from New England, or the old coun- 
 
Page Sixty 
 
 try, as the names of Daniel, Jr., 
 Edwin D., and Henry Hager were 
 prominent in the early history of 
 that county, and in both branches 
 of the State Legislature. 
 
 Joseph Hager, of whom we par- 
 ticularly write, was the father of 
 Peter, Jacob, John, Joseph, Henry, 
 and Annis Hager, all of Hector. 
 Peter was Member of Assembly from 
 Tompkins county in 1821, before 
 Hector became a part of Schuyler; 
 and Peter, 2nd, was Member of As- 
 sembly in 1824, and State Senator 
 from the Sixth Senatorial district, 
 three years, from 1826 to 1829— that 
 district then having been composed 
 of the old and widely extended 
 counties of Tompkins, Tioga, Otsego, 
 Broome, Cortland, Chenango and 
 Delaware. Peter Carroll Hager and 
 his brother Chester M., both of 
 whom became Sheriffs of Schuyler 
 county, were descendants of the old 
 pioneer Capt. Joseph Hager; and 
 some of the name still reside in the 
 town, but many have migrated to 
 other sections of the State and Na- 
 tion. 
 
 JOSEPH GILLESPIE, 
 a soldier of the Revolution, became 
 entitled to a military lot, and in 
 1799, came to what is now Burdett, 
 (which at an early day was called 
 Hamburg, before given its present 
 name by Richard Woodward) and 
 took possession of his claim; but 
 we have no reliable data on -(vhich 
 to state what became of him, or 
 what disposition was made of his 
 land. It is probable, however, that 
 he sold it and did not become a 
 permanent resident; as he does not 
 seem to have left any of his name 
 in that vicinity. 
 
 MACINTYRE, BAKER, MEARS 
 
 About the same time (1799) Joseph 
 and William Mclntyre came from 
 Oneida county, and settled on lots 
 85 and 86, about two miles south of 
 Mecklenburg. With them came Eli- 
 hu Baker and John Mears, whose 
 wife was a Mclntyre. John Mears 
 first settled about half a mile up 
 the creek, above the present site 
 of Mecklenburg, and afterwards 
 moved to where the village now 
 stands and built the first grist mill 
 at that locality. 
 
 Elihu Baker's daughter, Annie, 
 some time aifter, married John Hub- 
 bell, son of Sullivan D. Hubbell; 
 and Polly, daughter of John Mears, 
 
 married Cephas Culver; and their 
 son Chauncey Culver, subsequently 
 took up his residence on the old 
 homestead where Wm. Mclntyre 
 first settled. Samuel Mears mar- 
 ried Anna Bates, and John Mears. 
 Jr., married Hannah Hatfield. John 
 Mears, Sr., the pioneer, died in 1845, 
 and must have been "well stricken 
 in years." 
 
 GEORGE HOWELL 
 
 came from Cayuga county in 1802— 
 and though just this side of the 
 18th century, he and one or two 
 others are included as a matter of 
 convenience in filling out this ar- 
 ticle, reserving the names of all 
 others to be noted after the first 
 prominent pioneers have been writ- 
 ten of, when the towns with the 
 later settlers are taken up in regu- 
 lar order. Mr. Howell settled on the 
 place subsequently occupied by his 
 son, on lot 32, about half a mile 
 north of Logan. He had five sons 
 and seven daughters. George, Jr., 
 remained on the farm, married Sally 
 Durland, and they had five children. 
 One of the pioneer's descendants 
 married Harry Ely, 2nd, and an- 
 other. Prof. A. C. HufC, who lives 
 near Peach Orchard. Sally Durland, 
 wife of George Howell, Jr., was the 
 daughter of Robert Durland, the 
 pioneer of the Durland family in 
 Hector, who came from New Jer- 
 sey, and bought, and settled on a 
 farm, west of Jabez Smith, between 
 those of Chauncey and Caleb Smith. 
 He had four sons and two daugh- 
 ters, one of his grandsons being 
 the well-known Robert C. Durland, 
 late Supervisor of the town of Hec- 
 tor. 
 
 WILLIAM SPAULDING 
 the youngest son of Thomas 
 Spaulding, of Canterbury, Conn., 
 was born February 11th, 1754. He 
 married Mary Dunham in 1783, and 
 soon after, at the age of 30 years, 
 they came into the State of New 
 York, and for a short time located 
 in Dutchess county, went thence to 
 Ulster county, and then concluded 
 to try their fortunes in the Lake 
 country. They brought, to Hector, 
 six children— William, Thomas, Sam- 
 uel, George W., Silva and John. Wil- 
 liam, the oldest, was about 17 years 
 of age on their arrival, and John, 
 the youngest, about 3 years. 
 
 With only one team to draw their 
 household goods, and one cow, they 
 
slowly and laboriously made their 
 way through the wilderness, follow- 
 ing Indian trails and bridle paths, 
 up the Delaware River, and crossed 
 over to the upper or east branch of 
 the Susquehanna, passing through 
 "Tioga Porks," (as the junction of 
 that river with the Chemung, at 
 what is now Athens, Pa., was then 
 called) through Owego, Ithaca and 
 Shin Hollow (the then name for 
 Trumansburg) and from that point 
 they were frequently compelled to 
 cut their way through, or work their 
 team around trees that had fallen 
 across the paths in the forest, and 
 made slow progress toward their 
 destination. After leaving Owego, 
 the measles broke out among the 
 children, which caused several days 
 delay. 
 
 They arrived in the town late in 
 spring or early in the summer of 
 1801. Mr. Spaulding purchased 150 
 acres of land lying near the west 
 line of lot 29, and put up a small 
 log cabin, with clapboards for a 
 roof, held down, for the want of 
 hails, by poles. There were then, in 
 the eastern part of the town but 
 few families — the Trowbridges, the 
 Prichards, and Gillespies, near 
 Perry; Nathaniel Owen and Henry 
 Sayler near Mecklenburg, (the Mc- 
 Intyres, Baker and Mears, not hav- 
 ing arrived till the next year) and 
 Capt. Jacob Hager at Reynoldsville. 
 James Stllwell and family, however, 
 came in the same year; and in a few 
 years they had no lack of neigh- 
 bors, though dense forest wilds, for 
 the most part, long lay between the 
 clearings. 
 
 Wm. Spaulding, Jr., the oldest son 
 of the pioneers family, settled on 
 the southeast corner of lot 28, and 
 reared a family of six children. 
 Thomas, the second son, settled on 
 the northwest corner of lot 48, and, 
 in 1807, married Elizabeth Ayres. 
 they had three children and moved 
 William B., Samuel, Mary, Ehner 
 C, Davlna J., Harry, Daniel A., and 
 filias J. Wm. B. married Amanda 
 Howell, and located on the old 
 homestead, lot 48. Samuel married 
 Hannah Hausner, and settled on 
 lot 37. Mary married Jacob Stilwell: 
 They had nine children — ^Richard, 
 to Ulysses. Elmer C. has been twice 
 married and is a second time a wid- 
 ower. His first wife, whose maiden 
 name was Jones, died in 1874, leav- 
 ing two children. In 1876 he mar- 
 ried Almira E. Owen, who died sev- 
 
 Page Sixty-one 
 
 eral years ago. He has long been 
 known as "Major" Spaulding, has 
 for several years represented Hec- 
 tor in the county Board of Supervis- 
 ors, been for a number of years past 
 a resident of Watkins, one of the 
 business firm of VanAllen & Spauld- 
 mg, and has latterly taken up his 
 residence with a sister at Burdett. 
 Daniel A. married Jane Stilwell, 
 and they had two children, Ira and 
 George, the latter of whom, owns 
 or owned a part of the old home- 
 stead of his grandfather, the pion- 
 eer head of the family, on lot 29. 
 George married for his second wife, 
 Hester Darling, and they took up 
 their residence near Reynoldsville. 
 Lavina J. married Daniel Goldsmith 
 and they had three childrenn. Oth- 
 er sons and daughters of the orig- 
 inal pioneer married and moved out 
 of the town. 
 
 CORNELIUS HUMPHREY 
 was one of the most prominent men 
 among the early pioneers of Schuy- 
 ler. He was born in 1735 in Dutch- 
 ess county, and was in the prime 
 of his manhood at the commence- 
 ment of the Revolutionary War, 
 and a patriot of the first order. He 
 was well educated, became a ready 
 debater, was a member of the Sec- 
 ond Provincial Congress in New 
 York city, in 1775, and afterward 
 served as a Colonel under General 
 Washington. He was a Member of 
 Assembly in the Legislature of New 
 York State from 1779 to 1785, a 
 State Senator for three years, com- 
 mencing with 1787, and was again 
 Member of Assembly from Dutchess 
 county in 1800 and also in 1801. He 
 was member of the First Board of 
 Regents of the University, organized 
 m 1784. He sold his property in 
 Dutchess county and patriotically 
 took $30,000 for it in contnental 
 money at par; and having waited 
 lor years to have it redeemed, af- 
 ter the close of the war, and finally 
 seeing all the earnings of his life 
 lost, he abandoned all hope, and 
 sought a home for himself and fam- 
 ily in the western wilderness. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey came to Hector in 
 1802,. and purchased the southeast 
 part of lot 58, one mile east of 
 Mecklenburg. Soon after the organ- 
 ization of Seneca county in 1804, 
 (Hector then being in that county) 
 he was appointed County Judge, 
 and held the office six years; and 
 during that time he represented the 
 
Page Sixty-two 
 
 county in the Assembly two years, 
 1806 and 1807, it then being legal 
 for some officials to hold more than 
 one position at the same time. 
 Though himself a Presbyterian, he 
 was instrumental in founding the 
 "Society of Friends" in Hector and 
 Ulysses— his daughter having in 
 Eastern New York, married Charles 
 Carman, a Quaker. The honored 
 pioneer died In 1812, aged 77 years, 
 having been in the Legislature when 
 72, and his judicial term did not 
 expire till he was 75; and it is said 
 that a portion of the apple trees 
 that he planted, are now the only 
 vestiges which remain to mark the 
 place of the humble home where he 
 first located on coming into the 
 town. 
 
 ROBERT CURRY 
 
 came into Hector from Lodi, Seneca 
 county, in 1799, having previously 
 lived there five years. He settled on 
 lot No. 2, where Mr. Wardner later 
 lived, and drove his cattle in thru 
 the Indian trail, sending his wife 
 up along the eastern shore of Sen- 
 eca Lake in a scow. At the time he 
 arrived, John Livingston, Benjamin 
 Gilmore and James Gilmore were 
 living in the vicinity of what is 
 now North Hector, and Benjamin 
 lived in a log cabin where the house 
 occupied until recently by F. F. 
 Chandler was erected. Capt. Robert 
 Curry, of Seneca Lake fame, is a 
 descendant of the pioneer whose 
 name he bears — he toeing a son of 
 Capt. E. L. Curry, a noted sea cap- 
 tain and South Sea whaler, who 
 died at North Hector some years ago. 
 
 Of the Carman, Mekeel, Stilwell, 
 Sutphen, Coddington, Himrod, Kin- 
 nan, Jewell, Sears, Martin, Barber, 
 Treman, Barker, Coon, German, 
 Thompson, Banker, Jaquish, Pish, 
 Jackson, Jones, Wixom, Sackett, 
 Wait, Snyder, Woodward, Seely and 
 various other families who became 
 residents of the town at later dates, 
 we shall hereafter have something 
 to say, as early or secondary set- 
 tlers, whose experiences and priva- 
 tions were great, and in many cases, 
 nearly equal to the first pioneers. 
 
 This being the mid-year number 
 of our articles, it is now a good 
 time and opportunity for such cor- 
 rections as have been sent to us 
 concerning pioneer names and sket- 
 ches, thus far published, and such 
 further information as has been very 
 kindly and considerately furnished 
 
 by those who speak from their own 
 individual knowledge of the facts 
 stated. 
 
 In consulting the only authority 
 extant in historical form. The his- 
 tory of Tioga, Chemung, Thompkins 
 and Schuyler counties— referred to 
 at the commencement of our work, 
 and published in 1879, for notes on 
 the early pioneers of Heotor, we 
 found the following in regard to the 
 "Livingston Family": 
 
 "John Livingston came into the 
 town in 1791. Where he first set- 
 tled was unknown; but later he 
 lived where Lamoreaux Smith now 
 (1879) resides. He was a well 
 educated man and a surveyor. He 
 was the first schoolmaster in the 
 town. His daughter Betsey, married 
 Stephen Pratt, a mason. Their 
 daughter Mai-y is the mother of J. 
 A. Wager, who lives (1879) about 
 one mile west of Logan. Richard 
 Ely Smith married a granddaughter. 
 Mr. Livingston afterwards moved to 
 the west with his family, and was 
 drowned in Laks Erie." 
 
 Supposing hhe foregoing to be es- 
 sentially corect, it was made the 
 basis of our short sketch of John 
 Livingston, and what little could be 
 said of his family; but it would seem 
 that, like som.e other alleged facts 
 in early pioneer life in this, and all 
 other counties, a curious mistake 
 was made by the compiler of the 
 History above named, as the follow- 
 ing most welcome letter shows, and 
 the misstatement is not only cor- 
 i€cted, but much additional and 
 reliable information concerning the 
 Livingston pioneer family of time- 
 honored Hector, i£ given. 
 
 Letter from A. L. Pratt. 
 
 Sheffield, Warven Co., Pa., 
 April 20tli, 1890. 
 
 Editor WatkinE Express — 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have been much interested in 
 the "Historical and Bioghapical Re- 
 mlniliscienices of iSOhuyler County" 
 by your local Historian, and ask 
 space in your columns to rectify 
 some misstatements that have oc- 
 curred in regard to the Livingston 
 and Pratt families in Hector. 
 
 "Your Historian makes Betsey (or 
 Elizaibeth) Livingston Pratt the 
 daughter of John Livingston. She 
 was his sister, and my mother. He 
 says John went west and was drown- 
 ed in Lake Erie; whereas he re- 
 moved from Hector to Chemung 
 
county, and died there. His wife 
 lived to see about 93 years. His 
 oldest daughter became Mrs. R. E. 
 Smith (probably Richard Ely Smith, 
 late of Burdett). The second, Irena, 
 married Benjamin Hunter. The 
 third, Mary, married U. D. Kellogg, 
 and all are lon^ since dead. There 
 were also two other girls Caroline 
 and Betsey, who married and moved 
 to Michigan. He had itwo sons, 
 Philetus and Perry. PhUetus is a 
 farmer in Trumbull county, Ohio. 
 Perry lives in Chemung county, and 
 is a preacher or exhorter. 
 
 "It was Stephen Pratt, instead of 
 John Livingston, who was drowned 
 at Buffalo in Lake Erie, in August, 
 1816. He left a family of six sons 
 and two daughters, namely, Samuel, 
 who died in 1819, aged about 21; 
 -John, who went down the Allegany 
 River .in 1821, with Richard Ely and 
 Simon Boardman Mr. Boardman 
 died and John remained in South- 
 ern Ohio, became a doctor and died 
 at Athens in that state, Jan. 1st, 
 1880. Sally Pratt married John 
 Paucett, settled about two miles 
 east of Bath, Steuben County, N. Y., 
 and has long been dead. Lewis 
 went to California, remained five 
 years, came back, settled in Iowa, 
 and is supposed to be still living at 
 the age of 84 years. Mary was the 
 mother of Augustus, Joshua and 
 Stephen Wager, of Schuyler and 
 Chemung counties, and John P. Wa- 
 ger of Pendelton, XJnadilla county. 
 East Oregon. She died a;bout 1867, 
 at the age of 66 years. Thomas 
 died at Paucett's in Lodi, Seneca 
 county, about 1836, aged 25 years. 
 Wm. H. bom in Hector in 1813 is 
 still living, a prosperous farmer in 
 lona county, Mich. I am the young- 
 est, born June 23rd, 1815, and was 
 one year and two months old when 
 my father, (.Stephen Pratt) was 
 drowned.- My widowed mother mar- 
 ried George ' Paucett of Lodi, when 
 I was about 7 years old. I remained 
 on the Paucett farm for about 7 
 years, or until 14 years old. I then 
 came to Warren county. Pa., with 
 Richard Dunham, who moved from 
 the hollow east of Bennettsburg. 
 
 "The sons of Col. Aranthus Everts, 
 who grew to manhood at the old 
 home betwen Burdett and Bennett-s 
 burg, were Alanson, Emmet, Law- 
 rence, Russell and Charles. There 
 was one daughter, Maria, who was 
 the pet of the family, and all were 
 
 Page Sixty-three 
 
 well educated and naturally intell- 
 igent. Lawrence and Russell went 
 to Henry county, Iowa, at an early 
 day. Lawrence died many years 
 ago. Russell owns a large farm with 
 good buildings, and is surrounded 
 by his family, and enjoying all the 
 comforts merited by a well spent 
 life. The writer visited him in 1881." 
 
 Mobry Owen settled north of Col. 
 Everts at an early date and raised 
 a large family. North of Owen was 
 Adam Case, who married Elvira, 
 daughter of Jabez Smith. North of 
 Case wias Daniel Lambeilt}, John 
 Evans, Eli McCreary, and Wilcox 
 Buokbee, father of Matilda, the wife 
 of Geo. Paucett, Jr., of Lodi. There 
 are many others that I might men- 
 tion amoung the original, or pion- 
 eer settlers of Hector, but these 
 must sufBce for the present. 
 
 A. L. PRATT. 
 Letter from C. W. Etemming 
 
 In this connection we also intro- 
 duce an interesting letter from C. 
 W. Deming, which contains some 
 things too good to be lost, and which 
 can be put on record as well now 
 as at any future time. 
 
 Amboy. 111., April 14, 1890 
 Editor Watkins Express, 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 "I have become greatly interest- 
 ed in your Historical an dBiograph- 
 ical Sketchers, as they bring to mind 
 1 ecollections of the old settlers, and 
 many incidents in the pioneer his- 
 tory of Schuyler county. 
 
 "I do not remember having seen 
 mentioned as yet some whom I know 
 to have been connected with your 
 early annals. Among these names 
 are Lewis Thompson, Claudius 
 Townsend, Charles Deming (my 
 grand-father) who came to the 
 county albou!;, or a little before, 
 the year 1800, and was quite a prom- 
 inent man, a justice of the peace, 
 etc. He first settled in the (now) 
 town of Dix, south of Glen Creek, 
 paid for a farm, and lost it because 
 of bad title. He died in 1816. His 
 family of three sons, and one daugh- 
 ter, by his second wife, migrated 
 to Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wis- 
 consin, and none of them are now 
 living. 
 
 "Then there was John Jermain 
 Delevan, Isaac Q. Leake, and others 
 who were business men at the head 
 of Seneca Lake, before the opening 
 of steam navigation, between Ge- 
 neva and "Salubria" (now Wat- 
 
Page Sixty-four 
 
 kins) on the 4th of July, 1828, by 
 the "Seneca Chief," —my father 
 previously running two schooners 
 that carried most of the passengers 
 and freight over the lake, both 
 ways. Business then at its head wa- 
 ters centered at or near Leake's, 
 where there was a landing, wharf 
 and store-house for the conveniences 
 of shipping. 
 
 -^•There was also Timothy Barber, 
 Thomas Shannon, and others, who 
 figured in your early history, and 
 among them, Seely & Osborn, Mer- 
 chants, Millers and Shippers at Hec- 
 tor Palls, where they did a large 
 business — ^many persons crossing the 
 lake in skiffs, with their grists to 
 be ground, and to get a little tea 
 and other groceries. They built the 
 'Mary and Hannah," which was 
 the first boat, from Seneca Lake, 
 that went through the grand Erie 
 Canal and Hudson River to New 
 York city. 
 
 "I have thus given you only a few 
 points in regard to Salubria, now 
 embraced within the corporate lira- 
 its of Watkins. 
 
 "At the time to which I allude, 
 some 50 or 60 years ago, the low 
 grounds near the lake, between the 
 present railway station and Dr. 
 Booth's late residence, were not 
 covered by hemlock or any other 
 forest trees, but were a swampy 
 slough, grown over with tag- alders, 
 etc., all along the beach (though 
 there were some large trees along 
 the shore near the water) as far 
 east as the mouth of Glen Creek, 
 which emptied into the lake west 
 of the canal." C. W. DEMING 
 
 It is here pertinent to explain 
 that "Salubria" was on the west 
 shore of the lake, north of the 
 boundary line between Reading and 
 the town of Dix, as formed in 1835, 
 and all in the town of Reading— 
 the Delevan Warehouse, occupied 
 for quite a number of years by Chas. 
 W. Miller before it was destroyed 
 by fire, having been located on the 
 shore in the vicinity of the present 
 Magee and Stothofl residences. 
 
 We stated m a recent article on - 
 the Hector pioneers, that Capt. 
 Samuel Hanly was a soldier of the 
 Revolutionary War; and a few days 
 after wo met a man in Watkins who - 
 announced himself a grandson of 
 Capt. Hanly and stated that a mis- ; 
 take had been made, as his grand- ' 
 father died at too late a day to have ' 
 been in the War of the Revolution, 
 
 and was. a Militia Captain. On again 
 referring to the records we are for- 
 ced to conclude that there were two 
 Capt. Hanlys, one of whom was 
 probably our informant's grand- 
 father and the other (the Revolu- 
 tionary soldier) his great-grand-fa- 
 ther; for the record distinctly says 
 that: "Samuel Hanly was a Captain 
 in the Revolutionary Army, and, 
 for his services, entitled to lands. 
 He selected in Township 21, lot No. 
 39, where Perry now is, settled upon 
 it, selling a part of it to Elisha Tro- 
 bridge in 1800. In 1811 he removed 
 to the Lake Road, and settled where 
 hie grandson Samuel Hanly now 
 (1879) lives. He had several sons, 
 among whom was Aaron Hanly who 
 lived and died on the Lake Road." 
 We trust the foregoing will set 
 this matter right in the minds of 
 aU the descendants of the old Capt. 
 Samuel Hanly, the Revolutionary 
 soldier and Hector pioneer. 
 
 Having disposed of the two very 
 interesting letters above quoted, and 
 made a passing explanation we shall 
 again, next week, resume "the even 
 tenor of our way," soon close up 
 with the first settlers, and come 
 down to the prominent names and 
 characters of later years. 
 
 We now come back to Reading 
 and Dix for a visit, and to note 
 some of the pioneer names that 
 were cotemporaneous with John 
 Dow, Reading's first settler, a bio- 
 graphical sketch of whom has al- 
 ready been given in this depart- 
 ment of our work. 
 
 DAVID CULVER 
 who came from the same town that 
 John Dow did, Voluntown, Wind- 
 ham county. Conn., and first set- 
 tled near Glen Creek, within the 
 present limits of Watkins, in the 
 year 1789, became the second set- 
 tler in Reading in 1800. In that 
 last year of the past century, ac- 
 companied by his sons, David, Jr., 
 Elisha, William R., John, and his 
 daughter SaUy, he left the so-called 
 "Culver Settlement," near the head 
 of Seneca Lake, and moved to the 
 newly chosen locality, adjoining 
 John Dow, about half a mile north 
 of the present Reading Center. He 
 opened the first tavern in the town 
 about the year 1801-2, and the name 
 "Culver's Settlement" was trans- 
 ferred from Glen Creek to the 
 Reading clearing. His fifth son, 
 Miner (or Minor), was bom soon 
 
after the change, and was the first 
 white child born within the present 
 boundaries of the town, which was 
 then a part of Frederlckstown, and 
 not created under the name of 
 Reading till 1806. Ehsha, the sec- 
 ond son was the first man married, 
 — but as yet we are unable to say 
 who was the other party to the 
 bond of Hymen, for life; and Dav- 
 id, Jr., kept. the first store, which 
 was near his father's tavern north 
 of the Center. We hope to hear 
 more of the Culver family— the age 
 at which the old pioneer died, who 
 his wife was, etc — from some of his 
 descendants, before the closing up 
 of these sketches. 
 
 "WILLIAM ROBERTS 
 the progenitor and pioneer of the 
 Roberts family in Reading and 
 Schuyler county, came from Adams 
 county. Pa., in 1797, to the Seneca 
 Lake country but not first to Read- 
 ing. With him came his three sons, 
 John, James and Joseph. They 
 brought their household goods over- 
 land from their Pennsylvania home 
 to the Susquehanna River, where 
 it curves into the northeastern sec- 
 tion of the State a little west of 
 Binghamton, followed that stream 
 down to Tioga Point, (now Athens) 
 and thence came up the Chemung 
 to Newtown (now Elmira) where 
 they procured an ox-team and cart, 
 the wheels of which were made by 
 sawing off sections of a large log, 
 and cutting a hole for the axletrees 
 in the center. With this rude pioneer 
 vehicle they slowly and laboriously 
 made their way through the dense 
 pine forests, northward, towards 
 the Lake that 'was called Sinnekey.' 
 Their route was along the Sullivan 
 army trail; and in time they reach- 
 ed Catharinestown (now Havana,) 
 which was then the head of navi- 
 gation, and there engaged a man 
 named Gilbert Hathaway, who 
 seems to have been an early Inland 
 navigator, to take them in a boat 
 down the inlet (Catharine Creek), 
 an., the Lake, to where Ovid now is. 
 Their entire journery occupied eight 
 weeks. They lived at Ovid until 1806, 
 when they moved into the town of 
 Reading, which was organized that 
 year and embraced Starkey, now in 
 Yates county, within its limits. 
 Having lived- in the vicinity of 
 Reading, Pa., they suggested the 
 name for the town of their adopt- 
 
 Page Sixty-five 
 
 ion, and it was accepted by the 
 Legislature. 
 
 The sons, John and James Rob- 
 erts, were the first blacksmiths in 
 the town, and their first summer 
 "shop" was made by sawing off a 
 good sized oak (or as some state 
 a hard maple) and mounting their 
 anvil on its solid stump foundation, 
 in the open air, and thus they com- 
 menced business — the big bellows 
 having been arranged in about the 
 same temporary and primitive style. 
 For a time it used to be said that 
 their shop included the whole town; 
 and it is related, as from the olden 
 time, that a stranger in passing 
 through this region, inquired for a 
 blacksmith shop, and was told that 
 he was already in it, and that the 
 anvil was only six miles away. We 
 shall be pleased to receive informa- 
 tion concerning the Roberts family, 
 from some of the descendants of 
 the old pioneer, and his sturdy sons, 
 John, James and Joseph. 
 
 JOHN DIVEN 
 
 with his four sons, William, John, 
 George and Francis, came from 
 Pennsylvania and settled in what 
 is now the town of Dix in 1802, just 
 south of the county line road, and 
 though a little this side of the line, 
 dividing ours from the last century, 
 1 is like the name of one who is 
 to follow, entitled to rank among 
 the first pioneers of Schuyler having 
 lived in Dix from the abovenamed 
 date, imtil the time of his death. 
 He was a man of note and intelli- 
 gence. His oldest son, Wm. Diven, 
 was one of Reading's most promi- 
 nent and influential citizens. He 
 (William) married Sally, the daugh- 
 ter of David Culver, was Justice of 
 the Peace for 30 years, and repre- 
 sented the county of Steuben, in 
 1847, — seven years before the erec- 
 tion of Schuyler — as Member of 
 Assembly in the State Legislature, 
 and was Supervisor of his town for 
 nine years, while it was a part of 
 Steuden. He died in 1873, many 
 years after the decease of his wife, 
 at the age of 84 years. Gen. Alex- 
 ander Diven, son of . the pioneer 
 John Diven by his second wife, is 
 still residing in Elmira, and is the 
 only surviving son of the first set- 
 tler of the family. He is one of the 
 most distinguished and eminent 
 men ever born in the county of 
 
Page Sixty-six 
 
 Schuyler, and his biography will as 
 (previously promised) hereafter ap- 
 pear. 
 
 JESSE NORTON 
 is well entitled to rank among 
 Reading's early pioneers. He was 
 born in Connecticut in 1770, and 
 remained there until several years 
 after his marriage, when he and his 
 wife migrated west to the famous 
 Lake or Genesee country, of which 
 such favorable reports had been 
 spread throughout New England by 
 the soldiers connected with the 
 Sullivan Expedition of 1779. They 
 located first in East Bloomfield, On- 
 tario county, and after a short resi- 
 dence there, came to Reading, in 
 June, 1806, about four months after 
 the formation of the town. The 
 pioneer traveled on foot, his wife 
 riding on horseback, through the 
 Indian trails and bridle-paths, and 
 carrying her 4-year-old son in her 
 arms. 
 
 A total eclipse of the sun occur- 
 red while they were passing through 
 what is now known as Eddytown, 
 and when the sun began to emerge 
 from its obscuration, the roosters of 
 the little hamlet, (which had gone 
 to roost) crowed right merrily, as 
 they usually do at daylight in the 
 morning. 
 
 Jesse Norton, (who was the grand- ■ 
 father of W. L. Norton Esq., now a* 
 resident of Reading, and his father 
 the 4-year-old boy of the long horse- 
 back ride) settled on the farm on 
 the Lake Road now occupied by, 
 and belonging to Hon. Adrian Tut- 
 tle; and for many long years did 
 all that one man could toward mak- 
 ing the wilderness "bud and blos- 
 som as the rose." A bam built by 
 him is still standing, and apple and 
 pear trees planted by his own hands 
 are yet doing duty for the benefit 
 of others then unborn. 
 
 During the first two or three years 
 after his settlement in Reading, the 
 pioneer rented and cropped a piece 
 of land at the Head of the Lake, 
 near where the Presbyterian church 
 in Watkins now stands — being com- 
 pelled to do this for the support of 
 his family, while he was clearing 
 his own acres of the dense forest 
 that entirely covered it. After leav- 
 ing the "Tuttle farm," he settled on 
 another about three miles further 
 west in the same town, where he 
 died in 1856, in the 87th year of 
 his age, having been a resident of 
 Reading for 50 years. 
 
 His wife, Anna Norton, was a wo- 
 man of great fortitude, persever- 
 ance, and piety, and one of the or- 
 iginal members or founders of the 
 Watkins Presbyterian Church— her 
 name so appearing on its records 
 to the present day. We hope to be 
 able to give fuller information of 
 the Norton family, in some future 
 number, from authentic sources. 
 
 The names of Valentine Hitch- 
 cock, James Calvert, Andrew Mc- 
 Dowell, John Sutton, John Davis, 
 Asaph Corbett, Lewis Lafever, John 
 Hurlbut, Samuel SeUen, Samuel 
 Ross, Alonzo Simmons, Roswell 
 Shepherd, and those of the An- 
 drews, Norris, and other families 
 who became settlers in Reading af- 
 ter 1800, and during the first quar- 
 ter of the present century, will be 
 treated of hereafter in the regular 
 order of the towns, and much in- 
 teresting information concerning 
 them be briefly given. 
 
 JACOB MILLS 
 a brother of "Uncle George Mills," 
 came from Cumberland county, Pa., 
 j about the year 1800, with his son 
 Jacob, and settled in the town of 
 Dix, on the south side of Glen 
 Creek, nearly opposite the Upper 
 "Big Basin." He located on the 
 farm now occupied by the old pion- 
 eer's grandson. Vine C. Mills. The 
 son Jacob, who on his arrival was 
 a boy 10 years old, lived on the 
 farm where his father first settled 
 76 years, and died there in 1876, at 
 the age of 86 years. He left seven 
 children — four sons and three dau- 
 ghters — and the sons all live in this 
 county ,or did up to within a few 
 years past, John L. and Vine C. in 
 Dix, George in Catharine, and Jac- 
 ob J. in Reading. 
 
 MATTHIAS MILLER 
 
 Shortly after the Mills family 
 settled in Dix, Matthias Miller, 
 father of the present Matthias, came 
 in and settled not far from where 
 Jacob Mills located, and where the 
 well known Matthias Miller of today 
 and who is well advanced in years, 
 resides. The Miller's also came from 
 Cumberland county Pa. The fam- 
 ily has stood faithfully by the old 
 homestead and its surroundings for 
 about 90 years; and "Uncle Matt," 
 the present proprietor, we hope and 
 trust may live long enough to 
 round out its occupation for a full 
 century. 
 
NOTE — I will gratefully appreciate 
 all letters of correction, and those 
 containii-g additional information 
 in regard to pioneer names and 
 families, written of in these arti- 
 cles, or any others connected with 
 our early history, like the two, 
 which appeared in last week's Ex- 
 press, from A. L. Pratt and C. W. 
 Deming; and will also take pleasure 
 in giving them early attention, and 
 such publication, in substance at 
 least, as wUl be interesting to their 
 author's descendants, and the gen- 
 eral reader. L. H.^ 
 
 The town of Catharine, in its 
 pioneer settlement, was but little 
 behind what are now the towns of 
 Dix, Reading and Hector. By act of 
 the Legislature passed May 15th, 
 1798 — four years after the Watkins 
 and Flint purchase — the northern 
 half of townships Nos. 1 and 4, of 
 that purchase, as mapped and di- 
 vided, and the whole of townships 
 Nos. 2 and 3 were incorporated into 
 a town named Catharinestown. At 
 that time the town, which included 
 all of the present towns of Montour 
 and Dix in Schuyler, Catlin and 
 Veteran in Chemung, and a part j 
 of the present Cayuta .contained ; 
 26 families, over 89,000 acres of land 
 and embraced in its scattered popu- 
 lation the pioneers of what are now 
 of Watkins, Havana, Odessa and 
 Johnson Settlement. Hence, it is 
 that we find among Its first town 
 officers, such well known names as 
 Phineas Catlin, (Sr.) Supervisor; 
 David Culver, one of the Assessors; 
 George Mills, Colector; John W. 
 Watkins, one of the Overseers of 
 the Poor, and also one of the School 
 Commissioners. 
 
 Among the first settlers of that 
 part of the great town, now em- 
 braced in Catharine, was 
 
 JUDGE PHINEAS CATLIN. 
 H was undoubtedly the first set- 
 tler of that part of Catharinestown 
 lying in the vicinity of the present 
 Odessa, but now embraced in the 
 town of Montour, having purchased 
 land and settled there as early as 
 1792, before the birth of his son 
 Phineas, which occurred in 1795. 
 Judge Catlin was of an illustrious 
 English lineage and ancestry. He 
 was born in 1760, and at the age 
 of 16 enlisted in the Revolutionary 
 army, and served seven years. After 
 the close of the war he came into 
 the then new Tioga county, (erected 
 
 Page Sixty-seven 
 
 in 1791) in which Catharinestown 
 was embraced, when subsequently 
 formed, and therefore then came 
 into what is now Schuyler county, 
 at the date (1792) first above men- 
 tioned. He died January 30th, 1827, 
 in the 67th year of his age; and 
 more of his personal history will, 
 be given in the future sketch-bio- 
 graphical of his son, Phineas. 
 
 JOHN MITCHELL, 
 who came from New England in 
 
 1799, and settled at Johnson Set- 
 tlement, is said' to have been the 
 first settler in that noted section 
 of the town; and appears to have 
 left many descendants, some of 
 them still residing in the county, 
 one of whom is Mrs. Wm. Smith, 
 of Watkins. Mr. Mitchell was soon 
 followed by 
 
 JOSIAH HINMAN 
 from Trumbull, Fairfield county. 
 Conn., who purchased land on lot 
 No. 7 in 1799, and settled on it that 
 year. His son, Elijah S. Hinman, 
 (father of Elijah S. Hinman, Jr..) 
 came also in the same year, and 
 settled on the eastern part of Lot 
 No. 8, but not till 1802. 
 
 ! DAVID BEARDSLEY 
 
 came west from the same county in 
 ! Connecticut as did the Mitchell and 
 j Hinman pioneers by way of Geneva, 
 and first, for a short time, settled 
 on the place (now in the town of 
 Montour) where in later times John 
 Jackson lived, but finally located in 
 
 1800, on lot No. 1, on the farm af- 
 terward occupied by Lucius Beards- 
 ley, his son. The pioneer father died 
 many years ago, at an advanced 
 age, and his oldest son, Lewis 
 Beardsley, died recently at a still 
 greater age, having been born in 
 Connecticut in 1796, and was but 
 four years old when he came to the 
 new country with his father's fam- 
 ily. David Beardsley was a man of 
 great energy and enterprise — ^traits 
 of character that have been trans- 
 mitted in a remarkable degree to 
 his descendants. He was identified 
 largely with many of the early 
 improvements in the new town, 
 among which was the erection of 
 the original grist mill at Odessa. 
 Me was a good practical and suc- 
 cessful farmer, and a citizen of great 
 and lasting influence, both on the 
 pioneer settlers and the succeed- 
 ing generation. 
 
Page Sixty-eight 
 
 EBKNEZER MALLORY 
 
 was also a pioneer of 1799, and 
 settled on the farm of late years oc- 
 cupied by his grandson, Alexander 
 Mallory, near the village of Alpine. 
 Ii is a creditable thing to the Mal- 
 lory name, that this farm has re- 
 mained in the family more than 
 four score and ten years— which can 
 be said of only a few other farms 
 in the town, or county. 
 
 SAMUEL WINTON 
 
 from Fairfield county. Conn., came 
 to Catharinestown in 1800. His sons 
 were Burr, George and Samuel, all 
 of whom died years ago, and their 
 descendants are not by any means 
 numerous in the county at the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 SOLOMON BOOTH AND OTHERS 
 Solomon Booth, who was also 
 probably from Connecticut, settled 
 on lot No. 1, in 1800, subsequently 
 known as the "Ousterhout" farm. 
 His sons, Elijah and Isaac Booth, 
 settled on what has since been 
 known as the "Barnabas Miller" 
 farm, the same year. His other and 
 younger sons were Ranson E., Solo- 
 mon S., Dr. Winthrop E., and John 
 J. Booth, now deceased. Dr. Booth, 
 in time, became a resident of Wat- 
 kins, was a noted Supervisor of the 
 town of Dix for a term of years 
 after the organization of Schuyler 
 county; and a more lengthy notice 
 will hereafter be given of him at 
 the proper time and place in these 
 sketches. 
 
 John Coe, Ichabod Meeker, John 
 Poster, Coleman Olmsteaa, George 
 Shelton, and Robert Charles John- 
 son, likewise came to Catharines- 
 town, most of them from Connecti- 
 cut in 1799, or 1800, and Simeon 
 Lovell, who was the first blacksmith 
 in Odessa and Johnson Settlement 
 part of the town, and reputed to 
 have been an excellent workman, 
 came from the same State in the 
 last named year. 
 
 The first saw-mill at Odessa was 
 erected in 1799, by Isaac Swart- 
 wood, for Robert Charles Johnson, 
 who seems to have been an early 
 and extensive land owner in the 
 vicinity of that locality and "John- 
 son Settlement," which doubtless 
 took its name from him. He was 
 also associated with David Beards- 
 ley and John Coe, in the construc- 
 tion and operation of the before - 
 mentioned grist mill — ^the firm name 
 
 having been Johnson, Coe & Beards- 
 
 ^The foregoing embraces all the 
 principal pioneers of the present 
 territory of Catharine, who became 
 settlers before or during the year of 
 1800 Notices of those who came 
 later— Isaac Lyon, Lemuel Shelton, 
 William H. Prince, Eli Beardsley, 
 Eaton J. Agard, Barnabus Miller, 
 the Lawrence family, and others, 
 will follow in their regular order, 
 when the settlers of the various 
 towns, who came in after 1800, are 
 treated of. ^ ^, ^ 
 
 The pioneer settler of the town 
 of Cayuta was 
 
 CAPT. GABRIEL OGDEN, 
 who settled near the present site 
 of Cayuta village in 1798. He came 
 with his family from Tioga county. 
 Pa., and his chosen location was 
 the place long after occupied by 
 Charles R. Swartwood. A daughter 
 of the old pioneer, Sarah, widow 
 of Robert Locikerby, was in 1879 
 his only surviving child, and she 
 was then 93 years old. She is prob- 
 ably no longer living. She then re- 
 sided with her son, Gabriel Locker- 
 by, in Catharine. At about the same 
 time of Capt. Ogden's arrival came 
 Rev. David Jaynes, and family, also 
 from Tioga county. Pa. He settled 
 on the farm latterly occupied by 
 his grandson, E2xa C. Jaynes, which 
 has remained in the family (like 
 that of the Mallory's of Catharine) 
 over 90 years. Rev. Mr. Jaynes was 
 the first preacher of Cayuta, and 
 probably the first in the county, 
 after Chaplain John Gano, who was 
 with Gen. SuUivan's army, 19 years 
 before. 
 
 HARMON WHITE 
 was another of the Cayuta pioneers, 
 and came from Litchfield county. 
 Conn., in 1799, and settled on the 
 present site of Cayuta village, and 
 was accompanied by his son John. 
 His children were five sons, and 
 two daughters, namely, John, Har- 
 mon, Jesse D., Isaac, Hiram, Sarah 
 and Catharine. Hiram was well 
 known in the early history of Schuy- 
 ler county, a man of much promin- 
 ence in his town, and the father of 
 Jerome and Wm. B. White. Sarah 
 married Simeon Paddleford of Che- 
 nango county and Catharine mar- 
 ried Harmon Sawyer, and resided 
 in Erin, Chemung county. The des- 
 cendants of the White family of 
 Cayuta are scattered abroad through 
 
the country, and few if any of them 
 remain in the town. 
 
 OTHER CAYUTA PIONEERS 
 Jonathan and Joseph Thomas 
 came into the town about 1799, but 
 settled in that part now embraced 
 in the county of Chemung, as did 
 also Benjamin Chambers and Jere- 
 miah Taylor. John Ennis and his 
 brothers. Emanuel, Saunder and 
 Benjamin, also arrived in the town 
 before the dawn of the present 
 century, and settled in Jackson Hol- 
 low; and like all of their early pion- 
 eer brethren, they have passed away 
 to an unknown land, beyond the 
 reach of mortal ken, but some of 
 their posterity remains. 
 
 ROBERT LOCKERBY 
 settled in Cayuta in 1801, or the 
 following year, locating on a farm 
 subsequently occupied by one of his 
 descendants, near Alpine. William 
 and Gabriel Lockerby were his sons. 
 Among the other pioneer settlers 
 were Moses Brown, LangstafE Comp- 
 ton, and the Resmolds and Smith 
 families, quite a number of whose 
 descendants reside in the town at 
 the present day, and whose names 
 are identified with its later history. 
 
 TYRONE PIONEERS 
 The early settlers of Tyrone en- 
 dured all the hardships of the 
 pioneer settlement of their town 
 with a long distance from water- 
 ways and well defined trails, super- 
 added to their other woes; and their 
 progress through the interminable 
 wilderness to the shores of the pre- 
 sent Lakes Lamoka and Waneta, 
 was slow and tedious; and their 
 improvement, after arrival, was be- 
 set with great dlfBculties. 
 
 Somewhere between the years of 
 1798 and 1800 
 
 JOSHUA AND ELISHA WIXOM 
 settled on the flat on the east side 
 of Lamoka Inlet, where it was said 
 that, prior to 1779, the Indians had 
 quite extensive cornfields. The Wix- 
 oms remained there, however, but 
 2 or 3 years when they found that 
 their title was defective; and one 
 Frederick Bartles had built a mill 
 dam, down at Bradford, causing the 
 waters of the Lake to rise and over- 
 flow most of their land. So they 
 moved westward into what is now 
 the county of Steuben. All they 
 
 Page Sixty-nine 
 
 lost was a bark-and-brush shanty, 
 and a patch of corn; but that to 
 them was a serious loss. 
 
 THE TYRONE BENNETTS 
 About the year 1800, Gershom, 
 Justus and Thaddeus Bennett, who 
 were brothers, and also Abram and 
 Justus Jr., sons of Justis Bennett, 
 came from Orange county, N. Y., 
 and settled on both sides of the 
 creek connecting the two little Lakes 
 taking up about 800 acres, which 
 included the site of the present 
 village of Weston. They were the 
 first pioneers to make any perman- 
 ent improvements, and open and 
 cultivate good sized farms, using 
 horses, farming implements, etc. 
 Their families remained until about 
 tae year 1835, when they all sold 
 out and moved to Michigan. Abram 
 lived in the West to be over 100 
 years of age, and Justis was living 
 there only a few years ago, aged 95 
 years. The after settlers of Tyrone, 
 the Stothoffs, Fleets, Kernans, O'- 
 Conors — of which latter the illus- 
 trious Charles O'Connor, the world- 
 renowned lawyer who died a few 
 years ago in New York City, was 
 one — and others, will be noted in 
 their proper connection in later 
 numbers. 
 
 The foregoing articles conclude 
 the sketches of the first, original, 
 or last century pioneers, in all parts 
 of the county of Schuyler — as no 
 settlements were made in Orange 
 until after the year 1800. We shall 
 next proceed to take up the towns 
 in alphabetical order, and after 
 naming in each all of the early 
 settlers, pioneers and those that 
 soon came after them, give sketch- 
 es of those who became prominent, 
 together with many interesting his- 
 torical incidents and reminiscenses 
 connected with the early settlement 
 history of each town. 
 
 In proceeding to take up the 8 
 towns of Schuyler county in al- 
 phabetical order, for the final pur- 
 poses of our sketches, we shall 
 follow the rule adopted of late years 
 by the Board of Supervisors, in 
 their annual proceedings, and com- 
 mence with the 
 
 TOWN OF CATHARINE 
 which is bounded on the liorth by 
 Hector; on the east by Newfield in 
 Tompkins county and northern Cay- 
 uta; on the south by Cayuta, and 
 Veteran in Chemung county; and 
 
Page Seventy 
 
 on the west by Montour. It has an 
 altitude of several hundred feet 
 above the level of Seneca Lake, and 
 is one of the best and most pro- 
 ductive agricultural towns in the 
 county. Cayuta Lake, a fine body 
 of water, is romantically located m 
 a depression of an elevated plateau 
 in the northeasterly quarter of the 
 township, and has an area of over 
 350 acres. The three principal vil- 
 lages of Catharine are Alpine, Cath- 
 arine, (formerly "Johnson Settle- 
 ment") and Odessa. The original 
 Catharinestown, taken from New- 
 town (now Elmira) then in the old 
 councy of Tioga, 92 years ago was 
 larger by 25,000 acres than the pre- 
 sent town of Hector, which contains 
 64,000 acres; but Catharine has been 
 cut down by divisions, made at dif- 
 ferent times— the last being the for- 
 mation from its western portion of 
 Montour in 1860— until it now con- 
 tains only about 15,000 acres, and 
 its name has been shortened down 
 by legislative and common usage 
 from "Catharinestown," the origin- 
 al statute appellation, after the In- 
 dian name of Queen Catharine 
 Montour's village, (situated where 
 Havana now is) to the present much 
 more convenient and fully expres- 
 sive (Catharine). It is one of the 
 most appropriate and beautiful 
 township names In the county of 
 Schuyler. 
 
 ^ FIRST TOWN OFFICERS 
 
 ' At the first town meeting held 
 May 15th, 1798, at Culver's Settle- 
 
 - ment, (now Watkins) at which time 
 
 *-the new town, though erected by 
 act of the Legislature March 9th, of 
 that year, was really organized, the 
 following ofacers were elected by 
 the few voters of its widely ex- 
 tended territory and its 26 pioneer 
 families, namely: Phineas Catlin 
 Sr., Supervisor; Joshua Ferris, Town 
 
 -Clerk; David Culver, Selah Satter- 
 lee, James Bowers, Assessors; John 
 W. Watkins, Phineas Catlin, Over- 
 seers of the Poor; George Mills, Sr., 
 Collector; David Culver, Isaac Ter- 
 williger, Selah Satterlee, Overseers 
 of Highways; John W. Watkins, 
 James Broderick, Phineas Catlin, 
 School Commissioners; James Brod- 
 erick. Commissioner of Highways; 
 Abram Coryell, David Culver, Jr., 
 (later of Reading), George Mills, Jr,. 
 Constables. 
 
 NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS 
 The names of the early settlers 
 of Catharine, for which (and those 
 of the other towns to follow) we 
 are indebted to the Elmira Gazettes 
 Premium History, of 1885, were care- 
 fuUv copied from the tax and town 
 meeting lists, apparently some years 
 after the first town meeting in each 
 town was held, and are not limited 
 to the territories of the towns as 
 they now exist, but as originally 
 formed, without reference to the 
 changes made since their forma- 
 tion. The early settlers of Cathar- 
 ine were: John Mitchell, Phineas 
 CatUn, Sr., Josiah Hinman, Elijah 
 S Hinman, David E. Beardsley, 
 Eli Beardsley, Ebenezer Mallory, 
 Samuel Winton, Solomon Booth, 
 Elijah Booth, Isaac Booth, John 
 Coe, Ichabod Meeker, Simeon Lovell, 
 Isaac Lyon, Walter Lyon, Joseph 
 Lyon, John Styles, Lemuel Shel- 
 ton, Wm. H. Prince, James Ouster- 
 hout, Zachary A. Lewis, Eaton 
 Agard, (father of Eaton J. Agard), 
 Barnabas Miller, J. W. Nevins, Isaac 
 Buckalew, James Smith, Gerard 
 Smith, Sylvanus A. Beeman, Mich- 
 ael Connor, Samuel Lawrence, 
 (father of Abram Lawrence) Jos- 
 eph Lawrence, Titus F. Mix, Sam- 
 uel Mix, Coleman Olmstead, David 
 Olmstead, Sr., David Olmstead, Jr., 
 John Chapman, Henry Chapman, 
 Francis Sackett, Abel Mead, Abijah 
 Wakeman, Isaac Ganung, George 
 Shelton, John Foster, Robert C. 
 Johnson, Aaron E. Mallory, Wm. P. 
 Mallory, Caleb Robinson, Robert 
 Lockerby, John H. Rumsey, Lewis 
 Beardsley, James Brodeirck, George 
 Mills, Sr., John W. Watkins, David 
 Culver, Sr., James Bowers, Isaac 
 Terwilliger, Abel Peet, Richard Wil- 
 cox, David Sturdevant, Jonathan 
 Sturdevant, Elijah Sturdevant, Jos- 
 hua Ferris, and George Mills, Jr. 
 
 Of course the foregoing record 
 cannot be expected to embrace every 
 name of the early settlers, who 
 lived within the limits of Cathar- 
 inestown, as there were doubtless 
 some who were neither electors nor 
 taxpayers; but it probably includes 
 nearly all property owners, and all 
 others of even ordinary prominence 
 as permanent settlers and citizens. 
 The records show (as noted some- 
 what in our last week's article) that 
 John Mitchell was the first actual 
 settler and tiller of the soil in the 
 "Johnson Settlement" section of 
 the town, in 1799, the next year af- 
 
ter the first town meeting held at 
 Culvers; that Isaac Swart wood built 
 the first saw mill at Odessa for 
 Eobert C. Johnson, in 1799; that 
 Elijah Booth opened the first store 
 (presumably at Odessa) in 1800, 
 and that the first death, that of 
 Abel Peet, occurred the same year; 
 that the first marriage (date not 
 given) was that of Samuel Winton 
 and Alice Hinman; that the first 
 grist mill was erected at Odessa, in 
 1801, by Johnson, Coe & Beardsley; 
 that Charles Mitchell was the first 
 white child born in what is now 
 the town of Catharine; and that 
 Joseph Lyon taught the first school 
 in 1802. 
 
 The first religious society was or- 
 ganized by the Methodists in 1805 
 — church not erected till 1834 — lo- 
 cated at Johnson Settlement. St. 
 John's Episcopal Church of Cath- 
 arine was founded at the last nam- 
 ed place, in 1807, and the church 
 edifice built in 1811. The M. E. 
 Church at Alpine was organized in 
 1874, and the Baptist Church at 
 that locality the same year. The 
 "First M. E. Church" at Odessa, 
 was organized in 1870 — church erec- 
 ted 1877. The "First Free Will Bap- 
 tist" Church of Odessa was formed 
 in 1841, and church erected in 1856. 
 The "First Wesleyan" Church of 
 Odessa was organized in 1856, and 
 church erected that year. The first 
 post-offlce established, within the 
 present limits of Catharine, was at 
 Johnson Settlement (now Catharine 
 P. O.) in 1816— Chester W. Lord, 
 PJM. Catharine Library Association 
 was formed in 1817. Highland 
 Grange, No. 22, 1873, and Alpine 
 Grange No. 229, in 1874. The town 
 ever since the organization of 
 Schuyler county, both before and 
 after the western part was erec- 
 ted in the town of Montour, has 
 been, in politics, strongly Republi- 
 can. 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS OF 
 CATHARINE 
 Who came into the town after the 
 year 1800, all of whose names ap- 
 pear in the above list. 
 
 Win. H. Prince came into the 
 town from Dutchess county, short- 
 ly after the year abovenamed, and 
 settled on lot No. 22. His sons were 
 Munson, James N. and Charles,— 
 the latter of whom, and the only 
 survivor in 1879, had become a 
 resident of Havana. 
 
 Page Seventy-one 
 
 James Ousterhout came in the 
 year 1811. He was from Ulster coun- 
 ty; and his name has heretofore 
 appeared in these sketches in con- 
 nection with the "Ousterhout farm." 
 
 Zachary A. Lewis became a resi- 
 dent in 1812, and settled on lot No. 
 6. He died in March, 1852. His sons, 
 Thompson and Frederick, died many 
 years ago, and his son Francis be- 
 came the occupant of the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 Eli Beardsley (probably from 
 Connecticut) settled on lot No. 21, 
 in the year 1812; and his son Csrrus, 
 after the father's death remained 
 a resident of the town. 
 
 EATON AGARD 
 came from Litchfield county. Conn, 
 in 1813, and settled on the farm 
 subsequently occupied by his son 
 Eaton J. Agard. The elder Mr. Agard 
 was a man of much intelligence 
 and highly respected by the early 
 settlers of his day. He was Justice 
 of the Peace from 1837 to 1855, 
 Supervisor of the town in 1846 and 
 '47, and for a time an Associate 
 Judge, either in old Tioga, or Che- 
 mung county. He died October 7th, 
 1863. Eaton J. Agard, the old set- 
 tler's son, was also a man of unus- 
 ual information and intelligence. 
 He was Supervisor of Catharine 
 from 1865 to 1867, inclusive, and a 
 candidate for Member of Assembly 
 in Schuyler county on the Republi- 
 can ticket, in 1883, but, because of 
 Republican apathy, and a feeling 
 of over security in the Republican 
 ranks, was beaten, less than 100 
 votes, by the Democratic nominee. 
 Dr. J. Franklin Barnes of Watkins. 
 He died during the following win- 
 ter, February 25th, 1884. 
 
 Dr. Daniel M. Agard, another son 
 of Eaton Agard, who was born in 
 the town, graduated from the Ge- 
 neva Medical College, having stud- 
 ied with Dr. Nelson Winton at Ho- 
 vana. He died April 17th, 1870. 
 
 Barnabas Miller came to Cath- 
 arine in 1814, from East Hampton, 
 L. I., and settled on the place first 
 occupied by Elijah Booth, and later 
 by Poland Downs. He died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1872. 
 
 Phineas Catlin, Jr., (of whom 
 more hereafter) settled on a farm 
 in what is now the vicinity of 
 Odessa, in 1824, being then 29 years 
 old — he having been born in the old 
 town of Catharine, after his father 
 Judge Phineas Catlin, Sr., came 
 
Page Seventy-two 
 
 from Fairfield county, Conn., and 
 purchased lands in 1792. 
 
 REV. J. W. NEVINS 
 
 was ordained a minister of the M. 
 E. Church in 1829, and in 1837 was 
 stationed in Catharine. In 1844 he 
 was appointed Presiding Elder of 
 the Elmira district and discharged 
 its arduous duties for three years. 
 In 1847, after a territorial change 
 in districts had been made, he was 
 appointed Presiding Elder of the 
 Geneva District, and faithfully de- 
 voted three years to its responsi- 
 bilities. He lived to be one of the 
 oldest ministers of the gospel in 
 the county. 
 
 Dr. Van Vechten arrived in John- 
 son Settlement, about the year of 
 1830, and practiced medicine there, 
 and in the adjacent country many 
 years. He was one of the earliest 
 physicians in the part of v?hat is 
 now Schuyler county; but where 
 he went to, or when, we are unable 
 to say. 
 
 The settlement of the Northern 
 part of Catharine, which previous 
 to 1813, constituted nearly two- 
 thirds of the town, and remained 
 in the possession of non-resident 
 owners, (who were parties to the 
 Watkins and Flint purchase) is full 
 of interest, as it embraces a his- 
 tory of the Lawrence family, and 
 various others. We shall be able to 
 give observations concerning the 
 early settlement of this part of the 
 town, from notes contributed by 
 Hon. Abram Lawrence to the Cen- 
 tennial History of the town, pub- 
 lished under the supervision of 
 Charles T. Andrews, now connected 
 with the Seneca County Courier at 
 Seneca Falls, and which can, there- 
 fore, be relied upon as measurably 
 correct; and these notes of the 
 settlement around, and northward 
 of Cayuta Lake, will be the basis 
 of our next article. 
 
 Previous to the year 1813, a few 
 small openings had been made in 
 the dense forests of northern Cath- 
 arine, mostly by girdling trees in 
 the near vicinity of Cayuta Lake, 
 by men of that roving and migrat- 
 ing class, that usually precede more 
 permanent settlers, and do more 
 hunting, fishing and prospecting 
 than hard work. Tradition has nam- 
 ed one Paulding, as one of the earl- 
 iest of these, and perhaps the first 
 white man residing within the 
 present limits of the town. It should 
 
 be remembered, however, that 
 "Uncle George Mills, before he set- 
 tled on the present site of Havana, 
 located for a short time, accompan- 
 ied oy one Richardson, as early as 
 1788, on Cayuta Creek, near where 
 it takes its rise in Cayuta Lake, and 
 did not move to the Havana settle- 
 ment till 1890. It is therefore highly 
 probable that he was the first pion- 
 eer of the present Catharine, as well 
 as among the first settlers of the 
 present Montour and Havana. 
 
 It is said that the earliest settlers 
 at Johnson Settlement remembered 
 Paulding's cabin as standing on the 
 point near the subsequent residence 
 of Joseph Lawrence; but as he was 
 but a "squatter" when the owners 
 of the land appeared, he seems to 
 have moved onward — probably 
 "went west." 
 
 About the year 1800, Isaac Buck- 
 alew made a girdling, preparatory 
 to a clearing, about half a mile from 
 the Lake on lot 44, which afterward 
 became a part of the George Burge 
 farm. It lay on the line of the In- 
 dian trail, leading from the head 
 of Seneca Lake to the head of Lake 
 Cayuga, which ran around the north 
 west shore of Cayuga Lake. The 
 Buckalew clearing was for a term 
 of years a well known landmark in 
 the "seven-mile woods," lying be- 
 tween the northern settlement in 
 Catharine and the southern settle- 
 ment in Hector, but lost its land- 
 mark identity when the forests fell 
 before the ax, and the land was 
 placed under cultivation. 
 
 JAMES SMITH, 
 in 1803, made a clearing on the east 
 side of Cayuta Lake, pear the sub- 
 sequent residence grounds of Wm. 
 T. Lawrence. He was killed about 
 the year 1816, by the accidental 
 discharge of his rifle, while hunt- 
 ing. His two sons, William and 
 Hoker Smith, long resided near the 
 present Cayutaville, and left many 
 descendants. "Smith Valley" derives 
 its name from sons of James Smith, 
 the abovementioned Catharine pion- 
 eer, who were half brothers of his 
 older sons William and Hooker. 
 
 GERARD SMITH, 
 who was probably a brother of 
 James, settled at an early day on 
 the east side of the Lake, in which 
 he was drowned in 1815. He was 
 buried on the point which for many 
 years after bore his first name. He 
 
had visited the Lake in 1779, while 
 acting as a scout in Sullivan's army 
 and his acquaintance with it doubt- 
 less led to his settlement there 20 
 years after the close of the Revo- 
 lutionary War. 
 
 SYLVANUS A. BEEMAN, 
 about the year 1812, commenced a 
 clearing on lot 35, near the later 
 location of "Krum's Hotel," which 
 tavern long enjoyed a great repu- 
 tation in that vicinity. His improve- 
 ments were afterwards purchased 
 by Joseph Lawrence, as the land 
 came within the limits of what he 
 desired to embrace in his farm, and 
 Mr. Beeman located elsewhere. In 
 1809, it is said that a man named 
 Connor occupied a cabin near the 
 Lake, within the limits of the lawn 
 surrounding the residence of the 
 late Abraham Lawrence, on the west 
 shore of the Lake; but of course 
 he had no title and had to vacate 
 and give possession to the legal 
 owner. 
 
 SAMUEL AND JOS. LAWRENCE, 
 
 who were sons of Jonathan Law- 
 rence, (one of the Watkins and 
 Flint purchasers) in the month of 
 July, 1813, having inherited from 
 their father the principal part of 
 the Northeast Section of Town- 
 ship No. 3, of that purchase as 
 mapped and divided, and which 
 constituted about one-half of the 
 present town of Catharine, came 
 from New York and took personal 
 possession of their patrimony, and 
 having concluded to fix their resi- 
 dences on the west side of the Lake 
 they contracted with Samuel Win- 
 ton, who was a noted builder of 
 his time, to erect houses for them, 
 to be completed the following year. 
 Their dwellings were to be fine and 
 costly structures, and David Beards- 
 ley and Elijah S. Hinman, became 
 partners in the large contract. 
 
 The Lawrence brothers left New 
 York early in October, 1814, and 
 passed from Hoboken, N. J., north- 
 ward to Montgomery, on the New- 
 burgh and Cochecton turnpike, fol- 
 lowing it west of the Delaware 
 River, which they crossed at Cochec- 
 ton, and went thence through the 
 famous "beech woods" to Great 
 Bend on the Susquehanna, which 
 they crossed, and followed its north 
 bank to Owego; thence passing up 
 the Owego, Catatunk and Cayuta 
 Creeks through the "Dutch Settle- 
 
 Page Seventy-three 
 
 ment" to Johnson's Settlement — 
 the journey having occupied about 
 two week's time. They remained 
 there several weeks, as neither of 
 their homes were ready for occupa- 
 tion, and then, moved into the one 
 intended for Joseph Lawrence, 
 where both families lived till the 
 following spring of 1815, when Sam- 
 uel moved into the house, in which 
 he resided during the balance of 
 his life-time, and which long re- 
 mained the home of the members 
 of his family, who, after his death, 
 remained in what is now Schuyler 
 county. 
 
 During the years 1815 and 1816 
 their residences and other buildings 
 were completed, and in the mean- 
 time they employed Isaac Swart- 
 wood to ereot a saw mill on the 
 east branch of Oatlin's Mill Creek, 
 —just north of where the "Magee 
 Pish Ponds" were in after years 
 located — ^to furnish themselves with 
 lumber and increase the building 
 facilities for settlers in the north- 
 ern section of their large tract of 
 land. 
 
 In October, 1816, the health of 
 Joseph Lawrence having become im- 
 paired, he left with his family to 
 pass the following winter in New- 
 town, Queens county, (Long Island) 
 where his wife's relatives resided. 
 While on his return trip in the 
 spring of 1817, he died at Bloom- 
 ingburg, Sullivan county, N. Y., in 
 the month of April. His family 
 never returned to reside at their 
 place in Catharine; and his widow 
 was still living in Queens county, 
 in 1879, aged 85 years. 
 
 JUDGE WM. T. LAWRENCE, 
 
 a younger brother of Samuel and 
 Joseph Lawrence, came to Cathar- 
 ine and Lake Cayuta in 1825, and 
 settled on the faran, long since own- 
 ed by his heirs on the east side of 
 the Lake. His widow occupied the 
 old homestead until her decease in 
 1877 — Judge Lawrence having died 
 in 1859. 
 
 TITUS P. AND SAMUEL P. MIX, 
 
 In 1806 commenced a settlement at 
 Oak Hill, situated directly south of 
 Cayuta Lake, having contracted for 
 land with Joseph and Samuel Law- 
 rence, the former in the southeast 
 quarter of lot No. 7, and the latter 
 in the southeast quarter of lot No. 
 14. David Olmstead, Jr., settled on 
 
Page Seventy-four 
 
 parts of lots 7 and 14, and his 
 brother Coleman Olmstead on a 
 part of lot 17. Richard Wilcox set- 
 tled on a part of lot 14, and, short- 
 ly after, David Olmstead, Sr., on 
 a part of lot No. 8. 
 
 In 1815 settlements were begun 
 a mile west of the lake, in the val- 
 ley of Catlin's Creek, extending up 
 that valley to the south line of Hec- 
 tor, and westerly along that line. 
 Elijah and David Sturdevant set- 
 tled on lot 49; Jonathan Sturdevant 
 on lot 50; John and Henry Chap- 
 man on lot 51; a settler named 
 Sackett on lot 54; and another 
 named Mead on lot 55; Abijah 
 Wakeman on lot 56, and Isaac Ga- 
 nung on lot 57. 
 
 CAYUTA LAKE, 
 
 Is a beautiful sheet of water con- 
 taining (as we have before stated) 
 more than 350 acres. It was em- 
 braced in the original tract of the 
 Watkins and Flint purchase, set off 
 to Jonathan Lawrence, and was 
 subsequently owned in good part by 
 Samuel Lawrence, (son of Jona- 
 than) and Abram Lawrence (son of 
 Samuel), and nearly, or quite all 
 the balance, by other members of 
 the Lawrence family. It abounds 
 with various kinds of fish, and has 
 beicome a popular summer and 
 ashing resort, in connection with 
 the VanVechten Hotel which is 
 pleasantly situated in a well chosen 
 spot on its shores. It will always 
 De an attractive and interesting 
 feature in the county of Schuyler, 
 and many romantic associations 
 cluster around its name and early 
 history. Bishop Coxe of Western 
 New York, some years ago, wrote 
 and published a fine poem on this 
 little highland lake, which will long 
 hold a place In the meritorious lit- 
 erature of the lath century. 
 
 Our next article will be devoted 
 to a sketch of Phineas Catlin, Sr., 
 and his son Phineas Catlin, Jr. 
 
 With the early settlement and 
 history of the town of Catharine, 
 when it embraced within its ex- 
 tended boundaries an immense tract 
 of territory, and also after the erec- 
 tion of Schuyler county in 1854, 
 and the formation of Montour in 
 1860, the names first of 
 
 PHINEAS CATLIN, SR., 
 and later of Phineas Catlin, Jr., 
 will always be prominent, honorable 
 and memorable. It has been truth- 
 
 fully observed that the "Cathn fam- 
 ily" is one of venerable antiquity, 
 and occupies a conspicuous position 
 in the history of the Old World. We 
 learn from ancient documents, be- 
 longing to those of the name in 
 Catharine, that the family has been 
 seated at Newington, near Rochester, 
 Kent county, England, ever since 
 the Norman conquest of Britain, 
 long centuries ago. "Reginald de 
 Catlyne," who was one of the fol- 
 lowers of William the Conqueror, 
 is mentioned in the old-time rec- 
 ords as possessing two knight's fees 
 of land at the time of his succession 
 to the honors of knighthood, in the 
 county of Kent. 
 
 John Catlin seems to have been 
 the first of the family to migrate 
 to America, and probably located 
 in the vicinity of New York. Prom 
 the genealogy of the family, after 
 they became established in this 
 country, we learn that Theodore 
 CatUn, the son of John, was born 
 Nov. 12th, 1758; but whether be- 
 fore or after his father came to 
 this country we are unable to say. 
 He married Mary Goodwin, and 
 his children were Phineas, (father 
 of Phineas J.,) born October 22nd, 
 1760, who settled in Tioga county, 
 in territory that subsequently be- 
 came the town of Catharine, Schuy- 
 ler county; Israel, born September 
 15th, 1762, who settled in Seneca 
 county; Margaret born November 
 16th, 1764, who died young; Theo- 
 dore, Jr., born September 19th, 1770, 
 Abel born March 2nd, 1776; Lois 
 Clarissa, iborn 1778, who married 
 Wm. Cunningham, and the second 
 time, George Coryell; Anna, (date 
 of birth not given) married E. S. 
 Hinman; Horace (date of birth not 
 given) died in Canada; and Mary, 
 (date of birth not given) married 
 Gurdon Grannis. 
 
 Phineas Catlin, Sr., (son of Theo- 
 dore and father of Phineas, Jr.,) 
 who settled in Catharine, married 
 Sally Ross. His children were Brant, 
 born April 24th, 1789; Margaret B. 
 (date of birth not given) died in 
 May 1819; Phineas, Jr., born in ter- 
 ritory subsequently embraced in old 
 town of Catharine, January 30th, 
 1795 — ^three years before the for- 
 mation of the town — ^married Han- 
 nah Lee, and for his second wife, 
 Deborah Kimble; Theodorus, born 
 Dec. 12th, 1796, married Nancy Har- 
 ing, and, for his second wife, Laura 
 Haring; Sarah, born July 12th, 1800, 
 married Dr. Jones, and died in 1825. 
 Mary, born Dec. 14th, 1803, married 
 John Crawford; Lucy, born Dec. 
 14th, 1807 married Hiram W. Jack- 
 
son. Both of the latter were living 
 up to within a few years ago, and 
 one, or both of them, may still sur- 
 vive. 
 
 The children of Phineas Catlin, 
 Jr., (all by his first wife) were as 
 follows: Ralph L., born January 7, 
 1815; Caroline S., born March 26, 
 1816, married John Mitchell, Jr., 
 and for her second husband, Bar- 
 nabas Miller; Ursula, born February 
 25th, 1823, married A. G. Campbell; 
 Cornelia B. born July 9th, 1828, died 
 many years ago; Lucy Louisa, born 
 February 26th, 1833, married Thom- 
 as B. Campbell; Frances M., born 
 April 24th, 1835, and died young; 
 Henry B., (the youngest) born Oc- 
 tober 5th, 1837, and is now an ex- 
 SheriflE of Schuyler county, and a 
 resident of Watkins. 
 
 Judge Phineas Catlin, Sr., was the 
 first Supervisor of old Catharine, 
 and was elected soon after the town 
 was erected in 1798, — the town 
 meeting having (as noted in a for- 
 mer article) been held in that part 
 of the large territory known as 
 "Culver's Settlement" — ^now in the 
 village of Watkins. So great was his 
 popularity that he was elected to 
 the office for eleven consecutive 
 terms. He was for several years 
 Town Clerk, and for a long period 
 held the office of Justice of the 
 Peace. Previous to the organization 
 of Chemung county, (which was not 
 formed till 1836, he was the first 
 Judge of old Tioga county, formed 
 from Montgomery in 1791), and 
 served in that and all other posi- 
 tions with eminent fidelity, ability 
 and success — one of the positions 
 having been that of a soldier in 
 the War of the Revolution, in which 
 patriotic struggle he enlisted when 
 but 16 years old, and served 7 years, 
 or till the end of the conflict. He 
 died January 30th, 1827, in the 67th 
 year of his age; and his death was 
 universally lamented as that of a 
 most useful citizen, an honest man, 
 a good neighbor and a true friend. 
 PHINEAS CATLIN, JR. 
 
 We have already noted the birth 
 of Phineas Catlin, Jr., in the gene- 
 alogy of the family, as having oc- 
 curred on the 30th day of January 
 —the same day of the month on 
 which his father. Judge Catlin, died 
 32 years thereafter. He was brought 
 up amid the wild scenes incident 
 to pioneer life, and was indeed a 
 pioneer by birth, having been born 
 in the old Catlin homestead now 
 embraced in the town of Montour, 
 when nearly all the surrounding 
 country for miles, was a wilderness 
 of primeval forest. He attended the 
 
 Page Seventy-five 
 
 district school taught by Anthony 
 Broderick, where he was an apt 
 scholar, and obtained all the edu- 
 cation he possessed in after years, 
 except what he acquired by his own 
 efforts and observations, in a long 
 and successful career. For several 
 years he was elected Clerk of the 
 great town, and also Supervisor 
 quite a number of terms, having 
 occupied that position when Cath- 
 arine became a part of the new 
 county of Schuyler in 1854, and 
 when the town of Montour was or- 
 ganized in 1860 he became the first 
 Supervisir of the present Cathar- 
 ine; and although, as in duty bound 
 he was a firm and devoted adher- 
 ent of the Havana location, on the 
 county seat question, he was ever 
 affable, courteous and gentleman- 
 ly in his intercourse with opposing 
 members of the Board of Supervis- 
 ors, and commanded the respect 
 and esteem of all his colleagues in 
 that body. 
 
 His marriage with Hannah Lee 
 took place February 3rd, 1814, when 
 he was less than 20 years of age. 
 She was the daughter of Israel Lee, 
 and the union was only severed by 
 her death, March 2nd, 1867, after 
 a period of 53 years. 
 
 In the war of 1812-14, Mr. Catlin 
 belonged to a regiment of horse in 
 the State militia, raised at Elmira 
 —which was incorporated from 
 Newton in 1808; and at the time of 
 the burning of Buffalo, his regi- 
 ment was "called to arms"; but the 
 enemy evacuated the city and fell 
 back into Canada about the time 
 the regiment reached Dansville, on 
 the way to the seat of war, and 
 it was recalled without a chance 
 for battle. 
 
 In the year 1824^-10 years after 
 his marriage, —Mr. Catlin moved 
 from the old homestead to the new 
 residence in Odessa, which, like the 
 old one, is in the present town of 
 Montour, and in which he peace- 
 fully and pleasantly passed the 
 greater portion of his life. 
 
 Nov. 17th, 1875, he married De- 
 borah, widow of Henry Kimble, g, 
 pioneer and prominent citizen of 
 Catlin, (named after Judge Catlin) 
 now embraced in the county of 
 Chemung. He lived happily with 
 his second wife until the date of 
 his death, which occurred March 
 15th, 1883— 'but 7 years ago— at the 
 old age of 88 years. 
 
 He was a man above medium 
 stature, with a marked, calm and 
 pleasant countenance, and features 
 expressive of kindness, quiet-firm- 
 ness of character, beningity, can- 
 
Page Seventy-six 
 
 dor and integrity. His death was as 
 deeply and sincerely lamented by 
 his fellow citizens, and all who 
 knew him, as was that of his hon- 
 ored father, who died 56 years be- 
 fore 
 
 An ejicellent and most faithful 
 portrait of the venerable man, evi- 
 dently from a photograph taken 
 some years before his departure 
 from the scenes of this mortal hfe, 
 and engraved on steel by the noted 
 artist, Samuel Sartin, of Philadel- 
 phia, adorns the Schuyler County 
 History, to which we have hereto- 
 fore frequently alluded; and it is 
 accompanied by a fascimile of his 
 signature, which by all who have 
 seen it^and the same may be said 
 of the portrait— will be recognized 
 as perfection itself. 
 
 The History, of which we speak, 
 notwithstanding its "quota of er- 
 rors," is not by any means devoid 
 of merit, and thus sums up the 
 virtues of Phineas Catlin, the 
 younger, who at the time of its 
 publication, in 1879, was still liv- 
 ing; and we heartily concur in its 
 conclusions, as follows: 
 
 "In a general summary of the 
 character of Mr. Catlin— dispens- 
 ing with all of an eulogistic nature 
 — ^we can say that he has done as 
 much as any one living man for 
 the material improvement of the 
 town of which he is an honored 
 citizen; that in his life and labors 
 he has evinced a desire to accomp- 
 lish what he could for the general 
 welfare of the community at large; 
 that all of his dealings with his 
 fellowmen have been honorable and 
 just; that in his domestic relations 
 he has been the fond and affec- 
 tionate husband and parent; and 
 in his public life an eminently suc- 
 cessful and useful member of soc- 
 iety." 
 
 NOTE: — Our next article will con- 
 tain a biographical sketch of the 
 late Walter Lyon, who was born in 
 the State of Connecticut but two 
 years later than was Phineas Cat- 
 lin, Jr., in the Catharine portion 
 of our present county of Schuyler. 
 
 WALTER AND NANCY LYON 
 Among the limited number of the 
 early settlers in the town of Cath- 
 arine, very few loccupied a more 
 exalted position in the esteem of 
 their cotemporaries than Walter Ly- 
 on and Nancy Lyon, his wife. 
 
 WALTER LYON 
 was bom in Fairfield county, Conn., 
 October 2nd, 1797. In the year of 
 
 1804, his parents— Isaac and Rach- 
 el (Edwards) Lyon— journeyed from 
 their Connecticut home to what is 
 now Catharine, Schuyler county, N. 
 Y and located with their large 
 family of 10 children upon the lands 
 in the Johnson Settlement section 
 of the original town, subsequently 
 occupied by the son, Walter, and 
 now by his son, Jesse Lyon. Isaac 
 Lyon, the oldest pioneer of the fam- 
 ily, died April 1st, 1821, aged 76 
 years, his wife having died nearly 
 six years previously, on the 24th of 
 September 1815. Much of his hfetime 
 was devoted to clearing up and un- 
 proving the farm upon which he 
 had located. Quite a portion of the 
 time, however, was occupied by him 
 in teaching school. In politics, he 
 was an "old line Whig". In religion 
 he was a rigid Episcopalian, and 
 was largely instrumental in building 
 the original Episcopal Church at 
 Johnson Settlement, in 1809 and 
 
 '10. 
 
 A few years after his father's 
 death, Walter Lyon married Miss 
 Nancy Coe, (probably daughter of 
 John Coe, an early settler) with 
 whom he lived over 60 years. On 
 the occasion of their "golden wed- 
 ding". May 1st, 1874, a large num- 
 ber of relatives and friends assem- 
 bled to do honor to the worthy 
 couple, who had passed, together, 
 through a half century of the toils 
 joys, sorrows and vicissitudes of 
 wedded farm life; and many sub- 
 stantial proofs of friendly and af- 
 fectionate regard were ibestowed on 
 them. 
 
 Walter and Nancy (Coe) Lyon 
 had three children— Jesse, Lucy, and 
 Mary. Jesse resides on the old home- 
 stead; Lucy married A. J. Cleve- 
 land, and now resides at Los Angel- 
 es, Cal.; and Mary married David 
 Turner, Jr., and still survives at 
 Horseheads, in Chemung County. It 
 is a remarkable circumstance, hav- 
 ing but few parallels in this or any 
 other county of the State, that prior 
 to a few years ago, for a period of 
 more than 50 years, there had not 
 oocurred in this family a single 
 death (since that of Isaac Lyon) 
 either among the parent pioneer 
 stock or their children and grand- 
 children. 
 
 The old couple — Walter and 
 Nancy — up to within a few years 
 ago enjoyed excellent health, and 
 retained in an unusual degree all 
 their faculties. During the summer 
 of 1878, they visited their married 
 diaughter, Lucy, then residing in 
 Illinois, and suffered no apparent 
 inconvenience from their long Wes- 
 
tern trip, though he was over 80, 
 and she over 75 years of age. Walter 
 Lyon died in 1883, aged 84 years, 
 and his wife Nancy died In 1885, 
 at the age of nearly 83 years. 
 
 JESSE LYON 
 the oldest, and only son of Walter 
 and Nancy Lyon, was born March 
 20th, 1825. He had the educational 
 advantages of the conimon school 
 until 18 years old, when he became 
 a student at the Ithaca Academy, 
 and there virtually completed hi^ 
 education, though at the age of 25 
 he camminced a course of study 
 ct Lima Seminary, and passed a 
 number of terms in connection with 
 that institution of learning, and 
 Genesee College, having previously 
 been engaged in teaching winters, 
 and working on his father's farm 
 during the summers. In 1856 he 
 married Miss Elizabeth Gaylord of 
 Penn Yan, — since which time he 
 has been engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, and a portion of the time 
 in trade. 
 
 He has held the position of Post- 
 master at Catharine, (the post- 
 office name of that locality) sever- 
 al years; served four years as town 
 superintendent of schools in old 
 Catharine, and has held various 
 other positions of public trust, — 
 having represented his town In the 
 county Board of Supervisors for 
 nine consecutive years, and has 
 been four times elected President 
 of the Board. 
 
 In 1872, Mr. Lyon was the Repub- 
 lican nominee in Schuyler county 
 for Member of Assembly, but was 
 defeated by Hon. J. McGuire of 
 Havana, the Democratic candidate, 
 — the small majority for the latter 
 having been gained in Montour, 
 outside of party lines, with the de- 
 lusive hope that Mr. McGuire would 
 be able, in the Legislature, to bring 
 about a partial division of the Cor- 
 nell University fund for the bene- 
 fit of the People's College, now Cook 
 Academy. 
 
 Mr. Lyon was elected, on the Re- 
 publican ticket, to the office of 
 County Treasurer in 1879, re-elec- 
 ted in 1882, and served two terms 
 of three years each, or till the 1st 
 of January, 1886. He has for many 
 years been connected, officialy, as 
 Secretary or Treasurer, with the 
 Schuyler County Agricultural So- 
 ciety, and a part of the time as 
 President. He has also been State 
 Deputy of the State Grange of the 
 Patrons of Husbandry; and in the 
 many responsible positions he has 
 been called upon to occupy, he has 
 
 Page Seventy-seven 
 
 ever ably and faithfully discharged 
 the duties incumbent upon hrni, 
 and acquired an enviable reputation 
 for honesty, integrity and personal 
 worth. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Jesse Lyon, are 5 — two sons and 
 three daughters. Walter E., is mar- 
 ried and lives near his father; Her- 
 bert V. is a bookkeeper in the city 
 of Elmira; Belle, the eldest daugh- 
 ter, is engaged in teaching; Cora 
 and Carrie, twins, are living at 
 home most of the time. Upon his 
 premises, until very recently, stood 
 the original and humble edifices 
 of the M. E. and Episcopal Church- 
 es, which were erected in 1809, and 
 in 1810 — ^and the last named is still 
 there. The old dwelling house that 
 was erected by his grandfather is, 
 if we mistake not, still standing and 
 occupied as a tenement. It was one 
 of the first frame houses erected in 
 that part of Catharine; and its 
 heavy timbers, when it was raised, 
 required the assistance of nearly 
 all the adult male inhabitants of 
 what is now the territory of four 
 towns — Catharine, Cayuta, Dix and 
 Montour. 
 
 The Schuyler portion of the "His- 
 tory of the Pourt Counties," con- 
 tains a fine illustration of the Jesse 
 Lyon residence, and its surround- 
 ings, a good portrait of the owner, 
 and also of his aged parents, Wal- 
 ter and Nancy Lyon, the first at 
 the age of 81 and the last at the 
 age of 76 years. 
 DAVID AND LEWIS BEARDSLEY 
 
 David and Lewis Beardsley were 
 father and son, and both early set- 
 tlers of "old Catharine." At the 
 dawn of the present century, David 
 Beardsley — ^whose name has before 
 beeji mentioned in connection with 
 the building of the first grist mill 
 at Odessa, and the erection of the 
 Lawrence residences on the shores 
 of Lake Cayuta — came from Cen- 
 necticut, and settled on the farm 
 subsequently occupied by his son 
 Lucius C, having arrived, (by way 
 of Geneva) on the 14th day of Feb- 
 ruary, (St. Valentine's Day) 1800. 
 He was a man of great genius, in- 
 domitable will, perseverance, enter- 
 prise and energy, and became per- 
 sonally identified with most of the 
 important early-day improvements 
 of the town. In addition to his other 
 vocations, he was largely engaged 
 in farming and manifested the same 
 intelligent thoroughness, and won 
 the same success in that calling as 
 in all others in which he engaged. 
 After a busy, most useful and hon- 
 orable life, which was marked by 
 
Page Seventy-eight 
 wonderful endurance and industry, 
 he died at a good old age probably 
 before Schuyler, the youngesc coun- 
 ty in the Siate, was called into be- 
 ing; and his name accupies a high 
 piace among Catharine's noted 
 pioneers. 
 
 LEWIS BEARDSLEY, 
 the oldest son of David, was born 
 in Fairfield county. Conn., March 
 4th, 1796, —four years before his 
 facher migrated to this, then, wild 
 region of country. He received such 
 rudimentary education as attend-- 
 ance in winter, on the common 
 schools of the town afforded, and 
 in after life became a good larm- 
 er and successful business man, 
 having inherited many of his fath- 
 er's traits of character and physi- 
 cal characteristics. 
 
 on the 11th of March, 1821, at 
 the age of 25 years, Lewis Beards- 
 ley married Mancy, daughter of 
 Zachary A. Lewis, a Catharine pion- 
 eer. She was a most worthy and 
 exemplary wife, and lived happily 
 with her husband until the time of 
 her death, June 19th, 1866— a per- 
 iod of 46 years. They reared a fam- 
 ily of SIX children— all of whom 
 were surviving in 1879, and may be 
 still. Their names and birth-dates 
 are as follows: Sherman, born Jan. 
 13, 1823; Francis Schuyler, May 14, 
 1825; Maria Louisa, Dec. 2, 1827; 
 Lucy Ann, July 28, 1829; David Cur- 
 tis, Oct. 10, 1832; Jonathan Law- 
 rence, Aug. 28, 1837. Mr. Beardsley's 
 second wife was Mrs. Elizabeth B. 
 Lyon, who died Feb. 12th, 1873. 
 After her death, he lived the bal- 
 ance of his years with his son Fran- 
 cis S., and died a few years ago, 
 at the age of about 85 years. 
 
 Lewis Beardsley never indulged 
 in political aspirations, (though ■*eU 
 qualified for many positions) and 
 never consented, though frequently 
 tendered public honors, to accept 
 any higher than Highway Commis- 
 sioner, for the purpose of keeping 
 the roads of the town in as good 
 condition as possible. In politics he 
 was a Whig, and then a Republi- 
 can, having witnessed the organiza- 
 tion of both parties; but was never 
 a violent, though firm and consis- 
 tent partisan. He was, in the prime 
 of his life, connected with a "light 
 horse" company in the State Militia 
 and was truly patriotic under all 
 circumstances. 
 
 In matters of religion he enter- 
 tained liberal and broadly-benevo- 
 lent views, and never affiliated with 
 any sectarian denomination — though 
 kindly disposed toward all. His 
 
 name will linger long in the hearts 
 and memories of all who knew him 
 even if but in the later years of 
 his useful, honorable and commend- 
 able Ufe. A good portrait of this 
 venerable pioneer, who settled in 
 old Catharine when he was but four 
 years old, and yet was twice as old 
 as the new town, formed in 1798, 
 appears in the "History of the Pour 
 Counties"— and though an engrav- 
 ing on wood, its fidelity to the or- 
 iginal makes it an excellent likeness 
 Our next article wiU be devoted 
 mostly to a biographical sketch of 
 Hon. Abraham Lawrence, one of 
 the most noted men connected with 
 the history of Catharine. 
 
 Very prominently connected with 
 the early settlement and history of 
 Catharine was the Lawrence fam- 
 ily, and its most noted member was 
 
 Hon. Abraham Lawrence, 
 one of the sons of Samuel Lawrence 
 and a grandson of Jonathan Law- 
 rence, who was one of the partners 
 in the famous Watkins and Flint 
 purchase of 1794. 
 
 We have already given an ac- 
 count of how the families of Sam- 
 uel and Joseph Lawrence, (both sons 
 of Jonathan) came from New York 
 in 1814, after their father's death; 
 their taking possession of the lands 
 they had inherited, on the west 
 shore, and in the near vicinity of 
 Cayuta Lake, and the building of 
 their fine residences in that part of 
 the town of Catharine; and have 
 also given brief sketches of their 
 other improvements and the dates 
 of their decease. 
 
 Abraham Lawrence (this is his 
 own uniform spelling of the name 
 instead of "Abram,") was born in 
 the old Samuel Lawrence homestead 
 on June 1st, 1818. He received most 
 of his elementary education at Ith- 
 aca Academy, and subsequently en- 
 tered Geneva (now Hobart) College, 
 from which noted institution he 
 graduated with high honors. At the 
 death of his father (Samuel Law- 
 rence) in the year 1837, he inher- 
 ited in connection with his sister, 
 Mrs. Jane G. Campbell, (wife of 
 Adam G. Campbell) the homestead 
 property, including a considerable 
 portion of Cayuta Lake, which has 
 remained in the family ever since 
 the original purchase, of which the 
 Lawrence tract formed a pant. 
 
 In 1857 and 1858, he was elected 
 Supervisor of the town of Cathar- 
 ine, and also in 1863 and 1864, dur- 
 ing which latter years he was Presi- 
 dent of the Schuyler County Board. 
 He was also the chairman of the 
 commission, designated in the law 
 
of 1867, for the final location and 
 permanent settlement of the county 
 seat, and construction of the Court 
 House, Jail and Clerk's Office at 
 Watkins, in which capacity he ser- 
 ved with dignity, grace and ability, 
 though as a matter of course, stren- 
 uously opposed to the removal of 
 the county seat from Havana. 
 
 Prom July, 1864, to July, 1868, he 
 was President of the Second Na- 
 tional Bank of Havana (which sub- 
 sequently became the Havana Na- 
 tional Bank, and has since passed 
 out of existance) during which time 
 hte brother-in-law, Adam G. Camp- 
 bell, held the position of cashier. 
 
 In 1867 he was a member of the 
 Constitutional Convention (which 
 met at Albany,) from the 27th Con- 
 gressional district, and served with 
 Hon. John Magee of Watkins, who 
 was elected a member-at-large; and 
 Mr. Lawrence is recorded as having 
 voted for the Constitution of the 
 State, as it now is — ^iit not having 
 since been revised. 
 
 In 1870 he was a candidate for 
 Member of Congress before the Re- 
 publican Congressional Convention, 
 having been a staunch adherent of 
 that political organization; but thru 
 unjustifiable means, he was defeat- 
 ed and Milo Goodrich, of Tomp- 
 kins county, received the nomina- 
 tion—though Schuyler had never 
 had a Republican candidate for 
 Congress, since the party was form- 
 ed in 1856 — two years after the crea- 
 tion of the county — ^nor has it had 
 to the present time. This was a ser- 
 ious disappointment to Mr. Law- 
 rence and the Republicans of the 
 county; but though not accorded 
 then, nor since, their just claims to 
 a Republican Congressional nomina- 
 tion, they have unfalteringly sus- 
 tained, at every election, the nom- 
 inees of the other counties in the 
 district for Members of Congress. 
 
 Abraham Lawrence was never 
 married, but lived quietly and pleas- 
 antly at his beautiful and attrac- 
 tive home on the margin of the ro- 
 mantic Cayuta, passing some of his 
 winters at the Montour House in 
 Havana, so as to be in daily com- 
 munication with mail and telegraph- 
 ic intelligence — his residence when 
 occupied in summer and winter hav- 
 ing been noted for its elegant and 
 generous hospitality to all. 
 
 He was a most thoroughly read 
 and intelligent gentleman, of the 
 old school, unassuming, polite and 
 affable in his manners, and neigh- 
 borly, accomodating and compan- 
 ionable, yet never undignified nor 
 trifling, in his intercourse with his 
 
 Page Seventy-nine 
 
 fellow men. He died some eight or 
 ten years ago, greatly esteemed and 
 most sincerely and deeply mourned 
 by his townsmen, and a wide circle 
 of admiring friends and acquain- 
 tances; and an excellent steel-plate 
 portrait — a perfect likeness of him, 
 — from the matchless artistic gen- 
 ius of Sartain, the prince of Am- 
 erican engravers, adorns the His- 
 tory of the Pour Counties, which 
 will perpetuate his memory when 
 the marble or granite, that may 
 mark the place of his final repose, 
 is crumbled info dust by the cor- 
 roding and remorseless hand of 
 Time. An illustration of his fine 
 former residence, and its magnifi- 
 cent surroundings, with the lake in 
 the background, is also given in 
 the work referred to. 
 
 The writer of these sketches has 
 a valued memento of Hon. Abraham 
 Lawrence to which is attached his 
 autograph. Having solicited of him, 
 some years previous to his death, a 
 history, or explanation, of the Wat- 
 kins and Plint purchase, he furnish- 
 ed it, according to promise, illus- 
 trated by a pen map of the 350,000 
 acres, and its division into towns 
 for sale and settlement as described 
 in a former number of these articles; 
 and it was accompanied by the fol- 
 lowing note, in his own handwrit- 
 ing: 
 
 Lawrence, P. O., May 29, 1876. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I promised you, sometime since, to 
 send you a description of the "Wat- 
 kins and Plint purchase." Some 
 more pressing engagements, and the 
 defective state of my eyesight, must 
 be my excuse for not complying 
 with my promise sooner. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Abraham Lawrence. 
 
 Other "Lawrence Family" Notes 
 The Lawrence family has long 
 been a noted and remarkable one 
 in this country. We have no means 
 at hand, for tracing their "old 
 country" ancestry, but they doubt- 
 less migrated to America, at a very 
 early day from England, and their 
 names are identified with the rec- 
 ords of public life, and conspicuous 
 positions, in many counties of the 
 State. In the Civil List, no less than 
 50 names are given, connected with 
 official positions, as Members of 
 Assemibly and State Senators, May- 
 ors,, Regents of the University, 
 Members of Constitutional Conven- 
 tions, Judges, State Officers, Mem- 
 bers of Congress, etc. 
 
 John Lawrence (who may have 
 been the father of Jonathan and 
 
Page Eighty 
 
 great-grandfather of Abraham) was 
 Mayor of young New York in 1673, 
 and again in 1691; was appointed 
 Justice of the Supreme Court in 
 1693; elected Member of Assembly 
 in 1782 and '83; but this must have 
 been a descendant of the same name 
 who also seems to have been Coun- 
 ty Cleric of Gloucester (now an ob- 
 solete county) in 1774; a member of 
 the Continental Congress in 1785; 
 one of the Board of Regents under 
 the law of 1784; a State Senator 
 in 1788, '89 and. '90 — his seat having 
 been vacated by his election to Con- 
 gress, the last named year, and he 
 was re-elected in 1792. He became 
 Judge of the U. S. District Court in 
 New York, in 1794, and U. S. Senator 
 in 1796; and this extraordinary po- 
 litical record is far from standing 
 alone in the history of the family. 
 Jonathan Lawrence seems to have 
 resided at Newtown, Queens county, 
 at the time the Watkins and Flint 
 purchase was made, as his name ap- 
 pears as thus locaAed in the "coun- 
 cil of appointment" for 1787 — a body 
 appointed each year by the Assem- 
 bly, to act with the Governor, who 
 had the casting vote, the council 
 being composed of one member from 
 each of the (then) few Senatorial 
 districts under the first State Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 The name of Samuel Lawrence 
 appears as that of Member of As- 
 sembly from New York county in 
 1811, and as that from Schuyler for 
 the same office in 1863 — ^the first 
 having probably been the father of 
 Abraham Lawrence, and the latter 
 another descendant of the family. 
 
 But time and space would fail 
 us, should we attempt to detail the 
 pohtical history of this numerous 
 family, which has brilliant official 
 records, not only in New York, but 
 also in Queens, Oswego, Sullivan, 
 Delaware, Allegany, Onondaga, 
 Schoharie, Warren, Westchester. 
 Kings, Saratoga, Yates, Franklin, 
 Richmond, Tioga, Tompkins, Greene, 
 Erie, Ulster, Wayne, Dutchess, 
 Schuyler and several other counties. 
 
 We should be pleased to receive 
 more light in regard to that branch 
 of the family that located in Cath- 
 arine, including especially notes re- 
 lative to Hon. Samuel Lawrence, the 
 Schuyler county Member of Assem- 
 bly, and John I. Lawrence, who was 
 for many years previous to his 
 death a resident of Havana. If" 
 any such notes from members of 
 the family, are addressed to the 
 Watkins Express, they will meet 
 with prompt attention. 
 
 We hope in- the next number to 
 conclude Catharine, and include all 
 that is to be said of the earlier 
 settlers of Cayuta whose names have 
 not already received attention as 
 the first pioneers; and in the suc- 
 ceeding article reach the town of 
 Dix, where interesting biographical 
 sketches await our readers, embrac- 
 ing much that has never before been 
 published. 
 
 Among the prominent later settlers 
 of Catharine, was George W. Pratt, 
 who will be regarded as one of its 
 model and most successful farmers. 
 He was born at Seabrook, Conn., on 
 May 30th, 1820. 
 
 In his youth he learned the trade 
 of a boat-builder, which was of 
 great practical service to him in 
 his after life, much of which was 
 identified with the canals of the 
 State of New York. 
 
 His early education was limited; 
 ibut he was a man of sound sense, 
 and remarkable energy. We are un- 
 able to say when he came to this 
 part of the country from New Eng- 
 land, but probably in his boyhood 
 days. His first marriage, with Jo- 
 hanna Sherman occurred July 4th, 
 1840 at the age of 20 years. The 
 only surviving child of this union 
 — Jeannette — married Jay Tidd of 
 Minnesota. The first Mrs. Pratt died 
 in 1857, and on the 20th of Decem- 
 ber, 1858, Mrs. Olive Baldwin be- 
 came the second wife; and their 
 children were four in number — 
 Frederick, Johanna, Judd and Cora 
 Belle—all of whom, in 1879, were 
 still living on the Catharine home- 
 stead. 
 
 The family formerly resided at 
 Millport, and a portion of the time 
 (perhaps) at Havana and Elmira, 
 as Mr. Pratt was at one time Supt. 
 of the Chemung Canal, when that 
 work was an important lateral of 
 the Erie; and for ten years there- 
 after, he was Superintendent of the 
 department of repairs on the same 
 canal. His last public position was 
 that of Chief of the department of 
 contracts in the State Reformatory. 
 at Elmira. 
 
 In 1874— sixteen years ago— Mr. 
 Pratt purchased the fine farm in. 
 Catharine, between Odessa and AI- 
 pme, on which he resided till the 
 time of his death, only two or three 
 years ago. This farm he greatly im- 
 proved, and added excellent bams 
 and other outbuildings, and brought 
 the land up to the highest state of 
 cultivation. A splendid view of his 
 residence and surroundings, also a 
 faithful portrait of him, and Mrs. 
 Pratt, (who survives him) appears 
 
in the Everts & Ensign History of 
 1879; and it is therein stated that, 
 his new bam was then regarded as 
 the best and most perfectly con- 
 structed one in Schuyler county, and 
 that he made the specifications from 
 which it was built, and personally 
 superintended its erection. His farm, 
 by under-dralnage where needed, 
 and careful and intelligent culti- 
 vation, was made one of the most 
 productive in the town — which is 
 saying a great deal — and in the year 
 1879, he raised an average of 45 
 bushels of first quality wheat to 
 the acre. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Pratt was a Demo- 
 crat of the most decided, pronoun- 
 ced and uncompromising type and 
 character; and almost uniformly, 
 after he became a resident of Cath- 
 arine, he was (up to the time of 
 his demise) an attendant on the 
 Democratic County Conventions and 
 not infrequently a delegate to the 
 higher councils of the party; and 
 of late he has been greatly missed 
 by his political brethren in Schuy- 
 ler. 
 
 A PASSING OBSERVATION 
 There are quite a number of other 
 biographical sketches of prominent 
 men in the town of Catharine, 
 among the deceased and those still 
 living, that ought to appear in these 
 articles; but we have no data on 
 which to write them, and can only 
 say that we should be happy to re- 
 ceive such needed information from 
 the friends of all men who have 
 been prominent in the history of 
 the town, (not already noted in 
 this and former numbers) and de- 
 sire the remark to apply to all the 
 other towns of the county, as it is 
 impossible to have too much of this 
 kind of knowledge on record for fu- 
 ture generations — and we can give 
 the assurance that all such favors 
 will, sooner or later, as our work 
 progresses, be utilized for the ob- 
 ject in view. 
 
 NOTES AND INCIDENTS 
 We have toefore stated that Cath- 
 arine, after the erection of Mon- 
 tour from its western portion, in 
 1860, had become narrowed down, 
 from its original dimensions, when 
 first erected in 1798, of over 89,000 
 acres, to about 15,000. This would 
 ibe more correctly stated at 19,000. 
 Odessa was laid out by Phineas 
 Catlin, Jr., on what is now known 
 as the Catlin Creek, and surveyed 
 by John Poster, in 1827. The name 
 was suggested by Mr. Poster, and 
 accepted by Mr. Catlin, who left the 
 old Catlin homestead, and became 
 
 Page Eighty-one 
 
 a resident of the Odessa locality in 
 1824— three years before his father's 
 death, and owned nearly all the 
 present site of the village. It is 
 pleasantly situated in the western 
 part of the town, only a little east^ 
 of the line that divides it from Mon- 
 tour, and about midway between the 
 northern and southern limits of 
 the town. 
 
 ALPINE, 
 the second village in size, or Cath- 
 arine, is situated in the southeast- 
 erly section, a. little north of the 
 line thait divides the town from the 
 northwestern corner of Cayuta, and 
 on Cayuta Creek, that flows south 
 from Cayuta Lake. A small part of 
 northern Cayuta was annexed, by 
 legislative action, in 1875, to Cath- 
 arine, thus bringing all of the vil- 
 lage within the last named town. It 
 is a place of consideralble trade, and 
 some manufacturing industries — 
 like Odessa. 
 
 CATHARINE 
 (formerly "Johnson Settlement," is 
 situated some two miles nearly south 
 of Odessa; and though a pleasant 
 locality, and a desirable place of 
 residence, does not keep pace in its 
 growth, with Odessa and Alpine. 
 Its farming lands, however, are very 
 fine, and equal to the best in the 
 town; and agriculture engages the 
 attention of nearly all its small 
 population. It is a quiet and peace- 
 ful rural community, which seems 
 contented to remain as it is, undis- 
 turbed iby the innovations and tur- 
 moils of ifche outside world. It is 
 the oldest settled part of the town, 
 and always maintained a good repu- 
 tation for intelligence, religion and 
 morality. In 1879, the place had a 
 good general store, two blacksmith 
 shops, a tannery, two churches, a 
 public school, a post office, and, with 
 its adjacent surroundings had about 
 200 inhabitants. It has probably 
 changed but Uttle either for the 
 better or worse, during the past ten 
 years. 
 
 POPULATION 
 The population of the present 
 town of Catharine is probably be- 
 tween 1,600 and 1,700. The greatest 
 accession at any one time, toy births, 
 was July 22nd, 1855 — next year after 
 the county was founded — ^when the 
 wife of Poster Ervay presented her 
 astoni^ed husband with four chil- 
 dren — ^three girls and a boy. They 
 were named Ida A., Irvin A., Ada 
 A., and Joy O. The boy and one of 
 the girls lived to grow up, and may 
 yet be living. We believe this birth 
 record has never been excelled, nor 
 
Page Eighty-two 
 
 equalled in Schuyler since it be- 
 came a county. 
 
 THE MILITAiRY RECORD 
 of Catharine, in connection with the 
 War for the Union, shows about 100 
 names, and the town also received 
 credit for eight enlistments in the 
 navy-^six from Montour and two 
 from Dix— probably because she 
 paid the bounties on an excess or 
 enlistments in those towns. 
 
 TOWN OP CAYUTA 
 This is, the second town in the 
 alphabetical order of our early set- 
 tlement sketches, subsequent to 1800. 
 It is .the smallest and most irreg- 
 ular in its boundary lines of any 
 town in Schuyler county; and shows 
 that when the county was formed 
 some very "crooked compromises" 
 had to be made in regard to metes 
 and bounds with the county of 
 Chemung. 
 
 The little town wliich contains 
 only albout 12,000 acres is bounded 
 on the north in part, toy Catharine, 
 and partly by Newfield, in Tomp- 
 kins county; on the east by Tomp- 
 kins county; on the soutlh by Van- 
 Etten and Erin, in Chemung coun- 
 ty; and on the west by Veteran in 
 thait county, and southern Cath- 
 arine. Its surface is a hilly upland, 
 and in parts very rough and un- 
 even. Cayuta Creek flows south- 
 ward through tihe town in a nar- 
 row valley, bordered by steep hill- 
 sides, 300 to 600 feet high. The soil 
 is mostly a clayey and gravelly loam 
 and productive, but not easily tilled. 
 The principal village is Cayuta, 
 whidh contains one or two stores, a 
 church or two, a hotel and some 20 
 to 25 dwellings. 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS 
 These (some of whose names have 
 heretofore been mentioned) were 
 Capt. Gabriel Ogden, Rev. David 
 Jaynes, Harman White, Hiram 
 White, Jonathan Thomas, Joseph 
 Thomas, Benjamin Chaanbers, Jere- 
 miah Taylor, John Ennis, Emanuel 
 Ennis, Saunder Ennis, Benjamin 
 Ennis, RObert Lockert>y, Moses 
 Brown, LangstafE Compton, Edw. 
 Reynolds, Henry Smith, Ebenezer 
 Edwards, Jesse D. White and var- 
 ious others. 
 
 The first "Inn" was opened by 
 Capt. Gabriel Ogden in 1805. The 
 first grist mill was erected in 1817, 
 by John Ennis. The first school was 
 taught by Robert Lockerby in 1805. 
 The first death, that of Joseph 
 Thomas, occurred in 1802. The first 
 saw mill was built in 1816,. by Jesse 
 
 D. White. The first Wrth ^^ ^h^* 
 of Rosetta Thomas, in 180^ J^<^ 
 first post ofiice was established m 
 1815 at cayuta village-Jesse D 
 WWte Postmaster; he also kept 
 thr first store. The first mamage 
 w^ ill 1802— Ebenezer Edwards to 
 q^aiT Ogden. The first religious 
 feSs were held in 1802. by Rev 
 Mr Jaynes at his own house. The 
 first Baptist Church in the town 
 wS orafnized in 1879. A "Free 
 Church " open to all denominations 
 was erected in Cayuta village in 
 1859, at a cost of $1,500; and the 
 first trustees were Leroy Wood, 
 Samuel Brown and Solomon P. 
 Chase. The Cayuta Cemetery As- 
 sociation was incorporated on Oct. 
 12ith 1874; and the first Trustees 
 were Charles R. Swartwood, John 
 S McDuffee, Ira B. Jaynes, John 
 G Reynolds, Henry G. Smith, Sam- 
 uel S. Brown and John Boyer. 
 
 The first town meeting, after the 
 formation of Schuyler county, was 
 held May 9th, 1854, and Leroy Wood 
 was the first Supervisor. 
 
 One of the most prominent men 
 of Cayuta, since the old settlers 
 passed away, was 
 
 JOHN WOOD 
 
 who was born in the town of Hec- 
 tor (then Tompkins county) Nov. 
 27th, 1822. While he was yet young 
 his father Reuben Wood and family 
 moved to Cayuta, where John at- 
 tended the district school five terms, 
 which was nearly the total of his 
 educational opportunities. Still he 
 became well informed and intelli- 
 gent, by observation and reading, 
 and also a systematic and capable 
 business man, in connection with 
 his uncle Leroy Wood, who for many 
 years kept a poular store; and in 
 1848 John was admitted into part- 
 nership and finally became the sole 
 proprietor, and so remained until 
 the time of his death. His name and 
 reputation for probity and honor 
 was above all reproach; and he was 
 highly esteemed in all parts of the 
 county, and far beyond its borders. 
 He was quite a number of times 
 elected Supervisor of the town, was 
 appointed internal revenue assess- 
 or, and in 1875, was elected Sheriff 
 at Schuyler county, (owing to his 
 personal popularity) on the Demo- 
 cratic ticket; and died while yet an 
 incumbent of the office. 
 
 He was married Oct. 15th, 1848, to 
 Mary D., daughter of Edward and 
 Jane Doty, and they had one son, 
 Edward L., who after the death of 
 the husband and father, which oc- 
 curred Nov. 21st, 1876,— with his 
 
mother continued the business at 
 the old time honored store. John 
 Wood will long be remembered as 
 a most worthy citizen of the town, 
 and of Schuyler county. 
 
 JOHN G. REYNOLDS, 
 
 is one of Cayuta's present promi- 
 nent residents. He is a farmer, and 
 engaged to some extent in lumber- 
 ing, and is undoubtedly a descend- 
 ant of the old pioneer Edward Rey- 
 nolds, whose name appears among 
 the early settlers. John G. has many 
 times been Supervisor of his town, 
 which has always been Democratic 
 since the county came into being, 
 and he has also been the Demo- 
 cratic candidate for Member of As- 
 sembly; and though not elected in 
 this strongly Republican county, his 
 personal popularity carried him 
 largely ahead of his party ticket. 
 He is a thoroughly well read man, 
 of keen sagacity, and intelUgence, 
 and one of the shrewdest Demo- 
 cratic politicians in the county of 
 Schuyler. If there ever comes an 
 opening in "the enemy's front", or 
 on either flank, he will be found 
 among the first to enter, sword in 
 hand, and help widen the breach 
 and make a gallant struggle for vic- 
 tory. 
 
 Cayuta has never had a Member 
 of Assembly since Schuyler was 
 created, 36 years ago; and in this 
 respect follows in the wake of the 
 county, which has never had a 
 Member of the National Assembly 
 — ^the lower House of Congress. 
 Which will first emerge from the 
 political wilderness, is a question 
 easier asked than answered. 
 
 We are publishing this week an- 
 other sketch of one of the pioneer 
 families of the town of Catharine, 
 which not only played an important 
 part in the upbuilding of that town 
 but in the affairs of Schuyler coun- 
 ty. 
 
 William K. Keeler; his wife, Es^ 
 ther Couch Keeler; and three sons, 
 William, Henry and Samuel C, 
 moved from Ridgefield, Conn., in 
 1849 to the old town of Catharine, 
 and purchased and lived on the 
 Thomas Couch farm opposite the 
 "Seneca Lake Highland Nursery" of 
 Col. Frost, and extending south into 
 the town of Veteran. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. William Keeler's 
 ancestors were among the pioneer 
 settlers of Connecticut. Mr. Keeler 
 was a direct lineal descendent of 
 "Ralph Keeler who was born in 
 England in 1613 and who lived at 
 
 Page Eighty-three 
 
 Hartford, Conn., in 1640 and moved 
 laJter, 1651, to Norwalk, Conn., where 
 he was one of the original propriet- 
 ors of that town." 
 
 Mrs. Keeler, (Esther Couch), was 
 a direct lineal descendent of Sim- 
 on Couch who married Mary An- 
 drews at Fairfield, Conn., in 1640. 
 
 Early in life they became sincere 
 Christians and were members of 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 Mr. Keeler, representing St. Steph- 
 en's Church, Ridgefield, Conn., as 
 delegate to the Annual Conventions 
 at Hartford, 1839-48. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Keeler were constant 
 and devout members of that Com- 
 munion. They loved the Church. Its 
 beautiful liturgy and other service, 
 its government wihich they had 
 closely studied. In storms and sun- 
 Shine they were always attendant 
 upon its services. 
 
 Soon after the death of their two 
 sons, William and Henry, they left 
 Catharine to live at Havana with 
 their only surviving son, Samuel C. 
 where Mrs. Keeler died in 1873 and 
 Mr. Keeler died in 1883. 
 
 HON. SAMUEL C. KEELER 
 
 Samuel C. Keeler was born in 
 Ridgefield, Conn., September 10th, 
 1837. He moved with his parents in 
 1849 to New York State and settled 
 on the southward heights of Cath- 
 arine. 
 
 His first school days were at 
 Ridgefield. At Catharine he attend- 
 ed a small school conducted by the 
 minister of old St. John's Church. 
 Attended the public school at Ha- 
 vana, usually walking both ways, 
 and then Lima Seminary. 
 
 After graduating from the Yale 
 Law School at New Haven, Conn., 
 he formed a partnership with the 
 late Hon. Jeremiah McGulre. When 
 Mr. McGuire removed later to El- 
 mira Mr. Keeler conducted the 
 Schuyler county business of the 
 firm. 
 
 Mr. Keeler married Miss Octavia 
 Hitchcock, only daughter of George 
 VanVleck Hitchcock. They had two 
 children: George W., a promising 
 young lawyer who died in 1887; and 
 Prederica E., who married the late 
 Frederick C. Archer of New York, 
 and now resides in the old Hitch- 
 cock residence at Watkins Glen. 
 
 Samuel C. Keeler was never an 
 aspirant for any oSace not of a pro- 
 fessional or judicial nature, yet he 
 held many public positions. He was 
 
Page Eighty-four 
 
 District Attorney of the County; 
 Postmaster of Havana in 1868; Sup- 
 ervisor of his town, Montour Falls; 
 Chairman of Republican Committee 
 and Judicial delegate in various 
 years. He was vestryman of St. 
 Paul's Church and later of St. 
 James' Church at Watkins Glen, 
 Secretary of People's College and 
 trustee of Cook Academy until his 
 death; and was selected for other 
 places of trust of similar character. 
 
 Judge Keeler died of heart fail- 
 ure at St. Luke's hospital. New York, 
 February 17th, 1910; and his wife 
 died ten months later, Decemher 21, 
 1910, at the family residence at 
 Watkins. 
 
 The following memorial written 
 by the Schuyler County Bar, of 
 which he was president, expresses 
 the sentiments of every one who 
 knew htm. 
 
 "Memorial on the Death of Judge 
 Samuel C. Keeler." 
 
 "The members of the Schuyler 
 County Bar have sustained a per- 
 sonal and irreparable loss in the 
 death of Judge Samuel C. Keeler, 
 for many years their president, and, 
 in meeting assembled, desire to con- 
 vey to his bereaved family their deep 
 sympathy, and to pay tribute to his 
 sterling worth. 
 
 "For nearly half a century he 
 practiced at the bar of his and our 
 profession. Some few of us have 
 known him during nearly the full 
 period of his practice; all of us 
 have known him during the full 
 period of our practice, and in that 
 time the respect and love he in- 
 spired grew stronger from year to 
 year. His EwniabiUty, his undeviat- 
 ing courtesy, his kindliness of heart, 
 his solicitude for the welfare and 
 interest of others were known to 
 all men. 
 
 "His career in his chosen pro- 
 fession was one which his family, 
 his colleagues and his county may 
 ever recall with pride. Admitted to 
 the Bar in 1860, at the age of 23, 
 he soon made for himself a place 
 in the front rank of his profession. 
 He was elected District Attorney of 
 this County in 1864, and his term 
 of office. Immediately following the 
 Civil War, was filled with criminal 
 business. He served as Postmaster 
 at Havana; Supervisor of his town 
 of Montour; and many times was 
 his county's representative in Judic- 
 
 ial Convention. He ^^^J^^^^fj 
 
 County Judge ^.^^'^ . „f ™elected 
 Schuyler County m 1888 re elected 
 
 in 1894, and again in 1900. ±le was 
 Lnown, not only in his home coun- 
 Tv but throughout the State, as a 
 most able, conscientious and in- 
 dustrious Judge and Surrogate; 
 and his all prevading sense of daty 
 to his office and his constituency 
 was cause for frequent comment. 
 He brought to his office a loyalty 
 that was unswerving, a word which 
 was never broken, a judgment which 
 was keen, and an experience in the 
 law which was both wide and deep; 
 and when he retired after eighteen 
 years of service, his record as a 
 public servant was such that it re- 
 flected the great and goodly life he 
 lived. 
 
 "We who knew and labored with 
 him, who came to justly estimate his 
 worth and work, to appreciate that 
 kindly, gentle personality, can both 
 join hope and eulogy in the poet's 
 simple words: 
 Green be the turf above thee 
 
 Friend of our better days, 
 None knew thee but to love thee. 
 
 Nor named thee but to praise. 
 
 "But our grief cannot be measured 
 with the poignant sorrow that shad- 
 ows the home he loved so well, and 
 his loved ones have the sincere sym- 
 pathy of this association." 
 
 Schuyler County Newspapers 
 
 A brief history of the newspapers 
 published during the past one hun- 
 dred and five years in what is now 
 Schuyler County is given this week. 
 This information has been gathered 
 from widely different sources, and 
 if any mistakes or omissions are 
 discovered it is hoped that they 
 will ibe brought to the attention of 
 the editor of this paper. 
 
 In pursuing this subject, it should 
 be borne in mind that Schuyler 
 County was established April 17, 
 1854 with seven towns. The Town 
 of Montour was created by an act 
 of the Legislature, March 23, 1860. 
 The Town of Hector was taken 
 from Tompkins County; the towns 
 of Cayuta, Catherine, and Dix from 
 Chemung County; and the towns 
 of Orange, Tyrone, and Reading 
 from Steuben County. It should 
 also be remembered that the Vil- 
 lage of Montour Palls was incor- 
 porated under the name Havana, 
 on May 13, 1836, and that the Vil- 
 lage of Watkins Glen was incor- 
 
porated under the name Jefferson 
 on April 11, 1842. These two vil- 
 lages were first in Tioga County, 
 then Chemung County and now 
 Schuyler County. 
 
 A change of ownership of a news- 
 paper usually meant a change of 
 name and sometimes a change of 
 politics. The word. Republican as 
 used in connection with these pa- 
 pers did not have the same mean- 
 ing which it now has as the Re- 
 publican Party did not come into 
 existance until after the first "Ha- 
 vana Republican" and "The Watkins 
 Republican" had been established. 
 The following is a list of the 
 papers published in what is now 
 Schuyler County: 
 The Tioga Patriot 
 The Havana Observer 
 The Havana Republican 
 The Chemung Whig 
 Life in the Country & Havana 
 
 Republican 
 The Havana Journal 
 The Chemung Democrat 
 The Havana Democrat 
 The Havana Enterprise 
 The Greenback Labor Advocate 
 The Montour Palls Free Press 
 The Havana Itemizer 
 The Old School Democrat 
 The Democratic Citizen 
 The Independent Freeman 
 The Jefferson Eagle 
 The Corona Borealis 
 The Family Visitor 
 The Watkins Republican 
 The Schuyler County Press 
 The Son of Temiperance 
 The Schuyler County Union 
 The Watkins Express 
 The Schuyler County Demorcat 
 The Watkins Independent 
 The Watkins Democrat 
 The Schuyler County Chronicle 
 The Schuyler County Times. 
 The Watkins Herald 
 The Watkins Review 
 The Hector Herald 
 The following is the chronologi- 
 cal history of the above papers: 
 
 The publication of "The Tioga 
 Patriot" was begun in June, 1828 
 at Havana, its editors being L. B. 
 and S. Butler. It was sold in 1830 
 to P. W. Ritter who changed the 
 name to "The Havana Observer" 
 which was suspended and repub- 
 lished. In 1835 it was sold to Nel- 
 son Golegrove who changed the 
 name to "The Havana Republican." 
 Havana was incorporated on May 
 13, the following year, and Che- 
 
 Page Eighty-five 
 
 mung County was taken from Tioga 
 County the same year. "The Havana 
 Republican" was sold to Barlow 
 Nye in 1839. It was sold in 1841 or 
 42 to Thomas J. Taylor who changed 
 the name to "The Chemung Whig". 
 The paper was then taken back by 
 Barlow Nye who restored it to the 
 old name "The Havana Republi- 
 can" It was sold in 1846 to W. H. 
 Ongley who changed the name in 
 1847 to "Life in the Country and 
 Havana Republican." It was sold 
 in 1848 to S. C. Cleveland who dis- 
 continued publication after a few 
 months and went to Penn Van with 
 "The Yates County Chronicle." In 
 1838 J. I. Hendrix began the publi- 
 cation in Havana of "The Chemung 
 Democrat" which was brought to 
 Jefferson in 1842. On September 1, 
 1849 Waldo Potter began the publi- 
 cation in Havana of "The Havana 
 Journal" in an entirely new plant 
 which he sold in 1851 to Smith and 
 HamUn (J. Wesley Smiith after- 
 wards editor of "The Albany Ar- 
 gus"). On April 16, 1853 "The Ha- 
 vana Journal" was sold to John B. 
 Look who continued its publication 
 until 1865 when it was sold to Chas. 
 Cook. After Mr. Cook's death in 
 1866, it was published for a time 
 by his estate and sold to A. B. Ball 
 in February, 1867 who continued 
 its publication for more than thirty 
 years, having as his business assoc- 
 iate in the later years, HuU Fan- 
 ton. In 1898 Charles B. Ball, son 
 of A. B. Ball, began the publica- 
 tion of "The Montour Palls Free 
 Press" and continued its publica- 
 tion for twenty-five years, being 
 succeeded by A. H. Stoddard and 
 later by C. B. Cronk. It was dis- 
 continued about ten years ago. "The 
 Havana Journal" was continued by 
 Hull Fanton for about a year after 
 the establishment of "The Montour 
 Falls Free Press." On April 25, 1855, 
 J. Ketchum Averill and Jesse Bax- 
 ter began the publication in Ha- 
 vana of "The Havana Democrat", 
 which was published for a short 
 time only. In May, 1872 W. H. Page 
 began the publication in Havana 
 of "The Havana Enterprise" which 
 was owned by Mason N. Weed. This 
 was sold in 1877 to S. H. Peren- 
 baugh who changed the name to 
 "The Havana Democrat." During 
 the Greenback movement, "The 
 Havana Democrat" was changed to 
 "The Greenback Labor Advocate" 
 for one year and then the old name 
 
Pago Eighty-six 
 
 was resumed. In tlie early eighties 
 a paper was published for a time 
 in Havana. It was called "The 
 Itemizer" and was edited for a time 
 by Sam Payne and later by the 
 Keyser brothers. On October 23, 
 1882, "The Itemizer" was purchas- 
 ed by the following well-known Re- 
 publicans and its name changed to 
 "The Havana Republican": Col. 
 Charles W. Clauharty, Myron H. 
 Weaver, Elbert P. Cook, Samuel C. 
 Keeler, Baxter T. Smelzer, M. D., 
 all of Havana; William H. Wait, 
 Freemont Cole, Hon. Oliver P. Hurd, 
 all of Watkins Glen. They employed 
 Sam Paine as editor. 
 
 In 1840, "The Old School Demo- 
 crat", a campaign paper, was pub- 
 lished in Jefferson. It was discon- 
 tinued after a few months. In 1842, 
 the year in which this village was 
 incorporated under the name of 
 Jefferson, J. I. Hendrix brought 
 "The Chemung Democrat" here" 
 from Havana. Two years later its 
 name was changed to "The Demo- 
 cratic Citizen." It was discontin- 
 ued about six years later. On June 
 15, 1850, W. H. Slawson and Son 
 began the publication of "The In- 
 dependent Freeman" which was 
 sold in 1851 to J. Wesley Smith and 
 its name changed to "The Jeffer- 
 son Eagle." After a few months it 
 was sold by Mr. Smith to two young 
 men, whose names' twenty years 
 later, he had forgotten, and soon 
 discontinued. In 1852, a literary 
 paper, names of editors at present 
 unknown, was published for a short 
 time under the name "The Corona 
 Borealis." At about the same time 
 two young men by the names of 
 Bishop and Martin began and 
 published for a short time a paper 
 called "The Family Visitor." 
 
 April 17, 1854, Schuyler County 
 was erected and this village, the 
 name of which had been changed 
 two years before to Watkins, lost 
 no time in establishing a newspaper 
 to represent their interests in the 
 fight for the county seat which was 
 to be waged unceasingly for the 
 next six years. The financial back- 
 ing was furnished by George G. 
 Freer, a prominent lawyer after- 
 wards County Judge, who had mar- 
 ried Cynthia Cass Watkins, widow 
 of Dr. Samuel Watkins, the village 
 founder. The paper was called "The 
 Watkins Republican" and was first 
 published on June 3, 1854, its first 
 editor being J. Ketchum Averill 
 
 who was succeeded in about a year 
 by S. M. Taylor. In 1856, Morval- 
 don Ells became the editor and re- 
 mained so for the next seven years. 
 In May, 1863, it was sold to George 
 D. A. Bridgeman who published it 
 for afeout nine months under the 
 name "The Schuyler County Un- 
 ion." It was then sold to L. M. Gano 
 who began its pubUcation January 
 28, 1864 under the name "The Wat- 
 kins Express." Mr. Gano continued 
 its publication until his death, Nov. 
 15, 1903, and it was continued by 
 his son-in-law, Marcus M. Cass 
 until April 1909, when it was sold 
 to The Schuyler County Printing 
 and Publishing Co. Under this com- 
 pany it was edited for one year by 
 Major A. M. Hall and for twelve 
 years by F. W. Severne. In March 
 1922 the company was dissolved and 
 F. W. Severne became the sole own- 
 _^er and is still publishing i€ In 1858, 
 S. M." Taylor^ began the publication- 
 of "The Schuyler County Press" 
 which was soon discontinued. In 
 1860, A. C. Lambert began the pub- 
 lication of a paper called "The Son 
 of Temperance." This paper was 
 published for about two years and 
 had a wide circulation. In 1865 a 
 group of Democrats with the late 
 General George J. Magee at their 
 head began the publication of "The 
 Schuyler County Democrat." Its 
 first editor was S. C. Clizbe who 
 was succeeded after about one year 
 by Morvaldon Ells. In 1867, William 
 H. Baldwin became its owner and 
 nine years later the name was 
 changed to "The Watkins Demo- 
 crat." This paper was later sold to 
 James Thompson and he in turn 
 sold it to the late John Corbett who 
 changed the name to "The Schuy- 
 ler County Chronicle" which was 
 discontinued about ten years ago. 
 In 1866, S. C. Clizbe published for_ 
 lar'short time a paper called "The 
 Watkins Independent." In 1873 
 Gates and Thomas published for 
 a short time a paper called "The 
 Schuyler County Times." In Nov, 
 J1882,- S. H. Perenbaugh brought\ 
 ("The Havana Democrat" to this vil- I 
 lage changing its name to "The I 
 Watkins Herald." In 1885, Lewis W. 
 Ferenbaugh became associated with 
 his father in the publication of the 
 "Herald." In 1896, the "Herald" 
 was sold to John Corbett who with 
 his brother, j. j. Corbett, es- 
 tablished "The Watkins Review" 
 and about a year later it was sold 
 
to B. L. Piper, its present owner 
 and editor. About thirty years ago 
 a paper was published for a time 
 in Burdett which was called "The 
 Hector Herald". Its editor was 
 Charles StoU. 
 
 The files of "The Havana Jour- 
 nal" and "The Havana Free Press" 
 are In the Montour Palls Library. 
 Complete files of "The Watkins Re- 
 View" and "The Watkins Express" 
 may be found in their respective 
 pfBces. Anyone having copies of 
 the other papers mentioned in this 
 article will confer a favor by bring- 
 ing them to_this office for exam- 
 ination. 
 
 We now come, in the regular 
 course and order of our subsequent 
 sketches, to the 
 
 TOWN OF DIX 
 
 Which was erected in 1835, from the 
 northern part of Catlin — the year 
 before Ctoemung county was formed 
 from the western part of old Tioga. 
 The new town was named in hon- 
 or of John A. Dix, who was then 
 Secretary of State; and in his after 
 political career, he became illus- 
 . trious, as U. S. Senator in 1845, 
 Secretary of the U. S. Treasury in 
 1861, Minister to Prance in 1866, and 
 Governor of New York in 1872. The 
 town, therefore, may well be proud 
 of its name; and it occupied a proud 
 position as a part of the county of 
 Chemung for 18 years, or from 1836 
 to 1854, when it toecame one of the 
 most important towns in the county 
 of Schuyler. 
 
 As now constituted, Dix is bound- 
 ed on tihe north by Reading and the 
 head- waters of Seneca Lake; on the 
 east toy Montour; on the south by 
 Catlin in Chemung county, and on 
 the west by Orange. The soil is 
 mostly a fine gravelly and fertile! 
 loaim; and the greater proportion 
 of its surface is a rolling upland, 
 drained by several creeks, the prin- 
 cipal ones being Glen Creek, which 
 passes through Watkins Glen and 
 the village of Watkins, in an east- 
 erly direction, emptying into Sen- 
 eca Lake; and Pall Creek, which 
 flows through Glen Montour, in the 
 same direction, passes through the 
 village of Havana, and empties into 
 Catharino Creek a short distance 
 north of the central portion of that 
 village. The landed area of the town 
 is about 22,000 acres; population 
 about 4,000. The Northern Central 
 
 Page Eighty-seven 
 
 Railway, and the Syracuse, Geneva 
 & Corning Railway, both pass thru 
 portions of its territory — ^the North- 
 ern Central through its eastern or 
 valley section, and the Syracuse, 
 Geneva & Corning, diagonally thru 
 the highland section the entire 
 width, in a northeast and southwest 
 direction, at an elevation above 
 Seneca Lake of nearly 700 feet. 
 
 The only station of the Northern 
 Central route in the town is Wat- 
 kins, at the head of the Lake — ^the 
 most important one between El- 
 mira and Penn Yan — while those 
 of the Syracuse, Geneva & Corning 
 route are Watkins Station, Glen 
 Bridge, Wedgewood, Moreland and 
 Beaver Dams. 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS 
 
 The most prominent of the early 
 settlers, in territory constituting 
 the present town of Dix, may be 
 noted as follows: David Culver, John 
 Dow, (both of whom afterwards 
 moved into wtiat is now Reading), 
 John W. Watkins, John Diven, Wm. 
 Baskin, Jacob Mills and Jacob MiUs, 
 Jr., Matthias MiUer, Thomas L. 
 Nichols, Ebenezer Buck, Obadiah 
 Phinney, Joseph Hitchcock, Christ- 
 ian Grout, Wm. Lane, George Frost, 
 John P. Cornell, George W. Bron- 
 son, Amos Royce, Phillip Gano, 
 Judge John Crawford, Claudius 
 Townsend, Underhill Frost, John 
 Piatt, Brewster Piatt, Col. Green 
 Bennett, Charles Bennett, Thomas 
 Eddy, Elisha Bronson, Judge Sim- 
 eon L. Rood, Dr. Samuel Watkins, 
 Bela Sanford, Ira Sanford, Rev. 
 John Gray, Daniel Tracy, Wm. H. 
 Smith, David Pike, H. R. Lybolt, J. 
 B. Coats, Daniel Hughey, Nelson 
 Lybolt, James Wedgewood, Joseph 
 Cole, Elijah Phelps, Edward Lee, 
 Archibald Tilford, Ebenezer Perry, 
 Joshua Pierce, John Crout, Abram 
 P. Crout, Gardner Crum, Jonas 
 Blower, Dodo Benson, Eleazur Cole, 
 I. Bramhall, Consider E. Evans, Na- 
 than Miller, John W. Chapman, 
 Daniel D. Giles, David H. Bolt, Dan- 
 iel Kent, Ira Dodge, John C. Thay- 
 er, John V. Rose, Lewis Miller, Wm. 
 S. Beers, Rev. Edward Hotchkiss. 
 Joseph Cole, Almon Beecher, Wm. 
 Hardenburg. 
 
 These names will sound familiar 
 to all the older settlers of the town 
 who still survive; but very few of 
 those, embraced in the above list, 
 remain to the present year, and 
 those w(ho yet linger on the shores 
 
Page Eighty-eight 
 
 of time, will soon fade away. It is 
 probable that some of those living 
 who bear the same names as are 
 given in our list, are sons of the 
 first pioneers, — like Matthias Miller, 
 James Wedgewood, etc. 
 
 HISTORICAL INCIDENTS 
 
 The first settlers in the vicinity 
 of Townsend were Claudius Town- 
 send, Consider E. Evans, Jonas 
 Blower and Dodo Benson, in the 
 year 1823. 
 
 Beaver Dams was so named be- 
 cause the stream that runs through 
 the village, when the first settle- 
 ment was made had two beaver 
 ■dams on it in that vicinity, the 
 traces of which could be seen there- 
 after for many years. The first set- 
 tler was Ebenezer Perry. 
 
 David H. Bolt opened the first 
 tavern at Townsend Settlement in 
 1823. 
 
 Col. Green Bennett built the first 
 saw mill in his part of the town, 
 near "Crawford Settlement" (now 
 Moreland) in 1828 — ^fche first in the 
 town having been built by John 
 W. or Charles Watkins, on Glen 
 Creek, before the year 1800. 
 
 Samuel Hubbell built a grist mill 
 in "VanZandt Hollow," in 1828— the 
 same year that the first steamboat 
 (the 'Seneca Chief) made her trial 
 trip from Geneva to what is now 
 Watkins, over Seneca Lake, on the 
 4th day of July. 
 
 The first store at Beaver Dams 
 was opened by Abram P. Crout in 
 1829. 
 
 The first death at Townsend was 
 that of John Griffith, in 1832. 
 
 The post office at Beaver Dams 
 was established in 1830 — David Dav- 
 idson, P. M.; and the Moreland 
 post office was established in 1836 — 
 Judge John Crawford, P. M. The 
 establishment of the Wedgewood 
 post ofiice is of recent date. 
 
 The Baptist Church at Moreland 
 was organized in 1930, and church 
 erected in 1843, at a cost of $3,000, 
 Rev. Thomas Sheardown, pastor. 
 
 The Baptist Church at Townsend 
 was organized in 1833, and church 
 built in 1849. 
 
 The M. E. Church at Beaver Dams 
 was organized in 1832, and church 
 erected in 1858. 
 
 The Presibyterian Church at More- 
 land was organized in 1834; and the 
 first trustees were John C. Thayer, 
 
 Lewis Miller, and John V. Rose. 
 Church erected the same year. 
 
 The Universalist Church Society 
 at Beaver Dams, was organized in 
 1848 Rev. Ethan Carpenter was the 
 first' minister. Trustees, George Mc- 
 Alpine, Benjamin Priest and Henry 
 Johnson; Moderator, Joseph Cole; 
 Clerk Wm. S. Beers. Church erect- 
 ed in' 1853, at a cost of $2,000; but 
 the Society has long been in a de- 
 cline, and is nearly extinct. 
 
 Incidental items, of a historical 
 nature, connected with the village 
 of Watkins, will be treated of here- 
 after, in a special article devoted to 
 that village, and after the biograph- 
 ical sketches of the town are com- 
 pleted. 
 
 We have already given brief sket- 
 ches of the older pioneers, John 
 Dow, David Culver, Jacob Mills, John 
 W. Watkins and others, and shall 
 next take up and conclude the his- 
 tory of the Watkins family — John 
 W., who was one of the leading 
 spirits connected with the Watkins 
 and Flint purchase, and his broth- 
 ers Charles and Dr. Samuel. The 
 former (became connected for a time 
 with that portion of the purchase 
 set off to John W., 25,000 acres; and 
 the latter finally, after the death 
 of his two older brothers, and some 
 years of litigation (in which the 
 children of John W. were plaintiffs 
 in the Court of Chancery) came into 
 sole possession of the entire estate, 
 save such small parcels as had been 
 sold during the lifetime of John W. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Watkins may there- 
 fore be properly regarded as one of 
 the most prominent characters in 
 the history of most of the territory 
 now constituting the county of 
 Schuyler, and he will always be a 
 conspicuous figure in its annals, as 
 its principal village and the county 
 seat of the county bear his name; 
 and it is also fittingly perpetuated 
 in Watkins Glen, the greatest nat- 
 ural wonder in the Lake and Glen 
 region of Central-Western New 
 York, and one of the most popular 
 summer and sanitarium resorts in 
 the Empire State. 
 
 Before taking up the name of Dr. 
 Watkins, to a sketch of whom our 
 next, and perhaps two next articles 
 will be devoted, we are ha.ppy to 
 say, that since our brief sketch of 
 John W. Watkins was given, we 
 have learned much more of the 
 Watkins family history and ances- 
 try, and shall be able to throw more 
 
light on the subject than we had 
 then dared to anticipate or hope 
 for. 
 
 As a further prelude to the com- 
 ing sketch of Dr. Watkins, and of 
 haw heoame in possession of his 
 exiensive landed property, at and 
 adjacent to the head- waters of Sen- 
 eca Lake, we will here take occas- 
 ion to say, that the Watkins and 
 Flint purchase, according to the 
 oflcial authorities contained about 
 370,000 acres. It was purchased of 
 the State (as has been several times 
 noied) in 1794, and the price agreed 
 to be paid by the purchasers was 
 3 shill ngs 4 pence per acre. New 
 York State currency, a shilling of 
 which was 12% cents — making only 
 about 42 cents an acre. The terms 
 of payment were as follows: One- 
 sixth of the purchase money, with 
 lawful interest, in six months; the 
 remainder in two equal installments 
 — one in nine, and the other in 
 eighteen months. The 370,000 acres, 
 counting out the few exemptions 
 embraced in previous sales, amount- 
 ed to over $190,000, and the 25,000 
 acres set off to John W. Watkins, 
 - amounted to $10,500. It is probable 
 that he had to pay something extra 
 for the L'Hommedieu exemption of 
 sevsral thousand acres, in which 
 the present sites of Watkins and 
 Havana, and Catharine marsh were 
 embraced. — He also seems to have 
 had the sale of lands in Reading, 
 belonging to the James Watson 
 tract; yet may not have purchased 
 any portion of them, but acted as 
 an agent, for a time, in making 
 sales; and it will be well at this 
 point to understand that the ter- 
 ritory of Schuyler county was em- 
 braced in four different tracts, or 
 purchases. Hector belonged to the 
 'Military Tract'; Cayuta, Catharine, 
 Dix and Montour, to the 'Watkins 
 and Flint Tract'; Orange and Ty-- 
 rone, to the 'Phelps and Gorham' 
 Tract, and Reading to the 'James 
 Watson Tract' — which lay between 
 Seneca Lake, the pre-emption line 
 and the so-called Rickerman Reser- 
 vation. 
 
 We are now approaching our most 
 important and interesting biograph- 
 ical sketches; and that of Dr. Sam- 
 uel Watkins is to be the first given 
 in this series of the town of Dix, 
 because he became the landed own- 
 er of the whole town, by virtue of 
 a warranty deed, as early as the 
 
 Page Eighty -nine 
 
 year 1800— though he did not be- 
 come an actual resident here until 
 1828. 
 
 SENECA LAKE FROZEN 
 
 OVER FROM END TO END 
 TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO 
 
 (Prom the Watkins Express of 
 February 14, 1912) 
 
 For the first time in 27 years 
 Seneca Lake is frozen entirely over, 
 and from present indications it will 
 be many days before the blue water 
 will again be seen. Saturday night 
 at 11 o'clock the waves were roll- 
 ing in on the shore and Sunday 
 morning there was still a wide ex- 
 panse of water extending from the 
 Seneca Lake Malt House to Va- 
 lois. During the day this space 
 gradually closed in until by night 
 the Queen of inland waters, the 
 last of the finger lakes to succomb 
 to the grasp of the ice king, could 
 be said to be entirely frozen from 
 end to end. Sunday night's extreme 
 cold thickened the ice and Monday 
 morning the more venturesome of 
 skaters were gliding over the smooth 
 surface. The first to try the skating 
 for an extended trip were Supervisor 
 Peck, John L. Brown, and Dr. C. L. 
 Overpeck, who skated to Valois and 
 return Monday afternoon. At that 
 
 i time the ice was a bit thin in places, 
 but by following the east shore they 
 made the trip in safety. Reports of 
 
 ' three Geneva men skating the 
 length of the lake, the same day, 
 could not be confirmed. As yet there 
 have been no serious accidents. 
 Several people have received an In- 
 voluntary cold bath, but all escaped 
 drowning. According to reports 3 
 Valois young men skated into an 
 air hole on the east shore yesterday, 
 and were rescued with some diffi- 
 culty. Several large flocks of ducks 
 ~;are marooned on the ice and are 
 being fed with corn by Game Pro- 
 tector Callahan. At this writing the 
 
 (ice is from for to six inches in thick- 
 
 I ness and is freezing steadily. Bar- 
 4 ring an extreme north wind it would 
 seem that April Ist will find the 
 ice is from 4 to 6 inches in thick- 
 talk of an ice carnival but as yet 
 no plans have been made. 
 
 The freezing of Seneca Lake is 
 such an unusual happening that we 
 turn to the pages of the Express 
 of Thursday, February 26, 1885, for 
 an account of the last time the lake 
 
Page Ninety 
 
 was completely frozen. The follow- 
 ing is Editor Gano's description: 
 
 "On Saturday morning last, Feb- 
 ruary 21st, the surface of Seneca 
 lake WEis covered with ice from 
 shore to shore as far as the eye 
 could reach, with the exception of 
 an open spot near Painted Rocks 
 and one in the vicinity of Coal 
 Point. Prom the openings the ice 
 began breaking, however, during the 
 forenoon, and before the day closed 
 a large area of open water extend- 
 ed across the lake to the southward 
 of Hector Palls. On Sunday the same 
 conditions prevailed, and with a 
 spy-glass from the heig'hts near this 
 village, it could be seen that from 
 Glen Eldridge to Lodi an unbroken 
 sheet of ice extended, while the wa- 
 ters were open in the vicitity of 
 Long Point. There was but little 
 change in the condition of the ice 
 during Monday, but on Tuesday 
 morning with the mercury at 10 
 degrees below zero in this village, 
 an unbroken field of ice again cov- 
 ered the lake as far northward as 
 its deepest portion, between Lodi 
 landing and Long Point, and al- 
 though there are now several areas 
 of small extent of open water in 
 the vicinity of Hector Falls, the 
 prospects are that the long period 
 during which its waters were froz- 
 en over in 1875, may be repeated 
 this year. 
 
 Appleton's Encyclopedia in a des- 
 cription of Seneca Lake, states that 
 it was never known to be frozen 
 over until March 22nd, 1856, but in 
 the Watkins Express of March 12th, 
 1868, the late Hon. Wm. C. Coon, 
 in a communication says: "In 1855 
 I was teaching school in Burdett, 
 and left that village with some 20 
 others on the morning of February 
 28th. We skated across the lake 
 from Board Point, tGlen Eldridge) 
 and to Watkins and back. The ice 
 at that time was five inches thick 
 in the middle of the lake and per- 
 fectly clear and solid." The next 
 freezing over of Seneca Lake was 
 in March 1868, and the Express of 
 March 5th says: "Pail not to note 
 in your memorandum of remark- 
 able occurances that on tihe morn- 
 ing of Wednesday the third day of 
 March, 1868, Seneca Lake at its 
 head was seen frozen with a solid 
 coat of ice from shore to shore as 
 far as the eye could reach." The 
 next freezing of the lake so as to 
 stop navigation was In February, 
 
 1875, as chronicled elsewhere in this 
 paper. 
 
 The remarkable phenomenon of 
 the freezing over of Seneca lake late 
 in the spring was observed on the 
 mornings of May 5th, 1861; May 
 15th, 1872; May 6th, 1873; and 
 April 26th, 1884. In all these cases 
 however, only a thin film of ice, 
 that disappeared during the day, 
 covered its waters. The cause of 
 such freezing has been explained at 
 length several times in our columns, 
 but the conditions that insure ica 
 upon the lake as early in the seas- 
 on as at present, or a heavy fall of 
 snow such as was recently exper- 
 ienced, following an extended per- 
 iod of extreme cold weather. 
 
 The following is a description of 
 the grand ice carnival held Wed- 
 nesday, February 25th, 1885: 
 
 "The freezing of Seneca Lake is 
 such an unusual occurance that it 
 is fitting the event should be cele- 
 brated by a grand carnival, such as 
 was held by the people of Watkins 
 and vicinity on Wednesday evening 
 of this week. 
 
 At an early hour the limits of 
 the skating ground, which included 
 a considerable portion of the sur- 
 face of the lake near the Northern 
 Central depot, were marked by a 
 row of torch lights, while the ad- 
 jacent docks and piers were lUimiin- 
 ated by variously colored Chinese 
 lanterns. At intervals also durin? 
 the evening, the glare of rockets 
 and bombs aided in enlivening the 
 scene, and the pleasing strains of 
 music by Harding's Cornet Band 
 rendered more graceful the move- 
 ments of the Innumerable skaters, 
 who glided over the crystal ice and 
 in and out among the groups of 
 spectators that were congregated 
 here and there, or those that were 
 dancing and sliding upon its sur- 
 face. The depot platform and steam- 
 boat dock were also thronged with 
 onlookers, and it is estimated that 
 at least 1000 people nartlcipated in 
 Che exhilarating festivities of the 
 occasion. 
 
 To add to the general enjoyment 
 an equable temperature character- 
 ized the evening and the moon, 
 nearly at Its full, rode in a cloud- 
 less sky. As the sleighing was ex- 
 cellent, slelghload after sleighload 
 of people from the surrounding 
 country arrived with much jingling 
 of bells and merry laughter to aid 
 m furthering the pleasures of the 
 
carnival, which taken all in all 
 cannoi fail to be the most notable 
 event of the freezing of Seneca lake 
 in 1885." 
 
 — o 
 
 MONTOUR PALLS FIRE OP 
 
 OVER SEVENTY YEARS AGO 
 
 The Havana Journal of August 
 27, 1859, (74 years ago) was printed 
 on a sheet of paper 11 x 13 inches, 
 and only one side at that. This 
 sheei was printed in Penn Yan and 
 was made necessary by the fact that 
 the Havana Journal OiEce had been 
 destroyed by fire, three n'ghts be- 
 fore, (August 24th). The account of 
 the fire as published on this small 
 sheet will be read with interest. It 
 is probab'e that Charles R. Wat- 
 kins, of Montour Palls, then Ha- 
 vana, is the only person now living 
 in that village who was an eye- 
 witness to the conflagration. The 
 Exchange Block referred to stood 
 between the railroad and Schuyler 
 Street, in the block now occupied 
 by The Corner Drug Store. The 
 Canal Build'ngs occupied the space 
 en the north side of Main Street, 
 between the railroad and the can- 
 al. The Observatory Buildings stood 
 on the south side of Main Street, 
 between the railroad and the can- 
 al, where the Coal and Lumber 
 yard has been located for many 
 years. 
 
 "Havana has been visited by an- 
 other terrible fire, which has sadly 
 desolated our village, and consumed 
 a large amount of property. Upon 
 ourselves and some others it falls 
 with almost crushing weight. 
 
 The fire broke on Wednesday 
 night about 11 o'clock, in the Drug 
 Store of C. P. Babbitt, and was first 
 discovered by Mr. J. B. Welsh, a 
 shoemaker, whose shop was immed- 
 iately over the drug store, and on 
 the same floor with the Journal Of- 
 fice. Before a general alarm could 
 be given the Canal Buildings were 
 wrapped in fiames. It burned with 
 great rapidity and fierceness, and 
 soon communicated to the Exchange 
 Buildings, west of the railroad. It 
 was only by great effort that the 
 Observatory Buildings, south side 
 of Main street were saved from 
 destruction. It was badly smoked 
 and charred in front. The Exchange 
 block was entirely destroyed, and 
 by dint of unparalleled labor, on 
 the part of citizens, the further pro- 
 gress of the devouring elements was 
 
 Page Ninety-one 
 
 stayed. The Mechanic's Block, on 
 Schuyler Street, was saved by the 
 most severe and persevering labor. 
 The sufferers may be enumerated 
 as follows: 
 
 John B. Look, Havana Journal 
 oflBce entirely destroyed, together 
 with a considerable amount of paper 
 and other stock. Nothing was saved 
 except the books of account, which 
 were preserved by the timely pre- 
 caution of carrying them home at 
 night. The books and notes relating 
 to the business of the firm of 
 Phelps & Look, were destroyed. Mr. 
 Look's loss in the burning of the 
 Journal Office is at least $3,000; 
 and his loss in the destruction of 
 the book store, about $500. He had 
 not a cent of insurance. J. B. Welsh, 
 in his efforts to arouse the citizens, 
 and get into the drug store, where 
 the fire originated, was too late to 
 save his own property, which was 
 nearly all destroyed. Probable loss 
 $300. 
 
 George Corwin, dealer in boots, 
 shoes and leather, entire loss of 
 stock. Loss heavy. Insurance, $1000. 
 
 C. P. Babbitt, druggist and book- 
 seller, entire loss of stock. Books 
 saved. Insurance $1,500, much below 
 the loss. 
 
 William Skellenger & Son, Hard- 
 ware store. A very heavy stock, and 
 very little saved. Mr. Skellenger was 
 the proprietor of the entire build- 
 ing. Loss, including building, $27,000. 
 Insurance, $5,000. 
 
 Canal Collector's Office. The books 
 and papers belonging to the office 
 were nearly all destroyed. 
 
 Everything in Odd Fellow's Hall 
 was entirely consumed. 
 
 Archibald Campbell, dry goods and_ 
 grocery dealer. Loss very heavy, no* 
 insurance. 
 
 . Beebe & Estabrook, Hardware and 
 dry goods. Loss large, insurance only 
 $1,000. 
 
 Jacob Walker, Dry Goods and 
 Groceries. Stock practically des- 
 troyed, much damage. Insurance, 
 $2,500. 
 
 G. V. Hitchcock, dry goods, gro- 
 ceries, etc. Loss by removal of goods, 
 considerable. Insurance $1,000. 
 
 Miss M. Gregg, Milliner. Stock 
 much damaged by removal. Probably 
 no insurance. 
 
 Dr. GranniSj Justice Wilkins, Con- 
 tractor Pitzpatrick, C. Spaulding, 
 tailor, all had offices in the second 
 story of the Exchange Block, were 
 all considerably damaged. Amount 
 
Page Ninety-two 
 
 of insurance if any, unknown. The 
 Exchange block belonged to Hon. 
 Charles Cook. 
 
 The Montour was damaged to the 
 extent of several hundred dollars. 
 That to the Observatory building 
 is also large, as well as that of 
 Tracy's block, east side of the can- 
 al. 
 
 From several dwellings and shops 
 the property was removed to prepare 
 for the further progress of the fire. 
 Among these was Mr. S. VanGorder 
 Mr. Prost, the Canal Collector's 
 clerk, M. Hyslop and others. 
 
 The origin of this calamity is un- 
 known; there are reasons for be- 
 lieving it the work of an incendiary. 
 
 Most of the citizens worked nobly, 
 faithfully and courageously to 
 quench the destroying element, and 
 especial credit is due to the ladies, 
 who labored with the utmost zeal 
 and efSciency. The fire continued to 
 rage about three hours before it 
 was subdued. 
 
 This is a sad calamity to our vil- 
 lage, and a blow of special severity 
 to us. It has swept away the great- 
 er portion of our earthly substance, 
 and leaves us but little except what 
 stands on our books. We hope to 
 bear up under our misfortune cour- 
 ageously, and we trust our friends 
 will appreciate the importance of 
 settling their accounts at once. Even 
 the smallest will be of essential val- 
 ue. We urge and implore that this 
 call toe promptly heeded. 
 
 In a short time we intend to pro- 
 cure a press and other material and 
 resume our weekly issue. The more 
 promptly those pay who are indebt- 
 ed to us, the sooner we shall be able 
 to meet our responsibilities. Our- 
 selves and books may be found ready 
 to meet our friends, in an office m 
 the Observatory building, directly 
 opposite our old place of business. 
 
 The incompleteness, perhaps, of 
 part of this account, is in conse- 
 quence of the early hour Thursday 
 morning our foreman had to take 
 the train for the Yaces County 
 Chronicle Office, Penn Yan, where 
 we were sure of friendly aid, and 
 where this sheet was set up and 
 printed." 
 
 As intimated in our last preced- 
 ing number, the first name in the 
 present order of our biographical 
 sketches, in the town of Dix, will 
 be that of 
 
 DR. SAMUEL WATKINS, 
 who was born on Long Island, on 
 the present site of the city of Brook- 
 lyn, near New York, in the year of 
 1771. He was the youngest son of 
 John and Lydia Watkins, and the 
 names of his two older brothers 
 were John and Charles, and of his 
 three sisters, Elizabeth, Mary and 
 Lydia. The family, with the excep- 
 tion of the youngest son and child 
 (Samuel) were natives of Wales, 
 in Great Britain, and previous to 
 their migration to this country, 
 shortly before the year 1770, were 
 residents of the parish of Coity, in 
 the county of Glamorgan, where 
 they seem to have had a large es- 
 tate which the father, John Wat- 
 kins, (gentleman) had inherited 
 from his father (the grandfather 
 of Dr. Watkins) whose name was 
 Thomas; and it is shown by the 
 will of the father (John) that he 
 had a brother named Thomas, and 
 a widowed sister, a Mrs. Davis, 
 surviving at the time the will was 
 made, which was October lOth, 
 1782, at his residence in Wales, as 
 above given — ^he having retained 
 and apparently occupied his estate 
 a portion of the time, after the 
 family came to America. He died 
 in New York, as near as can be as- 
 certained, about the year 1790, and 
 the will made in Wales, (a copy of 
 which is before us) was probated 
 in that city, and probably also in 
 Wales at the proper place in Gla- 
 morgan county. 
 
 This will provides that after all 
 his just debts shall have been paid, 
 his executors should continue to 
 bold the residue of his real estate 
 in trust for the uses and behoof 
 of his eldest son, John Watkin 
 Watkins — who was stated to be a 
 resident in America — and his heirs 
 and assigns; and that such part of 
 his personal estate as should re- 
 main in their hands, should be 
 equally divided among his wife and 
 children, share and share auk's, 
 Th's was done after his death, and 
 the seven shares of personal prop- 
 erty (wife and six children) amoun- 
 ted to $634.31 each, or an aggre- 
 gate of $4,440.17; and Dr. Watkins 
 went to Wales to settle the estate 
 for the heirs. It is probable that 
 the real estate was subsequently 
 sold for the benefit of John W. 
 
 We learn, pretty conclusively, 
 from such family records as we 
 have been able to consult, that the 
 
lather of Thomas Watkins (grand- 
 fa .her of John W., Charles and Dr. 
 Samuel) after whom John was in 
 part named, was Watkin Watkins; 
 that the maiden name of his wife 
 was Elizabeth Williams, and that 
 shs was born Dec. 14th, 1690 — 200 
 years ago. 
 
 The children of Watkin Watkins 
 and Elizabeth (Williams) Watkins 
 were Charles, born in 1720; Mary 
 born in 1722; Elizabeth, bom in 
 1725; John, born in 1726; Thomas 
 (grandfather of John W., Charles 
 and Dr. Samuel) born in 1731; Ann, 
 horn in 1734. We are unable, from 
 such records as are in our possess- 
 ion, to trace the lineage further 
 back than to the parents of these 
 children — Watkin and Elizabeth 
 Watkins, who seem to have been 
 married between the years 1715 and 
 1718. 
 
 Lydia Watkins, the mother of Dr. 
 Samuel and the other sons and 
 daughters of John Watkins, of 
 Coity in Wales, was born April 12, 
 1731, and died in New York on Har- 
 lem Heights, May 26th, 1811, aged 
 80 years. She was a woman of re- 
 markable energy and force of char- 
 acter, and her will, dated March 
 30th, 1807, and admitted to probate 
 a year or two after her death, was 
 an extraordinary instrument, evin- 
 cing great intelligence, clearness of 
 perception and strength of mind. 
 At the time of her death she seems 
 to have possessed a considerable 
 real estate in Harlem, and some 
 valuable lots on Broadway in New 
 York city. She was quite exten- 
 sively engaged in farming in what 
 was then known as "North New 
 York," and had much farm prop- 
 erty at the time her will was made, 
 and also seven slaves (New York 
 being then a slave-holding State) 
 Which were disposed of as follows: 
 
 "Item: I will and direct that my 
 negro man, Harmon, with his wife, 
 my negro woman, Jane, their two 
 sons, Jake and Bill, and their 
 daughter Tamar, shall be set free 
 and manumitted by my executors 
 within one month after my de- 
 cease." 
 
 "Item: I will and direct that my 
 negro boy, Peter, (son of Harmon 
 and Jane) shall serve my son, Dr. 
 Samuel Watkins, until he, the said 
 Peter, shall arrive at the age of 
 28 years, when, it is my express 
 will and direction, that he shall be 
 set free and manumitted by my 
 
 Page Ninety-three 
 
 executors; and I give and bequeath 
 my said negro boy, Peter, unto my 
 said son Samuel, for and during the 
 time aforesaid. I wiU and direct 
 that my negro man, Robin, shall 
 be set at liberty to go where he 
 pleases, and to live with any of my 
 children, whom he may choose to 
 serve, but that he shall not in any 
 wise be sold." 
 
 The Broadway real estate was 
 bequeathed to her daughter Eliza- 
 beth, who by marriage had become 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Dunkin, and the will 
 directed that from the avails of 
 her personal farm property in Har- 
 lem, — ^stock, hay, grain, farming 
 utensils, chaise, sleigh, etc. — a fund 
 of $2,500 should be invested for the 
 benefit of her daughter, Mary, and 
 the residue and remainder of her 
 estate, real and personal, includ- 
 ing the $2,500, after the death of 
 Mary, was to be divided into four 
 equal parts and distributed, share 
 and share alike, to her daughters, 
 Elizabeth Dunkin, and Lydia (who 
 by marriage had become Mrs. Lydia 
 Beekman) to Dr. Samuel Watkins, 
 and a one-fourth share to the chil- 
 dren of her son, Charles Watkins, 
 then (1807) recently deceased; but 
 to her eldest son, John W. Wat- 
 kins, she bequeathed "only her 
 blessing" for the alleged reason that 
 he had already received a large 
 portion of his father's estate, to 
 the exclusion of her other children. 
 But she gave to the children of 
 John W., namely, Susan, Lydia, 
 William L., John P. and Charles 
 G., the sum of $25 each. 
 
 This will, which is one of the 
 best and most carefully and clearly 
 worded documents, of its kind, that 
 has ever fallen under our notice, 
 is witnessed, among others, by 
 Elizabeth Maunsell, the sister of 
 the testatrix, (Mrs. Watkins) and 
 the wife of Gen. John Maunsell, 
 who was a Major-General of much 
 note in the British Army, and whose 
 commissions, on parchment, from 
 that of Lieutenant up through all 
 grades to the highest above-men- 
 tioned, we have examined — those of 
 Brigadier and Major-General bear- 
 ing the autograph signatures of 
 King George the Third in a large 
 and bold hand, which may well be 
 termed of "heroic size." The will 
 was also witnessed by her daughter, 
 Lydia Beekman, that lady's hus- 
 band, who belonged to an illustrious 
 New York family, whose descend- 
 
Page Ninety- four 
 
 ants are still prominently identified 
 with the public and professional 
 life of the great metropolis. 
 
 The Maunsells, Beelon'ins, and 
 other members of the Watkins fam- 
 ily, by birth and marriage, at one 
 time owned some 50 or 60 acres, 
 in what is now the very heart of 
 the Harlem portion of New York, 
 and worth many millions of dol- 
 lars. Gen. Maunsell made one pur- 
 chase, at an early day, shortly af- 
 ter the Revolutionary War, for $10,- 
 000, paid in cash; and Dr. Watkins 
 owned many valuable acres, which 
 seem to have been sold at, or short- 
 ly before he became a resident of 
 what is now Watkins; and it is 
 reported that the descendants of 
 the family, in New York, at the 
 present day, or at least most of 
 them, are very wealthy. 
 
 Some time after the death of his 
 father, when John W. Watkins be- 
 came a leading spirit in the Wat- 
 kins and Flint purchase, he aban- 
 doned his profession, in New York 
 which was that of law, and became 
 a real estate operator, which new 
 business involved him, his immed- 
 iate family and his brothers Chas. 
 and Dr. Samuel, in long and vex- 
 atious troubles, growing out of the 
 expansive management of the 25,- 
 000 acres of that purchase, set off 
 to him at and adjacent to the head- 
 waters of Seneca Lake and which 
 called for extensive and costly im- 
 provements as a means of bringing 
 the lands into market for settle- 
 ment at enhanced prices. We have, 
 in a former article, indicated what 
 some of these improvements were, 
 and hinted at their expensive na- 
 ture, and the unproductiveness of 
 the property for many years after 
 its purchase; anterior to the era of 
 canal and railway transportation; 
 and shall proceed to show in our 
 next number how, in what manner, 
 and at what time, because of John 
 W's financial embarassment, his 
 brother Charles came to his tem- 
 poral y relief, became interested, 
 was succeeded because of his em- 
 barrassment by Doctor Samuel, and 
 how the latter became the legal 
 owner of the vast estate, and. In 
 due time, founded the village that 
 beais his name. It is a most curious 
 and romantic history, and furnish- 
 es another illustration of the old 
 adage that "Truth is stranger than 
 fiction." 
 
 After his brother, John W. Wat- 
 kins, came into possession of his 
 25,000 acres of the Watkins and 
 Flint purchase, which was before 
 the close of the year 1794, immediate 
 arrangements were commenced for 
 its improvement, development and 
 sale to pioneer settlers. The most 
 complete and perfect historical ref- 
 erence to these improvements that 
 we have had access to, is contain- 
 ea in the Bill of Chancery, filed 
 by the heirs of John W. Watkins 
 againsi Samuel Watkins, on the 
 lOth of January, 1816, a year or two 
 after John W's death — ^those prose- 
 cuting heirs having been the child- 
 ren of the deceased, and a son-in- 
 law, as follows: William L. Wat- 
 kins, Thomas Hammersly and Su- 
 san (Watkins) Hammersly, his wife, 
 Lydia Watkins, John P. Watkins, 
 and Charles G. Watkins. Their 
 complaint was an admirably drawn 
 document, full and voluminous. 
 Their solicitor in Chancery was J. 
 B. Prescott, associated with Peter 
 Augustus Jay; and their case was 
 submitted to the Hon. James Kent, 
 Chancellor of the State of New 
 Yoik— one of the most illustrious 
 names connected with its early ju- 
 dicial history. 
 
 The heirs at law of John W. 
 Watkins alleged that he in the 
 year 1799, and some years prior to 
 that date, "was seized in his own 
 light, in fee, of several parcels of 
 land, situated in the county of 
 Tioga, in this State, containing to- 
 gether about 25,000 acres," and 
 that "in order to the improvement 
 and settlement of the said lands, 
 he had loaned of sundry persons 
 considerable sums of money, at in- 
 terest, relying principally upon the 
 sales which were daily effecting to 
 meet the payment of the sums so 
 borrowed, when called upon for that 
 purpose." The complainants then 
 "show unto his Honor" that "the 
 disbursements attending a new and 
 extensive establishment, unaided by 
 those resources upon which he had 
 calculated, after some time ex- 
 hausted the means of the said John 
 W. Watkins, and involved him in 
 temporary embarrassment." 
 
 They next proceed to show that 
 one Andrew Mitchell, to whom the 
 said John W. had become indebted 
 obtained a judgment against him 
 m the Supreme Court of $2,350, 
 and, refusing to give any extension 
 of time thereon, procured an exe- 
 
cation which was placed in the 
 hands of the Sheriff of Tioga Co., 
 who seized upon the said several 
 parcels of land, and advertised the 
 same for sale, on a certain day In 
 satisfaction of said judgment. 
 
 Tae complainants next show that 
 under these circumstances, Charles 
 Watkins, the brother of the said 
 John W., then a merchant in New 
 York city in full business, knowing 
 of the embarrassment of the said 
 John W. and that they could be 
 only temporary inasmuch ■ as the 
 said lands were of a value far be- 
 yond any debts which he had in- 
 curred, and fearing that a sacrifice 
 was intended by the owner of the 
 judgment, for his own benefit, to 
 the exclusion of the other credi- 
 tors, resolved to interpose with all 
 his credit and means to save the 
 said lands, and extricate his broth- 
 er, to whom he was also indebted 
 — ^probably for the purchase of 5000 
 acres of the said lands, which he 
 seems to have contracted for prev- 
 ious to the year 1799. 
 
 With this generous purpose in 
 view. Charles employed an agent. 
 — one Peter Mastertow, and he was 
 instructed to negotiate with one 
 John Stiles, who had become the 
 owner of the said judgment, for 
 some delay in the sale, on pledg- 
 ing his (Charles') credit for the 
 payment of the claim. But no ex- 
 tension could be obtained, and then 
 the agent was authorized to bid on 
 the lands at the sale, which was to 
 take place on the 12th day of April, 
 1799, to the amount, if necessary, 
 of $-50. 000. A knowledge of this fact 
 seems to have deterred the owner 
 of the judgment from bidding, and 
 the whole of the said lands, or all 
 the right, title and interest in the 
 same, were sold on the bid of 
 Charles Watkins, for $2,412, which 
 covered the execution and costs of 
 the suit; and the entire property 
 was conveyed to him by the Sher- 
 iff, Joseph Hinchman, and he thus 
 became the legal owner thereof, and 
 held the same, with thp sole view of 
 extricating the said John and of 
 aiding him to do equal justice to 
 his creditors. 
 
 It is further alleged that in the 
 latter part of the autumn of tie 
 same year, the said Charles Wat- 
 kins sustained some heavy xoo.^es 
 in the course of his commercial 
 transactions, and being conscious 
 that any disarrangement of his af- 
 
 Page Ninsty-flve 
 
 fairs, by diminishing his credit, as 
 well as limiting his means, would 
 utterly defeat the object he had in 
 view, he called upon his younger 
 er brother. Dr. Samuel Watkins, 
 and suggested to him the propriety, 
 as well as necessity of his advanc- 
 ing to the relief of the said John. 
 And the complaint states that the 
 said Samuel, with an ardor that was 
 honorable to his fraternal feelings 
 engaged his services and credit to 
 the relief of the said John, upon 
 receiving from the said Charles a 
 transfer of the said lands, together 
 with the 5,000 acres previously con- 
 tracted to the said Charles by his 
 brother John W. The transfer was 
 by deeds from Charles and his wife 
 to Dr. Samuel, bearing date Dec. 
 31st, 1799 and as the complainants 
 allege, "with the express under- 
 standing that the said Samuel 
 would step forward and aid the 
 said John with his means and cred- 
 it in effecting settlements with 
 creditors, and would thereafter re- 
 convey to the said John W. such 
 portion of the said lands as were 
 not disposed of for that purpose, 
 upon receiving security for the 
 monies advanced by him toward 
 such settlements — the consideration 
 money in the deed of Charles to 
 Dr. Samuel having been the same 
 as that of the Sheriff to Charles. 
 
 But, alas! as is too often the case 
 in similar confidential transactions 
 between brethren, the alleged un- 
 derstood conditions of the trust 
 were "not nominated in the bond" 
 and Dr. Samuel Watkins stood be- 
 fore the world, and in the eyes of 
 the common law, as the actual bona 
 fide owner and possessor of the 25,- 
 000 acres, and all the right title 
 and interest thereunto pertaining 
 that had theretofore belonged to 
 his brother John W., and which 
 was held for a brief time, in trust, 
 by Charles, the former having prob- 
 ably paid the latter the considera- 
 tion money ($2,412) named in the 
 Sheriff's deed. 
 
 It appears that Dr. Watkins im- 
 mediately set about ascertaining 
 the indebtedness of John W., and 
 the claims against the estate, and 
 liquidating the same, and John W. 
 was placed in charge to make sales 
 and manage improvements; but all 
 conveyances and receipts had to be 
 in Dr. Samuel's name and all mon- 
 ies accounted for to him. Hence it 
 is that so many of the early con- 
 
Page Ninety-six 
 
 tracts and deeds — ^in fact all of 
 them bearing date as late as 1800 
 — were from Samuel Watkins, in- 
 stead of John W., though the lat- 
 ter was connected with the man- 
 agement of the property until his 
 health failed, and he was compel- 
 led to return to New York, where 
 his family resided, and where he 
 died, as near as we are at)le to fix 
 the date, in 1814. several years af- 
 ter the death of his brother Charles. 
 So great — according to the com- 
 plaint under consideration — was his 
 confidence in the Etoctor's disinter- 
 ested generosity and iiitegrity, that 
 no accountings were had for years, 
 or until the claims against the 
 property were nearly all settled — 
 when, as John W., and after him 
 his children, claimed that a large 
 part of the original tract property 
 belonged to him and them. It ap- 
 pears, however, that all attempts 
 to get a settlement with the young- 
 er bro''her, and a reconveyance of 
 the remainder of the estate, were 
 unavailing while John lived, though 
 he strenuously labored for the ac- 
 complishment of that purpose in 
 order that he might leave his fam- 
 ily in good circumstances; and 
 therefore this bill in Chancery by 
 his heirs, subsequent to his death, 
 and after all other efforts for a 
 P'-actical admission and restoration 
 of their rights in the premises had 
 proved futile and in vain. This bill 
 was an arrangement almost equal, 
 in its charges, to an indictment; 
 and the substance of the allegations 
 and the sequel to the prosecution 
 are yet to be told, as essential to 
 a correct historical understanding 
 of the ■Watkir=! estate. 
 
 It would be a most interesting 
 revelation to the people of the pre- 
 sent day, did our space permit the 
 publication in full of the "Bill in 
 Chancery." filed against Dr. Wat- 
 kins by the heirs of his deceased 
 brother, John W. — the original own- 
 er of the great Watkins estate at 
 the head of Seneca Lake; but, as 
 its great length precludes its pub- 
 lication in these columns, we can 
 only give sufficient extracts from 
 the voluminous complaint to clear- 
 ly indicate its character and the 
 nature and extent of the relief de- 
 manded in the names of Equity and 
 Justice, at the hands of Chancellor 
 Kent. 
 
 Having as stated in the last ar- 
 ticle, failed in health, after labor- 
 
 ing in connection with the estate 
 a term of years, foUowing its con- 
 veyance to Dr. Samuel Watkins, by 
 Char:.a3— in trust, as alleged by 
 said comp'.aint, for the benefit of 
 the first owner — John W. Watkins 
 returned to New York, and the doc- 
 ument alluded to details his efforts 
 for two years to obtain an account- 
 ing from and settlement with the 
 younger brother. The following are 
 a few verbatim counts from the 
 record. It should be remembered, 
 however, that they are ex parte, 
 and solely from the complainant's 
 point of view: 
 
 "And your orators further show 
 unto your Honor, that upon the ar- 
 rival of the said John, he stated 
 to the said Samuel his object, to- 
 gether with the motives which in- 
 duced him to solicit such recon- 
 veyance, and requested him to pre- 
 pare some instrument by which he 
 could ascertain the balance due to 
 him (the said John.) And your ora- 
 tors further show unto your Honor, 
 that the said Samuel, instead of 
 listening to the said, proposition, 
 renewed solicitations to the said 
 John to take the benefit of the In- 
 solvent Act, alleging, as an addi- 
 tional reason, that he the said 
 Samuel had taken assignments in 
 his own name of all the bonds, 
 judgments, mortgages and claims, 
 which had been extinguished, and 
 that. he could sign off that amount. 
 And your orators further show un- 
 to your Honor, that the said John 
 had ever theretofore rejected, with 
 indignation, a measure which was 
 unnecessary, destructive to his in- 
 terests and injurious to those feel- 
 ings which had guided him through 
 life; and becoming jealous of the 
 motives of a brother who could 
 urge such steps, when he had be- 
 come the principal and almost only 
 creditor, he disclosed to some of 
 his friends his fears of sinister 
 views on the part of the said Sam- 
 uel, and the necessity of being pre- 
 pared with funds to meet his whole 
 claim, in order to entitle him (the 
 said John) to claim an immediate 
 transfer. And your orators further 
 al of the friends of the said John 
 show unto your Honor that sever- 
 united and agreed to advance the 
 balance due to the said Samuel, 
 upon his conveyance of the said 
 lands remaining in his hands. And 
 your orators further show unto your 
 Honor that the said John there- 
 
upon, either in person or through 
 the medium of friends, informed the 
 said Samuel of the readiness of 
 the said John to discharge the 
 amount due to him with the inter- 
 est and a fair compensation for 
 his services, upon his reconveyirig 
 the said premises; and that the 
 said Samuel affected a desire to 
 comply and promised to make out 
 his accounts and reconvey, as soon 
 as his leisure would permit. And 
 your orators further show unto your 
 Honor, that the said Samuel, by 
 some subterfuges continued to 
 evade the performance of such 
 promise, and actually kept the said 
 John upwards of two years in this 
 cl'y. and environs, in expectation 
 of such settlement, flattering him 
 with professions of the most liber- 
 al provisions for his children, and 
 assuring him that all his efforts 
 had been made for their happiness. 
 And your orators further show un- 
 to your Honor, that the health of 
 the said John declined so rapidly, 
 his patience became exhausted, and 
 he threatened to appeal to this 
 Honorable Court for relief, when 
 the said Samuel, affecting surprise 
 at his distrust, enumerating the 
 variety of his services, the intri- 
 cacies of the whole transaction, the 
 dififtculty of making out a correct 
 balance, proposed to the said John 
 to transfer to him, forthwith, three 
 or four thousand acres of the said 
 lands, to take measures to settle 
 with the few creditors who remain- 
 ed unsatisfleci, and thereafter to 
 liquidate the accounts. 
 
 And your orators further show 
 unto your Honor, that the said John 
 fearing his dissolution from day to 
 day, cheerfully closed with this pro- 
 posal, in order to secure this much 
 for his children. And your orators 
 further show unto your Honor, that 
 the said John, in full confidence of 
 such transfer, . as soon as it could 
 be made out, at the particular so- 
 licitation of the said Samuel, gave 
 to him a letter or memorandum, 
 addressed to his agent, directing 
 him to receive the instructions of 
 the said Samuel, generally as to 
 the possession of the said lands, as 
 your orators were informed by the 
 said John thereafter. And your ora- 
 tors further show unto your Honor, 
 that as soon as the said Samuel 
 had obtained such letter, or order, 
 he wholly avoided all intercourse 
 with the said John, and withheld 
 
 Page Ninety-seven 
 
 from him the said transfer, as stip- 
 ulated, well knowing that the said 
 John, then confined to his bed, was 
 too feeble to renew his efloi-ts for 
 the security of his family. And your 
 orators further show unto your 
 Honor, that the said John lingered 
 for a short time, thereafter, cha- 
 grined and distressed at the course 
 pursued by the said Snmuel, and 
 died expressing a last hone that his 
 children would one c>nv be enabled 
 to obtain Ihat justice Jiom the said 
 Samuel which had bten denied 
 him. * * * 
 
 And your orators further show 
 unto your Honor, that after the 
 death of the said John W. Watkins, 
 having a full knowledge of the said 
 Samuel Watkins, in the last mo- 
 ments of their father's life, and 
 with a view to avoid all obstacles 
 which they had no doubt he would 
 raise against a reconveyance, they 
 applied to some of the friends of 
 the family to promise the sums nec- 
 essary to retrieve the said lands. 
 And your orators further show un- 
 to your Honor, that having obtain- 
 ed an assurance of any amount 
 necessary to discharge the claims 
 of the said Samuel, the same ap- 
 plications were made for a recon- 
 veyance of the said lands to them, 
 upon the payment of the balance 
 due to the said Samuel for monies 
 advanced by him in the course of 
 his said agency, with the interest 
 which had accrued thereon, and a 
 full compensation for the labor 
 which he had bestowed to the con- 
 cerns of the said John W. Watkins;- 
 and your orators well hoped that 
 the said Samuel Watkins from 
 pride, if not from a sense of jus- 
 tice, would have complied with such 
 their reasonable request. But so it 
 is, may it please your Honor, that 
 the said Samuel Watkins, combin- 
 ing and confederating with divers 
 persons at present unknown to your 
 orators (and whose names, when 
 discovered, your orators pray may 
 be inserted in this their bill of 
 complaint with propter and apt 
 words to charge them as parties 
 hereunto, how to aggrieve and in- 
 jure your orators in the premises 
 and to defraud them of just rights) 
 sometimes gives out and pretends 
 that the purchase was absolute and 
 that he is not bound to reoonvey; 
 a/t other times pretends that the 
 said John died in debt to him to 
 a larger amount than the value of 
 
Page Ninety-eight 
 
 the said lands, and threatens, if 
 pressed by your orators to sell the 
 same at public auction under the 
 said judgments so assigned to him, 
 so as to defeat the claim of your 
 orators. Whereas, your orators ex- 
 pressly charge, and so the truth is, 
 that the said conveyance, so as 
 aforesaid executed by the said 
 Charles to him, the said Samuel, 
 was altogether in trust for the ob- 
 ject before mentioned, with full 
 knowledge of the nature and mot- 
 ives of the said purchase made by 
 the said Charles, and with the ex- 
 press understanding, hereinbefore 
 stated, and that the amount of 
 monies advanced at different times 
 by the said Samuel in discharge of 
 the debts of tlie said John, are 
 nearly if not wholly extinguished 
 (balanced) by the monies received 
 by the said Samuel on account of 
 the said John W. Watkins— all 
 which actions, doings and pretenses 
 are contrary to equity and good 
 conscience, and tend to your ora- 
 tors manifest wrong and injury. In 
 tender consideration whereof, and 
 for as much as your orators are 
 wholly remediless by the strict rules 
 of the common law, and have no 
 means to discover the amount of 
 monies really paid out by the said 
 Samuel, nor of the monies receiv- 
 ed by him on account of the said 
 John, nor can obtain a reconvey- 
 ance of the said lands but in a 
 Court where frauds of this nature 
 are properly cognizable, and the 
 rather for that your orators' wit- 
 ■ nesses, who could prove the truth 
 of, and singular the premises, are 
 either dead or gone beyond the 
 seas to parts unknown to your 
 orators." 
 
 After a long list of Interrogatories, 
 propounded for the "said Samuel" 
 to answer under oath, which are of 
 the most searching character, this 
 remarkable legal document con- 
 cludes as follows: 
 
 "And that he (the said Samuel 
 Watkins) may be compelled to re- 
 convey to your orators such of the 
 said lands as remain unsold, or 
 otherwise disposed of for the pay- 
 ment of such balance as may be 
 found to be due, and that he may 
 account for all means received by 
 him on account of the said John 
 W. Watkins, and that such further 
 and other relief may 'be had in the 
 premises, as to your Honor may 
 seem agreeable to equity and good 
 
 conscience, may it please your Hon- 
 or to grant unto your orators the 
 people's most gracious writ of sub- 
 poena, to be directed to the said 
 Samuel Watkins, thereby command- 
 ing him, at a certain day and under 
 a certain hour therein to be in- 
 serted, personally to 'be and ap- 
 pear before your Honor in this 
 Honorable Court, then and there 
 to answer the premises, and to 
 stand to and abide such order and 
 decree therein, as to your Honor 
 shall seem agreeable to equity and 
 good conscience. 
 
 And your orators shall ever pray, 
 etc. 
 
 J. B. Prevost, 
 
 Solicitor & Counsel for Com- 
 plainants. 
 
 Peter Augustus Jay, 
 Of Counsel for Complainants. 
 
 I certify .the preceding to be a 
 true copy of a Bill filed in my of- 
 fice. 
 
 Edw. Elmendorf, 
 Clerk in Chancery. 
 
 We had hoped to conclude the 
 sketch of Dr. Watkins in this num- 
 ber; but in order to give the result 
 as far as possible, of this litigation, 
 and a history of his after life in 
 connection with the immense land- 
 ed property in dispute between him 
 and the heirs of John W., another 
 full article will be required. 
 
 After the service of the Bill of 
 Chancery, from which quotations 
 were given in our last preceding 
 number, a truce seems to have fol- 
 lowed between Dr. Watkins, and the 
 heirs-at-law of John W.; and in- 
 stead of contesting the case to the 
 bitter end, as he probably might 
 have done and fully sustained his 
 right and title to the lands in dis- 
 pute, the Dr. proceeded, apparent- 
 ly without compulsion, to make out 
 a complete account of all his ad- 
 vances in behalf of the estate, and 
 the claims against John W. that he 
 had assumed and paid, "with in- 
 terest thereon," including a bill for 
 his services for a period of ten or 
 twelve years; and to the amaze- 
 ment of the dissatisfied heirs, the 
 ibcilanoe against the property 
 amounted to nearly $40,000 — ^and 
 as a very natural consequence the 
 Bill in Chancery was not pressed, 
 but at once abandoned. — Indeed, 
 there Is now reason to believe that 
 the younger brother, whose fidelity 
 to hi.'s trust was regarded with sus- 
 picion, and whose motives were im- 
 
poached by John W. and his chil- 
 dren, had withheld from John W., 
 in his enfeebled health, a full state- 
 ment of the case, (with the un- 
 welcome fact that neither himself 
 nor his family had any real inter- 
 est left in the property) more in 
 liindness and mercy, than because 
 of any sinister or unworthy purpose 
 ho had to subserve. This view of 
 the case, which is highly creditable 
 to the memory of Dr. Watkins, ap- 
 pears to be sustained by the sequel; 
 for his accounting, and statement 
 in full, was accompanied by a prop- 
 osition to the heirs of John W., 
 t-i2,t he would convey the entire 
 estate to them, on being reimbursed 
 for the amount expended over and 
 above the small receipts, on sales, 
 that had been paid over to him. 
 
 Not being able to command, 
 through friends or otherwise, the 
 largo sum required, and yet hav- 
 ing great faith in the property and 
 its rapid increase in value, the 
 heirs desired to make the purchase, 
 paying but a small amount down, 
 and giving a mortgage on the lands 
 to Sf-cure the purchase money. This 
 offer the man whom they had so 
 fieely mrjigned in their complaint, 
 r.ccepted, and the whole great area 
 of 25,000 acres — excepting what 
 little had been sold and deeded to 
 others, was conveyed to the chil- 
 ciien of the original owner, John 
 W. Watkins, and tlm stipulated 
 mortgago taken as security. 
 
 iril-.orciy cfter this notable trans- 
 action had been completed, the 
 so:'.s of John W., — William L., 
 John P. and Charles G. Watkins, 
 and their brother-in-law, Thomas 
 Hammersly, — came from New York 
 and took possession of the great 
 estate, and commenced improving 
 it, and selling lands to settlers; but 
 as all lands sold were covered by 
 the general mortgage, titles were 
 not regarded as good and perfected 
 without quit claims from Dr. Wat- 
 kins. Still these he does not seem 
 to have withheld, and the "boys" 
 as they were called ,sold, and re- 
 ceived payments for a considerable 
 number of acres, during the term 
 of years that they managed the 
 estate. They found, however, that 
 the costs of improvements were 
 heavy, the sales comparatively few 
 and slow, and payments by no means 
 prompt on what, could be disposed 
 of; and instead of succeeding well, 
 as they had anticipated, (like their 
 
 Page Ninety-nine 
 
 father) they too became embarras- 
 sed, though they had all the avails 
 of the property. They never paid 
 their uncle Samuel a cent of either 
 principal or interest; and finally 
 became discouraged and voluntar- 
 ily conveyed the lands — save those 
 that had been deeded to pioneer 
 settlers— back to Dr. Watkins, in 
 payment of the mortgage; and 
 thus he again, and finally, became 
 the landed proprietor of the great 
 tract, which has so strange a his- 
 tory. We are informed by Mr. Or- 
 lando Hurd, of this village — ^who 
 knew more of Dr. Watkins and his 
 business affairs, during his resi- 
 dence at the head of Seneca Lake, 
 than any one now living — ^that when 
 this recoiiveyance was made. Dr. 
 Watkins generously presented, and 
 deeded to the children of John W. 
 — three sons and two daughters — 
 500 acre.-; of land each. Where those 
 lands were located, and what be- 
 came of them, we are unable to 
 say; but as the children evidently 
 needed money more than they did 
 wild lands, it is not improbable that 
 the Dr. purch-'iscd the gifts, at a 
 bargain, and paid cash for them, 
 thereby again rounding out the es- 
 tate with the 2500 acres. 
 
 The new and second-time owner, 
 after again coming in possession of 
 the lands, seems to have managed 
 them as best he could, for some 
 years, through a local agent, until 
 the needful changes could be made 
 in his large business — that of a 
 physician and wholesale and retail 
 druggist. 1828, he came to what 
 is now Watkins to reside, and per- 
 sonally manage the large property, 
 v/hich he found in a very unsatis- 
 factory condition. Having been born 
 in 1771, he was then 57 years of 
 age, but a man of great activity 
 for one of his years. He proceeded 
 at once to found a village, which 
 he called "Salubria;" but Isaac Q. 
 Leake, an early settler on the west 
 shore of the lake, in the vicinity 
 of where Gen. G. J. Magee's fine 
 and costly residence now stands, 
 having also started a rival village 
 on lands formerly embraced in the 
 Watson tract, north of the present 
 Reading and Ddx .boundary line, 
 and called it "Savoy", the Dr. be- 
 came disgusted with his fanciful 
 name; and April 11th, 1842, having 
 had the village previously laid out, 
 and mapped essentially as It now 
 is, it was duly incorporated under 
 
Page One Hundred 
 the name of Jefferson; and the 
 next year after his death, which 
 occurred In 1851, it was changed to 
 Watkins to perpetuate the name 
 and memory of its founder. 
 
 It will be conceded by all at the 
 present day, that Dr. Watkins, for 
 one in the decline of a long, active 
 and arduous life, manifested won- 
 deriul energy and enterprisie, in 
 connection with his new possessions; 
 and he appears to have finally pur- 
 chased the Leake village of Savoy, 
 (which was mostly on paper) and 
 thus removed his only dangerous 
 rival, at the same time driving a 
 shrewd and good bargain. He built 
 the Jefferson House, a great and 
 costly undertaking in those early 
 days, which was finished in 1834; 
 also quite a number of other brick 
 Luildings; a good grist-mill and a 
 sav/-mill at the entrance of the 
 Glen, which improvements Involv- 
 ed a large outlay of many thous- 
 ands of dollars. He also built two 
 reservoir dams in the Glen — one 
 near the present site of the Glen 
 Mountain House, to supply the mills 
 in "Entrance Ampitheatre" in times 
 of low wat«r — and the other just 
 above the head of the section known 
 as "Glen Arcadia", at the lower 
 end of "Glen Facility" to supply a 
 succession of water powers along 
 the eastern slope of the west hill, 
 ending in the lake, and to furnish 
 the future village (or city as he 
 believed it would become) with wa- 
 ter, through a system of water- 
 works. The upper dam was 30 feet 
 high, and backed water up as far 
 as where the S., G. & C. viaduct 
 now crosses the great gorge — 450 
 feet long, and 165 feet above the 
 stream; iDut in one of the great 
 Glen floods shortly after its con- 
 struction, this upper dam went out, 
 and made such havoc in the village 
 lands below, (then mostly without 
 buildings) that it was not rebuilt, 
 and the raceway, that was to have 
 cut through what is now upper 
 Glenwood, and along the slope of 
 the hill to near the foot of Frank- 
 lin street, was never excavated, or 
 even begun. 
 
 In the year 1840, (then aged 
 about 69 years) Dr. Watkins mar- 
 ried Miss Cynthia A. Cass, a daugh- 
 ter of Josiah Cass, (sister of M. M. 
 Cass) a lady of rare intelligence and 
 fine artistic taste, with whom he 
 lived some ten years — during which 
 time the Watkins mansion was built 
 
 at great expense and richly furn- 
 ) ished, and its grounds beautifully 
 ornamented, making it one of the 
 notable and most elegant residences 
 then to be found in all this section 
 of the State. It subsequently be- 
 came the residence of Judge Geo. 
 I G. Freer, the property and resi- 
 I dence of John Magee, and the fam- 
 ) ily of Duncan S. Magee, and the 
 / ily of Duncan S. Magee was af- 
 ' terwards changed into a hotel, 
 named the "Magee House," and 
 [ is now, with additions and im- 
 provements Icnown as the Schuyler 
 Hotel. 
 
 It can be emphatically said of 
 Dr. Watkins, that whatever he un- 
 dertook to do was well done. His 
 buildings were all constructed of 
 the best materials, and their work- 
 manship was as good as money in 
 his day and generation could com- 
 mand; and they are nearly all solid 
 and substantial structures at the 
 present time, though built from 
 50 to 60 years ago. 
 
 Reference has heretofore been 
 made in our sketch of Dr. Watkins 
 to his valuable real estate owned in 
 Harlem, prior to his having become 
 a resident of Salubria. We are now 
 able to state, on the authority of 
 Mr. Hurd (abovementioned) that 
 the Doctor continued to hold much 
 of the Harlem real estate, as late 
 as the year 1845; and that it was 
 sold after that date to cover the 
 heavy outgoes incident to his great 
 building enterprises, extensive im- 
 provements and other heavy ex- 
 penses. Still he left a large and 
 widely extended estate, valued at 
 several hundred thousands of dol- 
 lars, the large bulk of which was 
 bequeathed to his widow, to the 
 general exclusion of the kindred 
 bearing his name; and it has since 
 ibeen scattered, as it were, to the 
 winds, and is now possessed by a 
 multitude of people, who know but 
 little or nothing of the old-time 
 owner, save that his name was Dr. 
 iSamuel Watkins, and that it is 
 perpetuated, by the village which 
 he founded, and the Watkins fam- 
 ily vault, now in Glenwood, where 
 his ashes are entombed and peace- 
 fully repose. 
 
 Our next article will be devoted 
 to George G. Freer; and many 
 things that might have been prop- 
 erly embraced in the sketch of Dr. 
 Watkins, will appear incidentally 
 in that of one who but a few years 
 
after his demise, succeeded to a 
 large portion of his estate, and to 
 his position as the most prominent 
 man of the village. 
 
 As stated in our last number, 
 this one will be devoted to 
 
 Hon. George G. Freer, 
 who was for nearly a quarter of a 
 century, one of the most conspic- 
 uous citizens of Watkins, in the 
 county of Schuyler, from the time 
 of its erection in 1354, and of the 
 territory comprising it, for some 
 years previous to that date. 
 
 George G. Freer was born at 
 Marbletown, N. Y., in the county 
 of Ulster, January 29th, 1809. He 
 was one of a large family of twelve 
 children, all of whom grew to man- 
 hood and womanhood, and of whom 
 toui; two now survive — ^Dr. Jacob 
 Freer and Mrs. P. G. Hungerford, 
 Iboth residents of New York city. 
 George G. received a liberal aca- 
 demic education, and was a scholar 
 oi high attainments, before he was 
 20 years of age. In 1826 he left home 
 for Ithaca, where he studied law 
 with Samuel Love, a prominent 
 member of the Tompkins county 
 bar. He made rapid progress, and 
 was admitted to practice at the age 
 of 21 years, which was as soon as 
 the rules of the court would per- 
 mit — he having in the meantime, 
 and while studying engaged in 
 teaching, for which vocation he was 
 admirably qualified by endowments 
 both natural and acquired. As a 
 lawyer his reputation, in his early 
 practice, was highly creditable; 
 and he manifested the possession 
 of decided legal talent and ability, 
 and a strong judicial turn of mind, 
 in all his after life. 
 
 In August, 1851, shortly after the 
 death of Dr. Watkins, (who died 
 May 1st in that year) he came to 
 Watkins to reside, having been re- 
 tained, in connection with Judge 
 Amasa Dana of Ithaca, to defend 
 the Watkins Will, in the interest of 
 the widow, as against the contest- 
 ants who were relatives of the de- 
 ceased, and alleged his incompet- 
 ency to make a will, and undue in- 
 fluence, at the time It, and its co- 
 dicil were dated, October 10th, 1840, 
 and April 8th, 1848. The contest 
 was before the Judge and Surro- 
 gate of Chemung county, Hon. Ariel 
 S. Thurston, (who is still living in 
 Elmira) and was continued through 
 several days. 
 
 The executors of the will were 
 Benjamin P. Butler, Bowen Whit- 
 ing, Edward Howell, Hiram Gray, 
 Ben. Johnson, Jonathan B. Gosman 
 and Amasa Dana — some of them 
 apparently of New York, and others 
 
 One Hundred One 
 
 of the counties of Steuben, Che- 
 mung and Tompkins. The witnes- 
 ses to the will were, W. M. Him- 
 rod, and Moses Cass of Reading, 
 (then Steuben county), and J. B. 
 Cass of Jefferson, Chemung county; 
 and to the codicil, Sylvester B. 
 Shearer, Wm. Haring and Orlando 
 Hurd. The contestants were seven 
 of the "heirs-at-law and next of 
 kin", namely, Maunsell VanRens- 
 salaer, Alexander Hoff and Ann 
 Eliza, his lyife; Margaretta S. Rus- 
 sell; John Sill, and Lydia B., his 
 wife; and Harriet S. VanRenssalaer. 
 Their counsel was Alexander S. 
 Diven, Esq., of Elmira, who still re- 
 sides in that city — ^which was then 
 a village of about 3,500 inhabitants. 
 The Benjamin P. Butler of New 
 York, was undoubtedly the identi- 
 cal "Ben" Butler now of Masschu- 
 setta, and who was subsequently 
 Attorney-General in President Bu- 
 chanan's Cabinet from 1857 to 1861 
 — about 30 years ago. 
 
 The will was admitted to probate 
 by Judge Thurston, October 14th, 
 1851, who adjudged and decreed 
 that: "The said last will and testa- 
 ment and the codicil thereto, were 
 duly executed and the same are 
 genuine and valid; and the said 
 Samuel Watkins, at the time of 
 executing the said will, and also 
 at the time of executing the codicil 
 thereto, was in all respects com- 
 petent to devise real estate, and not 
 under restraint." 
 
 The v/ill, as originally drawn, pro- 
 vided the means for establishing 
 two high 'schools, one of which was 
 to have been a female seminary; 
 taut the codicil revoked these be- 
 quests and made other changes, 
 which left the entire Watkins es- 
 tate, real and personal, absolutely 
 to the widow, with an expression of 
 entire confidence, on the part of 
 the testator, that she would use 
 good discretion and judgment in es- 
 tablishing good educational facili- 
 ties for the village, and especially 
 for the proper education of her own 
 
 S6X 
 
 On the 11th of February, 1852, the 
 will having been duly admitted to 
 probate, and the decree acquiesed 
 in, Mrs. Watkins became Mrs. Geo. 
 G. Freer. She did not long survive, 
 but died October 1st, 1853, 1 year, 
 7 months, 20 days after the mar- 
 riage — and by virtue of her wUl he 
 became the principal legatee of her 
 large estate, the residue having 
 been bequeathed, mostly in undi- 
 vided real estate to her relatives; 
 and it was ultimately partitioned 
 among them, as provided for in the 
 will and Its codicil. The latter re- 
 voked many legacies, for the pay- 
 ment of which one-eighth of the 
 
One Hundred Two 
 
 estate had been pledged in the for- 
 mer, and that portion of the estate 
 was added to the share bequeathed 
 to the husband, also (for life) the 
 Watkins mansion, and its two acres 
 of ground east of Decatur and north 
 of Washington (how Fourth) streets 
 and known as the "vegetable gar- 
 ' (ien" — since sold and divided into 
 '-tillage lots. She set apart one-six- 
 teenth of her estate for the estab- 
 lishment of a high school, which 
 became the nucleus of .the present 
 Watkins Academic and Union 
 School. 
 
 In the partitioning of the real 
 estate, Mr. Freer became the pos- 
 sessor of much village property, in- 
 cluding the Jefferson House, the 
 whole of Watkins Glen, extending 
 westward from the main street of 
 the village (Franklin) some three 
 miles, and much land on the north 
 side of the great gorge, including 
 the so-called Lake View Farm, and 
 a considerable land bordering on 
 the lake shore, and CJatharine Marsh 
 , both at Watkins and Havana, and 
 , was reputed to be one of the wealth- 
 / iest men in Schuyler county at the 
 "time of its formation. But the prop- 
 erty was not productive, and all 
 attempts at cultivation, including 
 an extensive nursery and tobacco 
 growing business, entered into with 
 his brother, M. D. Freer, were un- 
 profitable. The prices of real es- 
 tate sold, were low, whether for 
 farms or village purposes; and con- 
 tracts were allowed to run on long 
 time without even the payment or 
 interest. For many years after the 
 death of Dr.- Watkins, the village 
 languished, and the progress of all 
 kinds of improvement during the 
 county seat war, was slow. When 
 Hon. John Magee located the Pall 
 Brook _Coal Company's tranship- 
 ment works, in Watkins, however, 
 and came here to reside in 1864, 
 having previously purchased much 
 property, including the Watkins 
 mansion, and garden grounds, a 
 new era dawned upon the village; 
 real estate advanced nearly 100 per 
 cent, the Glen became a popular 
 summer resort, a bank was estab- 
 lished, the Watkins Academic and 
 Union School was fully developed, 
 ' the Opera House block, and the 
 Lake View hotel were called into 
 being, and many village improve- 
 ments inaugurated; and in the 
 height of the period of prosperity 
 that followed, Mr. Freer — having 
 married his second wife in 1862,— 
 was regarded as in a good financial 
 condition and worth at least from 
 $100,000 to $150,000. But when the 
 Pall Brook Company's business, 
 after the death of Mr. Magee in 
 1868, was transferred, under the in- 
 
 exorable law of necessity, to Corn- 
 ing the village suffered a serious 
 [' reiapse. Real estate went down to 
 ^ the old-time figures; business of 
 all kinds declined, and even the 
 population decreased. Land sales 
 tor vJlage lots fell off; payments 
 to a great extent, on contracts, 
 ceased; and as Mr. Freer had be- 
 come a heavy borrower (under a 
 partnership contract at 10 per cent) 
 of the bank with which he 'was con- 
 nected, and elsewhere, to meet his 
 large building and other expenses, 
 his embarrassment commenced, and 
 his estate became gradually impair- 
 ed, though his credit and securities 
 remained good and undisturbed 
 until the end of his life. 
 
 When the new charter of the vil- 
 lage went into effect, in 1861, Mr. 
 Freer was elected one of the Board 
 of Trustees, and bcame the presi- 
 dent of the village, which position, 
 and that of gratuitous counselor to 
 the board, he held for several years. 
 In 1863, he was elected Supervisor 
 of the town of Dix, and in 1869, — 
 though the Republican party was 
 strongly in the ascendant, — he was 
 elecced on the Democratic ticket. 
 Judge and Surrogate of the county 
 of Schuyler for a term of six years, 
 which he served out in full, though 
 in somewhat feeble health before 
 its close. 
 
 He did very much to advance the 
 interests of the village, aside from 
 his protracted efforts and instru- 
 /mentality in making it the county 
 Iseat, which from first to last, un- 
 ! questionably cost him over $25,000. 
 ;He favored and fostered every ju- 
 dicious public improvement, and 
 was ever ready to carry more than 
 his equitable share of the public 
 ftjurdens. He established the first 
 /banking institution in the village — 
 (the Watkins Exchange Bank, — was 
 / President of the First National Bank 
 Which was sold and moved to Penn 
 Yan, and was connected with its 
 successor, the Schuyler County 
 Bank, to the date of his death. 
 
 He was ever kind, benevolent and 
 considerate toward the poor, had 
 an open hand for all charitable 
 purposes and the amelioration of 
 human misfortune and suffering. 
 He was an able advocate and safe 
 counselor, a true friend in both 
 prosperity and adversity. He was 
 liberal in his religious views and 
 opinions, free from bigotry and 
 prejudice, and for many years was 
 a Vestryman of St. James Church 
 in Watkins, and a most generous 
 contributor to its support. Among 
 the many proofs of his generous 
 nature, may be instanced the pre- 
 sentation, to the corporate auth- 
 orities of Watkins, with Hon. John 
 
Magee, in 1865, of Glenwood Cem- 
 etery, one of the most beautiful 
 and romantically located resting 
 places of the dead in all the inter- 
 ior of the State — and for which 
 his name should ever be held in 
 grateful remembrance. 
 
 Judge George G. Freer died, April 
 17th, 1878 — ten years after Hon. 
 John Magee — leaving a widow and 
 three young children — one son and 
 two daughters, all but one of whom 
 are now of age, who, together with 
 the whole community of which he 
 was in some sense the guardian 
 and protector, deeply and sincere- 
 ly mourned his cVparture from 
 ths life, as a great bereavement 
 and an irreparable loss. He was bur- 
 ied in his own chosen family lot 
 in Glenwood, with masonic honors 
 — having been a long-time member 
 of the fraternity, and of Jefferson 
 Lodg3 in Watkins — and the pall- 
 toearers were Hon. Hiram Gray, 
 Hon. Ariel S. Thurston, and Hon. 
 Thomas S. Spauldlng, of Elmira; 
 Hon. S. L. Rood, Gen. Daniel Jack- 
 son, and Tyler H. Abbey, of Wat- 
 kins, and Sylvester B. Shearer of 
 Havana. 
 
 And though his greatly compli- 
 cated estate, settled after years of 
 expensive litigation, and during the 
 time of the village's deepest des- 
 pondency and depression, leaving 
 little for the benefit of his family, 
 and not cancelling all, save mort-: 
 gage claims against it — still at no 
 far distant day, will the people of 
 Watkins erect a fitting memorial 
 of their gratitude and lasting es- 
 teem above his hallowed yet name- 
 less and unmarked grave. 
 
 Our next sketch will be devoted 
 to one of Schuyler's best known 
 and most prominent historicaJ 
 characters — Judge Simeon L. Rood 
 — and in dramatic interest it will 
 excel any that has preceded it. 
 
 Very few if any of the older resi- 
 dents of tJie territory, now embrac- 
 ed in the county of Schuyler, have 
 been more intimately identified and 
 actively connected with its history, 
 than 
 
 HON. SIMEON L. ROOD, 
 to whom this, and a succeeding 
 number of our sketches, will be de- 
 voted. All things considered, "Judge 
 Rood," as he has been called for 
 the past 54 years, must be classed 
 among the most remarkable men, 
 who aided in shaping the county 
 seat destinies of the new county, 
 in which "from Alpha to Omega" — 
 from beginning to end — he bore a 
 most important and conspicuous 
 part. 
 
 He was born in the town of Sand- 
 gate, Bennington county, Vermont, 
 
 One Hundred Three 
 
 -on the 19th day of March, 1804, 
 and is therefore now in the 87th 
 year of h.s age, and a -resident of 
 ihe village of Watkins, where he 
 has lived during the past 35 years. 
 Both of his parents were from the 
 State of Connecticut, whence they 
 moved into Vermont; and desiring 
 to make a useful man of their son, 
 he was, in 1815, when but 11 years 
 of age, apprenticed to the book- 
 binding avocation, in the city of 
 Troy, N. Y., it having been incor- 
 porated as such in 1816, when he 
 was 12 years old. 
 
 In the year 1817, for good and 
 sufficient reasons, he left the book- 
 binding business without a "ticket 
 of leave" or asking permission so 
 to do, and at the age of 13 years 
 made his way, on foot with his pack 
 on his back, to the town of Cato 
 in the northern part of Cayuga 
 county, where during the five fol- 
 lowing years, he ■ worked by the 
 month at farming, and on the Erie 
 Canal, then in process of construc- 
 tion, in the summers, and at chop- 
 ping fallow lands in winter. 
 
 Not having attended school a 
 single day since leaving the parental 
 roof, seven years before, and being 
 then 18 years of age, in 1822 he pro- 
 cured Pike's arithmetic, Kirkman's 
 grammar, Cobb's spelling book, an 
 Engl^h reader, paper, pencils and 
 inkstand, and at an expense of 
 $4 50 equipped himself for going to 
 school, paying his way by chop- 
 ping maple wood at 32 cents a cord, 
 walking two miles, morning and 
 evening, in going to and from his 
 work. He thus attended a country 
 district school during that winter, 
 and the following one, doing chores 
 night and morning and worked one 
 day in the week for his board. This 
 appears to have been about the 
 exoent of his early education, and 
 still he became a good practical 
 professional man in after life. 
 
 On the 24th of IVDarch, 1825, he 
 married Miss Cynthia Ladow, (who 
 still survives) and settled on a 
 small farm, which he nsnted in 
 the town of Conquest, in the coun- 
 ty of Cayuga, and during the six 
 years that he thus resided, he was 
 honored with various town offices, 
 and among them that of School 
 Commissioner — having, however, in 
 the years 1823 and '24 been engaged 
 in aiding to build saw mills in 
 Watkins Glen. 
 
 In 1831, he came, with his family 
 to what was then the town of Cat- 
 lin, in the county of Tioga— now the 
 town of Dix in the county of 
 Schuyler. On the division of Tioga 
 county, and the formation of the 
 county of Chemung, in 1836, he was 
 appointed by Gov. Wm. L. Marcy, 
 
one Huiidr&d Four 
 
 and the Senate, one of the Assoc- 
 iate Judges of the new county of 
 Chemung, of which Joseph L. Dar- 
 ling was the first County Judge— 
 the other associates on the bench 
 having been Jacob Westlake of 
 Horseheads, James Huson of Big 
 Plats, and Guy Hulett of Veteran, 
 all of whom years ago passed away, 
 leaving Judge Rood the only sur- 
 vivor of the first Court of Chemung. 
 
 The ofBcial term at that time 
 was five years; and having served 
 four of the five, "Judge Rood"— 
 who first acquired his title in 1836 
 by the above mentioned appoint- 
 ment — resigned and it may have 
 been for a purpose, as in the au- 
 tumn of that year (1840) he was 
 nominated and elected County 
 Clerk of Chemung county. He held 
 that office for two terms of three 
 years each, having been re-elected 
 In 1843; and at the expiration of 
 the year 1346, he retired to his farm 
 in the town of Dix, near Townsend, 
 with no intention of returning to 
 public and official life. The next 
 eight years were passed in cor- 
 formity with his wishes, as he sel- 
 dom appeared in public, and took 
 no part in party politics. 
 
 When Schuyler county sprang 
 into being, by flat of the Legisla- 
 ture in 1854, Judge Rood without 
 his solicitation, knowledge or con- 
 sent, was brought forward as the 
 "people's candidate" for County 
 Judge and Surrogate, and was elec- 
 ted over Marcus Crawford and 
 Benjamin Franklin, the Whig and 
 Democratic candidates — ^it then be- 
 ing understood that his preferences 
 on the county . seat question, just 
 mooted by the locating commission- 
 ers, named in the organic a€t, hav- 
 ing, on the 22nd of May in that 
 year, designated a site for location 
 of the county buildings at Havana. 
 This was the first, and a most im- 
 portant victory for Watkins, and 
 turned upon the county seat issue 
 as both Mr. Crawford and Mr. 
 Franklin (of Havana) were reput- 
 able and able members of the le- 
 gal profession, while "Judge Rood" 
 though he had acted as associate 
 on the bench, had never been ad- 
 mitte.i to the bar. 
 
 He was, however, through the 
 importance of friends — among whom 
 was the late Judge Geo. G. Freer — 
 induced to accept the position, and 
 entered upon its duties on the 1st 
 of January, 1855, opening the Sur- 
 rogate's office in Watkins— which, 
 from the commencement, gave the 
 Watkins location a decided advan- 
 tage in the long contest that fol- 
 lowed. With Judge Rood's accept- 
 ance of the position with which he 
 had been honored, and his assump- 
 
 tion fits responsibilities, com- 
 menced the most trying period of 
 his life. The Board of Supervisors 
 refused to accept the deed tender- 
 ed for the Havana site, which was 
 declared invalid and void by the 
 Sup.eme Court; another site was 
 designated by the Board at Wat- 
 kins, two sets of county buildings 
 were erected; two fiercely antagon- 
 istic parties, or factions, in the 
 county were arrayed against each 
 other, one declaring Watkins to be 
 the legal county seat, and the oth- 
 er maKing an equally strong claim 
 in favor of Havana. The details of 
 this "seven years' war" have, as 
 far »s necessary, been given in pre- 
 ceding numbers of these sketches, 
 and are here on y alluded to for 
 the sake of impressing upon the 
 m.nd of the reader, the fact that 
 Judge Rood, because of the posi- 
 tion he occupied, and his unswerv- 
 ing and fearless devotion to the 
 Watkins interest and location, which 
 he believed to be right in law, equity 
 and justice and in accordance with 
 the popular will, was involved in 
 the most intense personal animos- 
 i'.y, and he was as has been well 
 said "made the special target of 
 the opposition," and the object of 
 tiieir most malign maledictnons and 
 machinations. Early in the conflict 
 they sought to stigmatize and be- 
 little him, by the epithet of the 
 "Cornfield Judge"; but the farm- 
 ers rather liked the name, and 
 stood by him with great fldelity. 
 and he stood by the people and 
 their cause with undeviating and 
 unflinching firmness; and though 
 pursued with all the ingenuity, le- 
 gal ability and unsurpassed sagac- 
 ity, that his foes could combine and 
 direct against him, he stood forth 
 boldly and undismayed, under all 
 circumstances, and always came off 
 victorious and unscathed. He had 
 good and able counsel, and did not 
 hesitate to consult them, on all the 
 intricate principles and points of 
 law involved in the county seat 
 problem; and he became, from the 
 day of his election, a law student 
 of the closest application, and be- 
 fore his first term expired, he was 
 the legal master of all the ques- 
 tions involved in one of the most 
 abstruse and intricate political and 
 judicial struggles that ever char- 
 acterized the history of any county 
 in the State. 
 
 In the fall of 1858, the "Cornfield 
 Judge" was renominated, by the 
 People's County Convention, for a 
 second term; and the canvass was 
 one of the most exciting and bitter 
 of all the county seat campaigns, 
 which, from the opening to the 
 close, marked the progress of the 
 
protracted struggle. His opponent 
 was the late Clark J. Baskin, Esq., 
 of Reading, who was nominated 
 by the Republican County Oonven- 
 ticn, held at Havana, and which 
 was of course under the entire con- 
 trol of the leader, life and soul of 
 the Havana location — Hon. Charles 
 Cook. 
 
 It was claimed that Judge Rood's 
 opponent was "as good a Watkins 
 man" as the Judge himself; but 
 the people believed that if elected 
 Mr. Baskin would recognize the 
 validity of the Havana location. 
 Court House, Clerk's OfBce and 
 Jail and order his Courts held 
 there; and although the county was 
 Rspublican by not less than 800 
 majority, and the Havana interest 
 conducted thie camrass solely on 
 partisan grounds, claiming that 
 there was no county seat issue in- 
 volved in it. Judge Rood was tri- 
 umphantly re-elected, at the end 
 of a contest, that at some points 
 in the county, notably at Mrcklen- 
 burg, in the town of Hector, where 
 Madison Treman, one of the build- 
 ing commissioners named in the act 
 erecting the county, resided — and 
 which village favored Havana — 
 and also at Monterey in the town 
 of Orange, where a large crowd as- 
 sembled to hear the Judge in which 
 were large and dangerously excited 
 delegations from both of the rival 
 county seat villages. It was by the 
 narrowest chances that a bloody 
 riot was escaped, and that person- 
 al violence was avoided by the op- 
 posing elements. But happily — and 
 this was the case aU through the 
 long and heated contest — ^no blood- 
 shed ensued. 
 
 As the result of the memorable 
 campaign, in which the Judge elec- 
 trified the people with his bold, 
 earnest, convincing and impassion- 
 ed oratory, he was triumphantly 
 re-elected, by a very handsome ma- 
 jority, and on the 1st of January, 
 1859, assumed the duties and try- 
 ing ordeals of his second four-year 
 term. 
 
 In addition to his ofBoial labors, 
 which were not burdensome — as 
 in the uncertain status of the 
 county, and the location of its 
 county seat— especially after Judge 
 Gray declared the law erecting it 
 unconstitutional — ^and no Criminal 
 Courts were held until after 1860 — 
 the Judge was called upon, because 
 of his thorough acquaintance with 
 the whole history of the contro- 
 versy, and the legal principles there 
 with connected, to argue almost ex- 
 clusively the Watkins side of the 
 question before legislative commit- 
 tees, defend himself before the Gov- 
 ernor on charges preferred against 
 
 One Hundred Five 
 
 him asking his removal, and of 
 contempt before the Supreme Court. 
 In all cases he acquitted himself 
 with great ability and never fail- 
 ed to successfully defend his offi- 
 cial acts and integrity in the pres- 
 ence of any tribunal before which 
 he was accused and cited to ap- 
 pear. This will become apparent in 
 the next succeeding number of our 
 sketches. 
 
 This number of our articles, like 
 the one of last week, wiU be devoted 
 to, and conclude, the sketch of 
 
 HON. SIMEON L. ROOD 
 After the question of the consti- 
 tutionality of Schuyler county had 
 been argued by Nicholas Hill, of the 
 celebrated Albany law firm of HiU, 
 Cagger & Porter, before the Court 
 of Appeals, (which masterly argu- 
 ment the writer hereof, had the 
 good fortune to hear) and after a 
 decision had been rendered sus- 
 taining the existance of the county. 
 Judge Rood, before a Legislative 
 Committee, in defending the Wat- 
 kins location against a bill for con- 
 firming and establishing the county 
 seat at Havana, drew a humorous 
 picture of the county, as first cre- 
 ated. He was replying to some of the 
 positions assumed by parties in the 
 Havana interest, and truly describ- 
 ed the county in its inception — a 
 hard hit on Hon. Charles Cook, who 
 was principally instrumental in its 
 formation — as a "bastard bantling, 
 illegitimate, begot in iniquity and 
 born in shame. It had (because of 
 the means resorted to, and the man- 
 ner of its creation) a bad name — a 
 very bad name — ^but still it lived, 
 and had begiin to clamor for its 
 rights, when it was declared uncon- 
 stitutional and its formation a nul- 
 Itiy. — Struggling to maintain its 
 existance it came to the Court of 
 Appeals and demanded to be heard; 
 and the grave and reverend judges, 
 peering askance over their gold- 
 rimmed spectacles, said, 'What is 
 that?' 'Schuyler County,' piped the 
 youngster, in a thin soprano. 'Schuy- 
 ler County! There is no Schuyler 
 County; sihow us a map of the State 
 of New York and we will show you 
 that there is no Schuyler County 
 on it.' 'But,' persisted the bantling, 
 'there is a Scihuyler County, and I 
 am that county. My territory is at 
 the head of Seneca Lake. I have 
 paid taxes that have been levied 
 upon my lands, by the State. I 
 have drawn school money from 
 the school fund, and distributed it 
 to my towns. I have elected one of 
 the Members of the Assembly, and 
 am a constituency of the State. I 
 have helped elect a State Senator, 
 a Congressman, a Judge of the Su- 
 
One Hundred Six 
 
 preme Court, and a Judge of the 
 Court of Appeals. WHAT ARE YOU 
 GOING TO DO WITH ME?' 'Let's 
 strangle the brat,' suggests one of 
 the Judges. 'No, that won't do; the 
 brat has told the truth. She has 
 interwoven herself into our body 
 politic so deeply, and so intricately, 
 that it will not do to strangle her. 
 And so they consulted and cogita- 
 ted and eyed the persistent little 
 entity, peering at them behind the 
 bar, unabashed and impudent. At 
 last a bright thought suggested it- 
 self to one member of the Court 
 and (he wisely said, 'No, we can't 
 strangle it, but we can adopt it." 
 
 This they proceeded to do, made 
 out the papers, signed, sealed, de- 
 livered and had them recorded; and 
 thus made "Little Schuyler," one of 
 the sister counties of the State. 
 
 It so happened that a Judge of 
 the Court of Appeals, unknown to 
 Judge Rood, was present in the 
 committee room and heard the 
 foregoing remarkable delineation, 
 and when the argument was con- 
 cluded he grasped the orator by 
 the hand, heartily congratulated 
 him, and said: "You could not have 
 told a more truthful story of the 
 reception of that Schuyler county 
 question in the Court of Appeals, 
 if you had been one of the judges 
 on the bench. It was just about the 
 way we felt over the subject, and 
 the very controlling point taken 
 into the account in our decision 
 was the accrued rights and fran- 
 chises of the county." 
 
 The Legislature of 1857, (before 
 Schuyler was entitled to a Member 
 of Assembly) having through Chas. 
 Cook's overshadowing influence pro- 
 cured the passage of a bill to con- 
 firm the county seat at Havana — 
 after the Board of Supervisors had 
 removed the location to Watkins 
 and County Courts had been ap- 
 pointed to be held there — also an- 
 nexing Schuyler to the Sixth Ju- 
 dicial District and directing the 
 Supreme Court Judges to appoint 
 and hold Courts therein, and one 
 having been appointed to be held 
 Septemtoer 1st in that year, at the 
 Court House in Havana, under pro- 
 clamation of Gov. King— Judge 
 Rood, on application of the Board 
 of Supervisors — deeming this act 
 clearly unconstitutional — granted 
 an injunction restraining the Sher- 
 iff, (whose office was at Watkins) 
 from taking possession of and open- 
 ing the Havana buildings and the 
 County Clerk against the drawing 
 of a jury to attend the appointed 
 term of Oyer and Terminer at Ha- 
 vana — and as a matter of course the 
 Court, which Judge Balcom had 
 been designated to hold, failed; 
 
 whereupon Judge Balcom granted 
 an order for the arrest of Judge 
 Rood for contempt, and he seems 
 to have been released on his own 
 recognizance, to appear at the gen- 
 eral term and show cause why he 
 should not be punished. He ap- 
 peared at Blmira and Binghamton, 
 but could get no hearing, and sub- 
 sequently appeared at Ithaca, where 
 he made such a complete defense, 
 and showed himself so perfectly 
 familiar with, and justified by all 
 the legalities of the case, that the 
 charges were promptly dismissed 
 by the Court, composed of Judges 
 Mason, Balcom, Campbell and Park- 
 er. 
 
 Previous notice had been given 
 that another term of the Supreme 
 Court for Schuyler would be ap- 
 pointed toy the judges at Ithaca, 
 and that arguments would be heard 
 in regard to which was the proper 
 and legal place in said coimty for 
 which the appointment ^ould be 
 made. The arguinent came on after 
 the charges against Judge Rood for 
 preventing the former term from 
 being held at Havana, had been dis- 
 missed, and the question assumed a 
 most interesting phase, as the law 
 of 1857 directed the judges, in spec- 
 ific language, to appoint terms of 
 the Supreme Court to be held in 
 Havana and E. P. Hart of Elmira, 
 so appoint, unless they were con- 
 vinced that the direction was un- 
 constitutional and of no binding ef- 
 fect. This question was to be eluci- 
 dated by legal counsel. The Wat- 
 kins interest had retained Dana and 
 Beers of Ithaca; and J. McGuire of 
 Havana and E. P. Hatt of Elmira, 
 (as has been incidentally noted be- 
 fore in these annals) appeared in 
 behalf of Havana. 
 
 After hearing Judge Rood's un- 
 answerable argument in his own de- 
 fense. Judge Dana and Mr. Beers 
 insisted that the Schuyler County 
 Judge should make the argument 
 in favor of Watkins being the legal 
 county seat; and he did so, orally, 
 and wholly from memory, while his 
 opponents had carefully prepared 
 manuscripts. The arguments on 
 both sides were exhaustive, occupy- 
 ing a wttiole day, and Judge Rood, 
 who had the closing plea, was so 
 effectual in his reasoning and legal 
 conclusiveness that the judges 
 (nearly all of whom were personal 
 and political friends of Charles 
 Cook) counseled far into the night 
 over the "vexed question," and could 
 come to no definite or majority 
 conclusion, as to where the Court 
 should be appointed, and therefore 
 oredered one to ibe held "in and for 
 Schuyler County," without naming 
 any place therein; and none was 
 
held in compliance with an order 
 that bad no vitality in it — and no 
 Courts were held at Havana until 
 after the conflrmatory act of 1860 
 and the erection of the town of 
 Montour, which prevented any fur- 
 tdier resolutions of removal by the 
 Board of Supervisors. 
 
 When the Court, the next morn- 
 ing, had announced its appointments 
 so favorably had Judge Rood im- 
 pressed the judges by his eloquence 
 and familiarity with the intricate 
 legal merits of the case, that Judge 
 Mason, looking over his spectacles 
 at the "Cornfield Judge" from 
 Schuyler, said in his dignified and 
 judicial manner: "Are we correctly 
 informed. Judge Rood, that you are 
 not a counselor of the Supreme 
 Court?" "That is a fact," replied 
 the Judge, wondering what was 
 coming next. "Wouldn't you like to 
 be?" said Judge Mason. "I never 
 thought of such a thing, your Hon- 
 or," said Judge Rood. "Well, gentle- 
 men of the bar," said Judge Mason 
 to the lawyers present, "we propose 
 to compliment Judge Rood, by ad- 
 mitting him to practice in all the 
 Courts of the State without the 
 formality of an examination. If 
 there is any objection to this pro- 
 cedure, among you, now is the prop- 
 er time to make it known." 
 
 John J. Van Allen, Esq., — always 
 an ardent friend and admirer of 
 Judge Rood — ^sprang to his feet, and 
 paid the astonished Judge a glow- 
 ing tribute, heartily indorsing the 
 proposition; and others who knew 
 Judge Rood well, followed in the 
 same manner, including his late an- 
 tagonists. Hart and McGuire, all of 
 whom spoke of him, and his legal 
 abilities, in highest terms of praise; 
 whereupon he was called before the 
 bar and sworn as an attorney and 
 counselor of the Supreme Court 
 which admitted him to practice in 
 all the State Courts. His license was 
 handed to him, amidst general con- 
 gratulations; and that may well be 
 regarded as having been one of the 
 happiest days of his life; and the 
 honor conferred was of great after 
 service to him, as it enabled him 
 to take up the practice of law, at 
 the conclusion of his second term, 
 (January Ist, 1863) until precluded 
 from engaging in further labors by 
 advancing age and increasing in- 
 firmity. It should be noted in this 
 connection that Judge Rood was also 
 cited subsequently to appear before 
 Governor Morgan and defend him- 
 self against a charge of not holding 
 Criminal Courts in the county, af- 
 ter Judge Gray had held it uncon- 
 stitutional. His defense, made in 
 person, against strong opposition 
 counsel, was complete; and though 
 
 One Hundred Seven 
 
 the Governor was an intimate per- 
 sonal and partizan friend of Chas. 
 Cook, the Judge was not removed, 
 but the charges were summarily 
 dismissed, as without legal founda- 
 tion. 
 
 The Judge and his aged wife now 
 reside in the eastern section of Wat- 
 kins, in humble, though we trust 
 comfortable circumstances, and have 
 the sincere respect and esteem of 
 many friends. Nathan, one of their 
 five children, (four sons and one 
 daughter) is the only on6 now re- 
 siding in this village, and near the 
 venerable couple — the wife being 
 but two years younger than the hus- 
 band—though all the children, ex- 
 cept one, (Edwin) are still living, 
 two in this State and two in the' 
 West — as Marcus P. resides in Corn- 
 ing; Stephen R. in Nebraska, and 
 Martha J., (Mrs. A. J. Clark) in 
 Colorado. 
 
 Judge Rood has held various 
 other minor ofBces in his town, vil- 
 lage and county, here and elsewhere 
 almost continuously since his early 
 manhood, and was for some years, 
 after the asperities of the county 
 seat contest had passed away, a 
 trustee of Cook Academy— during a 
 portion of the time a member of 
 the Executive Committee of the 
 Board — and in all positions, and 
 under all circumstances has shown 
 a remarkable degree of intelligence 
 capacity, ability and unswerving fi- 
 delity, to every trust reposed in 
 him toy his feUow citizens and tbs 
 people at large — shaving after the 
 act of 1860, which definitely fixed 
 the county seat at Havana, and 
 commanded the County and Su- 
 preme Courts to be held at the 
 Court House in that village, ap- 
 pointed and conducted his Courts 
 there, "according to law," during 
 the last two years of his second 
 term. He has indeed been a faith- 
 ful public servant, a true friend to 
 the people of Watkins and Schuy- 
 ler county; and we feel that they 
 owe him a debt of gratitude that 
 cannot be easily paid; and there- 
 fore hope that during the few short 
 years he may still linger with us, 
 that his past services and claims 
 to kindly consideration may not be 
 forgotten. 
 
 We are well aware of the meagre 
 incompleteness of this sketch, and 
 understand full well that a good 
 sized volume would no more than 
 suffice to do the name and public 
 services of Judge Simeon L. Rood 
 anything like well merited justice. 
 The time may come, when from 
 the ample data, in our possession, 
 of his long, arduous and eventful 
 life a sketch more worthy of him 
 and his memorable career may be 
 
One Hundred Eight 
 
 written; and when he passes away 
 from the scenes of his earthly Joys 
 and sorrows, triumphs, and adver- 
 sities, the epitaph on the marble 
 or granite, above the place of his 
 final rest, should read: "LEADING 
 CHAIAPION AND DEFENDER OF 
 POPULAR RIGHTS IN THE COUN- 
 TY OF SCHUYLER." 
 
 Continuing our sketches of the 
 early settlers of the town of Dix, 
 who became such after the advent 
 of the present century, the next one 
 in order," and a cotemporary in 
 the early history of the town with 
 Hon. Simeon L. Rood, was 
 
 JUDGE JOHN CRAWFORD 
 who was born in Walkill, Orange 
 county, N. Y., in the year 1796 — 94 
 years ago. When he was but four 
 years old his father's family moved 
 to what is now the town of Ulysses 
 in Tompkins county, which county 
 was not formed until 1817. There 
 the rest of the young pioneer's boy- 
 life was passed, amid the scenes 
 aiid privations of a comparatively 
 new and wild region of country — 
 it having at that time been sparse- 
 ly settled after the expulsion of 
 the Indians by Gen. Sullivan ex- 
 pedition of 1779 — and his opportun- 
 ities for attending, even the humble 
 common schools of that early day, 
 and for mental improvement in 
 other respects were very limited; 
 but these he made the most of, and 
 his natural intelligence, and after 
 opportunities for the self acquisi- 
 tion of knowledge, well supplied all 
 that was lacking. 
 
 When he arrived at the age of 
 18 years, in accordance with a then 
 prevalent custom, he "bought his 
 time" till 21, of his father, and 
 "bound the bargain" by paying $50 
 down, which sum he borrowed of 
 a good friend, who had entire faith 
 in the young man's integrity, and 
 his ability to repay the loan. Soon 
 thereafter, he left home, and en- 
 gaged in learning the trade of a 
 millwright, which was a lucrative 
 one in those by-gone years; and 
 during his apprenticeship he em- 
 braced every occasion to increase 
 his scanty stock of learning by 
 reading, and the study of such 
 works as came within his reach. 
 
 In the year 1820, at the age of 
 24 years— then the master of a good 
 livUhood from his profession — ^the 
 worthy subject of our sketch mar- 
 ried Mary Catlin, daughter of Judge 
 Phineas Catlin of Catharine, and 
 sister of Phineas Catlin, Jr., and In 
 1823, moved upon the excellent 
 Crawford farm in that town, (sub- 
 sequently Catlin, now Dix,) near 
 the present Moreland post-ofiBce. 
 where he spent the entire after 
 portion of his honorable life. His 
 
 good judgment, and quick percep- 
 tion, were shown in selecting his 
 location, which was peculiarly 
 adapted to farming purposes; and 
 he greatly improved and beautified 
 it, until it became one of the finest, 
 most attractive and pleasant farm 
 homes in the town and county. 
 
 For many years he made the dis- 
 trict schools of the town an object 
 of special interest and fostering 
 care; and he rendered great and 
 frequent service to the new settlers, 
 by acting as an agent and media- 
 tor between them and the land 
 owners of whom their purchases 
 were made, and used his influence, 
 and extended his aid, in behalf of 
 those who, through sickness or other 
 misfortunes, were unable to meet 
 their payments as they became due. 
 
 Judge Crawford was twice elect- 
 ed Justice of the Peace and held 
 the office, with great credit to him- 
 self and the approval of the pub- 
 lic, for eight years. He was post- 
 master at Moreland, long known as 
 Crawford Settlement, for 15 years: 
 and in 1840 acquired his title of 
 "Judge", by having been appointed 
 Associate Judge of Chemung coun- 
 ty by Gov. Wm. H. Seward, which 
 position he filled with ability, and 
 a conscientious regard for equal and 
 exact jusitOss -whish wins a miriksd 
 characteristic of his whole life. 
 
 In the act of 1854, erecting the 
 county of Schuyler from portions 
 of Chemung, Tompkins and Steuben 
 he was named as one of the com- 
 mission — consisting of Daniel Tut- 
 tle of Reading, John Crawford of 
 Dix, and Thomas Shannon of 
 Orange, — for transcribing the rec- 
 ords of the territory embraced in 
 the new county— which duty was 
 faithfully discharged. 
 
 Judge Crawford served for a time 
 as a private soldier in the War of 
 1812, when less than 18 years old, 
 thus, and at all times evincing the 
 most devoted patriotism and love 
 of coiintry— which was indeed a 
 ruling trait of his character, shown 
 in an eminent degree during the 
 progress of the "War of the Re- 
 bellion;" and had he been younger 
 he would undoubtedly have been 
 among the first to volunteer for the 
 defense of the Union. He was a 
 man of most positive convictions, 
 and fearless candor. In politics, as 
 his appointment by Gov. Seward, 
 and as one of the Commissioners 
 above naaned clearly show, he was 
 a Whig: and after the formation 
 of the Republican party he became 
 a Republican of the most pronoun- 
 ced and ardent type, but was al- 
 ways courteous toward his oppon- 
 ents — though too frank, honest and 
 brave to conceal his sentiments, or 
 
profess what he did not believe, for 
 the sake of popular favor or ap- 
 p.ause; and therefore he avowed 
 his political opinions, on all ques- 
 tions of importance, with a firm, 
 well-bred gentility of manner and 
 positiveness of expression that 
 commanded the respect and admira- 
 tion of all with whom he differed. 
 He was as decided in his religious 
 convcitions and opinions as in his 
 political views, and a man of most 
 practical and exemplary Christan- 
 ity. 
 
 For quite a number of years prior 
 to his demise. Judge Crawford knew 
 and fully realized that he had but 
 a slight and feeble tenure of life; 
 but he awaited the summons to de- 
 part hence to the unknown coun- 
 try — "that bourne whence no trav- 
 eler returns" — with the composure 
 of one prepared for a contemplated 
 jou'-ney, and who with the antici- 
 pation of leaving on the morrow, 
 "wraps the drapery of his couch 
 around him. and lies down to pleas- 
 ant dreams." 
 
 His freed spirit quietly passed 
 from earth, on Sunday evening, on 
 April 12th, 1874, at the age of 78 
 years, and hs slumbers "where the 
 forefathers of the hamlet sleep" — 
 leaving a blessed memory behind 
 him, and the unfading record of a 
 most blameless and exemplary life, 
 for the admiration and emulation of 
 all who knew him, and to whom 
 his name was, and is, the synonym 
 of those nob^e qualities that con- 
 stitute, dignify and adorn true 
 manhood. 
 
 He left his aged widow and two 
 sons — Dewitt C. and Joseph S. (the 
 only two children of the family 
 named in the "History of the Pour 
 Counties)" with a large circle of 
 friends, and fellow citizens to mourn 
 his departure and long cherish the 
 recollection of his many virtues. 
 EXPLANATORY 
 
 We embrace the opportunity, in 
 concluding this number, to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of letters from 
 W. L. Norton of Reading, and ex- 
 Judge B. W. Woodward of New 
 York City, in regard to one or two 
 erroneous items, in the sketches of 
 Dr. Watkins and Judge Freer. Also 
 one (received some time ago) from 
 Mrs. P. B. Killson of Hornellsville, 
 inclosing a brief and excellent biog- 
 raphy of Benjamin Benson of Hec- 
 tor, for whioh we are under many 
 obligations, and which will appear 
 in our Hector biographies, to be 
 taken up and carried through as 
 soon as those of Dix are concluded. 
 
 Both Mr. Norton and Judge Wood- 
 ward are of the opinion that the 
 Benjamin F. Butler of our day, now 
 residing in Massachusetts, is not 
 
 One Hundred Nine 
 
 the Identical Benjamin P. Butler of 
 New York, who was one of the ex- 
 ecutors of the last will and testa- 
 ment of Dr. Samuel Watkins; and 
 on investigation, we have come to 
 the conclusion that they are cor- 
 rect. 
 
 The Benjamin P. Butler of New 
 York, was in all probabihty a dif- 
 ferent man from Gen. Ben Butler 
 of Massachusetts. He was however 
 a character of equal legal eminence 
 and a very distinguished man in 
 his day— having died quite a num- 
 ber ol years ago. 
 
 Benjamin P. Butler of Massachu- 
 setts was born at Deerfield, N. H., 
 in 1818, and though he may for a 
 time (in middle life) have prac- 
 ticed law in New York, in the year 
 1840, when Dr. Watkins made his 
 will, he could have been but 22 
 years old; and it was unquestion- 
 ably the older Benjamin P. Butler 
 who was named as one of the ex- 
 ecutors of the Watkins will. 
 
 Mr. Norton also calls our atten- 
 tion to the fact that Judge Freer 
 was elected to the ofllce whence 
 comes his title, in 1870, instead of 
 1869. This was a typographical er- 
 ror, overlooked; as in the list of 
 county judges previously given. 
 Judge Preer's term was noted as 
 commencing January 1st 1871, and 
 continuing six years. Mr. Norton 
 saai'es in addition to the above that 
 Judge Freer was the Democratic 
 candidate for Member of Assemo y 
 (but not elected) in 1868; and, on 
 reference, we find he is correct. 
 
 We cannot too strongly express 
 our gratitude to these gentlement, 
 and all others, who have sent us 
 notes of correction; as one great 
 object, in writing these sketches is 
 to have them correct; and that 
 they can be so in all particulars, 
 without some outside help, with 
 such imperfect authorities as we 
 have at hand, seems impossible. 
 
 We furthermore embrace this op- 
 portunity to solicit from those who 
 have the data, or recollection, to 
 give us brief biographies of men 
 of note, in all parts of the county, 
 many of whom have not received 
 the attention that their prominence 
 deserved, in any history yet pub- 
 lished. 
 
 The last article of this series was 
 devoted to Judge John Crawford 
 of Dix, and this one will be devoted 
 in good part to 
 
 SENATOR GEO. B. GUINNIP 
 who was born in Middleisex county. 
 New Jersey, Sept. 12th, 1794. When 
 a young man, he migrated to Dry- 
 den, Tompkins county, where, on 
 the 29th of April, 1817— then 23 
 years of age— lie was married to 
 Miss Sarah Hart, who was born in 
 
One Hundred Ten 
 
 Hopeweii, N. J., July 9th, 1798. 
 
 After their marriage the young 
 people continued to reside in Dry- 
 den and all their children were 
 born there, namely, Plorilla Jane, 
 July 20th, 1818, (died Jan. 27th, 
 1823); Ransom H., born Dec. 29frh, 
 1819; and Augustus Morgan, born 
 August 26th, 1821 and who died 
 Sept. 25th, 1876. ^ _ 
 
 While a resident of Tompkins 
 county, Mr. Guinnip was a Mem- 
 ber of Assembly, in 1834, and again 
 in 1836, having been elected by tiie 
 Democrats, to which party he was 
 strongly attached, and a devoted 
 partisan of Andrew Jackson. 
 
 In the year 1840, the family moved 
 to Havana, (then in Chemung 
 county), where Mr. Guinnip en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business. 
 He remained there three years, and 
 then moved to Watkins (then Jef- 
 ferson) and continued in business 
 for some years thereafter. 
 
 In 1849 he was elected a member 
 of the State Senate, (whence came 
 his title of Senator Guinnip), and 
 with the other Democratic memibers 
 of that body, he resigned on the 
 17th of April, 1850 to prevent a 
 ciuormn, and defeat the passage of 
 a/i obnoxious law toy the Whig ma- 
 jority. At the special election, or- 
 dered by the Governor, and held on 
 May 27th, 1850, Senator Guinnip 
 was a candidate for re-election, 
 and he and Wm. J. Gilbert, the 
 Whig candidate, received each 
 4,480 votes, in the 26th district, then 
 composed of the counties of CJhe- 
 mung and Steuben. It was an exact 
 tic, and no election; but the Whigs 
 had a majority in the Senate and 
 Mr. Gilbert, the Senator's competi- 
 tor, was admitted to the seat. 
 
 He was, subsequently, three times 
 a delegate to Democratic State Con- 
 ventions, was a Democratic candi- 
 date for Presidential elector in 1860, 
 when Stephen A. Douglas was the 
 Democratic candidate for President, 
 and was elected to several local of- 
 fices, one being that of trustee of 
 the village of Watkins, under the 
 new charter, only a few years be- 
 fore his death, which occurred in 
 1869, at the age of 75 years. 
 
 His funeral took place on Thurs- 
 day, August 5th, at St. James 
 church in Watkins — Rev. Duncan 
 C. Mann, the then Rector, conduct- 
 ing the services which commenced 
 at 2 o'clock p. m., and were large- 
 ly attended — Jefferson Lodge, of 
 which he was a member, being pres- 
 ent in a body; and many members 
 of the fraternity from elsewhere 
 came to pay their last sad tribute 
 to the departed. 
 
 Tne procession to Glenwood was 
 formed by Col. C. W. Clauharty of 
 
 Havana, in the following order: 
 
 1 Masonic Fraternity, preceded 
 by the "Tyler" with drawn sword. 
 
 2 Carriages with ofBciating cler- 
 gj'man and honorary bearers, se- 
 lected by the deceased from among 
 his old friends, fellow citizens and 
 neighbors, consisting of the follow- 
 ing named gentlemen: Wm. Haring, 
 Hon. S. L. Rood, T. H. Abbey, Chas. 
 MiUer, Dr. Judson Hewett, Gen. 
 Daniel Jackson — only one of whom 
 — T. H. Abbey— now survives. 
 
 3 Hearse and pall bearers proper, 
 selected from Jefferson Lodge, 
 namely, L. B. Davis, A. J. Graham, 
 John Herald, P. D. Mumford, Ab- 
 ram Beals, John S. Smelzer, M. D. 
 Freer, and B. F. Ellas. 
 
 After the conclusion of the Epis- 
 copal burial service, at the grave, 
 L M. Gano, Master of Jefferson 
 Lodge, conducted the masonic ser- 
 vices: Singing of the burial ode, 
 "Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime" 
 depositing regalia in the grave; the 
 brothers' tribute, depositing sprigs 
 of evergreen by each member ac- 
 companied by the words "Farewell 
 mv brother." In this connection a 
 most touching and pathetic little 
 incident occurred. One of the two 
 sons of the deceased (then both 
 Uving( at this point in the mourn- 
 ful ceremonial, stepped to an ever- 
 green near the grave, plucked a 
 small sprig of the emblem of im- 
 mortality, and deposited it with 
 those of the masonic brethren, m 
 the grave, and with tears in his 
 eyes reverently and with a full 
 heart, and voice broken with emo- 
 tion, exclaimmg, "Farewell, my 
 father!" 
 
 Mrs. Guinnip was a lady of great 
 refinement and beauty, and a gen- 
 eral favorite in Watkins. The gold- 
 en wedding of the old and happy 
 couple was celebrated with much 
 festivity and zest, April 29th, 1867, 
 ajid it was largely attended and 
 greatly enjoyed, ending with an 
 old-time dance at the Opera House, 
 in which both bride and groom were 
 on the floor and went through the 
 unforgotten mazes of 50 years be- 
 fore. 
 
 Mrs. Guinnip died at her resi- 
 dence in Watkins on Friday, May 
 9th, 1884, aged nearly 86 years. She 
 retained to the end, in a great de- 
 gree, that remarkable sweetness of 
 disposition, beauty of countenance, 
 and grace of manner and character, 
 that marked and distinguished her 
 in the meridian years of her true 
 womanly and lady-like life. 
 
 Having survived her husband 15 
 years, and resided in Watkins 40 
 years, she was well known and 
 identified with much of its history 
 during that long period of time; 
 
and she, as well as her lite partner 
 took great interest in its advance- 
 ment and prosperity — and for many 
 years during the Senator's resi- 
 dence of 27 years in Jefferson and 
 Watkins, he and Mrs. George B. 
 Guinnip were regarded as among 
 the prominent and highly respected 
 people of the village. Only one of 
 the family survives — R. H. Guin- 
 nip who, with his sons, has a large 
 mercantile business in Slmira, and 
 retains the old homestead in Wat- 
 kins, as a summer resort family- 
 home during the warm months of 
 the year. 
 
 Senator George B. Guinnip like 
 most men born in America in the 
 latter part of the last century, en- 
 joyed very limited means of edu- 
 cation, but was a man of great nat- 
 ural sagacity, and possessed an in- 
 tuitive knowledge of human nature 
 possessed by but few of his cotem- 
 poraries. He was a shrewd politi- 
 cian, and most uncompromisingly 
 devoted to the Democratic party; 
 and had a profound attachment to 
 its principles and their expounders 
 and defenders like Governors Mar- 
 cy, Seymour and TOden, and could 
 rarely be induced to vote, even in 
 local elections, anything but the 
 straight Democratic ticket from top 
 to bottom — though on the county 
 seat question, he always voted and 
 worked for the Watkins location 
 ticket; and he lived to see the 
 county seat, after Schuyler had 
 been erected 14 years, permanent- 
 ly established in Watkins in 1868, 
 though not permitted to much long- 
 er remain on this side of the mysti- 
 cal line that divides the shores of 
 time from the boundless ocean of 
 eternity. 
 
 Though not exactly pertinent in 
 these numbers, I cannot refrain 
 from observing that all obituary 
 notices, in this and all other coun- 
 ties, should contain the year as well 
 as day of week and month of all 
 
 One Hundred Eleven 
 
 deaths and funerals noted in their 
 columns. In consulting scrap books 
 for information on these subjects, 
 the "Local Historian" finds many 
 funeral notices that give the time 
 of deaths as "Thursday of last week" 
 or something equaUy indefinite, 
 though in some cases the day of 
 the month is added as "On Tues- 
 day of this week, August 4th", but 
 no year, which renders the obtam- 
 ing of correct dates very difficult, 
 and often involving hours of re- 
 search among the files of local 
 newspapers. And a word to scrap- 
 book compilers — which are among 
 the most convenient sources of in- 
 formation on important current 
 events, marriages, deaths, etc. In 
 clipping and pasting records of 
 these interesting events, be sure, if 
 the date of the month and year are 
 not given in the "clup" to write 
 them on the margin, and thus make 
 all items and articles ol local his- 
 tory, accurate for reference to all 
 who may wish to consult them. 
 
 In concluding this number, we 
 desire to present our grateful ac- 
 knowledgments to W. H. Reynolds 
 of Burdett, for excellent notes on 
 the Reynolds family of Western 
 Hector, which will enable us to de- 
 vote an interesting article to the 
 Hector pioneer, James Reynolds, 
 and his decendents, when that town 
 next after Dix, is reached in its 
 alphabetical order for pioneer 
 sketches of those who came into 
 the town after the commencement 
 of the present century. Such favors 
 are exceedingly acceptable, and are 
 earnestly solicited from all parts of 
 the county, as they can be relied 
 upon to be, as a very general thing, 
 correct. 
 
One Hundred Twelve 
 
 i>^<? 
 
 ^ V-*% «r««(.»Vs 
 
 ,*-< M^4^^^ 
 
 ./.^Jl^- *>4^^'-^'^ *^' 
 
 :^ 
 
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 (Prom the Watlkins Expireiss of May 24, 1933) 
 
 Four years ago we were celebrat- 
 ing the Sesqui-Centennial of the 
 marcn of General Joirn Sullivan up 
 the Chemung river, and along the 
 east side of Seneca lake, to the 
 Genesee river, which broke for- 
 ever the power of the dreaded Iro- 
 quois or Six Nations. Now the state 
 of New York is erecting along this 
 line of march suitable markers 
 showing the various camp sites, lo- 
 cations of Indian villages and other 
 points of historic interest. One of 
 these markers has recently been 
 erected at the northeast corner of 
 the new bridge over Catharine 
 Creek in Montour Palls. It not only 
 shows the head of navigation for 
 boats coming up Seneca lake, but 
 indicates the location of a store 
 and warehouse built on that site 
 in 1805. This building was stand- 
 ing thirty or forty years ago and 
 was occupied as a blacksmith shop. 
 
 We are indebted to G. H. Mickel 
 of Heotor for the following very 
 complete and authentic account of 
 the encampment at Hector on Sept. 
 3rd, 1779, as well as the location of 
 the various brigades and regiments. 
 
 Markers are to be placed along 
 the line of march in the State of 
 New York, beginning at Waverly, 
 thru Elmira, Mointour Palls, Bur- 
 
 dett. Hector and on into Livingston 
 county as follows: 
 
 Woolen Mills— at Hector Falls, 
 erec+pd 1801. 
 
 Warein/use — at Hector Falls where 
 the first boatload of grain to reach 
 the Port of New York, over the 
 Erie Canal, was loaded. 
 
 Ga-di-odji-yada — an Iroquois vil- 
 lage, which was known as Peach 
 Orchard. This vUlage was located 
 in the woods overlooking Seneca 
 Lake, and near a corrrfield, which 
 is mentioned in the Journal of the 
 various ofScers. 
 
 In connection with this marker, 
 Mr. Mickel, local Historian, has lo- 
 cated copies of the Journals of one 
 of the ofacers of Sullivan's army, 
 and this contains sketches of the 
 various encampments along the 
 line of March. For the information 
 of the public, this sketch is here 
 reprinted. 
 
 This EhSiWs tiiat 3000 soldiers, the 
 divisions of Maxwell, Clinton and 
 Poor camped on the South side of 
 what is now known as Saw Mill 
 creek, hence on lands now owned 
 by Charles Birge, Wm. Hatch and 
 W. S. Fassett; and that 2000 sol- 
 diers cam;ped on the North side of 
 the creek, this would be on lands 
 now owned by Bert Slocum, M. B. 
 
Reed, Charles Birge, Fred Hall, 
 Pred Williams and Wm. Wickham. 
 It was near these two divisions that 
 the Journals mention the cornfield 
 as also the cabins of the village. 
 When you consider there were 2000 
 men camped, you realize that they 
 covered some ground, and taking 
 these facts in consideration, and 
 according to the sketch, it would 
 locate this village on lands how 
 owned by Wm. Wickham which are 
 east of those of Wm. Field and 
 Joseph Wright and over-looking 
 Seneca Lake. 
 
 Several of the oflacers tell of the 
 Indians leaving in such haste, that 
 their kettles of corn were still over 
 the fires, and they further state that 
 the corn was purple. 
 
 With regard to the location of 
 these villages, it is conceded by au- 
 thorities that they were moved 
 every few years — this to keep new 
 land near their cabins, that they 
 might raise better crops and also 
 for sanitary reasons of the camp. 
 
 There is positive evidence that 
 the village here was at one time 
 on the farm now owned by Frank 
 Knowles and through the years was 
 moved along 'til the final location 
 as above recorded by Sullivan's of- 
 ficers and which position is west 
 of the marker now being erected. 
 Col. Hubley states that during their 
 maroh this day, Sept. 3, 1779 they 
 discovered several trees on which 
 the Indians, commanded by Brant 
 and Butler (of which there were 
 about 1000) and who were on their 
 way from Newtown to Kanadasaga, 
 had cut certain characters, tellhig 
 how many times their tribe had 
 been to war the past year — how 
 many men they had lost — how 
 many scalps they had taken from 
 those who were under arms and 
 how many from those not ajiroed, 
 also a sapling with the top twisted 
 around the body, signifying they 
 were strong and united. 
 
 Camp site of Sullivan's Army at 
 Peach Orchard, Sept. 3, 1779. 
 
 1. Gen. Clintons Brigade, which 
 camped practically on the place 
 now occupied by the highway lead- 
 ing from the concrete road to 
 Peach Orchard landing, lands of 
 W. S. Pasisett and C. W. Birge with 
 line of camp extending east and 
 west, thus forming the south side 
 of the camp quadrangle. 
 
 2. Gen. Maxwell's Brigade, which 
 camped in a line extending north 
 and south near the present resi- 
 dence of Wm. Hatch, thus fonnlng 
 the west sdide of the camp quad- 
 rangle. 
 
 3. Gen. Poor's Brigade, which 
 camped in a line extending north 
 and south, and just west of the 
 
 One Hundred Thirteen 
 
 present concrete highway, between 
 Saw Mill Creek and the ravine just 
 soutih, thus forming the east side of 
 the camp quadrangle. 
 
 It is our understanding that the 
 cattle which were driven on foot, 
 to provide beef for the army, the 
 horses, artilley and other camp sup- 
 phes would be kept within the 
 quadrangle thus formed. 
 
 With bheise three Brigades in this 
 position, they would have the deep 
 ravine of what is now Saw Mill 
 Creek as one factor of protection, 
 and also the Brigade of Light In- 
 fantry which camped on the north 
 side of this ravine. 
 
 4. Gen. Hand's Light Corps, 
 which camped north of the ravine 
 and in a line extending west from 
 the present hlghv/ay. No. 44, and 
 it was near this portion of the 
 camp that they found the cornfield 
 and about which were the cabins of 
 the Indians. 
 
 The various Brigades were made 
 up as follows: 
 
 Gen. Hand's consisted of Ar- 
 mand's, Hubley's and Shott's six 
 companies of rangers; Wm. But- 
 ler's Batallion; Morgan's Corps be- 
 sides other volunteers. 
 
 Gen. Poor's consisted of Ceiley's, 
 Reed's, Scammell's and Courtland's. 
 
 Gen. Maxwell's consisted of Day- 
 ton's, Schreeves', Ogden's and 
 Spencer's. 
 
 Gen. Clinton's consisted of Liv- 
 ingston's, DuBois', Gainsworth's and 
 Olden's. 
 
 Artillery, under command of Col. 
 Proctor, after the battle at New- 
 town, the heavy artillery was sent 
 back to Tioga, as there were places 
 where even the Light Guns took a 
 hundred men to get them through. 
 For this reason he only took the 
 four three-pounders and the little 
 coehom, which used a seven pound 
 shell. 
 
 In checking the records of the 
 guns returned at the close of the 
 campaign, they are all accounted 
 for, therefore none were lost, as 
 some have said. 
 
 Field orders for the day after 
 camp at Peach Orchard: 
 
 Headquarters 12 miles from Cath- 
 arine's, Sept. 3, 1779: (Arrived at 
 6 o'clock p. m.) 
 
 Parole Bound Brook 
 
 Countersign Brunswick 
 
 Brigadier for tomorrow 
 
 Gen. Maxwell 
 
 Field Officer Col. Dayton 
 
 Brigade Major Ross 
 
 The Geneia.! is exceedingly sur- 
 prised that his orders respecting 
 the movement of the pack horses 
 are so little attended to by wiiich 
 neglect the Army and its retinue 
 have been frequently endangered. 
 
One Hundred Fourteen 
 
 He now positively orders that the 
 following arrangements of them be 
 punctually complied with: The 
 pack horses of Generals Poor and 
 Clinton's Brigades to move in three 
 files on the left of Poor's column. 
 The pack horses of Generals Hands 
 and Maxwells Brigades to move in 
 the same manner on the right of 
 Maxwell's column. The pack horses 
 of Col. Proctor's regiment to move 
 immediately on the right and left 
 of the road on which the Artillery 
 pass, the cattle to be driven im- 
 mediately in the rear of the artil- 
 lery. 
 
 The front of the several files of 
 pack horses to be arranged with 
 the heads of the columns. After 
 passing a defile where the whole 
 are to proceed on one path, the 
 horses are to immediately resume 
 their former position. 
 
 The General and Field OEQcer of 
 tihe day, as also the Quartermaster 
 General to see that those who dev- 
 iate from this arrangement be 
 properly punished. 
 
 The troops to draw three days 
 half rations of meat this night and 
 cook one half of that. 
 
 The Genenal to beat tomorrow 
 morning a)t five o'clock at half an 
 hour after the Assemblee, and at 
 three-quarters after the march with 
 out the usual signal. 
 
 The records show that the Army 
 did not leave this camp until 10:00 
 a. m. account of rain. 
 
 MARKERS 1933 
 
 Con-daw-haw — an Iroquois vil- 
 lage just north of Valois on the 
 farm of Vance Smith. This village 
 consisted of a Long House and sev- 
 eral cabins. 
 
 Ferry — Goodwin's Ferry to Stark- 
 ey from North Hector, from 1805 
 to 1897 and which for the last 30 
 years of its operation was piloted 
 by Prank Wood. 
 
 Cabin Site — ^first settler, Wm. 
 Wlckham, first permanent settler 
 in Town of Hector, 1790. 
 
 Ford — across the head of Seneca 
 take, where Wm. Wickham was 
 drowned in 1800. 
 
 Church — at Hector organized 1809, 
 present buUding erected in 1818. 
 
 Indian Village — at Wayne, said 
 to date back to 1000 A. D. 
 
 Head of Navigation — Seneca lake, 
 then at what is now Montour Palls. 
 
 Underground Railway Station by 
 Luther Cleveland. 
 
 Early Settler — According to the 
 State Surveyors notes, inade 1790 
 at the time the township lots were 
 laid out in the Town of Hector 
 when running the line between Lots 
 No. 20 and 21, at a point 3102 feet 
 from the Lake shore and a certam 
 Blax:k Oak tree standing thereon, 
 they crossed the road cut by Sulli- 
 van and directly opposite was a 
 oabin occupied by one Masters, who 
 also had a clearing of 20 acres, 
 which would indicate he must have 
 been in the location for at least 
 two years. 
 
One of the prominent and well 
 known citizens of Watkins, who re- 
 sided in the village nearly 40 years 
 ol his busy lifetime was 
 
 WILLIAM HARING 
 
 He was 'born in Genoa, Cayuga 
 county, N. Y., October 29th, 1808, 
 — shaving been one of a family of 
 ten children, of whom few if any 
 now survive. When he was but 
 eight years of age, in the year 1816, 
 his father, whose name was Gar- 
 ret Haring, moved with his family 
 from Genoa, into what is now the 
 town of Beading, in the county of 
 Schuyler. 
 
 The subject oi our sketch re- 
 mained with his father until he weis 
 of age, in the year 1829 — ^working 
 on the farm in summer and teach- 
 ing school ixi winter — when he 
 CQ'me to Watkins (then Salubria) 
 to learn the trade of a mason, and 
 was for some tiiae in the employ 
 of Dr. Samuel Watkins, the found- 
 er of the village; and he cut the 
 stone steps of the JeSerson House, 
 which still remain to attest his 
 skill and good workmanship of half 
 a century ago. 
 
 He worked at his trade, a/fter 
 having learned it well, for one year, 
 and then left the place, because of 
 the prevalence, at that early day, 
 01 "fever and ague," and was for 
 a time employed as the superintend- 
 ent of a line of boats on the Erie 
 Canal, belonging to L. G. Town- 
 send of Big Stream, (now Glenora). 
 He subsequently superintended, at 
 Millport, Chemung county, the mill 
 and mercantile interests of Arauld 
 & Shannon, of Geneva. 
 
 When he was 26 years old, (in 
 1834) Mr. Haring commenced in 
 the mercantile business for him- 
 self at Rock Stream, (now in Yates 
 county) and remained there but 
 one year, when he moved to Ire- 
 landville, in the town of Reading, 
 then quite a prosperous little lum- 
 bering village, —under the super- 
 vision of its originaJ, proprietor, 
 (Ireland) of New York— where he 
 resided, and was engaged in the 
 mercantile business with Alohzo 
 Simmons for seven years. 
 
 In 1843, — 47 years ago — ^he moved 
 to Watkins, and began business 
 on what has long been known as 
 the "Haring Comer", on Franklin 
 street, in a new brick store, which 
 is still in good condition. He soon 
 had a profitatole trade, which he 
 conducted with great success, un- 
 til his retirement from active life 
 iii 1865, with a comfortaible com- 
 petency, also the respect and es- 
 teem of all his cotemporaries and 
 the public. He was a thorough, sys- 
 tematic, prudent and persevering 
 business man of unquestioned in- 
 
 One Hundred Fiflteen 
 
 tegrity and honor; and the ample 
 fortune he left to his family was 
 the result of careful and economi- 
 cal management, and gradual ac- 
 cumulation. As far and as fast as 
 circumstances would permit, he 
 placed and kept his money at in- 
 terest; but he never sought, or ac- 
 cepted more than the legal rate, 
 and never took advaaitage of the 
 misfortunes of his creditors. He 
 was ever kind and accomodating to 
 the poor and unfortunate, and 
 strictly just in all his dealings and 
 financial transactions. 
 
 During his long business career, 
 Mr. Haring held several minor po- 
 sitions of public trust. He was 
 Postmaster at Irelandville, and a 
 Lieut.-Colonel in the State MUitia; 
 and several years after his retire- 
 ment from business, in 1870 and 
 1871 he was Supervisor of the town 
 of Dix, and during several years 
 was Vice-President of the First 
 National Bank of Watkins. 
 
 In the performance of all his of- 
 ficial duties, William Haring was as 
 faithful and watchful over the in- 
 terests of the town and county, as 
 if they had been his own; and his 
 public services always gave tne 
 highest satisfaction. In politics he 
 was a Democrat of the most reliable 
 t;;pe, and never faltered in his po- 
 litical faith. In his religious views 
 he was broad and liberal, without 
 bigotry or prejudice; and though 
 not a memiber of any denomination 
 he was a regular attendant at the 
 Presbyterian Church, and contrib- 
 uted liberally toward its support. 
 
 Mr. Haring died in Watkins, on 
 November 24th, 1875, aged 67 years, 
 leaving a widow and two sons — 
 Charles and George — ^he having 
 been married while residing in Ire- 
 landiville, to Miss Eliza Cox, daugh- 
 ter of Jesse and Anna Cox, of 
 Reading, November 23rd, 1836. Mrs. 
 Haring, a most estimable lady, was 
 born in Mount Pleasant, Westches- 
 ter county, N. Y., May 12th, 1811. 
 She survived her husband less than 
 two years, her death having oc- 
 curred on Sunday, June 24th, 1877, 
 ai the age of 66 years. Excellent 
 wood'-cut portraits of this noted 
 early-resident couple of Watkins, 
 appear in the "History of the Four 
 Counties;" and they peacefully 
 rest in the family lot, on the south 
 side, middle-'plateau of Glenwood, 
 where thousands of people annual- 
 ly pass by and behold the lot and 
 firely polished shaft that marks the 
 place of their dreamless sleep. 
 
 Their oldest son Charles was 
 born at Irelandville, town of Read- 
 ing, February 11th, 1838, and be- 
 came a resident of Watkins with 
 his father's famUy, in 1843. He 
 
One Hundred Sixteen 
 
 married Miss Jane M. Shepherd of 
 Reading, January 6th, 1864, and 
 died May 25th, 1883, aged 45 years, 
 leaving a widow and two sons — 
 John S., a.nd William S., —all of 
 whom are living and regard Wat- 
 kins as their home. 
 
 The second son of Williajn and 
 Eliza Haring (George), was born 
 October 21st, 1841, married March 
 1st, 1865, to Miss Sarah A. Canfleld. 
 daughter of Jonas and Margaret 
 Canfleld, then residents of Hector; 
 and their children are Margaret 
 Eliza, (now Mrs. Mott Hughey), 
 Georgiana and Jesse C. 
 
 Because of defectiveness in our 
 data on Dr. W. E. Booth we are com- 
 pelled to defer our contemplated 
 sketch of him till next week, and 
 subS;titute in place thereof, one of 
 
 OEN. DANIEL JACKSON, 
 v/ho was born in Minisink, Orange 
 county, N. Y., in the year 1796. He 
 moved with his parents into Cayuga 
 county when but a small boy, and 
 subsequently lived for a time in 
 Bloomfleld, in the county of On- 
 tario, after which he taught school 
 for a short time in Trumansbui^. 
 Tompkins county, and then became 
 a salesman in the store of Gen. 
 John DeMott at Lodi, in the county 
 of Seneca. 
 
 In later years he went to Tru- 
 mansburg to reside, where he was 
 married to Miss Mary Starkweath- 
 er. He sold goods there for a short 
 time, and then, in 1824, moved to 
 Eurdett in the town of Hector, 
 (then Tompkins county) sold goods 
 there for a few years, and then 
 purchased the hotel property ever 
 after known as the "JacliBon House" 
 which he conducted successfully 
 for about 30 years. 
 
 He was appointed Postmaster at 
 Burdett under President Andrew 
 Jackson, and held the office until 
 after the defeat of VanBuren by 
 the Whigs in 1840, when (being a 
 Democrat) he was removed under 
 President Wm. H. Harrison, but in 
 the course of a few months after 
 Gen. Harrison's death, he was re- 
 appointed under John Tyler, and 
 held the office until after the elec- 
 tion of President Lincoln, or unci] 
 1861. 
 
 He came to Watkins about the 
 year 1864, was soon after elected 
 Justice of the Peace of the town 
 of Dix, and held the office (doing 
 a iarge ibusiness) for four years. 
 Mrs. Jackson, who had been an 
 invalid for some years, died in the 
 winter of 1870; after which time 
 his son Frederick W. and family 
 resided with him, at his pleasantly 
 located home, corner of Decatur 
 and Eighth streets, in Watkins 
 until the time of his death, which 
 
 occurred February 28tht 1879, in 
 the 83rd year of his age. He passed 
 away peacefully and painlessly, af- 
 ter but a few weeks, confinement 
 to his house, with no well defined 
 disease, save his advanced age, and 
 the gradual failing of the forces 
 of life. 
 
 In the days of his active man- 
 hood, Gen. Jackson was fond of 
 military life, and in it took an ac- 
 tive part. He was chosen Colonel 
 of his regiment, and after two years 
 was elected General of his brigade, 
 and served until the militia of the 
 State was reorganized. 
 
 He was a man of true military 
 bearing, of dignified and impressive 
 presence, and sterling integrity; a 
 kind and considerate husband and 
 father; a true gentleman of the old 
 school, and greatly respected and 
 esteemed by a large circle, of friends 
 and acquaintances. He carried his 
 burden of years with remarkable 
 health, strength and grace, and died 
 as he had lived a devoted and ex- 
 emplary Christian, and a most 
 worthy memiber of the Presbyter- 
 ian Church in Watkins with which 
 he united after coming to Wat- 
 kins to reside. Previoudy, however. 
 and during nearly all his long resi- 
 dence in Burdett, he took a great 
 interest in the Presbyterian church 
 of that place, and was one of the 
 first of its trustees, chosen when 
 It was first organized 68 years ago. 
 v/hich position he held for many 
 years, and took a liberal part in 
 the remodeling of the old edifice, 
 while yet a resident of that local- 
 ity. 
 
 Brief services were held at the 
 late residence of the deceased, at 
 1 o'clock p. m., the second day after 
 his death, by Dr. MUton Waldo, 
 then pastor of the church, and the 
 interment was in the cemetery at 
 Burdett, where, in the Presbyterian 
 Church, more lengthy services were 
 held by Dr. Waldo, assisted by Rev. 
 E. W. Twichell — a large congrega- 
 tion of his old friends and neigh- 
 bors being in attendance. 
 
 The children of Gen. Jackson 
 are Mrs. Dr. J. W. Thompson, Geo. 
 H. Jackson, and Frederick W. Jack- 
 son, all residents of Watkins; and 
 all of whom deeply revere the name 
 and memory of their father, who 
 was a prominent citizen in the early 
 history of Schuyler county, and 
 W'hose virtues and manly traits of 
 character, all its people may well 
 admire and emulate, as they are 
 calculated to have a salutary in- 
 fiuence on the public mind which 
 will be felt for many future years. 
 
 Note:— A curious mistake was 
 made, last week, in the sketch of 
 Senator G. B. Guinnip, by saying 
 
only one of his honorary pall-bear- 
 ers now survive. The name of Hon, 
 S. L. Rood, (as well as that of Ty- 
 ler H. Abbey) should have been 
 given as one of the survivors. 
 
 DR. WINTHROP E. BOOTH, 
 who was born in the town of Cath- 
 arine, (then Tioga county) January 
 1st, 1802. He was the son of Solo- 
 mon Booth, an old pioneer of that 
 great town, who appears to have 
 migrated thither from New Eng- 
 land, and settled on Lot No. 1, and 
 on land afterwards known as the 
 "Ousterhout farm," in the year of 
 1800. His sons were Ranson E., 
 Solomon S., Dr. Winthrop E., and 
 John J. Booth, all of whom have 
 been deceased quite a term of years. 
 
 W.nthrop E. seems to have had, 
 at least, a good common school edu- 
 cation, and psrhaps more; although 
 in regard to that we cannot posi- 
 tively say. As far as we are able to 
 Jearn he worked on the homestead 
 farm until nearly or quite of age, 
 and then studied medicine, and 
 graduated at the Fairfield Medical 
 College in Herkjner county, N. Y., 
 and soon thereafter he located and 
 commenced practicing in Ithaca. 
 
 At the age of 27 years, he moved 
 to IrelandviUe, in the town of Read- 
 ing (then in Steuben county) where 
 he remained but one year, and then 
 became .a resident of Salubria, about 
 two years after Dr. Samuel Wat- 
 kins came from New York, and 
 thus named the hamlet, which was 
 subsequently incorporated as Jef- 
 ferson, and in 1852, changed to 
 "Watkins. 
 
 In 1842 Dr. Booth married Miss 
 Thayer, the second daughter of Col. ' 
 Ebenezer Thayer, and at about that 
 time erected the house where they 
 long after resided — the first dwell- 
 ing on the north side of Second 
 street, (occupied of late years by 
 Washington Wilmot) and now be- 
 longing to George Haring. At the 
 time it was built, this house was 
 regarded as the finest and best in 
 the village — the Watkins mansion 
 (now Hotel Schuyler) not then hav- 
 ing been commenced. For many 
 years the Dp-, was assiduously de- 
 voted to his practice, in Salubria, 
 Jefferson, Watkins and the adjac- 
 ent country, and became a popu- 
 lar and very successful physician. 
 
 In the year 1854, when the county 
 of Schuyler was formed, it found 
 Dr. Booth Supervisor of the town 
 of Dix, taken from Chemung coun- 
 
 One Hundred Seventeen 
 
 ty, and he may have been its Sup- 
 ervisor for one or two years prior 
 to that date. From that time until 
 1861, he was annually re-elected, 
 and served as a member of the 
 Board of Supervisors of the new 
 county for seven consecutive years, 
 during the whole of which period 
 the county seat question was in 
 continual agitation, between the 
 Watkins and Havana locations; and 
 Dr. Booth was from first to last 
 the acknowledged champion and 
 main reliance of the Watkins in- 
 terest in the local Legislature of 
 the county — which contained seven 
 members, five of whom, from the 
 beginning of the struggle, until the 
 passage of the "Downs Bill," and 
 the erection of the town of Mon- 
 tour in 1860, temporarily gave the 
 county seat to Havana — steadily 
 adhered to the Watkins location, 
 and did all in their power, under 
 the guidance of their shrewd and 
 sagacious leader, to make it the per- 
 manent county seat of Schuyler — 
 as shown in former numbers of 
 these papers. 
 
 The Watkins colleagues in the 
 Board -with Dr. Booth, during what 
 has been not inaptly called "The 
 Seven Years' War," were Dr. Henry 
 Pish, John Woodward and Hon. 
 Isaac D. Mekeel, of Hector; Edwin 
 C. Andrews of Reading, Harry R. 
 Barnes, Dr. Thomas L. Nichols, Wm. 
 Bevier and Abram Barkley, of 
 Orange; and George Clark of -Ty- 
 rone; and his Havana Colleagues 
 were LeRoy Wood, Samuel Roberts 
 and John Wood, of Cayuta; and 
 Phineas Catlin, Abraham Lawrence, 
 Edwin H. Downs and Charles Cook 
 of Catharine. 
 
 It was confidently anticipated 
 that when Mr. Cook became a mem- 
 ber of the Board in 1859, he would, 
 through his well known great per- 
 sonal influence, and will power, be 
 able to "checkmate" the Watkins 
 leader and prevent the consuma- 
 tion of a plan that had been agreed 
 upon by the Watkins majority — 
 after the county seat had been a 
 second time removed to that local- 
 ity — to sell the Havana buildings at 
 Havana, and thus apparently make 
 an end of the contest. But Mr. 
 Cook was overmatched on that, and 
 all other county seat issues that 
 came before the Board, by the wily 
 and longheaded Supervisor of Dix, 
 who held his five of the seven 
 members steadily in hand, without 
 
One Hundred Eighiteen 
 
 a break, until they were all over- 
 powered by the legislative enact- 
 ments of 1860; and yet the Dr. 
 rarely mads a motion, or had any- 
 thing more than a passing word 
 to say in the Board. He, however, 
 caucused carefully and frequently 
 with the Watkms members, and 
 counseled with George G. Freer, 
 who drew most of the important 
 resolutions in regard to county seat 
 matters — ^being an accomplished 
 adept in that kind of legal practice 
 — and the program, when the Board 
 was in sess.on, always went off 
 smoothly and without a jar, the 
 Watkins members rarely indulging 
 in any debate, and reaching the 
 "previous question" as soon as pos- 
 sible, after the Havana members 
 had submitted all their arguments, 
 and protests, and all their amend- 
 ments had been voted down. 
 
 In this long controversy, in which 
 Dr. Booth, who had to encounter 
 as good talent and legal ability as 
 the county afforded, showed him- 
 self a man of large and well bal- 
 anced brain, consummate tact, great 
 intelligence and foresight. He was 
 remarkably reticent, cautious and 
 guarded in all that he did, said and 
 advised. Prom the opening to the 
 close of the "Irrepressible conflict" 
 — in which the Watkins men would 
 have undoubtedly acted just as the 
 Havana men did, if their positions 
 had been reversed — he never made 
 a serious mistake, nor joined in any 
 action that was not sustained by 
 the courts; and so great was the 
 confidence of the Watkins mem- 
 bers of the Board of Supervisors . 
 and of the people favorable to that 
 location, in his opinion and judg- 
 ment, that they were implicitly re- 
 lied upon, and his wishes, in all 
 things were respected and obeyed. 
 
 In 1861, when he retired from the 
 supervisorship of his town, and gave 
 place to Wm. Roberts, Dr. Booth saw 
 no prospect of a permanent or any 
 other future location of the coun- 
 ty seat at Watkins, during his life- 
 time — though conscious that such 
 a hopeless view of the case could 
 not be attributed to any act of om- 
 ission or commission on his part — 
 but he outlived Charles Cook, and 
 had the great gratification in 1868, 
 (over six years before his death) 
 of seeing the county seat establish- 
 ed at Watkins, there to remain; 
 and then realized that his seven 
 years of almost ceaseless devotion 
 
 to the people of his town, and the 
 ocher Wa..K.ns towns of the coun- 
 ty, had not been in vain. 
 
 After the question that had so 
 long been nearest his heart, was 
 settled, he lived a quiet and restful 
 life, not being in firm health, and" 
 did not attempt to resume his medi- 
 cal practice, which he had gradu- 
 ally withdrawn from, during the 
 preceding ten years, but occupied 
 his time in looking after his farm 
 and other real estate; and he be- 
 came an invalid a year or more be- 
 fore his demise. Uis disease took 
 the form of consumption of the 
 lungs; and he died on Sunday, Nov. 
 7th, 1873, aged 73 years and 10 
 months. 
 
 The funeral services were held 
 in St. James Church in Watkins, 
 (of whiCh he was one of the first 
 Vestrymen) November 9th — Rev. 
 Nobie Palmer conducting the ser- 
 vices, which were attended by a 
 large assemblage of his fellow citi- 
 zens, friends and neighbors. The 
 following old residents of Watkins 
 were the paU-bearers, namely: 
 B. L. Shay, Wm. R. WiUiams, Archi- 
 bald Robbins, Alexander C. Kings- 
 bury, Horace Ogden and Hon. S. L. 
 Rood. Of. these only two, Mr. Rob- 
 bins and Judge Rood, still survive. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors then 
 in session, adjourned, out of respect 
 to his memory, as a former and 
 very prominent member of their 
 Board and attended the funeral in 
 a body; and reverently and sor- 
 rowfully followed the casket con- 
 taining his mortal remains to Glen- 
 wood. Their names were: Cayuta, 
 Samuel S. Brown; Catharine, Jesse 
 Lyon; Dix, S. B. H. Nichols, M. D.; 
 Hector, Elmer C. Spaulding; Mon- 
 tour, Myron H. Weaver; Orange, 
 Alonzo Tucker; Reading, Adrian 
 Tuttle; Tyrone, Lewis Beach. 
 
 Dr. Booth and Mrs. Booth — a 
 highly esteemed lady who died some 
 years before her husband — had 
 three children; one daughter, Mrs. 
 E. B. StuU, now residing with her 
 husband in North Dakota, and two 
 sons, John and Ebenezer, tooth of 
 whom reside in Watkins. 
 
 When the names of many of the 
 old residents of Watkins and the 
 county of Schuyler, fade from pub- 
 lic recollection, and are effaced 
 from their tombstones and monu- 
 ments, by the corroding hand of 
 Time, the name and memory of Dr. 
 Winthrop E. Booth will live, and 
 
long be perpetuated in our local 
 annals. 
 
 MARTIN S. PHINNEY, 
 
 a long-time, well and widely known 
 citizen of Watkins, in the town of 
 Dix, who was born in the State of 
 Massachusetts, in 1813, and came 
 to the Head of Seneca Lake in 
 1833, only five years after Dr. Wat- 
 kins, the founder of the village, 
 then called "Salubria." 
 
 Mr. Phinney was one of the lead- 
 ing pioneer business men of the 
 place, having engaged in the drug 
 and book business. He occupied 
 many years before his death, the 
 store since and now owned by Geo. 
 H. Jackson. He was a man of pleas- 
 ing address, sterling integrity, en- 
 terprise and business honor, and 
 enjoyed the entire confidence of 
 the business men of the locality, 
 both before and after it became 
 Jefferson and Watkins, and of the 
 whole community; and though an 
 unpretentious man in public affairs 
 and village improvements, during 
 the last few years of his life, he 
 built the fine residence on Seventh 
 street, now owned by Lewis H. Dur- 
 land, and the large brick store now, 
 and for many years past, occupied 
 by the extensive hardware firm of 
 Durland, Smith & Co., on Fourth 
 street, opposite the Watkins Ex- 
 press office. 
 
 In the Presbyterian Church he 
 was one of the devoted and hon- 
 ored members, having long been an 
 elder, and taking great interest in 
 all things pertaining to the society. 
 
 On Wednesday, April 7th, 1875, 
 he was confined to his house, with 
 a slight attack of congestion of the 
 lungs, (pneumonia) and died very 
 {^suddenly between 10 and 11 o'clock 
 in the evening of that day, at the 
 age of 62 years, leaving a widow, 
 his second wife, formerly Mrs. M. 
 T. Barnes, and one child, now a 
 young lady — ^Miss Helen Phinney of 
 Corning, — where both the mother 
 and i%iughter reside. 
 
 The funeral was held, and very 
 largely attended, at the Presbyterian 
 Church, on Saiturday, April 10th, 
 at 10 a. m. — Rev. Richard McNair, 
 the then pastor, conducting the 
 sad and mournful obsequies of as 
 good and worthy a citizen as ever 
 honored the village of^ Watkins by 
 a useful and blameless? life, for a 
 period of over 40 years. 
 
 It Is peculiarly fitting that in 
 
 One Hundred Nineteen 
 
 these local annals of the village of 
 Watkins, and town of Dix, the name 
 and memory of 
 
 WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS 
 
 should not be forgotten, wno sur- 
 vived until he was one of the very 
 few remaining early settlers of the 
 locality, where he lived over half 
 a century. He was born in Sulli- 
 van county, N. Y., Dec. 6th, 1811. 
 In the year 1829, at the age of 18 
 years he went to New York city to 
 learn the trade of wagon making 
 which became his avocation for 
 life; and the old shop in which he 
 carried on that business, in Wat- 
 kins, for a long term of years, is 
 still standing north of Pike's liv- 
 ery barn, of which it seems, in late 
 years, to have become a useful ap- 
 pendage. 
 
 Mr. Williams remained in New 
 York until 1834, and then attracted 
 by the founding of a new village 
 at the head of Seneca Lake, by 
 Dr. Watkins of that city, he came 
 to Salubria, and located his resi- 
 dence where he passed all the bal- 
 ance of his days, and lived, suc- 
 cessively, in the counties of Tioga, 
 Chemung and Schuyler, in the 
 towns of Catlin and Dix, and in 
 the villages of Salubria, Jefferson 
 and Watkins. He was thus early 
 identified with the interests and 
 progress of this section, took a 
 lively interest in its advancement, 
 and his efforts and infiuence were 
 ever exerted in behalf of the com- 
 munity in which his lot was cast, 
 and in furthering its prosperity. 
 His life was one of quiet and per- 
 sistent industry and frugality, and 
 constantly characterized by an hon- 
 est sincerity of purpose and un- 
 swerving integrity, combined with 
 a good degree of intelligence con- 
 stituting a good and highly esteem- 
 ed citizen. He held from time to 
 time many positions of public trust 
 in the village and their duties were 
 ever faithfully discharged, which 
 rendered him a favorite and popu- 
 lar candidate before the people for 
 local offices in which the frugal 
 taxpayers of former days took a 
 constant and careful interest. He 
 was elected Treasurer of the vil- 
 lage of Jefferson at the first elec- 
 tion after its incorporation and re- 
 ceived every vote cast for that of- 
 fice. 
 
 He was a man of most economic 
 and temperate habits, and from his 
 
One Hundred Twenty 
 
 small earnings accumuUted a com- 
 fortable little property, that sus- 
 tained him in comfort in his de- 
 clining years. He was one of rne 
 original members of the Sons of 
 Temperance an Jefferson and Wat- 
 kins, and an active participant in 
 its councils as long as the organi- 
 zation was maintained. At an early 
 date he also became identified with 
 the Odd Fellows, and was for a 
 considerable time at the head of the 
 order in the village. He was like- 
 wise a regular attendant for a 
 long term of years, of the Bap- 
 tist Church, and a trustee, though 
 not a member of its communion, 
 and did much toward sustaining 
 it in the dark and discouraging 
 days of its past history. 
 
 On the 1st day of February, 1835 
 — the next year after he became a 
 resident of Salubria — Mr. Williams 
 was married to Miss Sarah Thomp- 
 son, who was a most worthy com- 
 panion for the long journey of life, 
 which they were destined to make 
 together, and she survived him, 
 having been at the time of his 
 death 75 years of age— 74 of which 
 she had passed at the headwaters 
 of Seneca Lake, to which she was 
 brought by her family from Con- 
 necticut (if we mistake not) when 
 only one year old. Mrs. Williams 
 is authority for the statement, that 
 a Miss or Mrs. Watkins — a sister 
 of John W. Watkins, tlxe first land- 
 ed proprietor, opened the first Sun- 
 day School in what is now the town 
 of Dix, and village of Watkins, at 
 the western hillside Watkins resi- 
 dence, known as the "White House" 
 and she was one of the first pupils, 
 when 5 or 6 years old— about the 
 year 1815 — nearly 75 years ago. She 
 is also authority for the "origin of 
 the willows," that have so long 
 flourished at the head of Seneca 
 Lake and vicinity. She informed the 
 writer that they came from a wil- 
 low sprout, cut in Connecticut for 
 a whip, and brought here by the 
 father of Dayton Gilbert, who set- 
 tled in Reading, about the year of 
 1807. On his arrival at the head of 
 Lake Seneca, he- -stuck his willow 
 whip in the ground, and it lived 
 and grew, in time furnishing cut- 
 tings to be set and grown in a sim- 
 ilr manner. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Williams had three 
 children, two daughters and a son; 
 Agnes (Mrs. Thomas McCaul) and 
 Elizabeth (Mrs. Fred S. Barrows) 
 
 live in Wisconsin. Lewis died in 
 Watkins, February 19th, 1887, aged 
 44 years; and his mother, after his 
 death, even at her great age, (about 
 78 years) joined her children in the 
 West, and may be living still, at 
 about 80 years of age. 
 
 William R. Williams, the princi- 
 pal subject of our sketch, died on 
 Tuesday, May 18th, luUti, aged V4 
 years and 5 months. His funeral 
 was held at the family residence 
 on the following Thursday after- 
 noon. Rev. C. W. Brooks conduct- 
 ing the services, in accordance with 
 a previously expressed wish made 
 some time before the death of the 
 deceased, and the burial was hi. a 
 spot that he had chosen in Glea- 
 wood, where he slumbers am<Jng 
 many of the early settlers of the 
 town of Dlx, and its principal til- 
 lage, which he saw grow from sntell 
 beginnings until it became ^e 
 county seat of the new county; of 
 Schuyler, and its 300 souls increas- 
 ed to a population of 3,000. ' 
 
 ISAAC Q. LEAKE 
 
 passed a few years, between 1825 
 and 1835, at the head of Senpca 
 Lake, in that part of the villfcjge 
 of Watkins embraced in the tciicn 
 of Reading, and to which locality 
 he gave the name of "Savoy." fee 
 appears to have become the pro-» 
 prieior (or manager) of that rtssHi 
 of the present village, a few yeC»s 
 after Dr. Watkins gave the n^e 
 of Salubria to the portion now em- 
 braced in the town of Dix; and l^pr 
 several years thereafter, he i^ 
 portuned the Dr. to "buy him out", 
 and let him go, and thus unite the 
 two embryo villages in one. This 
 Dr. Watkins seems to have finally V 
 done, and thus extinguished th^' 
 name of Savoy; and shortly after 
 (in 1842) he merged both that and 
 Salubria into Jefferson. 
 
 Mr. Leake was quite a charaecer 
 in his day, and a man of much 
 force and energy — the result of an 
 ardent temperament, and f much 
 intelligence. He married- ''a sister 
 (probably in Alban3A#^of John L. 
 Tillinghas, Esq., autrfior- of the "TU- 
 linghas Porms^" -"a legal work of 
 much celebrity. Mrs. Leake was the 
 granddaughter of Gen. Lamb, of 
 Revolutionafy fame and memory, 
 and through that channel, and his 
 marriage, Mr. Leake came in pos- 
 session of; that part of Watkini, 
 lying north of the dividing east and