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HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHEMUNG VALLEY, Etc. 
 
 BY 
 
 T. APOLEON CHENEY, 
 
 18 33 XX 
 
 ' WATKINS, N. Y 
 
 1 8 G 8 . 
 

 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. Esq. 
 
 THE EMINENT AND ILLrSTRIOUS POET OF THE NINETEENTH CENTTTtY. 
 
 THIS 'sketch," 
 
 AS SOME TOKEN OF PROFOUND AND SINCERE HEGARD, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIHED, BY 
 
 The Authok. 
 
 Entered accordius to Act of Congress, in the year 18G8, by 
 
 T. Apoleon Chkney, 
 
 In the Clerk"=:< Otiice of the District Conrt of the Northern District of New Yorlc. 
 
 1 ^/r^-^f/w 
 
HISTOEICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Clieimaiig A^alley, etc. 
 
 BY T. APOLEON CHENEY. 
 
 •'The Regular Meeting of the Buffalo His- 
 torical Society was held at its rooms, March 
 12th. 
 
 The minutes of the last meeting were read 
 and approved. 
 
 Ttie report of the Treasurer shows a Valance 
 in the Treasury, February 28th, of $160-5,53. 
 
 The President, (Hon. Milliard Fillmore.) 
 announced the reception of a long and exhaust- 
 ive paper from the pen of Dr. T. Apoleon Cue 
 KEY, of Havana, Schuyler County, beinjj a min- 
 ute History of that region, includinga detailed 
 account of the Expedition of General Sullivan 
 against tlie Indians. Anson G. Chester was 
 invited to read the paper at a special meeting 
 of tiie Society to be held at its rooms on Fri- 
 day next." 
 
 Extract from the Records of the Buffalo His- 
 torical Society: — "A special meeting of the 
 Society was held at their rooms on tlie 15th, 
 inst., for the purpose of hearing read a paper 
 prepared hy T. Apolkon Cheney, LL. D., of 
 Schuyler County, New York, giving an ac- 
 count of the early History of that region, and 
 of Sullivan's Expedition against the Indians. 
 
 The Paper was read by Anson G. Chester, 
 Esq., wiiereupon, on motion of G. W. Bab- 
 cock, Esq., it was 
 
 B,esolved, that the thnnks of the Society be 
 presented toT. Apoleon Cheney. LL. D. for his 
 elaborate and instructive Paper just read, and 
 that the Paper be referred to the Committee 
 on publication." 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IntTodudory remarks : — Occupation of our country 
 hy the Aboriginal tribes— Early Discoveries and 
 Expeditions made by the French and English 
 in the region o/ Western New York, etc. 
 The Chemung Valley, and adjacent region 
 has already been assigned a prominent jH-ice 
 in the domain of History, of Romance, "ul ot 
 Song. It would indeed appear vain and futilo 
 to attempt to make collection of any unrecor- 
 ded facts, or to narrate any of the thril ing 
 Stories which the pioneer still relates of the 
 olden time, that can add to the interest which 
 already attaches to th's famed and almost clas- 
 sic ground. But, the strangely beautiful le- 
 gends, the romantic myths, connected with 
 the jjcriod of the Revolution, which various 
 historical, as weU as other liteiary works, had 
 rec< rded of this beautiful and picturesque val- 
 ley, has served to awaken and stimulate further 
 researches in regard to its history. 
 
 The writer of this sketch had, at first, in- 
 dulged the hope to be ahle to collect material 
 which would form reliable basis for a some- 
 what full and complete history of the regioa 
 which had been the theatre where one of the 
 strangest and most interesting dramas of past 
 time had been enacted, but the haze which in 
 long intervening years had gathered around 
 its marvelous scenes, renders any completa 
 narative of its important and changing events, 
 or of the actors who particip ded in them, now 
 impossible. It may also be mentioned, that 
 
HIST'iRICAT- SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VAIJ,EY, ETC. 
 
 whilst the writer wms pursuing, in the early 
 part of the summer of '65, extendfd inquiries 
 and investis^iitions respecting the early history 
 of the section which includes the heautiful in- 
 land likes of ourState, illness h;id interposed to 
 prevent furtiier research (jrattention to the sub- 
 ject ; and now, after the lapse of many months, 
 the choice only seems to remain to him, 
 either to give a rough and desultory sketcli oi 
 the events of which he has already acquiied 
 information, some disconnected outline »;t in- 
 cidents in the history of this region, or to per- 
 mit them to slumber in oblivion. It will be 
 my only object lo iiive a simple and truthful 
 relation of facts. For all imoerfectionsof style, 
 which otherwise might challenge criticism, I 
 must ask generous allowance and indulgence. 
 This sketch is, in fact, only a luiml)!e contri- 
 bution toward the history of the valley Iving 
 between the Chemung river and tlie Seneca 
 Lake, also, giving a pirii il record of the thrill- 
 in<r legends of the adjoining country whicli 
 are insepirably blended with the early history 
 of the valley. 
 
 The men of the Revolution have passed 
 away. The Pioneers of our country are no 
 more. The noble endurance which these men 
 •who had entered and subdued tlie wilderness 
 displayed, teaching the virgin soil to bud and 
 bloom with the beauty of a new Eilen, is 
 worthy of elogitim only surpassed by that paid 
 to the patriots and heroes who had achieved 
 our National independence. They all repose 
 beneath the green and fragrant turf— ali.ie 
 slumbering in their honored graves. 
 
 Over this regi(m, within the historic perod 
 four great empires have claimed the sover- 
 eignty—four great powers that have exacted 
 submission to their imperial sway. Scarcely 
 a century has passed by since the earliest ot 
 these dominant powers, the proud Iroquois con- 
 federacy, held the m istery over'.the broad forest 
 lands which divided the waters of the conti- 
 nent ;— here the Conhocton, the Canesteo, and 
 other streams, rushing along the fertile val- 
 leys until joining the noble Susquehanna, they. 
 at last, mmgle with the Ocean;— there, the wa- 
 ters which formed the beautiful lakes, seeking 
 an outlet through the m igniticent Ontario'' 
 and majestic St. Liwrence, until they too. 
 reached the great Atlantic; while upon its 
 western borders, the rivers, fed by springs 
 among the hills of Steul>en. muted their cur- 
 rents to give tribute to the Monarch of Floods 
 whose waters giviutr verdure to .all the broad 
 lands of the imperial West, welcomed in em- 
 brace at last the queenly seas of the tropics. 
 
 I needs must pause to glance one moment 
 at this remarkable power, this great Empire 
 of the past. This unriv.illed Indian confede- 
 ration, which had luien acquiring strentcth 
 and power, and greatness, for three himdred 
 years previous to the culmination of its gran- 
 deur at the period of the llevolution, was pre- 
 ceded by an empire of yet older date, which 
 
 in unknown time held the continent in its im- 
 perial grasp. 'J'hc monuments reared by this 
 lost empire, in scmie far and unknown period 
 of time, which still perpetuate some 'mdi.s- 
 tinct record of its former grea ness, can only 
 be traced in the mounds, and military earth- 
 works, which have been found existing 
 throughout our country, inchnling the region 
 occupied by the Iroquois. In relation to this 
 subject, however. I cannot do l.'ctter than in- 
 troduce extracts from letters which I had the 
 honor to receive from several eminent schi>l- 
 ars, the most illu.-trious scientific men of our 
 land, whose v.ilualileopiinon will posstrssmuch 
 greater interest than views which only a stu- 
 dent in tills department of investig ition, like 
 mvself, could advance. The late Be\j.\min 
 SiLLiMAN. LL. D.. Einerites Professor in hon- 
 ored Y le, and who durimr the last half cen- 
 tury had occupied the most distinguished, the 
 most illustrious position among the scientific 
 men not only of America, i)ut of the world, 
 thus, referring to the mounds, writes : 
 
 'T believe they were not erected by the an- 
 cestors of our Aborisinees. hut by a people 
 considerably advanced in civilization and arts, 
 like the Mexicans. " *■' - I siw on Sals- 
 hury's plain in England, numerous mounds be- 
 longing no doubt to the same state of society 
 with those in the west of America. I counted 
 more than seventy in one view — the largest, 
 called King Silberry's Mound, was 180 feet 
 high, and its base covered nearly an acre of 
 ground. It is descril>ed in my travels in Eng- 
 land in 1805 6. •" « « You are aware that 
 in the middle and north of Europe there are 
 on the corrtinent many sepidcral mounds. — 
 They anpear to he characteiistic of a particu- 
 lar era in social advancement." Another dis- 
 tinguished scholar, who also had ranked among 
 the first Historians in our country, Jakkd 
 Sparks, LL. D.. in a letter dated Febu iiy 26, 
 1862. gives expression of his views : '-These 
 monuments are not more curious as speci- 
 mens of antiquity, thm as furnishing a clue to 
 the history of the race of men by whom they 
 were formed, * * ^ It is a striking fact, 
 that scarcely any mounds or other anticpii- 
 ties of the kind, liave lieen found lietween the 
 Alleginy mountains and the Atlantic ocean, 
 while they are so numerous in the region of 
 the West. It would seem to imply different 
 races who had litUe intercourse with each 
 other." And in regard to the history and an- 
 tiquities of the region occupied hy the Iro- 
 vuois H. R. Sriiooi.cnAFT, LL. D., whose long 
 continued ArchiBlogical and Etlinoloirical in- 
 vestitrations were embodied in various able 
 and elaborate publicatitms. beside the great 
 national work, issued in six quarto volumes, 
 '•Tli^tory, Condition and Prospects of the In- 
 dian Tribes of the U. S." in a communication 
 to the writer of this article says: "There is 
 nothinc: in our history more interestinir than 
 our Indian antiquities, and we are just begin- 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMDNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 iiingto^t^t some reliable light upon the sub- 
 ject. We have made extravagant speculations 
 upon the suliji'ct ; but, it requires to be stucl- 
 ie(l from another and dfiser point of view. — 
 Tlie ancient tribes of Indi;ins were more po; - 
 nlous, anil had a higher degree of arts tlian 
 our modern tiibes. Europe only first began 
 really to make arqn;untance with them in 
 1(508. The French had jiroceeded no farther 
 than lake C'hamplain when they enconntered 
 the Iroquois in 1G09. The same year the 
 Dutch landed in Alliany, and they were fol- 
 lowed by the English after a lapse of fifty-five 
 years." Again, the distinguished Histori.m 
 of the Indian race, in a letter of August 3d, 
 I8G0, but a short time previous to his decease, 
 writes ; "Yonr memoir on Indian antiquities 
 of Western New York was received; it enti- 
 tles yon to the thanks of all who make re- 
 searches into our aboriginal history. Tiie 
 Vesperic Trilies whosettled in the present area 
 of the United States were in the'w phi/siche, and 
 in their mental organization, manners and 
 arts, in my opinion, of owe race, and the an- 
 tiquities they have lelt to us are ofcorresjjond- 
 ing unity, and those peisons whoiniHgine that 
 the antiquities of the Mississippi Valley differ 
 essentially from those of Eastei n America must 
 furnish stronger proofs than those hitherto ad- 
 duced. * ■"' * ''' 1'he Iroquois came from 
 the South up the Ohio Valley, an 1 after fol- 
 lowing down the St. Liwience to near the 
 naouth, with their capital at Hochelaga, plant- 
 ed themselves in Western New York, in the 
 cealer of the Algonquin nations. Here they 
 were at the sources of the great rivers of the 
 Ofuntrv, and soon made their presence felt. - 
 But I have not leisuie to pursue this interest- 
 ing theme. ••- •" * 
 
 It will be noticed that the views entertained 
 by the distinguished scientists which I have 
 named, in respect to the race or races of men 
 that had once occupied our country, do not 
 fully correspond; they are no less valuable as 
 furnishing aid to our enquiiies. The learneil 
 and distinguished Ethnologist, Dr. S. G. iMor- 
 ton, who had made extensive and profound 
 investigatio 1 ot this subject — in the elal>orate 
 examination of the Physiological traits and 
 precise measurement of the volume of crania 
 obtained from every section of the continent, 
 every Indian nation— arrived at the opinion, 
 expressed in his great work, "Crania Ameri- 
 cana," that the various nations, or tribes, in- 
 habiting the continent were compo.'jed of but 
 one rat>e of men. A scientific examination of 
 craniological characteristics of ostelogical re- 
 mains that may be exhumed hereafter from 
 the unexplored mounds in our country, may 
 however yet furnish evidence to ovei throw the 
 physical indicia referred to in support of tlie 
 unity of races that has held sway upon the 
 Western Kemisphere. 
 
 Intrusive elements of European civilization 
 and art huve occasionaly been duscovcred within 
 
 the country occupied by the Inoqnois which 
 unquestionably date prior to the expeditions 
 of the early French Missions. Among these 
 traces of early European occupation, was the 
 singular relic that had been found in the On- 
 ondaga country, a boulder upon which was in- 
 scribed— "Leo VI. 1520" — which, it will be seen 
 dates some eightyears previous to De Sofa's dis- 
 covery of the Floridas. The Scandaviniaa 
 Siiges relate that about A. D. 1000, the North- 
 men coasted along the Eastern shores of Ameri- 
 ca, till they reached a country which they 
 designated— Vineland; this is included in the 
 "Tiansactions of the Royal Soc. of Northern 
 Antiquaries." The writer of this sketch had 
 opportunity to examine, both during the pro- 
 gress of the suivey of Ancient monuments of 
 Western New York, and since its termination, 
 several relics which could only be referred to 
 very early European occupation or expeditions; 
 the late Hon. Edward Everett, who had ably 
 reviewed the "Antiquaies Americanae," in a let- 
 ter written soon alter they had come to my 
 notice, remarked, that he "had never suppos- 
 ed that the Northmen were thought to have 
 penetrated to Western New York," and that 
 the relic in question "indicites a more recent 
 date." The Literature of Europe, both in- 
 cluding and subsequent to its clasic era, in the 
 mythes, and the poetical, as well as historical 
 uaratives it contains, is richly suggestive of 
 some vague knowledge of a continent lying in 
 the bosom of the western ocean, well known 
 to the ancient Phenicians. Cathagenians. and 
 Tryrians— and visited in 1147. 1170, in 1380, 
 by various navigators- the lost Atlantis, of 
 which Hist(uy first acquired reliable knowl- 
 edge at the time of its discovery by Columbus, 
 who in reaching the Ultima TInile, realized the 
 prediction contained in the "Media" of Seneca. 
 But the great Power that once ruled the 
 country, and had reared the fast decaying 
 monuments still disclosed throughout our 
 wide land, has passed away. Such an event 
 certainly affords one of the strangest, one of 
 the grandest problems in human history; and 
 gives sco[ie for the most profound philosophi- 
 cal research. Histories are otten only records 
 of battles and campaigns, of the movements 
 of kings— Cajsars, that 
 
 "Get the start of this majestic world, 
 And bear the palm alone" — 
 
 but here we have the reverse, there is not an 
 annal, not a single written record, whicti trac- 
 es the story, for future times, of this great 
 Empire of the past. Only the vast and 
 crumbling monuments of the west point to 
 its remote antiquity— only the figures, the dei- 
 ties, chiselled in the stone which have been 
 left us, with their cold moveless lips, are elo- 
 quent with the mythes, the traditions of it» 
 glory. 
 
 The Iroquois, originally composed of fiv« 
 nations, and afterward by the ascession in 
 
HISTORICAI.- SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 1612 of the Tuscaroes, of six nations, present- 
 «d an anolomalous feature in the bistoay of 
 the Indian race; their confederation bears com- 
 parison, in some respects, to the Am phry tonic 
 league described in the clasics; while they 
 have been styled the "Romans of the West." 
 The name Aquinosbioni, or Long-bouse, by 
 whicb the confederacy was designated, also 
 represents its policy or national character.— 
 The Iroquois also styled themselves, theOngni- 
 Honni; as the Empire State, the successors to 
 the departed power have adopted the motto of 
 eimilar import— "Excelsior." The traditions 
 of this people indicates their origin and suc- 
 cess to Taronyawagan- — the Divinity who 
 protected this nation— and who wasalso known 
 as Hiawatha. Around their central council -fire, 
 at Onondaga, were shown the noblest quali- 
 ties of the Hunter Race;— here was exhibited 
 a sagacious national policy, military ardor, 
 and eloquence in debate, which has been in- 
 deed unrivaled iu Indian History The writer 
 of Ibis sketch has had somewhat ample op- 
 portunity to become acquainted with the In- 
 dian character, derived from personal obser- 
 Tation; the Iroquois possessed the manlier 
 ▼irtues of the Hunter-state of society--a 
 jnagnimity of thought and action, love of lib- 
 erty, heroism in danger, and a stoicism in suf- 
 fering — and sometimes a simplicity, a poetic 
 grandeur and sublimity in expression of tbo't 
 and sentiment, which could only be lorn amid 
 Lis native forests. Nevertheles.s, from the 
 mental leservations which the Indian exhib- 
 its, as has been observed in an able work, 
 written by a distinguished statesman of our 
 country, the Hon. Lewis Cass, in respect to 
 ♦'the moral character and feelings of the In- 
 dians, of their mental discipline, * '■' and 
 of all that is most valuable to man, in bis 
 tory of men, we are about as ignorant as when 
 Jacques Cartier first ascended the St. Law- 
 rence." 
 
 The Iroquois had attracted the early atten 
 tion of men in command of European Expe- 
 ditions to this country. In 1534, Cartier, 
 under the authority of the King of France, 
 had penetrated the region occupied by the 
 Iroquois; and on his return to France publish- 
 ed a glowing account of the Expedition. In 
 1535, he conducted another expedition to the 
 Iroquois country. Toward the close of the 
 geventeenth century, Father Henepin had 
 made a tour through the country held by the 
 Iroquois, and in his narative, published soon 
 after termination of the Expedition, in France, 
 and again in first Volume of "Trans, of Am. 
 Antiquarian Soc," in 1820, he thus speaks of 
 the power of the Iroquois: "They would never 
 cease from disturbing the repose of the Euro- 
 peans, were it not for fear of their fire-arms. 
 For they entertain no commerce with them 
 uuless it be fire-arms, which they buy on pur- 
 pose to war against Iheir neighbors; and by 
 Aftaos of irhick thej have extended their 
 
 bloody conquests five or six hundred leagues 
 beyond their own precints, exterminating 
 whatever nation they hate." 
 
 A work written in Latin and published at 
 Paris in l('i64, states that a French colony was 
 established in the country of the Iroquois 
 about the year 1(355. Charlevoix, in his "His- 
 tory of New France," also mentions that mis- 
 sionaries were sent to Onondaga in 1654. The 
 Iroquois held the balance of power in Ameri- 
 ca. In 1C08, Champlain had laid the founda- 
 tion for the city of Quebec. A hundred and 
 fifty-two years passed away while the conflict 
 was being waged by the French and English 
 monarchs for the supremancy of the Ameri- 
 can continent. This contest is fully traced in 
 the volumes of the "Colonial History of New 
 York." In 1759, Niagara yielded to the as- 
 sault of the British army ; and upon the 
 heights of Abraham, opposite Quebec, Wolfe 
 and Montcalm each were struggling to gain 
 the victory which should decide the long bat- 
 tle for the domination of the continent — and 
 with his dying halid the English General 
 snatched the 13ourbon-lillies from the flag 
 that henceforth should wave over the Cana- 
 das. The proud French capitol of the New 
 World, Quebec, had capitulated upon the 18th 
 day ot September, 1759; and with its surren- 
 der, the georgeous dream of founding a co- 
 losal Empire, New France, upon the VVestern 
 continent, vanished forever. 
 
 It should have been mentioned in refering 
 to the French claim of the territory of the 
 Iroquois, as belonging to New France, that 
 this remarkable confederation of warriors had 
 successfully resisted the objects sought to be 
 attained by the expedition of De la Bare, and 
 of De Nonville. At subsequent time. Count 
 Frontenac, an able Governor of Canada, con- 
 ducted his expedition against the Iroquois. — 
 Upon the 16th of June 1696, this expedition 
 left Quebec, and upon the 4th of August, the 
 army arrived at the principal town of the On- 
 ondagas, and formed in array of battle, but 
 the Indians who could have brought six or 
 seven hundred warriors to defense of their Fort, 
 nevertheless burned this entrenchment, to- 
 gether with their wigwams, &c., and precipi- 
 tately fied. The Indian cornfields, and other 
 means of subsistance, were destroyed by orders 
 of Count Frontenac. A detachment under 
 command of M. de Vandreville, to destroy the 
 Oneida town, baving successfully accomplish- 
 ed their mission, returned upon the 9th of 
 August to the main army. This expedition 
 reached Montreal upon 20th August in its 
 return from the Iroquois campaign, and upon 
 the 12th of September arrived at Quebec. — 
 This expedition under command of Count 
 Frontenac, has furnished, in the romantic in- 
 cidents connected with it, a theme which has 
 inspired the muse of one of the most gifted 
 poets of our country, Alfred B. Street — hia 
 genius has ^rrought out this subject la th« 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUXG VALI.F.T, ETC. 
 
 beautiful and elaborate Poem " Frontenac ." 
 But, I shall have occasion again to reler more 
 fully to this expedition, in the especial rela- 
 tion it sustains in the history of tiie Senecas, 
 and in connection with tlie widely famed 
 Queen of this nation at tlie period of the llev- 
 olution, and to the Poem illustrating tins in 
 teresth g episode of Indian story, in the sub- 
 sequent pages of this sketch. 
 
 It was only a year before the fall of the 
 French Capital, Qaubec, that Capt. Pouchet, 
 who had commanded the engineers at the suc- 
 cessful assault upon Oswego, in 1756, and 
 was afterward engaged in the construction of 
 Fort Niagara, while stationed at that very re- 
 nowned fortification in 1758, compiled the 
 Map entitled — "Carte dcs Frontiers, et Anqloisxs 
 ■deu-ile Canada depuis Montreal Jusques on t'urtdu 
 Qiiense ; it is a rough Jlap. drawn from infor- 
 mation, as stated in his dispatch accompany- 
 ing the Map of 14th April, 1758. obtained at 
 Niagara, (colonial Documents, 624th page, 
 vol.X.) This Map delineates the retcion of 
 country particularly embraced in these inves- 
 tigations; it rejiresents theriver St Lawrence, 
 and Lake Ontario— the Seneca Lake is here 
 laid down by name of Kanantage, the Cayuga 
 Lake asKendais. An Indian town or Castle, 
 Ocyendahit, is marked on Map lying between 
 the two lakes above referred to ; an Indian 
 trail is traced upon the Map as passing from 
 Fort Niagara by Kaensataque, (Canantlaguia,) 
 through the Indian village between the lakes, 
 then up the valley of Catharine creek until 
 reaching the source of thisstieam, and thence 
 rising upon the hills and leading to Knacto. 
 (Painted Post,) at the junction of the river 
 here laid down as Kaygen, (Tioga.) and the 
 lliver de Kanesto, thence by way of Knacto 
 Castle to Fort du Quense. An Indian village, 
 Thaggen, is marked upon the I\Iap at the con- 
 fluence de Kanacto and the BrancheesidelaSus- 
 quehana. This is undoubtedly the earliest 
 chart which delineates the lakes and streams, 
 the mountains and plains, of this picturesque 
 region, then covered by the boundless forests 
 of which the Red man w-as the only monarch. 
 In the year following the date of this Map, 
 the overthrow of the Fiench at Quebec termi- 
 nated the great struggle for the dominion of 
 the continent, which wouhl be deemed worthy, 
 if a Homer still lived, of the epic numbers of 
 an Iliad. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Earhj French E^-pedition to the head-waters of the 
 Chemung, and Border Warfare in this Eegion — 
 The Early Hettlement and History of the Canisteo 
 ' and Conhocton Valleys, Sfc, &t'C- 
 
 It was a balmy morning in early June, as I 
 stood upon the picturesque shore of the river, 
 where the waters of the Conhocton blend with 
 those of the Canisteo to form the noble Che- 
 mung ; but a few miles farther up this pleas- 
 «Bt Tftilejr, where the forests have gireA place 
 
 to cultivated fields, the Tioga, (the stream 
 designated by Sir VV. Johnson as the Cayuga 
 15ranch,) urates with the river Canisteo. This 
 is rich historic ground. It was but a biief 
 period of time alter the French had relin- 
 quished their claim to New France, that an 
 expedition was sent by the English into this 
 region, and from this date, we have no longer 
 to deal with dim and uncertain myths of 
 Indian prowess, and imperfect legends of 
 French expeditions, in tracing the hi.story of 
 this section of country, in the Pist ; its rec- 
 ords, no longer obscured with darkness that 
 had rested upon the continent, now assume 
 their proper place ami<l the annals of the His- 
 toric time. It appears, from the VII volume 
 of Colonial Documents, that two subjects of 
 the British King, while passing, in the year 
 1762, through the country of the Senec;;s, 
 were murdired by two Indians living at tho 
 village of Kanisteo which was settled by Shaw- 
 nees and Dela wares, "stragglers from several 
 tribes." Sir W. Johnson, upon learning of 
 this occurrence, sent Lieut. Guy Jnhnson with 
 a party to Onondaga Castle, where they ar- 
 rived en the 4th of December, to demand the 
 surrender of the murderers. Upon the 7th, the 
 council gave an answer, the "chief speaker of 
 Onondaga." Teycwarunte, delivering there- 
 ply, that as the \illage of Kanisteo were under 
 jurisdiction of the Six Nations, if the Senecas 
 did not deliver the murderers, then the other 
 tribes would do so. This promise, however, 
 was only made to be broken ; another council 
 was held the following year at Johnson's Hall, 
 at which this matter was brought up by Sir 
 W. Johnson, and earnestly pressed upon the 
 attention of the Indian Sachems present — 
 forty-two of their principal chiefs — but with- 
 out resulting in the delivery of the murder- 
 ers. Accordingly, the Iroquois, who were 
 sincere]y attached to the English, at request 
 of Sir W. Johnson, determined upon signal 
 retribution to the vagrant Indians residmg 
 along the Eanesteo. And, on the 1st day 
 of April, in the year 1764, Capt. Montour, a son 
 of the Indian Queen, Catharine Montour, and 
 who had previously signalized his name, as 
 we ascertain in consulting Vols. VI, VII, and 
 VIII, of Colonial Documents, in conferences 
 with the Indians at Onondaga, and at Fort 
 Johnson, and also as being in command of va- 
 rious parties of the Iroquois, as at the German 
 Flatts in 1756 — with a hundred warriors set 
 out from Ohguaga, (Windsor, Broome Co..) on 
 the Susquehanna river, for the purpose of des- 
 troying the villages of the Delawares, &c., lo 
 cated upon the tributaries ot this riyer, the 
 Kanesto and other streams. They successful- 
 ly accomplished within two weeks the object 
 of the expedition. Sir W. Johnson, In a com- 
 munication dated 28th April, 1764, to Lieut- 
 Gov. Golden, gives the following succinct nar- 
 ativc of this hostile excursion .• "The first in- 
 stant, Capt. Moutour with 140 Indians and a 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 few wliitu men. HCt out from Ohguaji'i, and on 
 ariiviii;^ at llie tirst of the enemy's Towns 
 fuuml the same aliandoned, which he burned. 
 It consisted of 30 houses, built of square lofrs. 
 with trood chimneys ; thence he went to and 
 burned another of oO houses with four villa- 
 ges, and then proceeiled to K misteo, which 
 he likewise destroyed. It consisted of 60 .1,'ood 
 houses, with tliree or four lire ]ilaces in each 
 ciftiieni. Hiroandat the other Tovvns, he 
 found a larjie quantity of Indi.ui corn, whinb 
 he destroyed, &.C., (Vol. VII, Col. Docs )_- 
 There exists reasons to suppose, from the sit- 
 uation of tlie Indian towns marked on Pouch- 
 et's Map, and descriptions . f the Indians towns 
 elsewhere given, that the first village whicii 
 Capt. Montour reduced to ashes is identical 
 with the one desisxnated on the Map iis Knac- 
 to, (Painted Post.) and he then proceeded to 
 destroy an intermediate Indiin town, and 
 then the castle or village f)f Canisteo. Capt. 
 Montour, the leader of this early raid into the 
 Canisteo Valley, was afterwanl present at the 
 conference held at Fort Stanwix in 17tl8, when 
 Sir W. Johnson negotiated a treaty with the 
 Six Nations, securing an extensive cession of 
 lands as marked on tiie .Map drawn at the 
 time, in large red lines. This Map was correct- 
 ed from Kaveuis earlier Map. It is a striking 
 historical coincidence, that this point at the 
 confluence of the Conhocton and Canisteo, 
 rendered famous in our annals at such an e.irly 
 date. as the sceneof the brilliimt exploit of this 
 chieftain of tiie forest, Montour, which might 
 rival the bidd exciii'sions of some chivalrous 
 knight of the middle ages, should, after the 
 lapse of many years, be the place where this 
 Chief was buried, and become so widely famed 
 as the spot where his comrades reared the rude 
 monument recording his achievements-the 
 Painted Po.-;l. During the summer of 177'.*, a 
 large party of Tories and Inrlians, comaian- 
 ded by the loyalist, McDonald, and the Sene- 
 ca Chief. Hiakatoo, made a fearful incursion 
 among the border settlements of the Susque- 
 hanna, when they had successfully attacked 
 Freeling"s Fort, but in a skirmish with the 
 hardy yeoman under command of Capt. H. 
 Boone, the Tories and Indians suffered a great 
 loss, and returned lr<;m ttus raid with many 
 wounded, l>y way of the Tioga, and beneath 
 the l)road ehns where the Canisteo and Con- 
 hocton met, (japt. Montour, the gallant war- 
 rior and chief of the Senecas, who had been 
 wounded in the conflict with the brave bor- 
 derers, expired ; and his brethren of the wil- 
 derness made his grave by the river's side, and 
 above the last resting place of the warrior 
 they reared a Post, upon which they inscribed 
 or painted various rude devices and symbols, 
 and this rude monument was afterwards 
 often visited by the braves of the Senecas, and 
 other tril)es. This Post disappeared "about 
 the year 1810," as we are informed in the 
 Hibtwry of Steubeu County. The place where 
 
 it had stood is still well known. A few miles 
 from this place, in the north-eastern put of 
 the town of C(^rning, is the "Old Indian Tree," 
 beneath whose shade the Pied men have piss- 
 ed many hours in worship of the Great Spirit. 
 
 It was upon the banks of the Canisteo — 
 whose waters now murmur and gliile swiftly 
 by me, tiien rippe along the fairy land 
 which lies below — that amid the Revolution- 
 ary War, in 1770, the pine trees were hewn 
 down and fitted into large canoes, and when 
 they were all launched upon this stream, then 
 were euj barked upon this earliest fleet that 
 had traversed its eddies, the savage war- 
 riors and ren(>wneil chiefs of the Si.K Nations, 
 the Butlers with their still more savage ren- 
 egades and barbarians, and gaily dresseJ and 
 accoutred with weapons of war. all ride in this 
 mysteri us Armada down the river, along its 
 dark gorges and beneath the shadows of over- 
 hanging elms, then swiltly desend upon tha 
 strong, rapid currents of the Chemung, till 
 the long file of boats disappeared amiil the 
 bills that bonier the noLile Susquehanna. It 
 was this strange fleet, that gliding amid the 
 light of day and amid the darkness of night, 
 upon the watersof the Canisteo, whose brawling 
 eddies dare not reveal the fearful mission of 
 this squadron, that carried the party which iu 
 1778, laid waste the lovely valley of Wyom- 
 ing— the rude aimanent that had borne de- 
 struciion to the peaceful hamlets of this ea- 
 chanting region. 
 
 Williarti Harris was the first Pioneer of Steu- 
 ben CoiintN'. He came up the Chemung river 
 soon alter the close of the Revolutionary War, 
 and erected at Painted Post the first building 
 occupied liy civilized man within the present 
 boundaries of Steuben, the most western hab- 
 itation ot the white man then in tne Soutnern 
 tier of New York. The Indians assisted him 
 in building ihis cabin . Harris was a Merchant, 
 and sold bis wares t(t the Red men ot the for- 
 est, early in the spring of 1787. Judge Bark- 
 er, the Pioneer ot Urbana, found Harris loca- 
 ted at Painted Post, and on the Chiistmis fol- 
 lowing, upon going agiin to that place, he 
 found the cabin of Harris burned, and Harris 
 the Robinson Cruso of the wilderness, too, 
 was gone ; but the trader was only temporari- 
 ly absent, anil afterward returned to Painted 
 Post, where he lived many years. At this 
 time, when Judge Baker was making an ex- 
 cursion into the wilderness beyond the Tioga, 
 there was a solitary cabin near the junction of 
 Cowanesque with Tioga river. Frederick Calk- 
 ins, from Vermont, was the first farmer that 
 settled iu Steuben Couuty. He located near 
 the Chimney Narrows, in 1788. Eli Mead 
 was the first Supervisor of the town of Painted 
 Post, then comprised in Outario Cyunty, and 
 he went to Canandaguia to attend the annual 
 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. A Mr. 
 Fuller kept the old Painted Post Tavern, a 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHKMUXG VAI.LRT, ETC. 
 
 house built of round loprs, witb two apart- 
 ments, one stoiy in heiglit. 
 
 Anioni; the nott-d PioiiutTs of Steuben Coun- 
 ty, toward the ch)se o; the list century should 
 be raeutioiied Benjamin TiiUfrson, the re- 
 nowned hunter. He was born in Virp;inia, in 
 ITo'J, and vva^a relative of Daniel Boone. In 
 early Hie be had removed to tiie region of the 
 Susquelumna. where his taste for hunting was 
 acfjuired. During tlie Revolutiouary War, lie 
 WMS att.icheil to a coin|)aay of lillemen that 
 was engaged in defence of the frontier settle 
 inents. He was at the skirniisii of Freehng's 
 Fort, before rijferred to. He was attaclied 
 to tne party commanded by Capt. H.iwUins 
 Bdoue, and there had a perilous escape. He 
 likewise was ccnnected with the party of R an- 
 gers that pursued tiie Indians alonu the (Jlie- 
 luung and its tributary streams. He partici- 
 pated In the border warfare of the Revolution, 
 its adventures and bo d conflicts ; and at tlie 
 termination of the war. he chose his home 
 among tlie wild woods of theConhocton. The 
 unexplored and trackless wilderness, the rifle 
 his only companion, was indeed a home to his 
 free adventurous spirit. He often led emi- 
 grants through the wild labyiintlis of the for- 
 est, to the promised lands beyond the fame<l 
 country oi the Genesee. At one time be gui- 
 ded Tallyrand, the accomplished and distin- 
 guished Diplomatist, through the forests of 
 this region. About the vear^l796, be took his 
 goods m a boat up to the Pamted Post, and for 
 a number of years, or till about 1805, kept 
 the old hotel at Knoxville. It is s.iid that he 
 ran the lirst raft upon the waters of the Can- 
 isteo. In the year 1800, C. Hullnirt built an 
 ark, and loading it with wheat, with his prim- 
 itive boat decended the Canisteo, and the larg- 
 er rivers below, to Baltimore. Benjamin Pat- 
 terson died at Painted Post, in 18'o0, closing 
 an ereiitful career of which numerous nmian^ 
 tic incidents, strange and thrilling leminis 
 cences, are yet related by the inhabitunts of 
 this region. 'J-he lirst Store at P.unted Post, 
 at wnicii goods were sold to the settlers, was 
 kept by B. Eaton. He brought his tirst as- 
 sortment of merchandise from Wattle's Ferry 
 (now Unadiila.) in two canoes. Among the 
 early Pioneers ot the old town of Painted Post, 
 which was purchased of Phelj.s & Gorham in 
 1/ JO, were Judge Knox, from New Jersey, in 
 l<y.^. and Capt. L. Erwin and Col. A. Erwin, 
 from Ireland, and who .Served in the American 
 iirmy in the Revolution, in 17u4 ; also. J 
 u inter, a hunter. 
 
 Painted Pu.st was erected into a town in 
 iiJb; m 1804 the number of taxable inhabi- 
 tants was lao, the assessment roll, S52 004 5;S 
 Its total tax, «2'J8. In 1852, the old histori- 
 cal name <;1 Painted Post was changed to Vahu- 
 ing. 1 was notable to gather full informa- 
 tn.ii respecting the various new.-^papers which 
 Had been punted at Painted Po.st, The-'Paint 
 ea I-ost Herald" was commenced in March 
 
 1848, D. C. Liimbard. Editor— the ••Cornvnj? 
 Journal" was established Jan, 1st. 184(k the 
 '■Coniiiig Democrat" was establislieil in 1840. 
 The populitioii of Corning now exceeils six 
 thousand inhaiiitants. 
 
 In the year 178.S, a small pirty, consisting 
 of tS. Bennett, Uri ih Stephens, ii. Crosby and 
 Capt. J Jamison, iMinmenced a tour of explo- 
 r.itiirti up tiie valley of the Chemung, and ot the 
 l/onhocton, but found no sitr.aliun wliieh an- 
 swered their anticipations, until striking across 
 the densely wooded bills lying south of the 
 Conhoctoii, they caine to the valley of the 
 Canisteo. StanUingon the precipitous hmw of 
 a bill overlooking this valley, through which 
 the river glided amid the majestic elms, grace- 
 ful in iples, and dark pines, that were grow- 
 ing upon its banks in wild and inagniricent 
 grandeur - a prospect of unrivaled and 
 lascinating be.iuty was at once presented; 
 while farther down this valley there was an 
 open extent of several hundred acres, covereil 
 only with tall, wild grass, and luxuriant 
 flowers -as if some God liad removed Ironi 
 the West one of its beautiful prairies, and 
 placed it here. In the Indian s traditional 
 lore there existed no reminiscences as to the 
 origin of this meadow; the red-men said that it 
 had existed here Irom time immemorial. In 
 this strangely beautilul vale— amid this m.ig- 
 nificent scenery, which even now in ifspietmes- 
 que outline of romantic hill and swilily flow- 
 ing river, at once arrests the Artist's eye — 
 and as I stand here this balmy summer day, 
 thrills every nerve witb pleasure: 
 
 "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods 
 A rapture on tlie lonely short." 
 
 was indeed a favorable spot to commence a 
 new settlement; and here this party of hardy 
 pioneers .selecte.l their future home. In the 
 autumn of 1789, Crosby and Stephens, with 
 f)ortions of their respective families, after a 
 toil.xome voyage up the rilts of thj river, ar- 
 rived at the place of their pn posed settlement 
 on the Upper Canisteo. They at once went 
 into the forest, cut down the tref-s, and built 
 a house of logs, 24x20 feet in dimension, con- 
 taining a singe apartment illuminated !)y the 
 blaze of ciMckiing timbers in tour large lire pla- 
 ces, one being in each corner of the room.— 
 Here the two families passed the winter of 
 1780-90. and in the ensuing spri.ig were join- 
 ed by S. Bennet, Col. J. Stephens, ^-e Mr. 
 S. Btna. t built in 1793 the first Grist Mdliip.in 
 the Ciinisteo, or rather it was erectid o/i Ben- 
 net's creek, about a half mile fn m its junction 
 with the Canisteo. 'i'lie first Tavern on the 
 Canisteo, was established about the year 18! 
 by Geo Hornell, (now known as Judge Her-, 
 nell,) and J. Stefihens, a Baptist preacher, be- 
 low Ben net's creek. Solomon B.-nnet was the 
 first Captain of the earliest niilitaiy organiza- 
 tion in Steuben County. Upon the liver I anks 
 ')t the Canisteo. and among f he siirrouiKling 
 hills, were nurtured a race of yeomen, of bold 
 
8 
 
 ntSTORICAI, SKETCH OF THE CnEMUNd VALLEY. ETC. 
 
 ndventurers. an athletic, boisterous, roiifih and 
 daring clfiss of men, wlio could run. wrestle 
 or figlit, in a manner that would not have 
 done dishonor to the brave LWons of the Old 
 World; and the rude, stout settlers, who par- 
 ticipated and gloried in the adventures of 
 chivalrous daring, always ready to take share 
 in the Olympic amusements of the borders, 
 had soon estahlished the fame of "Uanisteer" 
 throughout this region of country. Perhaps 
 some future Walter Scott may gather up these 
 legends of the forest, of the bold borderers 
 that have now passed away, and weave them 
 into song. 
 
 In 1788, upon the 21st day of November, 
 the State of Massuchusetts had conveyed to 
 Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, for con- 
 sideration of three hundred thousand pounds, 
 all its right, title and interest in lands which 
 now constitute the counties of Steuben, Yates, 
 Ontario, part of Wayne, part of Monroe, also 
 portions of Genesee, Livingston and Allegany, 
 containing some 2,600,000 acres. The Indian 
 title to this iramenhe estate had been purchas- 
 ed l)y Phelps and Gorham, in deed dated 18th 
 of November, 1790, conveyed to Robert Mor- 
 ris, of Philadelphia, all their lands then re- 
 maining unsold, amounting to over a mil- 
 lion of acres. Robert Morris, by deed bearing 
 date April 11th. 1792, conveyed to Charles 
 Williamson a million and two hundred thous- 
 and acres. Williamson was agent of Sir Wil- 
 liam Pultney, England. Sir W. Pultney was 
 a son of James Johnstone, and assumed the 
 name of Pultney on his marriage with Mrs. 
 Pultiiey, neice of the Earl of Bath. Sitting 
 in their princely mansions in London, the 
 British Baronet and his associates, built a gor- 
 geous dream. Before them flitted a vision 
 of the city that should vise, with its cnstles 
 and busy marts, upon the upper tiibutaries of 
 the Susquehanna. This city which they would 
 rear in the wilderness, outrivaling tlie brilliant 
 achievements of a Caliban, should, by a com- 
 mercial stratagem, tal;e the key of success 
 from Quebec and New York, and become the 
 jiroud Metropolis of the continent. Never be- 
 fore had siicii a gorgeous, brilliant air-castle 
 floated bef(n'e human eyes! Capt. Charles 
 Williamson, a gentleman of talent, of energy 
 and spirit, versatile and impetuous, was se- 
 lected to carry out this enterprise, to turn in- 
 to reality the golden dream whose hues were 
 mirrored upon the Western sky. He arrived 
 iit P)althnove in 1791, and ere long establislu'd 
 his ceiitial quarters, preparatory to building 
 this Metropolis of the wildwoods, at Niu'th- 
 iimberland, on the Susquehanna, at the junc- 
 tion of the West Branch. In the beautiful 
 ■valley of the Conhocton, some sixteen miles 
 from the confluence of the river with theCani 
 steo, lo form the noble Chemung —in a pic 
 turesque situation where the valley assumed 
 a wide extent, near the waters of a fairy little 
 lake, which glistened in the sunlight like some 
 
 fabulous stream of the Orient — Capt. William- 
 son determined to locate his future city, to 
 erect its walls and build its bastions. In 1793, 
 he commenced building the village here — 
 which he named Baih, in honor of LadjBith. 
 Before the close of the season filteen families 
 had become residents of the new settlement. 
 Ihe first Tavern was constructed of pine logs, 
 in two aj)artments, one story in height. It 
 was kept by a family by name of Metcalf. — 
 Mr. Sherman l\Ietcalf afterwards removed to 
 Ellicottville, N. Y. Another house of enter- 
 tainment was opened by a William Dunn, up- 
 on the south-east corner of the public Square. 
 A Mr. Cruger, from Denmark, next occupied 
 this Tavern. Charles Cameion, from Scotland, 
 kept the first store in the village. He was 
 also the first Postmaster, the mail being brot' 
 once a week from Northumberland, (as stated 
 by Gen. McClure in his naiative of the early 
 settlement of Bath.) Rol)ert Campbell, D. Mc- 
 Kinsie, H. McElwn, Chas. McClure, &c., 
 were among the early pioneers of this section. 
 About the year 1794, C^apt. Williamson estal>- 
 lished a theatre at Bath. In 1796, he caused 
 a race course, one mile in circuit, to be con- 
 structed near the village. Upon the day ap- 
 pointed for the first race, some two thousand 
 persons had a'^sembled— sportsmen from Vir- 
 ginia, New Jersey, Maryland, from Philadel- 
 phia and New Yoik, were there to enter the 
 lists. These races added much to the renown 
 of the village of the Plains. In theyear 1795, 
 the Conhocton was explored and partially 
 cleared of obstructions. Geo. McClure built 
 an ark 75 feet in length by 1(3 in breadth, and 
 loading it with a cargo of staves run it down 
 the river. This was the first raft that had 
 navigated its waters. 
 
 But this Baronia' stronghold, in its infancy, 
 was threatened with destiuction. Capt. Wil- 
 liamson had become interested in the settle- 
 ment at Sodus. He received from Col. Simi- 
 coe. Governor of Canada, a warlike note (de- 
 manding that he should immediately relin- 
 quish his designs, &c. 'i'he administration at 
 W^ashington assumed charge of the matter, 
 and required Capt. Williamson to place his 
 village in position of defence. Several Block 
 Houses, and an entrenclitid position surround- 
 ed by picket defence, were put in course of im- 
 mediate con.struction. Several pieces ol' artille- 
 ry and a thousand stand of arms were ordered 
 from Albany. A Regiment composed of some 
 live or six hundred men, was organized, Wil- 
 liamson receiving commission as Colonel. — 
 The forces were clrilled and instructed in the 
 art of war, and a guard was stationed every 
 night to prevent surprise. Bath, indeed, pre- 
 sented a inilita y attitude. Nevertheless, the 
 hostile British expeditions did not make de- 
 scent from the frowning fortresses of Niagara 
 ind 0>wego, of which the English still kept 
 possession. Bath was not beseitjeJ; the threat- 
 ened war did not ensue. 
 
HISTOBICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 9 
 
 Steuben was organized into a separate Coun- 
 ty, the six towns comprising it Lieing taken 
 liom Ontario, in 179G. The tirst Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas was convened on the 21st of June, 
 1796, William Kersey presiding Judge. The 
 Coiiit was held in tJie new Court House, a 
 framed building. Among the lawyers present 
 were N. W. Howell, Vincent Mathews, Wm. 
 li. Verplanck, Thomas Morris, &c. Among the 
 •early members of the Steuben County Bar 
 were Geo. D. Cooper, Wni. Stuart, David 
 Jones, D. T. Blake, S. T. Haight, and in sub- 
 sequent years, Daniel Crugar, W. B. Roches- 
 ter, Henry Welles, H. W. Kogcrs and Edward 
 Howell, ranked among the prominent mem- 
 bers of the legal fraternity. In 1802, Col. 
 Williamson's agency of the Pultney estate, 
 terminated. Robert Troupe, Esq., succeeded 
 to this agency. In" 1807 the Rev. John Niles. 
 a Congregational Minister, who in 1803 had 
 settled at Prattsburg, was employed to preach 
 ■every alternate Sabbatn at Bath. Among the 
 prominent men who came to the County at an 
 early date, w«re Samuel Baker, (atterward 
 Judge.) Capt. John Slieather, (an otificer in the 
 Revolution and a favorite of Gen. Washing- 
 ton,) Capt. Joel Pratt, Judge Porter, Silas 
 Wheeler, (who was one of the men under com- 
 mand of Arnold in his march through the wil- 
 <JerDess in the expedition to Quebec, and was 
 iiear Montgomeiy, when in the assault upOn 
 the British fortifications the American Gene- 
 ral fell mortally wounded,) and Col. Lindley, 
 the pioneer of Tioga Valley. 
 
 In 179(3 the "Bath Gazette and Genesee Ad- 
 vertiser" was published by Wm. Kersey, and 
 James Eddie. This was the first new.spnper 
 printed in Western New York. The same 
 year another paper, "Ontario Gazette," wms 
 c'btablished at Geneva. The Bath Gazette had a 
 list of some live hundred subscribers, but was 
 ■only published for a brief time. In 181G. 
 Benj. Smead commenced the pablination, at 
 Bath, of the "Steuben and Allegany Patriot," 
 which I believe was cowtiniied gome twenty- 
 live years. In 1815, David Runisey commenced 
 ihe publication of the "Steuben Farmer's Ad- 
 vocate." The "Steuben Courier" Avas com- 
 anenced at Bath, in 1843, and it is still pub- 
 lished at thisplace. The "Temperance Gem," 
 edited by Jennie and Caroline Rumsey, was 
 started in 1854:. In 1804, the taxable inhabi- 
 tants of Bath were 119; its assessment roll 
 $2,739.23. The population now numbers some 
 5,300. The first buildings in Bath were con- 
 structed of logs. These were succeeded by 
 modest framed houses. Since 1840, when I 
 had passed through this village, 1 notice that 
 many elegant edifices, tasteful suburban resi- 
 dences, have added to the iittractions of this 
 rural village. And, asl stand upon the hills 
 south of this pleasant village, the rays of the 
 ■declining summer sun resting upon the sweet 
 lake below, and the circular laaige of abrupt 
 and lofty hills, covered :with ^m&a. fields and 
 
 luxuriant woodland, only broken by that 
 gorge upon the north, with its hazy vista 
 opening to the fairy valley of the Crooked 
 Lake which stretches dimly away in graceful 
 but indistinct outlines; I feel, I realize all the 
 beauty of this scene ; but, upon the glowing 
 canvass, and not upon this paper, can its love- 
 liness be pictured . 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Earh/ History of the region mljoininq Chemung 
 Valley, lying on Susquehanna River — The Mas- 
 sacre at Wyoming in 111?)— Indian raids at Cher- 
 ry Valley, and other places upon the Ilcud-waters 
 of the Susquehanna ichich led to the organizatioji 
 of Sullivan's Expedition. 
 
 A beautiful day had pa.ssed while I leisure- 
 ly descended the Conhocton and the Chemung 
 — passed like the waters of this majestic river 
 which are gliding by. 
 
 '"The wave I gaze on now returns no more." 
 
 Another balmy day has come, and as I stand 
 musing by the side of the river, a lew miles 
 below Elmira, imagination too, glides away 
 with these rapidly rushing waters, through 
 the pleasjint vales and dim vitas that lie in 
 the distance, until it becomes blended with 
 the early historical reminiscences of the Val- 
 ley of Wyoming. This is indeed to our mem- 
 ory classical ground. In childhood, I had 
 read with delight Campbell's beautiful Poem, 
 Gertrude of Wyoming, and its picturesque de- 
 scription of the pastorial happine.ss and quiet 
 that had made its home here, lingered in my 
 recollections: 
 
 "Delightful Wyoming! beneath thy skies 
 
 The happy Shepherd swain.s had naught to do 
 But feed their flocks on green declivities." 
 
 In the Columbiad, I find its author, Barlow, 
 thus refers to the expedition of the Tories and 
 Indians that laid this valley at waste: 
 
 "His savage hordes, the murderous Johnson 
 
 leads, 
 Files through the woods, and treads the tangled 
 
 ■weeds." 
 
 I can only wander over this interesting, his- 
 toric ground for a moment. It was reserved 
 for the pen of our country's most gifted and 
 eminent Poet, whose genius has wed the liter- 
 ature of our land to immortal fame, to pic- 
 ture this valley in all its loveliness, and re- 
 call its thrilling historical reminiscences, which 
 has been so beautifully and truthfully done 
 in Halleck's "Wyoming." Thus reads the 
 closing stanza: 
 
 "And on the margin of yon orchard hill 
 
 Are marks where time-w^orn battlements 
 have been. 
 And in the tall grass traces linger still 
 
 Of "arrowy frieze and wedged ravelin." 
 Five hundred of her brave that valley green 
 
 Trod on the morn in soldier-spirit gay; 
 But twenty lived to tell the noonday scene— 
 
 And where are now the twenty ? Passed away. 
 Has death no triumphhours, save on the battl© 
 day ?" 
 
10 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUKS VALLEY, KTC. 
 
 In the last line of this fascinatintr poem, 
 quoted above. America's illustrious Poet has 
 expressed, or rather suga;ested thnu2;hts, not 
 less poetical, than of profound philosophical 
 and historical sisuificaiice. 
 
 But. I cannot dwell upon the scenes con- 
 riected with this valley except as tliey may re- 
 late to events which have transpired in the 
 region particularly emhraced in our historical 
 enquiries. Early as 1742, the devout Mission- 
 ary, Zirzendorf. commenced his worthy lahora 
 among the Indians of this region, winning the 
 unlettered children of the forest to the pare 
 faith of the Christian religion. In 1753, an 
 association for the purpose of making a set- 
 tlement in the Wyoming Valley was organiz- 
 ed in Counectiont, which held claim to this 
 section under its ancient charter. This asso- 
 ciation also purchased the title of lands bor- 
 dering on the Susquehanna, at an Indian Coun- 
 cil held at Albany in 1754. The Pennsylva- 
 iiians, however, claimed jurisdiction of this 
 territory under the grant made to William 
 I'enn. Resulting from this conflict of author- 
 ity, arose in succeeiling years, contests and 
 border wars, with varying triumphs and <le- 
 feats, that would have been worthy of the mid- 
 dle ages— worthy of that era when valiant 
 Knight, with his mailed retainers, btavely 
 battled to defend the fair fame of Ladye-love. 
 The annals of this region have been traced re- 
 spectively by Chapman, Heckwelder, Miner, 
 Stone and Peck. I will recall an episode in 
 the strange history of the Wyoming Valley, 
 or Westmorelaml, as it had become known. — 
 The record of the siege of the several Forts, 
 the battle, the surrender, and the tragical 
 massacre, that occurred here in the first days 
 of July, 1778, has become familiar as house- 
 hold words in American History. \)pon the 
 night succeeding the battle, terrific scents 
 ifrere enacted. Amid the darkness and gloom 
 of midnight, Queen Esther, with the fitnids 
 which done her bidding, perfonned the fear- 
 ful orgies of guilt and Idood, not unlike the 
 ■*reiid Crimes, the dark incantations of Hecate 
 in the witche's cave. The bloody rock where 
 this Priestess of blood sacrificed the lives of 
 innocent human beings, however, had assum- 
 ed in the present fearful drama, the place of 
 the "boiling cauldron," around which witches 
 performed the 'mysterious, damning "deed 
 ■without a name." Queen Esther, as men- 
 tioned on page 176 of Miner's "History of 
 Wyoming," resided upon the banks of the 
 Susquehanna in "sullen retirement," her pal- 
 ace being located near the confluence of the 
 Tioga with the Susquehanna, within the pre- 
 cincts of Westmoreland. A large number — 
 about a hundred fugitives, women and chil- 
 dren, escaped from the settlement, and in the 
 darkness of night, without provisions, and 
 many of them without clothing, fled thrbugh 
 the wilderness for safety — while they stifled 
 ih9 hunger which they Buff&red la ihe hope of 
 
 preserving their lives. This flight presents a 
 scene of dramatic interest rarely surpassed in 
 history. 
 
 I have thus glanced at the thrilling events 
 which occurred in this Valley in 1778, because 
 they had lieen the prihcipal agency, together 
 with British and Indian Atrocities committed 
 in the preceeding year in Tryon County, the 
 expeditions led by St. Legar and Brant in the 
 Mohawk Valley, in awakening tlie vestribu- 
 tion visited upon Ihem in 1779. In Novem* 
 l)er 1778, Butler and Brant, with their fol- 
 lowers made a descent upon Cherry Valley. — 
 Thirty-two inhabitants, women and children, 
 were killed, besides a number of men com- 
 posing the garrison, being massacred. Mrs. 
 Campbell, with her children, were carried in- 
 to captivity. The family were separated at 
 the time they were made .prisoners, but were 
 re-united at Niagara, with the exception of 
 one child, James S. Campbell, then six years 
 of age; but he. after an interval of two years 
 of captivity among the Indians in Canada, 
 was restored to his mother at Montreal. He 
 afterwards became widely known as the Hon. 
 J. S. Campbell, and his elegant residence at 
 Cherry Valley was built upon the site of the 
 old family mansion, which, in the Revolution- 
 ary war, hail been used as a Fort. His son, 
 the Hon. William W. Campbell, late Justice 
 of, the Court of Appeals, and author of "Annals 
 of Tryon County," &c., thus writes me, April 
 18th, 18tJ5, in respect to his Venerable parenf: 
 "My father. James S. Campbell, is still living. 
 He lives with we at this place- Cherry Valley; 
 is now in his 93d year, and is still hale ami 
 well." The piowess of the Iroquois confeder- 
 acy had received some check at Fort Stanvvix, 
 and also at the batt'e of Oriskauy, where the 
 intrepid Gen. Herkimer was wounded. But hos- 
 tile expeditions continued to be made through- 
 out the sumtnerand autumn ot 1778, among the 
 border settlements, as at tlie German Flatts, 
 and in the Schoharie Country. 
 
 These events which I have briefly noticed, 
 led to the organization of the expedition un- 
 der command of Gen. Sullivan, in 1779, which 
 destroyed the Indian towns in Western New 
 York, and effectually crushed the Indian pow- 
 er within their once proud and hitherto uncon- 
 quered domain. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Organization of Campaign (Iff 1779 against the 
 Indians of Western New York, 6?/ Gen. Wash' 
 ington ; the principal command of Expedition as' 
 signed to Gen. John Sullivan — The American Ar- 
 my axcend the Valley of Chemung, defeat the al- 
 lied British and Indians — Precise locality of the 
 Battle-ground — 'Farther progress of the army in 
 the country of the Iroqt^is — Destruction of the la' 
 dian tovm at "Genesee, and return of the Expedi- 
 tion, &CC. 
 The sagacious and comprehensive mind of 
 
 Washington had originated, as the eflfectuai 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OP THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 11 
 
 defense against Indian hostility, the master 
 policy of the decisive campaign of 1779, carry- 
 ing the warfare against the Indians in accord- 
 ance with the only mode in which it can be 
 successfully waged. This mode, however, was 
 nol strictly inaccordance with military rules laid 
 down by European Tacticians; on the con- 
 trary, it adopted the Indian manner of fight- 
 ing— following the enemy into their strong- 
 holds, burning their towns, and destroying 
 their means of subsistence. The command of 
 the expedition against the Six Nations was 
 entrusted to Gen. John Sulivan. It had at 
 tirst, been proposed that Gen, Gates should 
 have direction of this command, but the in- 
 tention subsequently was abandoned. Gen. 
 Kullivan was horn in Berwick, Maine, 1740. — 
 Arriving at mature years, he read law, and 
 removed to New Hampshire. He was a dele- 
 gate to the first Continental Congress, and was 
 afterwards engaged in command of the expe- 
 dition which captured Fort William and Ma- 
 ry, at Portsmouth. He was one among the 
 eight Brigadier Generals which Congress ap- 
 pointed in 1775, and in 1776 received appoint- 
 ment as Major General in the Continental Ar- 
 my. In 1777 he was engaged in the battles 
 of Brandyvvinc and Germantown, and in the 
 winter of 1777-8, assumed coramanii of the 
 troops of Pdiode Island, and con<lucted the ex- 
 pedition against Newport in August of 1778. 
 The Asseml>ly of the State of Rhode Island in 
 Fehuary, 1779— as will be seen in Vol. VIII 
 of "Records of tiie State of Rhode Island" — 
 had voted their thanks to Gen. Sullivan, in 
 consideration "of the active zeal with which 
 he hath exerted the forces under him, for tlie 
 preservation of this State, and the security of 
 its inhabitants"— (Page 508, Vlllth vol. of 
 "Kec(rls.") Such, briefly, had been the his- 
 tory of Gen_. Sullivan, previous to his receiving 
 the appointment to take chief command of 
 the army designed for the overthrow of the 
 vast and powerful Indian con fed racy which 
 hitherto had been the successful ally of the 
 English in the terrible warfare waged upon 
 the Border Settlements, as the desolated ham- 
 lets of the German Flatts, Fort Plain, Stone 
 Arabia, Cherry Valley, Unadilla, Minnisink, 
 and other places within Tryon and Ulster 
 counties, whose names have indeed become 
 chxssic in the annals of the Revolution, so fcar- 
 lully attested. 
 
 Gen. Sullivan, in a communication dated 
 "16 April, 1779," in a very able manner sub- 
 mitted his views relative to the proposed ex- 
 pedition, to Gen. Washington, the Comman- 
 der-in Chief of the American Army; and the 
 opinions advanced in this letter were substan- 
 tially adopted in the arrangement of this im- 
 portant campaign. This paper will be seen on 
 page 264, vol. II, of "Correspondence of the 
 American Revolution, edited by Jared Sparks;" 
 and it affords, as the results of the campaign 
 have shown, ample proof of the superior mili- 
 
 tary skill and knowledge of the officer who 
 had been assigned command of this expedi- 
 tion against the Six Nations. 
 
 Gen. Washington— whose masterly skill and 
 judgment in the prosecution of warfare, 
 against the Indians, had been evinced upon 
 the battle-ground near the Monongahela. 
 where upon the memorial 9th of July, 1756, 
 the army of Braddock were led into ambus 
 cade by the subtle warriors of the forest, and 
 were only, after the fall of Gen. Bradtlock, 
 rescued from entire destruction by the bravery 
 and skill of Washington— had proposed to 
 carry the terrors and calamities of war into 
 the Iroquois' own domain, destroy their strong- 
 holds and burn their towns, in a communica- 
 tion to Congress, January 12th, 1779, mopt 
 ably urged the importance of this movements 
 as the only efHcient protection to the patriots 
 in all the border towns of New York and Penn- 
 sylvania. Washington was only in his seven- 
 teenth year when he began his explorations 
 in the Indian territory beyond the Alleganies, 
 which he continued for a number of years, be- 
 ing engaged in diplomatic as well fls military 
 excursions among the Western tribes, and 
 had thus acquired a thorough knowledge of 
 the Indian character, and which afterward be- 
 came of such indispensible avail to the cause 
 of the Revolution shown by his wisdom in origi-] 
 nating and planning the campaigns against 
 the Indians, and which conduced in an emi- 
 nent degree to our national success in the 
 struggle for Independence. 
 
 It Avas arranged that the principal division 
 of the Army designed for the invasion of the 
 Indian country should proceed under imme- 
 diate command of Gen. Sullivan, along the 
 Susquehanna foward the head-waters of this 
 majestic river, where upon its confluence with 
 the Tioga it would be joined by another di- 
 vision under command of Gen. James Clinton 
 — and thence, in combined array, march into 
 the popolous Indian country. It may here- 
 marked, that Gen. James Clinton was born in 
 Ulster Co., 1736. At the age of twenty, then 
 holding rank as Captain, was engaged in the 
 assault upon Fort Frontenac; received ap- 
 pointment of Colonel in 1775, and participa- 
 ted in the expedition to Canada under Gen. 
 Montgomery. In 1776 he was appointed Brig- 
 adier General, and was actively engaged in 
 service connected with the war -until 1779, 
 when ho became associated with Gen^ Sullivan 
 in the expedition against the western Indians. 
 The name, the family of the Clintons has in- 
 deed become one of the most illustrious known 
 in American History. George Clinton, a 
 brother of Gen. James Clinton here referred 
 to, occupied the important position as Gov- 
 ernor of New York during the war of the Rev- 
 olution; and in a communication to Gen. 
 Washington, dated "18fh May, 1779," had 
 given his views, in an able and comprehensive 
 manner, relative to military arrangeraentg rC' 
 
12 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNff VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 quired for successful prosecution of the intend- 
 ed carapait^n against the Six-Nations— (this 
 letter will be found, page 298, &c., of second 
 vol, "Correspondence Am. Revolution.) De 
 Witt Chnton, a son of Gen. James Clinton, it 
 need scarcely be said, acquired enduring and 
 pre-eminent fame as one of the ablest among 
 the many dit-tinguished statesmen who at va- 
 rious times have held the place .as Governor of 
 the State of New York, without mentioning 
 other learned and eminent men more recently 
 connected with this family. Gen. Clinton, 
 with five brigades having numerical strength 
 of 1500, commenced his march on the 17th of 
 June from Canajoharie, his point d'appiii in 
 the Mohawk Valley, across a hill}'^ country to 
 Otsego Lake; but this Lake, owing to drouth 
 of summer season, would not admit of the pas- 
 sage of his boats, amounting to 220 batteaux, 
 and carrying a park of Artillery, stores and 
 provisions over its waters, and Gen. Clinton 
 had resource to constructing a dam across the 
 lower portion of the Lake, thus raising its 
 ■waters to such extent that upon removal of 
 the arlifitial obstruction, the accumated floods 
 rapidly carried his armament to its destination ; 
 and upon the 22d of August he formed a junc- 
 tion with the main division under Gen. Sulli- 
 van which had ascended the Susquehanna, at 
 Tioga point, and their united force nowamount- 
 ed to five thousand men — the respective brig- 
 ades under command of Clinton, Hand, Max- 
 well, Poor and Proctor. Some time previous- 
 ly, Gen. Schuyler had communicated inteli- 
 gence to Clinton, that the enemy were already 
 aware of the objects of this expedition ; the 
 allied British and Indian forces, in fact, had 
 made ample preparations for defense, and 
 erected intrenchments upon •the Chemung, 
 where they awaited the approach of the Amer-' 
 lean army. From the year 1634, when Car- 
 tier had ascended the St. Lawrence, and erect- 
 ed upon its shores the standard of the French 
 King, the French and English had contended 
 for the posession and control of the Continent. 
 Both of these Powers, as the most power- 
 ful auxillery in securing the coveted object, 
 sought the alliance and aid of the Indian 
 Tribes ; until the defeat of the French arms at 
 Niagara, at Louisburg, and finally at Quebec 
 in 1759, gave to the English, and the numer- 
 ous Indian tribes with whom they were thence- 
 forward allied, the absolute and supreme do- 
 minion of all the lands of the Continent. Sir 
 William Johnson, as the representative of the 
 British Monarch, obtained and exercised an 
 unrivaled ascendency over the Indians, and 
 during a long term of years lived in the opu- 
 lent splendor, the luxurious freedom and pow- 
 er which characterised the Baronets of the 
 middle ages. Johnson Hall, which was the 
 only Barronial Mansion ever built and sus- 
 tained upon American soil, being the central 
 position of that imperial power which now 
 ruled ia unquestioned snpremacy upon the 
 
 continent ; again, this majestic and mighty 
 Empire, the rule of the EnglfJih power in 
 America, was awaiting the abitrament of arms 
 here amid the quiet forests bordering upon the 
 Chemung ; here the nioht eminent among tlie 
 Briti.sh leaders. Sir John Johnson, Col. Guy 
 Johnson, Col. John Butler — while the haugh- 
 ty warriors of the Iroquois were led by their 
 own subtle chiefs, JThayendanegea, (''the Mons- 
 ter Brant,") as well as Corn-Planter and Red- 
 Jacket — were assembled to tai^e command,, ini 
 this hour of emergency, of the_ combined Brit- 
 ish.and Indian force, amounting to some 200i 
 Engli.sh troops, and 1300 Iroquois, securely 
 entrenched among the wooded hills upon tht; 
 Chemung. 
 
 The American army, under command of 
 Gen. Sullivan, was delayed several days at Ti- 
 oga in making preparations for their march 
 into the Indian territory. Upon the 2(lth of 
 August the army commenced its movwment in 
 the following order of battle. Major Parr, com- 
 manding corps of Riflemen, forming the ad- 
 vanced-guard — the brigades of Generals Hand, 
 Maxwell, ami Poor, with Proctor's artillery 
 occupying the central column, constituting 
 the main body of the army, while Gen. Clin- 
 ton's brigade l>rought up the rear. (See "Jour- 
 nal" of the Epxd.) and upon the first day the 
 army marched some three miles and encamped 
 for the night. The succeeding day, 27th of 
 Aug. the army resumed its march, making the 
 distance of six miles, andthen foimed encamp- 
 ment. Upon the 28th of August, the route of 
 the army lay through difficult mountain roads, 
 and Gen. Maxwell's brigade being detached 
 for the purpose of crossing the west bank of 
 the river, the whole army marched this day 
 only two miles. 
 
 Previous to the arrival of Gen. Clinton at 
 Tioga, Gen. Sullivan, who had reached that 
 place upon the 11th of August," detached a 
 small party the same evening to reconnoit?e 
 the enemy's position. This scout returned up- 
 on the succeeding day, and (quoting from Col. 
 Hubley's Journal,) with information: "made 
 several discoveries at Chemung, an Indian vil- 
 lage twelve viiles distant from this 2}lace :" and ac- • 
 cording ly it was determined to destroy at once 
 this prominent Indian village, and the main 
 army commanded by Gen. Sullivan immedi- 
 ately commenced its march toward Chemung, 
 but owing to the darkness of the nightdid not 
 reach this town until the next morning, the 
 13th of August, hut the village had been evac- 
 uated on approach of the American Army by 
 the Indians, and the army had advanced about 
 a mile beyond this deserted town when the 
 vanguard discovered the enemy occupying a 
 lofty hill upon the east bank of the Chemung 
 river, ^nd the American forces at once made 
 an intrepid attack upon this position, from 
 which, by the determined bravery of the as- 
 sault, our troops soon succeeded in dislodging 
 the Indians, who made a precipitate retreat. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALT-EY, ETC. 
 
 IS 
 
 cunying with them their own wavriois killed heldin reserve. This skillful arningenient 
 
 in this engagement, ''while the American ar- 
 my suffered a loss of seven killed, and ten 
 wounded- the tir.'Jt sacrifice made hy our gal- 
 lant troops. The army then reduced the 
 large Indian village of Chemung to ashes, and 
 returned the same day to 'J'ioga. 'i'his bril- 
 liant and successful expedition was the pre- 
 liminary movement, the prelude to the final 
 attack and overthrow of the proud Iroquois 
 confederacy ; the reverberations of our arms 
 liad startled the Acvvinoshioni from iiis repose 
 amid the wildwoods, the luxurant hills, and 
 beautiful streams, of his own empire. 
 
 Kesuming the narative of the expedition at 
 the place where I had made interlude after 
 refcning to the termination of the march up- 
 on the loth August, and encampment of our 
 troops at Chemung upon ground where the 
 Indian village had formerly stood — the Amer- 
 ican army resumed its march, in the same or- 
 der as upon tlie 2f)th, ahout nine o'clock on 
 
 these vigorous orders were promptly and brave- 
 ly cnforcwl. The light corps made a brilliant 
 and intrepid charge upon tlie veteran British 
 troops and the savage Indian warriors, who- 
 sheltered behind their formidable breastwork, 
 as well as rocks, thickets and trees, directed 
 an incesant fire upon our brave columns wlio 
 fought with unsui passed her(jism, and with 
 varying success and di^comforture, for two 
 liours— the Iro()Uois, animated by brave words 
 and feailess exertions of ISrant. who like a 
 demon of evil ranged every part of the en- 
 sanguined field, held their position with un- 
 equaled obstinacy — at the same time the ene- 
 my who occnpietl the lofty hill upon the ex- 
 treme left fighting with determined bravery, 
 resisting the assault of the gallant legion led 
 by Clinton and Poor, step by step, ami inch 
 by inch, and were only driveu from their 
 rocky fortresses at the point of the bayonet; 
 the sun was sinking in the western horizon — 
 
 the memorable 27th of August, and on its I and it seemed that approaching darkness alon(* 
 
 "arrival near the ridge where the action of 
 the 18th commenced" the van-guard perceived 
 several of the enemy, who, upon approach of 
 our forces retreated; the corps under command 
 of Major Parr gave immediate but cautious 
 pursuit, and proceeded "aliotit a mile," when 
 a large force of the subtle Indian warriors were 
 discovered very artfully concealed behind an 
 extensive fortification, which had been covered 
 from view by trees and boughs. being cut, and 
 iu their vernal foliage, brought and placed in 
 an upright position in front of this redoubt. 
 This position was admirably chosen, evincing 
 in its selection consumate military skill and 
 Kti-ategical art, occupying the east bank where j heroic, seried columns advanced with'hurried 
 
 could decide the terrilde conflict by givmg 
 victory to the unyielding Iroquois; still from 
 everv waving, rustling thicket and shrub were 
 unceasingly sent the nnseen messengers of 
 death upMi our ranks, until it now seemed to 
 the Am.ericans, as erst to Macbeth, that — 
 
 ^^Birnavi ivood he come to Dunsinane;" 
 
 along that embattled line the American columns 
 for a momenthalted, wavered, then above their 
 Vdeeding ranks, there seemed to hover, like 
 a guardian angel, the form of absent wile, 
 with her babe clasped to her bosom, shielding 
 it from the murderous tomahawk— (Tf/am, the 
 
 a large bend had been formed in Chemun 
 river, the extreme right of the entienchment 
 rested upon this stream, while its circutious 
 and rapid currents placed the rear secure from 
 hostile surprise or approach, and the left of 
 the' redoubt rested upon a secure base of a 
 precipitous and lofty hill — the entire work 
 extending some half-mile in length; a beauti- 
 ful Island, which indeed seemed like realiza- 
 tion of some enchanted and fairy dream of Para- 
 dise, slumbered amid the waters of the Che- 
 mung within a short distance — while in the 
 hazy sunlight the vernal magnificence of sum- 
 mer began to blend its sylvan hues with the 
 crimson tints, and gorgeous yet fading colors 
 of Autumn. Geii. Hand immediately advanc- 
 ed the light corps within three hundred yards 
 of the enemy's entrenchment; and. Gen. Sul- 
 - livan arriving upon the ground, then directed 
 the rifle corps, undercommand of Gen. Hand, 
 to assault the enemy's works in front, while 
 Generals Clinton's and Poor's brigades were 
 ordered to storm and attempt to turn the left 
 flank of the British and Indian force which 
 was stationed upon the steep hills in that di- 
 rection, and Col. Proctor to support the at- 
 tack with artillery, while Gen. Maxwell's was 
 
 step to the deadly charge, disappearing amid 
 the fire and smoke whiclr enveloped all the 
 battlefield, while our artillery dealt upon the 
 enemy a terrific cannonade, and the martial 
 strains of the Pvcpublic cheered our men to 
 the fearful, impetuous charge — and along their 
 extended, embattled lines, the British and their 
 Indian allies, wavered; the voice of the Iro- 
 quois Chieftain, Brant, then echoed over the 
 battlefield with the despairing shout of defeat 
 — Oonah ! Oonah '.—and with that fatal cry the 
 hitherto unyielding and undismayed ranks of 
 the Iroqu')is wairiovs, and their allies, were 
 broken, and all fled in panic and confusion-.-— 
 ■With that cry of defeat, now echoing amid 
 their native forest, the Acwinoshi confederacy, 
 which had so long maintained by its powers 
 undisputed supremacy of the continent, and 
 held the Algonquin and Appalachian groups of 
 the Hunter-race in subjection, was overthrown 
 and dismembered, forever; the sovereignty, 
 the greatness, and the power of the Iroquois 
 departed never more to return ! To the Iro- 
 quois this field was indeed a fatal Waterloo-: 
 and no other .battlefield would restore to their 
 empire its_lo,st piestige and glory! The League 
 of the Six Nations, which had successfully 
 
14 
 
 niSTOmCAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 met anil repulsed every invasion of their ter- 
 ritory, defeating the j)Owerful expeditions of 
 (.'iiiimplain in 1615, of De-la Burne in 1664— 
 of the marquis De Nonville in 1687, as (men- 
 tioned in "Colonial History" of N. Y.)— and 
 t>f the Count De Frontenac in 1796; iuid who 
 had during? the preceedinof years of the Revo- 
 lution been the terror of all the border settle- 
 ments of our country, and whilst allied with 
 the British had presented an invincible bar- 
 rier to our military success; but here, by the 
 waters of the Chemung which were speeiling 
 away to minicle with the ocean, and upon this 
 quiet day as summer's re^al splendor was fad- 
 ing and dying— the power and grandeur of 
 the Iroquois had fled and become lost m the 
 mythes of their race, the glory of their em- 
 jiire had found pall and tomb— and was bu- 
 ried forever ! 
 
 Nevertheless, this auspicious victory, so im- 
 portant if not indeed indispensable to the tri- 
 umph of the American cause, was attained 
 with ouly a comparatively small loss to the 
 patriot ai my — ouly six were killed, and about 
 lifty wounded. Our fallen braves were buried 
 near the battle ground. 
 
 "How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 By all tlieir country's wislies blest! 
 AV'lien spring, witli dewy lingers cold, 
 Returns to deck tlieir hallow'd mold"" 
 
 Then honor comes, a pilgrim gray 
 To bless the turf tliat wraps their claj'; 
 And freedom shall awhile repair 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there ! 
 
 It is known that Sir John Johnson, Brant, 
 and indee<l all the prominent leaders of the 
 allied British and Indians in tlie fierce conflicts, 
 the marvelous scenes of the Revolution, were 
 present at the tattle of the Chemung, encour- 
 aging their followers in performance of acts of 
 unparalellcd bravery. 
 
 The battle of the Chemung took plnce, (as 
 will be seen in consulting the various Jour- 
 nals kept by officers of the expedition, and 
 other documents,) some tliirteen or fourteen 
 miles from Tioga, and seven or eight miles 
 below Elmira. The Journal already quoted, 
 mentions that the army proceeded from the 
 encampuient whicli it had made on the even- 
 ing of 27th yVugust, after the battle, some 
 '•four miles and a half, through a mountain- 
 oub country, and an almost continuous defile 
 on east side of Cayuga branch," "then crossed 
 Cayuga branch, where it forks with a stream 
 running east and west," and came upon a 
 "piece of country remarkably level," and 
 afterwards "proceeded along the path which 
 lea<ls to Catharine's town;" from this descrip- 
 tion of tlie march, of the situation of the va- 
 rious localities through which the army pass- 
 ed, there will now exist no difficulty in 
 delinitig the position of the battle ground. 
 In another account of this expedition, which 
 may be found on page 785 of Vol. VIII. of 
 "Colonial History of New York," -it is tstated 
 
 that Gen. Sullivan's action with the Indians 
 took place "at Middletown," and then gives 
 the distance of the route traversed by the Ex- 
 pedition from 'J'ioga, as follows: "12 miles to 
 Chemung, 3 to Middletown, 9 to Newtown, 1» 
 to Cathartnetown;" it wdl be remembered 
 that the battle occurred at Middletown, which 
 was estimatefl to be inne miles below New- 
 town, and it is well known that Catharino- 
 town, (whicli was located near the present vil- 
 lage of Havana,) is only 18 miles from Eimira. 
 The fullest and most positive proof as to the 
 precise locality of this battle grounil is afford- 
 ed in the "Narative" of Major Maxwell, which 
 was written out by dictation of that prominent 
 officer of the expedition, by Gen. Miller and 
 Lieut. Allanson in 1818, and" will-be found in- 
 cluded in Vol. VII, (commencing on page 97) 
 of "Historical Collections of the Essex Insti- 
 tute," and I will in this place only give a 
 brief extract from Maxwell's "Narative" which 
 has reference to Gen. Sullivan's battle with 
 the Indians, thus: "We commenced ranging 
 over the s;ime ground as the year before, and 
 passed over onto the Susquehanna river, where 
 Col. Willet received a letter from Gen. Sulli- 
 van, requesting him to send me to him, then 
 near Valley Forge, to guide him to the Si.x 
 Nations in the Genesee country. I went on 
 accordingly and joined Gen. Sullivan at Tio- 
 gue Point. We started with the intention of 
 going to Queen Catharine's Town on the south 
 end of Senecti Lake. We went up the She- 
 mung River to a place called Hog Back. Here 
 the Indians ambuscaded Gen. S., having felled 
 a bre;istwork of pine timber and concealed 
 themselves. About ten in the morning the 
 Six Nations attacked us. We had a severe 
 fight, but beat the Indians an<l pursued them 
 through a small Indian village to Queen Cathar- 
 ine's Town, and found that deserted by all save 
 one." Here we thus have explicit, absolute, 
 and unquestionable proof, afforded by one of 
 the commanding officers of the expedition, in 
 respect to the battle having taken place at 
 Hog Back; although, as will be observed, it 
 directly conflicts with statements relative to 
 locality of tliis battle ground, as given in a 
 number of Historical works. I may here 
 mention that Mhj. Maxwell was born in Brad- 
 ford, Mass., Sept. llth, 1742; in 1757 he en- 
 listed in the war against the French and In- 
 dians—he went with the heroic party who 
 entered the British ships ii:w Boston harbor and 
 threw the tea overboard—and was engaged in 
 the Revolutionary war from time of the first 
 skirmish at Concord on 19th April, '75, to the 
 close of Gen. Sullivan's campaign against the 
 Indians; in 1800 he removed to State of Ohio, 
 and participated, to some extent, in war of 
 1812, and he afterward resided at Detroit, and 
 died about the year 1830. It is mentioned in 
 M.S. papers of Hon. Thos. Maxwell, that, 
 "The battle of Chemung between Gen. Sulli- 
 van and the Indians was fought some seven or 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CUKMUKG VAIXKY, KTC. 
 
 15 
 
 ♦•ight miles below Elmiia, at Hog Back liill. 
 Ot)l. Biildwiii who \s'as wounded iu the action 
 afterwai(i returned and settled near the l)attie 
 ground." I have also been informed by Hon. 
 fireen Bennett, who now resides in this coun- 
 ty, that his father, Ephriam Bennett, who was 
 ■*in otHfcr iu the Amerk'au aiiwy in the Kevo- 
 luiion, and soon alter the close of war retnor- 
 <d from Warwick, Orange Cotnity, N. Y., to 
 Wyoming, Penn., — had in 1794 removed from 
 I'ennsylvania to the Chemung Vall'cy, and lo- 
 <-ated his farm upon the old battle ground of 
 Ohemniig at Hog's Back, where he resided un- 
 til 1709 — the remains of the fortifications up- 
 on the battle field being at Ihis period clistinct- 
 ly visible. My informant. Col. Green Bennett, 
 was a child at the time his father had lived at 
 the place where Gen. Sullivan, fought anil de- 
 Jeatcd the British and Indians. 'I'his action was 
 popularly known as the "battle of Newtown," 
 but the ground where it occurred wa.s situated 
 about seven miles below the village of New- 
 town; in 1799 the Benn-ett iamily removed to 
 Catharine's Valley. 1 have, too, received 
 similar inforniation in respect to the battle 
 ground of Newtown being at Hogs Back hill, j 
 near Chemung or Tioga river, some miles be- 
 low Elmira, from several of the early residents 
 of this region, who were children of Revolu- 
 tionary soldiers engaged in this expedition, 
 a.nd had participated in the battle of Chemung 
 — as they respectively, Inul freijuently heard 
 their parents refer to the battle between Sul- 
 livan and the Indians, and the locality where 
 it was tought. In a letter from Hon. Cliarles 
 1'. Avery, who wits tlw author of a vahiable 
 work relating to the history of this section of 
 the State, this letter bearing date, "Flint, 
 Michigan, June 12th, 18G5," it is mentioned: 
 "•Your favor of the 7th inst., is at hand to- 
 day. '■' ■"' ~ ■'' The battl'C of Newtown 
 between Brant and Sullivan did not take place 
 at Elmira. as erroneously stated by Mr. Stone 
 in life of Brant, but at least 7 or 8 miles down 
 the river, near a house where a Doctor Everett 
 lived, and perhaps does now, near Hog l5ack 
 Hill so called. Col. Pickering called the In- 
 •dians together at Tioga Point, •(Athens,) and 
 also at Newtown, Pied-#acket having been 
 pn sent at both places, as I huve always un- 
 derstood, and there first hanging himself into 
 inntice as an Orator. ■■' ■■'- =z- o ^^{y ^Ije 
 way, Tioga, (properly Tah-hi-ho-gah,) means 
 the point of land where the streams come to- 
 gether — poetically, "the ©leeting of the wa- 
 iters." ■-■' '' ""• ■^" I have been over most 
 of the ground mentioned b.yyou. * '^ '■■' 
 Slake my com pi i in on ts to the Hist. Soc. of 
 Buffalo. I appreciate and applaud their asso- 
 ciated efiovts. The iKiembers may not see 
 their reward at once, but it will take the lapse 
 •of but a few years 'to bring about a grateful 
 •and rich return." 
 
 The views, derived from positive knowledge, 
 "upon this point relating to the place where 
 
 the battle between Sullivan and th« Indians 
 actuallj' occurred, of such men as Hon. 'I'hos. 
 Maxwell. Hon. Greene Bennett, and Judge 
 Avery, as well as other early Pioneers of the 
 Chemung valley, cannot fail to be conclusive. 
 1 have been thus explicit as to the precise lo- 
 cality of the battle-tield of Newtown, because 
 I have regarded it to be the province alike of 
 the Historian, as of the Jurist, to give careful 
 and e.\-act investigation to every matter re- 
 quireing attention and research, before express- 
 ing his conclusions. 
 
 It was upon a beautiful summer morning, 
 fragi-ant with baliw and bloom of flowers that 
 came wafted with every breeze, that I had 
 pass<'d along the picturesque, romantic shores 
 of the Cheiiiung uver until I reached thepLice 
 where the memoriable battle of Newtown had 
 been faught, and my footstejis wandered over 
 the field where the tide of combat once rolled: 
 I have trod many battle-fields of ancient and 
 of modern fame, but as I .slowly passed over 
 this ground, by the rapid waters of the Che- 
 mung, something of the same feelings •were re • 
 called that 1 had known while climbing the 
 ascent of Lundy's Lane, near the majestic 
 Niagara — the noble, swiftly gliding river upon 
 one side, and the sti;ep hill upim the oppo.site 
 side of ttee battle-ground of eitlier of these 
 fields of military glory, both at Chemung and 
 at Lundy's Lane, presented nearly the sameaj)- 
 pearanciB. Among these hills which stretch 
 away in hazy and indistinct outline upon the 
 left or north bank of the river, Butlei's creek 
 takes its rise, and flowing through wild ravine 
 and picturesque vale, unites its softly gliding 
 waters witli the Chemung at a short distance 
 from the battlefield, while the muruniring 
 waves of this magnifficent stream bre ith no 
 tale of the conibat which there had transpired 
 so long, ago, upon the listening air. The fairie 
 island is slumbering amid the currents of the 
 river as softly in its Eden Ireuity as upon the 
 'long gone summer day of 1779. Upon close 
 observation there m;iy yet be traced some 
 marksof the battle,— the ri.sing belt of ground 
 stret-ching through the meadow land over 
 which the tall, luxuriant grass is now growing, 
 along the line where the fortifications had 
 once extended from the banks of the river 
 until it inter.sected with the ingged hills on 
 its western side. A- large ami ancient Cucum- 
 ber liee is still standing upon the eastern part 
 of the field, it had once sbelteied the com- 
 batentswho taught beneath Its ample foliage; 
 and the remains of the old Apple tree are yet 
 li<ere. Near the spot where it bad grown, Col. 
 Baldwin had fell severely wounded in the 
 battle of August 29, 1779, and the orchard 
 which he had set out after his removal here is 
 still .remaining near the battle-ground. Tne 
 field 'Was divided by a rail fence, and upon one 
 side cattle and sheep were grazing: 
 "The situation seems still formed for fame, 
 A hundred thousand men might figlit again 
 
16 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY. ETC. 
 
 With ease. But where Isaught for Ilion's walls, 
 The quiet sheep feeds, and the tortiose crawls." 
 
 I will return to tb« narative of Gen. Sulli- 
 van's cxpedit'on. Upon the dtiv succeedinp: 
 the b ittle of Newtown, in an address which 
 <jen. Sullivan issued to the army, in conse- 
 quence of the neijlect of the Board of War to 
 supply the expedition with adequate means of 
 transportation, military stores, provisions and 
 forage, he wus obliged to propose, in order 
 jnore completely to accomplish the important 
 objects of the campaign, tliat (he troops should 
 accept half lations, referin.i!;, in this address, 
 to the reasons which dictated such a measure, 
 ?ind the patriotic and heroic army unanimously 
 <3xpressed Iheir concunmce with this proposi- 
 tion. Upon the olst of August, a's previously 
 refered to, the armj' commenced its march. 
 Crossing the Cayuga branch where it formed 
 junction with another stream which fiowed 
 from the west, where they destroyed an Indian 
 vilaKe, Newtown, (tke present city of Elmira 
 IS situated at this place,) the army then 
 jtarsued its march until reaching the ■'Town 
 of the Indian Queen, Catharine Montour," 
 where it arrived September 1st. The army 
 readied Kanadasaga, (now Geneva,) the 
 Indiiin Castle at the foot of Seneca lake, which 
 was iinmediatelo burned, on September 7th. — 
 In the progress of the invasion the army ar- 
 rived at Canand^ugua, situated near the lake 
 bearing the same name, on September 10th, 
 and destroyed the town, then proceed to 
 Honoye, which was burned. Gen. Sullivan, 
 without making any pause, proceeded to the 
 a-ich valley of the Genesee river, where the 
 jnincipal capitol of the Senec'as, Genesee, was 
 located in a, fertile region, whose orchards and 
 iields of waving grain., not less than its ham- 
 lets and vilages, indicated the civilization of 
 aiiany centuries. This large towm was destroy- 
 tid. Upon the 15th of September the army 
 'liaving accomplished the essential objecti? of 
 the expedition, received orders of Gen. Sulli- 
 van, to re-cominence its march for Tioga. In 
 •consequence of the insufficientsupply of stores. 
 Gen. Sullivan being compelled to return with- 
 out proceeding to Niagara, and in retracing 
 the path of the victoiioiis expedition the army 
 reached the valley of Catharine's Creek about 
 the 24th of September, and owing to the en- 
 tire lailure of forage for horses of tlie cavalry 
 force, several hundred horses were obliged to 
 be killed, and the place where this was done 
 3ias since retained the name of Horseheads. 
 'The army arrived at the original rendezvous, 
 -at Tioga, upon the 30th of September, and 
 the main army, under command of Gen. Sul- 
 livan, reached Wilkesbarre on the 7th of 
 October, having commenced the invading 
 march upon the 31st of the preceeding July, 
 1779, and within the intervening period of 
 two months and seven days, this army had 
 ■signally defeated'tbe allied British and Indians 
 mtliia their own entjenchmeuts at Chemung-, 
 
 dessolated the country of the hitherto invin- 
 cible Iroquois, ami burned over forty of their 
 villagef,'eaving but a wreck cf their once piond 
 domain. Nevertheless, for the reason that 
 Gen. Sullivan, in his address to the army, had 
 refered in just terms of censure to the action 
 of the Board of War in withholding supplies 
 from the expedition, this gallant (general was 
 permitted to retire from the service, although 
 thesagaciousstatesnian, and infiexable patriot. 
 Elbridge Gerey. made an effort in Congress 
 to have Gen. Sullivan retained in command, it 
 was ineffectual. Gen. Sullivan afterwards was 
 elected to Congress, and held various import- 
 ant positions in the State of New Hampshire, 
 and his decease occurred on the 23d of Jan- 
 uary, 1795. 
 
 It is mentioned in the elaborate "History 
 of the Indian Tribes, by IT. 11. Schoolcraft, 
 (page 310, vol. VT,) in^referenceto the battle of 
 Chemung. "This battle decided the results of 
 the campaign ; and, as aboriginal history 
 proves, it elfectually destroyed the Iroquois 
 confederacy." However, during the ensuing 
 year bands of Indian warriors continued fre- 
 quently to make incursions upon our frontier 
 settlements. In allusion to these massacrees 
 which still with their recital thrill our veins 
 with horror, J. R. Simms, Esq., the talented 
 author of an interesting work, "History of 
 Schoharie county, etc.," in a communication 
 dated "Fort Plain. N. Y., April 28th, 1865," 
 thus writes me: "The expedition of Sullivan 
 which laid desolate the Indian settlements of 
 Western N. Y., was rolled back the next sea- 
 son, by the Indians and Tories in fire and 
 blood, on the Pioneer white settlements of the 
 Schoharie and Mohawk valleys, during which 
 season Brant made for himself such a reputa- 
 tion, that his very name carried terror to the 
 fireside of every ex^xwed settler." But, this 
 important episode in the history of the val- 
 ley, the expedition of Gen. Sullivan, has al- 
 ready k)ng claimed our attention — and I will 
 now dismiss the subject. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Early Idstory of the region of the Susquehanna ad- 
 yoinmg Chemung valley — The aneieut Indian vil- 
 lage of Oghyimga. The early settlement of Otve- 
 go, S{C. Eemimcences of Binghamton ; the late 
 Hon. D. S. Dickinson. Early annals of the re- 
 gion lying near head-ivaters of tht Susquehanna — 
 Washington's visit in 1783 — Cooperstown—J. 
 Fenninwre Cooper, etc., etc. 
 Farther along this picturesque valley, or 
 rather in adjacent valley of the Susquehanna, 
 the famous Indian town, Oghyuaga, (orOuago, 
 now Windsor,) is situated in a romantic vale, 
 some fotirteen miles from the present town of 
 Binghamton. A mission had been established 
 atOghynaga, at the instance of Prest. Edwards,- 
 and was placed under charge of Rev. Gideon 
 Hawley, early as 1754 . This ancie'nt village had 
 been the .capital of a powerful Indian natioa 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THF. CIIF.MDira VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 It 
 
 during the lapse of an immemorial period, 
 jiiid had htld an important position in the 
 early wars of the French and English, nu- 
 merous expeditions being fitted and sent out 
 upon their hostile errands from this Castle. It 
 hud also formed, during several preceeding 
 centuries, a resting place in the excursions and 
 journe.vs of the Six Nations to the Indian 
 trihes inhabiting the banks of the Delaware, 
 and other portions of the Southern country; 
 while it became the headquarters of Brant in 
 the fearful border wars of 1777, '78 and '79, 
 where this chief had organized the bands of 
 Indian warriors which desolated tlie frontier 
 j-ettlements— this renowned Indian castle, in- 
 deed, had held an important and prominent 
 place during all our Colonial and Revolution- 
 ary History. Windsor was settled by a party 
 of emigrants from Connecticut in 1785. In 
 1786 a settlement was commenced at Owego, 
 }iy James McMaster, Wm. McMaster, Amos 
 Draper. from Wyoming, and by other emigrants 
 from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Near the 
 village of Owego, in a picturesque and rural 
 spot upon the banks of Owego Creek, Glen 
 JIary was situated —this pleasant residence had 
 been the home of the distinguished and la- 
 mented Poet, N. P. Willis, at the time his 
 beautiful "Rural letters" were written, and 
 ihe romantic scenery cf this enchanting n^- 
 gion had furnished requisite inspiration for 
 liis genius, his rare and exquisite descriptive 
 powers; — while I write, the melancholy intelli 
 gence comes that the immortal Poet has pas- 
 sed to his quiet rest, but above his grave 
 spring will scatter its fairest and most fragrunt 
 flowers, and summer birds there will sing their 
 sweetest melodies— forever, with their balm 
 and their music lulling the death-slumbers of 
 fiiir country's deeply mourned, gifted singer. 
 Tioga county was taken ftom Montgorneiy, 
 and organized as a separate county, Feb. 1(J, 
 1791; or rather, by the organic act, it was 
 constituted a half-shire county, and the courts 
 were held alternately at Newtown Point, 
 (now Elmira,) and at Chenango, (now Bing- 
 liainton) in 180G, the half-shire was discon- 
 tinued upon organization of Broome county; 
 in 1812, the county seat was removed from 
 Elmira to Spencer village; in 1822, by act ot 
 the Li^gishiture, the haU-shiie was re-establish- 
 ed, and the courts were held respectively at 
 Elmira and Owego; and. upon erection of 
 Clienancro county, in 183G from limits of Tio- 
 ga, Elmira became tlie county seat of Che- 
 mung county and Owego was designated as 
 the county seat of Tioga. 
 
 Binghainton, which is located in one of the 
 lichcht and most delightful sections of the 
 Susquehanna Valley, still farther toward the 
 source of the mr.jestic stream which gives the 
 tribute of beauty and verdure to the ron>antic 
 shores that liorder its noblt; waters, was set- 
 tled it an early datir; its Pioneev, Capt. .Jos- 
 eph Leonard, having moved, with his family, 
 
 up the Su.squehanna in a canoe from Wyom- 
 ing, and settled herein 1787. Col. Wm. Rose, 
 and other emigrants, mostly from New Eng- 
 land, also made settlement at this place aliontJ 
 the same period. The village is pleasantly lo- 
 cated upon the north side of the Susquehanna, 
 at its yunetion with the Chenango river — and 
 the place was at first designated by name of 
 Chenango Point. The Rev. Mr. Howe, of the 
 Baptist persuasion, had conducted in 1788 the 
 earliest religious exercises within this town. 
 Broome county was organized in 1806, ami 
 Binghamton became the county scat — the first 
 court in the new county was held in May, 180(', 
 .John Patterson being the first Judge. Ring-' 
 hamton will derive its principal distinction, 
 however, in the records of history as having 
 been the home of the late Hon. D. S. Dick- . 
 inson, who had earned a brilliant, not less 
 than well merited pre-eminence as a learned 
 and astute lawyer, a wise and patriotic states- 
 man. He was deputed to represent the State of 
 New York in the U. S. Senate— at the auspi- 
 cious time when its councils were ruled by the 
 master-mind uf Dallas who had won enduring 
 fame as one of the ablest among the distin- 
 guished public men in the better days of the 
 Republic — and at the memorable period when 
 this august body was composed of the most 
 eminent state- men and brilliant orators of our 
 land, whose matchless eloquence had so often 
 achieved enduring triumph in this proud fo- 
 rum of debate. Within the American Senate 
 at this time, I may only recall the honored 
 names of the illustrious Thomas H. Benton, 
 who had occupied for a longer period ol years 
 than any other public man of our nation a 
 place in this august foruui, al^d had heie es- 
 tablished pre-eminent fame not only as the 
 Princeps Setiatvs in the lesjislative councils of 
 the Republic, but also as the ablest and wisest 
 statesman of our land— and in regard to him, 
 I may well adopt the sentiment of the great 
 drama in the words of Mark xiutony applied 
 to Brutus: 
 
 "This tnas the nohle.il Roman of ihnn all; 
 His life was gentle ; and tlie elements 
 So mixed in him, iViat nature mif^htstand up. 
 And say to all the world — '■lliis was a man' " ■ 
 
 together with the eminent names of the im- 
 perious Webster, of the astute Calhoun, of tl)C 
 eloquent Clay, of the learned Renian, of the 
 labiiiious Cass, of the accomplished Woodbury, 
 and of the brilliant and scholastic Clayton, 
 whom I now can name only to deplore ; anil 
 here at this epoch, mingling in the debates 
 and councils of the Senate, were then tlic able 
 and eminent Senator fiom Pennsylvania. 
 Hon. Jami'S Buchanan, and who had atterward 
 occupied the important positions, respectively, 
 of Secretary of State, and of Chief Magistrate 
 of the Union, preceeding his retirement to pri- 
 vate life— and also the Hon. Rev^vdv Johnson 
 of Maryland, who had long hcM distinguisl>ed 
 lank among the accomplished Statecinen of 
 
!8 
 
 niSToRICAI, SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEr, ETC. 
 
 the better days of the Republic, and still re- 
 mains, in tlio pleHitmie of Ma power and fame 
 withio the Senate, while he is acknowledged 
 fo be, not only aa one of the most learned and 
 siKtute Jurists of our country, but as pre-enii- 
 aently the ablest, most eloquent and iliustri- 
 f^us Statesman now boldinsf a place in the 
 i'ublic CoMucils of the Nation. Clay and Cal- 
 houn, soon after leaving their places in the 
 i^cnate, reposed within their honored graves, 
 covered with flowers born of a southern sun, 
 ;+u<l wakened to bud and to bloom ' by the 
 balmy airs of the trophies — and the great or- 
 ator and Statesman of New-England, Webster, 
 "Broken with the storms of State," 
 
 hrid too, soon passed to rest in the lowly tomb. 
 Mr. Dickinson, I believe, had first entered the 
 Henate at its session of 1844-45 ; it was indeed 
 .' brilliant epoch, resplendent with the first 
 glories of the Republic. Great measures. th;it 
 ■oQuld give the enduriEg impress to the policy 
 of our government required adjustment, and 
 in their discussion he evinced the giant grasp 
 of mind, the massive streugtli of judgment, 
 the great argumentative power, which then 
 began to show the collosal proportion of his 
 intellect, and gave such promise at the com- 
 mencement of his Senatorial career, primis 
 omnihvs. of its effulgent splendor ; and, in the 
 noblest qualities that go to form the judicious 
 legislator, or in the expressive words of Cicero, 
 the 'bmius Samtoris prudentia \ Mr. Dickinson 
 was indeed entitled to rank as the peer of the 
 great and most illustrious statesmen of the Re- 
 public. 
 
 In the early part of the j'earl860. when the 
 larger portion of our public mea treated any 
 daiiKer of a disruption of the harmonious re- 
 rations of the .several states only as an illusion 
 of the fancy, Mr. Dickinson had" regarded with 
 most painful apprehension the unhappy politi- 
 cal condition of our country; and when treason 
 iinally sought to accomplish its criminal de- 
 signs through the instrumentality of armed 
 force, he was still found, as he had been of 
 ;Tore, devoting every energy in sustainance of 
 the Constitution and tlte Union, always re- 
 ?ncmhering that vufdantia aelerna liberaiis pre- 
 fivmcst. From the personal relations which 
 the writer of this sketch had been privileged 
 to enjoy for many years with Hon. D. S. Dick- 
 inson, I can truly say, that he was- always sin- 
 cere and earnest in his adherance to political 
 principles, not less than inflexible in their 
 niaintainance, vir Jushis, ct tcnaz proponUe; and 
 his liff.' WHS marked by profound and unwaver- 
 ing patriotism, a refined and elevated sense of 
 honor, rare and unswerving integrity, and 
 wir-dom which was enriched by the amplu 
 stores of experience . 
 
 " A combination and a form indeed 
 Where every God did seem to set his se.Tl 
 To give tlie world assurance of a man :" 
 
 Bat the summons ca. ne to call him away, at a 
 
 period, indeed, of life when he had gathered 
 the amplest public honors ; nor medical skill, 
 nor assiduity of friends had power to reyive or 
 restore him— had no longer any power to re- 
 lume the waneiag fire of life whose brilliancy 
 lingering even to its earthly close. Another 
 great statesman has thus gone down to the 
 dust; the tomb contains all that is Mt of him 
 whose name had become known throughout 
 the earth. Well may we pause ; he, whose 
 counsels had guided as so long, will he with 
 us no more forever. In the quietness of tho 
 political atmosphere we are startled by the 
 death notes, which at intervals are sounded as 
 from the trumpet of the Archangel to call an 
 entire people to mourning, and the nation is 
 overshadowed in gloom as in the darkness of 
 the Sun's Eclipse. The luminary whicch had 
 shed its benign light in the noon-day heavens, 
 while a still brighter effulgence had crowned 
 its calm setting with a mild and sweet fare- 
 well — allowing a brief yet beautiful repose ere 
 the coming of the eternal niglit— has passed 
 from our horison, but leaving its lingering. radi- 
 ance to show that it has not quenched its orb, 
 but shines in the firmament forever ! He be- 
 longs to the immortal galaxy— Thompkins. 
 Wright, Dickins<-)n — now complete ; which 
 takes its place amid the loftier constellations,, 
 ante alina ijnes astrorum. and giving its light 
 unto the heavens ! He indeed is gone ; but 
 his name will live when the millions which 
 moved around him are forgotten. The old 
 Republics are in ruins ; the grass now growi* 
 amid the Areopagus and in the Forum, but 
 the names of Demostlienes and Cicero survive, 
 though the places where they rest is now un- 
 known — and. that name, also, which has been 
 repeated around every hearthstone of the nexo 
 Republic, too, shall endure when perchance 
 the Republic itself has been swept away, and 
 the men of future times come and search iu 
 vain for the relics of our glory and of our 
 grandeur. His honored name, at least, cher- 
 ished by the remembrance of personal kind- 
 ness, the recollection of long years of uninter- 
 rupted friendship, will not be forgotten by 
 him who pays this humble and' imperfect tri- 
 bute to his illustriotis raemory. 
 
 It is indeed humiliating, when we recall to 
 mind the elevated and eminent position which 
 had been so brilliantly acquired, and so long 
 and amjily sustained by the American Senatti 
 and to which, in the palmiest days of its re- 
 nown. New York had then deputed such very 
 able and pre-eminent statesmen .as Rufus King, 
 VanBuren, Wright, Marcy, Dickinson ; and 
 then to give, at this time, (Feb. I8(J7.) a 
 moment's refiaction upon the very common- 
 place character of this deliberative body, as it 
 is now constituted, and which particularly 
 marks the present Senatorial delegation froiit 
 the State of New York, and also the represen- 
 tation, with few exceptions, in the popular 
 branch of the American Congress. Agjiin vvo 
 
HISTOBICAL SKETCH OP THE CHEMUNO VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 30 
 
 cross the rotunda, and enter the Senate Cham- 
 ber- -'tis at the memorable ses><ion of 1849-'00, 
 but a short time previous to the expiration ot 
 Mr. Dickinson's Senatorial term ; the eminent 
 Vice President rules the stormy debates of this 
 Amphictyonic Council of the Republic — the 
 shades of mighty Statesmen glide along the 
 majestic aisles, and the eloquent voices of the 
 jiast echo amid the corridors and colonades ot 
 the Senate C?iamber ; in its proud forum, 
 where now were assemblea the iliiwstrjous 
 Statesmen who so had shaped the destinies of 
 the Republic, meeting here for the last time 
 on ErtTth— the senior Senator of New York elo- 
 ■^^uently urged the adoption of the series of 
 measures, to which the entire country then 
 were looking as the only relief for political and 
 •sectional disquietudes, earnestly noping that 
 with their success would dawn a more efful- 
 gent morn, afairer season in the progress of 
 our Republic : 
 
 "The winter of our discontent 
 Made glorious summer by this sun af York" 
 
 With the close of this Congress, Mr. Dick- 
 inson, with other distinguisiied statesmen 
 who were among his compeers in the Seii- 
 ute, bade final adieu to this theatre of lofty 
 triumph, but since the days of the Conscript 
 Fathers none more unobtrusively great have 
 sat within the Council Halls of the Republic. 
 ■{)nce more, alter the lapse of seventeen years, 
 for 1 moment, we enter the vestibule, and pass 
 along this i mi)osing aisle of the Senate Cham bcr, 
 l>ut the Mas^r-Statesmen ot tlie Republic who 
 ■once guided its Legislative Councils have 
 j)assed away forever, the voices which had so 
 long charmed the listening Senate are hushed 
 and still, and the unrivaled glory which lin- 
 gered around this august forum, and clustered 
 amid the graceful arches, and lofty galleries 
 of the Senate Chamlier, too, h;is vanished like 
 Prof.pero's dream. But, the murmur of this 
 noble river interupts our musing— and I must 
 Hd farewell to this classic ground which had so 
 long been the home of the Statesman of the 
 Susquehanna. 
 
 The majestic Susquehanna, which in i"{s 
 loveliness and grandeur is gliding by, whis- 
 pers enchanting tales of the romantic, pictur- 
 esque S3enerj' which continues to border its 
 murmuiing waters, and which surrounds the 
 mountain springs whose crystal fountains first 
 give shape to the tributary streams of this 
 magnificent river— assd lulled by its music, I 
 too am lured by its beauty to ascend still fur- 
 ther along tlie lovely, fairy shores of the Sus- 
 quehanna until I shall reach its source — 
 Around tliis region cluster the rich luistoric as- 
 sociations of the past — and around thewylvan 
 lake whose tranquil waters feed the beautiful 
 Susquehanna, linger tlie proudest reminisoen'*es 
 cotinected with the Litera'ture of our land, 
 whose lustre will ever remain in its unfading 
 4wad immortal glory. 
 
 Already, as I leisurely glide along th« Tra- 
 
 ters of the Susquehanna, I have passed the 
 boiindaries of Broo».ie, and enter the limits of 
 Chenango County . This County includes elev- 
 en of the "Twenty Towns" which the Indians, 
 in a Treaty held at Fort Schuyler in 17S8 
 with Gov. George Clinton, had ceeded to the 
 State, and which was known as "Clinton's Pur- 
 chase." Settlements had been made upon the 
 Susquehanna river, within the present towns 
 of Afton and RaiubridgG, in 1780, and ITStj, 
 by emigrants from Vermont rnd Connecticut. 
 A Mr. S. Ketch um had made the pioneer set- 
 tlement oi Greene in 1712, and in the same 
 year a parly of French refugees also located 
 within this town, and made purchase of a 
 tract amounting to 15. QUO acres lying upon 
 Chenango river . 'i'he distinguished diplomist, 
 Talkjyrand, visited his countrymen at this 
 place in 1794, but owing to some defect in the 
 title of lands purchased l)y this early French 
 colony, tlie settlement was abandoned in the 
 year ot 1796. Among other early settlers in 
 Greene, and who remained permanently iu 
 this section, were Rev. Nathan Kidlogg, who 
 about 1795, organized the earliv st clmrch (Bap- 
 tist,) within this county, and continued as its 
 pastor for a period of 30 years; and. a Yir. 
 B. Loomis, C. Hill, D. Tremain, re-settled in 
 East Greene in 179o. The Hon. Geo. A. B. 
 Crooker, who in former years has held the 
 foremost rank among the most eloquent, per- 
 suasive orators, the most brilliant and success- 
 ful lawyers in Western New Y(.)rk — and long 
 occupied a distinguished position, and in tiie 
 Constitutional Convention of 1840— had pas- 
 sed his boyhood dajs in this picturesque re- 
 gion; and, in re-visiting his early home in the 
 year 1850, had written one of his most bean- 
 tilul poems in which he recalls the cherished 
 associations which clustered around the ro- 
 mmtic hills ef "worshiped Greene;" — in this 
 exquisite poem, occurs the sweet and plaintive 
 allusion to the loved one of life's young hours, 
 and which in pathos and beauty of sentiment 
 has been rarely excelled: 
 
 "Affections' youns flower. 
 That budded to blossom in beauty and pride, 
 Has wasted its sweetness, and withered and 
 
 died; — 
 Her spirit in dreams to my pillow hath come— 
 When far in ilie wild-wooils, to lieclion lue 
 
 home," 
 I may be allowed to add in this place that the 
 life or personal career of the talented poet 
 whose felicitious imagery has been embodied 
 in many passages similar to the one above 
 quoted, in the-finunctic and impassioned series 
 of romances ■conu'cctied witii it — as the writer 
 of this sketch has had opportunity to be aware 
 — would form a story of far wilder, and more 
 intense interest than tJie pen of tiie Novelist 
 has ever been permitted to record. But the 
 celestial fire that had Iwjrned so early, and so 
 brightly, is now growing dim— its light and 
 warmth now waning; the sere an<l mildew 
 i are now fa^t^atberiiiuj over tlie elcqueist chord*! 
 
20 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 of liis harp which sooa will slumber in silence 
 Ibvevcr. Amid the shadows which linger over 
 his beautiful melodies, a dur Ariel even hovers, 
 to scatter with noisless wing •briy;ht rays of 
 light — and amid the notes of sadness, the 
 JSird of Paratlise ever returns to '\v'arble its na- 
 tive strains, and to bring fresh lowers from 
 Elysian groves of immortal fragrance ami 
 lieauty. When once within the mazes of iiis 
 poetry, you then seem to be wandering in 
 some fairy land— of sunny groves, and bright 
 streams, where the moonlight falls in go^'geous 
 showers, wheie n)u»ic ever murmurs its soft 
 melodies, and the fragrant breath of sunaraer 
 Mowers ladcii the balmy Zephyrs — yet. with 
 all this beauty tinged by the melancholy hues 
 of twilight. Indeed, in his numbers can be 
 traced the noblest qualities of the Divine Art; 
 a fancy biilliant and glowing, which like the 
 sunlight illuminates every object its rays may 
 touch, ami transforms it into some image of 
 heauty^and 
 
 "Doth suffer a sea change 
 Into something ricli and strange." 
 
 l>'it, there is another, and more lasting charm 
 that holds you spell-bound; — it is the sympe- 
 ttietic, wondrous power of awakning with in- 
 lensest emotion the ftelings which lie en- 
 hiirined in the inmost recesses of the bosom, 
 with the melancholy strains of sadness, as the 
 ])0et wanders back to revel in the fair dream- 
 land of days that come no more, murmurs in 
 jnournful sweetness along the chords of his 
 harp — which indeed seem like snatches of 
 some divine melody, chanted upon Seraph's 
 lyre, and which but breathes response to the 
 low, deep undertone ever thrilling the human 
 iie'art. I might well hope that the many 
 lieautiful poenrs written by Mr. Crooker should 
 l>e carelully gathered, and published in astyle 
 commensurate with their v.orth ; and thus. 
 M'hen his harp becomes forever silent, and 
 .])erchance the work of more ostentatious 
 poets are forgotten and lost, posterity may 
 turn with admiration and delight, to his 
 soothing, heart-felt melodies. It has been 
 remarked, that there is not a stream in the 
 land beyond the oct^an hut whose praises have 
 lieen sung — and who, indeed, has not heard 
 the voice that murmurs from the Arno, from 
 Avor, trom Ayre, Irom Liman'., lake and the 
 river I'o — and the romantic stream gliding in 
 heauty and music amid these quiet hills and 
 va!e!» of Greene, had first kindled by their \)o- 
 ■etic associations, the imagination, and inspired 
 t.ie ujuse of the gifted ])oet, who in after years 
 hid so eloquently described their loveliness in 
 the flowing numbers of sons:. I have thus 
 dwelt, at some length, upon the srenius of one 
 <'f the most brilliant orators and poets of our 
 land. The first poem to which I remember of 
 listening, read to me in days of early child- 
 }iood, had been written by the poet to Whom I 
 have above refened; and af'terward, njy car- 
 iicst poetical raadiug, whick included -'Uhilde 
 
 Harold," had been pursued within his Library 
 — then little dreaming tfeat I should ever re- 
 call the historical reminiscenses of the beau- 
 tiful region where his chiid'kood and boyhood 
 years had been passed. 
 
 Chenango County was OTgamzed in 1778 — 
 and included towns which were taken from 
 J-Ierkimer and Tioga. The new County was 
 at first formed with half-shires, the Courts be- 
 ing held at Hamilton, (now within Madison 
 County which had been erected in 1806,) and at 
 Oxford. In accordance with Legislative Act 
 of March G, 1807, Norwich was 'designated as 
 the County Seat of Chenango, and the Conrt- 
 House. a wooden structure, was built in 1809, 
 in which the Courts held their sessions until 
 about 1837, when a new Court-House, con- 
 structed of brick, was erected here. Among 
 the early County officers, I may name Isaac 
 Footc. first Judge, J. Enos and J. Leland, asso- 
 ciate Judges, and Wm. Tracy, Sheriil'-who 
 held their respective offices from the time ot 
 orgaiiizition of the County during several sub- 
 sequent years. 
 
 Within Chenango County, at various places, 
 had foimerly existed the interesting, mysteri- 
 ous monuments reared by that vast, anil pow- 
 erful empire that once held dominion of our 
 soil. In the town of Oxford, situated upon 
 the banks of the Chenango Iliver, there had 
 been an ancient enclosure, which occupied a 
 small eminence. The shore descended from 
 this elevation precipitiously to the stream, 
 whilst upon the hill, an embankment, some 
 four feet in height, with a trench u))on the 
 outside of the elevated mound, extended in 
 a semi-circular form, and enclosing in the for- 
 tification about three-i'ourths of an acre of 
 ground. A pine tree, apparently of three or 
 four hundred years in growth, stood m.on this 
 ancient work. The Indians had a tradition 
 that this fort had been occupied by their an- 
 cestors reaching back to the seventh genera- 
 tion — but relative to the origin of the fortifi- 
 cation, they were entirely unacquainted. The 
 remains of an old fortification, which at the 
 time of the early French & Indian wars, was 
 known as "the castle," are located in the 
 town of Norwich. These earthworks had been 
 examined, many years ^ince, by DeWitt Clin- 
 ton. Within the town ofGieene, some tw« 
 miles from the village, and situated near the 
 Chenango Kiver, there had formerly existed 
 a mound of tlie most interesting character. — 
 This Tumila had an elevation of some six 
 feet and diameter of about forty feet ; ;;nd up- 
 on excavation being made in 1829, a number 
 of human skeletons were first disclosed, and 
 beneath this layer, were found a deposit of 
 human bones which had been burned — pre- 
 senting only the chared ostelogical remains, 
 and in this respect showing the samo charac- 
 teristic feature which marks the mound-peri- 
 od of the Mississippi Valley. In this mound 
 also were discovered several interesting, and 
 
mSTOniCAL SKETCH Or TKE -GnEKCKG YALLEY, ITC. 
 
 21 
 
 Tare relics of art ; among them a silver brace- 
 Jet, a plate of mica, cut or fashioned in orna- 
 mental shape, stone chisels, beside several 
 humired arrow-heads, &c. , &c. In the year 
 •of 1811, there had been found in Norwich, a 
 nearly entire specimen of Indian-pottery ; this 
 was a vessel something in the sliape of ajar. 
 with its upper portion in an oval or rounded 
 form, and with a grove moulded in the vessel 
 near its upper rim, and holding, in capacity, 
 some three quarts. 'This relic hud been fig- 
 ured and described in the "New York Medical 
 and Philosophical Register" for 1812. I have 
 *hus been able to notice only a, few of the an- 
 <;ienfc works, and artistic remains, which the 
 Jlound-builders had left in this County — and 
 which would show in after tim«s some record 
 of their power and their greatness. 
 
 who were all eminent and active patriots iu 
 the lievolutionary struggle, returned and made 
 a permanent settlement at llarpersficld. The 
 County ol Delaware embraces a part of the 
 original Hardenburg Patent, which had been 
 granted in 1708. and which h.id been princi- 
 pally surveyed in the year 1741), by E. VVoos- 
 ter. In 17ii8, John Idarper ami his associatc.s, 
 bought of the Indians, at "Johnson Hall." 
 Montgomery County, a tract of '250,000 acres. 
 Tla« larger portion of this County, or the moct 
 part of the lands it contained, was settled up- 
 on leases ; which is an incongruous element in 
 our Republican system, as it is, in fact, an 
 unhappy relic of the medieval ages. Thisleu- 
 dal system, too, had produced a conflict a few 
 years since within the borders of Delaware 
 Countv, and several other portions of our 
 
 In pursuing our way still farther along the • State, which may be compared to the wars of 
 Susquehanna" Valley, lean del ly only "for a ! the old Parous, who gathering their forces 
 short time in recalling someincidentsconnect- j witiiin their moated strongholds, their castles 
 <;d with the history ot Delaware County, which I with battlement and turret, fought to main- 
 here borders upon the southern side of the! tain the domini.>n over all their bioad lands, 
 i.iver. The first town in the County that I j In the years 1844 and 1845 many of the citi- 
 reach in ;tscending the Susquehanna, which j zens of Delaware County, whenever the civil 
 
 was organised in 1801 under the name of Sid 
 fiey, had been explored at the early period ot 
 1772 l>y Rev. Wm. Johnston, who came and 
 settled vvith his family upon the present site 
 of Sidney Plains in the ensuing year — thus 
 commenciisg the first settlement made in the 
 Susquehanna Valley within the limits of the 
 
 officers undertook to levy for rent, also assem- 
 bled in large numbers, organized into armed 
 bands and acting under conimaiid ofan elect- 
 ed chief, and who in name &c., assumed the 
 character of the Indian-Sachem, for the pur- 
 pose ot resisting the enforcement of these writs. 
 Thi< contest with alternate success and defeat. 
 
 State of New York. It was at this place, c ntinued for some months, between the civil 
 
 within a brief period before the commence 
 ment of the war of the Revolution, that Gen- 
 >Ierkiraer held an interview with Thaj-nsiulan- 
 egea, (the Mohawk Chief Brant.) 
 
 Tiie remains of an Jndiun Fortification, now 
 known as "the Fort-Grounds," which includ- 
 ed some three acres, and was surroumled by a 
 low parapet of earth, and a valura or ditch, 
 are located in this town, near the place where 
 the first settlement by civilized man had been 
 made witliin the Sus(ir.ehanna Valley. A set- 
 tlement was made at llarpersficld, now includ- 
 ed in Delaware County, in 1771, hj' Col. John 
 Harper. The settlement here was destroyed 
 in April. 1780, by a party of Tories and Indians; 
 and during this raid, Capt. Ale.vander Harper, 
 and several other i)ioneer settlors who were 
 with him at the time, were captured ami car- 
 ried to Niagara — while three of his associates 
 were masacreed at once by the Indians, At 
 , Niagara, Capt. Harper met with some icbitives 
 who had been taken prisoners in 1778 at Cher- 
 ry Valley ; and all remained in captivity un- 
 til the triumph of the American cause, and 
 restoration of j)eace in 1788, ell'ccted their re 
 
 ofiicers and the organized parties that boldly 
 resisted the execution of the writs, denying 
 the authority and defying the power of the 
 Sheriff ; in the course of this conflict. Depu- 
 ty Sherilf Steele was killed in the town of An- 
 des ; and the excitement that reigned so in- 
 tensely and supremely in Delaware County, 
 also largely pervaded other sections of the 
 State, and excited an important infiuence at 
 that time in shaping the political history of 
 New Y^)rk• Delaware Countv, was formed, 
 March 10th, 17'.J7. from Ulster and Otsego.— 
 Delhi is the County Seat. 'PSie first Court- 
 House was built about tlie year 1798, which 
 was iilterward destroyed by fire, and another 
 Court-Honse was ciecte<l in 1820 ; the fii'St 
 ('ounty officers were J. PI. Brett, first Judge, 
 P. Lamb. Cr. North, and W. Horton. Judges. 
 At the early perif)d when a portion of the ter- 
 ritory now included in thus County was at- 
 tached to Ulster, the State Con venticm of New 
 York held its session within the limits of tne 
 County as then existing— the Convention Meet- 
 ing at Kingston — and hir- in 1775, framed the 
 earliest State Constitution of New York, and 
 
 lease, and allowed them to rvtiirn, after this j which continued in force with addition of sev- 
 
 hmg and painful absence, to their hoioes. — 
 'J'he early settlement at Harpersfield, however, 
 liad been abandoned consequent to the hos- 
 tile raids in the border- warfare of the Revolu- 
 tion. In 1784, Col. John Harper, with his 
 eons William, Ale.\.indcr, and J';se.p!i Jlur.por, 
 
 er.\l amendments, until 1828. This Constitu- 
 tion enjbiacefl wise and comprehensive |>rinci- 
 ples of Constitutional Law, but it added no 
 new feature to our politio-al system, ftnd gave 
 no new right to the citizens, but it constifuted 
 siiepl y a re-alfirmation of the liburties enjoyt-ti 
 
-28 
 
 HISTOMCAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLET, ETC. 
 
 tpnor to the American lie vote tion, and which 
 iliad previously been asserted in tlie "Great 
 ■Charter," {Mngna Qiarta,) of 1215— in the 
 '■ ■Confirriiatio Chartarum" ofi297 — in the"Statue 
 ofTroiiHons" of lo50— in the "Petition of 
 llitilit" of 1G27 — in the "Mabeas Corpus Act" ot 
 3679 -in the "Bill of Rights" of 1689— of the 
 "Body of Liberties" of 1641- in the "Articles 
 'of Confederation of the united colonies of New- 
 England" of l<')4o— and finally, in the "Dec- 
 laration of Independence" of 1776. This place, 
 Kingston, being the Capitol ot the State at 
 the tinie when !Sir Henry Clinton acquired 
 ]K)Ssession of the parts in the Hudson High- 
 lands, it was marked by the British General 
 l(5r destruction ; and accordingly a squadron 
 of light frigates, containing some ;5,6UO men, 
 was despatched upon this Expedition, and ef- 
 fecting a landing at Kingston Point on the 
 13th of October, 1777, the troops proceeded at 
 once to Kmgston, then containing nearly four 
 thousand inhabitants, and wantonly reduced 
 the village to ashes. Thi-s, and other raids of 
 similar character made in Ulster County, fully 
 aroused its citizens in behalf of the cause of 
 Indeiiendence. Many instructing episodes in 
 the Colonial and llevcjlutionary history of this 
 legion, which bordering upu>^ the noble Sus- 
 quehanna stretches away nntil it becomes lost 
 in the azure h.ize of thedistant Catskill moun- 
 taitis, are elaborately traced in the several 
 volumes of "Collections of the Ulster Histori- 
 ■cal Society," and in other liistorical works. 
 
 I have thus given an outli»e of some of the 
 .more important events whicb had occurred in 
 iMie region bordeiiug upon ihe east bank t)t 
 ^he Susquehanna, and whicb in fact, as the 
 border-warf.ive of the Pievohtiion extended 
 throughout all the country whose annals I have 
 designed to record, is iuseit.irably interwoven 
 with the early history of theChemung Valley. 
 'J'hese events, winch had been cHJicted either 
 in the region Iving east of the Susquehanna 
 river and stretching ;iway towards the waters 
 of the Hudson, or among the hills and vtdleys 
 that border the west bank of the Susquehan- 
 na whose thrilling episodes I now proceed to 
 narrate, together with the story of the expe- 
 dition whoso conquering path led through the 
 '<Jhemung and Seneca lake valleys .in. 1779, all 
 belong to a single Act coniiected it«.ith the 
 ijreat Drama of the llevoluliouary strug;gle- 
 and cannot be separated; or rather, a smgle 
 scene — and which cannot be obscured, or ob- 
 literated without injuring or destroying the 
 whole. I have previously made allusion to the 
 interesting reminiscences connected with Oqua- 
 go, the ancient capitol of the Mohawk In- 
 iiiansyaiid have also traced tlie early aiifflals 
 ot otlier pl;K.-es m the Susquehanna Valley 
 witlian tide present limits, of Tioga, iKroome 
 iin<l Clienango counties. 
 
 Unadilla, which is situated upon the Sus- 
 guelianna in the southern partot Otsego coun- 
 ty — tiie iJnatiiilu viv-w lorming its weelern 
 
 iioundary — had held an important place in our 
 Revolutionary history. Several families had 
 located in this town prior to the Revolution, 
 these pioneer settlements th«n forming the 
 fartherest advances in the westward progress 
 of civilization. Among the most cherished 
 and hallowed recollections of the writer of 
 this sketch are those, whkh wandering back 
 to the fairy realm of childhood's reminiscen- 
 ces, cling around the name of Unadilla — and 
 are associated with the border legends of Ot- 
 sego. Most indelibly impressed in memory, 
 the writer often recalls to mind those pleasant 
 evenings in his earliest childhood when he 
 would sit by the blazing fire-side, and listen 
 to the wonderous stories which his grandpa- 
 rent, who had been among the early settlers 
 of Unadilla, related of the hurdy adventures, 
 and the daring achievements which character- 
 ized the first settlecjent, particularly during 
 jieiiod of the border warf.ire with the Indians, 
 in the region of Otsego; and the breathless 
 interest to which I had then, between the age 
 of three and six years, listened to those stir- 
 ring legends of the past, has ever held its in- 
 fluence, fresh and glowing, and retained its 
 impression, upon the deepest and most sacred 
 tablets of my memory. Tteis has been, indeed, 
 one of the strongest inclinatif)ns which pre- 
 vailed in inducing me to wander over this 
 rnetnorable ground for the purpose of retracing 
 its scenes of historic interest. The narrator of 
 these tales of the border, Mr. Willard Cheney, 
 had l)een actively engaged in the early French 
 and Indian wars, as also in the Revolution, 
 and he was conversant with the incidents 
 which still throw an absorbing interest around 
 the early history of Tryon county. 
 
 I had learned from tlao reminiscences thus 
 related to me in early days of childhood, that 
 Unadilla had been first settled about the pe- 
 riod of the last Erench and Indian war, or 
 sor)n after its close, by eeuigrants from Salem, 
 (now within the limits of Washington coun- 
 ty); some time afterward Gen. Maitin, Mr. 
 Beach, &c , made settlement at this place, Jlr. 
 S. Crooker, (father of Hon. Geo. A. S. Crock- 
 er, previously referred to in this sketch) some 
 years subse(iuent to the Revolutionary war 
 removed to this town, and built the first grist 
 mill here, and in connection with the mill 
 constructed a dam across the Susquehanna 
 river, which causing much inconvenience to 
 the settlers residing in the valley above, they 
 rallied in considerale excitement and forcibly 
 removed the Aaxw. It was also related, among 
 snany other incidents told in respect to pioneer 
 history ol the region of the Susquehanna, 
 that the earliest settler in Otsego countj', 
 soon after he had selected his home in the 
 wilderness, and had only just began to clear 
 away the primitive forest and to teach the 
 virgin soil to yield its fruits, and having failed 
 to store sufiicient provisions for the winter 
 which provctl lo be of unusual iuelcmeacy, 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALI.ET, ETC. 
 
 2^ 
 
 and a great depth of kdow bad filled and com- 
 pletely obstructed the path to the nearest set- 
 tlements on the Mohawk river, a lingenng 
 death by starvation seemed unavoidable, when 
 » friendly Indian who had traversed the wastes 
 of snow by means of 8now-sh>)eR, providen- 
 tially eame to the house of the suffering pion- 
 eer, and upon learning his painful situation, 
 
 New York. The historian of the adventures 
 of De Soto relates, that as the Spanish con- 
 queror was conducting an expedition into the 
 interior of America, far nortli of the Floridas, 
 they had reacfecd a place, in the reighbnr- 
 hood of a beautiful Lake, and this locality 
 posessed a very cold climate. This was called 
 by the natives Haquechania, which has been 
 
 at once went to the settlement on the Mo- supposed to have same meaninsr, or apply to 
 hawk and obtained provisions, which, carry- some place as the Susquehanna, (as these 
 in« upcm his shoulders, he returned across the words, spoken in the Indian dialect, would 
 
 drifted snows to the abode of the famishin 
 settler, and in this manner repeatedly supplied 
 throughout the long and dreary winter the 
 family of the Pioneer with provisions— and 
 thus this untutored child of nature. 
 
 "Unknown t& fortune and tofanic," 
 
 by these acts of noble-and generous friendship, 
 and I may truly add, of Christian heroism, was 
 instrumental in preserving the lives of the 
 earliest inhabitants in Otsego County. The 
 wild legends, which had thrilled my nerves 
 ■with their recital, connected with the tcrrilile 
 Indian raids at Cherry Valley and other ex- 
 posed settlements of the border, which were 
 instigated and led by Brant, I remember we i 
 ■were also told in the days of "long ago,"' 
 within that little, wood-colored, and vine-em- 
 bowered cottage, which stood near the waters 
 of the dark and gloomy Conewango, and to my 
 childish fancy tliese border-scenes comprised 
 about all the history of the world. In return- 
 ing to gather reminiscences of Otsego. I feel 
 something of the pleasure which tbrills the 
 ■wanderer's bosoin as his eye again meets the 
 long lost, but once familiar and deeply loved 
 scenes of his childhood. The principal narator 
 of these stiring events, who thus taaght my 
 earliest lessons in history. Mr. Willi;ud Che- 
 ney, was well aG<:juainted with Gen. Herkimer 
 and w-ith Gen. Schviyler, and spoke of both of 
 these officers in terais of warmest commenila 
 tion and praise. This early resident amid the 
 wilds of Otsego, Mr. Williard Cheney, re- 
 moved to Chautauqua County in 1816, where 
 lie assisted in forming the pioneer settlement 
 in the town among whose wildwoods he had 
 selected his home in the evening of life- his 
 decease occurring in 184-1 ; and I may add. 
 that he traced the history of his ancestry in 
 this country back to« the landing of the May- 
 Jlotrer. Many episodes in his personal history, 
 though of strange intcreoS ia themselves, but 
 not intei linked in tlie chain of historic events 
 of public character which had transpired in 
 Otsego, then Tryon County, I shall omit to 
 mention— only narrating events of general in- 
 terest. 
 
 The idea has been entertained by several 
 scholars, and learned historical writers, that 
 the renowned Spanish Navigator, De Soto, 
 whom it is claimed had made discovery of the 
 Floridas in the early part of the sixteentli cen- 
 tury, had also mudo; an excursion into Central 
 
 sound very nearly alike) — and that, DeSoto, 
 about the year 1580. had actually explored the- 
 region of the Susquehanna. This suggestion,, 
 liowever, rests upon much too uncertain foun- 
 dation, is much too vague, to be admitted as 
 an historical fact.- 
 
 In the year 1701, the Unadilla river (or as 
 it was then designated, Tienaderha,) was visi- 
 ted by Capt. J. Blurkerand Mr. D. Schuyler, 
 while these gentlemen were pursuing a jour- 
 ney to "Onondat;a" for the purpose of arrang- 
 ing, in behalf of the Commissioners at Alba- 
 ny, an important negotiation with the five 
 Nations ; and the account of their visit to the 
 region of the Unadi'ttv, is given in their "Jour- 
 nal," and is included, in pages 889, 890, vol. 
 IVth, "Colonial History of New York." I 
 find no other authentic records relating to the 
 region of the Unadilla for a long period subse- 
 quently. In Octoner, 1768,. at a Treaty held 
 with theSi.x Natioiis, at Fort Stanwis, a tract 
 of 100,000 acres o? land, lying between the 
 Unadilla river and- Otsego Ijake was i urchased 
 of the Indians. This purchase was efitected by 
 Coi. Geo. Crogart, and for the extensive tract 
 of land he obtained a Patent in the succeeding; 
 year 1769, when he akso secured in additiou. 
 18,000 acres situated in Cherry Valley. Col. 
 Crogan was a native of Ireland. He had emi- 
 grated to America, ami first settled at Penns- 
 boro' on the Susquehanna river in Pennsyl- 
 vania. About the year 1746, he was engaged 
 as a trader among the Inilians, and in this ca- 
 pacity traversed tlie shores of Lake Erie, now 
 included in the State of Ohio ; he was com- 
 missioned as Captain in Bradock-'s Expeditioiv 
 of 1755, and in the year 1756 lie repaired to 
 Sir. W. Johnson, whom he accompanied U> 
 Onondaga, and in same year Col. Crogan re- ' 
 ceived appointment as Deputy Indian Agent. 
 (See "Penn. Archieves," vol. 1,742, "Penn 
 Col. Bseoids" V. liJy, "Archieves" 11,689, 
 etc., ete. ,) 
 
 At this Treaty, the Indiana liad made the 
 propo.sal that the Unadilla river should form 
 a portion of the boundary line to be estab- 
 lished between the English and the Indians. 
 'I'liis line was ratified in th^'lreaty then con- 
 cluded, and is marked liy a red line in the 
 Map drawn by Guy Johnson, a copy of whicl> 
 is included in Villth Vol. of "Colonial Docu- 
 i&ents." 
 
 In .June. 1777, Brant, who had during some 
 montbf> previous reiiuviaed with a large party 
 
24 
 
 HISTORICAL RKKTCH OF THK CnEMUNtf VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 <jf Iiwiiiiny :it Oi|iiiie:o, catne to Unadill;v, ;ind 
 Kent a int-sHiiffe expretisiiigf his wish to see the 
 Rev. Wm. Johrihtori. (who several years be- 
 fore had succeeded in establishing a tloiirish- 
 ing settlement upon the east side of the Sus- 
 quehanna.) and other prominent patriots of 
 that section ; and, tipon their arrival, the Mo- 
 hawk Chief very cooly informed them that the 
 Indians were in need of provisions, and if they 
 were not furnislied by consent of the inhabi- 
 tants, the Indian party under his comm nO, 
 .some 80 warriors, should take th? requisite 
 Htnount by force. The early Pioneers of tlie 
 Unadilla Country then brought in some pro- 
 visions, and Brant, with his party, after re- 
 maining two days at this place, returned, tak- 
 ing along with them cattle, sheep, provraous, 
 &c. The inhabitants of this region, vrho had 
 ♦^spoused tlie cause of Independence, at once 
 removed with their families to places which 
 were considered !Uore secure Irom lodian at- 
 tacks. In July. Gt'.n. Herkimer, having 
 learned of this incursion of Brant and his fol- 
 lowers, marched with a force of 380 Militia to 
 Unadilla. The American General was met at 
 this place by Brant at the head of ISO war- 
 riors. At this meeting, lirant recounted the 
 grievani.'es of which the Indian.s complained 
 against the Americans, and expressed substan- 
 tially his determination to act with the adhe- 
 rents of the British King in the war which was 
 then being waged against the patiiot.s. One 
 of Gen. Herkimer's men. (Jol. Cox, then re- 
 marked, that if such was the purpose of the 
 Iroquois, nothing further could lie ai ranged. 
 The willy Moliavvk Chief then addie.S8-ed a tew 
 words to his warriors, and immediately they 
 raised a loud shout, and ran to their camp, 
 ■where, seizing their arms, a number of volleys 
 were fired, and they then gave the territic In- 
 dian War-Whoop, and again repaired to tlie 
 place where Brant and the American General 
 liad been holding their conference. Gen. 
 Herkimer now said to the Indian Chief that 
 the Americans h.id not come for the purpose 
 of lighting. Brant, v,'ho.-<e objectin producing 
 the threatening movement by his followers 
 had doubtitj.ss been to iriiimidate the Ameri- 
 can party, gave the signal for the Indians to 
 be quiet, but assuming a hostile attitude him- 
 self, he then demandeil of the American Gen- 
 eral acquiescence in several matters, which 
 Gen. Herkimer was willing to .allow iqion con- 
 dition tluit the Indians should not harbor the 
 tories and de-^erters, that sneh person should 
 lie surrendered to the Ameiicans. Brant re- 
 fused to accede to this proposition, and said 
 that he would go to Oswego and join Butler. 
 Gen. Herkimer ha(i snflieient force to have 
 attacked and completely defeated the party 
 niiuer command of Brant, but the American 
 General jippeii.rs to havccntertaineil .some hope 
 that the Iroquois might be induced, at scmie 
 future time, to relinquish their intention of 
 joining tlic Biitish in prosecuting this war. — 
 
 This conference at Unadilla, nevertheless, ap- 
 pears to be the latest one held with any of the 
 tribes of the Iroquois in which the attempt; 
 was made to induce the Indians to espouse the 
 cause, or to remain on terms of peace with the 
 Americans —except the successful effc^rt in the 
 Councils of the Oneidas. The fearful contest 
 came; the Indians carried their own cruel, re- 
 lentless mode of w;irfrre to the- tire-sitie, and' 
 to the homes of all the settlers along the bor- 
 der ; and, in turn, the proud warriors of the- 
 Six Nations were driven from the soil which 
 had once been their own, onTv retaining as 
 tl)eir inheritance small and remote districts- 
 wliere the ancient wildwoods still overshad- 
 owed the waters of some raurmnring stream — 
 and soon the name or existence of these In- 
 dian lleservatious within our State became 
 scarcely known. In these retired locations, 
 where the Indian yet gathers around the (ires 
 kindled in the shade of their native forests, 
 the writer of this sketch has sojourned for 
 many days while upon a single excursion, and 
 there listened to the story of their own event- 
 lul history as related by these children of the 
 wilderness. The ntrepid Gen. Herkimer, who 
 held this conference with Thyendanagca, 
 (Brant) at Un.adilla, was soon called to anoth- 
 er part of this interesting field of border-strife; 
 and here in the lapse of only a (ew days, he 
 closed his biilliant not iess than glorious mili- 
 tary career, after saving by his bravery and 
 skill his own army from destruction, and 
 wresting victory from the arms of imminenfe 
 defeat, thus gathering the halo of surpassing 
 and immortal glory around the latest scene* 
 of an eventlnl and patriotic li(e, he tranquilly 
 obeyed the summons which called hiin to ful- 
 fi 1 the loftier duties of another world. In the- 
 last days of July, 1777, at the time Burgoyne 
 was miking an invasion, with his large and 
 well appointed army, into our country fron% 
 the Norm, St. Leger in command of a torce of 
 regulars, and accompanied by a park of artil- 
 lery, together with liands of the Iroijnois un- 
 der the leadership of Brant, including some 
 1700 men in all, also left Oswego, and with 
 thisformidablearray wasra|)id y marching from 
 the west to invade the Valley of the Moiiawk. 
 Tlie allied British, and Indian force arrived at 
 Fort Stanwix, (or Scbuvler) on tlie 3d of Au- 
 gust, and invested this fortress, then in a ru- 
 inous condition, and deieiuled only by 700' 
 troops, poorly supplied witii ammunition, but 
 ccmmanded liy the brave and skillful veteran 
 officer. Col. Gansevoort, who had heroically 
 determined, with the fullest concu:rence of his 
 men, to defend the Fort at all hazurds, and to 
 the last extremity. General Herkimer, upon 
 approach of tliis Jiostile army which threat- 
 ened to desolate that entire region with tire, 
 and with sword, at once issued a patriotic 
 proclauiation summoning the militia nf the 
 country to arms, and three regiments of the 
 hardy yeomanry nobly respondtng to this call. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUXG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 25 
 
 promptiy rallied around Geii. Herkimer. J'he 
 Biet(« of Fort Schuyler luid only progressed 
 some three days, when Gen. Herkimer com- 
 mencedhis march to reli»ive the brave defend- 
 ers of this important pusition ; and he had 
 reached the Oriskany Valley on the morning 
 of the (ith of August, and after trussing the 
 creek; the path led through low grounds, 
 bordered on either side by a dense and heavy 
 forest, and the van-gnard of our army had 
 scarcely began to ascend the elevated plateau 
 beyond this pass, entirely unsuspicious of 
 danger, when a terrific fire was rolled upon 
 the advancing columns from every side, where 
 amid the heavy growth of tiees and siirubbery 
 the Indians and Tories lay in ambush ; and 
 tiien giving the terrible war-whoop the Iro- 
 quois rushed with uplifted tomahawks upon 
 the ranks of our array, which for a lirae were 
 broken and paralyzed with dismay, while our 
 men were falling arouml. Gen. lleikiuier was 
 severely wounded, and fell from his horse, in 
 the early part of the action, but he had the 
 saddle taken from the horse and placed in the 
 midst ol tne battle-field, and supporting him- 
 self in it then issued his orders with calmness, 
 lirmneas and skill, and his men so(jn rallied to 
 the fearful encounter, springing like tigers to 
 the (ieadly contest — the partriuts lighting 
 hand to hand with the savages anl tories, fre- 
 cjuently both falling together, grapling in fa- 
 tal embrace, with the knifes of each sheathed 
 in the other's bosom, while Brant rangetl like 
 some evil Demon over that field, encouraging 
 his followers in the desperate struggle. In this 
 manner the battle continued some forty-five 
 minutes — in the meanwhile Gen. iierkimer 
 evinced a composure which remained undis- 
 turbed in the thickest ol the light, as in, in- 
 stance, he took his tobacco- l)ox from his 
 pocket, and striking a tinder lit his pipe, and 
 calmly continued to smoke, while he directed 
 the movements of our men, at the same time 
 the bullets and tomahawks of the enemy were 
 flying around and near him in every direction' 
 As soon as-the skillful orders of the intrepid 
 Herkimer could be fully carried into effect, 
 the American A. my began to regain the 
 ground lost in the first surprise, our soldiers 
 commenced forming and figliting in small cir- 
 cles. The savages had been accustomed upi.n 
 seeing a soldier discharge his gun totlien rush 
 forvvar<l and tomahawk him, but this In<lian 
 artilice was turned to our own advaiit^ige on 
 t/i('s held, liy having iu'o of our patriut-soMiers 
 placed behind a tree, and when one had tired, 
 the approaching savage was killed by the bul- 
 Ijt sent with unci ring aim of the other pa- 
 triot. The allied British anl Indians, under 
 lead of Butler and Br mt, were fast losing thi- 
 fiercely contested field, and in turn wavered 
 before the incesant hre, and the duing move- 
 ments ot the American Militia, who, encour- 
 aged and reassured by the unequ iled firm- 
 ness and heroism of Geu. Herkimer, now 
 
 fought with the determined bravery of vete- 
 rans, and resulting from the able and effective 
 strategical movements directed by the Amer- 
 ican General, and the promptitude and cour- 
 age with which these skillful orders were exe- 
 cuted by our troops, the ranks of the enemy, 
 now driven from cover, were giving away, 
 when another iletachment of Tories arrived to 
 reenforce the British party, and the deadly 
 struggle was again commenced with increased 
 vigor. The opposing comb.itants sprang at 
 each other with rage and relentless tury, and 
 the entire battle field appeared like some 
 scene in the fabled realms of Hades; bayonets 
 were crossed in the simultaneous charge of the 
 contending parties, they met and fought with 
 bayonet thrust, and with clubed-musket strik- 
 ing down their antagonist in the death en- 
 counter, whilst the spear, the tomahawlt and 
 the scalping-knife nil were used whenever 
 they could drink the blood of our patriot sol- 
 diers throughout all that battlefield. A diver- 
 sion was now made which brought this despe- 
 rate, doubtful contest at once to a favorable 
 termination — achieving success much sooner 
 than it could otherwise have been accom- 
 plished. G-en Herkimer had sent a scout to 
 the American garrison at Fort Schuyler with 
 intelligence of his critical position— reverbera- 
 tions of musketry during the battle had too 
 been heard at the Fort— and Col Willet, a 
 gallant and efficient officer, immediately vol- 
 unteered, accompanied by 250 men, to make a 
 sortie to relieve the brave army which had 
 thus encountered the common enemy while 
 marching to the aid of the garrison who had 
 continued to defer. 1 the fort with unyielding 
 fortitude. Col. Willet reaching the field of 
 contest made an impetuousi- attack upon tho 
 Iroquois. The enemy, now assailed by the uni- 
 ted American force, wore compelled to yield 
 the ground, and Brant gave the despliiring 
 signal of retreat, "Onah ! -'Onah 1" Thus ter- 
 minated the most severely contested battle, 
 the most desperate and bloo«ly contest in pro-' 
 portion to the numbers engaged in the com- 
 bat, of any which occurred throughout the 
 Revolution. The struggle continued for the 
 space of six hours ; the Iroquois left a hun- 
 dred fallen warriors, including in the number 
 several Chiefs of the Senecas, upon the field 
 of battle ; the Americans remained the full 
 and undisturbed masters of the field. Govern- 
 eur Morris, Esq , in an able address delivered 
 liefore the "New York Hi.-torical Society" re- 
 marked instances of individual heroisn^ that 
 had been shown during the progress of the 
 battle which would tiave added a halo to the 
 proudest pages of the Iliad. I may add. that 
 incidents occurred in this combat — ,as the un- 
 paralelled heroism of the commanding Gene- 
 pal — which would have reflected honor upon 
 the most glorious period in Grecian or in Ro- 
 man history. Never had an army been led 
 into an ambuscade more dangerous or com- 
 
26 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNO VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 plote — never had a surprise thrown an army 
 into greater dismay and conlusion, and it was 
 only through the intrepid firmness, the brave- 
 ry, and the strategical abilit) that Gen. Herk- 
 imer, although 80 painfully wounded, brought 
 to the contest in this fearful emergency, that 
 instead of meeting with defeat, onr arms here 
 achieved a real and substantial victory. We 
 cannot indeed, properly estimate the import- 
 aoce which this triumph sustained in deciding 
 the great conflict of the Kevo'ution, or how 
 much it had contributed to our final .success. 
 It will be remembered, that Gen. Burgoyne 
 was then marching with a largearniy through 
 our land, and which was designed to co-ope- 
 rate with the allied British and Indian force 
 that had been sent to sweep with unspairi ig 
 power the Mohawk Valley, and the repulse 
 and discomporture which they so unexpectedly 
 sustained in the battle of Oiiskany, togtther 
 with the failure to overthrow or compel tho 
 capulation of Fort Schuyler, were the liist re- 
 Terses that the invading British armies harl 
 encountered. The bravery and endurance that 
 the patriot American soldiery displayed at 
 Oriskany and at Fort Schuyler every wheie 
 arroused their countrymen from despcmdency, 
 and inspired them with the nobliest t-mula- 
 tion ; the substantial victories acquired at 
 Oriskany and Fort Schuyler were the tii-st that 
 greeted the American cause in resisting the 
 powerful and alarnsing invasion o( 1777, and 
 became the pressage to the brilliant stMJes of 
 triumphs which culminated in the eiil'ulgent 
 glory that ere long had gathered around the 
 immortal field of Saratoga. The sei^e of Fort 
 Stanwix, (or Schuyler) was abandoned on the 
 22d of August. I have dwelt at some length 
 en the history of Gen. Herkimer's march, in 
 command of the Regiments of Tryon County 
 Militia, for the purpose of relieving Fort 
 Schuyler, and in regard to the battle ot Oiis- 
 dany, because these movements were msule 
 for the defense of the region bordering along 
 the Susquehanna, and the men coin))osing the 
 patriot army enga^jed in the battle weie prin- 
 cipally residents of the region, now embraced 
 in Delaware, Ulster and Otsego Counties, 
 whose annals it has been my purpose to trace 
 — and all thisretr:ion. in tlie number of killed 
 and wounded officers and men which were 
 sacrificed to the cause oflilierty in these nie- 
 moriahle combats, beinjr largely repieser\ted. 
 
 General Herkimer— after iie had thus met 
 and defeated Brant, with his allies, at Oriska- 
 ny, and remained undisputed master of the 
 battle field — was home upon a litter to kis 
 own rAidence. (a large brick mansion, erected 
 in 1764, and situated near the present village 
 of Little Fali.^;* but tlie wouml received in 
 the action upon the Gth. did not give indica- 
 tion of recovery, and nine d.iys subsequent to 
 the battle an onputation of the wouiide'' llmli 
 was per owned, but the RurgiGal o; era ion 
 had been so unsciUful that it caused a pioiuse 
 
 flow of blojd, and which the surgeons did not 
 succeed in fully stanching. Gen. Herkimer 
 now became aware that the hour which should 
 be to him "the last on earth" had come, but 
 he continued to repose upon his bed, calm and 
 cheerful, and conversing with bi,!> friends and 
 family in his usual pleasant maaner, and with 
 serene conxposure ; and then calling for the 
 Bible, the inspired andi sacred word of God, 
 the dying bero and patriot read a chapter in 
 that blessed and only truly infallible volume 
 ever given to mankind for their instructioa 
 and happiness— and then, looking with peni- 
 tence to the S.vvioii for the forgiveness and 
 remission of his sins, this christian bero calm- 
 ly fell asleep in the arms of detith — to awake. 
 as we will trust, amid that blessed num- 
 ber, the redeemed of earth, who shall enter 
 upon that higlier Life, where the spirit will 
 forever continue to expand in the communion 
 it will then hold \yith the all-pervading and 
 supreme l>i5AtJTT of the Better-Land. In hi.s 
 life, and. in the triumph of his death, we are 
 afforded another eminent example of tlie pow- 
 er of the Christian Religion to impress and to iur 
 spire the heart of mim with the principles o6 
 goodness and moral-truth, to awaken its de- 
 votion and entire consecration to holiiufss, 
 and to give triumphant composnrein the liour 
 of the soul's departure fromi earth; adding 
 another to the list of truly great men who 
 have hurality searched the Gospel of Jesus, 
 and who devoutly relying, with sincere faith, 
 upon Divijae Grace, have found sustenance and' 
 strength to accept the pure and holy precepts, 
 of the Scriptures as the only guide of life, and 
 have too found hope and consolation in the 
 piomiscs of our Divine Saviour;. and as the il- 
 lusions of the world were t ding away, have 
 calmly looked beyond the grave in blissful 
 anticipation, of ihat glorious immortality 
 which the huiiilile believer, the pure in heart, 
 will there receive throi gh tlie i.li-atloiieing 
 merit ot Divii>e Redemption. 
 
 Gen, Herkimer hid died upon. the evening 
 of August 166fa. 1177, at the age of about six- 
 ty five years. His lemains were interred in, 
 the family bnrial-ground, which occupies a 
 knoll a few rods distant from, the mansion. — 
 The Continental Congress, soon after decease- 
 oi Gen. Herkimer, had passed a resolution ex- 
 pressing in terms of grateful admiriition their 
 appreciation of his eminent sain'ices to our 
 country, and authorizing a Monument to be 
 erecteil over his grave; but this resolution has. 
 never lieen carried into effect. Until the year 
 of 1847 the stranger might have searched in 
 viin for the resting place of this- patriotic and' 
 gallant soldier — the heroic and lamented mar- 
 tyr to the cause of American Independence. — ■ 
 A plain marble stone, simply inscribed with 
 the name of the brave soldier, has since beeni 
 erected over the consecrated spot where his. 
 grave had been made ; although the place 
 where the remains of this noble and erainen 4 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUXG VALLEY, t-'" 
 
 St 
 
 man repose nas been permitted to pass into 
 neglect, secluded and almost unknown. The 
 Legislature of the State of New York would 
 only discharge a debt which has long been 
 justly due to the illustrious services of Gen. 
 Herkimer — who had laid down his life in de- 
 fense of the State — by rearing above his grave 
 un enduring obelisk, and thus in marble and 
 in bronze, perpetuate to the latest* times the 
 record of his patriotism, of his heroism, and of 
 his greatness — ''exUtictus uniabitur idem;" and if 
 our State again should be mvaded by a foreign 
 foe, or be assailed by treason, and disaster and 
 peril come, thtn would the sculptured form of 
 the illustrious patriot and hero descend from 
 the' pedestal wh«re it had been placed by a 
 grateful posterity, to rally and to lead in the 
 paths of victory ! 
 
 The remains of an ancient Indian fortifica- 
 tion had once existed iu the town of Unadilla, 
 within the low grouads near the Unadilla riv- 
 ■cv; but, for a number of years, all traces of 
 this extensive earthwork have been oblitera- 
 ted, every vestageof it disappearing from view. 
 
 A settlement had been made on the Susque- 
 hanna river, in the present town of Milford, 
 •whicli was formed from Unadilla in 1796, by a 
 Mr. Carr about the year of 1770, but in conse- 
 '<iuence of Indian hostilities that was unceas- 
 ingly waged aganist the frontier settlers dur- 
 ing the Revolution, any material effort to 
 maintain or make permanKit addition to this 
 early settlement vvas^»l)andoned until after the 
 <:lose of the war. In 1783, a Mr. Cully and 
 Mr. Mulford settled wiljiin this town, and in 
 the succeeding year a Mr. Ford, and two fam- 
 ilies by the name of Beals, all from Massachu- 
 jsetts, also came and made settlement near the 
 present village of Milfoi'd. 
 
 In a conference held by Sachems of the On- 
 ondagas and Cayugas Indians with the Magis- 
 trate of Albany, in 1G83, the (joiefs gave a 
 flescription of the Susquehanna riyer. and also 
 stateil that Commissioners of Gov. Penn had 
 propo.sed to raaifce purchase of'tjjat country — 
 but, the Sachems mentioned 'that they luxd 
 previously given this territory tiaCorlaer, (the 
 •Gov. Gen'l.) and they now wisbnfid to confirm 
 the grant to Corlaer, or his representatives.- - 
 This paper making the grant, hnd signed by 
 ■the Sachems of the Cayugas and' Onondagas, 
 bears date '"2(3 -Sept. 1683." ifta conference 
 ibeld between Sir. W. Johnson .«nd the Sach- 
 .«ms of the six nations and th« Delawares, at 
 •Johnson Hall, and which continued from the 
 29th ot April to the 22nd of May, 1765, Sir. 
 W. Johnson attempted to spqure farther, or 
 more definite cessions of lands 'on the Susque- 
 hatma— but was in a great measure unsucess- 
 fal. Tiie oliject of Sir. \V. Johnson, in secur- 
 ing a favorable boundary bet'ween the English 
 and Indians, however, was tujly attained in 
 the Treaty held with the six nations, etc., at 
 !Fort Stanwix, in 1768, and',whicL has l)een 
 ajreviously refered to in thii:iketoh. 
 
 A settlement had been formed near the head 
 waters of the eastern branch of the Susquehan- 
 na at an early perfod. In the year of 1738, a 
 Patent had been granted by the Lieut. Gov- 
 ernor of New York, with consent of the Coun- 
 cil, to John Lindesay, T. Roseboom, L. Gan- 
 sevort, and S. Van Shaick, for a tract of 8000 
 acres of land mostly situated in a wild, pictur- 
 esque valley, which was aftei-ward named, on 
 accoi/it of the wild cherry trees which were 
 growing there in great Insurance, Cherry Val- 
 lej'. This rural valley, in its entire extent, is 
 about a mile in width and sixteen miles in 
 length; the creek which rises in thg uppec 
 portion of the valley, and flows along its de- 
 lightful meanderings, forms the head-waters 
 of the majestic Susquehanna ; while upon the 
 opposite side of the ridge, or elevated lands- 
 bordering this valley upon the north and th« 
 east, the tributary streams of the Mohawk 
 take their rise. From this elevated ridge of 
 land, wljose outline here and there is graceful- 
 ly broken by romantic glen and rural glade, a 
 lovely and beautiful view stretches away bo- 
 fore our delighted gaae neaily a hundred 
 miles in extent, embracing the wide expanse 
 of the Mohawk Valley, while far to the north 
 east are seen the dim and hazy outlines of thy 
 Green Mountains, as their loftiest elevations 
 seem to blen(i with the distant horizon; whilw 
 the highlands bordering this valley upon the 
 east constitutes the first range in the wild, and 
 romantic chain of the Catskill Mountains, 
 which in their unequaled grandeur and sub- 
 limity, extend from this point many miles in 
 a south-east direction, until the shadows re 
 fleeted from these majestic ranges give a mor« 
 georgeons beauty to the twilight which en- 
 wraps with its loveliness the waters of the ira ■ 
 perial Hudson; and only a few miles distant, 
 just beyond the hills which guard the entrance 
 of the valley upon the west, slumber the beau- 
 tiful Schuyler and Otsego Lakes— fairy sheets of 
 water, which with their wild surrounding see 
 nery, seem indeed as if they had been brought 
 from Eden land, and placed here, by soma 
 God of olden mythe. In the early part of th» 
 succeeding year, 1739, Mr. Lindesay, having 
 obtained full title to this tract of land from 
 the other patentees, procured its survey into 
 lots, and in the course of the summer removed 
 with his family from New York, and settled 
 amid the wildwoods of the new. and romantit* 
 country which he had selected for his future 
 home. Mr. Lindesay orignally came from 
 Scotland, and was a gentleman of some die 
 tinction and fortune. While in New York ha 
 had met with the Rev. Samuel Dunlap, and 
 induced that gentleman to visit his patent, 
 and being much pleased with it, he came to 
 the conclusion also to make his residence here. 
 In 1741, David Ramsey, William Campbell, 
 and a number other persons, with their fami 
 lies, removed from Londonderry, N. H., and 
 purchased farms within the new settlement at 
 
,^0 
 
 HISTORTCAt SKt5TCH OF THE CHEMUKG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 M- WIS letnrninp;, with her other children,. on 
 the llith, under escort of the party of Anieri- 
 cins from the Fort, she saw this daughter 
 whirh h:ii1 been separated from her on the day 
 previous in a field near by. 'J'lie chikl, wheri 
 slu; saw the soKliers belontring to the party, 
 and who were wearing; blankets around their 
 shoulders, supposed them to be Indians, and 
 the aicain fled to tlie forest— but was rapiiUy 
 pursued liy several soldiers of the party, and 
 ■was overtaken and broiigiifc back, and restored 
 to the joyous embrace ot her mothej- and the 
 loved ones of tiie family. The Indians cap- 
 tured, and retained as prisoners at the time, 
 between thirty and forty of the inhabitants ol 
 ■Cherry Valley; an uncertain fate awaited these 
 ■captives — throui^h the nitiht, which was 
 stormy and dark, after the sava^^es commenced 
 tlieir return, these prisoneis, rainy of whom 
 were almost entirely destitute of a,ppavel, were 
 gatiiered around the tires which the Indians 
 had kindled in the midst of the wildwoods 
 where their camp was made, as ilhe bril- 
 Uant liglit of the flames were blended in fairy 
 like, tautustic way with the mysterious, ghjomy 
 ishadows of the forest, while the bands of rude 
 .Indian warriors were formed into more distant 
 ■groups — ^the v.diole presenting a scene of ro- 
 ituiintic, wield interest, whose gloomy, but ar- 
 tistic associations can not be called into exist- 
 suroe by any effort of the-iuaagination, but only 
 recalie'i by ^ira whose laemory is conversant 
 ■wiih similar encampnaents of the Indian with- 
 in our wiiiJwoods. The prisoners did not, 
 could not sleep through that gloomy night. 
 -On the morning of tlie second day after their 
 capture, an Indian Council was held, and it 
 was then determined to send back the Lirger 
 j)ortion of the women and children who harl 
 been taken prisoners. The Indians kept, how- 
 ever, Mrs. Campbell, and also a Mrs. Moore, 
 together with tlieir cliildren, as captives; and 
 they at once passed down the Busquehanna, 
 then along the Tioga river, thence across to 
 the head of Keneca Lake, and along the east 
 shore of this lake to K madaseage. (an Indian 
 ■Castle a few miles from the present town of 
 Geneva.) Mrs. Campbell, and her children, 
 (the mother of Mrs. Campbell, the aged Mrs. 
 Cameron, who was an incumbrance in travel- 
 ing to the Indians, was killed by a savage 
 with a blow of his tomakawk,) were tak«n by 
 the Indians into western New York, and there 
 kept as prisoners by one of the Tribes for a 
 number of months— although the members of 
 tlie family during this time were separated 
 tiiwin each other— in the ensuing season, 17- 
 79, Mrs. Campbell was taken by her cap- 
 ton* to Niagara, when she was restored to her 
 {Children, with the exception of one son, James 
 S. Campbell. In June 1780, Mrs. Campbell 
 was sent to Montreal— here she found her mis- 
 sing iion, who had been kept by the Canyhna- 
 gas, a branch of the Mohawk tribe. This boy 
 swa^ cow ijcvon yearfi .old— iind during his cap- 
 
 tivity among the Indians he had entirely for- 
 gotten the English language, and in the mean- 
 wliiie had learned tiie language of the JIo- 
 hawks. and in this dialect expressed his hap- 
 piness iu again meeting his mother, from 
 whom he had been separated since they were 
 taken prisoners by the Indians at Cher- 
 ry Valley. Negotiations for some time had 
 been pending to effect an exchange of prison- 
 ers -fl»e American authoiities to release seve- 
 ral prisoners of distinction upon condition that 
 Mrs. Campbell, etc., should be given up. or 
 returned — and, in accordance with this ar- 
 rangement, Mrs Campbell, and other pris- 
 oners, were gent to Crown, Point, and in a 
 short time arrived safely at Albany. Here 
 Mrs. Campbell was joined by her husband. 
 Col S. Campbell, after an absence of two years 
 — and the whole family were reunited- They 
 did not return, however to Cherry Valley, un- 
 til the spring of 1784; they arrived at the 
 once delightful, and still jiictuiesque valley 
 which had long been their home, only to find 
 the ruins ot their former prosperity, and the 
 m.-irks yet remaining of the devastation which 
 had swept this lovely region iu the autumn 
 days of 1778. Mrs. Campbell had lived to 
 1 each the age of . ninety three years— her de- 
 cease occurring in 1836. She w is the last sur- 
 vivor among the women of the Revolution, 
 residing in the section near the head waters 
 of the Susquehanna. The son who had so 
 long been separated from Mrs. Cainjiliell, dur- 
 ing the painful Indian captivity and had been 
 restored to her at Montreal, has since been 
 very /avorabfy known thrtnighout our land as 
 tjie Hon. James S. Campbell; and he has al- 
 ready been briefly referred to in a previous 
 chapter of this sketch. 
 
 Col. Campbell returned, with his family, to. 
 Cherry Vailey in the spring of 178-4, and to- 
 ward the close oi' summer he constructed a 
 lug-house on his farm, as a place of residence. 
 8oon alter he had moved into the log dwell- 
 ing — for. on his first return to the valley he 
 had hastily put up a rude cabin in which the 
 family lived until the more substantial log 
 building was erected — he received information 
 that Gen. Wa.shington designed, and would 
 ere long, make a journey through Cherry Val- 
 ley, &c. Col. Campl>ell received the visit of 
 the illustrious Washington, who was accomp- 
 anied by Governor G«orge Clinton, Gen. Hand, 
 etc, within the log house which he had re- 
 cently built; and the distinguished guests of 
 this worthy family were here entertained as 
 well, and with far more generous and cordial 
 feeling, than they would have been in any 
 palace amid the conrts of Europe. Gov. Clin- 
 ton sent for a Mr. Robert Shankland. who was 
 a resident of the vicinity, and had been dis- 
 tinguished in the times of the Revolution as 
 one of the most earnest and daring patriots 
 along the frontier; and the bold borderer soon 
 came, and joined in the pleasant diversions of 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUKG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 31 
 
 the party. When Cherry Valley was attacked 
 by tlie Indians, and destroyed, Mr. Shank- 
 land's house, which was situiit .1 in a remnie 
 part of the settlement, escaped the devastation 
 that awaited all the buildings within the vil- 
 lage; Mr. Hhankland fled, with Ins trtiniiy to 
 the Mohawk Valley, but returned in the en- 
 ensuing year with a son, Thomas Shankland, 
 then fourteen years of age. to his lormer home. 
 Soon after he had resumed residence in his 
 house, the Indians made an attack upon it. 
 but he bravely and successtully defendwl this 
 teniporarj' fortress against the assault of the 
 savages. The Indians then brought combusti- 
 ble materials and placed them aboutthe liouse, 
 and then applied tire, the building was soon 
 completely enveloped in flames — in the mean- 
 whik^ liis son had jumped out of a window 
 and fled toward the woods, but was captured 
 by the Indians who surrounded the crumliling 
 domicil upon every side. Mr. SnanUland ef- 
 fected a successful escape. At this time, dur- 
 ing the visit made by Gen. Washington, the 
 patriotic and fearless borderer was requested 
 to give a narativeof his exploits while engaged 
 in these partizan conflicts— and which he ac- 
 cordingly done— contributing by his narative 
 much to the enjoyment of the party. During 
 this visit of Gen. Washington, a gun to which 
 attached much interest in connection with 
 I'emiidcences of the Revolutionary struggle, 
 was e.\hibited to the party, This gun belonged 
 to Mr. Joseph Mayall, a patriot residing at 
 Laurens, (now included as one of the towns of 
 Oisego County.) Mr. Mayall had once, while 
 returning from a hunting excursion, met 
 with a party ot three men whom he undertook 
 at their request, to p lot across the Susque- 
 hanna river, when^ taking advantage of his 
 sitiuition while thus engaged in guiding the 
 boat over the stream, they took possession of 
 his gun, and removed the lock from it, then 
 informed him that he must go to Canada, as 
 their piisoner. The patriot remonstrated, but 
 without avail — and embracing a fayoral)le op- 
 portunity, he seized his guri, with which he 
 struck and killed one of the party, then dis- 
 charged his piece and wounded another of the 
 enemy, and maile his escape from the other 
 loyalist. This gun had been kept as a me- 
 mento of this conflict; it had been much shat- 
 tered in the encoiintre - and it was now viewed 
 by Gen. Wasui.ngton and his compuiions in 
 this journey, with interest. While Gen. 
 Washington, and his party were staying here, 
 Guv. Clinton incidentally enquired of Mrs. 
 Campbell in regard to the number of her child- 
 ren, and upon informing him how many she 
 liad, tlie Governor added in reply — "they will 
 m.;ke tine soldiers in time." and in answer to 
 this remark, Mrs. Campbell said that "she 
 hoped her country would never need their ser- 
 vices"— when Gen. Washington m:ide the 
 concluding remark, "i hope so too. Madam, for^ 
 I have seeii enough of ivar." These incidents 
 
 connected with Gen. Washington's vi.-iit, m.iv 
 be deemed of trivial importance, by m.any pi;r- 
 sons; nevertheless, every American bosniii 
 which glows with the warmth of patriotism, 
 and throbs with emoti(jns of gratitude as h» 
 recalls the gl rious an<l heioic deeds of the il- 
 lustrious Ciiiet of the Revolution, will dwell 
 with pleasure upon every reminisence which 
 can be gathered in regard to Washington, and 
 especiaJly every one connected with the. visit 
 which the immortal Hero and Sage, whose il- 
 lustrious n:ime will continue through all time 
 as the most lionored representative of Ameri- 
 can greatness, had made to our own region of 
 country. And, this scene which transpired so 
 long ago within this humble log-dwelling, the 
 words wliich were here spokvn, and the inci- 
 «lents which liere took place, sitibrds us a 
 glimpse, through the vista of long intervening 
 years, of tlic actual life of the men wlio with- 
 in a brief period afterward laid the foundation 
 of our nation^il Government — and ngain reveals 
 to us the nu/jedic presence (/Washington : 
 "For thought on that fine bi-bw is living still, — 
 Such thouglit, as, looking far oftinto time, 
 (lasting by fear, stood up in strength sublime. 
 When odds in war shook vale and shore and 
 
 hill- 
 Such strength as then posesscd thee, "when was 
 Uid 
 ■ clee 
 
 Ourcleep foundation,— when the fabric shook 
 
 Witli the wrathful surge which high against it 
 broke. 
 
 When at thy voice the blind, wild sea was 
 stayed. 
 
 'Tis like thee: Such repose thy living form 
 
 Wrapped round, Ihou h some chained pas- 
 sion, brealving forth. 
 
 At times swept o'er thee like the fierce, dread 
 north 
 
 Yet calmer, nobler, cara'st thou from th© 
 storm." Dana. 
 
 Gen. Washington, and the accompaning party, 
 then proceeded to visit the C)tscgo L d^e. 
 
 The Campbell family — the deceudents of 
 Col. Samuel Campbell whose personal history 
 fills such an interesting episode in the early 
 annals of Tryon County — still reside at Cherry 
 Valley. From tln^carliesc settlement of the 
 region lying near the head waters o-f the Sus- 
 quehanna, it may be justly reinarked, the 
 members of this w(jrthy family, in the success- 
 ive generations which come and then pas^ 
 away, have alwaj's e.xcercised a commanding 
 public influence, and have always held in tho 
 relations alike of social and public life an en- 
 viable and elistinguishcd position . The Hon. 
 William W. Campbell — who is a son of Hon. 
 .James S. Campbell of lievolutionnry fame — I 
 need scarcel)' say is very wildely known and 
 esteemed tor his marked integrity and varied 
 talents, as he is indeed justly distinguished as 
 r)ne of the ablest men not only of the region 
 ot the Susquehanna, but also of the State of 
 New York. Mr. Campbell had acquired a well 
 ^merited reputation as a lawyer of solid talents, 
 possessing very great forensic acqinrements, 
 not less than extensive legal knowledge. And, 
 in the discharge of in:portant Judicial duties 
 
S2 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMDVG VALI.KY, ETC. 
 
 — in I be piMtoiinance of the arduous labors 
 cMimfctcd with his tcim as Justice of the Court 
 <'t Ap|)eiils ot tlic State of New Yorli, Judi^e 
 CuupliL-ll hud evinced rare Hliility and integ- 
 1 ity, and fully fst.tlili.shed liis fame as one of 
 the soundest and most eminent Jurists of our 
 Siite. Mr. (,'ampliell had shown — previous to 
 I he commeneeinent of his brilliant and dis- 
 'iii^nished judicial careerr— those great talents, 
 a id th'it. com .rehensive est of intellect, re- 
 ((uisite tor the successful pursuit of tiie His- 
 torical rese uches. in which he contimit'd to 
 be engajjed lor some length of time. And, as 
 the result of these investigations, Mr. Camp- 
 bell had written the very interesting and le 
 liable work — "Annoh of Tryon County." which 
 was published in 1831. Every page of this His- 
 torj gives evidence of careful research — every 
 sentence affords proof of rare ability brought 
 to the task of its preparation; the author has 
 indeed woven one of the fairest garlands, and 
 in which he has twined flowers of fadeless 
 bloom, which has yet been contributed toward 
 that immortal wre!Vth whose festoons adorn, 
 with their 4reshness anrl their bciiuty, the glo- 
 rious Temple of American Hist(;ry. 
 
 The elegant and pleasant residence of the 
 Hon. William \V. Campbell — which was en-ct- 
 ed upon the site of the old family Man.^fon 
 that had been used as a Fort in the Revolution 
 — is delightfully situated in the northern part 
 of the village of Cherry Valley, upon the pub- 
 lic road leading to tiie Moliawk Valley. I 
 nt:iy here be allowed to express the earnest 
 wish, that the worthy and distinguishe<l man 
 who has his residence here, and whose name 
 justly gives honor to this place which has al- 
 v/ays been his home, may long survive to en- 
 joy, iti the evening of his days, the rich bless- 
 ings of life whose unwearied labors have been 
 given toward advancing the knowledge, and 
 increasing the happiness of his fellow men. — 
 Such an able and tin!}' eminent career, marked 
 by ils rare useluUness, which has thus been 
 quietly pursued by .Judge Campbell, is indeed 
 worthy of the noblest arabitiou — worthy of 
 the most e irnest emulation. 
 
 Time will not permit, nor will space allow a 
 full miration of the intere.stiny: and important 
 events which occurred during the Revolution 
 in Tryon County; nor can I retrace the tragi- 
 cal scenes or repeat the fearful lege ids con- 
 m-cled with the tii;ice border strife which had 
 swept through the Mohawk Valley, and thro* 
 Schoharie, is the allied British and Indians. 
 led by the Butlers and l;y Brant, made frtqiunt 
 incursions throughout tiie years of 1778, '79, 
 '80 a.nd '81 into this extensive region, burn- 
 ing and desolating the frontier settlements. 
 and haibarously massacieing the inhabitants 
 along all the borders. As an instunce of the 
 terrible manner in which this ruthless war- 
 fare vvas waged against the uijyielding patiiots 
 of the Revoluti n' a band of the Iroquois, 
 numbering some 303 warriors, made an at- 
 
 tack upon Cobleskill, killed twenty-two of its 
 inhabitants, besides taking forty-two prison- 
 ers, and then plundered and burned the set- 
 tlement. While this expedition was in pro- 
 gress, different portions of the Six Nations, 
 upon the same day, April 18th, 1779. also made 
 savage attacks upon the American settlements 
 at Canajoharie, at Stone Arabia and at Scho- 
 harie — burning the houses, taking prisoners 
 and killing such of the inliabitants as were 
 unable to escape, within these respective ham- 
 lets. During the months of May and Jun« of 
 this year, 1779. particularly, the mo^t ruth- 
 less warfare was prosecuted against the settle- 
 ments along the Susquenanna and the Dela- 
 ware, and in Ulster County, culminating in 
 the battle and massacre at Minnisink upon the 
 20th of July, 1779. A party of sixty war- 
 ri<n-s, and twenty-seven tories disguised as In- 
 dians, led by the Mohawk Chief, Br mt, ar- 
 rived in the'vicinity of Minnisink on the 
 evening of the lyth, of July, 1779, and wait- 
 ing until thft inhabitants of this pi.ace were 
 vviaped in slumber, the Mohawk Chief then 
 made a sudden and fierce attack upon the set- 
 tlement, setting tire to and burning the dwell- 
 ing houses Jibove their sleeping inmates, mur- 
 dering helpless women and children, and then 
 ravaged the place. Soon as inteligence of this 
 raid had re.iched Goshen, a Militia force of 
 one hundred and' forty nine men were imme- 
 diately mustered in Cringe County, and gav3 
 rapid pursuit to the retie.itiug enemy, whom 
 they overtook upon the second day. Brant 
 succeeded in leading the Americans into a par- 
 tial ambush, and trom the advantngeoiis posi- 
 tion which the Iroqnos Chief had chosen, a 
 deadly fiie was rolled upon the ranks of the 
 active borderers, from eleven o'clock in the 
 morning until the sun had sank behind the 
 western hiils, when the ammunition of the 
 patriots failing, they were placed afmost com- 
 pletely within the i)0wer ot their cruel adver- 
 saries. The Americans had lost a large num- 
 ber during the de&perate coriflict ; seventeen 
 men who were wounded, though they appealed 
 for mercy, were instantly mass icreed; Brant, 
 himself burying his tom.^hiwk in the brains 
 of the brave, but wounded Col. Wisiner ; and 
 out of the entire force, 149, which had 
 marched from Orange, only thirty effected 
 their escape, and returned to tell of the death 
 of their companions in arms. 'I'hese contin- 
 ued and fearful atrocities were the means of 
 awakening as I had suggested in an earlj' chap- 
 ter of this sketch--that full and terrible retri- 
 bution which Sulliv^an's expedition had visited 
 upon the Iioqr.ois during its march through 
 the Chemung and Seneca Lake Valleys. The 
 Six Nations had met with comjilete defeat, 
 which in effect actually dismembered their 
 time honored Confederacy, at the battle of the 
 Ciieinung; still, the Indians cherished an in- 
 placable purpose of revenge, and parties con- 
 \iaued to ravage tie Mohawk and Schoharie 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 •as 
 
 country until after the termination of the 
 war" Ttius Sir Jolin Johnson, accompanied 
 hy a force of 700 of the allied British and In- 
 dians, in the month ot May, 1780, entered the 
 Mohawh Valley, at midnight, and with tire, 
 tlie tomahawk and scalping-knife, desolated 
 its settlements. Soon after this forary in the 
 Mohawk valley, Sir John Johnson, in com- 
 mand of several companies of regulars, marchn 
 from Oswego to the Susquehanna, and at 
 Tioga were joined by the Senecas and otlier 
 tribes of the Iroquois, who were led by Thyen- 
 tlenagea and Cornplanter. The combined force, 
 amounting to some 1500 men, supplied with 
 three pieces of artillery, &c., then proceeded 
 along the eastern branches of the Susquehana 
 to the Schoharie, and entering this fertile re- 
 gion, which had first been settled about 1712, 
 The enemy, commencing their work of rapine 
 at nightfall, Oct. 15th, 1780, remorselessly 
 desolated its flourishing settlements, burning 
 various hamlets throughout the valley, mns- 
 sacreing the inhabitants, &c. ; and, upon the 
 18th, the marauders commenced their work- 
 of devastation along the Mohawk valley, 
 every dwelling upon either side of the river, 
 as far as Fort Plain, was burned, and the pa- 
 triots of this region were again subjected to 
 the terrible ordeal of Indian massacre, to 
 which the settlers of this lovely valley were 
 so often doomed. I have thus given detached 
 instances of the border warfare of Try on county; 
 the full history of this sanguinary struggle 
 would require volumes. The Midas of gold — 
 the God who receives such universal^worship — 
 however, had proffered twenty dollars for the 
 scalp of every friend of the American cause, 
 whether of helpless women or of innocent 
 children, which the savages could tear from 
 the bleeding forms of their murdered victims 
 and bring to the British officers, thus making 
 these midnight mas.sacres a projlkiUe business ; 
 and hence, according to the system of ethics 
 v/hich now everywhere prevails, and which 
 approves and sustains every enterprise that 
 "makes it pay," these atrocities committed 
 by the savages were entirely justifiable and 
 commendable, and the actors should accord- 
 ingly be canonized as "saints." 
 
 In all the border warfare which the Iroquois 
 had waged against the patriots of the Revo- 
 lution, in the ruthless attack which had 
 been made upon the settlements at Unadilla, 
 Saratoga, German Flats, Wyoming, Cherry 
 A^'alley, Schoharie, Minisink and Ulster county, 
 in accordance with the belief of the men of 
 the Kevolution, who had witnessed and who 
 had suffered from these scenes of blood and 
 devastation, as Avell as the concurrent testi- 
 mony of all the early historians of the Ecvo- 
 lutionary war, Gordon, Eanisay, Marshall, 
 &c., Thyendenagea (Brant,) was the "head 
 and the front" — the animating master-spirit. 
 H. R. Schoolcraft, LL.D., who had made the 
 most extensive and elaborate researches re- 
 
 specting the character and history of the In- 
 dian race, thus refers to Brant : " He posses- 
 sed, in perfection all the subtlety, subterfuge, 
 art, and, when lie grasped the tomahawk in 
 active war. all the cruelty of the forest sav- 
 age." ("History of the Indian tribes of the 
 U. S.," Vol. vi., page 28 Jr.) It may also be 
 mentioned, that whilst the writer of this 
 sketch was prosecuting, under authority of 
 the State Government, surveys in Weslei-n • 
 New York during the season of 18-11, and be- 
 ing engaged in these labors for some days 
 upon the Jndian Reservations located in that 
 section, the opportunity was afforded of a 
 lengihy interview and conversation with the 
 distinguished and venerable Sachem of the 
 Senecas, Gov. Blacksnake, who had participa- 
 ted when a young man, in the French and 
 Indian wars, and also in the various incur- 
 sions, particularly at Wtjomimj, as connected 
 witlr the Indian v?arfare waged against our 
 frontiers during the Revolutionary war. This 
 eminent chief of the Iroquois, at the time of 
 our interview, had reached the extraordinary 
 age of one hundred and seventeen years, and 
 he was probably the latest survivor among all 
 who had taken part in the engsigement at 
 Wyoniing, in the month of July, 1778; and 
 although he had been engaged, together with 
 the rest of his nation, in the expeditions con- 
 ducted against the patriots at the period of 
 the Revolution, the venerable chief conversed 
 very freely and fully, for the space of several 
 hours, in respect to the antiquity of the aboii- 
 ginal race upon our continent, the history of 
 the Iroquois, the icar paths which, they hail 
 opened during the war of the Revolution ; and 
 from the account which this n^ed and emi- 
 nent Sachem gave of Brant, the early histo- 
 rians of the Revolution, as well as the poet 
 Campbell in the pages of "Gertrude of Wyo- 
 ming," have but justly and truthfully de- 
 scribed the character and the career of the 
 accomplished but cruel chjef of the Mohawks, 
 as " the Monster Brant." — Gov. Blacksnake 
 had enjoyed the most ample facilities to be- 
 come conversant with the various movements 
 and hostile excursions of the Irotiuois. ami *.<♦ 
 know bj' whom they were led. He had, at an 
 early date, as chief of the Senecas, held a posi- 
 tion of gr^at and controlling influence among 
 the warritrs of his nation, and had negocuxteil 
 a treaty with President Wasuinutox, and iiad 
 afterward held conferences in relation to th- 
 affairs of the Six Katiuns, and with several 
 other Presidents, as John Adams, Jackson, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 I had called quite early in the morning of a 
 pleasant October day, to see tiiis venerabif 
 Chiet, at his re.sideuce, within the native an<l 
 yet unbroken forests, through which flowed 
 the waters of the ni/ble Allegany river, while 
 toward the west our view was limited by a 
 majestic range ol mountains, which were co- 
 vered with luxuriant wildwoods, now tinged 
 
34 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG TAH^BY, EfC. 
 
 with the goldeiji hues, and the crimson-tir^ted 
 magnificence o,f autumn. The aged chief could 
 only recall with some efifort, and quite slowly, 
 the reminiscence^ COAnected with the former 
 glory of the Iioquois ; and as he thus re^lated 
 the traditions connected with the history of 
 his nation, — who, within his own time, had 
 been the sole possessors, the monarchs, of all 
 the broad lands west of the Hudson, but 
 which he had lived to see acknowledge the 
 Bway of another power and another race. His 
 mind, at intervals, seemed to be drifting out 
 from the shores of mortal life, until it seemed 
 almost laying hold of the beautiful es^istence 
 and King of the Iroquois had evinced his pre- 
 of the spirit-land. The distinguished Sachem 
 ference to narrate the annals and traditions of 
 the days of the lost power and greatness of 
 his nation, mainly in the Indian dialect : and 
 an Indian maiden, of some fifteen summers, 
 who had received the rudiments of education, 
 became our interpreter. This Indian maid 
 had taken a seat upon a rude lounge or couch 
 near the Chief, and, attired in the graceful 
 negligence of the Indian costume, her loveli- 
 ness and beauty might well rival that posses- 
 sed by the fairest maid of European race— and, 
 with the exception of a more brilliaixt hue of 
 the dark tresses which flowed around her 
 neck and bosom, and of a deeper tint to that 
 rosy glow which flushed, too, over her bosom 
 and hei; fair cheek, this beautiful child, qi the 
 forest could not have been distinguished from 
 the fairest lady who within our own proud 
 halls, wander* through the mazy labyrinth of 
 the dance. The hours had fled by half uncon- 
 sciously while the aged chief thus related the 
 myths of Indian lore, and the rays of the set- 
 ting sun, were already tinging with soft and 
 mellowed radiance the crimson-tinted moun- 
 tain forest, ere we had rested from that long 
 conversation, and I had turned to examine 
 some medals which the chief had received 
 from President Washington, and other Presi- 
 dents, together with various mementoes which 
 the sachem had religiously preserved. In the 
 mean while, the fair Indian maiden, reposing 
 *upon the rude lounge, had fallen, asleep, 
 whilst her. raven hair seemed to cluster more 
 softly round her neck and bosom, and her 
 cheek at times was flushed with a deeper, ro- 
 t-ier glow ; and thus an hour had passed ere 
 this child had wakeoed from her dreams. 
 'Tis but a S:imple picture— an unpretentious 
 i^cene, — a slight artistic group, which had thus 
 been formed in the home of the chief, and 
 which I now recall from memory's mystic 
 realm : — the aged, venerable chief, and the 
 fair and useful maiden reposing in slumber — 
 the little group bathed in the light of the set- 
 ting sun. But if it were represastedin the 
 beautiful aqd almost breathing forms which 
 the genius Qf the sculptor wakens. to life from 
 the cold ma,rble, it would far better illustrate 
 the history of our time, and of the successive 
 
 eras of time which con.tiuue to roll in ceaseless^ 
 course, than any written page can do ; this, 
 scene, if it were embodied in the wrapt and 
 glowing beauty which liesyet unshaped in the 
 marble block, would most truthfully picture 
 the history of the human race as our genera- 
 tion passes away only to give place to another 
 in a succeeding age, ari^ would indeed present 
 SL vepetition of the scei^es of life as they, were 
 grouped in the earliest times, even when the- 
 first inhabitants of earth yet lingered near the 
 lost Gardens of, Eden, in the shadow of 
 " The inj,mortal trees which Oivertop 
 The cherubim defended battlements," 
 
 An effort has been made in late years to. 
 gloss over the crimes committed by Brant ; 
 but the Mohawk chief 
 
 "Hath murdered sleep," 
 nor he, nor any of his apologists, can lay the 
 haunting spirit which through all future time , 
 shall bring against his name the execution of 
 those deeds which shall stamp his reputation, 
 with the blackest infamy — this accusing spirit, 
 as if it were one which erst had inhabited the 
 living form of some victim of the massacre of 
 Wyoming, or elsewhere, will not now avaunt 
 at human bidding, but will aiilix an indellible 
 blot upon. his fame, and like Banquo's ghost, 
 will forever echo the words of retributive- 
 doom : 
 
 "Sleep no moreto all the house." 
 
 Whilst Butler had been the acknowledged 
 leader of the tories, Thyendenagea was also 
 the well-known instigator and leader of the 
 savages in their incursiops and cruel massa- 
 cres— and from the hatred with which he pur- 
 sued the patriots of the Revolution , he seemed 
 an irapersonification of A ttila. 
 
 It will be admitted that the friends .of Ame- 
 rican Independence living in Tryon county, 
 in orner to afford any protection to themselves 
 and families, against the combined attacks of 
 the tories and the Indians, or to conquer in 
 this unequal. contest with their allied enemies, 
 must be under the military command of an 
 able and efiicient oflicer. Gen. Herkimer had 
 the immediate command of the Tryon militia 
 in the early part of the war, and preceding 
 his decease in 1778. Gen. Phillip Hchuyler-; 
 an able and judicious officer, was assigned to, 
 the chief command of the Northern Depart- 
 ment, which embraced Tryon county, &c., and 
 the energetic manner in which he had orga- 
 nized the patriot militia, and by his prompt 
 and skillful movements disconcerted the com- 
 binations and successfully resisted the attacks 
 of the allied enemy, the Americans were en- 
 abled to shelter many of the frontier settle- 
 ments from, impending ruin, and. to save the 
 beautiful region, of, the Hudscc from entire, 
 devastation* Gen. Schuyler was born at Al- 
 bany, in 1738. He held a commission as cap- 
 tain in the New York troops at Fort Edward, 
 in 1755, and accompanied the expedition whiciii 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUXG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 35 
 
 was sent down Lake George, in 1758, and was 
 near Lord Howe when that nqbleman fell. 
 In 1768, Col. Schuyler, together with George 
 Clinton, and Nathaniel Woodhall, of Long 
 Island, were members of the Colonial Assem- 
 bly, and most ably and fearlessly advocated 
 the rights of the colonies. Schuyler pre- 
 sented a series of resolutions aflirming the 
 rights of the colonies— and although they were 
 not passed, the British majority, in the power 
 which it had previously exercised, was effec- 
 tually broken. In the Second Congress, which 
 met in the month of May, 1775, Mr. Schuyler 
 took his place -as one of the delegates from 
 New York. Washujoton and Schuyler were 
 both members of the committee to whom was 
 assigned the duty of preparing "Rules and 
 Regulations for the Governnjent of the Aruay" 
 and from their association as members of this 
 .committee, a mutual esteem and friendship 
 was formed, which continued to strengthen 
 till the close of life. Upon the 19th of June, 
 1775, Schuyler was appointed by Congress to 
 ,an active command, and was assigned the 
 rank of third Major General in the Army. In 
 the month of September, in the same year, 
 acting under the instructions for the invasion 
 of Canada, Gen. Schuyler proceeded with 
 Gens. Montgomery and Wooster as far as the 
 Isle-au-Noix, and upon his arrival here, in 
 consequence of the severe illness of General 
 Schuyler, the chief command of the expedition 
 devolved upon Gen. Montgomery. In Decem- 
 ber, 1775, Oen. Montgomery received instruc- 
 tions to disarm the tories living within Tryon 
 county, and he performed this labor with 
 much better success than the arduous nature 
 of the duties which it enjoined had promised. 
 "While Gen. Schuyler held command of the 
 Northern Department, during the summer of 
 1777, Gen. Burgoyne invaded our country 
 from the North, with a well appointed mili- 
 tary force of ten thousand men, which was de- 
 signed to co-operate with a large force under 
 the command of St. Leger, which had already 
 invaded the Mohawk valley, together with 
 another army, which it was expected Sir 
 Henry Clinton would lead from the South, and 
 thus crush the country with this single move- 
 ment. Gen. Schuyler made the most active 
 preparations to meet the invading Biitish 
 army ; and, in the meanwhile, he skilfully 
 obstructed and retarded its march into the 
 interior by impeding the navigation of streams, 
 rendering the roads almost impassable, suc- 
 cessfully gathering provisions and military 
 stores, and was fast rallying the militia around 
 the American flag, preparatory to making an 
 attack upon the invading army, which should 
 result in certain triumph. However, in the 
 month of August, Gen. Schuyler, while en- 
 gaged in arduous exertions which promised 
 -early and complete succes^s, was superseded in 
 x»mmand by Gates. This change was ren- 
 .dered necesfiary, Chie/ Justice Marshall re- 
 
 marks, as a "sacrifice to the prejudices of 
 New England." The removal of the ablest 
 and most skillful generals in the army, froni 
 command, had also been .iiade in other in- 
 stances during the Revolutionary war — in the 
 war of 1812 with Great Britain— and in the 
 late civil war in which our country was en- 
 gaged to crush the rebellion ; and, in all 
 these instances, the removal of patriotic and 
 efficient military men by superiors, who were 
 entirely unacquainted with the strategical re- 
 quirements of war, has been instrumental iu 
 postponing the triumph of our arms. In thin 
 instance, the energy of Gen. Schuyler had laid 
 the foundation for the important victory at 
 Saratoga, Gen. Schuyler was elected to Con- 
 gress in 1777, and was re-elected to fill the 
 same position for three successive terms. In 
 1787, Gen. Schuyler was chosen as a Senator 
 from New York, and ably represented our 
 State in the first Senate of the United States ; 
 and, in 1797, he was again deputed to the 
 U. S- Senate. General Schuyler continued to 
 reside at Albany, in the elegant family man- 
 sion built in 1760-61, where he hospitably en- 
 tertained dLstiuguished guests from Europe, as 
 well as the humble and poor, equally witli 
 the eminent men of our own land. Within 
 this mansion, the Baroness Reidesel, LaFay- 
 ette, Steuben, and Rochambeau, at various 
 times, had been courteously entertained. Gen, 
 Schuyler died in the autumn of 180-i, closln;j; 
 an eventful career, in which he had been dis- 
 tinguished alike as a military man and as a 
 civilian, and his decease occasioned deep sor- 
 row and mourning throughout our land. 
 
 I have thus sketched, incidentally, the more 
 important events which marked the border 
 warfare of the Revolution, and of which Tryon 
 county was the principal theatra^ — as amid its 
 hills and along its valleys hau been enacted 
 those scenes, which form one of the darkest 
 tragedies of all time. 
 
 In giving an outline of the ;history of the 
 region bordering the head waters of the Sus- 
 quehanna, beside the information whieli I had 
 received from Mr. Willard Cheney, who had 
 been one of the early residents of Otsego 
 county, ajad the facts derived from the aged 
 chief of the Senecas, who had participated in 
 the Iroquois 'incursions at Wyoming, and at 
 various places in Tryon county, I have also 
 derived aid in .consulting several valuable his- 
 torical works, as "Annals of Tryon Co., by 
 Wm. W. Campbell" ; • ' Jonrnals of the Legi.s- 
 lative Council of N. Y., 1691 to 1775," 4to. ; 
 " Historical Collections of the Essex Insti- 
 tute" ; "History of the* Indian Tribes of the 
 U. S," by H. R, Schoolcraft, 4to., 6 vols. 
 
 In wandering so far from the Chemung 
 Valley, whilst engaged in gathering anew the 
 legends relating to those tragical events that 
 led to the organization of the expedition of 
 1779, I have given an imperfect outline of the 
 early history of the regiou adjoining the bead 
 
36 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THK CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 waters of the Susquehanna , and, now, in re- 
 tracing our steps to the Valley of the Che- 
 mung, will pause for a moment in this region 
 bordering upon the Otsego Lake, whobe chrys- 
 tal waters also feed the tributary streams of 
 the Susquehanna, and attempt to recall a few 
 of the interesting reminiscences connected 
 Avith the sojourn in this section of the division 
 under command of Gen. James Clinton, while 
 pursuing its march toward the Tioga, where a 
 jimctiou was formed _ with the brigadeunder 
 the inunediate command of Gen. Sullivan— 
 ;.ud whence our united forces then proceeded 
 upon the important expedition of 1779, along 
 the Chemung and Seneca Lake valleys. And 
 while here, I too shall endeavor to recall 
 other reminiscesices which linger around the 
 chores of this beautiful, fairy lake : but I 
 ui'ust walk lightly here, for it is sacred and 
 lialki'.ved ground ; it has been consecrated by 
 -thopresence of genius, and from the associa- 
 tions which 'thus have been thrown around 
 this shore, it v.'ill forever remain one of the 
 most interesting and sacred spots upon Ameri- 
 can soil. The Otsego Luke forms one of the 
 inost lovely and lairy-like sheets of water to 
 he found within our county ; the lake is some 
 iiine liiiles in length, and is surrounded ujion 
 either side bv romantic and lofty hills, the 
 vvaters of the-lako are Very deep, and clear 
 , 1 beautiful, while the entire surrounding 
 nerv possesses a wildness and beauty that 
 : 'Ug-s alone to Nature. At the time Gen. 
 ;:itou had launched his flotilla upon this 
 j.ns'e, while on his way to join the tiotilla of 
 ]77'.), there were only two places on the shore 
 of the lakeVhich had been marked by civili- 
 zation. Otsego is an Indian name, and signi- 
 Jiert a place ol reudc:^vous and friendly greet- 
 ing. Olsego*had been the original name of 
 the lake as designated by the Indians: a rock, 
 known as -'the Otsego rock," located near the 
 cutlet of the lake, is affirmed by tradition to 
 have be-ni the precise spot where the red men 
 (Ttfthe forest had been accustomed to meet 
 irom an immemorial period. The present vil- 
 liige of Cooperstown is situated at this place. 
 Ju'l7o7, the footstei)s of civilized man had 
 l>robably first pressed the shores of the beau- 
 tnul lake, since known to tb« world by the 
 name so long given to it by the Indians, the 
 Otsego. One hundred and thirty years ago; 
 t'ailwalder Golden, Surveyor General of the 
 Province of New York, it ajipears, visited the 
 place where Cooperstown is now situated, ma- 
 king at that early date an examination of the 
 region surrounding. the lake and tlie Susque- 
 hanna river, to both of which Mr. Colder re- 
 fers in his report. The next account in rela- 
 tion .to the country about the Otsego lake 
 heing visited by the white man, is contained 
 in the journal of the Eev. Gideon Hawley, 
 where this missionary, under date of "May 31, 
 1775,'/ refers to the difficulty in obtaining a 
 canoe, and thus incidentally makes mention 
 
 of this lake : "In afternoon came from Ot- 
 sego lake," &c. This place — the shores lying 
 adjacent to the outlet of the lake — where tlie 
 lovely village of Cooperstown now stands, is 
 said to have also lieen frequented by Indian 
 traders for a long time preceding the earliest 
 permanent settlement made in the vicinity. 
 A patent for a tract of land lying near the Ot- 
 sego lake, had been granted to John C. Hart- 
 wick, in an instrument bearing date 22d of 
 April, 1761, and, about the year 1765, Mr. 
 Hartwick commenced to make a clearing near 
 the outlet of the laUe, but sidisequently be- 
 coming convinced that these improvements 
 had been made outside th#liraits of his estate 
 he soon relinquished it altogether and aban- 
 doned the place. Thus terminated the first 
 attempt, so unsuccessful in its results, to form 
 a settlement in the vicinity of Otsego lake. 
 In the year 1768, as previously mentioned in 
 this sketch. Col. George Crogan had secured a 
 conveyance of a tract of land from the In- 
 dians, amounting to one hundred thousand 
 acres, lying upon the west side of the lake, 
 and of the Susquehanna river ; and in 1760, a 
 patent vras given by the Colonial Government 
 of New- Yoik, , securing, this same parcel of 
 land to Col. Crogan, and others. It appears 
 that Col. Crogan had obtained a loan of three 
 thoilsiind pounds sterling, through the agency 
 of Governor "William Franklin, of New Jersey, 
 and had given security for payment of this 
 sum. Upon the 2nd of December, 1769, the 
 other, persons to whom the p^vtent hail beer^ 
 granted, beside Col. Crogan, ccmveyed to hiui, 
 in three sei)arafe instruments, the full fiile 
 and legal rights to this tract of land ; flie ori- 
 ginal patent, and three conveyances, are un- 
 doubtedly the earliest legal instruments ma- 
 king conveyance of real estate with the term 
 of Otse. On the 10th of March, 1770. ■ Col. 
 Crogan ghve, as additional security for pay- 
 ment of the three thousand pounds before 
 mentioned, a mortgage on that portion of this 
 tract of land, since known as Cooper's Patent; 
 and in March, 1773, a judgment was obtained 
 in the Supreme Court of the colony of New 
 York against Colonel Crogan, upon the bond 
 which had accomi)anied tlie mortgage. And 
 finally, all the securities resting upon this pa- 
 tent, as early as the month of May, 17S5, 
 where assigned to William Cooper and An- 
 drew Craig, of Burlington, N. J. In the au- 
 tumn of 1785, Mr. Cooper, accompanied by 
 several Surveyors, made a visit to the land 
 which he had thus secured in the vicinity of 
 Otsego lake, arriving here by the route of 
 Cherry Valley and Middletield ; and, in Janu- 
 ary of the succeeding year, 1786, Mr. Cooper 
 commenced a settlement upon his land — 
 choosing a pleasant and delightful location 
 near the shores of the beautiful Otsego lake. 
 Previous to the settlement thus made in the 
 winter of 1786, by Mr. Cooper upon the site 
 of the present village of Cooperstown. Mr. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OP TTIR CHEMUKG VAlXEr, ETC. 
 
 37 
 
 Hartwick had made an attempt to foim a set- 
 ' tlement here, as before stated ; and Col. ('ro- 
 Ran, with \m fatiiilj', had alr^o made their 
 home at tliis place for a brief period, and 
 while here had erected, it is believed, a block- 
 lionse, some fifteen feet square, cnnstrncted of 
 hewn logs, and which was the first building, 
 it is supposed, erected in the region adjacent 
 to the Otsego hike. This building reniiiined 
 standing until 1797 or 17D8, wheji it was taken 
 down, and the logs of which it was construc- 
 ted were removed bj' Mr. II. P, Eaton, and set 
 lip near his lesidence as an out-hou«e. 
 
 It should be mentioned, however, that pre- 
 vious to the time the fir.st permanent settle- 
 ment had thus been commenced by BIr. Coo- 
 per near the Otsego lake, this region had been 
 connected with memorable evciits, and inte- 
 y'esting episodes in American history, which 
 will forever render it hall()wed ground, and 
 give it an important place in the anna's of our 
 country. Cooperstown had been the sceiie of 
 stirring incidents not les>? than pleasant asso- 
 ciations, connected with our eaily liistory, 
 which will ever continue to gather around its 
 name tlie most'sacred remiJiiscenses. 
 
 In the spring of 1779, Geu. James Clinton, 
 in commiind of a biigade designed to co-ope- 
 rate with the force- uiider Gen. Sullivan in pro- 
 secution of the camj^aign against the Iroquois, 
 had ascended the Mohawdv as far as Canajo- 
 hario. and upon Iris anival at this place Gen. 
 Clinton sent an expedition, c-jn.sisting of gome 
 five hundred men, luider command of Odnnel 
 Van Schick, accoui)>auied by Lt.-C(d. Willet, 
 with rendezvous at Fort Schuyler, against the 
 Onondagiis. This expedition proceeded at 
 once to destroy the Onondaga castle, burned 
 fifty houses, killed some thirty warriors, and 
 took thirty-seven prisoners, thus completely 
 accomplishing the purposes of the expedition, 
 and returned in six days from the commence- 
 mitnt of the march, to the main army under 
 command of Clinton. Gen. Clinton, then 
 commenced, after the return of this expedi- 
 tion, to open a road through the wilderness, 
 from Caiiajoharie to the head of Otsego lake, 
 a distance of some twenty miles. Thislalior 
 was difficult and arduous ; this military road 
 was required for the passage of artillery, and 
 also for tlie transmission of numerous boats, 
 and the entire labor connected with this march 
 called forth the utmost fortitude and endur- 
 ance of our brave and hardy soldiery. Traces 
 of this military road, which is known as the 
 " Continental Koad," can still be seen. Gen. 
 Clinton had commenced his arduous march 
 from Cannjoharie on the 17th of June, 1779, 
 and had opened this road thrcmgh the forest, 
 and across a hilly region of country, and suc- 
 ceeded in reaching tlie liead <>f Otsego Lake, 
 or Springfield, upon 30th of June 1779. Gen. 
 Clinton then proceeded with his division, who 
 were emiiarked in boats upon the lake on the 
 2&f of July, 1779,— to th'e foot of -Otsego Lake, 
 
 and encamped his troops upOii the site ,of the 
 jiresent village of Cooperstown. Gen. Clinton 
 here established his quarters, in the bK)ck- 
 liouse referred to, wdiieli had been erected pre- 
 vious to the expedition of 1779, and which 
 \vas situated in the grounds now sun ounriing 
 ai d belonging to the Hall. The troops uudev 
 command of General Clinton, remained en- 
 camped near the Otsego Lake for the space of 
 several weeks, or from about the first of July 
 to to the first week in August. Whilst t^lie 
 troops were encamped at this place, thuy were 
 exercised every day in efficient military drill. 
 Two spi'es, who had 1 eiui c'aptured wdiile the 
 army was pursuing its ra irch from ttic Mo- 
 havCk Vallej' to tlie region of (Jt.-ego, were 
 tried by courts maitial during the time the 
 troops were thus encamped near the outlet 
 of the lake, and were stnteneed to be shot. 
 flcn. Clinton reprieved the sentence of 'one of < 
 these deserters, who was named bnyder— the 
 sentence of the other was promptly carried 
 into eil'lict, the deserters being execiited at a 
 spot lying upon the west side of the lake, near 
 the outlet. Two spies had previouslj^ heen 
 executed while the army 'was enca.mpc'd at 
 Springfield, during the progress (^f its march 
 from the Mokawk^valley to t!ie Otsego Lake 
 One of these. Hare, was a ■Lieutenant in' the 
 British service — the other \( v. ben v, w.is the 
 infamous tory who has befire bi.en ici'crred 
 t'oin connection with his ruthle.'^'hutcheryof 
 the- infant child of the Mitchells, at Cherry 
 Valley. Whilst the troops commanded by 
 Geu.jClinton were encamped at (he foot of the 
 OtsegtJ Lake, aside from the daily drill, they 
 were not idle. Owing, to. tile drouth of iho, 
 summer season, tiie waters ot the outlet, that 
 aiforded communication from the lake to the 
 Susquelianna, had become very-i.ow. ami they 
 wereal.so somewhat obstructed by tlood-w'ocjd, 
 andithus iiom both causes, prestrii ting a bar- 
 rier to their navigation ; and accordingly the 
 troops were employed in the construction of 
 adam;across the outlet ot the lake, which 
 raised the wateis iu the lake to a sufii«-ienfc 
 height, that, upon removal of this artilicial 
 damj the accumulated floods not only re- 
 moved the obstruction of flood- w-ood,&c., but 
 also safely carried the nuin-eious liotilla, num- 
 bering two hundred and lifty boats, and upon 
 which were embarked the' troops, cannon and 
 stores connected with the army, d(.>wn the 
 channel to tiie Susipiehanna — the force under 
 commend of Gen. Clinton forming a •junction 
 at Tioga with the main army, commanded by 
 Gen. Sullivan, ui^n the 22nd of August, 1779. 
 Some traces of this dam, thus constructed by 
 <5en. Clinton's troops, remained visible until 
 a very recent period, in the vicinity of Coo- 
 perstown. A large iron swivel, wliich was 
 said to have been buried by Clinton's troops, 
 while they were encamped at this place, Wi 6 
 found iu digging the ce!l<ir of the house first 
 occui)ied by Judge Cooper. This piece of ar- 
 
38 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 tillerv, which was named the " Cricket," was 
 the onlj' one, lor a number of years, that was 
 used for the purpose of salutes, rejoicings, &c , 
 by the citizens of Cooperstown ; and finally it 
 was bursted while being used in celebrating 
 the anniversary of our national indepenc- 
 ence. 
 
 Mr. William Cooper, as previously remarked 
 had come to the vicinity of Otsego lake in 
 the autumn of 1785, accompanied by a party 
 of surveyors. It should be mentioned that 
 in 1783, while Gen. VVashi.ngton' was making 
 a tour of observation throughout a portion of 
 our country, then so recently formed into an 
 independent empire, after he had made the 
 visit at the Chemung Valley, before referred 
 to in this sketch, the illustrious hero and 
 statesman then proceeded to visit the beau- 
 tiful Otsego Jake, passing along the lovely re-, 
 gion where the village of Cooperstown is now 
 situated ; thus, the immortal Washington was 
 the first actual explorer, after the conclusion of 
 peace, of the region of the Otsego lake — and 
 he was the first to perceive the great natural 
 advantages which it possessed — and his foot- 
 steps, which once were presseil upon this soil, 
 liave made it hallowed ground. 
 
 Gen. W.iSiiiNGTON thus describes this tour, 
 and alludes to his visit to the Otsego lake and 
 the head-quarters of the Susquelianna, in a 
 letter addressed to the Marquis de Chastel- 
 leaux, an exti-act from which I will here give : 
 
 'Trinceton, Oct., 12, 1783. 
 
 My dear Chevalier — I have not had the 
 honor of a letter from you since the 4th of 
 March last. -' » « I have lately made a 
 tour of the lakes George and Champlain as far 
 SIS Crown Point— then returning to Schenec- 
 tady, I proceeded up the Mohawk river to 
 Fort Schuyler,(formerly Fort Stanwix), crossed 
 over Wood Creek which empties into the Onei- 
 da lake, and affords a water communication 
 with lake Ontario. I then traversed the oountry 
 io the head qf the eastern branch of the Susquehanna, 
 ■and viewed the lake Olsego, and the portage be- 
 tween that lake and the Mohawk river at 
 Canajoharie. Prompted by these actual ob- 
 servations, I could not help taking a more 
 contemplative and extensive view of the vast 
 inland navigation of these United States. * * 
 I anj, dear Chevaliier, 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 
 Ge0B)C,e Washington. 
 
 Thus tliis great and illustrious man— "First 
 in war, first in peace, and^A?* in the hearts of 
 his countrymen"— was the first to visit, solely 
 for the purpose oi a visit the region of the Otsego 
 lake. _ As his eye then drank in the matchless 
 beauties of its wild, romantic Scenery, this 
 visit, made at such an early date, forever 
 afterward consecrated the shores of the lovely 
 Otsego, giving it a sacred place among 
 
 " The Delphian vales, the Palestines, 
 The JMeceas of the mind," 
 
 The first permanent settlement which was; 
 made upon the site of the present village of 
 Cooperstown had been formed in 1786 ; dur- 
 ing this year several persons came and located 
 here. A widow lady, by the name of John- 
 son, with her family, were undoubtedly the 
 earliest permanent residents in Cooperstown. 
 They, at first, lived in a log. house, but in the 
 spring of 1786 Mrs. Johnson had a frame house 
 erected, which she sold, during the course of 
 the summer to Mr. William Ellison, the Sur- 
 veyor, who removed the house, the same sea- 
 son, to a place near the outlet, and now in- 
 cluded in the grounds of Edgewater. This 
 house, which was the earliest frame building 
 constructed within the present village of 
 Cooperstown, was two stories in height and of 
 respectable dimensions ; it was applied for the 
 purpose of a tavern. In June, 1786, Mr. John 
 Miller, accompanied by his father, arrived in 
 the vicinity of Cooperstown, then inhabited 
 only by the family of Mrs. Johnson above- 
 mentioned ; and Mr. Miller is still a resident 
 of Cooperstown— the latest, and one of the 
 most honored survivors among the early pio- 
 neers of the region of the Otsego lake. "Upoa 
 the arrival of Mr. Miller, with his father, at 
 this place, they felled a large pine-tree across 
 the river, near the outlet, to answer the pur- 
 pose of a bridge over the stream. The stump 
 of this tree, upon which was inscribed, in 
 white paint, the words "Bridge Tree," wad 
 located within the grounds of Lakelands. 
 During the season of 1787, a bridge, construc- 
 ted of log-abutments and log-sleepers, upon 
 which was placed a rude platform of logs, was 
 built near the outlet. This was the first 
 bridge which allowed the passage of wagons, . 
 constructed across the Susquehanna in the 
 vicinity of Cooperstown. Mr. Israel Guild, 
 William Abbott, and James White, also came 
 during the season of 1786, and settled near the 
 outlet of the lake. It is believed, however, 
 that no families remained in the vicinity of 
 Cooperstown during the ensuing winter, ex- 
 cepting those of Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Guild and 
 Mr. Ellison. Early in the succeding year, 
 Mr. William Cooper, accompanied by his wife, 
 who then came upon a visit, , arrived in the 
 vicinity of the lake. In the same year, a 
 number of cinigrants, mostly from Connec- 
 ticut, settled near the outlet, coustructing 
 log dwellings upon the site of the village of 
 Cooperstown. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1788, Mr. Wil- 
 liam Cooper had commenced the erection of 
 his dwelling house, which was the second 
 house of any considerable size built in Coop- 
 erstown. The house was two stories in height, 
 with two Avings attached. It commanded a 
 fine view of the lake, and, as originally built, 
 stood immediately in front of the mansion 
 now known as the Hall. This building had 
 been represented upon an early map of Coop- 
 er.6±owu, wiiere it is designated as "Majior 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 39 
 
 House." This house was remoyed a short 
 distance in 1799, and in 1812it was completely 
 destroyed by fire. Mr. Guild continued to re- 
 side in the block-house, before referred to, 
 until 1789. The house which had been occu- 
 pied by Mr. Ellison was pulled down in 1812. 
 
 In 1789, Mr. Cooper completed the erection 
 of his residence ; but he did not remove his 
 family to Cooperstown until October, 1790. 
 at this date giving up his residence in the 
 State of New Jersey entirely. During the 
 preceding winter, however, Mr. Cooper had 
 brought a stock of merchandize into the vil- 
 lage, and opened a s<^^ore, a Mr. R. R. Smith 
 transacting the business as merchant in this 
 establishment. In 1790, according to an old 
 document, Cooperstown included, among the 
 buildings it then contained, seven frame 
 houses, three frame barns, &c. From this 
 date, the growth of the village steadily and 
 rapidly progressed. The County of Otsego 
 ■was formed Feb. 16, 1791, and Cooperstown 
 was designated by law as the County scat. 
 William Cooper, upon the organization of the 
 county, received the appointment as Fir.<t 
 Judge of its courts ; and Richard R. Smith 
 was appointed Sheriff. A court house, thirty 
 feet square in dimensions upon the ground, 
 and two stories in height, was built ; the 
 lower story, consistiag of four rooms, was 
 constructed of hewn logs ; the second story, 
 used for the purposes of a court room, was 
 made of frame-work. In this year, 1791, 
 during the summer season, the old Red Lion 
 tavern was built. Several other commodious 
 buildings were also erected in the course of 
 the season. 
 
 Abraham TenBrock, Esq., from New Jersey, 
 who was the earliest lawyer residing at Coop- 
 erstown, came to the village in 1791. Mr. 
 J. G. Fonda, Mr. Joseph Strong, and Mr. Moss 
 Kent, who were respectively members of the 
 legal profession, came and settled at Coopers- 
 town in the course of one or two years. These 
 gentlemen were the earliest lawyers, engaged 
 in the duties of their professioi*, resident in 
 the village. Dr. Fuller, who was the first 
 physician of any prominence or standing in 
 the place, arrived at Cooperstown in June, 
 1781, and continued acctively and successfully 
 employed in the labors incident to his profes- 
 sion, at this place, for the long term of forty- 
 six years. For a considerable time, a space 
 of many years, nearly all of the medical prac- 
 tice in the county was entrusted to Dr. Fuller. 
 The first school kept in the village of Coopers- 
 town was taught by Mr. Joshua Dewey, and 
 was commenced about 1792: o? '9i*. Mr. Dewey 
 was born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1767. He 
 entered college at the age of seventeen, and 
 removed to Otsego county in 1791 ; and, in 
 the school which he established at Coopers- 
 town, J. FennIjiobe Cooper received his ear- 
 cst school instruction, here learning his A. B.C. 
 Ml". Dewey afterward represented the county 
 
 of Otsego in the State Legislature. Mr. Dewey 
 was succeeded, as teacher of the eaily s-chools 
 kept at Cooperstown, by Mr. Oliver Cory, who 
 gave instruction in the elementary branches of 
 education during five days in the course of 
 the week, reserving every Saturday for the 
 purpose of instructing his scholars upon moral 
 and religious subject — the most essential de- 
 partment in the education of life, but which 
 has now become so sadly neglected in the 
 lessons taught either in our common school.s 
 or academies. Mr. Cory had first held his 
 school in the court house building, and subse- 
 quently taught in the first school-house, 
 which was a small wooden building that was 
 erected in the place. He was employed as 
 teacher in the schools at Cooperstown for 
 many years. He had been remembered with 
 kindness by a large number of the promi- 
 nent citizens of Cooperstown, who had once 
 been his pupils; and he departed this life only 
 a few years ago, deeply lamented by all who 
 knew this estimable man. The first public 
 library established in the village was opened 
 March 11th, 1796. Timothy Barnes was ap- 
 pointed, and acted as librarian in this in-stitu- 
 tion. 
 
 The first child born in the vill'.age of Coop- 
 erstown, was in 1792. The child's name 
 was Nathan Howard, a son oi Mr. John How- 
 ard. Mr. W. Abbott, who belonged to the- 
 village community, but did not actually reside- 
 in the village, had a son born some time pre- 
 viously to the birth above mentioned as taking 
 place in the village. This child was chris- 
 tened Eeubea. Another birth had occurred^ 
 upon the patent at Fly Creek, at as early date 
 as 1787. The earliest death within the village 
 occurred Oct. 11th, 1793 ; the deceased was 
 a son of Mr. Griffin, and he v?as buried in a 
 piece of ground then selected for purposes of 
 interment situated where Christ's Church now 
 stands. The earliest post route, reaching Coop- 
 erstown was organized in 1794. This was in 
 accordance with the Act, which passed the- 
 Legislature on the 8th of May, 1794, establish- 
 ing a post route from Albany to Canandaigua 
 and leading through Cherry Valley, Cooners- 
 town, &c. The post office, which was placed 
 under the charge of Joseph Griffin, as post- 
 master, was opened oa June 1st, 1794, at this 
 place. 
 
 The earliest religious exercises pursued upon 
 the Sabbath, at Cooperstown, were conducted 
 by Rev. Mr. Mdrley, a Presbyterian clergy- 
 man, who remained at the village for the 
 period of six months in the year 1795. A short 
 time after his arrival in the place, or in the- 
 month of Aug. 1795, the Presbyterian church, 
 the first religious organization in the village, 
 was formed. The Presbyteri m house of wor- 
 ship, a structure of wood, sixty-four feet in 
 length by fifty in width, was afterward built,, 
 and dedicated up'>n the 6th of August, 1797. 
 In September, 1797, the Rev. 'i'homas Ellisou, 
 
40 
 
 PSTQRICAL.. SKETCH OF -IHE ...GJSBIMUNG , VALLEY, ETC, 
 
 a Protectant Episcopal clergyman, from Al- 
 bany, made a visit to Cooperstown, and while 
 here, held selvice ici accordance with the 
 rites of the Episcopal church, in the Court 
 House. The first organization of the Episco- 
 pal church in Cooperstown, ho we vet, was 
 made Jaiuiary 1st, 1811, under tlie name of 
 C'A/-«*Y Church," and the Rev. Donald Noah was 
 chosen as rector, and he continued to hold 
 this ofiice, informally, down to the period of 
 liis deilth, which occurred in 1799. In the 
 year 1799, Rev. John Frederick Ernst, a Lu- 
 theran clevgNUiin, was enfployel by commu- 
 nicants of his religious sect, to con'Juct the ex- 
 ercises pertaining to their denomination : hut 
 he rem.iineil in the village for the period of 
 (Mily two years. In 1799, the Rev. .lohn Mc- 
 Donald, an estimable clergyman and classical 
 scholar, came to Cooiterstowu and was en- 
 gaged in worthyly co'iiducting^ religious excr- 
 (•ises ; but, I'ke his Divi.ne M.\s-rKR, he was 
 poor, and "■ had not lohere to lay his Iirjid." He 
 was arreste<l !or debt, and was placed upon the 
 limits; but during his imprisonment he con- 
 tinued to preach regularly in the Court House, 
 to the congregation which assembled to listen 
 to his beuificent teachings. It has always 
 been, as it is at the present time, that if a ma?! 
 lias the moral courage, the noMeness of soul, 
 to lead an earnest and pure life, and to lie 
 content v,dth honest poverty, he will be sure 
 to receive the unjust censure and the un- 
 merited persecution of the world. Tims Car- 
 lyle, the rtiost profound and philosophical 
 thinker of our age. in alluding to like i)ersc'''u- 
 tions of worthy men, trutlifully remarks : 
 "Thus persecuted -they the prophets, not ia 
 Judea only, but in all lands where men have 
 been." Suffering and starvation, imprison- 
 ment and crucifixion, are the rewards which 
 men always give to the true and noble bene- 
 factors of the ra,c8 — the glorious martyrs, 
 whofee immortal names are inscribed in im- 
 perishable glory upon the roll of fame. 
 
 These were the earlier religious exercises 
 and church services which had lieen regularly 
 institutcvl at Cooperstown. Other i\digious 
 denominations, as the Baplist, &c., had orga- 
 iiiaed churches and erect(d houses of worship, 
 at a later date, in the village. 
 
 In the year of 1795. the worthy enterprise 
 of establisldng an Academy at Cooperstown, 
 was projected. The academy edifice, which 
 was sixty-five feet in length liy thirty-two feet 
 in width, was secured upon the 18th of Sept. 
 1795. Tuition in the English brandies of in- 
 struction was given in this institution, leaving 
 studies in the department of classical learning 
 to be elsewhere purs-ued. Tliis Academy, 
 however, acquired some distinction. In Sept. 
 1797, it was visited by two of the Regents of 
 the State University, the Lieut. -Governor of 
 the State, and Hie llev. Thomas Ellison. The 
 C>:>operstown Classical and Military Academy, 
 where pupils received thorough military in- 
 
 struction, was in successful operation for some 
 time, reaching its zenith of prospeiity about 
 1839. The students were at one time re- 
 viewed by Gen. Sandford. The Cooperstown 
 Seminary ,was instituted in 1 853-4. The Semi- 
 nary edifice was commenced in , Tune, and the 
 framing completed, and building erected in 
 August. The entire structure was finished in 
 four monUis from its commencement, Mr. 
 L. M. ,Ij(dles being the architect. The school 
 was openeil upon November 15th, 1851. its 
 faculty, at that time, consisting of si.xtecn pro- 
 lessors and teachers. It w'as dedicated on the 
 itth of November, 1854, Bishop Simpson, etc., 
 delivering addresses upon th^ occasion. 
 
 In the spring of 1795, the Otsego Jlerald or 
 Western Advertiser, which was the second 
 journal published in the State west of Alban3% 
 was estalilished at Cooperstown ; the fi^-st 
 number of the paper being issued upon the 
 3rd of April, 1795. Mr. Elihn Phinney was 
 the editor and proprietor of tiie Otsego Herald. 
 It was. published in folio form ; and the quality 
 of the papqr upon which it was issued, was 
 very coarse, and its color was nearly blue. 
 This newspaper was continued by its first i)ro- 
 prietor until the period of his decease, in 1813, 
 and it was then issued by his sons, Messrs. 
 
 F. .& E. Phinney until 1821 . 
 
 Eievt-n d lil-rent newspapers, be.side tlv; 
 Herald, at various periods, have been pub- 
 l.sbod at Cooperstown. These papers were 
 c lUcd the Impartial Observer, the Coopers- 
 town Fcd(;ra!ist, Freeman's Journal, The 
 Switch, The Watch Tower, The Tocsin, The 
 Otsego, Republican, and the Otsego Examiner. 
 The publication of The Country Magazine was 
 commenced at Cooperstown, in 1852, but only 
 continued for the space of a few months. 
 
 Tlie earliest military organization in the 
 vicinity of Cooperstown was formed in 1794. 
 A volunteer compauj' of cavalry, Benjamin \ 
 Griffin, Captain, was then established. The 1 
 earliest regular organization of the militia, 
 however, wa.s not effected until 1798, Jacob 
 Morris, of Butternuts, being the first Brigadier 
 General, and Francis Herring, the first C\)louel, 
 In the regiment which included the village, 
 John Howard was the first Captain of the 
 militia company tovmed in Cooperstown. He 
 was drowned in theSiisqnehanna,. in 1799, and 
 was succeeded by William Sprague. And in- 
 dependent military company of artillery, was 
 .cstabli-shedin 1798, of which William AlJbott 
 was Captain. S. Huntington, lieutenant ; G. 
 
 G. Walker, second lieutenant. 
 
 Upon several occasions during the early 
 hirtory of Cooperstown officers of the Federal 
 Government established recruiting parti.-s in 
 the village—the first time in 1799, when hos- 
 tilities with France were threatened. Lieut. 
 •T. C. Cooper, then enlisted some thirty men 
 in the company which he commanded ; and 
 the second time in lbl2, when Capt. Grosve- 
 nor raised a detachment of riflemen here. 
 
HISTORICAL SKF.TCn OF THE CHEMUNG VAIJ-EY, ETC. 
 
 41 
 
 The growth of Coopeislown. between the 
 years 1775 and 1805, was gr.idual, tut con- 
 tinued steadily to advance. Near the close of 
 the year 1796, Judge Cooper made his contract 
 for the building of the Hall. This was un- 
 doubtedly tlie most elegant private residence, 
 at the lime of its erection, wcst of Schenec- 
 tady. The house was commenced in 17'J(3, 
 and was completed in June, 1799, when the 
 family of Mr. Cooper removed into their new 
 liome. This pleasant mansion still remains 
 one of the finest structures in this section ot 
 the iState, and the largest and mo.st elegantly 
 constructed building which has yet b>;eu con- 
 structed in the vilhige of Cooperstown. 
 
 Richard Fennimore Cooper, Esq.. selected 
 Apple Hill as tl^e site for his pr0()0scd resi- 
 dence in the village, at an early date, and in 
 the year 1800, he had Ins private mansion 
 erected upon tlds spot. His house was the 
 second one constructed in the manner of a 
 villa, built in the village. In year 1803, John 
 M. Bowers, Esq., who was the owner of an 
 estate bounded on its western limits by the 
 ^iusquellanna and the Otsego lake, arrived in 
 the vicinity of Coopei'stowu, anil commenced 
 during the same year, the erection of his resi- 
 dence iit Lakelands. The house was com- 
 pleted, and its proprietor moved into it in 
 1804. This place is not actually within the 
 limits of Cooperstown, but its occupants he- 
 long to the village community. Messrs. John 
 Kussell, Elijah J. Bletcalf, and Robert Camp- 
 bell, all, of whom were men of marked dis- 
 tinction and ability, came to Cooperstown be- 
 tween the years 1795 and 1802, and became 
 permanent residents. Mr. Russell was the 
 second membei of Congress sent from this 
 lilace. Judge Metcalf deceased in 1821, but 
 the other two of these gentlemen lived to pur- 
 sue a long and distinguished career of public 
 usefulness, receiving the respect and honors 
 which continued to be so justly awarded them. 
 In 1802, John Miller constructed a brick 
 house, which was the second one built in the 
 place. In 1804, Judge Cooper caused a stone 
 building to be erected, which was designed 
 and used as a residence for his daughter, who 
 ]iad married Mr. Pomeroy, who came from 
 Massachusetts and located in Cooperstown in 
 1801. This house was the first stone building 
 erected in the village. In the year 1810, 
 Isaac Cooper, Esq., commenced the erection 
 
 numbered 080 inhabitants. The original pro- 
 prietor of the village plot, William Cooper, 
 Est]., and to whose cai)acity and energy the 
 village of Cooperstown, not less than the 
 County of Otsego, was principally indebted 
 for its great and substantial growth a^nl pros- 
 perity during theeariy period of the settle- 
 ment of the region of the Otsego, after bf had 
 been a j ermaneut resident of the village lor 
 nineteen years, died upon the 22nd of Decem- 
 ber, 1809' 
 
 Judge Cooper had reached the age of fifty 
 five years at the period of his decease, which 
 occurred at Albany. His niime, more promi- 
 nently than that of any other citizen ot Coop- 
 erstown, is identified with the early history of 
 the place. Mr. Cooper had been appointed 
 in 1791, as the first Judge of the County of 
 Otsego, organized in that year. He had also 
 been elected in 1794, as Member of Congress, 
 and was the first representative of the district 
 in the National Legislature, where he re- 
 mained, I believe, by virtue of repeated elec- 
 tions, during the continuous and long period 
 of seventeen years. 
 
 The visit of Washington to the spot where 
 Cooperstovva is now located has already been 
 mentioneJ. This place has also been visited 
 at various times by other distinguished gentle- 
 men. 'J'alleyrand, the eminent diplomatist, 
 during his sojourn in our country, had passed 
 a number ol days in the village of Coopers- 
 town, making his home, whilst here, beneath 
 the hospitable roof of Judge Cooper. An 
 acrostic, written to Miss Anria Cooper, and 
 which was inserted in the Otsego Herald of 
 Oct. 2nd, 1795, has been ascribed to the facile 
 pen of the accomplished French diplomatist. 
 I'his Verse commenced as follows : 
 "Amiable philosophe, an prlnteras dn son' age.' 
 It may be mentioned that Miss Cooper, to 
 wht)m these lines were addressed, was killed 
 in falling from a horse in the town of Butter- 
 nuts, on the 18th of September, 1800 ; and 
 her funeral sermon Avas preached by Rev. D. 
 Nash, and she was buried in accordance with 
 tlie rites of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 then, for the firet time, iierformed in the vil- 
 lage of Cooperstown. , It is said that Talley- 
 rand was much delighted with his visit hei.c, 
 in the midst of the quiet and romantic scenery 
 of the Otsego Lake, and mingling in .socii;ty 
 which might challenge favorable C(uup irison 
 
 of his house at Edgewater, but this elegant] with the aristocracy of the pioud French 
 
 residence was not completed until some three 
 or four years afterward. In the year 1807 an 
 act had p^issed the Legislature providing for 
 the incorporation of the place, as "the Village 
 of Otsego," — but, as a majority of the inhabi- 
 tants of village were dissatisfied with the pro- 
 visions of this act, they remained a dead letter 
 iqion the statute book. A new law, incorpo- 
 rating the place as the village of Cooperstown, 
 was enacted upon Jane 12th, 1812. At this 
 time, the village contained loo houses, and 
 
 capital. 
 
 Upon the 17th of September, 180o, Governor 
 Lewis, the E.x^ecutive of the State of New York, 
 at the time, accompanied by Adjutant-General 
 Van Rensaclear, m ulc a visit to Cooperstown. 
 In the month of September, 1839, the Hon. 
 Martin Van Bnren, then President of the Uni- 
 ted States, visited Cooperstown. The Presi- 
 dent, who had come from Fort Plain in com- 
 pany with Judge Nelson, and several other 
 distinguished citizens ot Cooperstown, was es- 
 
42 
 
 niSTOmCAL SKETCH OF TIfE CHEMUNG VALI.EV, ETC. 
 
 curted into the village by several hundred 
 inhabitants of the place, and the q-jeat states- 
 man was enthusiastically received by large 
 numbers of his political friends, residents of 
 Otsego, who had assembled near the Eagle 
 Hotel ; the Hon. E. B. Morehouse welcoming 
 President Van Buren to their midst by an ap 
 propriate address, and to which Mr. VanBuren 
 made ^n able and eloquent reply. I may heie 
 remark that President VanBuren possessed a 
 great, sagacious and comprehensive mind 
 which grasped and successfully solved the most 
 difficult and most profound questions of pub- 
 lic policy ; and his public career, in which he 
 had discharged with eminent ability and in- 
 tegrity the responsible and important diiUes 
 connected with the offices which he held at 
 different times as Governor of the State of 
 New York, Senator in the United States' Con- 
 gress, Secretary of States, in connection with 
 President Jacksons administration, Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and President of the 
 United States, has indeed given Mr. VanBuren 
 an eminent rank with the great and illustrious 
 statesmen of our land. The rare and fascina- 
 ting social qualities which Mr. Van Buren 
 possessed, alwaj'S ready to respond to the calls 
 made upon his attention by his fellow-citizens, 
 have also given him an endearing claim to the 
 grateful remembrance of his countrymen. 
 President Van Buren remained at Cooperstown 
 for several days, participating in a cordial and 
 friendly interchange of views with other dis- 
 tinguished men of that period, who occupied 
 the front rank among the jurists and legisla- 
 tors of our country — the Hon. Samuel Nelson, 
 and Hon. John H. Prentiss — the compeers of 
 Fuch men as Story, Kent, Benton, Clay, and 
 Webster. Whilst I thus gaze through the 
 Tista of the past, and recall this scene, I can 
 again see the majestic form of Mr. VanBuren 
 mingling in this group, which his calm, com- 
 prehensive intellect rules its discussions, and 
 gives to its associations the lofty earnestness 
 and grandeur which characterized that epoch 
 iu our national history : 
 
 "And years, as if by magic flee, 
 And leave us iu his grand old time." 
 
 Among the distinguished men who thus 
 welcomed President Van Buren to their midst 
 at Cooperstown, and with whom that illustri- 
 ous statesman then so cordially associated, I 
 believe the Hon. Samuel Nelson is now one 
 of the latest surviving representatives ; as he 
 is, indeed, almost the last representative of 
 that more glorious era in the history of our 
 country, which with our mourned and departed 
 statesmen, has passed away forever. The 
 Hon. Samuel Nelson was born in Washington 
 county, N. Y. He pursued his studies, and 
 graduated at Middlebury College, in Vermont, 
 and afterwards read law. In 1817 he com- 
 menced the practice of his chosen profession 
 in Cortlandt county, N. Y., where by the ex- 
 ercise of his brillfant legal abilities he soon 
 
 acquired an extended and permanent forensic 
 reputation. He received the appointment of 
 Circuit Judge in 182o, and di.'icharged the 
 arduous duties attached to this position with 
 unsurpassed and rare ability and honor for a 
 number of years. Whilst Jlr. Nelson was thus 
 engaged in the performance of his labors aa 
 Circuit Judge, or about the year 1825, he re- 
 moved to Cooperstown. Mr. Cooper here 
 married the only daughter of Judge Eussel, 
 and made his residence for some time at Apple 
 Hill ; but, in 1827, purchasing Fenniraore, lie 
 enlarged the house then upon the premises, 
 re-modelling it into a commodious and ele- 
 gant family mansion. In 1833, Mr. Nelson 
 received an appointment to another and still 
 more elevated judicial position, being pro- 
 moted to the bench of the Supreme Court of 
 the State of New York ; and in 1831 he was 
 appointed Chief Justice of the State. This 
 eminent position, in which Judge Nelson was 
 now called to act, ruling by his superior legal 
 ability and knowledge the deliberations of 
 this august judicial tribunal, has indeed been 
 adorned by the labors of several of the most 
 learned and distinguished jurists of our land, 
 and whose reputation will rival that earned 
 by the most illustrious jurists of other lands } 
 but the pure and lofty fame which Judge NeK 
 son had here so nobly won, the ermine which 
 he had thus worn for the period of fifteen 
 years, whilst discharging the duties of the most 
 exalted judicial position within the State,- in 
 its purity, and its simple, majestic grandenr, 
 has as yet been unrivalled — yet gathering 
 around it the highest forensic glories of our 
 State. At the period of the history in our 
 State when Judge Nelson received his appoint- 
 ment, the State Judiciary sustained a much 
 higher position, so far as the ability, sound- 
 ness and learning of its members were con^ 
 cerned, than it has for the past few yeara. 
 The appointing power was then vested in the 
 hands of those who brought wisdom and expe- 
 rience in making choice of judicial officers : 
 but at the present time it is lodged with the 
 people — large numbers of whom are ignorant 
 of the policy of our laws, and even ignorant 
 of the names of the candidates for whom they 
 cast their suffrage. This evil— the extension 
 of suffrage, or placing the supreme power of 
 the state in the hands of ignorant classes, 
 who were incapable of exercising this sove- 
 reignty in accordance with their own know- 
 ledge, but were led and controlled by other 
 and more artful men, had been the principal 
 cause in accomplishing the ruin and down- 
 fall cf the old llepublics, and this evil, in our 
 own land, now constitutes the great danger, 
 than which none greater can exist, to the sta- 
 bility and permanence of our own Republic. 
 The Federal Judiciary has always constituted 
 the great safeguard not only to the liberties 
 and civil rights of the citizens of the Republic, 
 but also to the pennanence of the Republic 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHE.MUXG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 43 
 
 itself. The counsels of this body, as it is 
 fornied by the Constit\ition, are subject only 
 to the control o'calm iind enlightened reason 
 and law, and are swayed neither by the dicta- 
 tion of arbitrary authority, nor by popular 
 clamor — but, uninfluenced by the excitement 
 of the passing hour, applies the fixed princi- 
 ples of the Constitution in testing the validity 
 of all acts and enactments. In 1845, Judge 
 Nelson received appointment as one of tlie 
 Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States ; and he has now performed the 
 duties of this position for a longer time, and 
 the commencement of his official labors dates 
 further back than the services of any other 
 member of the Supreme Court of the nation. 
 Fortunately for the security of American 
 liberty, and the stability of our free institu- 
 tions and laws, the Supreme Court — from the 
 time that Marshall had presided over its de- 
 liberations, down to it.s recent sessions — was 
 ruled by the master-mind of the eminent 
 Chief Justice, Chase, who is alike distinguished 
 as a jurist and a statesman — has invariably 
 been composed of the ablest jurists, most can- 
 did and upright men of our nation. Political 
 prejudices and excitements, which have 
 swayed other branches of the Government, 
 have not influenced this august judicial tribu- 
 nal. It is but simply just to say, that, lofty 
 as alwaj'S has been the prestige of the Supreme 
 Court. It has been amply sustained by the 
 eminent legal erudition, the profound and va- 
 ried forensic learning, not less than the recog- 
 nition of the comprehensive principlees of 
 justice in the arbitrament of cases coming un- 
 der his jurisdiction, which has ever marked, in 
 a pre-eminent degree, the career of the illus- 
 trious juri.st — the Hon. Samuel Nelson. The 
 judicial opinions, and decisions which have 
 been given by Judge Nelson, have always 
 been marked by the clear and logical force of 
 their arguments, sustained by an unanswer- 
 able array of facts, and a profound exposition 
 of the principles of constitutional law, and 
 addressed to the reason and the judgment, and 
 they will take their place in history as 
 models of eloquence — majestic and beautiful, 
 and unadorned save by their truth and ex- 
 haustless learning. In the discussion of the 
 legal questions involved in these opinions. 
 Judge Nelson has indeed evinced that giant 
 grasp of mind, the massive strength of judg- 
 ment, the great argumentative power, which 
 have so- fully shown the unmatched propor- 
 tions of his colossal intellect, and which, ad- 
 ded to long experience, has given to Judge 
 Nelson the pre-eminent fame as one of tiie 
 ablest and wisest, not less than the most 
 illustrious jurist now living in our state, or 
 in our country. Excepting the time when 
 Judge Nelson has been absent to se.ssions of 
 the Supreme Court, he has resided at Coopers- 
 town, making his home in this pleasant vil- 
 lage for the past forty years, well known fui 
 
 his many virtues, the purity and excellence 
 of his moral character, and the unobtrusive 
 greatness of intellect which give shape to the 
 truly eminent character ot this illustrioiis 
 man. Long may the village of Cooperstown 
 be honored by his living presence, and profit 
 by the force of his example; and when ho 
 shall depart from earth to be admitt(ul to the 
 courts above, the influence of his life will con- 
 tinue to endure and gather strength, and his 
 own great fame shall indeed ])e immortal — 
 and then, the simple fact that his home had 
 been in Cooperstown, will ever constitute one 
 of the most brilliant honors in its escutcheon 
 which history can lecord. 
 
 Among the other distinguished men who 
 had welcomed President Van Buren to Coop- 
 erstown, in 1839, and had also accompanied 
 the great New York statesman from this place 
 to Cherry Valley, were the Hon. E. B. More- 
 house, and Hon. John H. Prentice— already 
 referred to in these papers. Judge Morehouse 
 was born at Hillsdale, Columbia Co., N. Y., 
 about the year 1791. He came to Coopers- 
 town in 1815, here studied law, and entered 
 upon the labors connected with his profession, 
 which he successfully pursued for many years, 
 a portion of this time being engaged as Dis- 
 trict Attorney. At the first State election 
 under the State constitution of 1846 he was 
 elected as Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
 State, and drawing for the long term, had six 
 years to serve in this capacity, from the 1st of 
 January. 1850. But the angel of death camo 
 to summon him to the tribunals above. He 
 died upon Dec. 16th, 1849. Atameetingof 
 the Otsego bar, held socn after his death, re- 
 solutions expressive of the loss which the pro- 
 fession and the community had sustained, 
 were passed. 
 
 The Hon. John H. Prentice was born in 
 Worcester, Mass., April 17, 1784. Upon the 
 8th of January, 1803, Mr Prentice arrived at 
 Cooperstown, and at once established the 
 Freeman's Journal, of which he was the editor 
 and publisher, with the exception of ten or 
 twelve months, until Janunry, 1849. Mr. Pren- 
 tice was representative in Congress during the 
 four years of President Van Buren's adminis- 
 tration, and sustained politically the policy of 
 the President. Col. Prentiss had taken a 
 prominent part in assisting the worthy enter- 
 prises of Otsego County for half a century, and 
 was regarded as a leader in public affairs here. 
 He died, after an illness of some three months, 
 on the 26th day of June, 1861. 
 
 In the year 1828, the Hon. John A Dix pur- 
 chased Apple Hill, where Judge Nelson had 
 first made his resideence ; but Mr. Dix, on 
 removing to Albany at the time of his ap- 
 pointment as Adjutant-General of the State of 
 New York, sold this delightful place to Levi 
 C.Turner, Esq. Judge Turner was boru in 
 Claremont, H. H., pursued his studies at 
 Dartmouth and Union Colleges, studied law 
 
44 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHF.JIUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 with the Hon. E. B. Morehouse, of Coopers- 
 town, and became a permanent resident of the 
 viUage in 1827. Here he married a daughter 
 of Robert Campbell, Esq., of Cooperstown. He 
 was elected County Judge in 18-35, and was 
 again elected to the same office in 1859. He 
 coutimied to pursue an honorable and distin- 
 i;nished professional career, n\ which he ever 
 met with great success, until the period of his 
 recent lamented decease. 
 
 The Hon. Schuyler Crippen, a native of 
 Worcester, Otsego County, N. Y., where he 
 rchided and practiced law, removed to Coop- 
 erstown in 1836, and here continued in the 
 snccessfal prosecution of the labors of his pro- 
 fession for many years. In 1851 he was elected 
 to the Bench of the Supreme Court of the 
 ytate of New York, to fill the unexpired term, 
 then four years, of the Hon. E. B. Morehouse, 
 deceased. 
 
 Robert Campbell, Esq., whose name has 
 been previously mentioned in these annals, 
 had been known for the period of some forty- 
 five years, as one of the ablest lawyers in the 
 village of Cooperstown, and above all this, as 
 an honest man — "the noblest work of God." 
 Mr. Campbell was born in Cherry Valley, m 
 1782- He pursued his studies and graduated 
 at Union College, came to Cooperstown in 
 1802, and soon earned, by his professional la- 
 bors as a lawyer, not less from the soundness 
 of his views than from the marked integrity of 
 his character, a distinguished place among the 
 prominent lawyers of Otsego County ; and he 
 maintained this enviable position till his de- 
 cease. Mr. Robert Campbell belonged to the 
 very justly distinguished Campbell family of 
 Cherry Valley. His brother, the Hon. James 
 8. Campbell, previously named, is still living, 
 being now in the 'J6th year of his age, and his 
 mental faculties still remain good, though his 
 body gradually yields to the pressure of years, 
 now filling nearly a century of time, llie 
 Campbell family had originally come from 
 Scotland, in the early part of the eighteenth 
 century. 'J'he Campbells, a name celebrated 
 in history and song, trace back their genea- 
 logy over a thous«ind years, and belonged to 
 tlie powerful clan of Argyle. Some years 
 since, a nephew of Robert Campbell, the Hon. 
 Wm. W. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, visited 
 the purple, heather-clad hiils of the land of 
 bis ancestors. While making this sojourn in 
 Scotland, the Celtic Society held its festival 
 upon the lawn near the ancient castle of the 
 Duke of Argyle ; and its members gave to Mr. 
 Campbell a true Scottish welcome. The Presi- 
 dent of the Society, in a beautiful address, 
 stated that a wanderer from the ancestral 
 Hock had now returned to the land of his 
 fathers, and was now among this gathering of 
 his clan — and moved that he be elected an 
 honorary member of the Society. This mo- 
 tion was enthusiastically carried by acclama- 
 o,ition, the health of the new. member drank 
 
 with highland honors — each chieftain carrying 
 hisaiass around his head with the righthand, 
 repeating in Gaulish, '• Neish. neish, sheel ora, 
 iM'ifsh !" — and then, the old Piper struck up 
 the tunc of the song of the clan at the meet- 
 ing in 174C — 
 
 " 0, youTc long in coining, hut you're welcome." 
 The Campbell family, from the remote pe- 
 riod of 1741, when Mr. James Campbell (the 
 grandfather of Robert Campbell, Esq ) re- 
 moved from Londonderry. N. H. , and with 
 several of his compagnnns du voyage, came to 
 the vicinity of Cherry Valley, and here formed 
 the pioneer settlement in this region, down to 
 the present time, wlien this branch of the 
 ancient clan, whose home had once been amid 
 the far hills of Argyleshire, are now repre- 
 sented by such nobie men as William W. 
 Campbell, etc., have always maintained a 
 prominent and justly distinguished position, 
 alike in social and political relations, within 
 Otsego County. 
 
 Among other gentlemen of considerable dis- 
 tinction, who have been residents of Coopers- 
 town during longer or shorter periods of time, 
 I may name Hon. George Morell, Gen. Jacob 
 Morris, Richard Cooper, Esq., etc. The reader 
 has already inferred, from the names of dis- 
 tinguished families who have been referred to 
 as residents of Cooperstown, that this pleasant 
 rural village should pos.sess an established and 
 refined class of society. This has indeed been 
 the fact from an early date in the settlement 
 of the village, and it is now the only place, 
 perhaps, among the country towns, whose in- 
 habitants, or the more cultivated portion of 
 them, possess those high moral and intellec- 
 tual endowments, the virtuous principles and 
 refined tastes which unite in forming true ex- 
 cellence of character, and by which indivi- 
 duals can properly, in their associated capa- 
 city, be recognized as Society. For it will be 
 clearly seen, that aside from this elevated 
 standaid which recognizes true womanhood 
 and true manhood as constituted by Nature, 
 and nnpervei-ted by false education — the love 
 of the Beautiful, which is implanted in the 
 mind of every individual fashion in the image 
 of the Creator, and by which man is alone 
 distinguished from the brutes, (for the ani- 
 mals all enjoy eating, drinking, sleeping, the 
 warmth of their coats, locomotive, enjoyment 
 of the senses, as well as man), and without 
 mankind possessed this higher faculty, the 
 divine attribute of communing with the True 
 and Beautiful, it need not be argued that it is 
 just as impossible that they can be constituted 
 as Society, as it is for the brutes to be thus or- 
 ganized. The village of Cooperstown, in 
 which many of the most worthy and accom- 
 plished families of our country have resided 
 has always sustained an honorable pre-emi- 
 nence in this respect : its society, alike in the 
 pure tastes and exemplary associations which 
 it has fostered, has ever aimed to be aristocrats, 
 
I I3T0RICAI, SKETCH OF THE CHEMUXG VAU.P.V. KTC. 
 
 45 
 
 — adopting as its only test the truthful, almost 
 inspired words : 
 
 "A man's a man, for a' that." 
 
 This state of ^fxiety, refined and of hifrh 
 moral tone, hy which the villa,u:e of C<)oi)ers- 
 town stands so pre-eminently distinguished, is 
 in striking contrast with that pretentious, 
 sham aristocracy which starts up in every 
 little village, as well as in cities, and which is 
 composed of well-dressed fools, — hrainless fops. 
 who can boast of a certain class of crimes and 
 vicious indulgence, together with silly, sim- 
 pering votaries of fashion, whose papas chance 
 to have a pile of "Oreenhacks" laid up— none 
 of whom are intellectually, and certainly not 
 morally, above the level of the brutes. It is 
 this despicable, disgusting mushroom aris- 
 tocratic society, which so justly excites die 
 ridicule of all refiued society, either of America 
 or Europe. 
 
 I have now only to trace one other interest- 
 ing episode in the annals of Cooperstown. 
 This rural village has been tlie home, not 
 only of the illustrious jtirists whose public ca- 
 reer I have already iinpertectiy traced, but 
 likewise of the great American novelst, — 
 J. FennimoreCoo\)er, Esq.,— v.ho occupied the 
 fi'ont rank among the most eniincDt literary 
 men of all lands and of all time, and whose 
 imperishable works will carry the name of 
 this village, whei-e he resided, down to the re- 
 motest age in the roll of future time. 
 
 J. Fennimore Cooper was born September 
 15th, 1719, at Burlington, N. J. In October, 
 1770, then between two and three years of 
 age, be was brought by his parents to the vici- 
 nity of Otsego lake, and his early boyhood 
 years were passed in Cooperstown. It is said 
 that he delighted in all manly sports, ridmg, 
 shooting, fishing, skating, etc., and he found 
 pleasurable excitement amid the wildwoods 
 surrounding his highland home, or in trinr- 
 niing the sails or handling the oars of his boat 
 upon the waters of the Otsego lake. The ac- 
 tive, impetuous, and generous boy is next 
 sent to the school of Rev. Mr. Ellison, at Al- 
 bany, where he made rapid progress, and at 
 the early age of thirteen years he was admitted 
 to Yale College. Young Fennimo're Cooper 
 remained at college three years ; then, obey- 
 ing the impulses of his earnest, impetuous 
 temperament, he went to sea, making his 
 earliest voyage to England. In 1805 he en- 
 tered the American navy, first in the cipacity 
 of midshipman, from which he was soon pro- 
 moted to the office of lieutenant. Cooper fol- 
 lowed the sea for four years. In 1811, having 
 previously resigned his position in the navy, 
 Fennimore Cooper returned to New York, 
 and marrying Miss Su.san Delancy, they first 
 made their home at Seasdale, Westchester 
 county, where Cooper found employment and 
 pleasure in improving a farm, landscape gar- 
 dening, and in literary pursuits. While here, 
 Ue wrote the first chapter of his earliest novel, 
 
 Precaution, mainly for his own amusement at 
 the time, hut reading it to his wife, she urged 
 him to proceed with the stcjiy. wliieh he, thus 
 sanctioned iiy her approval, accordingly did. 
 I believe this novel, the earliest literary ])ro- 
 duction of his gifted pen, was published in 
 1820. This early work, though containing 
 some blemishes, nevertheless gave brilliant 
 promise of tlie surpassing genius and excel- 
 lence which the author in after years so emi- 
 nently evinced. This novel was quite favo- 
 rably received in America and also in Europe. 
 It was, almost the first among American 
 hooks, very fav(uably reviewed by the Eng- 
 lish pie.^s. One imblication, speaking of the 
 fiew work, said : " Whoever may be the 
 writer, we have to congratulate the public on 
 the accession of a novelist possessing a peculiar 
 felicity of talent for this species of composi- 
 tion." This Novel appeared at an oppoi tune 
 time in regard to giving the nanie <f our 
 country a place in the literature of the world. 
 England, and other nations of Euro|ie, had 
 hitherto denied that our country possesse'l 
 any literary talent — a short time previous to 
 the issue ol Cooper's works, a prominent Eng- 
 lish Review asking : "Who, in the four quar- 
 ters of the globe, reads an American book?" 
 J. Fennimore Cooper thus v<ilunteeied to as- 
 sert, and to sustain by unanswerable proof, 
 the reputation ofhis country in the world of 
 letters ; and which he afterwards continued 
 to maintain by his genius and remarkable in- 
 tellectual powers. 
 
 It may be said that the works of Cooper 
 have been translated into a greater number 
 of foreign languages than the writings of any 
 other author, either of this or of foreign lands. 
 The issue of his first novel '•Precaution," 
 showed the earliest impulses in the genuine, 
 vigorous existence of American literature. 
 Wirt had written and published some able and 
 fascinating productions. Charles Brockdeu 
 Brown had also written several novels, as 
 " Wieland," etc., which, although neglected 
 by the reading world, still, in the mysterious 
 gloom and interest which the author flung 
 around these delineations of life amia the 
 crowded streets of cities and thoroughfares of 
 human existence, evinced an unusual order of 
 talent. But, the publication of Cooper's ear- 
 lier tales was the first precursor to the brilliant 
 and solid triumphs of American literature. It 
 was about this period, the time when "Pre- 
 caution," and his second novel, " The Spy," 
 was published, (in 1820-21)— that several other 
 meritorious works by American authors, as the 
 "Sketch Book,'' by Washington Irving ; "The 
 Idle Man," by Pdchard Henry Uana, which 
 continue among our classical works in prose, 
 were issued ; and in the same year that "The 
 Spy" was sent to the press, in 1821, the first 
 edition of poems by Fitz Greene Halleck, and 
 also by William Cullen Bryant, were pub- 
 lished— thsee poets, together with George D, 
 
u 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 Prentice, still luaitit I Ang their proud pre- 
 eminence as the three most splendidly en- 
 dowed, most eminent and illustrious poets of 
 our own land— and now, wlit,n Byron, and 
 Moore, and IScott, and Goethe have passed 
 away, and no longer illuminate by the litcl't 
 of their genius the world of song — the-e three 
 Ameiiean anthor«, this immortal triumvirate, 
 now liold the {)re-eminent rank as the greatest 
 and most distinguished poets of our age. The 
 resplendent glory which their genius has flung 
 around American literature, the lustre which 
 it has shed around tlie name of our country, 
 however, has heen amply stistained by the 
 poetical productions of Miss Phehia Carey ai*;l 
 Miss Alice Carey, and also hy Willis. Dana, 
 Bayarti Taylor, T. B. Reade, Holmes, Whittier 
 and Saxe. 
 
 And, in the fascinating department of lite- 
 rature where Cooper first led the way, and 
 had axiquired such wide and resplendent fiime. 
 such brilliant writers of fiction as Edgar Allen 
 Poe, Nathaniel flawthoine. Miss H. E. Pres- 
 cott, Herman Melvilic, George William Cur- 
 tis, John P. Kennedy, W. G. Sims, and R. H. 
 Dana, Jr. have labored with eminent success, 
 and won the enduring laurels of fame. 
 
 In the department of historical writing, the 
 great and illustrious liistorian, George Ban- 
 croft, Esq., justly occupies the most eminent 
 position ; and, in the unequalled value of his 
 material, and the elaborate manner in which 
 his comprehensive genius has given it shape in 
 rearing the immortal temple of American 
 history, he stands alone— in the unrivalled 
 grandeur of his intellect unapproached and 
 unsipproachable, and he has nobly earned the 
 laurels of enduring fame— has won the lofty 
 pre-eminence as the ablest and most illustrious 
 historian of our age, not less than of all time. 
 
 I am aware that there are many who object 
 to the particular department of writing which 
 J. Fennimore Cooper has chosen, because it is 
 mainly fiction — romance ; but, I can well say, 
 that so faar as my own researches have ex- 
 tended, his several tales whose scenes are laid 
 within the section of Central New York, as 
 "The Spy," "Pioneers," "Last of the Mohi- 
 cans," "Path Finder," "Deer Slayer," etc., 
 more truthfully illustrate our early history, 
 when the red man and the pioneer shared in 
 the occupation of our country, and better de- 
 scribes the character of either the Indian or 
 the harey emigrant, than is done in any of the 
 professed histories, or narratives of events 
 transactetl in this region — perhaps excepting 
 the very reliable work written by Mr. Camp- 
 bell, the "Annals of Tryou County." 
 
 In fact, the early years of Cooper's life, 
 which were passed amid the wilds of Otsego, 
 in frequent association with the aboriginal 
 occupants of the forest, and the rough settlers 
 here and there found amid the new clearings, 
 )iad furnished the material from which his 
 genius, like some fairy Ariel, so faithfully re- 
 
 produced the exact images and pictures of 
 pioneer life, and so faithfully delineated the 
 real charncteristics of both the red man and 
 the primitive settler. He has truthfully de- 
 lineated human life as it actually existed, and 
 has aconately described the piciures^que sce- 
 nery ot this region of the State, the vicinity of 
 Otsego lake and the Susquehanna ; and it is 
 certainly not material that the novelist should 
 have adopted, in designating the various per- 
 sons represented in his nanatives by the precise 
 names of living individuals. 
 
 It is asserted that Enoch Crosby, who lived 
 at Southeast, Dutchess, (now Putnam) Co., at 
 the time of the Revolution, was the individual 
 from whom Cooper drew the fictitious charac- 
 ter of Harvey Birch, in the "Spy" ; and Timo- 
 thy Murphy, the Virginia rifleman, whose un- 
 erring aim had sent the bullet which termi- 
 nated the life of General Frazier, at Saratoga — 
 formed the original of one of fhe characters 
 represented in Cooper's works ; while Ship- 
 man, the hunter and fisherman of the Otsego 
 region, was the real individual from whom the 
 masterly delineratiou of Leatherstocking is 
 drawn. 
 
 The novelist has faithfully described real 
 life ; and he has clothed his narratives with 
 not more of the gorgeous coloring of Romance 
 than actual lite very frequently gives to tho 
 changing scenes which we encounter, not more 
 of romance than many, those indeed who have 
 a soul capable of the emotions of passion, re- 
 alize in their daily existence. And the deline- 
 ation of the passion of love has held its spell 
 over the pen of the novelist and poet, and 
 held in its enchantment the interest of the 
 reader, from the earliest era of human exist- 
 ence, and will continue thus to assert its 
 power while time shall endure. The passioa 
 of love, while it is the most intense and ab- 
 sorbing sentiment which can actuate the hu- 
 man breast, is, at the same time, one of the 
 purest and holiest, in its impulses and aspira- 
 tions, which can thrill the bosom ; it is a sen- 
 timent, a feeling, which is always pure — altho' 
 it becomes so often improperly confounded 
 with a debased animal appetite, to which it is 
 as unlike and far removed as Paradise from 
 Pluto's realm. 
 
 It is sometimes objected, that the persons 
 represented in these stories are placed in situ- 
 ations which they might use for wrongful pur- 
 pose ; but, I should imagine that little confi- 
 dence should be placed in the virtuous prin- 
 ciples of those who refrained from vice simply 
 because no opportunity presented for its indul- 
 gennce. The pure in heart will remain pure, 
 and stainless of sin, under whatever circum- 
 stances they may be placed. 
 
 The delineations of the passion of love, 
 given by Cooper, are drawn with a masterly 
 hand, are drawn from nature and from life. 
 Over the fascination pages where he describes 
 Mabel Dunham, Elizabeth Temple, etc., etc., 
 
ttlStORtCAL .SItETCtt OF TFIE CHEMUN'G VALl-KY, ETC. 
 
 47 
 
 over the romantic episofles woven amid tliese 
 heroines of boviifr-lilo -tlie f;iir maiden long 
 will lingevi with glowing anil wiliHy-bcating 
 heart, until aha pillows her soft cheek iii)on 
 these enchanting pages in slnmher, but with 
 her dreams, bathed with love's rosy light, 
 only to return and dwell amid the fairy so-iies 
 described in these vol unites. Perhaps no other 
 author has so truthfully delineated the noble 
 seutiment of Friend^^hip, as it sometimes ex- 
 ists in real life ; nor, in all the range of fiction, 
 can there be found a character, more original 
 in its conception, in its delineation or masti-rly 
 noble, generous, and pure, in the qualities 
 •with which it is invested, than the Lealiier- 
 htocking— a character which the rare genius 
 of the novelist has successfully, and with con- 
 stantly increasing interest, carried through 
 five different stories, "The Pioneers," "The 
 Liist of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The 
 Pathfinders," and "The Deer Slayer." 
 
 In Cooper's first romance of the gca, "The 
 Pilot," the character of Tom CofiiM, and also 
 of Bolthorpe, are drawn with scarcely less 
 vigor than his finest touches of pioneer life. 
 In his various tales of the sea, "'Jhe Pilot," 
 "Red Kover," "Two Admirals," "Wing-and- 
 Wing," "Afloat and Ashore," "The Water 
 Witch," etc., which are illustrated with the 
 bold and striking mragery borrowed from his 
 own adventurous life upon the ocean for six 
 years, he has given inimitable descriptions of 
 the beauty and grandeur which haunts the 
 sea, and truthfully described the romantic ca- 
 reer of the hardy, generous seamen. In the 
 class of his novels relating to the sea, Cooper 
 has no rival. 
 
 I cannot d>vell upon the various novels of 
 this great author. Commencing with the 
 publication of "Precaution," in 1820, and 
 terminating with the "Ways of the Hour," iu 
 1850, including in this time the production of 
 thirty-nine different tales, all of them marked 
 by strong originality, and the larger portion 
 bearing the impress of unequalled genius and 
 intellectual power. 
 
 ■ The residence of J. Fennimore Cooper, iu 
 Westchester county, after his mairiage con- 
 tinued for some length of time. He then re- 
 moved to Cooperstown, and passed several 
 years upon his place near the beautiful Otsego 
 lake ; and about the year 1818, he removed, 
 with his family, to Xew York city, and while 
 there, associated with the most emiuent men 
 of the nation, as Chancellor Kent, Durand, 
 whose name has been rendered illustrious as 
 the first artist of our age ; President King, of 
 Columbia College, Verplanck, Bryant and 
 Halleck, who then, as now, ranked as the first 
 poets of our land, etc. 
 
 In 1826, the year in which ihc "Last of the 
 Jlohicans" was published, Cooper went with 
 liis'family to Europe, and made his residence 
 for some time in Paris, where he associated 
 upon terms of intimate friendship w'itli the 
 
 Marquis de LaFayette, and other distinguished 
 men of France. 
 
 In 18o3, after a sojourn of seven years in 
 various countries of Europe, but residing prin- 
 cipally in France, Cooper returned to the Uni- 
 ted States. He afterwards pnUlished a seriea 
 of graphic and inti'iesting sketches relating to 
 the various countries in Europe which he had 
 visited, in a work of eight voUimes. Soon 
 after his return from Europe, Cooper made 
 his permanent home in the village of Coopers- 
 town, at the old family residence— the Hall — 
 upon the Routl)i;rn bci'der of the Otsego lake. 
 Here he employed his time in literary pur- 
 suits, generally writing during the earlier por- 
 tion of the day, and in agricultural employ- 
 ments. 
 
 The mind of Conper was fond of solitude, 
 and iie was very rarely seen iu the crowded 
 streets or in places of public resort, for he pre- 
 ferred to have the indulgence of his own medi- 
 tations. The man of genius js never alone, 
 for at his bidding the air is thronged with 
 fairy shapes, with angelic beings many and 
 beautiful. And thus the great novelist passed 
 his time in the quiet seclusion of the home 
 circle, or in rambling amid the solitary woods 
 which bordered the lovely Otsego lake, and in 
 these lonely hours gathering the thoughts, the 
 inspirations, which he afterwards infused into 
 his works, and which should electrify and 
 hold spell-bound with their potent charms the 
 minds of millions throughout the wide globe. 
 This love of retirement and solitude seems to 
 be a peculiar characteristic of great and capa- 
 cious intellects, as, for instance, Lord Byrou 
 and Daniel Webster — both of these remark- 
 able men passing most of their leisure hours 
 alone amid the grandeur of mountain solitude 
 in solitary musings by the side of the mag- 
 nificent and mighty ocean. 
 
 Wliile residing near Otsego lake. Cooper 
 continued his literary labors, writing his 
 sketches and novels. From the earnest at- 
 tachment which he felt for this pursuit, and 
 the pleasure which he derived from it, — with 
 such a mind as he possessed, when thus en- 
 gaged in literary effort, and with every nerve 
 of his being thrilled with intensest emotion, 
 and pleasure, he enjoyed in a single hour a 
 greater amount of happiness — more of the 
 real, exhilirating pleasure of life than mil- 
 lionaires can possibly do in the entire course 
 of their sordid existence. 
 
 Cooper had become possessed of a moderate 
 amount of means from his father's estate ; but 
 fortunately he relied upon his own resources 
 of mind and active exertions, while in early 
 life, and his manly character, his earnest, ro- 
 bust feelings and sensibilities were thus deve- 
 loped and mature I. The illustrious German 
 poet, Goethe, has very truthfully remarked 
 that it was the great misfortune ot Lord Byron 
 that he inherited the wealth connected with 
 his peerage. Large riches certainly never 
 
48 
 
 nrsTiimcAf- sivRtch of the cnEMCNG valley, etc. 
 
 benefitted miy nian, Imt have the invaiiable 
 (.effect of (lest toyiiifj: all healtliy and genevoas 
 impulses of the liuniaii bdsoiii. 
 
 Cooper was a man oi eaineat, positive nature 
 and tetuperasrieut, impulsive and deeided in 
 his convictions, of robust feelings and warm 
 affections-- sincL'ie and plain in his likes and 
 dislikes ; and alihoring all dieguise, he was 
 always frank in the expression of his opinions. 
 
 He had the manlim-ss and couriige to lead a 
 true and honest life, governed by strict moral 
 principles and devout religious sentiment — 
 and hence it will not be surprising, that in 
 these times when it is necessary that a person 
 commit some crime in order to become popu- 
 lar witii the crowd, that Ciioper haii to battle 
 with such Lifter and malicious enmity. But 
 Jn all pM.st time, as now, the noble, self-sacri- 
 ticing martyr who gives the ert'urts and labors 
 of hi8 life to advance tne happiness of man- 
 kind, must be content to wear the crown of 
 thorns, ere his brow can be twined with the 
 wreath of laurel, the immortal crown of fame' 
 whose leaves shall continue ever fadeless, and 
 fresh in their beauty through the long- 
 elapsing years of eternal time. 
 
 Cooper, like all other men of great intellect 
 and great soul, had his faults. But, a man 
 should be judged by what he actually posses- 
 ses — by tiie virtues of his character, rather 
 than by its deficiencies or defe:;ts. History, 
 indeed, has ever shown, that the man possess- 
 ing the greatest endowment of talent and the 
 greatest virtues, have also the greatest faults, 
 the strongest passions— blending in their cha- 
 racrer, and requiring control. And is it not 
 to teach us that among all the exalted beings 
 who have appeared upon earth, one alone has 
 been faultless : — that Jesus Christ, among all 
 who have worn the human form upon earth, 
 should be reverenced and worshipped as God. 
 
 Cooper is now gone. He has passed away 
 forever. During the year 1861, his health, 
 which had continued robust up to this period, 
 began to fail. In April, 1851, the distinguished 
 physician. Dr. J. W. Francis, had been con- 
 sulted in regard to the alarming symptoms 
 which were presented, but Cooper's physical 
 frame continued still further to yield to the 
 influence of disease through the summer 
 months, that to him were now bringing their 
 fragrance and bloom as the last ofl'ering which 
 they might give. He was surrounded by a 
 kind and affectionate family, among whom 
 was his amanuensis, his gifted and accom- 
 plished daughter, the authoress of " Rural 
 Hours," Bliss Susan J. Cooper. And thus 
 Bur'ounded by all that affection could ask, 
 and cheered by the Divine consolations of 
 religion, upon a calm Sabbath day, September 
 14th, 1851, J. Fennimore Cooper departed 
 this mortal life. 
 
 As the sad intelligence of the decease of the 
 great man who had long occupied so large a 
 space in the public mind, so long been one of 
 
 the brightest ornaments of our literature, 
 
 passed over our land, it filled the country 
 with mourning. Various public meetings* 
 were held, exjjressive of the general grief ; 
 among them, one of the largest and most im- 
 pressive in its character, assembled at Metro- 
 politan Hall, New York, on the evening of 
 the 25th of February, 1852. This meeting 
 was composed of the ablest and most illustri- 
 ous men of all our land. Irving, and Ban- 
 croft, and Curtis were there. Daniel Web- 
 ster, the great .'NTew England statesman, was 
 called to preside over this unusual assem- 
 blage, and delivered, on taking the chair, an 
 appropriate and eloquent address ; while the 
 great and distinguished poet, Wm. Cullen 
 Bryant, pronounced a discourse commemora- 
 tive of the life and character of the lamented 
 Fennimore Cooper. And in regard to this 
 oration, I cun only say, that it was a worthy 
 and fitting tribute to the career of the illus- 
 trious deceased. 
 
 The flowers which spring up and cover the 
 graves of the departed, also cover the remem- 
 brance of their frailties — while all that had 
 claimed our love in the living character of the 
 lamented dead shal go down to claim the 
 admiration of posterity. So long as exalted 
 genius, nobleness of soul, and purity of moral 
 character shall command the admiration and 
 sway the impulses of the human heart, that 
 illustrious name, J. Fennimore Cooper, will be 
 honored, and reverenced and loved. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 In returning to the region of Newtown, I 
 will pause one moment at Tioga Point — and 
 briefly refer to the council which was held at 
 this place in November, 1790. 'J his council, 
 I find, was called in consequence of the mur- 
 der of two of the Senecas on Pine Creek, and 
 with a view to settle the difficulty. Colonel 
 Timothy Pickering, who then resided at Wyo- 
 ming, represented the U. S. Government. 
 
 The council commenced on the Kith of No- 
 vember, and continued until the 23rd of the 
 same month. 'J'he famous Mohican chief, 
 Hendrick, Apaumet, who had received a clas- 
 sical education at Princeton, N. S., and waa 
 captain of a band of Plousatonic Indians in the 
 Picvolutionary war : he afterwards lived near 
 Catharines town, and was taken care of during 
 his last illness, about the year 1798, by Mr. 
 Thomas Nichols, and buried near a huckle- 
 berry swamp lying upon the east side of the 
 present village of Havana, N. Y.); --together 
 with Red Jacket, (Asrogyoyawauthan.) Far- 
 mer's Brother (Honayavvus), and Fish-Carrier, 
 (Oojaugenta), who was a distinguished warrior 
 of the Cayuga«!. 
 
 The Indians came to this council very much 
 excited, *and were still further exasperated 
 and inflamed by the eloquent, artful speech 
 
HISTORICAL SKEfdn OF THE CtlEMUxNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 43 
 
 of Red-Jacket,. This chief, who now first ac- 
 quired distinction as an orator, brought up 
 the controveisy between the Iroquois and 
 Phelps & Gorham, relative to the sale of 
 the lands of the Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix, 
 in October, 1784. HoWs^Ver, Colonel Picliel'ing 
 Bdcceeded in quieting the difficulty. 
 
 In December of the same year in which this 
 council met at Tioga, 1790, a deputation of 
 the Six Nations met at Pliiladelphia, to re- 
 monstrate against the treaty made at Fort 
 titanwix, which was still in existence ; and 
 the chiefs here invoked the aid of Gen. Wash- 
 ington, whom they termed Hanondagauius, 
 to arrange the affair. A note, signed by Gen. 
 Knox, Secretary of War, 20th December, 1791, 
 Bays : "The Corn-Planter, a war captaiti of 
 tlie Senecas, and other Indians of the same 
 tribe, being in Philadelphia, in Deer., 1790, 
 measures were taiien to induce their inter- 
 ference with the Western tribes to prevent 
 further hostilities, and an arrangement was 
 "made that Corn-Planter should accompany 
 ■Col. Thomas Proctor on a visit to the Miami 
 Villages, for that purpose. j 
 
 Farther measures were taken in April, 1791, 
 to draw the Six-Nations to a contereuce at a 
 tlistance from the theatre of war, and Colonel 
 Pickering was appointed to hold the confer- 
 lence. It was decided to be held at Painted 
 Post, on the 17th of June, 1791 ; but. from 
 the papers returned to the War Department, 
 it seems to have been held at Newtown Point. 
 Many of the early pioneers in the Chemung 
 Valley had distinctly remembered circum- 
 stances connected with tnis Council. The In- 
 dians, who had assembled to kindle the coun- 
 cil-fire here, in great numbers, were encamped 
 along the western patt of Newtown, their 
 tents ranging from the place where the Brain- 
 ard House now stands, to the upper portion of 
 the present city of Elmira. 
 
 Among the early pioheers in the Chemtmg 
 Valley, who ivere present at this Council w'Cte 
 Mathias Hollenback, Elisha Lee, Elea^er 
 Lindley, and William Jenkins. The treaty 
 was negociated beneath the shade of a tree, 
 which afterwards became known as tiie "Old 
 Council Tree. It had stood on the spot, now 
 near the corner of Cross and Conangue streets, 
 upon the lot at present occupied by Mr. Hec- 
 tor Seward, and the tree remained standing 
 until a recent time, when it was cut down by 
 Mr. Seward. This council of 1791— the treaty 
 formed at Newtown— at w'hich Colonel Timo- 
 thy Pickering, in behalf of the United States. 
 and Corn-Planter (Kiantwauka) and Kcd- 
 Jacket, with other eminent sachems of the 
 Iroquois, were present, and engaged in the 
 discussions around the council-fire— indeed 
 holds a memorable place in history. It was 
 at this council that l\ed-.Jackct had shown 
 those remarkable powers, by which he after- 
 yrard held such complete supi'cmacy over the 
 
 Senecas, and became the leading or dominant 
 chief in that tribe. 
 
 I may add that Timothy Pickering, Esq. t 
 who represented the American Government 
 here, possessed great powers of parsuasion, 
 while he had acquired the tact of exerting a 
 remarkable influence over the Indians, by 
 which he was enabled successfully^to conclude 
 this treaty at Newtown. Col. Pickering, in 
 command of a body of men at Salem, Mass., 
 in February, 1795," was among the earliest of 
 the patriots at that period to oppose, by force* 
 British invas.on. At the time of the battle of 
 Lexington, inarching with his regiment to in- 
 tercept the enemy, dtiring Washington's cam- 
 paign ih New Jersey) Pickering was associated 
 with the Cammander-in-chief in the perilous 
 conflicts of that period, holding the rank and 
 position of Adjutant-General. In 1780, ho 
 held the appointment of Quartermaster-Gene- 
 ral. In connection with Washington's admin- 
 istratioti. Col. Pickering received appointment 
 as Postmaster-General, in 1791, and upon the 
 resignation of Gen. Knox as Secretary of War, 
 he was assigned that position, which he occu- 
 pied until 1795, when President Washington 
 appointed him Secretary of State, which he 
 held until the close of Washingtcw's adminis-. 
 tration in 1800. ]\Ir. Pickering Was chosen . 
 United States Senator from his native State, 
 Massachusetts, in 1803, and again in 1805. He 
 died at Salem, Mass., in 1829, aged eighty- 
 seven years. , 
 
 At a" distance of some two miles west of EN 
 raira, is an eminence, known as Fort Hill, and 
 where can be traced the remains of a fortifica- 
 tion. This eminence is upon the north side of 
 the Chemung river, while the opposite side is 
 bordered by a deep ravine— forming a pre- 
 cipitous headland. An embankment, acrme 
 fourteen or fifteen feet wide at its base, and 
 three feet in elevation, extends from the brow 
 of the ravine inaNorthein direction to the 
 summit of the bank resting upon the river, 
 and is some two hundred feet in length. This 
 artificial wall of earth has an outer ditch, to- 
 gether with two slight trenches, running para- 
 lell with the ancient bastion across the entire! 
 width of this bold eminence. This earthwork, 
 undoubtedly constructed for warlike purposes, 
 however, presents an appearance indicating a 
 more recent construction than the "Ancient 
 Works of Western New York," which tho 
 writer of this sketch had surveyed in the yeaf 
 1850, under authority of the Regents of the 
 University of the State of New York. 
 
 This entrenchment near Elmira occupies an 
 admirable position for defense, as it is only 
 accessible Irom a single direction, a military 
 engineer would not have evinced gteater stra- 
 tegical art in the construction of tliis defensivef 
 earthwork. The furtification liere may have 
 been, probably, reared by the Iroquois during 
 the period of "early French expeditions Jntoi 
 the territory of the Six Nations. 
 
59 
 
 h:sto?vIca^. sKETCir of TEfnr cH'EfJitrNG valley, fixe. 
 
 I BVAj here remark that while prosecuthig 
 these researches relative to the history of this 
 valley, I received infonuation of an extensive 
 series of ancient earthworks located npon the 
 tributary streams of the Susquehanna and the 
 Delaware, while it is known that a large num- 
 ber of Indian mounds, etc., are situated in 
 other portions of the State. It is only through 
 a full and complete survey of th«se fastperiah- 
 ing memorials of former empfre,- these rapidly 
 decaying monuments which now aiford the 
 eiily record of that race that once occupied and 
 ji.ttj.d sovereignty of our soil, by a rfgitt investi- 
 giji-tion and scientific research of the entire sub- 
 ject, an its archadogical, ethnological and his- 
 torical! .relations, that we may hope to be able 
 toTescue An instructive chapter in the anftals 
 ofthepa^t from oblivion, or cast any light 
 upon tne liiatory of the State during its occu- 
 pancy by tUeoiiound-builders— while possibly 
 such an explqi-fition might unravel the iuys- 
 tery as to their origin and fate, and be the 
 means of perpetuating, before these ancient 
 mouads and eartluvorks are all effaced, some 
 reliable record of the Ante-Columbian period 
 in the history of oiu' lo^d. 
 
 I will now "attempt to give a brief review of 
 the Iroquois oecupatiou ^^f the region em- 
 braced in these tiistqiical eofitiiries. 
 
 . Jeft'ersoK, whose philosophical mind gave 
 profound investigatVo^s to ^e^yily every de- 
 partment of human knowledge, in his "'Notes 
 on Virginia," in giying i.he list of the Indian 
 tribes, their location and- numbers, in 1779, 
 makes the following statement : . '/Cayugas 
 on the Cayuga Jake and near branc^h cf Sus- 
 <iuehanna, 220; Senecas, on the waters of the 
 Susquehanna, Ontario, and ii^adof Ohio, Gt>0." 
 The portion of the Indian tribes wlib in- 
 habited the valley, and ranged the adjoining 
 hills, between the Chemung river and Seneca 
 Lake, at the time of Sullivan's expedition, 
 were principally Cayugas, Tuscarora and Se- 
 _;iecas. The Indian king., Canadesaga, of the 
 •^.enecas, was killed at the battle of Chemung. 
 " TJkis region was common hunting ground to 
 . all the Six-I'fations. When it began to be 
 ; setifed by emigrantt. from the East, in 1788, 
 , lai^c numbers of Indians still resided between 
 \ tUeilaie and the river. It was at this period, 
 ^?j •h'Cji £-he Iroquois coinacils were graced by the 
 prese»c>3 of so man}' distlngiushed chiefs, that 
 EedTJaeket began to acquire and exercise his, 
 niuwaled ascendency among the Iroquois. 
 
 I will here make an extract from a JI.SS. of 
 the late Hon. Thomas Maxwell, who had held 
 tlie rank and exercised the authority of a Sa- 
 ciiem among the Sesiiecas, in which he thus 
 refers to lled-Jacket, .etc. : "The once haughty 
 Iroquois has withdribwato a quiet spot on the 
 western skirts of Uiti lordly patrimony. He no 
 longer, as in tlie diuys, ofjiis power, holds ,the 
 olive -brand) in onchand, and the tomahawk 
 in tne other, to sYii;,y,.t,he^-^eciHipns of Goui^cils. 
 'J'liej have produced JU a uj distingu'.^ihcd men. 
 
 Among these none were m.orp eminent than, 
 the celebrated E.ed-Jacket. He exhibited, 
 great powers of oratory at the Treafy, hei'c.^ by 
 Col. Pickering, at Newtown Point, in 1791, 
 Red-Jacket, who had always opposed all at- 
 tempts to civilize or Christianize the tribes, 
 exhibited on this occasion his greatest powers 
 of mind', in opposition to the propo.'sals of the 
 Govenrment ; and the result was, they were 
 only accepted by Cornplanter's tribe. In a 
 conversation held with Red Jacket, at Bath, 
 in 1828, he informed me that when a child, he 
 was present at a great Council-Fife of the 
 Tribes, at Shenandoah, in Virginia. The Va-- 
 rions nations were represented by their most 
 distinguished orators, but the greatest among 
 them was Logan, a Cayuga, who had removed 
 from his residence on the Cayuga to Shamo- 
 kin, on the tSusquehanna. Red-Jacket re- 
 marked that he was so highly delighted with 
 Logan' :;• eloquence, that he resolvecf to devote 
 himself to public speaking and to' follow Lo- 
 gan as bis model. He said that he t.'as in the 
 habit of speaking in the woods wherehe cotild 
 find a waterfall, where he exercised his voice 
 amid the roaring waters, to acquire the neces- 
 sary command and tone to address large as- 
 semblies. One ef his favorite resorts for this 
 purpose was the magnificent waterfall at Ha- 
 vana. The name of the tftreara was She-qma- 
 gah — or, as be interpreted it, "the phice of 
 the roaring waters." The waterfall aeems tc 
 have been his peculiar inspiration. In' early 
 life the beautiful She-qua-gah, and in his Ma- 
 ture years the mighty Ne-au-ga-rah, {Ic give 
 his own pronunciation,)' were his favorite 
 haunts. =■■' * =■■•' There are certain qualities' 
 of mind exhibited in the untutored Indian, 
 which shine forth in all the lustre of natural 
 perfection. His simple mtegrlty, his gene- 
 rosity, his unbounded hospitality, his love of" 
 Jruth, and his unwavering fidelity, are g.raceB' 
 of humanity which neither education can im- 
 part, nor civilization confer ; and when- they 
 exiet, it is because the gifts ©f Peit'sc have' 
 neKQr .been perverted." 
 
 ;^^he jv.riter of this sketch, too, has ha,d some- 
 ppportunity to become conversant with In/di'ani 
 life. He has sojourned for weeks, during-' 
 ,which he had not seen civilized man, amidsf 
 the rude children of the forest, he has lain 
 down to secure repose in the night-camp of 
 the Indian, around the lire Avhich they had 
 hindled in the v. ildwoods— he has accompa- 
 nied the Indian hunter upon the chase, and 
 has been guided by .the Indian maiden through 
 the pathless forest— and can most fully reite- 
 rate the opinion as to t|ie prevailing feature.'? 
 of the Indian character e.ipressed in the manu- 
 script from which I have above quoted ; and 
 in fearless, frank honesty of purpose, in 
 genuine, unpretending iioblc!;ess, of feeling, 
 in the abidin.g love and worship with which 
 he clings to the sacred associktiojg^i: 3,nd memo- 
 ries of the lixist, and in 'aLuding friendship 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG r.iLLEV, ETC. 
 
 u 
 
 ananif'ested by one sex,— the natural, unos- 
 tentatious, but real cliastity ?ind virtue, and 
 evinced by the other sex— I can only say, 
 that the Indian character presents, in these re- 
 spects, a model which "cultivated Society" 
 might well choose for emulation. , 
 
 Among all tlie barbaric tribes, the Ho-de- 
 no-eau-nec, or "People of the Long House," 
 — the Iroquois — held pre-eminent rank for 
 eloquence, bravery and skill in war, — con- 
 summate address and energy in perfecting all 
 the arts which gave success to Indian policy. 
 But the might}' league that once held sove- 
 reignty of all these lands watered by the Sus- 
 quehanna and its tributary streams, lias lost 
 its supremacy forever ! Atatasho and Hia- 
 watha, the deities of this Confederacy', no 
 longer worshipped upon the banks of these 
 noble rivers, have departed. The council- 
 fires of the Iroquois, once marking their wide 
 jurisdiction, have been extinguished. Their 
 empire has passed away ; and the shadows of 
 night, which have already enveloped so many 
 Indian nations, now gathers darkly around 
 the few remaining Iroquois who yet * linger 
 here, where the gleam of the setting sun 
 dimly falls upon the graves of their fathers, 
 to lament, the departed greatness of their once 
 powerful empire, and ere long its impenetrable 
 gloooi will wrap even this small remnant of 
 the once haughty Iroquois in darkness and 
 oblivion. 
 
 I will now attempt to gather, and briefly 
 narrate such reminiscences as may yet remain 
 relating to the early settlement and history 
 of Newtown. 
 
 Colonel John Hendy was tbe pioneer of the 
 
 Chemung Valley. He came to Newtown in 
 
 the year 1786. Col. Hendy was a veteraii of 
 
 the Ke volution, being engaged, at the age of 
 
 nineteen, at the battle of Princeton, and also 
 
 at Trenton . • Before reaching the age of 
 
 twenty-one he was commissioned as Captain, 
 
 and participated in the battle of Monmouth, 
 
 and in a brilliant manner brought off the 
 
 . remnant of his company from the field. It 
 
 i'xfas here that Capt. Hendy had gallantly 
 
 ',' bbi-ne to a place ef safety the brave General 
 
 ',',Mercer, who was wounded during the action 
 
 ,'r and survived only a few days. 
 
 Colonel Hendy had broken with the plough 
 
 the first field, and raised the first crop of grain 
 
 . m the Chemung Valley. He was appointed 
 
 .-.Captain of a militia company by Governor 
 
 ;Geo. Clinton, "February '22nd, 1789, in the 
 
 , 'town of Chemung, County of Montgomery ;" 
 
 '"ahd commissi(?ned second Major of a " Kcgi- 
 
 ment of ililitia in the county of Tioga, whereof 
 
 Thomas Baldwin is Lieut. -Col commandant," 
 
 on 22nd of March, 1797, by Gov. Jay ; and 
 
 commissioned as Lieut.-Colonel in 1803, by 
 
 Gov. George Clinton. 
 
 The predecessor of Col. Thomas Baldwin in 
 
 command of the Eegiment previously men- 
 
 ■ tioned was an ensign iti Sullivan's army, at 
 
 the battle of Chemung, 31st August, 1779.. 
 Colonel Hendy was born in North umlierhmd 
 County, Pe7in., on the 2nd of Sept., 17D7. He 
 emigrated from Elmira to the West, a ninuber 
 of years since — which is the latest record that 
 I find of this gallant veteran of the War of 
 Independence, and hardy pioneer of .the vGiie- 
 mung valley. 
 
 Guy Maxwell, Esq., had emigrated to the 
 Chemung Valley Sept. ,1788. He was second 
 son of Alexander Maxwell, of Claverock, P^iig- 
 land ; and his mother, whose name previous 
 to her marriage was Jane McBratney, was re- 
 puted as a lady of rare accomplishments, and 
 was connected with the "clan McPherson." 
 They embarhed from a port in Scotland for 
 America, in June, 1770, but were shipwrecked 
 in the Irish Channel, upon the coast of Ire- 
 land, where, on the 15th of July, 1770, Guy 
 Maxwell was born. The family, upon its arri- 
 val in America, settled in Virginia. Guy 
 Maxwell came to this valley in 1788, and at 
 fiist settled at Tioga Point, where he remained 
 until 1759, when he removed to Newtown. 
 His house, a frame dwelling 32 by 23 feet ia* 
 .size upon the ground, was situated upon Wa- 
 ter street. 
 
 Newtown was originally planned out on a 
 lot granted to Jeffrey Wisner, lying on New- 
 town Creek. The first buildings were erected 
 in 1790, at a place now known as Sullivan 
 street. The dwelling houses of Dr. Hinchman, 
 Dr. Scott, Peter Loop and Christian Loop were 
 built on Sullivan street. 
 
 In December, 1794, Guy Maxwell, of Tioga 
 Point, and S. Hepburn had purchased of Mr. 
 T. White a parcel of land in lot 195, contain- 
 ing 100 acres, for the sum of five hundred 
 pounds, and laid out a village plot on the bank 
 of Chemung river. In the conveyance this 
 plot was designated DeWittsburgh, but the 
 place continued to be known as Newtown 
 until 1811, when it was changed to Elmira by 
 an Act of the New York Legislature. 
 
 The town of Chemung was laid out in 1788,. 
 by James Clinton, John Hothorn and John 
 Cantine, Commissioners, and a map of the 
 town deposited in the office of the Secretary of 
 State for New York. These commissioners 
 had surveyed, at this time, October, 1788, lots 
 lying in the town of Chemung, and situated 
 near the Tioga, or Chemung river, for the 
 several individuals below name<l : Israel Par- 
 shall, 209 acres ; Usual Bates, 183 acres; C. 
 Christ, 1(J2 aci-es ; Josiali Green, 400 acres ; 
 Pdchard Edsell, 2d, 285 acres. They also sur- 
 veyc'l a lot of 450 acres for John Miller, in 
 Big Flats. 
 
 In 1778, Guy Maxwell was appointed Prin- 
 cipal Assessor for the Sixth Assessment Dis- 
 trict of the Ninth Division of the State of 
 New York, which comprised the County of 
 Tioga, which then included six towns, via : 
 Newtown. Chcnmng, Owcgo, Chenango, TTnion 
 and Jericho. This assessment was made in 
 
52 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH ©F THE CHEMUNG VALLKY, ETC. 
 
 pursuance of an Act levyinL^ a direct tax, 
 under the administration of President John 
 Adams. Col. Nicolas Fish, of New York, was 
 the Supervisor of Uevenue for the State of 
 New York. The original M.SS. (now lying 
 before me) of the assessment roll of the Sixth 
 District, containing names of the inhaWtants, 
 etc., is dated "October 1st, 1778." Soon after 
 this assessment was made, Mr. Maxwell was 
 appointed Sheriff of Tioga county, by Gov, 
 Geo. Clinton. Guy Maxwell was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war. He died in 1814, 
 
 Among the Pioneers who had settled about 
 Newtown, I will mention the names of Ma- 
 tliias Hollenback, formerly of Wyoming, who 
 resided upon Water Street, in a house built 
 partly frame and partly of logs, size 29 by 20 
 feet. John Konkle, a veteran of the Revolu- 
 tion, who lived in a frame house, 20 by 16 
 feet, on Water Street, and who died at the age 
 of seventy years. Joseph Hincherman, M. D., 
 who had been a soldier of the Revolution, and 
 was Slieriff of Tioga county from 1795 to 1799, 
 
 • living in a frame dwellingrhouse, 38 by 30 
 feet ; he died in 1802, at the age of forty 
 years. Selah Matthews, who lived in a frame 
 house on the east side of Main (now Sullivan) 
 street, and who was a veteran of the Revolu- 
 tionary war, dying in 1833, at the age of 
 seventy-one years. Peter Loop, who had 
 erected a frame-house 22 by 18 feet, on Main 
 street mentioned above. John Stower, who 
 built a house of hewn logs, 34 by 20 feet, on 
 the east side of Main street. Cornelius Lowe, 
 who lived in a log-house, 28 by 22 feet in size' 
 with kitchen 18 by 23 feet, on Water street, at 
 a place where Lyman Covell has resided of 
 late years. Lemuel Churchill, who built a 
 house of square logs, 18 by 16 fset, on the east 
 side of Main street. Christian Scott, who bad 
 erected a frame dwelling-house, 28 by 20 feet, 
 also on Main street. John Miller, who lived 
 in a house 34 by 17 feeti J. Brown, who 
 
 . lived in a log-house 23 by 21 feet, erected on 
 Water street. Robert Starrett kept the tavern 
 which was situated upon Water street, and 
 was a frame building, 30 by 30 feet in she, 
 with kitchen 18 by 20 feet,— and which was 
 afterward known as the Klive House. These 
 were the settler's thus living in their frame 
 and log dwellings, about the village in 1798. 
 
 The hazetand darkness which has been ga- 
 thering through the long night of the Past, 
 and which had nearly enveloped the homes, 
 as they once existed, of the Pioneers, is here 
 withdrawn, and we ftgain have a glimpse of 
 Newtown, as it had stood in the period of its 
 early settlement— an accurate though rude 
 picture of this rural hamlet by the river side, 
 as it appeared sixty-nine years ago. 
 
 Beside the Pioneers who were living at New- 
 town as above mentioned, in 1798. at this 
 early purioii, the pioneers below named had 
 a-Iso settlei} in the region about Newtown and 
 
 within the present limits of Chemung County. 
 
 Col. John Hendy, who in the year 1796 had, 
 made the first settlement in Chemung valley. 
 Hon. "Vincent Mathews, who was a member of 
 Assembly in the New York State Legislature 
 in 1794-95, and was tho first Senator elected 
 from the Western District to the State Legis- 
 lature, thus early occupying position in the 
 Senate from 1796 to 1802. and also a repre- 
 sentative in Congress in 1809-1811. Brintoa 
 Paine, an officer of the Army in the Revolu- 
 tion, and who had been taken prisoner during 
 the war and confined in a British prison-ship ; 
 he re.sided here for a number of years, and died 
 at the advanced age of eighty- one years. Rev, 
 Roswell Goff, who organized the first church, 
 or religious society (Baptist) which was estab- 
 lished in Chemung valley, formed in 1790, at 
 Wellesburgh. Joseph Hiller, Isaac Baldwin, 
 James Bower, John Hendy, Henry Baldwin, 
 Caleb Baker, E. Bennett,— and Elijah Brick, 
 who had commenced a settlement at Brick-. 
 ville, in 1798, where he was soon followed by 
 Captt D. McDowell and William Wincoop. 
 
 The house of William Dunn, and also that 
 of Nathaniel VV. Howell, were situated on the 
 bank of the river, east of Sullivan street. 
 Many of the old houses, erected during the 
 early period of the settlement of Newtown, in 
 the neighborhood of Sullivan street, are yet 
 remaining. In these buildings, where moss ii 
 now cropping round the crumbling door-sill, 
 and over the shattered window-pane, the early 
 settlers had lived, and had their share of joy 
 and of sorrow — here, too, they loved, and had 
 been actors in romances as impassioned and as 
 strange, perchance, as any that are recorded 
 in our literature. But, these early residents 
 have all passed away, and are silent withiu 
 the tomb, as ^ce, too, ere long, shall be. 
 
 The first Court House at Newtown, or EI- 
 mira, was erected about 1796, upon Main (now 
 Sullivan) street, near its intersection with 
 Cross Street. It was a two-story building, 
 constructed of logs. Within the walls of this 
 old Court House have sat such eminent jurists 
 as Livingston, Spencer, Kent, VanNess, Wood- 
 worth, Tompkins, etc. And within its rude 
 bar have been uttered the eloquent arguments 
 of such distinguished lawyers as Hornell, 
 Matthews, Haight, Sedgwick, Avery, Spencer, 
 Dickinson, Divin and Collier. 
 
 The Judges in the Courts of Tioga County 
 were : Abraham Miller, from 1779 to 1798 ; 
 John Patterson, from 1798 to 1807 ; John 
 Miller, from 1807 to 1800 ; E. Coryell, from 
 1810 to 1818 ; G. W. Barstow, from 1818 to 
 1828 ; Grant B. Baldwin, from 1828 to 1833 ; 
 and John B. Drake, from 1833 to 1838. 
 
 William Dunn, who had been a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary War, and who bad made 
 his residence at Newtown, died here at tha 
 age of ninety, years. 
 
 I may heie remark, that in 1797 Newtowu 
 was visited by the Duke of Orleaus— Louis 
 
niSTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, KTC. 
 
 53 
 
 fhilippe. The father of this celebrated exile 
 had perished on the scaffold, and his brothers, 
 the Uuke de Montspensier and the Count de 
 Beanjolais, had been imprisoned in the Castle 
 of 8t, Jean, at Marseilles. However, in 17%, 
 the Frer.eh Directory released the piisoners of 
 state, on the condition that they should repair 
 to the United States, accompanied by the 
 Duke of Orleans. They reached Diiladelphia 
 in the 'winter of 1776, and remained there 
 until Spring, when they visited Washington 
 at Mount Vernon. Thence they traveled 
 through several Western States, and arrived at 
 Buffalo in June ; and thence proceeded to 
 Canandaigua, Geneva and Havana. From 
 Havana the royal exiles went to Flmira, on 
 foot. They had letters of introduction from 
 Thos. Morris, of Canandaigua to several lead- 
 ing citizens at Newtown, or Elmira. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans, and his companions, 
 stopped, while at Newtown, at the Klive 
 House, (previously described in this sketch), 
 find remained here some ten days. During 
 their sojourn, they were engaged in fishing, 
 hunting, etc. A Mr. John Stower, at New- 
 town, furnished the exiles with a Durham 
 boat, in which they descended the Susque- 
 hanna to Wilkesbarre, and then went across 
 the country to Philadelphia. 
 
 Some years later, Newtown was visited by 
 another exile — Louis Napoleon, — while this 
 distinguished exile was engaged in his travels 
 through our country. He is described by 
 residents of this section, who had seen him 
 while staying here, to have been an athletic, 
 energetic man. He was a relative, and I may 
 add, a worthy representative of the Great 
 Emperor, Napoleon — who was, indeed, the 
 great master in the realm of human action, as 
 Shakespeare was the great master in the realm 
 of human thought. 
 
 Louis Napoleon, while at Newtown, had 
 stopped, I have been informed, at the Klive 
 House — the same rude tavern where Louis 
 Philippe had previously stayed. The traveller 
 who now, in humble guise, had put up at this 
 log-tavern, near the river bank, affords a stri- 
 king contrast with the magnificence which 
 waits upon the Imperial monarch of the Tuil- 
 Icries— the Emperor Napoleon III — acknow- 
 ledged to be the ablest and wisest ruler now 
 holding power upon earth. And yet, such are 
 life's strange contrasts. Burns, the poor, de- 
 spised writer of song, actualljf dying from the 
 effects of want and neglect (as I have been in- 
 formed by relatives of Burns, living at Ayr) — 
 but the time has already come when even the 
 oame of Scotland is remembered mainly be- 
 cause it had been the borne of Robert Burns ! 
 
 I have previousjy referred to the first church 
 organized in this region in 1790, by Rev. Ros- 
 well Goff. The first Presbyterian Church at 
 ]^ewtown was organized in 1793. Its earliest 
 pastor was Rev. Daniel Thatcher. A second 
 rresbyteriaii Churcb was orgaoissed iu 1860, of 
 
 which the first pastor was Rev. D. Murdoch. 
 The first Baptist Church was organized in 
 May, 1821)— its pastor, was Rev. P. G. Gillett. 
 Trinity Church, Episcopal, was organized in 
 1833 — its first rector was Rev. Thomas Clarke. 
 Independent Church, organized in 18-45 — its 
 first pastor, Rev. F. W. Graves. 
 
 The various churches exercise a wide influ- 
 ence lor good ; and yet it should be wished 
 that their communicants sustained a closer re- 
 lation to the religion taught by our Divine 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, and which had been ex^ 
 emplified by his followers by entire renounce- 
 ment of sel/--hy their love to God and to Man, 
 and in leading a pure and virtuous life. 
 
 Col- Mathias Hollenback, from Wilkesbarre, 
 Penn., was the earliest merchant at Newtown. 
 His store was situated at the junction of the 
 Creek with the Chemung River. S. Tuttle 
 and R. Covill commenced mercantile business 
 in Newtown, in 1807, which was suecessfully 
 continued during many years. Guy Maxwell, 
 Esq., Thomas Goldsborough, T. M. Perry, J. 
 Erwin, E. Heller, L. Covell, M. Covoil, J. 
 Baldwin, J. Cherry, J. Hollenback, Thomas 
 Maxwell, Samuel H. Maxwell, and J. Rey-^ 
 nolds were also among the early merchants at 
 Elmira. 
 
 The early lawyers at Elmira who had ac- 
 quired any forensic distinction, may be thus^ 
 named : Peter Loop, D. Jones, Vincent Mat- 
 thews, S. H. Haight, George C. Edwards, J, 
 Robinson, Aaron Rankle, T. North, Willian: 
 Maxwell, Thomas Maxwell, A. S, Divin, A. S 
 Thurston, S. G. Mathews, &o. 
 
 The early physicians at Newtown or Elmira 
 may be thus enumerated : Joseph Hinch 
 man, Amos Peck, C. Scott, J. Chamberlain 
 John Ross. James Ross, A. G. White, Dr. As 
 penwall, J. Purdy, T. Brooks and R. Bancroft 
 These men, the early merchants, lawyers 
 and Physicians of Newtown, are now nearl; 
 all deceased. A few yet remain— the honorec 
 representatives of that class whose enterprise 
 learning and skill, had contributed so mucl 
 to advance Elmira in prosperity, oommercia 
 position and reputation, to the proud rani 
 which this city now claims and occupies. 
 
 Among the leading men of Elmira whom 
 have above referred to, none are entitled t 
 claim a higher rank in the esteem of posterit; 
 than the Maxwells — Hon. William Maxwei 
 and Hon. Thomas Maxwell — who were sons c 
 Guy Maxwell. 
 
 William Maxwell was born at Tioga Poini 
 Penn., Feb. 11th, 1894. He represented th 
 county of Tioga in Ihe Assembly of the Stat 
 Legislature of New York, in 1828. In 1846 
 he was the Delegate from Chemung County i 
 the Convention held to amend the Constitv 
 tion of the State of New York, and was tb 
 first member of Assembly elected from Chf 
 mung County after the new Constitution ( 
 1846 went into effect. He died at the age ( 
 sixty-two, ripe in years and honors. 
 
A4 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 The Hon. Thomas Maxwell was indeed 
 widely known and distinguished for his 
 marked ability, sound, practical judgment and 
 unswerving integrity, evinced in public not 
 less than in private life. lie Vi^as honored with 
 important trusts, bestowed by his fellow-citi- 
 zens. He held the ofFice of County Clerk from 
 March, 1S19, to January, 1829; and was a 
 Representative in Congress from Tioga, in 
 1820-31. He departed this life several years 
 since, widely and deeply mourned. 
 
 The early members of the State Legislature 
 — the Assembly- -of New York, from Tioga 
 County, which then embraced Newtown, Avere: 
 John Fitch, 1702 ; Jolni Patterson, 1703 ; Vin- 
 cent Mathev^s, 1794-'95 ; Emanuel Coryell, in 
 1796-'97 ; E. Coryell and Benjamin Harvey, 
 in 1798. 
 
 James McMasters was the fiVst Sheriff of 
 Tiogn County, and held this office from 1791 
 to 1795 ; Joseph Ilinchman, M. D.. was iShe:iff 
 of the County, from 1701 to 1790 ; Edward 
 Edwards was appointed Sheriff in 1700, but 
 only held this office until 1800, and was then 
 succeeded by Guy Maxwell, who remained in 
 this position, and exercised the duties of 
 Sheriff of the County, until 1804. 
 
 This section, the region about Newtown, 
 had been represented in the State Senate by 
 Vincent Mathews, from 170G to 1802, and 
 also by other distinguished men, here named, 
 viz : G. W. Barstow, from 1810 to 1822 ; J.G. 
 McDowell, from 1823 to 1835 ; and D. S. Dick- 
 inson, from 1840 to 1844. 
 
 Among the Representatives in Congress 
 from this District, which embraced Newtown 
 (or Elmira), the able and distinguished men 
 below mentioned had resided at this village : 
 Hon. Vincent Mathews, Hon. Thomas Max- 
 well, Hon. Samuel Partridge, who was a mem- 
 ber of Congress in 1841-'43 ; and Hon. Hiram 
 Gray, who represented the District in Con- 
 gre.ss, in 1887 and 1840. Mr. Gray justly 
 ranks among the ablest jurists in our State. 
 and was appointed Circuit Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court of the State of New York in 
 1846. 
 
 In the State Convention of 1801, held to 
 draft a Constitution for the State of New 
 York, Hon. John Patterson was the delegate 
 from Tioga. 
 
 At the period of the first settlement of the 
 Chemung Valley, this section was included in 
 Montgolnei-y County, (the name of the County 
 having been changed Irom Tryon in 1784. In 
 i784, Tioga was taken from Montgomery, and 
 erected into a separate County. It then in- 
 cluded Chemung, which had been formed into 
 Townships in the year 1789, and live other 
 towns, and which now emlDvaces Tioga and 
 Broome, and parts of Chemung and Chenango 
 Counties. 
 
 In 1792, a part of Chemung was detached 
 establishecl as a seperate township under the 
 name of Newtown ; and in 1808 the name of 
 
 the town was changed by act of Legislature, 
 from Newtown to Elmira. 
 
 In 1812, when the United States had de- 
 clared war against Great Britain, in order to 
 sustain our maritime rights, this region most 
 nobly and patriotically responded to the call 
 which our Government then made for troops. 
 Among the men who were most earnest, ac- 
 tive, and influential in raising a force to join 
 the American army on the frontiers, Mathew 
 Carpenter, should particularly be named. He 
 was at first appointed Brigadier-General, and 
 afterwards advanced to rank of Major-General. 
 General Carpenter had been a soldier in the 
 American army during the Revolution. He 
 had always been one of the most prominent 
 among the public men of this section in con- 
 tributing his talents and energy toward build- 
 ing up and sustaining the pioneer settlements 
 of the Chemung Valley. 
 
 In the Convention of 1821, held in Albany, 
 to amen'l the Constitution of the State of 
 New York, General Carpenter was elected to 
 represent the County of Tioga. He died here, 
 in 1831, at the age of eighty -one years. 
 
 In a company raised in the section about 
 Newtown, in the war of 1812, J. Jenkins, of 
 Southport, was appointed Captain ; J. Sayers 
 First Lieutenant, and Fhincas Catlin, of Ca- 
 tharine, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 The earliest newspaper published in Che- 
 mung County (then embraced in Tioga,) was 
 issued at Newtown ; and it was styled "The 
 Telegraph." In 1816, it was changed to "Vi- 
 dette." In 1821, " The Investigator" was 
 commencad at Elmira , and in the same year 
 the name of this newspaper was changed to 
 ' 'The Tioga Register. ' ' Two daily newspapers 
 the "The Advertiser" and the "Gazette," — 
 both of which are ably sustained in the edito- 
 rial department, and give an interesting record; 
 of current events, — are now published at 
 Elmira. 
 
 In 1846, the County of Chemung was estab- 
 lished — the towns within the new county be- 
 ing detached from Tioga county. Upon the- 
 organizntion of the County of Chemung, in 
 183G, Governor Troop appointed Joseph 8. 
 Darling as first Judge of the County, and he- 
 exercised the judicial duties pertaining to this 
 office until 18-49, when he resigned the posi- 
 tion. Mr. Darling was succeeded, in 1844, by- 
 James Dunn, as first Judge of the County, 
 and held the office until 1846, — and at this 
 time Mr. Darling again received the appoint^ 
 ment as Judge, and performed the labors con- 
 nected with the office until the new Constitu- 
 tion of the State went into effect in the year 
 1847. 
 
 Mr. Darling had settled near Odessa (now in 
 Schuyler County) in 1810, where he still re- 
 sides. He has now reached the age of eighty- 
 two years. Mr. Darling has been succeeded 
 in this office— First Judge of Chemung County 
 
IliSTOfelCAL SKt-iCn of THE CKEMCNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 •55 
 
 — Dy several men of legal ability, but by none 
 more able than Horace B. Smith. 
 
 The Legislature of the State of New York, 
 had passed an Act, April 15th, 1819, nutho- 
 rizina; the construction of the Chemung Canal, 
 to extend from the Chemung River, atEImini, 
 to Havana: The surveys and estimates for 
 this Canal wCre submitted by Holmes Hut- 
 chinson, Nov. 12th, 1829. The Chemung 
 Canal, was put under contract in April, 1830, 
 at an estimated cost of $291,831.00. The 
 Chemung Canal, with tl^e Feeder which con- 
 neted it with the Canisteo river near Painted 
 Post, {now Corning), and intersected with the 
 canal at Horseheads, was completed on the 
 10th of September, 1831. The Caiial and 
 Feeder required the building of fifty-tWo locks, 
 geventy-six bridges, etc., and tlie entire cost 
 of construction was $814,385.51. 
 
 The village of Ehnira was incorporated in 
 1815. The Elmira Seminary for Young La- 
 dies had been commenced about 1849, and I 
 lielieve is now in prosperous condition. The 
 Elmira Academy, a private institution, has 
 been in successful operatiim for a number of 
 years ; and the Elmila Female College, which 
 Was incorporated in 1855, now ranks among 
 the first collegiate institutions of our State. 
 
 I cannot attempt the relation of many 
 events of tinimpoltant moment, which have 
 occurred during recent years at Elmira, or in 
 the surrounding region, but I will proceed at 
 once to give some view of the more stirring 
 period in our history connected with the civil 
 war -which was commenced In 1801 ; though I 
 may only be able to give a brief statement in 
 regard to the actions of proniineut men of this 
 section in their noble eilorts to sustain _ the 
 cause of the Union in the midst of the terrible 
 ordeal of civil war. 
 
 Tne Rebellion resulted, unquestionably, 
 from the disappointed ambition of a few politi- 
 cal leaders in the Southern States, wlio during 
 ing many years had been ceaselessly plotting the 
 disruption of the Union as established by the 
 Constitution framed by the men of the Revo- 
 lution ; and then, from tlie ruins of this noble 
 fabric, these criminal leaders fancied that they 
 should succeed in forming a separate confede- 
 racy, in which their own will and caprice 
 Would be the supreme law. It was but the 
 repetition of great crimes hitherto enacted in 
 liuman history, ; but I am fully conscious of 
 my inability to portray the magnitude of the 
 crime and madness exhibited by the leaders of 
 the rebellion of 1861, and I may well adopt 
 the invocation of the great Epic poet as ex- 
 pressed in the numbers of the Iliad : 
 
 "Achilles' wrath, the direful spring 
 , of Grecian Woes, O Goddess sing !"' 
 
 "Nevertheless, if the writer of this sketch ar- 
 rived at an erroneous opinion as to the posi- 
 tion occupied by the leading statesmen of our 
 country, and especially as to tlie part which 
 they respectively luid assumed in the opening 
 
 Act of the great Drama of civil war, this error 
 did not arise from failure of opportunity to 
 become conversant, either through tlie me- 
 dium of personal conversation or by corre-^ 
 spondcnce, with the views entertained respect- 
 ing the questions involved in this conflict hf 
 the principal members of the Executive, Jndi-.^ • 
 cial and Legislative Departments of tlie Na-, 
 tional Government during the years 1860 and 
 1861,— including in this number the Lieut. - 
 General, and other veteran officers of the U. S.. 
 Armyj eminent Senators, &c. •(■ 
 
 Tlie unliallowed purposes of treason, the 
 criminal objects of the rebellion, had been 
 openly avowed by political leaders in tlie 
 spring of 1860. Sagacious and patriotic states- 
 men of our country fully comprehended the 
 magnitude of the danger which threatened ouf 
 llepublic, although in tlic new and untried 
 exigencies of public affairs, these patriotic 
 men differed in opinion as to the better policy, 
 or requisite measures to be adopted. In tlie 
 Executive Department of the Government, the! 
 eminent and illustrious statesman then occu- 
 pying the position of Chief Magistrate, Mr. 
 Buchanan, had adopted a conciliatory policy, 
 designed to allay political excitement, yet 
 firmly maintaining the authority of the Gene- 
 ral Government.preparing in the event that it 
 should be assailed, as was afterward done in 
 the attack made by the conspirators upon 
 Fort Sumter, to sustain the supremacy of the 
 Union by all the enetgy and military power of 
 the Government. 
 
 A majority of the Cabinet were Southern 
 men, but whenever any of these evinced by 
 his active opposition to the patriotic purposea 
 and exertions of the loyal men living in the 
 South, and had shown active sympathy with 
 the conspirators, they were promptly com- 
 pelled to leave the Cabinet, and their places 
 were at once filled by true men, as thus Holt 
 was ajipointed Secretaty of War, and Dix as 
 Secretary of the Treasury, etc. And the re- 
 sult of this policy, in throwing the responsi- 
 bility of coidmencing the war, as assumed by 
 the attack made upon Sumter, giving tlie 
 weight of moral victory upon the side of the 
 Union, and which exerted an important influ- 
 ence in deciding tlie couise taken by the bor- 
 der States, at once evinced the unswerving 
 integrity, and the comprehensive statesman- 
 ship of President Buchanan in this momentous 
 period of our history. 
 
 The patriotic men, the true statesmen of 
 our country, at this perilous period, united 
 their earnest efforts in behalf of the Union, 
 and counseled and labored to secure some ad- 
 justment of difliculties, as had been done at 
 various times in the pcvious history of ouf 
 nation, whereby hostile collisions of sections 
 of our country would be avoided— or ratlicr, 
 these noble and patriotic statemen sought to 
 lay a broad foundation, upon which all truly 
 loyal and conservative men could unite whilo 
 
56 
 
 tttStOtllCAL SKETCH Of* THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC. 
 
 engaged in the struggle in defence of the 
 Union, and thus the war, which the conspira- 
 tors had determined to force upon the National 
 Government would be of ishort duration — ter- 
 minating with speedy discomfiture and over- 
 throw of the traitors. 
 
 For the sacred purpose of devising measures 
 for the support of the Union, a Convention 
 composed of delegates from twenty-one States, 
 met upon the 4th of February, 1861, at Wash- 
 ington. This conference included among its 
 members the ablest men of our nation, —as 
 Hon. S. P. Chase, from Ohio ; Gen. John E. 
 Wool, from New York ; and the Hon. Rev- 
 erdy Johnson, from Maryland. This Conven- 
 tion, after ample debate, assumed a concilia- 
 tory policy. The Hon. Revcrdy Johnson, who 
 in 1861 alike as at the present time, held the 
 distinguished rank as one of the ablest states- 
 men and jurists of our land, exercised, by the 
 resistless force of his eloquence, unsurpassed 
 in rhetorical beauty and unequaledin strength 
 of argument, a controling influence over the 
 deliberations of this important conveution. 
 Mr. Johnson now holds the first rank, the pre- 
 eminent position, as the ablest statesman in 
 the American Senate, where within this proud 
 forum of debate and legislation the illustrious 
 Senator of Maryland has indeed rivaled by his 
 eloquence the lofty reputation acquired "here 
 by Webster and by Clay— and, in our own 
 time, by the unequaled statesmanship, elo- 
 quence and wisdom which he has thus brought 
 to the councils of the Republic, has won re- 
 Rplendent fame, whose lustre wdl grow diin 
 only when the firmament itself shall fade 
 away ! 
 
 The action of the Convention of 18G1 could 
 not prevent the rebellion which had been al- 
 ready fully matured by the conspirators ; but 
 if all the patriotic, or professed Union men of 
 the nation, had given approval of its platform, 
 the rebellion would have been shorn of its 
 proportions and disarmed of its power. 
 
 Among the great men of the Republic, whose 
 long period of eminent public services had 
 rendered their names illustrious in its annals 
 and who united their earnest efforts in defense 
 of the Union, I have only space to name Hon. 
 Lewis Cass, Hon. J. J. Crittenden, Hon. J. A. 
 Bayard ; Messrs. Wayne and Nelson of the 
 Bupreme Court ; Generals Scott and' Wool ; 
 and the Hon. George M. Dallas, who had for- 
 merly occupied with pre-eminent ability and 
 honor the important position of Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the Republic, and as the presiding 
 officer of the Senate in its palmiest days, win- 
 ning the trophies of unequaled and endur- 
 ing fame. 
 
 The National Administration, in its efforts 
 to sustain the Union intact, had to contend 
 not only with the ceaseless activity of the 
 treasonable conspirators at the South, but also 
 against the evil influence of that class of per- 
 sons within the North, who were, in realitv, 
 
 looking for tlie disruption of the Union, as » 
 change bringing to them the 
 
 "Tide in the affairs of men, 
 Which, take?i at the flood, leads on to fortune.'^ 
 
 Thus, a distinguished Senator, who aftsrward 
 became a member of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, 
 treated the idea that any formidable attempt 
 upon the part of the Southerners to dissolve 
 the Union was only fancy, and that "a dozen 
 John Browns could scare them back;' whilst a 
 prominent editor, who has since shown his 
 particulat friendship for Davis and his fellow- 
 conspirators in crime, arowed his opposition 
 to any "coercive measures'' to sustaiii the 
 Union. 
 
 The administration of Preddcht Buchanan^ 
 the War Department being under the efficient 
 direction of Holt, had continued steadily to 
 strengthen our national defences at the most 
 important points, and the Government of the 
 nation, in its unbroken supremacy, was banded 
 over, 4th Marck, 1861, to the succeeding exe- 
 cutive administration. 
 
 The action subsequently taken by the Na- 
 tional administration, upon the event of the 
 attack which was made upon our national 
 forts at Charleston, was precisely like thit 
 which would have been pursued, in a similaf 
 event, by the administration of President Bu- 
 chanan. Neither the administration of Mr. 
 Buchanrn, nor of Mr. Lincoln, proceeded to 
 inaugurate forcible measures until the leaders 
 of the rebellion had committed an overt act of 
 resistance to the authority and supremacy of 
 the Federal Government. 
 
 It will be observed that both of these ad- 
 ministrations adopted and pursued practically, 
 the same course. I only give a statement of 
 the facts in the premises. 
 
 It may not be improper to mention, that 
 in the most despondent and gloomy period to 
 our nation in the prosectition of the war to 
 suppress the rebellion, when many friends of 
 the Union were almost ready to abandon fur- 
 ther conflict as hopeless of success, Ex-Presi- 
 dent Buchanan had thus expressed, to the 
 writer of this sketch, his views of the )?»ar: 
 "The South, unnecessarily and without any- 
 adequate provocation, had commenced a war — 
 when it may terminate. Heaven only knows, 
 but 1 hope and trust only upon the restoration of 
 the Union." 
 
 These few expressive words corered the 
 whole ground of the greast conflict. The ear- 
 nest devotion which this eminent statesman 
 had evinced for the Union during his long and 
 distinguished career in the public coimcils of 
 the Republic, as well as throughout the im- 
 portant period of his administration of the 
 National Government, continued unshaken in 
 the darkest hours of the late momentous civil 
 war< Future history holds the glorious re- 
 ward of his patriotism and statesmanship. 
 
 However, in the early part of 1861, the 
 madness and criminal ambition ofSoutheta 
 
itlStORICAI. SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG TAELET, EtC. 
 
 51 
 
 leaders precipitated the country into a war ; 
 and to the appeal of our Government to sus- 
 tain the Union intact, the people everywhere 
 in the loyal States responded with an enthn- 
 siasni only equalled by that which had been 
 displayed by the patriots of the Revolution ; 
 and the veteran not less than the eminent 
 Gfuerals, of the war of 1912, and who had 
 also won the laurels of resplendent fame upon 
 the victorious battle-fields of Mexico — Scott 
 and Wool— gave their fullest energies to sus- 
 tain the military supremacy of the Union. 
 And these veteran oSlccvs, whcse names had 
 been rendered illustrious in the military ser- 
 vice of the republic, were most nobly seconded 
 by the hel-oisra and strategical skill displayed 
 by McClellan, by Sherman, and by Grant,-— 
 until the final triumph of our arms was 
 achieved through the unparalelled energy and 
 military skill, the masterly strategy and bril- 
 liant movemt-nts of the great captain of the 
 age— General Ulysses S. Grant -whose illus- 
 trious achievements have nobly earned the 
 enduring gratitude of his country, not less 
 than the laurels of immortal fame. 
 
 The patriotism and noble endurance shown 
 by the American people throughout the pro- 
 gress of the war, became entitled to unmea- 
 sured praise, as it indeed constitutes a solid 
 and lasting tribute to the intelligence and 
 virtue of the masses, not less than to the 
 worth and permanance of Republican institu- 
 tions of Government* 
 
 Unfortunately the general direction of mili- 
 tary affairs, the charge of the War Depart- 
 ment connected with the National Govern- 
 ment daring the civil war — as had previously 
 been the case in the war with Great Britain in 
 1812— was placed under the control of those 
 who possessed no practical knowledge of the 
 exigencies and requirements of military ser- 
 vice. Had the War Department, upon the 
 lirst outbreaking of the rebellion, been at once 
 placed and continued entirely under direction 
 of such an able "and skillful military chieftain 
 as Major-Gen. John E. Wool, and our heroic 
 generals and armies in the field been properlv 
 supported in the strategical movements which 
 •were bravely prosecuted for the suppression of 
 the rebellion, and the military power by which 
 it was sustained, there cannot be the slightest 
 doubt but that the arms and flag of the Re- 
 public would have been fully and gloriously 
 triumphant in the year 1862 — and treason and 
 traitors alike been awarded the due penalty 
 for the blackest crime which earth ever wit- 
 nessed, and the question settled whether trea- 
 son is crime — for if there were no living wit- 
 nesses as to the guilt of the traitors, then 
 would they spring by unnumbered thousands 
 from every battle-field of this civil war, to 
 confront Davis and his fellow-conspirators 
 ■with evidence of their "damning deeds" — and 
 the terrible demon of Disunion be banished 
 from our land forever ! 
 
 Nor was this section of the State, the region 
 about Elmira, behind any locality of our coun- 
 try ill the promptitude and ardor with which 
 it raised volunteers for the array. Among 
 the: patriotic men of thi.s section, and I may 
 add of the State, none displayed greater en- 
 ergy in the noble efforts which were made to 
 subserve the cause of the Union, than the 
 Hon. A. S. Diven, of Elmira. Mr. Diven 
 was born in Reading, Pena.. about the year 
 1810. He read law with Judge G jay „ of El- 
 mira, and was a representative in Congress in 
 1859, '60 and 61, where he had shown distin- 
 guished legislative ability. 
 
 The 107th Regiment of New York Volun- 
 teers, of which Robert B. Vanvalkenburgh 
 had command as Colonel, end A. S. Diven 
 was the Lieutenant-Colonel, went into service 
 upon the 12th of August, 1862, and was en- 
 gaged in the battle of Antietam upon the 12th 
 of October. Diven received the appointment 
 of Colonel of the Regiment, succeeding Col. 
 Van Valkenburgh in command. In the battle 
 of Chancellorsville, Colonel Diven, then com- 
 manding this Regiment, led his men amid the 
 fiercest conflict, in which he displayed distin- 
 guished gallantry, and exercised great judg- 
 ment in directing his troops. An officer of 
 the Regiment remarked to tne, in reference to , 
 Colonel Diven's participation in this battle, 
 etc., as follows : "A braver man never lived." 
 In Mvy. 1863. Divan received the appointment 
 of Adjutant-General, with the rank of Major, 
 and was placed in charge of the rendezvous ! 
 for troops at Elmira. He was appointed Bre- 
 vet Brigadier General upon the 30lh of August 
 1864. 
 
 General Divan also had, resulting from his 
 military or official position, a general super- 
 vision of the several Enrollment Districts of 
 Western New York, and his administration 
 was marked by great ability and integrity ; 
 and in the discharge of his oflicial duties, 
 which were general in their nature and limited 
 in their sphere of action, his course whs always 
 marked by the most earnest effort to promote 
 the interests of our country, and to secure 
 impartial justice. In these arduous exertions 
 toward maintaining intact the principles of 
 justice and right in the labors which devolved 
 upon Gen. Diven, who in accordance with the 
 provisions of the Enrollment Act could exer- 
 cise only general jurisdiction, whilst the ut- 
 most latitude of authority was vested in the 
 several Provost-Marshals, it is known that 
 Gen. Diven was almost universally and re- . 
 markably successful. In no instance, it is be- 
 lieved, where he possessed the power to apply 
 correction, was there any matter brougnt. to 
 his attention, but that justice was promptly 
 enforced. 
 
 Fortunately, the various Enrolling Boards 
 within our State were generally omposdot" 
 intelligent men, whose official action was free 
 fiom the taint of corruption ; it would not be 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHEMUNG VALLEY, ETC, 
 
 a matter of surprise, liowevcr, that exceptions 
 existenj, \yhen the miscreants succeciled in 
 cloakirig their villainy from ol>&ervation and 
 correction. 'J'he course pursued l.y some ol 
 the members of the Eurulliiig Board ot the 
 31st District ot New Yorli, lias not received its 
 due meed of praise. The wondertid acLieve- 
 nients of these official personages, 
 
 "Dressed in a little brief authority," 
 had indeed surpassed the brilliant campaigns of 
 Dun Quixotte and his faithful squire, Sancho 
 Panza--had outdone the renowned exploits of 
 Jack Falstaff— and eclipsed the shrewdness 
 and cunning of lago. The language which 
 hitherto had been adapted to designate dis- 
 gusting imbecility, and loathsome vice, and 
 degraded infamy, was yet too poor to reach 
 the lowest depths, until the names of a portion 
 of the Officers of this Board had furnishad the 
 requisite synonyms of meanness and squahdi- 
 ty. We can class such foul, disgusting defor- 
 mities only with the idiot, or with the villain, 
 and it were doubtful which would hold the 
 strongest claim; while to rank such despicable 
 creatures upon an equality with the brute — 
 the beast wallowing in its filth, and the rep- 
 tile crawling in its slime, alike, would spurn 
 the insult and degradation in being classed 
 upon a level with such vile and loathsome 
 vermin. 
 
 Tbe exception above adduced becomes more 
 (ieeply marked in its infamy because it stands 
 alone; a plague-spot showing more strongly 
 by contrast its own foul, cancerous deformity. 
 It formed an anomaly, for which none but the 
 petty officers of this Enrolling Board^whose 
 'individual names I will not drag out of the 
 filth to pollute these pages— were in any sense 
 responsible. The records of human baseness 
 are already sulficiently full without the addi- 
 tion of more loul and blacker names— and 
 which would out-rival the lists ot the lower 
 regions. 
 
 The Hon. A. S. Diven resigned the rank 
 which he had so ably held as Brevet-Brig.- 
 General, in the spring of 1865, and resumed 
 the more retired, but equally honorable pro- 
 fessional employments of civil life. In every 
 capacity in which he has been engaged, as a 
 Lawyer, as ^ Representative in Congress,, and 
 as a General in our Armies, as well as in the 
 important position which he now occupies as 
 one of the principal officers of the N. Y. & E. 
 11. R. Company, Mr. Diven has always brought 
 to the discharge of his arduous labors unswerv- 
 ing rectitude and pre-eminent ability, and he 
 has justly acquired a solid and enduring repu- 
 tation . 
 
 The history of the region lying northward of 
 Elmira and toward the Seneca Lake— the Val- 
 leys through which Gen. Sullivan's Army had 
 passed in pursuing the broken and flying bands 
 of Indians in 1779— and beautiful in its varied 
 and romantic scenery, and rich in its histori- 
 t'al lore, including the fasciuating legends re- 
 
 lating to Catharine Montour, whose true char- 
 acter and li:e has hitherto been entirely misap- 
 prehended, I must reserve for the secofid part of 
 tins sketch, whose continuation will be resimr- 
 ed when a better state of health ^halI permit-, 
 and which will appear in a subsequent volume. 
 And to this re.t;ion, bordering ui)i)n the ma- 
 jestic Chemung, vvhose cjties and villages have 
 sprung up within the last hundred years from 
 the Wilderness as if by the wand of some God 
 of olden myth, and whose historj comes like 
 some fairy tale of the Arabian Nights. I must 
 here bid adieu ! 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The Author of the Historical Sketch of the 
 Chemung, etc., has not aimed to write a for- 
 mal narrative of events which have transpired 
 in the region embraced in his researches, or, 
 in other words, to prepare a "History" in its 
 usual staid manner cr style — but he has de- 
 signed rather to give a view, a Sketch, of the 
 Past and Present of this interesting region of 
 our country, and in the somewhat desultory 
 style which the poor condition of health would 
 warrant him only in attempting to write. A 
 year has now elapsed since the sketch was pre- 
 pared, and its statements subjected to the free 
 criticism of the public, and whilst many who 
 were conversant with events narrated have 
 since cnrroborated its most important state- 
 ments, but a single error in the entire narra- 
 tive has been brought to the Autiior's atten- 
 tion — although one or two hear-say stories, 
 which the writer had previously found to be 
 unreliable, have been reiterated in oth- 
 er quarters. This one error — or probable error 
 — is the story in regard to Louis Bonaparte 
 having stopped at Elmira, and made a tour in 
 this vicinity, during the period of the visit of 
 the present distinguished Emperor, in Ameri- 
 ca, in 1837. This statement was made in ac- 
 cordance v/ith information which the Aujhor 
 deemed reliable. Nevertheless, the Author 
 feared that there had been some mistake as to 
 identity of the individual who had stopped at 
 Elmira, and the Rev. J. S. C. Abbott, who is ful- 
 ly conversant with the career oi Napiolean III, 
 in a letter to the Author of this sketch ex- 
 presses his belief that Louis Napolean did not, 
 visit Elmira whilst in the United States ui 
 1837 — and the statement of the Rev. Mr. Ab- 
 bott is also substantially given by Hon. J. T. 
 Headlcy, in a communication to the Author 
 of this sketch. 
 
 The Author has been able to examine only a 
 portion of the proof-sheets of this sketch, and 
 sor any errors which occur, he must ask the 
 indulgence of the reader. 
 
 For valuable aid and information which 
 very courteously has been given to the Author 
 whilst pursuing his investigation connected 
 with preparation of both the First and Second 
 Parts of this Sketch, he will beg to express 
 bis gicat obligations to Hon. G. H.McMaslcr, of 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE GHKMOKG yALLKY, KTC. 
 
 59 
 
 Bith; Mrs. Maxwell, (for loan of Historical 
 MSS of late Hon. Thomas Maxwell.) of Elmi- 
 ra; Hon. A. S. Diven, Hon. Ch;i8. p. Avery. 
 Hnn. William W. Campbell, Willi^ni C. Bry- 
 ant. Esq., Capt. D. P. Dey. ((the gieptlemaply 
 Commander of the Steamer "D. S. Itaeee,") 
 and Rev. Dr. Wiltjon, President of Geneva 
 College, besides many others; and, to ail who 
 have thus given generous aid in facilitating 
 the 4ut})or's ip<jujvies an4 work, be ft^tvirns 
 bis sincere thanlis. 
 
 If this Sketch has incidentaljy b|).0^'^ *h*' 
 Human Life, when governed by conscient ous 
 purpose and effort, controlled by absulute 
 Honesty and Truth, by refined and pure sen- 
 sibility of thought and emotion, secures th« 
 only noble avyard truly worthy of the aim an^ 
 endeavor of man, then the Author is content, 
 and perchance 
 
 "Not in vaift- 
 He wore his sandal ehoon, and scallop sheU..'' 
 
d« q&il4K 
 
From tLo Ail Joniuiil. 
 
 ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 
 
 BY T APOLEOX ClIEXEY, LL. D. 
 
 The dftvscription of the earthworks in 
 Western New York — the result of tlie 
 survey prosecuted during the year 1859 
 — has been given in my report, which 
 is published by the Regents of the 
 State University.* I propose, howev- 
 er, in this article, to refer to several 
 matters which have more recently 
 come to my notice, in connection with 
 those ancient works, as well as to the 
 more intimate relation which they hold 
 among remains of ancient art. 
 
 The region where these memorials 
 of the past are now disclosed, within 
 the historic period had been occupied 
 b}' the Five Nations, or Iroquois con- 
 federacy — the most remarkable, the 
 most powerful, known in Listorj*. — 
 The name of Ayuinoshioni was feared 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Missis- 
 sippi, and their conquering prowess 
 the terror of surrounding nations. — 
 This League has been compared to the 
 Amphictyonic Council, and their achiev- 
 ments may yet furnish a theme of epic 
 song — an Iliad or ^neid. The Ves- 
 peric tribes, indeed, had successfully 
 maintained their sway throughout all 
 the vast domain of uribroken forest 
 and mountain ranges, whence the King 
 of Floods marshals his multitudinous 
 streams — from the desolate fields girt 
 by the frozen zone to the sunny slopes 
 of the Sierra Madre — from the shores 
 of the Atlantic to the golden gateways 
 of the Pacific. Around the council- 
 fires their orators eloquently discussed 
 questions of national policy, and in 
 the shade of the wild woc^s the war- 
 riors chanted their songs, and the dark- 
 eyed and dark-haired maidens danced. 
 This mighty realm, looming dimly 
 away, if we may credit the Indian 
 rryths, becomes lost in an empire of 
 yet older date, and around whose his- 
 tory gathers the haze of a yet mQre 
 
 impenetrable mystery. To iliis goldcrt 
 age may not the beautiful fables ia 
 the lore of the Orient refer — that far 
 in the bosom of the sea, illumed by th6 
 rays of the setting Ilelius, slumbered 
 a fair Atlantis — an Hesperian clime — - 
 the Ultima Thule? These crumbling 
 earthworks — without going beyond 
 the range of probable conjecture — at 
 least may rival in antiquity the frown- 
 ing castles which marked the conflicts 
 uf the old world — reaching back to the 
 era when the Celts and the Belgaes 
 were contending for the supremacy of 
 the imperial isle — while the Gapasdaj 
 the Ostra-Gotlis and the Yis-Goths, and 
 the Herulse.alternately were w.andering 
 over the plains of continental Europe 
 — to that remote time when the achieve- 
 ments of chivalric knights were cele* 
 brated in the dark myths of the old 
 Nibilugen Lied. Wo only know that 
 these nearly decaj'ed monuments of 
 former empire wore reared in some far 
 century marked by the horologe of 
 time. 
 
 The idea has been advanced that the 
 earthworks in this section were con- 
 structed prior to the formation of the 
 terrace which extends from the waters 
 of the Lake Erie; but it will not, per* 
 haps, be essential to examine this hy* 
 pothesis. The rocks in this section, 
 from their lithological and zoological 
 characteristics, may be referred mainly 
 to the Portage and Chemung groups. 
 I have noticed a few fossils, as several 
 species of Crinoidce and Crustacea, be- 
 longing to other series, and specimens 
 of Turritella classed in the tertiary- 
 system. Tlie Chemung group has been 
 considered as occup3"ing the same geo- 
 logical horizon with the Devonian sys- 
 tem of Europe; the genus Brachiopoda, 
 &c., ally it with the Carboniferious pe- 
 riod; while species of other genera, as 
 Lamellihranchiata, have their equiva- 
 lent in the Ludlow rocks of Silurian 
 age. The coarse drift of the quarti- 
 nary epoch, throughout this section, 
 has assumed elevations, resembling 
 dunes or aesars, and which, also, h.ave 
 
a striking sim'Iaiily to the moundsi of 
 the west. 
 
 The place which these monumGnts of 
 an unknown people will hold in the 
 comprehensive history of art, must be 
 determined, not less from the princi- 
 ples which govern in the construction 
 of the earthwork, than in artistic skill 
 evinced, or beauty of design displayed, 
 in the minor relics. This entire series 
 — tumuli, enclosures, &c., — with per- 
 haps a single exception, present the 
 same general characteristics, and are, 
 iindoubtedl3', connected v,7ith the mound 
 period of the Mississippi Valley. A 
 few instances only— and which I had 
 not particularly noticed in the report — 
 can be given in illustration. The tu- 
 mulus at Conewango in many respects 
 lield a place among the most interest- 
 ing of the ancient works in this sec- 
 tion.' It occupies the brow of a hill, 
 overlooking the Conewango, whose 
 waters are dark, silent, and gloomy as 
 the fabled Styx. Thiij mound is com- 
 posed of terraces, like the Teocallis of 
 the Aztec capital of the South, and 
 contains, eight sepulchral chambers, 
 3-anged in circular form. Since mak- 
 ing the first examination, I haye sunk 
 a shaft directly in the centre of the 
 mound. A layer of coarse earth first 
 occurred, succeeded by a fine loam, and, 
 upon reaching a depth of some five 
 feet, the casts whera framework had 
 once existed were observed; also, a 
 large quantit}' of ashes intermixed 
 with fragments of calcined bones; and 
 then, descending about three feet fur- 
 ther, an alia)', or platform, having an 
 extent of several feet across, was dis- 
 covered. It was constructed with pre- 
 cise accuracy of outline, in the form of 
 a parallelogram, with angles extended 
 from either side toward the cardinal 
 points. The upper surface of the altar 
 was entirely level. It was formed in 
 compact masonwork, of large, heavy 
 stone, in successive layers, overlying 
 a stratum of burned claj', which ex- 
 tended to the soil of the original sur- 
 face, Here, upon this ancient altar, 
 
 had undoubtedly been performed mys- 
 terious rites — perhaps like the weird 
 incantations in the witches' cave — but 
 the actors have long been swept away, 
 and their history' perished in the silence 
 of oblivion. This ancient barrow, in 
 the symmetry of design which it dis- 
 play's in connection with the ceremo- 
 nial, and perhaps sacrificial, purposes 
 of its erection, certainly denotes much 
 approach to the principles of art, al- 
 though it cannot be c(jmpared to the 
 Basilica of Milan, or the antique aisles 
 and chapels, resplendent in. their uu- 
 fading glories, beneath the majestic 
 dome of St. Peter's. An ancient work, 
 situated upon the summit of a pictur- 
 esque and lofty hill in Ellington, in the 
 pi'inciples applied in its construction, 
 shows an advanced stage of military 
 art — at least, such as prevailed among 
 semi-civilized nations. This red<uibt 
 is in the form of a parallelogrs^m. In 
 the central portion of the parapet an 
 entrance occurs, guarded upon either 
 side by bastions. This gateway is 
 constructed in accordance with the 
 Tlascalan plan, as it also resembles 
 the form which prevailed in the forti- 
 fied camps, or cadra slativa, of the Ro- 
 man legions. 
 
 An enclosure is located near the vil- 
 lage of Irving. Its walls assume an 
 irregular deflection. The question pre- 
 sented in the peculiar relic found with- 
 in this entrenchment — a bullet imbed- 
 ded in the cervical vertebrgee attached 
 to a skeleton — is intimately connected 
 with our arch-ajlogical discussions, and 
 it may have some bearing as to Scan- 
 dinavian or other European immigra- 
 tion to this continent, previous to its 
 discovery by Columbus. This fact 
 will, at leajt, denote that a battle had 
 here ensued, in which the participants 
 belonged to the white, as well as the 
 red race. The aged chiefs of the Se- 
 necas were sure that no engagement 
 had taken place upon this ground in 
 modern times. 
 
 Another feature connected with the 
 ancient works in thi.s ecctioB, and 
 
wliicli, it is believed, has not been ob- 
 Rcrvpd glsevvlicre upon the continent, is 
 in the large size of the osteologiciil re- 
 mains disclosed in a certain range of 
 the monnd.s and other earthworks. I 
 have lately given the most rigid scru- 
 tiny to this subject, but it has oiily con- 
 firmed prcvi(nis views, The skeleton 
 taken from the Cassidaga mound, in 
 1822, had been examined by the first 
 professional surgeon and anatomist in 
 {fiis section of the State. Upon my 
 BUggeHting to him whether there might 
 not be some mistake as to their extra- 
 ordinary or gig'a,ntic fu'ze, he answered 
 emphatically, that 'they ivere giants." 
 This existence of these numerous and 
 extraordinar}' osteological remains 
 would certainly appear to confirm the 
 ancient Iroquois tradition of a war 
 with a race of giants, although it would 
 Beem, fama est obscurior aries. Allu- 
 sion is made to a land inhabited by a 
 mighty race, in the beautiful lore of 
 the Orient, as well as in the yet older 
 Egyptian mythology. Another record, 
 reacliing back to the first gray dawn 
 of historic time, is contained in Gene- 
 ris, referring to giants then upon the 
 earth, and which has furnished a theme 
 to England's uoble and immortal poet, 
 as also to him who sang the lighter 
 measures of Erine'slsle. The remains 
 here, however, can hardly have any 
 connection with these dim reminiscen- 
 ces. 
 
 The remains of the ancient work- 
 manship possesses much interest, in 
 showing the degree of art attained b}' 
 the raound-builders. Tiie misty veil 
 of centuries is removed, giving a par- 
 tial glimpse again into tlie long-gone 
 night of the past. I can only biieflj' 
 refer to them. The image disclosed 
 near the Alleghanj', upon whose waters 
 the light bark of the Indian maiden 
 yet glides, will compare favorably with 
 the elaborate sculptures of the mound 
 period of the Mississippi Valley. It 
 has a close resemblance to the idols 
 which were found in the ancient cities 
 of Mexico, and Yucatan, and Peru; 
 
 and cerlaiiily it will not bear closer 
 comparison to the rude statute work 
 of the Iroquois than can the classic 
 and almost breathing marble of iho 
 Hellenic artist with the more voluptu- 
 ous forms of Venetian art. This stat* 
 uette was perhaps one of the gods or 
 goddesses in the old Indian mythology. 
 Tlie expression of the face is that of 
 stern repose; and we may imagine the 
 worshipper to exclaim: 
 
 "Chide me, dear stone ; that I ir.oy say, Indeed, 
 Thou art Pleriiiioue; or rather thou art she 
 In thy not chiding; for she was as tender 
 As infancy and grace." 
 
 The beautiful figure of the bird, 
 wrought in marlde, and w-hich was 
 found near the tumulus of Randolph, 
 in the giaceful syrametrj' of contour 
 and design cannot be surpassed. It 
 is, perhaps, a representation of Spring. 
 It shows a pure feeling for art in its 
 expression. We gaze upon this simple 
 figure with similar emotions as, when 
 strolling in the Louvre, we turn from 
 the gorgeous snnsets of Claude Lor- 
 raine to the lovely figure of the Bella 
 Jardiniere, by the master-hand of Ra- 
 phael. And so this statuette has an at- 
 mosphere of still life — a "midsummer 
 dream" of the unnamed artist. Among 
 the remains of art which have recent- 
 ly come to my notice in Chautauqua 
 county, occurs a mortar, having a 
 width of some six inches, and a depth 
 of five inches, chiselled from a large 
 slab of stone. It was found within 
 the circular enclosure at Sheridan. — 
 Various interesting relics have been 
 disclosed at "Forthill," near Fredonia; 
 A pipe elaborately cut from stone, with 
 a bust of the human figure gracefully 
 traced upon the bowl; a stone tube, 
 finely polished, and some nine inches 
 of length; lance-heads, and varied or- 
 naments, resembling in form those il- 
 lustrated in figs. 114, 115, and 136, of 
 the "Ancient Monuments of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley," by Messrs. Squier and 
 Davis. The relics disclosed in connec- 
 tion with the ancient earthworks of 
 Western New York, in a marked de- 
 gree will ideniify them with the vast 
 
nicuDci series of the Wes't; while Uicy 
 liii^e some momiraental remains of ! 
 Aztec and Toltec art, and, perluips, 
 even to Celtic and Scandinavian anti- 
 quities. 
 
 I may mention thai an inscriptive 
 relic whicli undoubtedly d(Miotes the 
 former existence of an intrusive ele- 
 ment upon this continent more decis- 
 ively than has been afforded in any 
 manner hitherto, has been excavated 
 from a depth of some sis feet below 
 the surface, in the State of Michigan. 
 T have examined the plaster-cast of 
 this medal. It is in circular form, 
 nbout one inch across. Upon one side 
 is most elaborately traced the figure of 
 an urn or vase, bearing a flower shrub, 
 and which is surrounded by several al- 
 phabetical characters. The reverse 
 has the device of a tree, which is also 
 surrounded by an inscriptive legend. — 
 These alphabetical characters, I am in- 
 clined to think, are Hebraic. I know 
 of nothing in the range of ancient or 
 of modern art which exceeds in beauty 
 of design this antique medal, 
 
 Ths art-culture of any nation, or of 
 any age, will at once indicate the po- 
 sition it shall hold in human history. — 
 It will be acknowledged that art is the 
 divinest form by which beauty can be 
 expressed — the highest development 
 of sosthetical life. Long has the re- 
 verent student made pilgrimage to 
 the classic shrines of art, consecrated 
 by the genius of the great masters, in 
 the cities of the Old World and wan- 
 dered with rapt awe amid the cloisters 
 of San Marco, at the ancient Etrurian 
 capitol — along the galleries of Venice, 
 where still, on the immortal canvas, 
 glow the passion, the beauty, and the 
 gorgeous life which has its home there 
 by the everpulsing sea — in the cathe- 
 dral of Parma, whose vast dome is yet 
 resplendent with the angelic creations 
 of Correggio — and then in the Dres- 
 den Gallery, where the gems of the 
 jRrst masters of the fifteenth and six- 
 teenth centuries attest the power and 
 splendor which art had attained in its 
 
 jtalinit'stdays -aiui, inthe imperial di?y, 
 lingered in the B^rghese Palace, and, 
 beneath the shade of the Vatican, by 
 the immortal crearifins of Raphael, or; 
 yet, by the sublime frescoes of Mich- 
 ael Angelo, in the fc'istine chapel, whose 
 grandeur and glory even the all effac- 
 ing wave of Time is unable to destroy* 
 
 Here in this New World, however, 
 is disclosed a realm of art, vast and 
 dim, and mysterious, as those bilried 
 palaces, rich with the art-treasures of 
 the Augustine age, which Raphael was 
 commissioned to unveil, or of the blur- 
 red ruins along the banks of the strange 
 and affluent Nile. Here are the re- 
 mains of art, dim in the diist and gloom 
 of long-gone centuries, in which had 
 been expressed the symbolical ideas 
 of a ru le mytholog}', and in which the 
 sensuous aspiration for the beautiful 
 has also taken form. They afford, in- 
 deed, but some faint approach to the 
 divine purposes of art. The majestic 
 forms wrought by the chisel of Phidi- 
 as — the creations of art which sprang 
 from the hand of Parrhasius — the 
 dreams of beauty revealed in the Ve- 
 nus of Apelles — shadow forth the grace 
 with which Greek art had invested the 
 fables of mythology. The sweet forms, 
 yet brilliant witli the hues given in 
 the early dawn of Christian art by 
 Fra Angeiico, in the Medician city^ 
 the Lad Suppe7\ and still beautiful in 
 its crumbling wreck, by Leonardo de 
 Vinci, at Milan — the Assumption of Ti- 
 tian — the 31adonna del Siste and the 
 Transfiguration, by Raphael, the purest 
 creations of beauty which art ever 
 a'ave — the II Penseroso, the Day and 
 Night, and the Last Judgment, unrival- 
 ed in its majestic- grandeur, yet over- 
 hung with the awful shadows of 
 Pate— 
 
 ^'Qiinntm tremor est futurus, 
 Qiiaiido Judex est venturus 
 Cuncta stricte discussurus" — 
 
 of Michael Angelo, iu the beauty and 
 power of execution, have shown the 
 subliracst forms which the inspiration 
 
Fiom tlu' Art. Jouniul. 
 
 ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 
 
 BY T APOLEO-V CHENKY, IJ,. D. 
 
 Tlie dftRcriplioii of the earthworks in 
 Vv'esteru New York — the result of tlie 
 survey prosecuted duriiig the j'ear 1859 
 — has been given iu my report, wliicli 
 is published by the Regents of the 
 State CJuiversity.* I propose, howev- 
 er, in this article, to refer to several 
 matters which have more recentl} 
 come to my notice, iu connection with 
 those ancient works, as well as to tiie 
 more intimate relation which they hold 
 among remains of ancient art. 
 
 The region where these memorials 
 of the past are now disclosed, vvithiii 
 the historic period had been occupied 
 by the Five Nations, or Iroquois con- 
 federac}-- — the most remarkable, the 
 most powerful, known in history. — 
 The name of Ayainoshioni was feared 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Missis- 
 sippi, and their conquering prowess 
 the terror of surrounding nations. — 
 This League has been compared to the 
 Amphictyonic Council, and their achiev- 
 ments may yet furnisli a theme of epic 
 song — an Iliad or ^ueid. The Ves- 
 peric tribes, indeed, had successfully 
 maintained their sway throughout all 
 the vast domain of unbroken forest 
 and mountain ranges, whence the King 
 of Floods marshals his multitudinous 
 streams — from the desolate fields girt 
 by the fn^zen zone to the sunny slopes 
 of the Sierra Madre — from the shores 
 of the Atlantic to the golden gateways 
 of the Pacific. Around the council- 
 fires their orators eloquently discussed 
 questions of national policy, and in 
 the shade of the wild woods the war- 
 riors chanted their songs, and the dark- 
 eyed and dark-haired maidens danced. 
 This mighty realm, looming dimly 
 away, if we may credit the Indian 
 myths, becomes lost in an empire of 
 yet older date, and around whose his- 
 tory gathers the haze of a yet more 
 
 impiincUable mystery. To this golden 
 age may not the beautiful fables in 
 the lore of the Orient refer — that far 
 in the bosom of the sea, illumed by the 
 rays of the setting Ilelius, slumbered 
 a fair Atlantis — an Hesperian clime— 
 the Ultima Thulc? These crumbling 
 earthworks — without going beyond 
 the I'ange of probable conjecture — at 
 least may rival in antiquit}' the frown- 
 ing castles which marked the conflicts 
 of the old world — reaching back to the 
 era when the Celts and the Belgaes 
 were contending for the supremacy of 
 the imperial isle — while the Gapceda, 
 the Ostra-Goths and the Vis-Goths, and 
 the Herulae, alternately were wandering 
 over the plains of continental Europe 
 — to that remote time when the achieve- 
 ments of chivalric knights were cele- 
 brated iu the dark myths of the old 
 Nibilugen Lied. We only know that 
 these nearly deca3'ed monuments of 
 former empire were reared in some far 
 century marked by the horologe of 
 time. 
 
 The idea has been advanced that the 
 earthworks in this section were con- 
 structed prior to the formation of the 
 terrace which extends from the waters 
 of the Lake Erie; but it will not, per- 
 haps, be essential to examine this hy- 
 pothesis. The rocks in this section, 
 from their lithological and zoological 
 characteristics, may be referred mainly 
 to the Portage and Chemung groups. 
 I have noticed a few fossils, as several 
 species of Crinoidce and Crustacea, be- 
 longing to other series, and specimens 
 of Turritella classed in the tertiary 
 system. The Chemung group has been 
 considered as occupying the same geo- 
 logical horizon with the Devonian sys- 
 tem of Europe; the genus i?rac/»'opo^a, 
 &c., ally it with the Carboniferious pe- 
 riod; while species of other genera, as 
 Lamellibranchiata, have their equiva- 
 lent in the Ludlow rocks of Silurian 
 age. The coarse drift of the quarti- 
 nary epoch, throughout this section, 
 has assumed elevations, resembling 
 dunes or aesars, and which, also, have 
 
ft striking similarity to the mouuds of 
 the west. 
 
 Tlie place which these monuments of 
 an unknown people will hold in the 
 comprehensive history of art, must be 
 determined, not less from the princi- 
 ples which govern in the construction 
 of the earthwork, than in artistic skill 
 evinced, or beauty of design displaj'ed, 
 in the minor relics. This entire series 
 — tumuli, enclosures, &c., — with per- 
 haps a single exception, present the 
 same general characteristics, and are, 
 undoubtedly, connected with the mound 
 period of the Mississippi Valley. A 
 few instances only— and which I had 
 not particularly noticed in the report — 
 can be given in illustration. The tu- 
 mulus at Conewango in many respects 
 lield a place among the most interest- 
 ing of the ancient works in this sec- 
 tion. It occupies the brow of a hill, 
 overlooking the Conewango, whose 
 ■waters are dark, silent, and gloomy as 
 the fabled Stys. Thiii moniid is com- 
 posed of terraces, like the Teocallis of 
 the x\ztec capital of the South, and 
 contains eight sepulchral chambers, 
 ranged in circular form. Since mak- 
 ing the first examination, I have sunk 
 a shaft directly in the centre of the 
 mound. A layer of coarse earth first 
 occurred, succeeded by a fine loam, and, 
 upon reaching a depth of some five 
 feet, the casts where framework had 
 once existed were observed; also, a 
 large quantity of ashes intermixed 
 with fragments of calcined bones; and 
 then, descending about three feet fur- 
 ther, an altar, or platform, having an 
 extent of several feet across, was dis- 
 covered. It was constructed with pre- 
 cise accuracy of outline, in the form of 
 a parallelogram, with angles extended 
 from either side toward the cardinal 
 points. The upper surface of the altar 
 was entirely level. It was formed in 
 compact masonwork, of large, heavy 
 stone, in successive layers, overlying 
 a stratum of burned clay, which ex- 
 tended to the soil of the original sur- 
 face. Here, \ipon this ancient altar, 
 
 had uiidciubU'Jly been pc-rfornied mys- 
 terious rites — perhaps like the weird 
 iacantaliona in the witches' cave — I'Ut 
 the actors have long been swept away, 
 aad their history perished in the silence 
 of oblivion. Tliis ancient barrow, in 
 the symmetry of design which it dis- 
 plays in connectixm with the ceremo- 
 nial, and perhaps sacrificial, purposes 
 of its erection, certainly denotes much 
 approach to the principles of art, al- 
 though it cannot be compared to the 
 Basilica of Milan, or the antique aisles 
 and chapels, resplendent in their un- 
 fading glories, beneath the majestic 
 dome of St. Peter's. An ancient work, 
 situated npo!i the summit of a pictur- 
 esque and lofty hill in Ellington, in the 
 principles applied in its construction, 
 shows an advanced stage of military 
 art — at least, such as prevailed among 
 semi-civilized nations. This redoubt 
 is in the form of a parallelogram. In 
 the central portion of the parapet an 
 entrance occurs, guarded upon either 
 side by bastions. This gateway is 
 constructed in accordance with the 
 Tlascalan plan, as it also resembles 
 the form which prevailed in the forti- 
 fied camps, or castra stafiva, of the Ro- 
 man legions. 
 
 An enclosure is located near the vil- 
 lage of Irving. Its walls assume an 
 irregular deflection. The question pre- 
 sented in the peciiliar relic found with- 
 in this entrenchment — a bullet imbed- 
 ded in the cervical vertebisee attached 
 to a skeleton — is intimately connected 
 with our arch-yelogical discussions, and 
 it may have some bearing as to Scan- 
 dinavian or other European immigra- 
 tion to this continent, previous to its 
 discovery by Columbus. This fact 
 will, at least, denote that a battle had 
 here ensued, in which the participants 
 belonged to the white, as well as the 
 red race. The aged chiefs of the Se- 
 necas were sure that no engagement 
 had taken place upon this ground in 
 kioderu times. 
 
 Another feature connected with the 
 ancient works in this Bcctios, and 
 
wliicli, it \s believed, has not been ob- 
 served elsewhere upon the continent, is 
 in the large size of the osteological re- 
 mains disclosed in a certain range of 
 the mounds and other earthworks. I 
 have lately given the most rigid scru- 
 tiny to this subject, but it has only con- 
 firmed previous views. The skeleton 
 taken from the Cassidaga mound, in 
 1822, had been examiued by the first 
 professional surg'cou and anatomist in 
 this section of the State. Upon my 
 suggestinjj to him whether there might 
 not be some mistake as to their extra- 
 ordinary or gigantic tjize, he answered 
 emphatically, that ''ihe.y icere gianta.'' 
 This existence of these numerous and 
 extraordinary osteological remains 
 would certainly appear to confirm the 
 ancient Iroquois tradition of a war 
 with a race of giants, although it would 
 seem, fama est obscurio)' aries. Allu- 
 sion is made to a land inhabited b}' a 
 mighty race, in the beautiful lore of 
 the Orient, as well as in the yet older 
 Egyptian mythology. Another record, 
 reaching back to the first gray dawn 
 of historic time, is contained in Gene- 
 sis, referring to giants then upon the 
 earth, and which has furnished a theme 
 to England's noble and immortal poet, 
 as also to him who sang the lighter 
 measures of Erine's Isle. The remains 
 here, however, can hardly have any 
 connection with these dim reminiscen- 
 ces. 
 
 The remains of the ancient work- 
 manship possesses much interest, in 
 showing the degree of art attained by 
 the mound-builders. The misty veil 
 of Cxjnturies is removed, giving a par- 
 tial glimpse again into the long-gone 
 night of the past. I can only briefly 
 refer to them. The image disclosed 
 near the Alleghany, upon whose waters 
 the light bark of the Indian maiden 
 ^et glides, will compare favorably with 
 the elaborate sculptures of the mound 
 period of the Mississippi Valh.'y. It 
 has a close resemblance to the idols 
 which were found in the ancient cities 
 of Mexico, and Yucatan, and Peru; 
 
 and certainly it will uot bear closer 
 comparison to the rude statute work 
 of tiie Iroquois than can the classic 
 and almost breathing marble of the 
 Hellenic artist with the more voluptu- 
 ous forms of Venetian art. This stat- 
 uette was perhaps one of the gods or 
 goddesses in the old Indian mythoU)gy. 
 The expression of the face is that of 
 stern repose; and we may imagine the 
 worshipper to exclaim: 
 
 "Chide me, dear stone ; that I may say, Indeed, 
 Thou art Ilerinioue; or rather thou art she 
 In tliy not chiding; for she was as tender 
 As infancy and grace," 
 
 The beautiful figure of the bird, 
 wrought in marble, and which was 
 found near the tumulus of Riindolph, 
 in the gi'aceful symmetry of contour 
 and design cannot be surpassed. It 
 is, perhaps, a representation of Spring, 
 It shows a pure feeling for art in its 
 expression. We gaze upon this simple 
 figure with similar emotions as, when 
 strolling in the Louvre, we turn from 
 the gorgeous sunsets of Claude Lor- 
 raine to the lovely figure of the Bella 
 Jardiniere, by the master-hand of Ra- 
 phael. And so this statuette has an at- 
 mosphere of still life — a "midsummer 
 dream" of the unnamed artist. Among 
 the remains of art which have recent- 
 ly come to my notice in Chautauqua 
 county, ocfiurs a mortar, having a 
 width of some six inches, and a depth 
 of five inches, chiselled from a large 
 slab of stone. It was found within 
 the circular enclosure at Sheridan. — 
 Various interesting relics have been 
 disclosed at "Forthill," near Fredonia; 
 A pipe elaborately cut from stone, with 
 a bust of the human figure gracefully 
 traced upon the bowl; a stone tube, 
 finely polished, and some nine inches 
 of length; lance-heads, and varied or- 
 naments, resembling in fovm those il- 
 lustrated in figs. 114, 115, and 136, of 
 the "Ancient .Monuments of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley," by Messrs. Squier and 
 Davis. The relics disclosed in connec- 
 tion with the ancient earthworks of 
 Western New York, in a marked de- 
 gree will identify them with the vast 
 
moiind scries of tiic We?ti while ihcv 
 have somo nionnmeiital remains of 
 Aztec and Toltec art, and, perhaps, 
 even to Celtic and Scandinavian anti- 
 quities. 
 
 T may mention that an inscriptive 
 relic which undoubtedly denotes the 
 former existence of an intrusive ele- 
 ment upon this continent more decis- 
 ively than has been niforded in any 
 manner liitherto, has been excavated 
 from a depth of some sis feet below 
 the surface, in the State of Michigan. 
 I have examined the plaster-cast of 
 this medal. It is iu circular form, 
 about one inch across. Upon one side 
 is most elaborately traced the (igureof 
 an urn or vase, bearing a flower shrub, 
 and which is surrounded by several al- 
 phabetical characters. The reverse 
 has the device of a tree, which is also 
 surrounded by an inscriptive legend. — 
 I'hese alphabetical characters, I am in- 
 clined to think, are Hebraic. I know 
 of nothing in the range of ancient or 
 of modern art which exceeds iu beauty 
 of desigu this antique medal. 
 
 The art-culture of any nation, or of 
 any age, will at once indicate the po- 
 isitiou it shall hold in human history. — 
 It will be acknowledged that art is the 
 divinest form by which beauty can be 
 expressed — the highest development 
 of a3sthetical life. Long has the re- 
 verent student made pilgrimage to 
 the classic shrines of art, consecrated 
 by the genius of the great masters, in 
 the cities of the Old World and wan- 
 dered with rapt awe amid the cloisters 
 of San Marco, at the ancient Etrurian 
 capitol — along the galleries of Venice, 
 vphere still, on the immortal canvas, 
 glow the passion, the beauty, and the 
 gorgeous life which has its home there 
 by the everpulsing sea — in the cathe- 
 dral of Parma, whose vast dome is yet 
 resplendent with the angelic creations 
 of Correggio — and then in the Dres- 
 den Gallery, where the gems of the 
 first masters of the fifteenth and six- 
 teenth centuries attest the power and 
 &plei;dor which art bad aKained in its 
 
 palmiest days --and, in the Imperial City, 
 lingered in the Btugheise Palace, and, 
 beneath the shade of the Vatican, by 
 the immortal crearions of Raphael, or, 
 yet, by the sublime frescoes of Mich- 
 ael Angelo, in the Sistine chapel, whose 
 grandeur and glory even the all effac- 
 ing wave of Time is unable to destroy. 
 
 Here in this Now World, however, 
 is disclosed a realm of art, vast and 
 dim, and mysterious, as those buried 
 palaces, rich with the art-treasures of 
 the Augustine age, wliich Raphael was 
 commissioned to unveil, or of the blur- 
 red ruins along the banks of'the strange 
 and affluent Nile. Here are the re- 
 mains of art, dim in the dust and gloom 
 of long-gone centuries, in which had 
 been expressed the symbolical ideas 
 of a ru'ie mythology, and in which the 
 sensuous aspiration for the beautiful 
 has also taken form. They afford, in- 
 deed, but some faint approach to the 
 divine purposes of art. The majestic 
 forms wrought by the chisel of Phidi- 
 as — the creations of art which sprang 
 from the hand of Parrhasius — the 
 dreams of beauty revealed in the Ve- 
 nus of Apelles — shadow forth the grace 
 with which Greek art had invested the 
 fables of mythology. The sweet forms, 
 yet brilliant with the hues given iti 
 the early dawn of Christian art by 
 Fra Angelico, in the Mediciau city — 
 the Last Supper, and still beautiful iu 
 its crumbling wreck, by Leonardo de 
 Vinci, at Milan — the Assumption of Ti' 
 tian — the 31adonna del Sisle and the 
 Transfiguration, by Raphael, the purest 
 creations of beauty which art ever 
 a:ave — the II Penseroso, the Day and 
 Night, and the Last Judgment, unrival- 
 ed iu its majestic grandeur, yet over- 
 hung with the awful shadows of 
 Fate— 
 
 "Quonius tremor estfuturus, 
 Quundo Judex est venturiis 
 Cuncta stride discus&urus" — 
 
 of Michael Angelo, in the beauty and 
 power of execution, have shown the 
 sublimest forms which the inspiration 
 
of art can create, the loftiest triumphs 
 of human ffcnius. 
 
 "This -work is thus referred to in several 
 serial publications, by gentlemen wha^^have 
 respectively in the domain of Literature and 
 Science long occupied the first position among 
 the distinguished authors of America: 
 
 "The field of Mr. Cheney's explorations is 
 the district bordering upon Lake Eric. His 
 discoveries embrace tumnli of stone and earth, 
 sacred enclosures, fortifications, ancient roads, 
 cemeteries, wells, hearths, and numerous ob- 
 jects of artoruamental and useful" The earth- 
 •ifrorks are, in general, more regular in their 
 Btructnre than those in other parts of New 
 York and Northern Ohio, and bear a close re- 
 semblance to many that have been found in 
 the Valley of the Mississippi. They give evi- 
 dence that the region was once the seat of 
 dense, warlike, and by no means wholly rude 
 br unskilled aboriginal population. Among 
 the works of art are a statuette cut in relief 
 from a block of granite, with well-defined fea- 
 tures, an image of life-size in gray sandstone, 
 and a pipe carved from steatite, bearing on the 
 bowl a singularly graceful figure of an Indian, 
 surmounted by what appears to be a wreath of 
 flowers. There are also various other speci- 
 mens of carved work, with several weapons 
 which indicate a somewhat advanced state of 
 mechanical industry. The illustrations, draM'n 
 by Mr. Cheney, have a very highorder of mer- 
 it, and with his singularly lucid text, they 
 put us into an unusually complete possession 
 of the entire results of his researches. He has 
 all the chacteristics of a faithful and successful 
 explorer, uniting with genuine antiquarian 
 iReal the science and skill of an accomplished 
 engineet and draughtsman. We tiust that wa 
 shall meet him again on some more extended 
 and equally fruitful field of the yet undescribed 
 antiquities of our continent-" — North American 
 Review. 
 
 "In a cursory perusal of this report and af- 
 ter an inspection of its illustrations, we are 
 convinced that the dominion of that very an^ 
 tient and unknown people, by whom the earth- 
 works of North America were raised, extended 
 to Lake Erie and was a part of the great sys- 
 tem of similar works which occupied the terri- 
 tory of several of the- Western and South-west- 
 ern States, to a great extent, also, the Valleys 
 of the Ohio and Mississippi and their conflu- 
 ents extending quite to Mexico. There is so 
 great a similarity, not to say identity, of struc- 
 ture, position, arrangement and contents, 
 whether of remains or of artistic works, when 
 art was young, or of collections of minerals 
 and other objects of nature and art that our 
 curiosity is excited still more to obtain a solu- 
 tion of the question, 'who were the people -who 
 
 erected these remarkable works, fortis, lines of 
 defense, mounds of observation, or barrows of 
 supulture?' Our modern Indians have no such 
 skill — nor have we reason to believe that any- 
 such structures as are named above were ever 
 erected by them or their ancestors, and this 
 appears to be the opinion of Mr. Cheney. 
 
 "We sincerely wish him every aid to which 
 he is so well entitled— especially to enable him 
 to bring to a successful result extensive inves- 
 tigations in which he is now engaged as to the 
 origin and history of the builders of the mounds 
 and fortresses which are the only recorded of 
 that wonderful extinct people. -^(B. Silliman, 
 L. L. T).) Journal of Science and Arts. 
 
 "The greater part of this document is a ra- 
 port on ancient monunments in Western New 
 York, by T. Apoleon Cheney, M. A., with a 
 map and 14 plates. This is a valuable Supi 
 plement to the work of Mr. Squier; and Mr. 
 Cheney deserves credit for carrying out his 
 exploratidns under very disheartening circum- 
 stances. We trust that he will be encouraged 
 to proceed, and that before the levelling hand 
 of progress comes upon them, the various 
 mounds in the State may be examined and 
 properly described. — Brographical Dictionary 
 of Distinguished Authors. 
 
 We have received from the author, T. Apol^ 
 EON Cheney, Esq., a copy of an interesting 
 and valuable publication, entitled "Contribu- 
 tions to the Thirteenth Annual Report of the 
 Regents of the University of the State Cabinet 
 of Natural History of the State of New York." 
 The subject of this publication is the ancient 
 monuments in western New York, and it com- 
 prises the results of explorations made by the au- 
 thor in the year 1859. It contains much inter- 
 esting information with regard to the remains 
 still existing of the earth works, mounds, 
 tdmuli, and other works, evidently of a mili- 
 tary character erected, probably ages ago, by 
 the aboriginal inhabitants of the New World. 
 Mr. Cheney deserves the thanks of our antiqua- 
 rians for tiie investigations he has made, and 
 for the light he has thrown upon a subject 
 which is certainly one that cannot be other- 
 wise than attractive to the greater portion of' 
 the American public. The volume, which, 
 we learn, has been embodied in the thirteenth 
 annual report of the Regents of the University 
 of New York, is copiously illustrated by en- 
 gravings, and by a map of the district explor- 
 ed. — Oodey's Lady's Book. 
 
The Early History of the Eegiou of the Se- 
 neca Lake, etc. 
 
 We have previously made some al- 
 lusion in the Journal to the very ex- 
 tensive historical investigations which 
 had been pursued throughout this sec- 
 tion of tlie State by T. Apoleon Che- 
 ney, LL. D. We learn tliat the work 
 embracing the results of these inves- 
 tigations has within the past few weeks 
 been written by Dr. Cueney; and that 
 it will, in a short time, be published in 
 a volume, principally for object of ex- 
 change with learned Societies, &c. — 
 As this History cannot fail to possess 
 the greatest degree of interest, partic- 
 ularly within this region of the State 
 to which it directly rehxtes, we accord- 
 ingly solicited permission of its au- 
 thor to give a preliminary publication 
 of this sketch in the Journal; and we 
 shall probably commence to publish it 
 in our columns within the course of 
 one or two weeks, and continue its in- 
 sertion in a series of numbers of our 
 paper until the publication of the en- 
 tire sketch is completed, which will re- 
 quire a number of weeks. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add in 
 this place, that Dr. Cjieney in former 
 years has acquired by his learned lit^ 
 erary and scholastic labors, and espe- 
 cially by his very accurate aqd valua- 
 ble researches in the departnjent of 
 Historical Science, a wide and distiui- 
 guished reputation, and which rests 
 upon a solid and enduring foundation. 
 The investigations of historical nature 
 which he has previously pursued, we 
 believe, were principally embodied in 
 the brief work entitled, — " Ancient 
 Monuments of We.stern N. Y.," which 
 was issued in 1861. Within a short 
 time after completion of the first sur- 
 vey, Dr. Cheney made resume of the 
 subject, and prepared an article, ''An- 
 tiquarian Researches,''^ which was pub- 
 lished in the Art Journal, a Magazine 
 which held the first or foremost rank 
 in American literature. As this arti- 
 cle relates to the g-eneral history and 
 
 characteristics of tliQ Iroquois, and 
 which will also require such large por^ 
 tion of space in a sketch of the early 
 History of this region, which we de- 
 sign soon to commence publishing in 
 tlie Journal; we have thought advis'a^ 
 ble to re-publish this article, which 
 will be found on the first page of our 
 paper this week, believing that our 
 readers will find it to be of much in- 
 terest. 
 
 -The early historical work prepared 
 by Dr. Cheney, "Ancient Monuments of 
 VVestern N. Y," though containing but 
 few pages, aside from the illustrations, 
 it is well known, had met with a most 
 favorable and flattering reception by 
 learned men, Scientific Societies, etc., 
 both in America and Europe — and won 
 by its eminent raeiit a literary success 
 which had been seldom if ever equaled. 
 This briet work was noticed in a nurn? 
 ber of our leading Magazines and Sci- 
 entific Journals, and also very fully 
 and favorably reviewed in several for- 
 eign languages. 
 
 With this view of gathering the ful- 
 lest and most authentic material for a 
 reli'able and impartial History of this 
 region of the State, Dr. T. A. Cheney 
 had formed the design of making a 
 complete and rigid investigation of the 
 subject, ascertaining from closest re- 
 search all the facts connected with the 
 actual history of the section of counr 
 try embraced in these enquiries, as 
 they might still be retained in the pos- 
 itive knowledge and recollection of 
 those who yet survived among the ear- 
 lier settlers; and for this purpose, durr 
 ing the spring of 1865, he had made 
 several journeys throughout the entire 
 region of the Canisteo and Conhoctou 
 Valleys, also through the extensive 
 valley's of the Chemung and Susque- 
 hanna, and through the valley ex- 
 tending from Chemung river to Seneca 
 Lake, and thence along either side of 
 the lake to Geneva; and, in these va^ 
 rious tours, he was enabled to visit all 
 of the earlier residents in this exten- 
 sive region who were yet living, and 
 
in these fulerviews iie prosecuted the 
 fullest enquiries upon every point re- 
 luting' to our early iiistory in regard to 
 which these respective individuals 
 could afi'ord any positive and reliable 
 information, and in every instance re- 
 cording- at the time the evidence thus 
 obtained in the form of ample notes, in 
 this manner avoiding any dependence 
 upon recollection of conversation with 
 60 many persons, (about 590 in num- 
 ber); these laborious, critical investi- 
 gations and enquiries were prosecuted 
 during several months in the year 1865, 
 while since that time cyery opportuni- 
 ty has been embraced to gather any 
 additional information from reliable 
 sources, but it is believed that all the 
 more recent statements given in regard 
 to our earlj' annals only go to confirm 
 the extensive information previously 
 obtained from so many of the aged 
 residents throughout this section of the 
 State; in making such full and com- 
 plete research toward gathering all 
 the facts of interest connected with 
 onr early history, it was quite often 
 the case that the statements of fifteen 
 or twenty persons related to the same 
 matter, and quite frequently, when 
 there seemed to be the least doubt ex- 
 isting upon a subject, Dr. Cue.vey had 
 made excursions of twelve or fifteen 
 miles in order to obtain reliable and 
 conclusive evidence upon a ainglG point 
 from individuals who had positive 
 knowledge, and were themselves fully' 
 acquainted with the matter which had 
 been in question. Beside the thorough 
 and full researches that Dr. Citexey had 
 made in gathering information from 
 the early residents of this region, he 
 also had access t,o the H. S. S., histori- 
 cal papers, books, &c, of the late Hon. 
 Tuos. Maxwell, which alone would fur- 
 nish more reliable information as to the 
 liistory of the Chemung Valley than is 
 contained in all books which have hith- 
 erto been issued ; important informa- 
 tion had also been furnished by Judge 
 McMaster of Stuben Co. In addition 
 to this evidence of positive character 
 
 relative to onr early history afforded by 
 the practical investigation, the rigid 
 nature of the enquiries which Dr. Che- 
 ney had iustituted in the researches 
 made among the early sellers, he had 
 also the means of deriving important 
 aid from reference that he could at any 
 ti(ne make to books contained in Georr 
 gic Library, (which had been estab- 
 lished and sustained through his euterr 
 prise,) and which, without doubt, inclu? 
 des the most extensive and valuable 
 collection of historical and scientifia 
 works to be found in any Library with- 
 in this section of the State — embracing' 
 in the number many old, and scarce 
 historical books, antique and rare vol- 
 umes, of which copies are contained in 
 very few Libraries in our country; 
 probably, so far as consultation of his- 
 torical books, and aid derived therer 
 from, is concerned, he has thus had 
 more ample facilities than could else^ 
 where have been found in western N. Y. 
 As the material for the history of 
 this region had been gathered with 
 greater care and accuracy, more rigid 
 exactness than is usually, or perhaps 
 had ever before been given in collecting 
 statistics, this large amount of origi- 
 nal material has been condensed and 
 arranged, and been written out under 
 more discouraging circumstances, un? 
 der a state of more extreme ill-health, 
 than perhaps had ever before attended 
 the preparation of any work. We be- 
 lieve that Dr. Cheney had recovered 
 sufScieutly from the attack of illness 
 suffered in Dec, so that he commencec} 
 preparation of the History about the 
 first days of February, and was able 
 to be engaged in writing for a few- 
 minutes, sometimes several hours in 
 course of the day, and in this manner 
 had nearly completed the entire sketch, 
 when he was again prostrated several 
 weeks ago by another attack of illness 
 — and since this last attack, he has not 
 sufficiently recovered to be able to re- 
 sume, or finish th^ Sketch. This poor 
 state of health, of course, has prevented 
 Dr. Cheney from giving revision, or ;-er 
 
writing: any portion of tlic sketch; but 
 this will make less difference as he 
 does not usually re-write or copy bis 
 articles, published in Magazines, &c. 
 
 Beyond any question Dr. Cheney pos- 
 sesses greater and more eminent abili- 
 ty, more ample qualiScations to pre- 
 pare a work that will form an authen- 
 tic, valuable contribution to the His- 
 tory of our State, than an}' other liter- 
 ary or scientific writer in Central or 
 Western New York. The most promi- 
 hent characteristic, the principal mer- 
 it which distinguishes all of Dr. Che- 
 ney's researches and writings is the 
 strict and remarkable accuracy which 
 everywhere marks them; his investi- 
 gations are always prosecuted with 
 fexact precision of a demonstration in 
 mathematics — and his writings are in- 
 variably marked by a simple, rigid 
 trutlifulness which places the accura- 
 cy of his statements beyond all ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Dr. Chexey is well known, personally, 
 as a man of sterling integrity and up- 
 rightness,with character marked by uni- 
 
 form and inflexible adhcM*enfce lo moral 
 principle; while he'possesses aclear, crit- 
 cal intellect, and a sound, practical 
 judgment; he is not a man that will 
 take any fact for granted, and our rea- 
 ders may rest assured that before any 
 statement is adniitted into his history 
 its truth and correctness will have to 
 be fully and clearly established — ivken 
 he sJidll record any statement, those who 
 are acquainted with him, will need no 
 other proof of its unquestionable truth 
 and absolute authenticity. Dr. Che- 
 net has given most faithful, close, and 
 thorough research in gathering neces- 
 sary material for an accurate History 
 of this region of the State; and we 
 know that he will prepare an independ- 
 ent, fearless, and truthful History — a 
 work pervaded by a high moral tonej 
 while its reflections will be made only 
 in accordance with stern moral princi- 
 ples; and the dictates of truth and 
 right; and its strict impartiality and 
 accuracy will rest upon an iramovabld 
 foundation. — Havana Journal. 
 
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