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 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
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 SETTLEMENT . . . 
 
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 . . . HORNELLSYILLE. 
 
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THE EARLY HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HORNELLSVILLE, 
 
 STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 
 
 An Address made at the Centennial of the First Settlement 
 of Hornellsville, on September 25th, 1890. 
 
 BY IRVIN W. NKAR. 
 
 HORXELLSVILLE. X. Y. : 
 THE EVEXIXG TRIBUXE PRINTING UOUSE. 
 
 1890, 
 
C' 
 
 A. 
 ^ . 
 
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 Settlement of }4ornensvilIe, 
 
 SEPTEMBKR 25, 1890. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: — 
 
 The territory now embraced within the limits of the city 
 and town of Hornellsville and the immediate neighborhood, 
 has been claimed by three Enropean governments. 
 
 Spain by discovery atfirmed by a papal bull. France and 
 England have proclaimed and asserted ownership, by col- 
 onisation and conquest, and, in the name of their respective 
 monarchs, have occupied it with armed military iorces. The 
 tri-color of France and the cross ot St. George have tloated 
 in its breezes, as an evidence and an admonition ol their 
 respective occupation, dominion and sovereignty. 1 he 
 rights of the native Indians, the English claimed, was the right 
 of possession, suDJect to be acquired by purchase or conquest. 
 The claim of the French was that France was the absolute 
 owner of the soil, that the Indians were their wards, to be 
 governed and cared for as the home government might di- 
 rect. It has been given and granted by conflicting royal 
 charters, and by sovereign states; has been transferred by 
 
treaties solemnized both in Enrope and America, and was 
 part of the domain conveyed by the largest sale of land 
 ever made by a government to private individuals. 
 
 Forty-two years after the discovery of America by 
 Columbus, Jacques Cartier landed at Hochelaga, now Mon- 
 treal, on the banks of the river St. Lawrence, erected the 
 cross, and planted the French flag, and setting aside the 
 papal bull of Pope Alexander VI, proclaimed in the name 
 of Jesus and Mary, and of Francis I, of France, that he 
 took possession, in their names, of that river and all its 
 tributaries and lands adjoining both remote and distant. 
 The same claim and right was re-asserted by Champlain, 
 at the founding of Quebec in 1608. 
 
 The English under Gosnold had entered Chesapeake Ba}^ 
 in 1607, and the Dutch in the person of Hendrick Hudson, 
 had entered the river that bears his name in 1609. Each 
 claimed the adjacent country for their respective monarchs. 
 
 In tracing the advent of our race to this locality, French 
 colonization and occupancy must, of necessity, take prece- 
 dence. 
 
 All that portion of what now constitutes the State of 
 New York, lying westerly and northerly of the boundaries 
 of Oneida county, and the extensions thereof, from and after 
 the arrival of Champlain upon the St. Lawrence, until the 
 conquest and treaty in 1762 — a centur}^ and a half — formed 
 a portion of French Canada, or in a more extended geo- 
 grajihical designation, New France, and this identical local- 
 ity was a part of this territory, and was carefuU}- watched, 
 and jealously guarded by the French government. In 1690 
 Count Frontenac, then governor of New France, learning 
 that a portit^n of his domain in the Seneca countr}' and on 
 la Belle (Allegheny) river was trespassed upon, sent Sieur 
 de Villers with a party of soldiers and Indians to warn and 
 drive away all trespassers and intruders upon the domin- 
 ions of his master. With this expedition was, upon the au- 
 thority of Fathers Hennepin and Charlevoix, and letters 
 addressed to Madame de Maintenon, one whom the world 
 
will not easily foro-et, the good Abbe Fenelon, afterwards 
 Bishop of Canbray. The chronicler says: "The expe- 
 dition left Cataraiiqiii (now Kingston), crossed to and skirted 
 the south shore of Lake Ontario, until they reached the 
 Genesee river, which they ascended, making one portage 
 around two considerable falls, about a league apart, until 
 they reached its head waters, then after a carrying 
 place of nearly six leagues they reached the head 
 waters of a stream that flowed to the south ; upon 
 this stream, in a mountain country, they found a 
 settlement called Kanestio, containing several scores ot 
 habitations, built of timbers with stone chimneys on the end, 
 outside, and peopled by runaway Frenchmen, Indians out- 
 lawed, who belonged to no tribe ; fugitive negro slaves from 
 Chesapeake Bay : renegade Dutch, who had been driven 
 away from Albany, and graceless Yankees from New Ply- 
 mouth. A more worthless lot of good-for-nothings, who had 
 no hope of Heaven, or fear of Hell, we never saw. De Villers, 
 after erecting the cross and planting the colors of France, 
 proclaimed that the country belonged to Louis XIV, and was 
 a part of New France. We then hastened away without 
 further ceremony," 
 
 The same authorit}- records that, it was on this journey 
 the good Abbe composed in part that charming work, " The 
 Adventures of Telemachus," an allegory representing a 
 youth in pursuit of happiness, guided by wisdom, which 
 will be read while mankind reverence the noble, the beau- 
 tiful and the true. The fancy that it was in part born in 
 thought, b}^ this murmuring river, makes, indeed, the soil 
 on which we dwell classic ground. 
 
 Long before the conquest and fall of New France, both 
 the English provinces of Massachusetts and New York pas- 
 sively claimed this region under conflicting charters. That 
 under which Massachusetts claimed was granted by James 
 I, of England in 1620, and b}' Charles I in 1628, embraced 
 all of the territory l)'ing between 42 degrees and 44 de- 
 grees, 15 minutes north latitude, and extending from the 
 
Atlantic ocean on the east to the Pacific on the west. 
 The province of New York claimed under a charter 
 ^^ranted by Charles 11, of England, to James, Duke oi York 
 and AU)any, whei-eby was j^ranted all of the lands extend- 
 ing- from a line twenty miles easterly of Hudson river, 
 northerly to Canada, southerly to Delaware Bay and west- 
 erly to the ocean. 
 
 After the conquest and fall of New France, this region 
 was owned by tlie English, but was occupied by the same 
 Indians as before, who were under the supervision of one 
 of the most remarkabc men of that period, who had con- 
 trol of the Indian affairs of the English on this continent — 
 Sir William Johnson. 
 
 In November 1762, two Indians ol Kanestio murdered 
 and confiscated the property of two Dutch traders, English 
 subjects, who were passing through the Seneca coun- 
 try. At a meeting held by Lieutenant Guy Johnson, deputy 
 agent for Indian affairs, with the Indians at Onondaga, on 
 December 6, 1762, at which, in pursuance of Sir William 
 Johnson's instructions, and at which the Senecas were noti- 
 fied to attend and produce the guilty parties. Delegations 
 of the Onondagas and Cay ugas attended, the Senecas were 
 not represented. Lieut. Johnson then and there said to 
 those in attendance, that if the Indians expected to live in 
 peace with the English, these malefactors must be brought 
 to justice, without unreasonable delay. 
 
 Teyawarunte, speaker lor the Onondagas, replied as lol- 
 lows: " Brother, we have all heard and carefully attended 
 to your speech, and must confess the case is very hard both 
 on your part and on ours, as it cannot but give us the 
 greatest uneasiness to think that a village like Kanestio, 
 composed of stragglers Irom several nations should have 
 presumed to act a part so contrary to the sentiment and 
 inclinations of the confederacy. For our parts we assure 
 you, that we are determined to do everything in our power 
 for procuring you that satisfaction so justly required, but, 
 we are very desirous first to see the Upper Nations, to ac- 
 
qiiainl thcin willi noui" speech, an;l l(» he iiil()iinc(| what 
 they have done in [\\v allaii\ and we h()i)e thai their present 
 delay is owing U) their beini;- in quest of the murderers. 
 Therefore we bej;^ vou w ill rest satislied until the aiiival oi 
 the Upper Nations, and in case the Senecas do not immedi- 
 ately comply with your tlemands, you may rest assured we 
 shall, without further delay, go in search ol the murrlerers, 
 being unanimously resolved to pursue them to the utmost 
 distant parts, rather than fail in convincing y(ni how much 
 we disapprove of their barbarity." 
 
 The murderers lied to the region of the Ohio river and 
 the Indians declared they could not find them, it was after- 
 wards reported that one of them had been killed. 
 
 Sir William J(jhnson ])laced no conhdence in these reports; 
 he was satisfied that the criminals were being harbored in 
 the vicinity of their depredations, he therefore, in April, 
 1764, sent Capt. Andrew Montour, a half-breed Indian, wdth 
 one hundred and forty Indians and some white men, to 
 avenge these crimes; he proceeded to Kanisteo, which he 
 completely destroyed. It consisted of sixty good houses, 
 with three and four fireplaces in each of them. He found 
 a large quantity of Indian corn, as also a great number of 
 implements, wdiich they had taken from the inhabitants, 
 with many new saddles, etc., several horses, horned cattle 
 and swine, the most of them in such a poor condition that 
 he killed them all but about a dozen, which they carried (;lf 
 with them. 
 
 During the war ol the Revolution, this territory was 
 transiently occupied by the British and their Indian and 
 Tory allies for the purpose ol planning and preparing their 
 murderous invasions upon the patriotic inhabitants and 
 settlements of New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
 The expedition that massacred the inhabitants at Wyo- 
 ming in 1778, set out from Fort Niagara, by the south shore 
 of Lake Ontario, to the mouth of the Genesee river, thence 
 up that river to where Dansville is now situated, thence 
 over the divide to the Canisteo river — the same route taken 
 
8 
 
 by the French before noted — halting at a point now within 
 the town of Hornellsville, nearl}' westerly of and opposite 
 where Big Creek falls into the Canisteo. Here they 
 built their canoes and floats, with which they decended the 
 river on th^ir bloody errand that culminated in the massa- 
 cre (jf Wyoming in 1778. The unsleejiing vengeance of the 
 Senecas was avenged for the unlicensed intrusion of the 
 settlers into their sacred valley. It is asserted that the first 
 white settlers in this neighborhood found canoes constructed 
 of the trunks of pine trees, that had been unskillfully made 
 and abandoned, and the tools used in such construction. 
 
 Says a local writer of 1812: "Here are still to be seen 
 the marks of the tracks of the invading foe that committed 
 the savage butchery at Wyoming, a fine settlement, and its 
 complete destruction in 1778 will long be remembered. 
 Here the ancient man showeth the stumps of trees from 
 which the canoes were taken, and chilleth the soul with 
 horror at the tale of woe." A sad memor}^ to associate 
 with the history of the beautiful valley of the Canisteo. 
 
 After the American Independence had been acknowledged 
 by Great Britain, at the treat}^ of Versailles in 1783, and 
 this region had become a part of the United States, the 
 contention between Massachusetts and New York for the 
 right to this territory became sharp and active. Massa- 
 chusetts claimed under the charters granted by James I and 
 Charles 1. 
 
 New York claimed under the charter granted by Charles 
 II, and by reason of the annulment of the Plymouth char- 
 ter, by the decree of the high court of chancery in 1684, 
 and by the charter granted bv William and Mary in 1692, 
 it was contended, all rights granted under the hrst charters 
 of Massachusetts that in any way conflicted with the claims 
 of New York no longer existed. 
 
 This contention and dispute was compromised by com- 
 missioners on the part of each state, four from Massachusetts 
 and six from New York, at Hartford, Connecticut, Decem- 
 ber 16th, 1786, by Massachusetts ceding to New York the 
 
" (iovcrmnc'iit sov crcii;"iitv and jiiiisdict ion " ovct the dis- 
 piitcd Uiriforv. and New ^'()^k ccdin<j^ to Massachusetts 
 "the rii^ht of pre-emption of the soil of the native Indians, 
 and all other estate except of sovereii^nty and jurisdiction 
 to Massachus'.-tts, its grantees aud assigns forever." These 
 lands comprised about 6,000,000 of acres, commencing at 
 a point in the parallel of 42 degrees north latitude, and in 
 the north lioundary line of the State of Pennsylvania, distant 
 82 miles west from the northeast corner of the vState of Penn- 
 sylvania on the Delaware river, thence due north to the bound- 
 ary line between the United States and Canada, thence west- 
 erly in said boundary line until it intersects a meridian line 
 one mile east of the confluence of Niagara river with Lake 
 Ontario, and along this meridian line to Lake Erie, then due 
 west to the boundary line between the United States and 
 Great Britain, thence westerly in said boundary line until 
 it intersects with the said 42d parallel, thence easterly along 
 said parallel to the place of beginning. The eastern boun- 
 dary of these lands commencing at the 82d mile stone and 
 running due north to Lake Ontario, is the celebrated pre- 
 emption line. Its different locations are called the old and 
 new pre-emption lines. The history of the location 
 of these lines is interesting. It discloses the fact 
 that the men of a century ago had an eye to the main 
 chance, that they were fully as alert and unscrupulous as 
 those of the present day. To establish and locate the new 
 pre-emption line, the theodolite was first used in the United 
 States. It is the meridian of Washington. It forms the 
 eastern boundary of Steuben county. 
 
 Soon after the close of the Revolution, this region began 
 to attract the atenttion of adventurers and settlers; pre- 
 tended leases were made with the Indians to avoid the 
 provisions of the State constitution forbidding a sale by 
 the Indians of the lands then occupied by them. 
 
 In the early part of the Year 1787, Oliver Phelps and 
 Nathaniel Gorham applied to the general court of 
 Massachusetts for the purchase of the right of pre-emp- 
 
lO 
 
 tion which that commonwealth had in ihe western territory* 
 lately ceded by the State of New York, and on the 31st of 
 March, 1788, the commonwealth of Massachnsetts, in con- 
 sideration of ^^300,000 in consolidated securities of that 
 commonwealth, or ^"2,000 specie and iJ"290,ooo of said secu- 
 rities, sold the right of pre-emption in the before mentioned 
 territor}' to said Phelps and Gorham. and they were there- 
 by authorized to extinguish b}' purchase, the claims of the 
 native Indians to the soil in the said territor^^ The Rev. 
 Samuel Kirkland was authorized to superintend and aj)- 
 prove the said purchase of Phelps and Gorham from the 
 Indians, on the ])art of the State of Massachusetts. 
 
 Phelps and Gorham, on the 8th/jf July, 1788, held a treaty 
 with the six nations of Indians at Buffalo Creek, at which, 
 among others, were present Benjamin Fi-anklin and La- 
 Fayettc, also a young P^nglish ofificer who was present by 
 invitation, and being somewhat of an artist, sketched the 
 scene with so much fidelity that several of the distinguished 
 persons who were present can still be recognized. In con- 
 sideration of $5,000 and an armuity of $500 forever, they 
 acquired the title ol the native Indians in a part of the lands 
 ceded by New York to Massachusetts, and described as 
 lollows: Bounded on the north by the shore of Lake On- 
 tario, on the south by the aforesaid noilh line of Pennsylva- 
 nia, on the east by the pre-emption line, on the west by a line 
 drawn at right angles to the Pennsy Kania line, and extending 
 due north to a i)oint of land made by the confluence of the 
 Canaseraga Creek with the Genesee river, thence down the 
 Genesee to a point t wo miles north of Canawaugus village, 
 thence due west twelve miles, thence northerly and parallel 
 with the Genesee river to Lake Ontario. 
 
 This western line of this i)urchase can now be fixed as 
 follows, beginning at the southwest corner of the town of 
 Independence in Allegany countv. forming the westerly 
 boundary of the towns of Independence, Alfred, Almond, 
 Burns, Ossian, Sparta and Groveland, northerly to the con- 
 Huence oi the Canaseniga Creek with the Genesee river, near 
 
1 1 
 
 the point wlicre tlic I). L. .V W. k. R. crosses the \V . N. \'. 
 cV P. K. I\., north ol t he \ilhi>;c' ot Mt. Morris, and was h)nij; 
 marked by a hiri;e ehn tree. The viUage ol Cana\vauL;-us was 
 near the place where tlic Attica branch of the N. \ ., L. K. *.\: 
 W. 1\. R. crosses the Cienesee \^alley Canal and the Roches- 
 ter division of the W. X. ^'. iS: P. R. R.. a lew miles west of 
 Avon. The easterly end ol the trestle of the [.. ct P. R. R. 
 over the N., Y. L. E cS: W. R. R., near the larm residence of 
 the late Rev. Dr. Llovd Windsor, in the town ol Bnrns, is 
 on this line. 
 
 The State ol Massachusetts, on the 2istda\'ol No\'em- 
 ber, 1788, confirmed this treaty with the Indians and granted 
 to Phelps and Gorham the land embraced in said treaty ; 
 within these boundaries were contained, by estimate, 
 2,600,000 acres of land. 
 
 A word as to the consolidated securities with which this 
 land was to be paid for by Phelps and Gorham to the State 
 of Massachusetts. These securities were issued bv Massa- 
 chusetts to help defrav hercpujtaof the expense of the war 
 for Independence ; at the time of the offer of Phelps and 
 Gorham to bu^ these lands these securities were gi-eatlv 
 depreciated in value, and were selling for about 20 per cent., 
 or one-fifth of their nominal value. Hut by the time 
 that the sale by the Indians had been ai)proved by the gen- 
 eral court of Massachusetts, and because ol the adoption 
 and ratification of the Federal Constitution, by a majority 
 of the States, a greater feeling of confidence began to 
 prevail through all of the States, of a more perfect and en- 
 during Union, and also because of the requirments of 
 PheL^js and Gorham, of a considerable amount of these 
 securities to meet their engagements, they rapidly appreci- 
 ated in value; were held at par, and in some instances com- 
 manded a premium. 
 
 In the spring of 1788, Mr. Phelps felt his home in Gran- 
 ville, Mass., to visit the tract he had purchased. It is 
 recorded that the hazard of the enterprise was deemed 
 so great that his family and friends, with the minister ol the 
 
12 
 
 parish, assembled to witness his departure to the " far dis- 
 tant country," and wept ov'er him as one whose return from 
 a wilderness inhabited by savag-es could scarcel}^ be hoped 
 for. 
 
 Because of the inability of Phelps and Goiham to make 
 payments as they became due, on the i8th day of Novem- 
 ber, 1790, and after they had sold several townships of land 
 which were excepted, amonj^ which were this town and 
 Canisteo, they conveyed to Robert Morris, of Philadclphii3, 
 the great financier of the Revolution, all the remainder of 
 lands they had acquired from Massachusetts and the Indians, 
 or which they were entitled to, for eight pence an acre. 
 Mr. Phelps, who was the principal monied man and the 
 manager of the enterprise, by reason of unfortunate ven- 
 tures, died an insolvent debtor, on the jail limits in Canan- 
 daigua on February 21st, 1809. 
 
 Mr. Morris, by deed dated April nth, 1792, conveyed to 
 Charles Williamson for the consideration of ^^75,000 sterl- 
 ing, all of the lands acquired by Phelps and Gorham from 
 the Indians by treaty and last described, excepting sales 
 made by Phelps and Gorham. The lands en-yaraced in that 
 purchase have since been known as the Pulteney estate. 
 
 In 1792 and '93, Mr. Morris after he had acquired the 
 Indian title thereto, conveyed and mortgaged to Herman 
 LeRo}^ William Willink and others, known as the Holland 
 Land Company, the balance of the territory ceded by New 
 York to Massachusetts and was called the " Holland Pur 
 chase," except a strip of land two townships wide, extend- 
 ing through the Count}- of Allegany from the Pennsylva- 
 nia line, northerly to Lake Ontario, an average of twelve 
 miles wide. This is known as the " Morris Reserve." This 
 was largely sold under executions issued upon judgments 
 against Mr. Morris. 
 
 A large portion was brought by John 13. Church, the 
 father of the late Judge Philip Church, of Angelica, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Morris by reason of this purchase became involved 
 jn serious financial complications that resulted in his utter 
 
13 
 
 ruin and terminated in his death in a drhtor's prison in 
 Philadelphia. .Mav Sth, 1808. 
 
 it is a melancholv lact. that the purcliase ol the most 
 fertile part of the State of New York, to-day containini^ 
 over a million of inhabitants, by Oliver Phelps and later by 
 Robert Morris, should ha\e been the cause of their hnan- 
 cial ruin, and consigned both to a debtor's |)rison to end 
 their lives. 
 
 Earlv in the year of 1789, Mr. Phel|)s opened an ofHce in 
 Canandaigua for the sale of his lands. In the early part ol 
 the 3'ear, 1789, twelve persons whose names were Uriah 
 Stevens, Sr., Arthur Erwin, Joel Thomas, Solomon Bennet, 
 Elisha Brown. John Jemingson, Uriah Stevens, jr., James 
 Hadley, Wm. Wynekoop, John Stevens, Thomas Bennet 
 and Christian Kress associated themselves together to pur- 
 chase lands from Phelps and Gorham which they had ac- 
 quired from Massachusetts. Solomon Bennet and E!lisha 
 Brown, two of these associates, were selected to make the 
 purchase for the benefit ol all. 
 
 On August I Sth, 1789, and in pursuance of the purpose, 
 Oliver Phelps, of Canandaigua, Ontario county, N. Y., of 
 the one part, and Solomon Bennet and Elisha Brcnvn, of 
 Chemung, Montgomery Co., N. Y., made an instrument in 
 writing, wherebv Phelps agreed to sell and convev to the 
 said Bennet and Brown, two townships ol land, each to 
 be six miles long, north and south, and five and a hall miles 
 from east to west, lying in the County of Ontario, State of 
 New York, to be located in such a manner as to take in 
 part or all of the old Canisteo fiat, and not to derange the 
 adjacent towns, in consideration of the sum of i^2,666, 13s, 
 4d., lawful money of the State of New York t<3 be paid as 
 follows: One-third on or before May ist, 1790; one-third 
 on or before May ist, 1791, and the remainder on or before 
 May ist, 1792, with lawful interest. The said Bennet and 
 Brown agreed that before October ist, 1789, they would give 
 good and sufificient security for the payment of said sum at 
 the times above mentioned and stipulated, and the said Phelps 
 
14 
 
 agreed that he would give a good and sufficient deed of the 
 said townships when the said Bennet and Brown shall give 
 the security aforesaid. This was before this tract was run 
 into townships, and the numbers of townships and ranges 
 were not specihed. This purchase was approved b}^ the 
 twelve associates, and in September, of the same year, 
 Arthur Erwin, Solomon Bennet, and Joel Thomas were 
 deputed by the associates to go to Canandaigua and 
 complete the purchase. Mr. Phelps being somewhat ac- 
 quainted with Uriah Stevens, Sr., requested that he 
 should sign the notes for the purchase, which was secured 
 by a lien upon the land and be made a party to the deed, 
 wdiich he did, and a deed was made and delivered from 
 Phelps to these four persons, namely : Uriah Stevens, Sr., 
 Arthur Erwin, Solomon Bennet and Joel Thomas, lor 
 township 3, 5th i-ange, and townshi|) 3, 6th range. Tlie 
 survey of this tract had then been comidetcd and mapi)ed 
 by Augustus Porter. 
 
 it was soon discovered that the Canisteo Hats which the 
 campany wished to purchase, was not conveyed by tliis 
 deed which covered the j)resent towns of Canisteo and 
 Hartsville, but that the land they intended to purchase was 
 township 3, 5th range, now the town of Canisteo, and town- 
 ship 4, of the 6th range, now the city and part of the town 
 of Hornellsville. In Sei)tcml)er 1790, Stevens, Sr., Erwin, 
 Bennet and Joel Thomas went to Canandaigua to get a 
 deed for the last named townships and to deliver up the 
 first deed. Phelps agreed to give them a new deed if they 
 would strike one-half mile from each township so that each 
 should be 6 by 5^ miles, but as some improvements had 
 been made on No. 3, in the 5th range, Canisteo, it was agreed 
 that instead of taking one-half mile from this township, a 
 strip one mile in width be taken from the west side of No. 4, 
 in the 6th range, Hornellsville, sq that township 3 should be 6 
 miles square and township 4 should be 5 miles by 6, and in 
 pursuance of this agreement a deed was made on the i6th 
 day of September, 1790, by Phelps to Uriah Stevens, Sr., 
 
Aiihiir Erwi'n, vSoIomon Bcnnct and Joel riiomas lor the 
 same consideration, /^2,666, 13s, 4d, payable in the same 
 manner and h\- the same notes as lor the hist deed. The 
 security lor tlie ])avment ol the notes was transferred li-om 
 the first to the last land. 
 
 The lands in this deed are described as hini^ in the dis- 
 trict of Erwin, in the Count}- of Ontario, State of New 
 York, and known by the name of the old Canisteo Castle. 
 
 On October i8th, 1789, after the Hrst agreement made 
 with Mr. Phel[)s bv the associates, an agreement was made 
 and entered into in writing between the twelve associates, 
 whereby Uriah Stevens, Jr., Solomon Bennet, Joel Thomas, 
 of Chemung, in the State of New York, and Arthur Erwin, 
 of the State of Pennsvlvania, of the one part, and Elisha 
 Brown, Uriah Stevens, Jr., James Hadle}^ William Wine- 
 koop, John Stevens, John Jemingson, Thomas Bennet and 
 Christian Kress, of Chemung, aforesaid, of the other part 
 agreed that the party of the Hrst part should let the party 
 of the other part have eight-twelfths of the lands purchased 
 by the first part, of Oliver Phelps, and pay the first part 
 eight-twelfths of the price and cost of purchase, that the 
 Hrst part had incui^red, and the party of the Hrst |>art agreed 
 to conve^' eight twelfths of said two townshijis to the party 
 ol the other ])art, when thev shall give a good and sufHcient 
 securit}' for the payment of said sum. 
 
 About this time Augustus Porter, the surveyor t)f Phelps 
 and Gorham, asccrtainetl that townships 3 and 4 were much 
 larger than supposed. They w^ere about 6 by 8 miles. He 
 accordingly' cut off from the east side of township No. 3, 
 in the 5th range, 12,099 ''teres and from the north side of 
 township No. 4, in the 6th range, 9,406 acres. This last cut 
 off is now known as the North Gore. This reduced these 
 townships to the size originally intended. 
 
 It may be interesting to those who are unacquainted, to 
 know the boundary and location of township No. 4, in the 
 6th range. Its north line is in the highway leading from 
 Webb's Crossing, easterly to Miller's place. This line is five 
 
i6 
 
 miles in length. Let me say in passing: the point where 
 this line crosses Selah's Creek, the stream that supplies this 
 citv with water, quite near the highwa}^ iron bridge at 
 Miller's, was formerly called ISIilltown. Here was located 
 and operated a mill, long since abandoned ; not a vestage 
 remains, but to preserve this fact this nr.me should be re- 
 stored to this locality. The west line of No. 4 commences 
 at the westerly termination of the said north line, a little north 
 of the McMichael cemetery on Pennsylvania Hill, is the 
 west line of this cemetery lot, crosses the Almond road at the 
 intersection of the road from Webb's near the residence 
 formerly occupied by Charles Major, now owned by Bur- 
 dick, and terminates in the north line of Hartsville where 
 it crosses Crosby Creek, near the Hood & Bardeen cheese 
 factory. The east line commences in the easterly termin- 
 ation of the north line, and passes near the dwelling of 
 Ross Swartz. It is the boundary line between the towns of 
 Hornellsville and Canisteo, crossing the N. Y., L. E. cS: W. 
 R. R., near the proposed Junction with it of that ill-starred 
 conception, the Hornellsville and Pine Creek R. R., and 
 terminating in the south line which is in the line between 
 the towns of Hartsville and Hornellsville. 
 
 The title to township 4 in the 6th range, which will hence- 
 forth engage my attention, having been vested in four of 
 the associates, and they having given their fellow asso- 
 siates legal evidence of their rights and interests, immediate 
 measures were taken to survey and divide the township 
 into lots and distribute them among the twelve partners. 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1790, one hundred years ago 
 to-day, lots were drawn for the ownership of the twelve 
 subdivisions of township 4, at the house of Benjamin Crosby 
 in this township as follows: Twelve slips of paper were 
 prepared, upon each strip was written the name of only one 
 of the partners, no two of the pieces of paper contained the 
 same name. These slips of paper were put into a hat; 
 seven of the partners were present. All were not in a per- 
 fect normal and fit condition for the business on hand, and 
 
17 
 
 after some contention it was thought best that neither ol 
 the associates should draw in jjcrson, so it was agreed that 
 Hannah, wife of Richard Crosby, who was present, should 
 be blind-folded and should draw^ these slips of paper from 
 the hat, which she did. The hrst name drawn should be 
 entitled to lot No. i, and so on, consecutively, until the 
 twelve pieces of paper were drawn. This drawing resulted 
 as follows : 
 
 No. I— James Hadley, No. 2— John Jemingson, No. 3— Ar- 
 thur Erwin, No. 4— Christian Kress, No. 5— Joel Thomas, 
 No. 6— Uriah Stephens, Jr., No. 7— John Stephens, No. 8— 
 William Wynekoop, No. 9— Uriah Stephens, Sr., No. 10— 
 Thomas Bennet, No. 11— Elisha Brown, No. 12— Solomon 
 Bennet. 
 
 An agreement was entered into that day between the 
 owners of these great lots, whereby Arthur Erwin was to 
 survey township No, 4 into twelve lots, of equal wndth 
 of 133 and }i rods, running the full length of said town 
 from north to south, and each to contain 1,600 acres, 
 the most westerly lot was to be No. i, agreeably to a draft 
 that was made Sei)tember 13th, 1790, and to deliver a fair 
 draft to every man of his lot that day drawn. 
 
 For all ol his services, Erwin was to be paid by said 
 owners ^47, los in money, grain or cattle, at market price, 
 at Matt HoUcnback's store in Tyouga. One-half of the pay 
 was to be delivered at Newtown Point as soon as the work 
 is done ; each man was only to be accountable for the one- 
 twelfth part of the pay. On August 23d, 1790, Christian 
 Kress, by a quit claim deed, in consideration of /-230, sold 
 all of his interest in townships 3 and 4 to Arthur Erwin and 
 thereby Erwin became the owner of lot No. 4 in township 
 four, 6th range. John Jemingson was a subscribing witness to 
 this deed. William Wynekoop transferred his interest in this 
 town to Solomon Bennet and he became the owner of lot 
 No. 8. Thomas Bennet transferred his interest in this 
 township to Solomon Bennet and he became the owner of 
 great lot No. 10. Solomon Bennet conveyed this lot to 
 
i8 
 
 Oliver Phelps, on February nth, 1794, for the considera- 
 tion of $1,233.33, 
 
 In the summer of 1790, Bcnjaniin Crosby with his family 
 settled in llornellsville, on great lot No. 8. Me erected a 
 house, and li\xd in it, on the site now occupied by St. James 
 Mercy Hospital, on Canisteo street in the city of Hornells- 
 villc. This was the first white man's house in the city or 
 town of Horncllsville. He purchased this lot of Solomon 
 Bennet, one of the twelve associates, the deed recites that 
 Solomon Bennet, gentleman, conveyed to Benjamin Crosby, 
 yeoman, in consideration of ^^300, lot No. 8, of township No. 
 4, in the 6th i-ange of townships, in the district of Erwin, 
 Ontario county, New York, containing 1,600 acres of land. 
 
 Benjamin Crosby, the first settler and founder of this city, 
 emigrated from England about the middle of the last cen- 
 tur}', arriving in New York after a long period of suffering 
 by shipwreck. Richard Crosby, one of his sons, who also 
 settled here with his father, served in the war of the Rev- 
 olution. He was a captain in General Washington's body 
 guard. He married Hannah, a daughter of Jeremiah and 
 Anna Baker, and sister of the late Hon. Jeremiah Baker, of 
 Canisteo. 
 
 Lot No. 8 is bounded on the west in the city of Hornells- 
 ville by Seneca, Canisteo and South Division streets, on 
 the east by a line parallel to the west line which is a little 
 east of Pardee street. We are, and this building, Shattuck 
 opera house, is on lot No. 8. 
 
 Oliver Harding came next and settled on the land be- 
 tween Main and Genesee streets, near where Hakes avenue 
 is now located. He was the nearest neighbor of Mr. 
 Crosby. He was a soldier of the Revolution. He after- 
 ward moved to Harding Hill, in the town of Fremont. He 
 has grand children and great grand children now living 
 and in business in this city. 
 
 George Horncll came in 1793, he was the son of a Swedish 
 Clergyman, was born in York County, l^ennsylvania. He 
 married Martha, a daughter of Uriah Stephens, Sr., the lead- 
 
19 
 
 ing ninn of the twelve associates. Stephens, Sr., had I)ccn 
 a soldier in the French war, which terminated in Ihc 
 fall ot Canada. He was with Sir Jeffrey Amherst at the 
 capture of Ticonderoga and Fort St. Frederick. He Mar- 
 ried Martha Rathbun, a native of Stono^ington, Conn. He 
 with his sons, Uriah, jr., and John, and his son-in-law, Solo- 
 mon Bennet, who married his daughter Sarah, were four of 
 the associates, and at the time of the division owned one- 
 half of township 4. 
 
 On July 9th 1793, John Stephens, who drew great lot No. 
 7 conveyed this lot containing 1,600 acres to George 
 Hornell. The consideration named in the conveyance- 
 was /,""! 11. This lot is bounded in this cit}- on the cast 
 by Seneca, Canisteo and South Division streets. The 
 west line is parallel with the east line and passes near the 
 east line of St Ann's cemetery. 
 
 Judofe Hornell built the first grist mill on the site now 
 occupied by the Thacher mill. It was the first west of 
 Elmira, except one built by Solomon Bennet in Canisteo, 
 which was burned a short time before. 
 
 Judge Hornell lived in and kept the first inn in the town. It 
 was on the southerly side of Washington street, immediately 
 opposite to Thacher street. He also kept the first store, 
 situated near by. He represented this county in the Legis- 
 lature of this state as a Member of Assembly in 1808. He, 
 was an Associate Judge of the Court ot Common Pleas of 
 Steuben county in 1796 
 
 Judge Hornell died in 181 3 and with his wife is buried in 
 the old cemetry in the western part of the city upon the em- 
 inence overlooking the valley for miles, up and down the 
 river, and the eastern hills beyond. The disgraceful 
 and abandoned condition of this old cemetry is a stand- 
 ino- reproach to those who should protect it. Even 
 the stone that marks the resting place of Hornell and liis 
 wife, with its eloquent inscription, is fast disapi)caring by 
 attacks of vandals who are chipping it away. 
 
20 
 
 Hornell was ^ood man. B)' his good character and up- 
 right conduct he did much to stem the disorder and intern- 
 Derate conduct that then prevailed in this vicinity. His 
 wife was noted for her deeds of charity and commendable 
 character. She was a ministering angle to all in this valley 
 who were suffering or in want. 
 
 Hornell had lour sons and hve daughters. William was 
 drowned while attending Williams college; George read 
 law and was admitted to the bar; John died in the morning 
 of life ; Vincent the youngest child, died at the age of 
 twenty-four. Of the daughters. Patience died at the age 
 of 17; Emily became Mrs. Dr. Walker, and after his death 
 she became the wife of Col. Ira Davenport, the founder of 
 that noble charity, " The Davenport Female Orphan Asy- 
 lum," at Bath. Martha was the wife of the late Major 
 Thomas J. Reynolds, of this town; Betsy, Mrs. Augustus 
 Newell, died in Michigan in 1832, and Anne, Mrs. General 
 Hartshorn, and after his death Mrs. Moore, died in 1882. 
 
 The records show that George Hornell certified that on 
 November 17th, 181 1, "Milo" was born to his slave "Milley." 
 He afterwards sold the boy Milo to one Hadley, of Canis- 
 teo, for $70. After Hornell's death, Milley ran away to 
 Palmyra. She was returned to Hornellsville. She remain- 
 ed a year or two, when she again ran away, never to return. 
 Milley was the first lugitive slave from this place of which 
 we have any record. 
 
 On December 10, 1790, Joel Thomas, one of the associ- 
 ates, conveyed lot No. 2 to Daniel Purdy, 1,600 acres, for 
 the expressed consideration of ^iio. 
 
 On September 23, 1794, Solomon Bennet, for the consid- 
 eration ol X210, conveyed lot No. 12 of this township, con- 
 taining 1,600 acres, to John McBurney. 
 
 Uriah Stephens, jr., conveyed parts ol his lot No. 6, to 
 his sons, John R. and Matt, and to his sons-in-law, Jerathaniel 
 Powers and Bazy Baker and to Stephen Webb and others. 
 Uriah Stephens, Jr., was a man of note in this valle}-. He helta 
 many local ofhces; in various legal contentions he gave evi- 
 
21 
 
 dence and made depcisitions conccrnin<2^ the allotinent and 
 settlement of this town, which are still preserved in the 
 proper places, In the j)rej)ar;iti()n ol this mattei- 1 have drawn 
 largely from these records, lie died at Canisteo, August 
 2d, 1849; '^^ ^"^'^^ over 90 years old. Many ol liis granrl 
 children arc now residents of this city and town. 
 
 Arthur Erwin, one of the twelve, died in Pennsylvania in 
 June, 1 79 1, of a gun shot wound, leaving numeious descend- 
 ants, many of whom arc still living in the town that bears 
 his name. He was twice married. He left at his death 
 ten children. His daughter, Sarah, by his first wife, mar- 
 ried John Mulhollen. Their daughter Molly, or Mary, be- 
 came the wife of Thomas McBurney. They died leaving 
 eight children. Sarah married Hon. John Magee, of Bath. 
 She died without children surviving hCr. Jane became the 
 wife of Thomas J. Magee. 
 
 John Jemingson, now Jamison, was born at Dunham, 
 Bucks county, i^ennsylvania, December 3, 1753. He was 
 a captain commanding at the battle of Fort Washington, in 
 the Revolutionary war, now^ the upper part of the city of 
 New York, including J'livcrside, the resting place of the re- 
 mains of General Grant. He held the fort until the aninui- 
 nition was exhausted, when he was taken prisoner, with the 
 loss of 27 men, and imprisoned in the infamous prison ship in 
 New York harbor, where he contracted disease, from which 
 he suffered during his life. He died at Canisteo, March 23, 
 1836, at the age of 82, on the farm on which he settled in 
 the spring of 1790. He has great grand children now liv- 
 ing in thip city who have filled and are now hlling honored 
 and responsible positions. The " white woman," Mary 
 Jamison, came from the same ancestry. 
 
 Solomon Bennet died at Canisteo in October, 1823, aged 
 73 years. Although at one time holding the largest part 
 (3 shares) of this town, yet by unfortunate ventures and 
 unprofitable investments he died an insolvent. Grand chil- 
 dren and great grand children of Mr. Bennet are now- 
 residing in this city. 
 
22 
 
 John Stephens, another of the 12 partners, was a son of 
 Uriah Stephens, the elder, and was known as Col. John. 
 In the latter years ot his life he lived in the town of Green- 
 wood, where he died March 19, 1837. 
 
 James Hadley died in the town of Canisteo in the fall of 
 1832, where he had lived since 1789. The remainins^ five of 
 the 12 associates disposed of their interests in the purchase of 
 these towns; they never became actual settlers. 
 
 It will be observed that the territory now embraced in 
 the city of Hornellsville, and all of the town of Hornellsville 
 included in township 4 of the 6th range was not included in 
 the sale to Mr. Williamson, the representative of the Pultney 
 purchase. 
 
 We had no interest in the fierce contentions that raged a 
 few years since between the land office and the anti-renters. 
 
 This territory was included in Tryon county from 
 March 12, 1772, to April 2, 1784; then in Montgomery county, 
 until January 27, 1789; then in Ontario, until the formation 
 of the county of Steuben, March 18,1796, where it has since 
 remained, notwithstanding the many vigorous but unsuccess- 
 ful efforts to get out. 
 
 It is hoped that it may always remain in Steuben County. 
 
 It. formed a part of the district of Erwin and afterwards 
 a part of the district ot Williamson, until 1796, then a part 
 of the town of Canisteo. A local writer, in the year 181 1, 
 in describing the town of Canisteo says, "it is nineteen miles 
 long, north and south, by fourteen miles wide, its area is 
 266 square miles. The Canisteo river courses centrally 
 across the town, and is boatable from Arkport to Tioga, in 
 the town of Painted Post. Boats descend the Canisteo laden 
 with one thousand bushels of wheat. The settlements are 
 of recent date, and still retain their first local names. At 
 Hornell's Mills, on the Canisteo, is a ferry and a road of 
 pretty extensive travel; here is located the Canisteo Post- 
 office." 
 
 On April i. 1820, a new town was formed and was named 
 by Col. Ira Davenport, who was then a resident, "Hornells- 
 
23 
 
 villc," for Jiicls;c Ilorncll. It should have been naincd for 
 Benjamin Crosby. 
 
 Col. Davenport came to 1 loinellsville Ironi iJelawarc 
 county, N. V., in 1815, with a waj^on h)ad of goods. He 
 became tiie first merchant here, building with his own hands 
 the store in which he sold his first goods. He remained 
 hereabout thirty-two years, during which time he was a 
 prosperous trader. He removed to Bath in 1847, where he 
 resided the remainder of his life, contributing largely to its 
 wealth, institutions and advancement, and entirely neglect- 
 ing the town, village and city, where he laid the foundation 
 for and was aided in accumulating his great wealth and 
 good name. Col. Davenport was born in Columbia county 
 New York., in 1795, he died in 1868. 
 
 Warehouses were built on the Canisteo river, near where 
 Main street now crosses it. From these, arks were loaded 
 with grain, potash and other products for shipment to Bal- 
 timore. Later on a number of canalboats were built here 
 and floated down the river into the Chemung canal, and from 
 there by way of Seneca and Crooked lakes and connecting 
 canal to Hammonds[)orl, where they were used in canal 
 navigation. 
 
 The village of Hornellsville was incorporated under the 
 general village act June 28th, 1852, was reorganized as a 
 village under a special act of the Legislature, and given 
 larger powers April 9th, 1867. The city of Hornellsville 
 was created March 2d, 1888. 
 
 For sixty-two years this was a country cross roads, a ru- 
 ral four corners, with its grist mill, tavern and blacksmith 
 shop. " It was peopled with a hardy, rough and generally an 
 honest race, who had within them a goodly infusion of that 
 boisterous spirit, and love of rough, and often mischievous 
 play, tor which the free and manly sons of the backwoods 
 and frontiers are everywhere famous. The devouring of 
 hominy, hog, venison and all the invigorating diet of a new 
 settlement, the drinking of grog, baiting of bears and wolves, 
 the hewing down of the forest, the paddling of canoes. 
 
24 
 
 fighting, wrestling and hunting, all combined to form a gen- 
 eration of yeomen and foresters, daring, manly and free." 
 
 When they went abroad they made themselves heard and 
 felt, and upon holidays generally, something broke loose. I 
 do not hesitate to say that many who hear me, have some 
 remembrance of these happenings. 
 
 For fifteen 3'eai-s it was the ordinary country village ; for 
 twenty-one years it was a village of the first class, with all 
 municipal machinery. This was the period of its prosper- 
 ity and greatest growth. For two years and over it has 
 been a city, and the most populous place in the county. 
 
 The school {)receded the church in Ilornellsville. The 
 first school in the town of Hornellsville was taught by 
 Abagail Hurlbut, in 1796, in what is now the village of 
 Arkport. The first school within the city limits was taught 
 by Miss Sarah Thacher, about 1805, in a block house, then 
 standing opposite the junction of Arkport street with Main 
 street, near the foot of Cemetery hill. The first school 
 house built within the limits oi this city, stood on the south 
 side of Main street, near the head of Pardee street. It was 
 built in 1813. The first teacher was Dudley Miller. Uriah 
 Stephens, Jr., and George Hornell, the younger, were also 
 teachers. The school continued to be a common school 
 until 1873, when, by an act of the Legislature, a graded 
 school and free academy was established. 
 
 The first Sunday school was held in a pine grove at Ark- 
 port, under the charge of Miss Abagail Hurlbut. 
 
 In 1799, religious services were held at the house of 
 Judge Hornell by Rev. Robert Logan, an itinerant Presby- 
 terian clergyman. 
 
 A Methodist clergyman, the Rev. John Durbin, of Wyo- 
 ming, Pa., held services within the present city limits, the 
 following year, 1800. He may well be termed the vidette 
 of his church in this valley. He served his Master with the 
 same zeal that the pious Father manifested in the same 
 valley more than a century before. Religious services 
 
25 
 
 were held in the log school house on Main street before re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal church in this city was or.c^an- 
 izcd in 1830. The buildino^ has alway occupied its present 
 site. 
 
 The Presbyterian church was organized July loth, 1832. 
 
 In 1843, Rev. Father Benedict Bayer, organized St. Ann's 
 Roman Catholic church. I Ic said the Mrst mass within the 
 limits of the town during the present century, at the house 
 of Thomas Doorley, near Webb's crossing. 
 
 The Baptist church was organized October 17th, 1852, by 
 Rev. Thomas Sheardown. 
 
 Christs church. Episcopal, was organized into a parish 
 March 6th, 1854, Rev. James A. Robinson was the first rect- 
 or. 
 
 Jewish congregation, Ahavat-Achim, was organized in 
 June, 1867, by Rabbi Israel Erlich. 
 
 The First Universalist church, of Hornellsville, was 01"* 
 ganized May 23, 1868, by Rev. A. G. Clark, of Branchport, 
 N. Y. 
 
 The Seventh Day Baptist church of this city was formed 
 April nth., 1877, by Rev. Thomas R. Williams, D. D. 
 
 vSt. Paul's Evangelical German Lutheran church, August 
 23d, 1885, by Rev. John Miller, of Port Jervis, N. Y. 
 
 The Hornell Library, whose usefulness has been at least 
 next to the church and school, was founded by seven men. 
 I think they were wise, who gave their joint note for $50 
 for the first lot of books this libary ever owned, sold by a 
 noted, liberal and intelligent citizen at a large discount. 
 This library was organized April 6th, 1868. It was the 
 pioneer of its kind in Western New York. It is still in a 
 most flourishing condition and is the pride of the city. 
 
 No early record of lawyers can be found who were resi- 
 dents in this town. George Hornell, the younger, soon 
 after he was admited to practice in 181 1 abandoned the pro- 
 fession and became a clergyman. He went to what is now 
 
26 
 
 the State of Minnesota, where he pursued the last named 
 profession with success. 
 
 The first lawyers in town of which I can find any record 
 were John Baldwin, John K. tiale and Nathan Osborn. 
 This was in 1835. The village then had 400 inhabitants. 
 Baldwin noted for his eccentricities, was a man of ability, a 
 master of sarcasm, he died about 1837 at Almond. Hale rep- 
 resented this district in the State Legislature in the Assembly 
 in 1849, ^^"^ the Senate in 1856 and 1857. He afterwards went 
 to Kansas; later he returned to this State; he died in Cortland. 
 N. Y. He is buried in Hope cemetry in this city. He 
 was a man of fine ability and good reputation. Osborn 
 went West and was lost sight of, perhaps some one can tell 
 of his subsequent career. Later, were William M. Hawley; 
 he served in the Legislature of this state, as a Senator, 
 was also the first County Judge of this County under the 
 constitution of 1846. He died in 1869. Robert L. Brund- 
 age, who was a district attorney of the county from 1850 
 to 1854, died in 1880. Horace Bemis, who represented the 
 County two terms in the Assembly, died in 1888. 
 
 Dr. Augustus Newell was probably the first doctor of 
 medicine to locate here. He moved to Michigan, and died 
 there in 1837. Drs. James Walker, Manning Kelly, Com- 
 fort E. Belden, and Samuel Olin were among the early 
 physicians. Among the later physicians were Drs. Luman 
 A. Ward, Charles D. Robinson and Sewell E. Shattuck, all 
 of whom are dead. I suggest to the Medical Society of 
 this city, the propriety of biographical and necrological 
 sketches of the early as well as the later physicians of this 
 town. 
 
 The first newspaper, the Horncilsvillc Tribune, was pub- 
 lished November 19, 185 i, by Edwin Hough, on the corner 
 of jNIain and Broad streets. The National American was 
 first published in 1854, bv C. M. Harmon; afterwards it 
 became the Canistco Valley Journal, published by Charles A. 
 Kinney, until shortlv after the breaking out of the war of 
 the Rebellion, when it suspended by reason of the enlist- 
 
27 
 
 ment ol Kinne}' in ihc iiiilitan- service, in which he died. 
 This paper was revived as the Donocratic / V^A7/r, by llie 
 Burdick brothers, one of wliom as tlie witt}- but unfortu- 
 nate " Sparks." It then was transformed into the Canistco 
 Valley Times, and later tlic Ilornellsville Times. 
 
 Other newspapers have made their appearance here, and 
 strui^i^led for existence, some of which have survived under 
 other names, but all have been of comparatively recent 
 ventures. 
 
 The New York and Eric Railroad was opened to Ilor- 
 nellsville September i, 1850. Later the Buffalo and New 
 York City railroad was opened from Attica to Hornellsville. 
 It has since become a part of the Erie system, and is now 
 known as the Buffalo Division of the New York, Lake Erie 
 and Western railroad. Hornellsville became and is the 
 terminus of three of the divisions of this system. Since 
 the completion ol these railroads the growth and prospei'ity 
 of this place has been active and healthy. The thrift 
 of the city is largely due to the prosperity and energy of 
 this railroad. 
 
 Other railroad schemes have been developed and 
 aborted, until the building and completing, within the last 
 three years, of the Rochester, Hornellsville t^ Lackawanna 
 railroad, by which competing lines of railroads were reach- 
 ed, and placed the city on a more permanent basis for pros- 
 nus and substantial growth. 
 
 In 1832, a plot of ground w\as conveyed to the town for 
 a public park, called Union Park, located at the intersection 
 of Canisteo street with Main street. For a long time after, 
 it was embclished with upturned pine stumps ; these were 
 subsequently cleared away, trees were set out and a 
 fence built around it. Years after it was converted into a 
 dumping ground for street refuse. The piles of dirt made 
 it offensive. A local genius conceived the idea of turn- 
 ing it into a cemetery ; the bitter sarcasm inscribed upon 
 the head boards placed in the mounds of dirt, so aroused 
 public opinion that it was graded, beautified and adorned 
 
28 
 
 with a memorial fountain, to perpetuate the memories of 
 the battles of the Rebellion ot 1861, with flowers and grav- 
 eled walks, making it the pride of the city, instead of its 
 shame. 
 
 The early place of the burial of the dead was on the 
 "knoll" in the western part of the city, now known as the 
 " old cemetery." Like ever}- thing else connected with early 
 Hornellsville, it was neglected and desecrated. It was a 
 ridge of sand, suitable for building purposes, and with the 
 ashes of the forefathers of this valley has been carted away 
 and become a part of nearly every building in the city. 
 Verily the dead we have with us, their remains cement our 
 foundations and are spread upon our walls. This most dis- 
 graceful and barberous business still continues at a dollar 
 a load. 
 
 In 1853 a place of interment was opened a little farther 
 west. Some of the younger and more enterprising of the 
 inhabitants, chagrined and mortihed by the neglected con 
 dition of the old cemetery, laid out Hope Cemetery, on the 
 site of the new burying ground, procured for it a legal ex- 
 istence and set the machinery of the corporation in motion. 
 It now has graded streets and avenues ; fountains, cascades 
 and pools ; well kept lots, adorned with beautiful trees, 
 shrubs and flowers. It overlooks a part of the valley of the 
 upper Canisteo, and also the site of the rendezvous and em- 
 barkation of the murderous expedition against the settle- 
 ments in the Wyoming valley in 1778. No place in this State 
 has a more beautiful cemetery. 
 
 Of the the men of Hornellsville who participated in 
 the War of the Rebellion, I shall not speak ; their 
 good record and glorious deeds are preserved fn enduring 
 archives. I have brought the events and histor}' of Hor- 
 nellsville down to the memory of men now living. It is a 
 brief record of events that are rapidly fading away. 
 
 The events of the last half century, that have occurred 
 in this city should be collected, written up and published ; 
 t is a subject that ought to command the attention of all 
 
^9 
 
 our people, those who are passing away, as well as those 
 who are beginning to assume the active duties of life. It 
 should receive intelligent treatment by a competent person. 
 Some son or daughter of Hornellsville, should perform the 
 grateful task. 
 
■v^Vv 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
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