The annals of Binghamton

Introduction

For some number of years past it had been felt by some individuals of the place to be very desirable that, in some practicable and easy form, the most important incidents relating to the early settlement of the village should be preserved for the supposed satisfaction and utility of the rising and future generations. It was several times spoken^ of, and proposed to some of the earliest settlers, to make minutes of what they still remembered relative to themselves and their compeers after they became identified with the settlement.

In compliance, it is supposed, with such a request, many years ago Col. Rose made historical minutes to an important extent ; but unfortunately they were afterward lost, or, as it is believed, accidentally burnt ; so that nothing remained of them. In relation to one important place within the section of country these Annals are designed to embrace, to wit : Elmira, Solomon Southwick, some few years since, wrote a pamphlet, entitled " Views of Elmira," in which he gives the first settlement of the neighborhood and the first laying out of that village, with the early stages of its progress.

That which suggested the present enterprise, and which has resulted in the production of the following

IV INTRODUCTION.

history, was the reading of the httle vohime, entitled " The Chronicles of Cooperstown. " The rising and already extended importance of the village of Binghamton and the country connected with it ; the very insulated condition of the country and consequently of the early settlers ; and also the romantic interest connected with the valley of these rivers, in consequence of its having been, for many geneVations, the residence and passage-way of many important tribes of Indians, rendered it quite certain that its history would not be without interest even to the present generation. Again, it appeared important that it should be written while some, at least, of the oldest l^ettlers remained upon the stage, that testimony might be had immediately from them— from their own knowledge, and not from the uncertain sources of tradition.

It appeared, also, in prosecuting ^e work, to be a natural course to take up the country with which Binghamton is now, or has been, more or less intimately connected ; that events might appear in the order of their time, and according to their connection ; and because, also, the two mutually render each other the more interesting. In doing this, we have embraced several other villages whose early settlement and other interesting items in their history are given ; two especially of which fall but little short of our own village in point of population and other considerations of importance.

The two great sources of information are, philo. sophy and history. And while the former addresses itself almost entirely to the understanding, the latter

INTRODUCTION. V

does to all the faculties and susceptibilities of the soul ; to the understanding, the imagination, to the sympathies and to the heart. It is therefore, of the two, the more varied and extensive source. But there are two ijroperties in history which, when they unite, give it its highest interest. These are, antiquity and a near relation of the subjects to the reader. The antiquity of a history is relative to itself. The antiquity of the world is its creation and early peopling ; the antiquity of Europe is the settlement of Greece by Cadmus and others ; because it was^then it first became known to civilized people. And the antiquity of our own section of country is its first settlement, and so much of its Indian history as we can attain. And although the settlement took place but little over fifty years ago, it notwithstanding has nearly all the charm, or at least much of it, as it would have if it had taken place five hundred years ago ; because the mind of the younger portion of the present generation especially passes back to a period long before its recollection ; and comparing the present state of the country, with what it was in a state of nature, they spontaneously feel the power of the charm of which we speak. It is true, also, that the older a country becomes, the more interesting the history of its early settlement becomes, and the more venerable the persons are, who braved the hardships connected with it.

The other interesting ingredient in history, to wit ; a near relation of its subjects to the reader, applies to the present history. Those who live within the section of country which it contemplates, will find

VI INTRODUCTION.

themselves, or what is in effect nearly the same thing, they will find their fathers or ancestors, their relation or acquaintance identified in it. It is the land of their nativity or adoption ; and the imagination and the affections throw a charm over it, which, with very many, will never be felt, to the same degree, for any other.

How highly important it is, that these partialities be cultivated ; because it is upon the love of family and country, that all the social and virtuous affections are based. They are the earliest with children; and extended and refined, they form the philanthropist and the christian. And it is on these accounts, undoubtedly, that God has made them universal, strong and permanent laws of our nature.

In the present History, the village of Binghamton is made the centre of interest ; and other places are treated of, in a great measure, according to their relation to it. Equal fidelity is observed, it is hoped, towards all ; but one is made the centre, that unity of design and prosecution might appear in the course of the work ; and also, that a full history, up to the present date, might be given of one village destined to great importance beyond its present, in the annals of future time.

Though small, it will undoubtedly be a grateful work to posterity ; and the older the village and the country of which it treats becomes, the more will its pages be valued.

THE ANNALS OP BINGHAMTON.

Chapter I

The Village of Binghamton is pleasantly and advantageously situated at the junction of the Susquehannah and Chenango Rivers. As these rivers have Indian names, it may be proper to give their Indian etymology. The former signifies long and crooked river, and the latter pleasant river. The site upon which it stands is a part of an extensive area or plain, which lies upon the banks of the two rivers and between their approximation ; irregular in its boundaries and somewhat varied as to its surface. To measure the plain by the boundary of one's vision, from a moderate elevation, would give it about fifteen or twenty square miles. The mountains which lie a upon the north, divided, however, by the Chenango river, and those upon the south, have a greater proximity to the village than those which lie towards the other two points of the compass. These mountains do not rise high enough to become sublime ; but their easy slope, their rich and distinctive foliage, and their embossed surface, during the season of foliage, upon which the eye may rest with pleasure, give them a truly beautiful and picturesque appearance. Those towards the east and west, as well as those directly north, "recede much farther from the eye, rearing numerous and rounded heads, lying lower upon the horizon the greater their distance, and giving intelhgence, Hke way-marks, of the course of the two rivers.

The surface is not an entire plain, but unequal, sufficiently to give variety to the view and health, fulness to the atmosphere. Rich and expansive meadows lie upon the banks of the Chenango, with extensive cultivated fields ; their rich and carpeted surface, in the spring and summer season, adds another beauty to the general scenery. Likewise upon the banks of the Susquehannah, both above and below the village, are extensive grazing and arable fields. The soil of this great plat is truly rich and fertile, and generally under high cultivation ; and the great quantities of plaster now brought into the place for grinding and sale, will render it feasible as well as place the motive before them, for farmers and proprietors to render their lands as productive as even the cupidity of men could wish.

The soil here as well as the earth to a great depth is evidently alluvial ; that is, formed since the flood. The soil is somewhat loamy, but the earth beneath, to the distance of thirty or forty feet, is made up of sand and gravel, pebbles highly polished, alternating in stratas, and sometimes mixed ; which have been deposited through the agency of some great waters flowing down the channels of these rivers. A probable conjecture, and one that is gaining ground among geologists, is, that the waters after the flood, in passing oflT from the continents to the ocean, formed the channels of the most of the rivers now extant ; and in their mighty action and flow, they would naturally carry down with them toward the ocean and deposite on their way immense quantities of sand and fragmentary rocks, ten thousand times divided, which, by attrition, would finally become polished and smooth. In digging wells in the village and its vicinity, a very considerable depth has to be attained before water is found ; a very natural consequence, supposing the earth, to this depth, has been brought from a distance and deposited.

Another opinion, entertained by some writers on geology, is, that the chain of great lakes at the north is the bottom of a former great and inland^ sea ; that eventually this sea burst into boundaries and formed the St. Lawrence, the Delaware, the Susquehannah, and the Allegany rivers. If such a sea once existed, would not traces of its shores somewhei'e still be visible?

The Chenango river, if it is proper here to speak of the two rivers at large, is about eighty or ninety miles in length, and has its rise in Madison county. It has a uniform descent of five or six feet to the mile, without any rapids, and flows through a beautiful and fertile country in nearly a direct course from north to south. The mountains which lie upon its course no where crowd its shores, so that the roads upon its banks are no where interrupted by them. Its waters move down undisturbed by rapids, or huge rocks, or sudden curves, increasing the depth of its channel until they are merged with the waters ot the Susquehannah. In the latter part of its course, the banks are from fifteen to twenty-five feet high, sufficient to contain its annual and flooded tide with but little overflowing. It receives but one tributary stream of note, which is the Onondaga, coming in at the Forks.

The Susquehannah is ranked among the largest rivers in the United States. As its name imports, it is long and crooked, having its rise in Otsego Lake and meandering constantly, until it empties its waters into the Chesapeake Bay. The country, almost in its entire course through which it passes, is so broken and mountainous, and the mountains so abrupt and irregular, that the river is kept every few miles turning its course. Though not so convenient for navigable purposes, its serpentine course adds greatly to its beauty and that of the country lying upon its banks.

After leaving the Lake from which it takes its first waters, it runs, though meandering, in nearly a southerly direction for more than twenty miles. It then takes a south-westerly direction for twenty or twenty-five miles more. Here it receives the Unadilla from the north, bearing more southerly then to the curve of the Great Bend, a distance, measuring in a straight line, of twenty-five miles. After making the Great Bend it runs north-west to within five miles of Binghamton. Then nearly due west to Owego. From this place to Rushville directly south-west. Then bearing nearer south to Tioga Point. From the Point it runs due south for eight or ten miles, then bearing south-east to Towanda, or the mouth of Towanda Creek. Its general course then, though serpentine, is directly south-east to Pittston ; here it changes its direction and runs as duly south-west through the valley of Wyoming, keeping this direction to Sunbury, a distance from the Lackawanna Gap of seventy miles ; then nearly south to Harrisburgh it flows in a south-east direction, without so much as curving, to the Chesapeake Bay, a distance further of seventy or eighty miles. It receives its West Branch at Sunbury, and tlie Junietta empties its waters fifteen miles above Harrisburgh.

There are small rapids or falls about two miles above Wilksbarre. There are falls also at Berwick of five or six feet, crossing the stream nearly at right angles. The falls at Cahnawaga, fourteen miles below Harrisburgh, should rather be called rapids, as they continue for about a mile, agitating the water greatly, and running with great velocity over rocks and shelving stratas. Raftmen enter these rapids at the lower point of an island called Cahnawaga Island, passing a strait not more than seventy feet wide. The water, throughout these rapids, roars like the agitated sea. The raftmen, however familiar with them, always enter these rapids with emotion, if not with fear and apprehension. A smooth navigation now succeeds for about fourteen miles, then shoals and eddies abound nearly to the mouth of the river.

The Village of Binghamton is quite insulated ; being remote from any other large village. It is one hundred and fifty miles south-west of Albany, ninety miles south of Utica, forty miles south south-west of Norwich, twenty-two miles east of Owego^ and seven miles from the Pennsylvania line. The great roads that lead to it, are the Newburgh and Milford road from the east, the Elmira and Owego from the west, the Montrose from the south, and the Utica road from the north. These roads, upon which there are lines of daily stages, lie upon both sides of the rivers ; although the north side of the Susquehannah and the east side of the Chenango are chiefly travelled. But the most important medium of access to the place, especially so far as transportation is concerned, is the Chenango Canal, which communicates with the great western canal at Utica and terminates at Binghamton. This canal was begun in 1834, and finished in 1837.

The village of Binghamton is the shire town of Broome county, which was set off from Tioga county in 1806, and called Broome, after John Broome, a worthy merchant of the city of New York, and at that time Lieutenant Governor of the State.

The village for a series of years was known only by the name of Chenango Point, and received its present name from the name of William Bingham, a gentleman of large estate, formerly residing in Philadelphia. He was proprietor of a large patent of land lying on both sides of the Susquehannah, and was a munificent benefactor of this place, in its infant village state. Owning the land upon which it stands, he authorised his agent to dispose of the lots,

f

after they were laid out, at such reasonable prices, and upon such easy terms, as would strongly induce emigrants to settle here. When it was determined that the village should be the county seat, he conveyed to the county, gratuitously, a spacious lot for the Court House ; also, a lot for a public school.

Although this distinguished patron might have been disposed — as unquestionably he was from his own liberal views, and also a regard to his own interest as proprietor of the land — to do much for the place, still it is doubtful whether he would have done the half he actually did, had not General Whitney, or some other man of his liberal and extensive views, been his agent. To Gen. Whitney's sound policy, liberal views and foresight, therefore, is to beattributed, chiefly, the rapid growth and prosperity of the village, as well as a large share of the JM^^^^'' ^^ many of its inhabitants. "' / .,^.

As Mr. Bingham is so intimately connectj^d with the existence and progress of this place, having owned the soil, and been its enlightened and liberal benefactor, it may be proper to give a glance at the outlines of his history and character : He was a native of England, and came to this country when a young man. It is believed he was liberally educated in his own countr)^, and studied the law. Thisis the impression of his agent. Gen. Whitney. Upon his arrival in America he went into the mercantile business in Philadelphia. What his wealth was at this time is not known. It is believed, however, that he acqtiired his immense fortune entirely through the force of his own talents and application to business. For mercantife business and speculation upon a large scale he became pre-eminently qualified. He possessed the soundest judgment and a most capacious mind. And as he rose in business his knowledge became extensive with the great mercantile transactions of Europe and America, and the state of their markets. He made it a point to keep pace with them all, that he might avail himself of all honorable advantages in the speculation of land or foreign trade. The latter was carried on entirely through the medium of his ships, which were sent to most of the great marts of the world. He was the merchant and banker in his domestic relations as well as in his habits. He married the daughter of Thomas M. Willing, of Philadelphia, who was, it will be remembered, the first President of the United States Bank. His two daughters married, the one Alexander, the other Henry Baring, of London, the distinguished bankers of that city. His partner in Baltimore was Robert Gilmore ; in Boston, John Richards. He was also merchantly connected with several houses in Europe. He was a member of Congress for some years while it was sitting in Philadelphia. He died in the city of London some time in the year 1804.

The first survey of the village was made in the year 1800, under the direction of Mr. Bingham, at which time the streets were regularly laid out at right angles. In 1808, a re-survey was made by Roswell Marshall; and in 1835, a full and complete survey was made by William Wentz, of the place. A map was made from this survey by F. B. Tower, in 1836. According to this last survey, the village has an extent of about two miles, measured east and west, and of one mile and a half measured north and south. On the west side of the Chenango, the streets as they are laid out, run nearly east and west and north and south. Upon the east side of the river, where by far most of the village lies, the course of the streets, being determined by the course of the two rivers, besides an important bend in the Susquehannah, have more short streets, and more that meet and cross at angles somewhat oblique. This defect, if such it should be called, does not, however, mar the beauty of the place generally, or of the streets individually.

On this eastern side of the Chenango, there are thirteen streets running nearly east and west, and ten or eleven running, though not so uniformly, north and south. There are in all forty-six street's. Court and Main-streets are full five rods wide ; the other streets are uniformly four rods in width, and the distance between from four to ten chains.

Only about one-third of the full limits of the village is, at present, built up. The rest lies in cultivated lots. Almost all the dwellings have gardens attached to them ; and many of these gardens, belonging to the dwellings of the more wealthy, are ample, and richly ornamented and laid out in good taste ; and, considering the newness of our country, and especially of the place, with a profuse variety of flowers and shrubbery.

It is difiicult to make any general and appropriate remarks with regard to the buildings, farther than to say, they are neat, convenient, and appear well from the streets. There are but few poor houses, remarkably few for the size of the place. Again, it should be remarked, there are but few large and splendid private dwellings, or edifices of any kind. A medium appears to have been studied, and much convenience rather than much ornament. Still, it is evident, ornament has not been neglected. As the buildings are nearly all new, or recently so, the proprietors have had the opportunity of gratifying and exhibiting their taste and skill in the more modern style of architecture, as well as giving an opportunity for the exercise of those qualities in their workmen, so far as the convenience necessary to be studied and their own resources did not limit them. But should it not be remembered, that a manifest and happy adaptation to convenience is one of the properties of beauty?

The Court House is situated in Court-street, on an eminence which gives it a commanding aspect from every part of the village. There are six church edifices in the place. An Episcopal Church edifice in Washington-street, a Methodist Chapel in Henry-street, a Presbyterian Church edifice, a Congregational and Baptist in Chenango-street, and a Catholic Cathedral on the west side of the river, in Le Roy-street. A large and elegant brick building for the Broome County Bank, situated on the corner of Court and Chenango-streets, and nearly opposite the Court House. Two large and wellsustained public houses. The building that has been put up since the fire, intended to succeed the Broome County House, is of brick, and a monument truly of enterprise and taste, if not of magnificence. Since its completion it has taken the name of the Phenix Hotel. Two other pubUc houses, though not so large, yet very respectable. Two others, in the suburbs of the village. Four ample piles of build- / ings for stores and various offices. Two printing offices, a paper issuing from each. The stores of the place, it may be remarked in general, are well sustained, there being a wide extent of country besides the village, depending on their merchandize. There are, in all, thirty stores.

One foundry for castings, four saw-mills in the vicinity of the village, two flouring mills, one extensive plaster-mill and one other now building, three large storage houses for the accommodation of the canal, one plow factory, one turning mill propolled by steam, carriage factories, though limited in the extent of their business compared to what they should be, and mechanics of various crafts.

There are two female seminaries^ and one large school for boys, in which the classical and common schools are united, under two preceptors.

After giving this outline of the village, reserving a further detail to a later part of the work, we will give the boundaries of the county^ together with a bare enumeration of the townships it contains, and close the present chapter.

Broome county is bounded on the north by Cortland and Chenango counties, on the east by Delaware county, on the south by the Pennsylvania line, and on the west by the county of Tioga. To trace

the boundaries in another manner and a little more 2 i particularly, and beginning at the south-east corner, it is bounded by the Delaware river in its greatest western extremity and curve, for six or eight miles ; then by a line running due north ten or twelve miles; then by a line running due west about the same distance, separating it from Chenango county ; then due north five miles ; then due west ten or twelve miles to just beyond, westward, the Chenango river ; then north north-west fourteen or fifteen miles ; then due west again to the western boundary ; then by an irregular line running nearly south to the Pennsylvania line or southern boundary, a distance of twenty-eight or thirty miles, and separating it from Tioga county; then east along the Pennsylvania line to the south-eastern extremity, a distance of thirty-six miles.

The county contains eleven townships, viz: Sandford, Windsor, Colesville, Chenango, Lisle, Union, Vestal, Conklin, Barker, Triangle and Nanticoke.

Chapter II

Neither the Village nor the County of its locality xjlaims any higher antiquity of history than the period of the Revolutionary War. Prior to this, it appears to have been known to our white population only on maps and charts, as forming constituent parts of New- York and Pennsylvania States. "^^ The foot of the white man is not known to have trod-

den over these vallies and mountains, except probably as Indian prisoners, until General Sullivan, with his army, marched into the State, on his expedition against the Indians.

It would be very gratifying to our natural love of wlmt is ancient and remote, if we could have the history of our particular section, as well as of the country generally, though we should do this by the uncertain vestiges of Indian tradition, to a more remote period of antiquity. The mind naturally inquires, what was the appearance of these mountains and plains and rivers in the time of the Crusades ? Have they undergone any material change, except in the wax and wane of their forest trees and herbage, since the dark ages of Europe ? What race of people were their tenants when Alfred the Great gave laws to his rustic subjects ? Although it is at present beyond human knowledge to solve these questions, still the reader may indulge his imagination and say, without conjecture, that at these periods, and even long before, the sun, when he rose unbeclouded, burnished these mountain tops, and let down his rays upon these vallies. Here shadows, whether of the mountain or of the lofty pine, turned from west to east in precise obedience to the sun's own progress and elevation. Here too was experienced by the beasts of the forest, and, more than probably, by man, either savage or civilized, the vicissitudes of the seasons : the blasts of winter, the budding of spring, the alternate zephyrs and sultry stillness of summer, and the reddening of the leaves of autumn.

Upon the site of Binghamton a brigade of American troops under the command of General James Clinton, the father of the celebrated Dewitt Clinton, encamped for one or two nights, on their way to join another large division of the American army, destined against the Indians of this State, under the command of Gen. Sullivan.

It cannot but be gratifying to those whom Providence has placed here as residents, and who have consequently located here their partialities and their strongest patriotic feehngs, that the place is connected, even in this incidental manner, with the revolutionary war ; that the soldiers of that war once trod over this place ; that upon its sod reisted their arms and their wearied bodies ; that here the officers concerted measures, which, in their achieve, ment, have helped to fill out the history of that great event. There is a sufficient connection between this expedition and the country under contemplation, to justify briefly its history ; especially because it was at that time the country became first known to the whites.

It should be understood, therefore, that the Indians of this State, being more numerous than of any other of the states, were capable of forming, and did actually form, a powerful ally to our already powerful enemy. In the commencement of hostilities between the mother country and the colonies, the Six Nations, as they were commonly called, whose limits Were chiefly within this State, had solemnly promised to the colonics neutrality. This pledge was given by their chiefs and members generally, at a great council held at the German

Flats, and called for this specific purpose. Probably the Indians would have kept their promise inviolate, had not British vassals, in the form of commissioners, taken extraordinary pains to induce tliem to take up arms against us. Pursuant to this, they invited a council to be held at Oswego, where they informed the chiefs that the white people of the colonies had risen up against their good king and were about to rob him of a great part of his possessions ; and that, therefore, they wished the assistance of themselves and their warriors in subduinir them. They promised, moreover, ample reward for their services. The chiefs then informed the commissioners, of the treaty and promise of neutrality they had only a year before made with the colonies, and of their disposition to adhere to it. The commissioners then addressed their cupidity and their passion for liquor, telling them how plenty rum should be, and made a display of their gifts. These appeals, added to their natural enmity of the whites, succeeded in bringing them into compliance. They signed a treaty, in which they promised to take up arms against the rebels until they should be subdued.

These Indians of the Six Nations, with the exception of the Oneidas, now thirst, with a keener appetite than ever, for the blood of the white man; they are impatient to commence hostilities ; they muster tlieir forces and ui-ge their way to the nearest and most exposed white settlement. Their attacks upon Cautega, Cherry Valley, upon several places on the Hudson river, and still more notedly, upon Minisink, of Orange county, and Wyoming, of Pennsylvania, are well remembered.

Congress found it necessary to send a strong armed force into the heart of their country, and, by retorting their own mode of warfare, as far as practicable, to exterminate them. They therefore appointed an army of between tour and five thousand men, with Gen. Sullivan in chief command, with orders to march through the wilderness part of Pennsylvania, into those parts of the state of New- York, inhabited by these hostile tribes. This army consisted principally of three lines, or divisions. The New Jersey line, commanded by Gen. Maxwell ; the New England line, commanded by Gen. Hand ; and the New-York line, commanded by Gen. Clinton. The former two lines marched from Elizabethtown, of New Jersey, by the way of Easton, thence to Wyoming, and then up the Susquehannah to Tioga Point.