History of Oxford, Chenango County

History of Oxford

    In the fall of this year (1790) Elijah BLACKMAN came in from Connecticut and squatted on the little island in the Chenango river, within the limits of Oxford village, commonly known as Cork Island.* This land had been previously bought by Benjamin HOVEY, who purchased a tract of land on the east side of the river, and subsequently the "gore", that part of the town of Oxford lying west of the Chenango. These purchases included the site of Oxford village, which was named by Hovey after his native town in Massachusetts.
   * This island derives its name from the fact that a duel was fought upon it about 1830, by E. SHERWOOD and a man name STARKWEATHER in which the seconds loaded the guns with cork bullets.
   When General Hovey came on a little later to take possession of his land, he gave to BLACKMAN, in consideration of the improvements he had made on this island, a piece of land about a mile and a half up the river, on lot No. 3 of the gore, which was supposed to contain 100 acres, but which, when surveyed, proved to contain one hundred and twenty-eight acres. On this Blackman continued to reside till his death, about 1825. It is now occupied by a grandson of his. Elijah Blackman had two sons, his only children, Elijah and Jabez, the former of whom removed from the town in 1813. Jabez married Hannah TRISKET, whose father was an early settler of the town, and lived and died on the forty-two acres of the homestead farm given him by his father, who divided the farm previous to his death. * * The elder Blackman had an adopted daughter, Polly KNAPP, who was a native of Connecticut, and afterwards became the wife of Colonel Samuel BALCOM. She was the first white woman in the town of Oxford, or rather female, for she was then only ten years of age, and was brought in upon the shoulders of her foster brothers, who had returned to their native State for supplies, and wearied of a life in the lonely backwoods, devoid of female companionship.
   ** Jabez BLACKMAN, who was born in Connecticut in 1771, died Jan. 17, 1849 aged 78. His wife died Oct. 30, 1839, aged 54. They had five sons, Silas, Levi, Almon, Lawson and Marcus P., all of whom, except Almon, died on the homestead in early life. Silas died June 3, 1827, aged 26. Levi, who died Sept. 30, 1830, aged 27, married Prudence, daughter of Samuel COLE, who died Nov. 2, 1832, aged 25. Almon lived on the homestead till about 1850-'55, when he removed to Preston, where he died Feb. 7, 1873, aged 67. He married Cynthia WEBSTER, who died May 23, 1874, aged 65; and had three sons and a daughter, that latter of whom married ---- MATTERSON of North Norwich, and died soon after. Henry and Philetus, two of Almon's sons, are living in Preston. Marcus P. died Jan. 27, 1843, aged 22.
James PHELPS came in about the same time as Elijah BLACKMAN and located within the limits of the village. He remained but a short time however, for he was gone in the spring of 1791.
Gen. Benjamin HOVEY came in from Oxford, Mass., in the fall of 1790, and built a log house on the site of Fort Hill, to which he removed his family the following year. This house occupied a portion of the site of S. H. FARNHAM's store. A portion of the stone foundation, loosely laid, was disclosed on removing the steps to the latter. Mr. Hovey had engaged to open for the State a road from Unadilla to Cayuga Lake, near Ithaca. It was known as the old State road and was finished about 1793. Francis BALCOM and Thomas and James McALPINE cut the road from Unadilla to Oxford. "It was located and constructed," says William H. HYDE, Esq., of Oxford, "to harmonize with the dauntless and energetic character of the age, which was never guilty of circumlocution to avoid a hill, regardless of the old maxim, elevation is exposure."* Hovey was a man of rugged energy, blessed with rare personal qualities, a veritable pioneer; but he became restive under the restraints of civilization, and remained here but a few years.** He was associated with BURR and his confreres in a scheme to improve the navigation of the Ohio, by which he was financially ruined.
   * Historical Reminiscences, Oxford Academy Jubliee.
  ** He probably left here about 1805, having, the previous year, tendered his resignation as trustee of Oxford Academy, a position he held for ten years.
    A letter from Samuel Miles HOPKINS, a well-known lawyer of that day, recited the following facts, which will be of interest in this connection:- "One hundred and ten miles west from Catskill, through a country almost entirely new, brought me to the village of Oxford, and to the house of Benjamin Hovey, the founder of it, and who, eighteen months before, had cut the first tree to clear the ground where the village stood. Here, too, I found Uri TRACY, (of the class in my college two years older than myself,) and whom, after forty years, I still count among the most valuable of my friends. Here I took my residence. Hovey was a man of very strong natural sense and vigor of action, but of very little education. He had been unfortunate in Massachusetts. His family had preserved life in the wilderness for some days by eating the grain from the ear in an unripe state. Suddenly he started for New York, laid open plans for the settlement of land to the proprietors whom he found, built Oxford on his own lands, and became the leading man of a very growing country. I settled at Oxford as a lawyer. My first law draft I made by writing on the head of a barrel, under a roof made of poles only, and in the rain, which I partially kept from spattering my paper, by a broad-brimmed hat. In such a village as this, the first frame building was an Academy, of two stories high, and Mr. Tracy was the teacher. No Yankees without the means of education." *
   * Oxford Academy Jubliee, p. 41.
    Daniel TUCKER, who was born in Leicester, Mass., May 15, 1763, removed thence in 1787 to Wattle's Ferry, a little above Sidney Plains, and in the spring of 1791, to a farm of fifty acres one mile above Oxford village, on the west side of the river, which is now owned and occupied by his son, Edward Tucker, and on which he died September 7, 1845. He bought of Benjamin HOVEY, in 1793, in which year he married Mary McKENZIE, who was born in Kinderhook, Columbia county, Feb. 28, 1773, and died July 19, 1833. Mr. Tucker came from Massachusetts on foot, and when he arrived in Oxford there were only two log houses in the town, one was Elijah BLACKMAN's, on the island, the other, Benjamin HOVEY's, on Fort Hill. He worked for Mr. Hovey the first two years after coming here, and drove team between Oxford and Catskill. Sleighs were used and the runners were shod with ironwood. There was no road at that time, and those who accompanied the teams carried axes with them to cut away the trees. He had eleven children, only two of whom are living, both on the homestead farm.*
   *The children were Polly, who was born Dec. 20, 1795, and died March 25, 1854; Daniel, Jr., born April 15, 1796, died in 1797; John, born May 8, 1797, married Lydia FARWELL, of Cattaraugus county, being previously removed to Steuben county, where he died in November, 1870; Sally, born May 9, 1800, and died unmarried Feb. 17, 1836; Lucretia, born Aug. 6, 1801, and died unmarried June 30, 1831; Lovina, born Nov 20, 1803, still living on the homestead farm; Louisa, born Aug 15, 1805, and died Aug. 22, 1809; Lucina, born March 10, 1807, died Sept. 20, 1808; Alexander, born March 19, 1808, removed to Steuben county, where he married Jane GUERNESEY, and after her death returned to this county, and died in Bainbridge, April 22, 1872; Jennet, born May 26, 1801, died unmarried Sept. 24, 1836; and Edward, born May 27, 1813, married Mary E. HEMINWAY, and is still living on the homestead farm.
    Settlements were made about this time (1701) b John BARTLE, Peter BURGOT, Benaiah LOOMIS, Francis BALCOM, Eben ENOS, John CHURCH, Charles HURST, William WETENHALL, Heber and Reuben WILLIAMS, John BUCKLEY and Jesse HAMILTON.
    John W. and Richard BARTLE, brothers, from whom most of the Bartles in this country are supposed to have descended, came from Germany previous to the Revolution, and settled on the Livingston Manor, in Columbia county. Richard afterwards removed to the west, where many of his descendants now live. John removed to Oxford, with his six sons and one daughter, and failing by some wrong-doing of others to secure the land promised him, settled on the west side of the river, at the mouth of Bowman's Creek, some four miles below Oxford village, on the place now owned and occupied by his great-grandson, Irwin Bartle, which has ever since been retained in the Bartle family. There he kept the first inn in the town, and there he, his son David, and grandson West Bartle, died. His children were John, Peter, Hendrick, Philip, Andrew, David and Elizabeth. John was a harness-maker. He lived and plied his vocation in various parts of the town, in which he also died. He married a lady named DUFFEY, by whom he had ten children, and after her death, he married Lydia TUTTLE, by whom he also had ten children. Nineteen children attended his funeral. Peter, Hendrick and Philip settled on Panther Hill, which derived its name from the fact that a panther had been killed upon it in the locality of their father's settlement, Peter, where Jacob BUCKLEY now lives; Hendrick, where Cyrus CRANDALL now lives; and Philip, where Lewis KETCHUM lives. Peter married twice. His second wife was Tabitha, daughter of Benaniah LOOMIS. This marriage, which took place in May, 1795, was the first one contracted in the town. He was a surveyor and surveyed all this section of country. He went west soon after the close of the war of 1812, and died in Ohio, March 22, 1831. He was born Sept. 24, 1769. He had four children by his first wife and five by his second. Only two are living: Uriah, in Oxford, and Caroline, widow of Orson WEBB, in Wellsboro, Pa. Hendrick married Tabitha WHITE, by whom he had eight children, only two of whom are living, Cornelia, widow of Walter SMITH, in Erie county, N.Y., and Sally, wife of Alanson W. STEWART, in Oxford. Philip afterwards bought the farm now owned in part by Uri Bartle and Henry LEWIS. He married Betsey, daughter of Benaiah LOOMIS, with whom he lived in unbroken harmony nearly seventy years, "leaving the legacy of a spotless example." Their home on Panther Hill was known far and wide as a haven of rest for the poor and needy, and of unbounded hospitality. Both died in the house now owned by Henry LEWIS. In their log house on the sand bank, near the WARN burying ground,* was taught the first school in the town. They had no children. Andrew married and settled where Charles WILLCOX now lives, at South Oxford. He afterwards removed with his family to Junius, N.Y., where he and his wife died. David succeeded to the homestead, where he and his wife died. He married Rhoda WEST, by whom he had eight children, five of whom are living.** Elizabeth married Henry GORDON., a carpenter and joiner and cabinet maker, who settled on the east side of the river about a mile below Oxford, on the farm now owned by the LOBDELL sisters, daughters of the late Abijah LOBDELL, where he died June 19, 1820, aged 49. After his death, she removed to Oxford village, where she died Aug. 2, 1854, aged 81.***
   * This ground was given by Andrew WARN for burial purposes.
   ** These are Hannah, Maria, widow of Benajah LANDERS, (who died in July, 1879,) living in Oxford; Andrew, in Pennsylvania; Newton, a merchant in Unadilla; Philip, in Union, Broome county, and A. F., in Oxford.
   *** They had a numerous family, of whom, Susan, widow of Nehemiah SMITH, is living in Oxford; Jay, in Pennsylvania; and Eliza, wife of Captain Squire MOREHOUSE, in Deposit.
Peter BURGOT had a large family and removed at an early day to Allegany county. Two of his daughters, Sally, who married Abijah LOBDELL, a merchant in Oxford, and Lucretia, who married John DODGE, lived and died in the town.* He (Burgot) settled on the farm now owned by Eli CORBIN.
   * French's State Gazetteer says the first mills in the town were erected by Peter Burgot, one and one-half miles west of Oxford village, in 1792. Uri BARTLE, son of Peter Bartle, and grandson of John Bartle, the pioneer, says the grist-mill built by Burgot was in the south part of Preston, on the farm now owned by Deacon Grandison NORTON. It was located on a small stream emptying into Mill Brook, usually called Widger Brook, from the WIDGER family, who settled upon it. It was abandoned by reason of complaints made by the Widger's, because the water set back and over-flowed lands, which have since been converted into a fine meadow. Mr. Bartle further says that his father, Peter Bartle, built the first grist-mill in the town of Oxford. It was located on Bowman Creek, about a mile above its mouth, and was built more than eighty years ago. It was about a quarter of a mile below the saw-mill on the same stream, owned by Jacob BUCKLEY, who finally owned it. It was abandoned by him some twenty-five or thirty years ago, in consequences of damages it sustained by the bursting of one of the stones, which tore away one side of the mill. It was never repaired.
French also states that the first death in the town was a child of Peter Burgot's; and the first death of an adult was that of Andrew LOOMIS, in 1793. Edward TUCKER, son of Daniel Tucker, a pioneer, says the first death was that of Andrew COWLES, a single man, who was killed while chopping on the hill where the VAN WAGENEN cemetery is located, and was buried where he died.
Benaiah LOOMIS removed from Egremont, Mass., his native place, to the locality of Catskill, in 1787, and two or three years later to Oxford. He settled on the west side of the river, near the south line of the town, on the farm now owned and occupied by his grandson, Wheaton Loomis, where he died abut 1835-'40. He married Rachel PATTERSON, of Egremont, Mass., who died about 1815. Her father, who was an Irishman, was a tinsmith, and first brought tin to America. They had nine children.* After the death of his first wife, he married the widow Prudy CORBIN, by whom he had no children. Numerous grandchildren and an army of great-grandchildren are living, many of them in the county.
   * Their children were Betsey, who married Philip BARTLE, and lived and died in Oxford; Jane, who died young; Catherine, who married Peter RORAPAUGH and lived and died in Smithville; Ruth, who married Jeduthan GRAY, and died in Kentucky, to which State they removed about the close of the war of 1812; Tabitha, who married Peter BARTLE, who deserted her, when {sic} she married his brother Hendrick, and died in Pennsylvania, where, after the death of her husband, about 1841, she went to live with her daughter; Amy, who married John STEPHENS and died in Greene; Nancy, who married Chauncey HILL, and lived and died in Smithville; Edward, who married Polly SMITH, and was one of the Pioneers of Smithville, where he lived within a short time of his death, June 21, 1869; and Daniel, who married Sally TEN BROECK, who lived and died on the homestead farm about 1852.
Francis BALCOM who was born in Sudbury, Mass., July 19, 1767, came in from Newfane, Vt., and settled in Oxford village, where A. D. HARRINGTON now lives. He was one of the party that cut the old State road from the Unadilla, at Rockdale, to Oxford. He pursued farming, and received the first deed given to settlers in the town of Oxford. The deed was recorded in Owego. He came here a young, unmarried man, and married Priscilla, daughter of Didymus KINNEY, who came in from Columbia county in 1794, and settled in Oxford village. KINNEY's sons removed from the town at an early day. Priscilla was born in Dutchess county, January 1, 1776. Francis BALCOM and his wife both died in the town; the former Aug. 8, 1850, and the latter Sept. 25, 1866. They had eleven children.*
   *These were Henry, ** who was born Jan. 18, 1798, married Mary, daughter of Lyman HUNNEWILL, (who came from Block Island, off the Rhode Island coast, previous to 1800, and settled in Oxford village, where his wife, Darcus, died in 1804, and where he resided till within a short time of his death, which occurred in Milford, Otsego county, in 1832,) who was born Aug. 22, 1804, died Sept. 10, 1 869, and her husband, Jan. 26, 1878; Joseph, who married Lucretia, daughter of Moses WARREN, (who came in from Canterbury, Conn., soon after 1800, settled three or four miles below Oxford village, and died in the town,) was of a roving disposition, removed from the town about 1833 or '34, and died in Troy; Samuel, who died young and unmarried in Pennsylvania; Leafa, who married Benjamin CORY, of Watertown, N.Y., where she died; Hiram, who died in Oxford, young and unmarried; Fanny, widow of Zebedee LARNED, of Watertown, N.Y., now living in Geneva, N.Y.; Ann K., wife of Hubbard RANDALL, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa; Charles Austin, a bachelor, who died in Bainbridge; Polly, who married Daniel THROOP, and died in Nineveh, N.Y., in Oct. 1850; Stephen, who married Margaret HEALEY of Nineveh, N.Y., in Sept., 1854, and died in Illinois in 1863, of camp fever; and William, a merchant in Oxford, who married R. S. LEWIS.
   ** Henry BALCOM, for forty-two years gave to Oxford Academy his ceaseless, tireless energies and the benefit of his wise counsels. Prompt at meetings, shirking no duties laid upon him, assuming fearlessly such responsibilities as were required of him, he was always a useful and desirable trustee. Genial in his nature, of a peaceful, happy disposition, his intercourse with the board and with its members as individuals was uniformly pleasant.-Academy Records.
Henry BALCOM, father of Francis Balcom, was born in Sudbury, Mass., Aug. 16, 1740. He removed about 1774 to Newfane, Vt., and thence, two years later than Francis, to Oxford, where he died Oct. 28, 1812. He was a Revolutionary soldier, fought under Stark at Bennington, and served till the close of the war. His wife, Keziah STOW, came with him, and died Sept. 26, 1826, aged 89. Three other children came in with him, Leafa, Samuel and Sally, the former of whom died unmarried about 1851 or '2. Samuel, who was variously known as deacon and colonel, was born in Sudbury, Mass., Dec. 31, 1772, married Polly KNAPP, (an adopted daughter of Elijah BLACKMAN's, and the first white female in the town of Oxford,) and settled on or near the place now occupied by Loren WILCOX, on the west side of the river, about two miles above Oxford. He subsequently removed to the village of Oxford and died there Aug. 27, 1847. His wife died Feb. 16, 1859.* The Balcoms are a worthy and highly respected family.
   * Henry Balcom's grandchildren who are living, in addition to the children of Francis Balcom, are: Lyman, at Painted Post, N.Y.; Eliza, widow of William PEARSALL, in Owego, N.Y.; Rev. Benjamin in Corning, N.Y.; Harriet, widow of William RHODES, in Fond du Luc, Wis.; Uri T., in Chicago, and Rev. George F., in Cawker City, Ks., children of Samuel Balcom; and Frederick W, in Pennsylvania; Samuel H., a merchant in Oxford, and Charles E., in New York, children of Sally, wife of Samuel FARNHAM. Judge Ransom Balcom, who died in Binghamton, Jan. 6, 1879, was a son of Samuel Balcom. Five great-grandchildren are living in the town of Oxford, Lucy A., daughter of Henry Balcom, John B., son of Samuel WHEELER, and Ella C., William G. and Ward V., children of William Balcom.
John CHURCH came from Great Barrington, Mass., and settled on the west side of the river, one mile south of Oxford, on the farm now occupied by Obediah TOWER, where he died Oct. 6, 1825. His first wife, whom he married in Massachusetts, was a HOLLENBECK by whom he had seven children. His second wife was Patty THAYER, from Vermont, by whom he had two children.*
   * His children by his first wife were: Fitcha who married Luman McNEIL and lived in Oxford, where she died some three years ago; Sylvester, who married Lucinda MILES, and lived and died in Oxford about 1836; Bradford, who married Anna BARNES, and is living in Illinois; David, who removed to Ohio and died there; William, who died unmarried; Elizabeth and a daughter unnamed who died in childhood. Those by his second wife were: William, who married Laura BARNES and is now living in Oxford village, and is the only member of the family living in the town; and Erastus, who died in 1832, at the age of eighteen.
William WETTENHALL, (now spelled WHITTENHALL) an Englishman, came in from Albany and settled on the west bank of the river, two miles below Oxford. He built there a frame house, in which he kept tavern several years. The house is still standing, and, though in a dilapidated condition, is occupied as a residence. He was a tailor by trade, and worked at that vocation a part of the time. He removed about 1808 to Smithville and subsequently to McDonough, where he died in his eighty-ninth year. Only one child is living, George, in Steuben county. Nancy, wife of Squire HAMILTON, was his youngest daughter. She died in Oxford in 1877, in her ninetieth year.
Heber and Reuben WILLIAMS, originally from Rhode Island, came in from Columbia, Herkimer county, and settled on the west line of Oxford; Heber on the farm now occupied by Burton WESTOVER, who married his grand-daughter, Amelia WEEKS, and Reuben, on the farm now owned by Martin CHURCH. HEBER and his wife, Martha, died the same day on the farm upon which they settled, and were buried in the same grave. Reuben removed to Steuben county about 1825, and died there. HEBER came in a little earlier than Reuben. Another brother settled in the same locality at an later day, but removed soon after to Steuben county.*
   * Heber's children were: Daniel, who married Lucinda LOOMIS and is living in Cincinnatus; Polly, who married Vinson LOOMIS and died in Smithville about 1823; Sally, who married Isaac WRIGHT and died in Wisconsin; John, who married and moved to Wisconsin; Malinda, who married ---- CASE, and is living in Smithville; Julia, who married Stephen WEEKS and died on the homestead farm.
John BUCKLEY settled in the west edge of Oxford, on the farm now occupied by his son, Jacob Buckley, where he died. His children were: a daughter, who married Angus BARTLE, and lived in Pennsylvania; Jacob, who married Clarinda HASTINGS, and is living on the homestead; Hannah, who married Uri BARTLE, and is living in Oxford; and Peter, who married Ruth Ann BARTLE, and died in Tioga county, Penn.
Jesse HAMILTON came from Brookfield, Mass., and settled in Oxford village, but soon after removed to the farm now occupied by William HOBAN, about two and a half miles south-west of the village, on which he died December 30, 1814, aged 62, and Sarah, his wife, Oct. 20, 1839, aged 80. None of the family are living. The youngest died in Smithville in 1879.*
   *Several grandchildren are living in the county, among whom are Uri WHITTENHALL, of Greene; Harriett, widow of Clark LEWIS, of McDonough, and Mrs. Benaiah LOOMIS and Warren HAMILTON, of Smithville.
Uri TRACY came here from Connecticut as early as 1792, and married here Ruth, daughter of General Benjamin HOVEY. He located in Oxford village, and continued to reside there till his death, July 21, 1838, aged 75. His wife survived him but a few years. She died January 31, 1846, aged 71.
The name of Uri Tracy is one around which clusters many of the dearest of Oxford's earlier associations. His public duties were varied and responsible, and were performed with a rare fidelity. He had been a Presbyterian clergyman and a missionary to the Indians. Possessed himself of a liberal culture, {he was a graduate of Yale College}, he was a prime mover in the establishment of the Oxford Academy, of which he was also the first teacher. He was President of the Board of Trustees of that institution at his death. He was appointed Sheriff in 1798, and held the office till 1801. He was the first to hold this office in Chenango county. He was elected County Clerk in 1801, and was also postmaster, keeping both offices for a time in the basement of his frame dwelling. He held the office of Clerk till 1815. He was a Member of Congress from 1805-'7 and 1809-'13. He was appointed First Judge of Chenango county in 1819. He was both teacher and preacher in the early settlement of the country, and was prominently identified with all the town's substantial interests of that day.*
   * His children were: Otis J., who was twice married, and died in the town Aug. 21, 1850, aged 54. His first wife, Jane D., died Nov. 13, 1820, aged 19, and his second, Eliza, Aug. 19, 1828, aged 25. Uri, who married Persis, sister of Perez PACKER, a noted physician of Oxford, was a Magistrate for twenty years or more, and died in the town Aril 6, 1856, aged 56, and his wife, May 3, 1857, aged 54; Charles O. and Samuel Miles, who were lawyers and settled and died in Ohio, where both were prominent men; Mary who married Peter DICKINSON, who as engaged very extensively in lumbering. and removed to Pennsylvania.
In this year, (1792,) it is claimed the first birth in the town occurred. But authorities do not agree as to who was the first child born. One asserts that Charles A. HUNT, son of Luther Hunt, who died May 16, 1849, aged 56, was the first male child born in the town; while another {French's Gazetteer of New York} asserts that the first was Ellis LOOMIS, of whom we have not been able to get much definite information.*
   * Uri BARTLE, to whom reference has previously been made, says Ellis LOOMIS was an adopted son of Philip BARTLE, and probably a son of Andrew LOOMIS, whose death, French says, was the first in the town. He married Margaret, daughter of Hendrick BARTLE, and went West, where both he and his wife died. Daniel LOOMIS, of Oxford, who defers to Mr. BARTLE's opinion, thinks he was a son of Ellis LOOMIS, a relative of Benaiah LOOMIS, who came in at a very early day and settled on the west side of the river, about four miles below Oxford.
Anson CARY, Jonathan BALDWIN and Zopher BETTS joined the settlements in 1793, and Theodore BURR, about that time.
Anson CARY, a Revolutionary pensioner, removed from Windham, Conn., to Union, in Broome county, where his first three children were born. In 1793, he removed thence to Oxford village, where his son George A., his fourth child, was born in May of that year. He came up the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers in a canoe, which was paddled by an Indian named Seth, and took up the farms, embracing about one hundred and twenty-five acres now owned by Charles A. BENNETT and John CARY, where he resided till his death, May 3, 1842, aged 80. He was the first blacksmith to locate in the new settlement, and worked at his trade a great many years, carrying on his farm at the same time. He shop stood just below the old pear tree in front of Mr. Bennett's residence, on the same side of the road. The old tree was planted by Mr. Cary in 1798. Five others, all of which were brought from Connecticut, were planted at the same time; but the latter were destroyed by the fire which consumed his unfinished residence in 1803, the fire being set by his son Zalmon, who was then three years old. About 1804, he built the house in which Charles A. Bennett now lives. He was a county judge, sheriff, and justice a great many years, and for a few years was engaged in mercantile business in Oxford. He married Hannah CAREW, who died July 9, 1842, aged 78.*
   *They had eight children, Horatio, Minerva, Harriet, George A., Palmer C., Zalmon S., Hannah and Albert G. Horatio was born March 27, 1785, married Betsey RHODES, and died in Lockport, Feb. 10, 1855. Minerva was born Oct. 15, 1787, married Amos A. FRANKLIN, and died in Wisconsin, May 23, 1859, after about thirty years' residence in Oxford. Harriet was born July 29, 1789, married Bogardus BENNETT, and died on the homestead Aug. 9, 1863. George A. was born May 8, 1791, married Sarah WATTLES, who died June 18, 1821, aged 21, and after her death Adaline CRANDALL, who still lives in Oxford. He died in Oxford April 21, 1869. Palmer C. was born March 31, 1798, married Rowena OSGOOD, and lived and died in Oxford. He died May 13, 1875, and his wife May 10, 1869. Zalmon S. was born Aug 31, 1800, married Pamelia RANDALL, and lived in Oxford, where he died Aug. 23, 1854. His widow and their only son, John, now occupy the place where he died. Hannah was born June 17, 1804, and died unmarried Oct. 8, 1855, the day set for her marriage. Albert G. was born July 20, 1807, and married Melissa MATTHEWSON, of Smyrna. He studied medicine in Oxford with Dr. Perez PARKER, and after the death of the latter with Dr. William G. SANDS. He commenced practice at Black Rock, in Erie county, and after a year, about 1837, returned to McDonough, where he practiced a year, when he removed to Woodhull, Steuben county, and practiced seven years. He then returned to North Norwich and practiced about a year. From there he removed to Smithville, where he practiced three or four years, when he removed to a farm in Oxford, where he still resides.
Zolpher BETTS came from Massachusetts and settled on the south line of Oxford. The farm on which he located is now occupied by Wheaton LOOMIS. Only one child is living, Annie, widow of Jeremiah TEN BROECK, now about 86 years old. She resides with her son, Ira Ten Broeck, in the south edge of Oxford.*
   * His other children were: Erastus Silas, Warren, Rachel, who married Blodgett SMITH, Prudence, who married William WHEELER, Armis, who married Wheaton RACE, and Polly, who married Lorin MILLER. Numerous grandchildren are living in the county.
Jonathan BALDWIN, who was born in Egremont, Mass., Feb. 11, 1765, removed thence in the spring of 1793 to Oxford. He come {sic} on foot, with his ax upon his shoulder, by the Catskill turnpike, via Delhpi, and took up forty acres on the site of the village, on the west side of the river. Having made a small clearing and put in some wheat, he returned to Massachusetts, and on the 3rd of March, 1794, married Parthenia STANFORD. He soon afterwards returned to his new-bought lands in Oxford, and built the house now owned and occupied by Frank CLARKE, on the south-west corner of State and Lafayett streets, the frame of which is the one then put up. While thus engaged he boarded with Peter BURGOT's family. The next fall his wife came in, in company with Solomon DODGE. She brought with her apple, currant and rose seeds, which she planted. Some of the apple trees raised from those seeds are now standing on Charles ECCLESTON's place.
Mr. Baldwin was a carpenter and, in company with Theodore BURR, the celebrated bridge builder and mill-wright, erected in 1793 or '4, the mill in Oxford village now owned by Nathan BUNDY, then owned by Mr. Burr, who settled in the village shortly previous. Messrs. Burr and Baldwin were also connected in the construction of bridges. The former patented and built the first arch bridge across the Susquehanna. He lived in Oxford several years, and removed before the war of 1812, with his family to Northumberland, Penn., where he and his wife died. None of their descendants are living here.* The Baldwins raised a family of eleven children and resided here till their death. Mr. Baldwin died July 2, 1845, aged 80; and his wife, April 21, 1848, aged 76.**
   * BURR's children were: Henry, who went to Northumberland, Penn., and married, lived and died there; George, who was dissipated and did not marry; Charles; Marilla, who never married; Phila, who married in Pennsylvania, Silas MARSH, who was a merchant in Oxford from about 1816 to 1826, and removed to Duanesburgh, where they lived and died; Sena, who married Simon G. THROOP, lived and raised a family here, and afterwards removed to Pennsylvania, where she died two or three years ago; Amanda, who married Charles CATLIN in Pennsylvania. All except Sena, removed with their parents to Pennsylvania.
   **BALDWIN's children were: Marianne, born Jan. 15, 1795, married Oct. 26, 1817, Peleg B. FOLGER, a shoemaker from Hudson, who came here about the close of the war of 1812, and boarded with Baldwin, and died Feb. 5, 1857, aged 65, but whose widow still lives in Oxford; James Hovey, born July 2, 1796, married while helping his father build a bridge at Wilkesbarre, Penn., Elizabeth SHAFFER, of Lewisburgh, Penn., lived in Oxford, and died in Pennsylvania, while engaged in building a bridge; Sophia, born June 22, 1800, married Frederick Green, from Dutchess county, and is now living in Michigan; Haplone, born July 2, 1802, and died unmarried at the age of 30; Nancy, born Jan. 13, 1801, and died in infancy; Louisa, born March 24, 1804, still living in Oxford; Thomas, born July 4, 1805, married Rebecca BUCKELY, both of whom lived and died on the farm now owned by their daughters, Mary Louisa, wife of Charles BENNETT, and Adelaide; Charles, born July 21, 1807, and died unmarried Dec. 8, 1849; Betsey M., born March 25, 1809, and living unmarried, on lands bought by her father over eighty years ago; Samuel, born March 2, 1811, married Jane HAGAMAN, of Greene, removed to Woodhull, Steuben county, and died in Corning; and John, born Nov. 6, 1813, now living with his sisters Louisa and Betsey in Oxford village.
Solomon DODGE to whom allusion has been previously made, came in originally with Daniel TUCKER from Sidney, and settled a half mile above Oxford, where Alvin MORSE now lives. He, too, was in Hovey's employ two or three years. He was a single man, and married a sister of Ritchison BURLINGAME, who was the first surveyor in the town of Oxford. He was surveying here in 1793; and settled on the Cole farm, now owned by Amos MINER and Paul Smith GRAVES; afterwards for a few years on the Blackman farm. He removed about 1820, to Cattaraugus county. Dodge sold to Daniel DENISON about 1820, and removed to Cincinnatus, whence he returned after five or six years, and settled some one and one-half miles west of Oxford village, where he died.*
   *Among Dodge's children were: Marshall, who lived and died in McDonough; Henry, who was a clothier, married a daughter of Elijah BLACKMAN, lived some time in McDonough, and afterwards removed to the locality of Auburn; Russell, who lived first in McDonough, removed to Steuben county, and died in Addison; Ira, who is now living in Pennsylvania; Alfred, who married a daughter of Elder BEMUS, removed to Steuben county, where he was engaged in lumber a number of years, and died there; Israel, who removed to and married in Steuben county, where he now lives; Almira, who married a minister named BURLINGAME, of Otselic, and is now living in Cincinnatus; and another daughter, who married Gideon LAYTON, and removed to McDonough, where Solomon's wife died.
John McNEIL came from Hillsdale, Columbia county, in 1794, with his wife, Mary WISE, and two sons, Ira and Luman, and settled on the east side of the river, a mile and a half below Oxford village, on the farm now owned by Ward VANDERLYN. He took up a hundred acres, but was chiefly occupied with his trade, that of a blacksmith. He died on the farm on which he settled, July 26, 1832, aged 64; and his wife in the village of Oxford, March 15, 1843, aged 72. Ira married Clarissa HOUCK, of Lee, Massachusetts, and worked several years with his father at blacksmithing, which he afterwards pursued in the village till his death. Luman married Fitche CHURCH, and carried on blacksmithing in the village several years, when he removed to the farm on which he now lives, on the east side of the river, about two miles below the village. He was eighty-seven years old January 31, 1879. He married at the age of nineteen and lived about sixty-five years with his wife, who died a few years ago.*
   *John McNeil's children who were born here were: Sophia, who married Erastus SMITH, of Oxford, a cabinet-maker, who died in Buffalo, and his wife, who was for many years deranged, in Oxford, a few years ago; Lewis, who married Clarissa WARN, settled first in what is known as "the desert," in the south part of Oxford, afterwards lived in various places, and died in Delhi; Charlotte, who married David P. WILLOUGHBY, also settled at first in "the desert," where they lived for many years, and both of whom are now living at South Oxford; John G., who was a bachelor and a blacksmith and died in the town; Andrew, who married Maria SMITH, settled on the homestead farm which he sold in 1842 when he removed to the John CHURCH farm, on the west side of the river, a mile below Oxford, and afterwards to the locality a half mile above South Oxford, where he died Jan. 23, 1868, aged 62; Charles A., who married Philura MAIN, a native of North Stonington, Connecticut, and pursued farming till thirty-four years old, when he removed to Oxford village, where he now lives, and followed butchering for fifteen years.
Settlements were made at an early day by Asa SHERWOOD, William DENISON, Deacon William GILE, Jonathan and Ozias BUSH, Alvin STEVENS, Walter SIMMONS and Rev. John CAMP, all of whom, except Sherwood, located in Oxford village.
Asa SHERWOOD came from Fairfield, Conn., in company with his brothers Isaac, Levi and John, and settled a little east of Oxford village; Isaac, on the farm now occupied by his grandson of the same name; Levi, near the lower cemetery, which was a part of his farm; and John, in the town of Guilford, on the south side of the "Gospel. hill" lot, to which Asa soon after removed, the farm on which he settled, and on which he and his wife died, being now occupied by the widow of John KELLY. John died in Oxford with his daughters.*
* Asa's children were, Isaac, David, Gorham, William, Asa T., John L., Sarah, who married Laman INGERSOLL, and Abigail, who married Hawley BRANT, only two of whom are living, John L., near the homestead, and Sarah, with her son, Dr. Randall E. INGERSOLL, in Guilford.
Isaac's children were two in number, both of whom preceded him in death, Samuel and Rebecca, who married and lived in Otsego county.
Levi's children were: Levi and Polly, the latter of whom married Levi NICHOLLS, and removed to Pennsylvania, and both of whom are dead.
John's children were: Marquis, who died May 15, 1830, aged 32; Bradley, who died Feb. 7, 1850, aged 48; Morgan; John Hinman, a wealthy speculator in New York; Willis; Sally, who married Alvin OWEN, whose father was an early settler on Gospel Hill; Lavinia, who married Silas CLARK; Paulina, who married ---- RUSSELL, of Winsor, now living in Wisconsin; and Lucy, who married Thomas Jefferson WOOD, and removed to Wisconsin some twenty-five years ago.
William DENISON occupied a house which stood on the site of St. Paul's church, and which soon after became the home of James CLAPP, Esq., after whose death it was torn down to make room for the church, Deacon GILE's dwelling occupied the site of G. H. PERKINS' residence. Epaphras MILLER afterwards built on the same spot. Jonathan BUSH built the rear part of the house occupied by the heirs of the late Charles A. HUNT. Mr. Bush owned considerable land in the village; and it is said that Washington Square was once a corn-field owned by his son, Oziah Bush. Alvin STEVENS lived on the farm now owned by Nathan PENDLETON. Walter SIMMONS occupied a log-house, the first on the right-hand side of the road as you approach the village from the east, and next above the house of Mrs. M. SCHAURTE, for many years the tavern stand of William BUSH. Mr. CAMP, a Presbyterian minister, occupied the farm where Mrs. Erastus GORDON now lives.
Erastus PERKINS, who was born in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 18, 1778, removed thence in 1799 to Oxford village. After about a year he went to Deposit, where he built the first frame house in that village, and after about a year returned to Oxford. About 1801 or '2 he built the Park House in Oxford, which he kept for several years. The house was kept by some member of the Perkins family, first by his brother Capt. James and son Alvin S., as late as 1850. The building now standing is the one then erected. It has, however, undergone some slight changes and received some additions. Mr. Perkins married in Oxford, Abigail S., daughter of Alvin STEVENS, by whom he had six children.* She died Jan. 31, 1815, aged 34. He afterwards married Ursula M., widow of William ALLEN, of Connecticut, who died Jan. 2, 1821, aged 42, having no issue who reach maturity. He married for his third wife Agnes, daughter of Gerrit H. VAN WAGENEN, who was born Dec. 12, 1788, and died Feb. 13, 1868. He had three children** by his third wife, who survived him nearly sixteen years. He continued his residence in Oxford till his death, which occurred May 30, 1852. Eight grandchildren are living in Oxford and two in Greene.
* These were Erastus S., who married Eunice BUTLER; Alvin S., who married Frances, daughter of Jabez ROBINSON; Leonard S., who married Harriet BENNETT; Gurdon, who married Frances A. SQUIRES; Anna Maria, who married Col. Joseph JULIAND, of Greene; and Jane E., who married Dr. Austin ROUSE. All are dead.
** These are Sarah A., wife of James W. GLOVER, a lawyer in Oxford; Gerrit H., who married Frances WILCOX, of Honesdale, and is now a merchant in Oxford; and Frances B., who became the third wife of Andrew J. HULL, formerly a lawyer in Allegany county, now living in Oxford village, and died Feb. 23, 1868.
Ebenezer ROOT settled in the town previous to 1800, and Amos HAVENS soon after. The former came from Great Barrington, Mass., and settled in the east part of the town, five miles south-east of Oxford village, on the farm now occupied by Theodore INGERSOLL. He was a miller, and in 1820, he removed to Guilford and took charge of a grist-mill in that village. At an early day he was a drover and cattle dealer. He afterwards took charge of a grist-mill near Van Buren Corners, which was built by the WESTCOTTs, to grind grain for their distillery. The mill is still standing, but has not been in operation for a good many years. He continued to operate the mill, which was run on shares, till his death, Feb. 12, 1842, aged 82. He was twice married and had seven children by each wife. His second wife was Cynthia WHIPPLE, who died Feb. 15, 1856, aged 80. Those of his children by his first wife who arrived at maturity, went west, and all, except Eben, who is living in Leavenworth, Kansas, are dead. Four children by his second wife are living in Guilford.*
*The children by his second wife were: Jerusha who married Seth JOHNSON, and Charlotte, who married Ira DIBBLE, and after his death, Charles GODFREY, - both of whom are living in Guilford; Polly, who married Willis GRIDLEY, of Caton, Steuben county, where she died; Daniel W., who died in Ohio; Harriet, who married John YOUNG, and is living in Guilford; and Silas and Cyrus, (twins,) the former of whom is living in Guilford, the latter died in Yazoo, Miss.
Amos HAVENS settled in the east edge of Oxford on the farm now occupied by Rev. Bishop A. RUSSELL, where he died. His family afterwards removed to Bainbridge. Among his children were: William; Champlin; Ursula, who married Job IRELAND; Mary Ann, who married and lived in the West; Calista, who was a deaf mute; and Frederick, who was blind, having destroyed the sight of one eye by doctoring the other, which was accidentally destroyed with a knife.
Nehemiah SMITH came from Lyme, Conn., in 1801, and settled on Fort Hill, in Oxford village. He was a carpenter and cabinet-maker, and pursued that vocation here till his death, in December 1835. His wife, Elizabeth GEE, a native of Lyme, Conn., died in Oxford in 1858.*
*Their children were: Erastus, who married Sophia McNEIL, of Oxford, settled in Oxford, and afterwards removed to Buffalo, where he died Oct. 26, 1847, aged 56; Charles, who removed to California, and died unmarried; Betsey, who died in Oxford, unmarried, in 1836; James, who went to New Orleans, and died there unmarried; Susan, who died unmarried, in Utica; Abigail, who married William SHERWOOD, of Oxford, and died in Norwich Aug. 21, 1850, aged 49; Captain Nehemiah, who married Susan GORDON, and died in Oxford June 14, 1873, aged 71; Esther, who married William TYRRELL, and died in Buffalo July 25, 1876; Sally Maria, widow of Asa SHELDON, Ellicottville, N.Y., during the recent war; and Fanny J., who married John M. CROZIER, of Buffalo, where she now lives.
Samuel LEWIS came in from Voluntown, R.I., in the spring of 1804, with his wife and seven children. They came with covered wagons, starting on the first of March and arriving here on the first of April. He settled on Fly Meadow Creek, on the farm now occupied by his grandson of the same name, where both he and his wife, (Sarah EDWARDS, of Voluntown, R.I,) died, the former Feb. 9, 1818, aged 74, and the latter May 1, 1832, aged 82. The children who accompanied him in his settlement here were Samuel, Clark, Sally, Hannah, Lucy, Patty and Prudence. Samuel married Ruth BARBER of Voluntown, R.I., and brought with him his wife and two children, (Abram and Daniel,) and settled in the same locality as his father, where the widow of his son Daniel now lives, and died there Sept. 14, 1829, aged 54. His wife died June 1, 1842, aged 65. He had seven children who were born here.*
* These were Gardner B., who died March 19, 1858, aged 52; Thomas, now living in Norwich, and the only member of the family left; Lyndol T., who died July 5, 1843, aged 26; Eli, who died Dec. 11, 1843;a aged 23; Aaron; Ruth, who married ---- WADE; and Hannah, who married Chandler PRESTON. Abram, who came in with him, died March 14, 1844, aged 45, and Joanna, his wife, Aug. 20, 1827, aged 29.
Clark who was born in Hopkinton, R.I., married Mary WILCOX, a native of Exeter, R.I., and settled in the same locality, on the place now occupied by his son Samuel, where he died (in Preston,) Oct. 27, 1853, aged 75, and his wife, Nov. 21, 1855, aged 70. They brought with them one child, Eunice, who became the wife of Elnathan TERRY, of Norwich, where both died, the former May 19, 1873, aged 70, and the latter, (who was born June 19, 1795,) June 25, 1866. They had eleven children subsequent to their settlement here.*
* These were Mary, who was born in the November succeeding their settlement, married Charles ECCLESTON, and now living in Oxford village; Stephen and Clark, both living in Oxford; Edward, who died Dec. 2, 1820, aged 3 years; Hannah, who married William R. BURDIC, and is living in McDonough village; Ira, a deaf mute, living in Smithville; Samuel and Sarah, twins, the former of whom died Aug. 29, 1816, aged three years, and the latter, Jan. 3, 1814, aged six moths; Sarah E., who died March 23, 1826, aged four years; Clarinda, who died Jan. 25, 1827, aged two years; Samuel E., who was a Member of Assembly from this county in 1861, and is now living on the homestead; and Prudence, a deaf mute, who is now matron of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum in New York.
Sally married Stephen LEWIS, of McDonough, where she lived till after his death, when she returned to Preston, where she died Dec. 27, 1846, aged 70. She had no children. Hannah was Stephen LEWIS' first wife, and died in 1826. Four of her children are living.*
* These are Arnold and Ezra, in Pennsylvania; Hannah, wife of Hiram BERRY, in Brisbin, in the town of Greene; and Sally, widow of Uriel STEAD, in Guilford.
Lucy, who was born Oct. 28, 1795, married Nathaniel WILLCOX, in Voluntown, and settled in the same locality as her father, and died there Jan. 2,2 1873. Two of her children are living, Rebecca, wife of Dorman DOOLITTLE, in Windsor and Nathaniel in Sherburne, Patty married Latham BEEBE, of Preston, and settled in German, where she died. Seneca BEEBE, a physician in Cincinnatus, is the only one of her children living. Prudence married Gates WILLCOX, of Oxford, where they first settled. They afterwards removed to McDonough, and subsequently to Wellsboro, Penn., where both died. None of her children are living.
Important acquisitions were made to the settlements in 1805, '6 and '7, from the character and prominence of the persons who joined them during that period. Prominent among these were Henry MYGATT, John TRACY, Judge Austin HYDE, Dr. Benjamin BUTLER, Solomon BUNDY and Captain HOPKINS.
Henry MYGATT, a native of New Milford, Conn., removed thence, about 1806, to Oxford, where he pursued, for a few years, the saddler's trade, which he abandoned to engage in mercantile pursuits. He followed the latter business several years, in company, a part of the time, with his brother William, who came in from New Milford, Conn., in 1818. He married, about 1809, Sally S. WASHBURN, of Chenango county, who was born March 27, 1791, and died Sept. 26, 1818. She bore him four children.* He afterwards married Mrs. Susan OSMER, of Connecticut, by whom he had three children.** He died in Oxford, May 5, 1835, aged 51. His brother William continued the mercantile business but a few years; but devoted his whole attention to the tanning business, which he established here in 1818, and pursued for a great many years, quite extensively, gaining a highly reputable business standing. His tannery stood at the foot of the hill, on the east side of the river, some distance in rear of the house now owned and occupied by his daughter Sarah, the widow of Dr. Alfred COE, who was, many years ago, a prominent physician in Oswego. It was long since leveled to the ground, and no vestige of it now remains. He died there Feb. 4, 1868, aged 81 years; and Caroline, his wife, May 15, 1866, aged 68 years. They had one son and seven daughters, six of whom lived to maturity, and four of whom are now living.***
* These were: Henry Rowland, for many years a prominent lawyer in Oxford, born April 10, 1810, and died March 31, 1875; Orlando N., born Aug. 24, 1812, died Aug. 17, 1827; Clarissa A., born Feb. 2, 1815, married John DONNELLY, (who lived but a year or two after-died Oct. 30, 1838-) and is now the wife of Frederick A. SANDS, of Oxford; and Sarah Eliza, born Jan. 6, 1818, wife of Dr. William G. SANDS, with whom she is now living in Oxford.
** They were: Susan Throop, born Sept. 5, 1855, died July 8, 1823; Frances Louisa, born May 10, 1824, died March 3, 1825; and Caroline Louisa, born Dec. 1, 1825, died Jan. 7, 1827.
*** The four now living are: Elizabeth, wife of Henry L. MILLER, of Oxford; Sarah, widow of Dr. Alfred COE, of Oswego, now living in the old homestead in Oxford; Caroline, wife of R. J. BALDWIN, a retired banker and lawyer of Minneapolis, Minn.; and Jane, wife of Dr. George DOUGLAS, of Oxford.
John TRACY, who was born in Norwich, Conn., Oct. 26, 1784, removed thence with his father's family to Columbus, Chenango county, and in 1805 removed to Oxford, and became Deputy Clerk for Hon. Uri TRACY, who was then County Clerk. He entered the law office of Stephen O. RUYNAN, of Oxford, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. He commenced and continued the successful practice of his profession in Oxford village, where, for many years, he was postmaster. He was appointed Examiner and Master in Chancery; Surrogate of Chenango county in 1815 and again in 1821; First Judge of Chenango county in 1823; and a Regent of the University of New York in 1830. In 1831 he received an appointment of Circuit Judge of the Sixth District, but declined the honor on account of ill health. He was a Member of Assembly in 1820, '21, '22 and '26; and in 1832 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York. He was President of the Court for the Correction of Errors, also of the Constitutional Convention of 1846. He was an active, efficient and reliable friend of the Oxford Academy, serving for twenty-two years as a member of its Board of Trustees, and for any years as its presiding officer. He married, in Connecticut, Susan, daughter of Joseph HYDE, of Norwich, in that State, by whom he had three children.* She was born July 3, 1788, and died February 3, 1864, survived only a few months by her husband, who died June 18th of the same year.
* They were: Esther Maria, widow of Henry R. MYGATT; S. Eliza, widow of James W. CLARKE, the first President of the Bank of Oxford, who died June 10, 1878; and John W. Tracy, who was drowned in the Chenango river. The former two are living in Oxford.
Judge Austin HYDE, who was born in Franklin, Conn., Jan 21, 1789, settled in Oxford at the age of nineteen years, and continued his residence there till his death, Feb. 25, 1850. He read law in the office of Hon. Uri TRACY, and was for some years deputy county clerk. He afterwards engaged in mercantile business with his brother-in-law, Henry MYGATT, continuing from about 1816 to 1829, when on account of ill health, he abandoned the vocation and removed to a farm. He was twice member of the State Legislature, in 1823 and 1833. He held various important local trusts, among others the offices of supervisor, justice of the peace and judge. He was the first collector on the Chenango canal, and was appointed by the Chancellor, receiver to close up the affairs of the Chenango County Mutual Insurance Company. He married in Oct., 1818, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Noadiah and Clarissa (LYNES) MYGATT, of New Milford, Conn., who was born in New Milford, June 2, 1799, and still resides in Oxford. They had four children, all of whom are living.* Four of Mr. Hyde's brothers are living, three in Oneida, where all settled. The oldest is eighty-seven, and the youngest, seventy-five years old. A sister is also living, aged over eighty.
* They are: William Henry, a leading lawyer in Oxford, born Sept. 4, 1826; Caroline Eliza, born March 27, 1821, living unmarried in Oxford; Minerva, born Nov. 1, 1830, married Clark I. HAYES of Unadilla, where she now resides; and Mary Elizabeth, born May 7, 1835, living in Oxford.
Dr. Benjamin BUTLER came in from Norwich, Conn., about 1806 or '7 and settled in Oxford village, where he died Jan. 15, 1839, aged 75. He was extensively engaged in sheep raising and buying and selling land. At his death the hills surrounding the village were covered with sheep owned by him, and let out to various parties to keep. He had large landed possessions and a great many men in his employ. He had three daughters who were remarkable in their way: Mary, who married Nicholas DEVEREAUX, a prominent man in Utica, where she now resides, and whose eldest daughter Hannah, is the wife of Hon. Francis KERNAN of that city; Cornelia, who married William C. PIERPONT, of Pierponit Manor; and Elizabeth, a maiden lady living in Utica, who still owns the homestead farm in Oxford. Butler's wife, Hannah, died Aug. 1, 1829.
Solomon BUNDY and Captain HOPKINS came in from Huntington, Conn., about 1806 or '7, and settled on contiguous farms about two miles south-east of Oxford, Bundy on a farm now occupied by Walter J. REDMOND 2d, and Hopkins on the farm adjoining it on the south, which has since been cut up into several farms. Mr. BUNDY took up 114 acres, on which he resided until his death, Feb. 24, 1851, aged 76. He married Jane FRASER, who was of Scotch descent, and died Aug. 22, 1846, aged 70. They had nine children, three of whom were born before they moved in.*
* They were: Oliver Treat, who studied medicine with Dr. Arthur PACKER, and soon after acquiring his profession, moved to Windsor, where he married, and thence to Deposit, where he practiced till his death, Jan. 9, 1874; Rachel, a maiden lady, who resided with her father till his death, and afterwards with her brothers, Edward A., on the homestead farm, and Solomon, in Oxford village, where she died Aug. 15, 1866, aged 63; Jane Maria, who married James NOBLE, a Baptist clergyman, with whom she removed to Iowa, where she now resides, having raised a large family of children; Nathan, who was a Baptist clergyman, and removed from the town; Amelia, a maiden lady, who died Oct. 29, 1851, aged 40; Philo, who removed to Oswego, engaged in mercantile pursuits, married there Margaret BURT, and after her death Catharine VAN DYKE, of Oswego, where both are still living; Edward Augustus, who married Esther SHAPLEY, and is now living in Oxford; Solomon, a laywer in Oxford, and the present representative in Congress from the 21st District, who married Roxanna HITCHCOCK, (born Dec. 28, 1821,) and after her death, July 29th, 1848, Elizabeth A. McGEORGE, of Oxford, still living.
Three grandsons are living in the town: Nathan A. and McGeorge, the former the miller and the latter an attorney, in Oxford village, sons of Solomon; and Edward A., Jr., a farmer.
Daniel SILL, son of Rev. Elijah Sill, was a settler of a somewhat earlier date. He was born in New Fairfield, Conn., in 1771, married Jan. 25, 1898, Abigail McKNIGHT, and with her removed to Oxford, where she died about 1806, leaving four children, all of whom were born in Oxford.* He married Albasindra BARNES, Feb. 2, 1808, by whom he had two children.** He was a farmer and after several removals, died in Ossian, N.Y., Feb. 17, 1829.
* They were: Asenath, born Dec. 13, 1798, married Samuel LEWIS, and died in March, 1850; Addison, born Aug. 2, 1800, married Jemima CLEVELAND and died in Kingsville, Ohio; Diana, born Jan. 31, 1803, died Aug. 25, 1804; and Susan, born Dec. 10, 1804, married Ami CLEVELAND, and died May 15, 1839.
** Griswold, born Jan. 10, 1810, died July 27, 1811; Ogden, born Feb. 27, 1812, died Sept. 24, 1817.
Gerrit H. VAN WAGENEN, born January 21, 1753, was a Revolutionary soldier and went to Canada in Aug., 1775, as Second-Lieutenant in the 8th company of the 1st regiment of New York State troops, under Colonel McDougall. He participated in the storming of Quebec, in the columns of General Montgomery. In May, 1776, he was sent to New York and thence to Philadelphia, in charge of prisoners. Returning to New York and finding that the British were landing on Long Island, he offered his services to General Sullivan, and was sent by him with four other officers to the Jamaica Pass. The entire party were {sic} captured. He was held prisoner twenty-two months, when he was exchanged. He then received an appointment in the department of the Commissary of Prisoners, in which office he continued about three years. March 11, 1783, he married Sarah, daughter of Derrick and Rachel (VAN RAUST) BRINCKERHOFF, born November 5, 1764, and engaged with his father in the hardware business, which the latter had carried on at No. 5 Beekman slip, since 1760. In 1822 he removed to Oxford, where he established the same business, but continued it only a few years, his chief business being buying and selling land, which he continued till his death, Nov. 20, 1835. His wife died Dec. 29, 1833. Their family was a numerous and prominent one.*
* Their children were: Rachel, born Oct. 5, 1783, and married Tyler MAYNARD in May, 1811, died May 8, 1839; Hubert, born Feb. 3, 1785, and lived and died in Poughkeepsie; Agnes, born Dec. 12, 1788, married Erastus PERKINS, of Oxford, died Feb. 13, 1868; Wilhelmina Maria, born March 24, 1793, died unmarried at Oxford, Nov. 2, 1873; Sarah B., born December, 1794, died unmarried, Dec. 23, 1878; Catharine born Oct. 2, 1796, a maiden lady, living in Oxford, and the only survivor of the family; Richard, born Oct. 8, 1798, died unmarried, at St. Joseph, Mich., Sept. 27, 1837, Gerrit G., born March 17, 1835, and died in New York, leaving one son, Gerrit Hubert, born Feb. 27, 1838, now living in Rye, N.Y.; William, born July 26, 1802, married Ursula A. GLOVER, of Oxford, Jan. 8, 1840, and died in Oxford, Dec. 6, 1864; John, born July 25, 1804, married Sarah A. HOPKINS, daughter of Frederick Hopkins, Nov. 11, 1833, and died in Oxford, July 2, 1845. William left three children: John Richard, born Nov. 9, 1841, married Clara L. LESTER, of Binghamton, now engaged in the banking business in Oxford; James Glover, born Dec. 1, 1845, married Mary E. MILLARD, of Oxford, and is proprietor of the St. James Hotel, Oxford; and Mary Elizabeth, born Feb. 21, 1857, a maiden lady, living in Oxford. John left two children: William Hubert, a druggist in Oxford, who married Hannah L. SELDEN, of Williamstown, N.Y.; and Susan Elizabeth, born April 9, 1841, the wife of O. H. CURTIS, a lawyer in Oxford.
Merchants:- The first merchant in Oxford was probably Gen. Benjamin HOVEY, who is believed to have opened a store soon after coming here, on the site of the store now occupied by S. H. FARNHAM. The next, and the first of whom we have any authentic record, was Capt. Samuel FARNHAM, who was born in New London, Conn., Dec. 16, 1775, and removed thence in 1799 to Oxford village, where, the same year, he opened a drug store, in a story and a half frame building, which stood on the site of Miller, Perkins & Co.'s store, in the Exchange Block, to which it gave place, after having been occupied for various purposes during a period of some thirty years. He continued the business till his death, April 20, 1822, having been associated for two years, from 1807, with Epaphras MILLER. Capt. Farnham received his military title from his connection with an artillery company (the first one in the town,) organized and commanded by him. He received his Captain's commission from Morgan Lewis who was elected Governor in 1804.*
* In 1800, Capt. Farnham married Sally, daughter of Henry BALCOM, who was born May 21, 1780, died Feb. 16, 1859, and by whom he had ten children: George born May 5, 1800, married Susan, daughter of Thomas GIBSON, (who came in from the West Indies about 1821, and lived and died in the town,) and died in New York, Feb. 4, 1850; Epaphras Miller, born Sept. 4, 1801, died Oct. 2, 1805; John P., born Nov. 12, 1803, married Frances STEERE, of Norwich and died in Carbondale, Penn., Feb. 27, 1871; Julia Ann, born in 1806, and died in fancy; Alex. H., born Dec. 29, 1807, married --- ENOS, of Norwich, and died in Honesdale, April 19, 1858; Chas. Edward, July 17, 1810, died Oct. 2, 1811; Samuel H., a merchant in Oxford, born in February, 1813; Frederick W., born May 17, 1815, married ---- GUNN, now now living in Honesdale; Charles, born April 18, 1817, married Charlotte BISHOP, and now living in New York; Sarah D., born August 24, 1819, died June 15, 1820.
William DENNISON had a store soon after 1807, but did business only a few years.
Epaphras MILLER, who was born in Glastonbury, Conn., in 1778, removed thence in December, 1800, to Oxford, as the agent of General HOVEY. About 1807, he formed a copartnership with Samuel FARNHAM in the drug business, which he continued till 1809, in December of which year he opened a stock of general merchandise. About 1831 he formed a partnership with Thomas G. NEWKIRK, which continued till about 1836 . His son, Henry L. Miller, became interested with him about 1834, continuing till 1841, when he withdrew and formed a partnership with William MYGATT. Epaphras Miller discontinued the business about 1843. July 14, 1810, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Samuel BALDWIN, who was born in West Stockbridge, Mass., in 1787. They died in the house in which they first commenced housekeeping, the former July 5, 1860, and the latter July 14, 1853.*
* Their children were: Henry L., who married Elizabeth MYGATT; Elizabeth, who married John LATHROP; Hannah, who married Benjamin CANNON; and Benjamin S., who died unmarried in 1859. The first three are living in Oxford village and are now among its' most prominent, influential and cultured citizens.
William MYGATT and Henry L. MILLER did business till 1851. April 1, 1853, Gerrit H. PERKINS became the latter's partner; and in the spring of 1868 William M. Miller, son of Henry L. Miller, became a member of the firm. The business has since been conducted under the name of Miller, Perkins & Co.
Henry MYGATT came from New Milford, Conn., about 1806, and after carrying on the saddler business a few years, commenced mercantile business, in which he was joined , in 1818, by his brother William, who , however, continued but a short time. Henry continued trading several years, associated, from about 1816 to 1829, with Judge Austin HYDE, and finally transferred the business to his son-in-law, John DONNELLY, who continued till failing health compelled him in a short time to relinquish it, and died Oct. 30, 1838, aged 31. They occupied the building in which the widow of Madison BRIGHAM now resides. It then adjoined the residence of Dr. William G. SANDS, who used it till recently as an office. It was removed to its present location about two years ago.
General Ransom RATHBONE was doing business as early as 1819 or '22, where Dwight CLARK's residence now stands and continued till about 1834, when he removed to and founded the village of Rathboneville. From him, also, the town of Rathbone, in Steuben county, derives its name. He established the first store in that town in 1842. He was for a long time a General in the State militia.
Gerrit H. VAN WAGENEN established the first hardware store in Oxford in 1822, in the south end of the Rogers House, which was built previous to 1796, and was then known as Wells' tavern. He traded but a few years.
Ira WILLCOX came in from Greene county about 1812, and opened a store near the Park Hotel. In 1814, he built the front part of the store now occupied by S. H. FARNHAM, and in 1836, the rear part and the upper story, enlarging it from 40 by 24 feet to 110 by 50 feet. He traded till about 1846,* and was succeeded by Nelson C. CHAPMAN and Joseph G. THROP,** the latter of whom had been his partner for several years. About 1856, they sold their stock to Miller & Perkins, who had previously done business in a store which has since been converted into a dwelling, and is now occupied by Dr. M. M. LEE.
* Ira WILLCOX died Nov. 29, 1852, aged 61
** CHAPMAN and THORP were brothers-in-law, went to Iowa, and engaged in banking in Clinton. They afterwards removed to Northern Minnesota, where they bought a large tract of timber and were extensively engaged in lumbering. CHAPMAN died in St. Louis about six years ago. THORP is now traveling in Europe. His daughter, Sarah CHAPMAN, married Ole BULL, the celebrated violinist, in Norway. She was an accomplished musician and an excellent pianist.
John RATHBONE, brother of Gen. Ransom Rathbone, came from Oswego soon after the war of 1812, and opened a store, which he continued some ten years. He removed to a farm in Cortland county, having become dissipated and impoverished.
George FARNHAM, son of Samuel Farnham, succeeded his father in the mercantile business at the latter's death, and after trading for or five years, sold to his brother John, who traded some five years, sold to Dr. CLEVELAND, and removed to Pennsylvania. Cleveland traded three or four years and sold to Leonard PERKINS, who sold in 1839, to Alpheus D. BROWN, and removed to Houston, Texas. Brown traded three or four years.
Erastus PERKINS opened a drug store near the Park Hotel in 1822 and carried on the business in company with his son Erastus about ten years. The elder Perkins continued till his death, May 30, 1852. Erastus SMITH, a native of Oxford, David WILSON, a native of Keene, New Hampshire, Luman and Ira McNEIL, Sylvester CHURCH and ---- CANFIELD traded four or five years from about 1823 or '4.
Cyrus A. BACON, an early settler in the town, and a former merchant in Oxford, and Uri TRACY, son of the early settler by that name, and a native of Oxford, commenced business about 1825 and traded five or six years. Bacon continued till his death, December 8, 1878, having been associated at different times with Ebenezer SHERWOOD, David T. McGEORGE and Thomas B. HARROTT.
Ethan CLARKE from Bookfield, Madison county, opened a store about 1822 and traded till his death, February 8, 1857; having been associated the first year or two with Henry BALCOM, and the succeeding few years with Ebenezer SHERWOOD, afterwards, from 1836, with his brother-in-law, Joseph H. DWIGHT, who was an officer in the war of 1812, and continued till his death, Aug. 6, 1845. In 1854, F. G. and James W. Clarke and Frederick A. SANDS became his partners, under the name of Clarkes & Sands. At the expiration of a year Sands removed. At the death of the elder Clarke, his son, F. G., acquired his interest. The firm name, which was changed to J. W. Clarke & Co., continued till 1858, when John R. Clarke, another brother, became a partner, and the name was changed to Clarke & Co. In 1868, J. W. Clarke sold his interest to his partners, when the name became Clarke Bros., remaining so till 1873, when F. G. Clarke bought his brother's interest and has since conducted a general merchandise business. On the opening of the canal the firm added storage and forwarding to their business and became extensive dealers in produce. These branches were continued till the close of the canal.
C. F. T. LOCKE opened a grocery and liquor store about 1836 and did business about twenty years. [Died May 13, 1857, aged 60.] Rufus BALDWIN came from Guilford and opened a store about 1834, continuing in trade until about 1857, when he went to Minneapolis. George McNEIL and Cyrus A. SHELDON commenced trading about 1847, and continued till the death of Sheldon, Oct. 8, 1851, when William and Charles HAMILTON succeeded them and traded four or five years.
Thomas J. NEWKIRK, after dissolving with Epaphras MILLER, formed a partnership with his brother Warden, and traded a few years under the name of T. G. Newkirk & Co. Thomas G. continued till within a short time of his death, which occurred March 24, 1875, associated a part of the time with his son F. P., and Ward VAN DERLYN, the latter two continuing the business a short time.
William W. PACKER, a native of Oxford, carried on the drug business for five or six years, till his death, March 21, 1851. Dr. Samuel Ray CLARKE, brother of Ethan Clark, succeeded Packer, and traded till about 1860. [Died June 1, 1860, aged 59.] Cyrus TUTTLE was doing business as early as 1834, and continued till his death, when he was succeeded by James B. BROWN, who is still doing business. Arad TUTTLE, brother to Cyrus, traded some six or eight years, about 1848. He went to Buffalo and died there. James H. FOX and Horace READ commenced business in 1854, and continued until 1868, associated part of the time with William THOMPSON. Seth H. FISK traded some twenty years from about 1830. He returned to New Hampshire, from when he came and died there. E. P. WILCOX, who came from Greene county, and had previously for several years carried on the business of founder and machinist, kept a hardware store from about 1838 to 1853. He died here. William E. CHAPMAN kept a book store some fifteen years at a comparatively early day.
Following is a list of the Merchants at present doing business in Oxford.
Samuel H. FARNHAM, son of the pioneer merchant, commenced the jewelry business in 1839 and continued till 1859. In 1870, he resumed business, adding to his former branch groceries and notions, which he still continues. *
* We acknowledge our indebtedness to Samuel H. Farnham for data relative to the early merchants in Oxford.
Judge B. GALPIN dealer in books and stationery, commenced business in 1845. He came here from Greene, where, for four years, he had been engaged in general merchandising. Mr. Galpin is also publisher of The Oxford Times.
Cyrus M. GRAY, dealer in clothing, boots shoes, hats, caps, and gents' furnishing goods, commenced general merchandising in 1850. In 1858 John R. WHEELER became his partner and remained such eight years, when they sold to Edwin M. TOWER and Dwight MORLEY, who in the spring of 1873, sold to Charles O. WILCOX, a native of Oxford, who associated with himself D. F. CLARKE, of Preston, whose interest he bought at the expiration of four years. Mr. Wilcox is doing a general merchandise business. Mr. Gray resumed his present business in the spring of 1876.
Charles FRASER, furniture dealer and undertaker, commenced business in 1851, in company with his brother William, who bought Charles' interest after a little less than three years, and still continues the business. Charles then formed a partnership with T. C. PETTIS, which lasted about three years, when he sold to Pettis, who soon after sold to David C. BRONSON, with whom, in 1862, Charles Fraser formed a partnership which continued till 1865, when William Fraser bought the business. Charles resumed business in 1867, and has since continued it, having been associated with T. C. Pettis from the fall of 1875 till May, 1879.
John LORD, boot and shoe dealer, commenced business about 1854, in company with Edward N. OSBORN, with whom he continued six or eight years. He had previously done business one yera with Eliakim NORTHRUP, who traded here from about 1838 till his death, Feb. 4, 1852, aged 62. Osborn enlisted in the 114th Regiment, and after the war went to Great Bend, where he carried on business several years. He now resides in Harford, Penn.
William BALCOM, grocer and crockery dealer, commenced business in 1857, in company with Joel F. GLEASON. They bought out C. F. T. LOCKE, but Gleason died before they took possession. [Joel F. GLEASON died Feb. 4, 1857, aged 50.] In 1858, Balcom associated with Sanford MASON, whose interest Gurdon HICKS bought in 1859. Balcom bought Hicks's interest after the expiration of about a year.
Coville & Moore, (LeRoy COVILLE and Sylvanus MOORE,) jewelers. This business was established in the fall of 1859, by LeRoy Coville and H. H. CADY, who dissolved in 1867, each continuing separately, the latter two years. In 1869, Sylvanus Moore became associated with Mr. Coville.
W. H. VAN WAGENEN, druggist, commenced business in 1860, in company with Dr. George DOUGLAS, whose interest he bought at the expiration of eight years.
J. C. DEVERELL, merchant tailor, commenced business in 1865, and has since continued with the exception of two years (1869 and '70,) spent in New York, Tarrytown and Hornellsville.
William GILLMAN commenced business in 1866, and sold after about eight years to his sons George and Charles, the latter of whom bought his brother's interest at the expiration of a year, and again admitted his father. The business (groceries,) has since been conducted under the name of Gillman & Son.
Mrs. M. L. BUSH, a native of Norwich, in this county, and dealer in millinery, and fancy goods, commenced business in 1871, having for several years previously resided in the village.
A. S. LEWIS, grocer, commenced business in 1872, in company with his brother H. E., whose interest he bought after the expiration of twenty-two months.
Ralph B. WHEELER, from East Haddam, Conn., dealer in groceries, boots and shoes, commenced business in 1873, in company with Frank E. SPERRING, whose interest he bought in the spring of 1879. Sperring removed to Kansas City. F. Elden BILLINGS, dealer in clothing, hats, caps, boots and shoes, commenced business in 1874. He came from Smyrna, his native town.
A. H. BRILL, hardware merchant, came from Oneonta, and commenced business in January, 1877.
Van Der Lyn & Co., (Ward VAN DER LYN and Frederick H. BURCHARD,) hardware merchants, commenced business February 22, 1878, at which time they bought the bankrupt stock of W. A. MARTIN, who had carried on the business some nine years. Van Der Lyn is a native of Oxford, and Burchard, of New York, but came to the town in infancy.
T. G. GATES, grocer and liquor dealer, commenced business Sept. 1, 1878. He had previously carried on the same business in Smithville three years.
Cook, Boulls & Gibbons, (Wm. COOK, Thomas BOULLS and Matt. GIBBONS,) furniture dealers and undertakers, commenced business in October, 1878, Boulls & Gibbons having previously done business from June, 1877.
N. B. ECCLESTON & Co., (James B. BROWN,) druggists and grocers, commenced business Dec. 19, 1878. Both formally resided in the village.
C. O. KING, grocer and confectioner, commenced business April 14, 1879. He is a native of the village.
Mrs. P. A. FLAGG, milliner, commenced business in April, 1879, having previously carried on the same business in Binghamton six years.
Clarke & Curtis, (DeFrancis CLARKE and Henry A. CURTIS,) grocers, commenced business in May, 1879. Both formerly resided in the town.
Postmasters:- The first postmaster in Oxford was Uri TRACY. The office, which was kept in the basement of his residence, was, without a doubt, established soon after the settlements were begun. Uri Tracy was succeeded by John Tracy soon after the latter came here, (1805,) and the office was held by him till 1838, when Peleg GLOVER was appointed. James W. CLARKE received the appointment in the spring of 1841, and was succeeded in the spring of 1843 by Cyrus A. BACON, who held it till the spring of 1849, when Luman McNEIL was appointed. Cyrus A. Bacon* was again appointed in the spring of 1853, and was succeeded May 12, 1861, by James W. Glover, who held the office till March 4, 1878, when Benjamin M. PEARNE, the present incumbent, was appointed.
* Cyrus A. BACON, who died in Oxford, May 12, 1879, was for forty years or more a trustee of Oxford Academy, and at the time of his death was the oldest person living who was ever a member of that board.-Academy Records.
Physicians:- The first physician in Oxford was doubtless Timothy ELIOT, though but little is now known of him. He was a son of George and Hannah Eliot, natives of Connecticut, and was born at Killingworth in that State, March 20, 1773. He probably came here very soon after the settlement was begun, for he died here Nov. 2, 1796. He had previously located at Unadilla. Drs. HARRISON, Isaac F. THOMAS and THROOP were among the earliest physicians who located here. Dr. Thomas did not stay long, neither did he leave a good reputation.
George MOWRY came in, a young single man, at an early day and practiced till his death. He married here a Miss MANLEY, by whom he had two sons, both of whom went west. He was a cripple, from spinal disease; but enjoyed a good professional reputation. He was one of the original members of the Chenango County Medical Society, of which he was the first secretary, an office he held for over fifteen consecutive years.
Charles JOSSLYN came here about 1805, a single man, and after practicing a few years removed to Greene, where further mention is made of him.
Perez PACKER, son of Wm. Packer, an early settler in Preston, commenced practice at Latham's Corners, in the town of Guilford, about the opening of the war of 1812, and soon after removed to Oxford, where he became eminent in his profession. He was one of the leading physicians in the county, and as a surgeon there was not probably his superior in the county. He stood very high in his profession. He was born January 31, 1790, and died in Oxford, July 10, 1832.
Austin ROUSE, a native of Norwich, son of Judge Casper Rouse, came in soon after Dr. PACKER, with whom he practiced for some time. He married here Jane E., daughter of Erastus PERKINS, who was born May 2, 1806, and died in Scranton, Penn., with a daughter who was living there, Sept. 28, 1870. Dr. Rouse was a conscientious man and stood high in his profession. He practiced here till his death, August 27, 1866, aged 70. [Dr. Rouse had three daughters, Maggie, who married Adolphus BENNETT, and is living in Philadelphia; Louisa, who married James A. CLARKE, son of Dr. Samuel R. Clarke, and is living in Georgia; and Mary, who married Henry ROONE, and is living in New York.]
Samuel BALDWIN, was born at Egremont, Mass., in Nov., 1756. At the age of 17 he was drafted into the militia of his native State, and served in the continental army at different periods thirteen months. In 1775, he was a minute man, and was called into active service soon after the battle of Lexington, the 19th of April of that year. He joined the continental troops at Boston, where he remained three months. In Jan., 1776, he was one of the volunteers who marched into Canada, in prosecution of one of the most difficult and perilous enterprises undertaken during the Revolutionary contest. Besides suffering from an attack of small pox at Montreal, he marched on his way to that place, in one day, sixty miles upon the ice of Lake Champlain. In the spring of 1777, the army under Gen. Gates having been obliged to retreat before the combined British force of the North, Mr. Baldwin returned to Egremont, much reduced and enfeebled by the hardships and privations he had endured. He was again drafted the following September and once more joined the army under Gates. He was present at the battle of Saratoga and witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne, Oct. 18, 1777.
After this Mr. Baldwin devoted himself study and acquired a substantial education in the ordinary English branches, with a sufficient knowledge of the languages to enable him to commence the study of medicine, the practice of which he commenced in West Stockbridge, at the age of twenty-eight years. In 1800, having been twice a Representative in the Massachusetts Legislature, he removed to Wyoming, Penn., where he resided, with the exception of two years spent in Ohio, until 1819, when he removed to Oxford, where he spent his life with his daughter, the wife of Epaphras MILLER. He practiced here a few years, but not, except among his intimate friends, for several years previous to his death, which occurred Sept. 2, 1842. He was a large, powerful man, standing six feet in height, and was a vigorous pedestrian. He had an extensive practice in the Wyoming Valley, and in urgent cases, so well were his great physical powers known, he was often urged by those who solicited his professional services, to go without waiting for his horse. He possessed a rare faculty of threading his way through the almost interminable forests. His mind was singularly inquisitive and discriminating and well furnished with diversified stores of knowledge, which his ready and retentive memory always rendered available.
Samuel Ray CLARKE came in from Brookfield about 1822 or '3, and practiced here till his death, June 1, 1860, aged 59. His wife, Susan MAXON, survived him but a few months. She died October 29, 1860, aged 52. Dr. Clarke was a man of very fair standing in his profession.
Reuben BANCROFT, a cousin of George Bancroft, the historian, came in from Massachusetts soon after 1816, and practiced till his death, Jan. 21, 1847, aged 52.
Dr. YORK came in from Norwich quite early, but did not depend upon his profession for a living. He was a man of excellent character, but his timidity, resulting from a want of confidence in his abilities, unfitted him for the profession. He consequently practiced but little. He married a daughter of Deacon PUNDERSON, through whom he acquired a good property. He removed to a farm in the town of Preston. He lived several years in retirement in Oxford and died here.
George RIDDELL, whose parents were early settlers in Preston, came in from New Orleans about 1850, and practiced two or three years. He had a brother who was a professor in a medical college in New Orleans.
The present physicians are, William G. SANDS, George DOUGLAS, Solomon F. McFARLAND, Robert E. MILLER, Dwight M. LEE, John W. THORP and De Witt GLEASON.
William G. SANDS was born in Bainbridge, N.Y., Nov. 5, 1810. He studied medicine in Oxford with Dr. Perez PACKER, and was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1832. He commenced practice in Oxford immediately after graduating and continued about twenty years. He is now living in retirement in Oxford.
George DOUGLAS was born in Franklin, N.Y., May 7, 1823, and educated at the Delaware Literary Institute and the University of the City of New York. He studied medicine with Dr. Francis HINE, in Franklin, and Dr. Daniel CLARK, of Smithville Flats. In 1842 he he entered the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, where he was graduated April 14, 1845. He commenced practice in Smithville Flats, where he remained a year, when, in 1846, he removed to Oxford, where he practiced till 1876, when he went to Brooklyn. He returned to Oxford in June, 1879.
Solomon F. McFARLAND was born in Oxford, July 12, 1828, and received his education in the Oxford Academy. He commenced the study of medicine in his native place with Dr. George DOUGLAS, and in 1853 entered the University of Michigan, remaining one term of six months. He re-entered the institution in the fall of 1856, and was graduated in the spring of 1857. He commenced practice in Throupsburgh, Steuben county, in the spring of 1854, under a license granted by the Chenango County Medical Society, April 21, 1854, and continued there till he re-entered Michigan University. After graduating, he resumed practice in Oxford, where he has since continued. He was Assistant Surgeon of the 83rd N.Y. Vols. in the fall of 1862, but resigned on account of ill health. In the spring of 1863 he was appointed Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment of the 19th District of New York, and performed the arduous duties of that office fifteen months, when failing health again compelled him to relinquish military service.
Robert E. MILLER was born in New Canaan, Conn., Aug. 27, 1837, and was educated in the district schools of Unadilla, (to which town his parents removed during his childhood,) and in the Gilbertsville Academy. In 1854 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, and pursued a two years' course. He commenced the study of medicine in Gilbertsville in 1857, with Dr. J. R. WHITE, now of New York, and in 1859 attended a course of lectures in the Albany Medical College. In 1860 he attended a course of lectures at the Homeopathic Medical College in Philadelphia, where he was graduated March 1, 1861. He commenced practice in Oxford in May of that year, and has since continued here.
Dwight M. LEE was born in Georgetown, N.Y., January 25, 1843, and was graduated at Hamilton College in 1863. He attended two courses of lectures in the Medical Department of the University of New York, and in 1864 entered the Albany Medical College, where he graduated December 27, 1864. He immediately entered the army in the capacity of Assistant Surgeon, as a volunteer, without assignment, and was commissioned April 1, 1865, and assigned to the 22d N. Y. Cavalry. He was promoted a few months later Surgeon by Brevet in the same command. He left the army in the fall of 1865, and commenced the practice of his profession at Smithville Flats, from whence he removed, after about a year, to Oxford, where he has since practiced.
John W. THORP was born in Booth Bay, Maine, April 30, 1839, and was educated in Bowdoin College, where he was graduated in 1861. He commenced the study of medicine in Oxford, with Dr. Solomon F. McFARLAND, and a year later entered the Maine Medical School, at Brunswick, where he was graduated in 1868. In 1870 he entered the University of the City of New York, and was graduated there in 1872. He commenced practiced, immediately after graduating, in Oxford, where he has since continued. During the interval of six or seven years, from the completion of his classical studies to his entering the Maine Medical School, he was Associate Principal of Oxford Academy.
Dr. De Witt A. GLEASON was born in Pitcher, N.Y., February 7, 1850, and received his literary education at Oxford Academy. He commenced the study of medicine in Oxford, with Dr. D. M. LEE, attended lectures at the Michigan University in 1870 and '71, and in 1872 was graduated from Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn. He commenced practice in Henderson, N.Y., in May, 1873, and after two years removed thence to Oxford, where he has since practiced.
Bench and Bar (Lawyers):- From the fact that Oxford was originally a half shire town of Chenango county, it early attracted to it a brilliant array of legal talent. The first lawyer to locate here was Samuel Miles HOPKINS, whom we have quoted in another connection. He was a graduate of Yale College, where he formed the acquaintance of Hon. Uri TRACY, between whom and himself there existed a warm and enduring friendship. He came here in 1792, but no very definite information can be gleaned as to the length of time he practiced here, or other facts regarding him. It is believed, however, that he did not remain here long. He was living in Albany in 1807.
Stephen O. RUNYAN was here before 1799, and continued as late as 1813, probably till his death, which occurred April 23, 1820, at the age of 48 years. His office stood on Washington Square, at the head of which he resided, and subsequently on the site of the office now occupied by Hon. William H. HYDE and William R. MYGATT. He was remarkably social, and possessed in an eminent degree the faculty of making himself agreeable. He was very popular with the people. His mind was richly stored with anecdotes, which he was fond of relating.
James CLAPP, who was a student of Aaron Burr's, and William M. PRICE, both remarkable men and fine lawyers, came here from New York in September, 1808, and practiced in company a short time. PRICE, who was of a roving disposition, returned in 1815 to New York, and became a man of some note. Mr. CLAPP, who was born in Hartford, Conn., Dec. 5 1785, continued here till his death, Jan. 8, 1854. His residence stood on the site of the Episcopal church. His wife, Julia H., died Nov. 17, 1832, aged 38. He has three sons and a daughter living. [These are, Benjamin Clapp BUTLER, whose name was changed by the Legislature from Benjamin Butler Clapp, at the instance of his grandfather, Benjamin BUTLER, and who is now living in Luzerne, Warren county, N.Y.; James, who is living in Europe; Nicholas, residing in New York; and Julia, widow of Walter L. NEWBERY, once the wealthiest man in Chicago, who died on the ocean while going to join his wife in Europe, where she now resides. Mary, the eldest daughter, died at home unmarried.]
John TRACY studied law with Stephen O. RUNYAN, and after his admission, 1808, formed a partnership with his preceptor. He was a careful, studious, methodical and sound lawyer. He stood at the head of his profession. His rulings in law were never reversed in the courts of appeals. (See biographical sketch)
Henry VAN DER LYN, who was born April 21, 1784, came to Oxford from the North River country in June, 1806, and practiced here till his death, Oct. 1, 1865, though but little during the later years of his life. He was eccentric, possessed of good talent and great acquirements. He was the best equity lawyer the village ever had, Henry R. MYGATT, excepted. He was known as "the Count." He was the cousin of the celebrated artist named Van Der Lyn.
Judge Samuel McKEON came from Herkimer county about 1825, and taught in the district schools of this and the adjoining towns four or five winters, reading law in the meantime in the village. He was admitted about 1830, and practiced till about 1847 or '8, when he removed to Sullivan county, where he was interested in lands. He was appointed Surrogate of Chenango county Dec. 1, 1837, and held the office till 1843.
Henry R. MYGATT, LL. D., who was born in Oxford, April 10, 1810, of Connecticut parentage, read law with James CLAPP, and was admitted in January, 1833. He practiced here till his death, March 31, 1875, but not much during the last year or two of his life. He wore himself out in his profession. He was a close, studious and laborious lawyer, and enjoyed a very extensive practice. He was greatly beloved and respected for his excellence of character. He was highly benevolent, and did more for benevolent objects and in the interest of the village than any other man in it. He was not an aspirant for public office, and invariably declined all nominations therefor. There was a strong disposition to place him on the Supreme Court Bench, but he was inexorable in his determination to refuse public office. His sterling qualities of head and heart abundantly graced the humbler walks of life-his chosen field of philanthropic endeavor. He was a staunch friend to the interests of education, and his sympathies and energies were firmly enlisted in the interests of the Oxford Academy, to which its records bear testimony.* He was a graduate of Union College, in the same class with the notorious Robert Toombs of Georgia.
* The records of that institution thus memorize his services in its behalf:- "Elected [trustee] on the 24th of March, 1835, he soon took a leading part in its management, and during the intervening time, although almost overwhelmed with the cares and duties of his profession, he never gave up his interest in its prosperity. "He gave to it his money largely, freely in almost princely benefactions. "He gave to it his time, his energies, his labor, his wise counsels, and his wide-spread and valuable influence. "For eight years the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, for a series of years its Vice-President and President, as in all other matters, he was faithful and diligent and present when his duty called."
Ransom BALCOM, a native of Oxford, read law in the office of Judge McKOON and Count VANDERLYN, and was admitted about 1841. He practiced here very successfully until about 1846 or '7, when he went to Binghamton and was one of the firm of Hotchkiss, Seymour & Balcom, a prominent law firm, all of whose members are dead. In 1855, he was elected to the Supreme Court for the 6th Judicial District and having been thrice re-elected, held that office till within a short period of his death, when failing health compelled him to relinquish the duties.
Dwight H. CLARKE, son of Ethan Clark, for many years a prominent man here, was born in Oxford, March 2, 1819, and was a contemporary and partner of Judge BALCOM's, having been admitted about the same time. He, too, studied with James CLAPP. He was elected County Judge of this county in 1855, and re-elected in 1859, serving till January 1, 1864. He continued to practice here till his death, April 17, 1874. He was brother to James W. Clarke, the first President of the Bank of Oxford. His father was for several years proprietor of the stage house, where the Rogers House now stands, was interested in the stage lines in this valley, an important enterprise of that day, and was extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits.
Simon G. THROOP was a contemporary practitioner with VAN DER LYN and CLAPP. He was a brilliant, but dissipated man. He did not practice here long, but removed to Pennsylvania, where he died recently at an advanced age. He was a man of good address, and his ready wit made him popular with the masses. William PATTERSON was admitted here and practiced a few years from 1825.
Other lawyers practiced here for short periods, among whom were Enos JOHNSON, who died here, and Benjamin CANNON, who studied with Count VAN DER LYN, and after practicing here a short time, returned to Cannonsville, Delaware county, his native place, named from his father, who was an early settler there. He was elected County Clerk of Delaware county in 1852, and served two terms, six years. He returned to Oxford in 1873, and died here in December, 1877.
The attorneys now practicing in Oxford are: Horace PACKER, James W. GLOVER, William H. HYDE, Solomon BUNDY, Oscar H. CURTIS, Samuel S. STAFFORD, Charles W. BROWN, William R. MYGATT and McGeorge BUNDY.
Horace PACKER was born June 2, 1812, in Norwich, N.Y., to which town his parents, James and Mary (BILLINGS) Packer, natives of Groton, Conn., removed in 1806, from Guilford, Vt. He was educated in the district schools of his native town and the academic and collegiate departments of Madison University. He commenced the study of law at Norwich, with Samuel B. GARVIN, and after one month removed to Oxford, in April, 1839, and entered the office of Hon. Samuel McKOON, with whom he completed his studies. He was admitted in January, 1842, and commenced practice that year in Oxford, where he has since continued. He was Master and Examiner in Chancery some five years, and until that Court was abolished.
Mr. PACKER has given much attention to agriculture, and was two years, 1858-'59, President of the Chenango County Agricultural Society. He established at East Smithville, in the spring of 1866, the first Creamery west of Orange county. It was the third in the States, also in the United States. He has since established two others, one at Pharsalia Center, and the other in the town of Coventry.
James W. GLOVER was born in Oxford, August 28, 1822, and received his education in the Academy in that village. He read law with Henry R. MYGATT, and was admitted in January, 1846. He commenced practice in Greene, and after three months removed to Oxford, where he has since practiced, with the exception of six months spent in Auburn. He was postmaster at Oxford for seventeen years from May 12, 1861. He is a son of the late James A. Glover,* of Oxford, and a grandson of Nathan Glover, a pioneer in the town of Plymouth.
* James A. Glover, who died May 23, 1875, "was for a long term of years heartily and zealously attached to the best interests of the Academy, and contributed to sustain and strengthen it by his support and influence, and ever evinced a high regard for its honor and welfare."-Oxford Academy Records.
William H. HYDE was born in Oxford, Sept. 4, 1826, and received his early education in the Academy of his native village. He entered Yale College in the spring of 1846, and Geneva College the same year, graduating at the latter in 1848. He read law in the office of Henry R. MYGATT, of Oxford, where, after his admission in 1854, he commenced practice, spending the first year or two in the office of his preceptor. He has since practiced his profession, at the head of which he now stands, in his native village, with the exception of one year, (1860,) spent in Wisconsin. He was a Member of Assembly from this county in 1857; Special County Judge of Chenango county from 1864-68; and Supervisor four years, 1870, '1, '2, and '3, serving as chairman of the board the last year.
Solomon BUNDY was born in Oxford, May 22, 1823, and spent the early years of his life upon a farm. About 1850 he removed to Oxford village and engaged in mercantile business, which he pursued in company with various individuals at different times. In 1857, he entered the law office of James W. GLOVER, and on his admission in 1859, formed a law partnership with Horace PACKER, under the name of Packer & Bundy, which continued till his election as District Attorney of Chenango county, in November, 1862. In 1876, he was elected to the 45th Congress from the 21st district, as a Republican, serving on the Committees on Militia and Expenditure in the State Department. He was one of the sub-committee of three which investigated the charges against George F. Seward, minister to China.
Oscar H. CURTIS was born in Norwich, N.Y., March 25, 1832, and was educated mainly at Gilbertsville Academy and Union College, from the latter of which he graduated in 1858. He came immediately to Oxford and engaged to teach the languages and higher mathematics in the Academy there. He taught five terms, and during the last term had charge of the school. He commenced to read law in Oxford with Henry R. MYGATT in the spring of 1860, having previously studied in the intervals of teaching, and completed his studies with him in the spring of 1862, when he established himself in practice in Oxford. July 29, 1862, having been commissioned by Governor Fenton to raise a company for the 114th Regiment N. Y.. Vols., he turned his office into a recruiting station, and had the honor of raising the first company for that regiment, Co. A., which was mustered on the 6th of August following. He was Captain of that company until July, 1863, when he was promoted to Major of the 144th, with rank from Aug. 26, 1863, and served in that capacity till the close of the war, when he resumed the practice of his profession in Oxford, where he has since remained. He was elected Justice in the fall of 1867, and held that office continuously till the summer of 1875, when he resigned. During this time he served four years as Special County Judge of Chenango county, to which office he was elected in 1868. He was Loan Commissioner three years, and in the fall of 1878, was elected Member of Assembly from this county, serving on the Committees on Charitable and Religious Societies and Game Laws, the latter of which was codified. He was also a member of the Committee on Grievances, which did not meet.
Samuel S. STAFFORD was born in Preston, N.Y., June 8, 1837. He read law with Solomon BUNDY and was admitted in May, 1867, when he commenced practice in Oxford, where he has since continued. Previous to commencing the study of law he spent ten terms in the Oxford Academy, closing in June, 1862. He entered the army as First Lieutenant of Co. A., 114th Regiment, and was wounded in the leg in a reconnaissance during the siege of Port Hudson, on the 11th of June, 1863, from the effects of which he was discharged July 8, 1863. He was a Member of Assembly from this county in 1865; was School Commissioner of the 2nd District of Chenango county in 1867, '8 and '9; was Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue one year; for nine years preceding May, 1879, village Treasurer; and is now serving the seventh year as Loan Commissioner.
Charles W. BROWN was born in Stockbridge, N.Y., Nov. 23, 1849. He entered Hobart College in 1867, and in 1872, commenced to read law in the office of Henry R. MYGATT, of Oxford. In 1873, he entered the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated in 1874, in which year he established himself in practice in Oxford, where he has since continued. While in the Albany Law School he was president of a class of one hundred students from all parts of the country. He was elected Justice in 1875, and re-elected in 1879. He was sole collector on the Chenango Canal, south of Utica, in 1876, the last year the canal was open. In 1874, '5, '6 and '8, he was clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Chenango county.
William R. MYGATT was born in Oxford, April 20, 1851, and received his early education at Oxford Academy. He subsequently spent three years in the Vermont Episcopal Institute at Burlington, and in 1870, entered the Troy Polytechnic Institute, where he took a two years' course in engineering. He commenced the study of law in 1872, at Oxford, with his father, Henry R. Mygatt, and in September, 1875, entered the Albany Law School. He was admitted in May, 1876, and established himself in practice in Oxford immediately after graduating. He is a trustee both of the village and the Academy, and secretary of the Chenango County Bar Association.
McGeorge BUNDY was born in Oxford, July 8, 1855, and was graduated from Amherst College in 1876, in which year he commenced to read law in the office of his father, Solomon Bundy, with whom he completed his legal studies. He was admitted in November, 1878, at the general term at Albany, and established himself in practice in Oxford.

SOUTH OXFORD
South Oxford, in the south-west part of the town, was formerly the seat of a post-office and a manufactory of hoes, forks and edge tools of considerable importance. The post-office was moved to Coventry Station, a mile below, after the completion of the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railroad. The station agent is postmaster. He succeeded his father in the former position, and probably as postmaster also. There is a small grocery kept by Henry WILLCOX, and a cooper shop, kept by Charles HOLMES.
{Evidently there is a missing sentence referring to "his father"}

CHESHIREVILLE
Cheshireville is a hamlet near the south line, and derives its name from the fact that most of the early settlers in that locality came from Cheshire, Connecticut.
Manufacturers:- On the west side of the river, about two miles below Oxford, is a saw and grist-mill owned by Edwin TOWERS. It was built some forty years ago by Stephen and Clark LEWIS, the former of whom operated it till the fall of 1878, he having bought his brother's interest some twenty years ago. A saw-mill was built on the same site by John Stratton about fifty years ago.

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