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180 BROOME COUNTY.
By a treaty held at Fort Herkimer, June 28, 1785, between the Governor and Commissioners
of Indian Affairs in behalf of the State, and the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, the latter for $11,500 ceded
all their lands, bounded n. by an e. and w. line from the Chenango to the Unadilla, 10 mi. above the
mouth of the latter, e. by the Line of Property,1 s. by Penn., and w. by the Chenango and Susquehanna.
At the Hartford Convention, in 1786,a tract of 230,400 acres, between the Chenango and Tioughnioga
on the e. and Owego River on the w., was ceded to Massachusetts.2 This tract was afterward known
as the “Boston Ten Towns,” and was sold by Mass. (Nov. 7,1787) to 60 persons for £1500.3 It is
embraced in Broome, Tioga, and Cortland cos. The Indian title to this tract was extinguished i
1787, and the remaining Indian titles within the co. were extinguished by the treaty of Eort Stan-
wix in 1788. The s. and e. parts of the co. were granted to Hooper, Wilson, Bingham, Cox, and
others, several of whom resided in Philadelphia.4
The first settlements in the co. were made in the valleys of the Susquehanna and Chenango, in
1785. The settlers were people who had traversed the region in the Revolution; and they located
while the country was still threatened with Indian hostilities, and before Phelps and Gorham had
opened the fertile lands of Western N. Y. to immigration. The early settlement was retarded by a
remarkable ice fresbet in 1787-88, which destroyed most of the property of the settlers upon the
river intervales. Scarcely less calamitous to life'and property was the scarcity that followed in
1789. Oquaga, on the e. branch of the Susquehanna, was a noted rendezvous of tories and" Indians
during the Revolution.5 Most of the invasions into the Schoharie and Mohawk settlements, as well
as those upon the frontiers of Ulster and Orange cos., were by way of the Tioga and Susquehanna
Rivers from Niagara; and-this war path, with its sufferings and cruelties, has been often described
in the narratives of returned captives.
121A 5« IJ A M T O N—was formed from Chenango, Dec. 3, 1855. It lies at the junction of the
Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers, and extends s. to the s. line of the co. The surface is hilly in
the s., but the n. part embraces the wide and beautiful intervales extending along the two rivers at
and near their junction. The hills are 300 to 400 feet above the river, and are generally arable to
their summits. The soil in the valleys is a deep, rich, alluvial and gravelly loam, and upon the
hills it is a fine quality of slaty loam. ISimgliamtoii6 (p. v.) was incorp. April 2, 1813. By a
subsequent charter, passed May 3, 1834, its limits were enlarged and its territory was divided into 5
wards. It is beautifully situated on the n. bank of the Susquehanna at its junction with the
Chenango. It contains the State Inebriate Asylum,7 the Binghamton Academy, and the Susque¬
hanna Seminary,8 3 female seminaries,9 a commercial college,10 2 water cures,11 9 churches,12 5
newspaper offices, and several manufactories. The village is an important station upon the Erie
R. R., and is connected with Syracuse by the S. B. & N. Y. R. R. It is also the s. w. terminus of
the Chenango Canal and of the Albany & Susquehanna R. R. It is the center of a large trade,
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A. F. Quinlan. It was subsequently sold to Cephas
Benedict and Ebenezer M. Betts, and is still published.
The Broome County Gazette was commenced at
Whitneys Point, in July, 1858, by G. A. Dodge, its
present publisher.
1 This line was agreed upon at Fort Stanwix in 1768, and was
surveyed by Simon Metcalf the next year.' It forms the e.
boundary of this co.
2 The s. bounds of this tract were to be the n. line of the tract
granted to Daniel Cox and Robert Lettice Hooper, and it was to
extend as far n. as was necessary to include the above quantity
. of land." Upon survey it Was found to overlap the Military
Tract by 17,264 acres, which was allowed, and an equivalent
was granted to the claimants under the latter in Junius, Seneca
co.—Balloting Book, pp. 20, 23.
8 The partition of a part of this tract by lot was legalized
March 3, 1789, in an act reciting the names of the 60 associates.
—Laws of N. Y., Fol. -Ed., 12th Sess., p. 76, .Map No. 148, State
Engineer and Surveyor’s Office.
4 A tract of 1000- acres on both sides of the Susquehanna was
sold to Jacob and John Springstead, Josiah, David, and Daniel
Stow, David Hotchkiss, and Joseph Beebe. Other tracts were
sold to Wm. Allison, James Clinton, Isaac .Melcher, Abijah Ham¬
mond, and others. The islands in the Susquehanna were bought
by Jas. Clinton, at 4 shillings per acre.
6 This place is sometimes found written On-oh-ogh-wa-ge and
Ogh-qua-ga. There is here a hill or mountain on both sides Of
tlie river, gently .sloping from a beautiful vale of 3 or 4 mi. in
length and a mi. to a mi. and a half wide. When first settled, it
bore evidence of having long been occupied by the Indians. Apple,
trees of great age were fonnd growing, and traces of fortifications
existed, supposed to have been. erected by Gen. Clinton. Mission¬
ary labors were directed to this locality about the middle of the
last century, and in 17 53 the Rev. Gideon Hawley was sent hither |
from Mass.-—Doc. Hist., III. 1031; Wilkinson’s Binghamton, p. 142.
6 Binghamton was originally called “ Chenango Point.” Its
present name was given in honor of William Bingham, the
original purchaser of a. largo tract of land lying on both sides- of
the Susquehanna, and including the site of the village. He made
liberal donations of land to the village.
I The New York State Inebriate Asylum was incorp. in 1854
for the term of 50 years. It is designed for the medical treat¬
ment and restraint of inebriates. It.owes its origin mainly to
the persevering efforts of Dr. J. Edward Turner. Every person
donating $10 is deemed a subscriber and stockholder. The build¬
ing is located e. of the village, on a beautiful site, 240 feet above
the water. It is 365 feet- long by 82 feet broad, built of stone
and *brick in the Tudor castellated style of architecture. The
citizens donated'a farm of 250 acx-es, upon whion the buildings
are erected.
8 This institution is under the charge of the M. E. denomina¬
tion, and is designed for a large hoarding school. The building
is a 4 story brick edifice, pleasantly located n. w. of the village
upon an eminence overlooking the valley.
9 River -Side Seminary, established in 1848 by Miss R. S. In-
gall?; Miss'Barton’s Seminary, established in 1857; and Harmony
Retreat Seminary, established in 1857 by Misses March.
10 Lowell & Warner’s Commercial College.
II Binghamton Water Cure, established in 1855 by O. V
Thayer; and the Mt. Prospect Water Cure, under the super¬
vision of J. U. North.
12 2 M. E., and 1, each, Bap., Presb., Cong., Prot. E., Univ., R.
C., and Af. Meth,
18 There was transhipped from the Del., Lackawanna & Western
R.R.cars to the Chenango canal boats, in 1857, 51,700 gross tons
of coal, and from these boats -to the cars- 25,895 tons of Clinton
(Oneida co.) iron ore. |
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