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CHENANGO COUNTY.
loam, with occasional spots of a red, slaty loam. Coventry, (p. y.,) n. w. of the center, contains
2 churches, a pocket-book factory, and 40 dwellings; and Coventry ville, (p. v.,) 2 mi. e. of Cov¬
entry, a church, mill, and 25 dwellings. Churcll Hollow is a p. o. on the s. line. The first
settlement was made near the center, hy Simon Jones, in 1785.1 In the e. part is a spoke factory.
The first church (Cong.) was formed Nov. 19,1807. Rev. David Harrower was the first preacher.2
GERM AW 2 —was formed from De Ruyter, (Madison co.,) March 21,1806. Otselie was taken
off in 1817, Lincklaen in 1823, and a part of Pitcher in 1827. It is located centrally upon the w.
line of the co. The surface is hilly, and watered by several brooks, forming what is called Five
Streams, which flow through the town in a s. direction. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam,
well adapted to grazing. Elver mores Corners, (German p. o.,) near the w. line, is a
hamlet; and East German is a p. o. The first settlement was made in 1795, hy Benjamin
Cleveland, from Oneida co.* The first church (Presb.) was formed at an early period, and a M. E.
association was formed in 1815, at the house of Walter Oyshlenbank.5
GREEHTE3—was formed from Union (Broome co.) and “Jericho,” (nowBainbridge,) March
15, 1798. A part of “Jericho” was annexed in 1799. Coventry was taken off in 1806, and Smith-
ville in 1808. A part of Barker (Broome co.) was taken off in 1840, and a part of Coventry in
1843. It is the s. w. corner town of the eo. Its surface is a rolling and hilly upland. The hilla
rise 500 to 700 feet above the river, and are broken by the ravines of the streams. Che¬
nango River flows s. w. through the center of the town, in a broad valley about 1 mile in width.
The Chenango Canal passes through the valley. Genegantslet Creek flows s*. through the w. part
in a wide valley, and joins the Chenango a few miles below the village of Greene. Pages Brook
flows through the s. e. corner; and several small streams are tributary to the Chenango. The soil
is a gravelly and shaly loam on the hills, and alluvium in the valleys. Greene, (p.v.,) near tho
center, was incorp. April 12, 1842. It contains 4 churches, a flouring mill, furnace, and 814 in¬
habitants. East Greene (p.v.) contains a church and 158 inhabitants. Genegantslet
(p. v.) contains 1 church and 12 houses. Clienango ForRs (p. v.) is partly in this town. S.
Ketchum settled in 1792.4 The first church (Bap.) was organized in 1795,5 by Elder Nath. Kellogg.
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carora Indians in 1785. These lands were subsequently sold hy
the State to individual patentees.
7 Mr. Ketchum located within the hounds of the present vil¬
lage of Greene. ,In the fall of 1792 a settlement was made hy a
company of French refugees. One of their number, Chas. Felix
De Bulogne, had preceded the main body, and made a purchase
of 15,000 acres lying on tho e. side of Chenango River. The first
party that came consisted of M. Bulogne, M. Shamont, M. Le
Fevre, M. Bravo, M. Du Vernet, and M. Obre. A portion of them
had families; and'several young ladies were among the.party.
In Otsego co. Simon Barnet joined the party, and subsequently
M. Dutremont, with his family, settled with them. Before the
dispersion of the colony they were joined by Jos. Juliand, who
was the only French emigrant that became a permanent resident.
M. Bulogne, on his way to Philadelphia in the spring of 1795, was
drowned while fording a creek much swollen hy the floods.
The. untimely death of the leader of this adventurous band
proved fatal to the future success of the settlement. The failure
of the company to pay the balance of the purchase money due
on the tract caused the title to revert to the original patentees.
After all the hardships and privations they had endured, the
failure to secure a title to their land proved a signal for dis¬
persion. The majority of them left in the year 1796. In 1794,
Talleyrand, the celebrated French diplomatist, visited his fellow-
countrymen in Greene. Among the early permanent settlers
were Nath’l Kellogg, Zopher Betts, Benajah Loomis, Cornelius
Hill, and Daniel Tremaine, who located at East Greene in 1793.
The first road that was cut through the town was called “The
Chenango Road.” It runs from the present village of Bain-
bridge to the mouth of Page Creek, on the Chenango,—a dis¬
tance of about 25 mi. The first settlers upon this road within
the then limits of the town, commencing at the w., were Nathan
Bennett, Joshua Root, Eleaznr Skinner, Thomas Elliott, Joah
Elliott, Boswell Fitch, Aden Elliott, Philo Clemmons, Capt. Man-
deville, Simeon and Benj. Jones, Hardin Bennett, Record Wilber,
and Deacon Richards, who came in from 1792 to ’95. The settlers
who located in the s. part, w. of the river, were Jas. and Herman
Terwilliger, Elisha and Noah Gilbert, Stephen Palmer, and Jos.
and Cornish Messenger, as early as 1796. The first birth was that
of Johnston Rundall, son of Jos. Rundall,—for which honor the
mother subsequently received a deed of 50 acres of land from
the Hornby Estate. Cartwright taught the first school,
in 1794; Conrad Sharp kept the first inn, in 1794; Elisha Smith
the first store, in 1801 Conrad Sharp built the first sawmill, in
1795, and Abraham Storm and Henry Yorse the first gristmill,
in 1794.
8 The census reports 9 churches; 6 Bap., 2 M. E., Presb., an}
Prot. E. |
1
Wm. Goodell and Andw. Clark settled near Mr. Jones in 1786,
and Benj. Jones at the same place in 1788. Ozias Yale and C. S.
M. Stork located a little n. of Coventry in 1799, Elisha Warren
cm Lot 2, in 1804, and Moses Allis, and about 10 other families,
soon after. The first birth was that of Wm., son of Moses Allis,
in 1794; the first marriage, that of Simeon Parker and Polly
Sprague; and the first death, that of a son of Koger Egerton,
in 1790. Sherman Page taught the first school; Benj. Jones
kept the first inn, in 1788, and Jotham Parker the first store,
in«l799. The first gristmill was erected by Capt. Parker, in
1795, and the first carding and cloth dressing mill by Miles
Doolittle, about the year 1815.
2
8 Named from Gen. Obadiah German, the original owner of
fhe township. It was first named “Brakel Township.”
3
oondition of the family, Mrs. Raymond made them a pudding
<rf bran,—the only food she had in the house. This and a bottle
«f milk kept the family from starvation until relief came. At
another time, when the family were reduced to the last ex¬
tremity, two unmilked cows came to their house one night, and
went away in the morning, furnishing them with milk for several
4
days. It was never known where the cows came from or where
they went to. Other families in the vicinity suffered in a similar
manner. The first birth was that of Polly Cleveland, in 1796;
the first marriage, that of Jonathan Head and Hepsey Liver¬
more ; and the first death, that of —— Hartshorn. Abraham
Livermore kept the first inn; Jonathan Chandler kept the first
store, and erected the first mill and factory, on the e. branch of
Otselie River.
5
Tlie census reports 3 churches; Presb., M. E., and P. W. Bap.
® Named in honor of Gen. Nath’l Greene. That part of the
original township of Greene lying e. of Chenango River was in¬
cluded in a purchase made by the State from the Oneida and Tus-
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