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624 STEUBEN COUNTY.
COHOCTON—was formed from Bath and Dansville, June 18,1812. A part of Avoca was taken
off in 1843, and a part of Wayland in 1848; a part of Bath was annexed in 1852. It lies on the n.
border of the co., w. of the center. The surface is separated into ridges by deep and narrow valleys.
The principal streams are Conhocton River, flowing southerly through the center, and its tributaries.
The soil is generally a slaty and gravelly loam. Liberty, (Cohocton p.o.,) on the Conhocton,
is a station on the B., N. Y. & E. R. R. and contains 2 churches. Pop. 200. Nor til Cohocton
(p. v.) contains 1 church and 30 houses. Bloods,1 a hamlet, is a station on the u. r., 1 mi. from
North Cohocton. The first settlement was made in 1796, by Richard Hooker and Joseph Bivin.
Rev. Elisha Brownson, (Bap.,) the first settled minister, removed to the town in 1811. The census
reports 4 churches in town; 3 M. E. and Presb.
CORNING2—was formed, as “Painted Post,”41 March 18,1796. Its name was changed March
31,1852. Erwin and Hornby were taken off in 1826, and “ Wormly” (now Caton) in 1839. A part
was annexed to Erwin in 1856. It lies on the e. border of the co., s. of the center. The wide
valley of Chemung River, extending sr. w. and s. e. through the center of the town, and several
lateral valleys, divide the uplands'into rounded hills and narrow ridges. Its streams are Borden,
Post, Narrows, Clump Foot, and Winsfield Creeks, tributaries of Chemung River. The soil upon
the hills is a heavy, slaty loam, and in the valleys a fine quality of sandy and gravelly loam, occa¬
sionally intermixed with clay. Corning, (p.v.,) incorp. Sept. 6,1848, is situated on the s. bank
of Chemung River, in the w. part of the town. It is a half-shire of the co. The Chemung Canal,
the Blossburg & Corning R. R., and the B., N. Y. & E. R. R. terminate here; and the village is an
important station on the N. Y. & Erie R. R. It contains 5 churches, 2 newspaper establishments,
2 banks, a State arsenal, and several mills and manufacturing establishments, and commands an
extensive and constantly increasing trade.5 Pop. 3,626. Knoxville,6 opposite Corning, con¬
tains 2 churches and a pop. of 628. Gibson lies on the n. bank of the Chemung, 1 mi. e. of
Corning. Pop. 428. Centerville contains 25 houses. East Painted Post is a p. o.
The first settlement was made near the village of Corning, in 1788, by Frederick Calkins and Benj.
Eaton.3 The first religious services were conducted by John Warren, in 1793. There are 7
churches in town.4
DAN STJXdLE5—was formed in March, 1796. Parts of Cohocton and Howard were taken off in
1812, a part of Wayland in 1848, and of Fremont in 1854. A part was annexed to Sparta in 1822,
and a part of Cohocton was re-annexed April 26,1834. It is the sr. town upon the w. border of the
co. The surface is mostly an upland, divided into ridges by the narrow valleys of small streams.
The declivities of the hills are steep and their summits are 300 to 400 feet above the valleys. The
streams are head branches of Canaseraga Creek, flowing n., and of Canisteo River, flowing s. The
soil is a sandy and gravelly loam in the e. and sr., and gravel underlaid by hardpan in the s.w.
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Judge Knox, of Knoxville, in this co., that the Painted Post was
erected over the grave of a chief who was wounded at the battle
of the “ Hog-Back” and brought in a canoe to the head of the
Chemung, where he died. It was well understood by the early
settlers that this monument was erected in memory of some
distinguished warrior who had been wounded in one of the
border battles of the Revolution and afterward died at this place.
The post stood for many years after the settlement of the co.;
and the story goes that it rotted down at the butt, and was pre¬
served in the bar-room of a tavern till about the year 1810 and
then mysteriously disappeared. It is also said to have been
swept away in a freshet.—3JtcMasters’s Hist, of Steuben. Simms’s
Hist. Schoharie, p. 333.
5 In 1852, 40,000 tons of Blossburg coal, brought by the Bloss¬
burg & Corning It. R., were transhipped at this place, and
50,000,000 feet of lumber were exported.
6 Named from Judge John Knox, of this town.
1 Benj. and Peleg Gorton, jr., Ephraim Patterson and his sons
Ichabod and Stephen, Bradford Eggleston, Justus Wolcott, Elias,
William, and Henry McCormick, Hezekiah Thurber, Jonathan
Cook, Samuel Colgrove, and Eli and Eldad Mead settled in the
town in 1790-91-92; Jonathan and Warren Rowley in 1794;
James Turner and Caleb Wolcott in 1795; George McCulloch
and Benj. Patterson in 1796; and Nehemiah Hubbell in 1798.
The first birth was that of James Calkins, Nov. 24,1790; the
first marriage, that of Benj. Gorton and Rachel Wolcott, in 1794;
and the first death, that of Ichabod Patterson, in Aug. 1794.
Ichabod Patterson built the first sawmill, and Jas. Henderson
the first gristmill, both in 1793; Benj. Eaton kept the first store,
in 1791, and Benj. Patterson the first inn, in 1798. The first
school was taught by Samuel Colgrove, in 1793.
8 2 Bap., 2 M. E., Prot. E., Presb., and R. C.
9 Named from Daniel P. Faulkner, an early and spirited citi¬
zen, known as “ Captain Dan.”—HcMasters’s Hist. Steuben Co.-, p.
300. |
1
Named from Calvin Blood. This is rendered an important
station upon the R. R. from its connection with the Canandaigua
Lake Route. A daily line of stages runs to Naples, at the head
of the lake, and a steamer plies daily between the latter place
and Canandaigua.
2
the command of a loyalist named McDonald, returned from an
incursion into the Susquehanna settlements, bringing with them
3
and Conhocton Rivers, Captain Montour, son of the famous Queen
4
Catharine, a chief of great promise, died of his wounds. “ His
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comrades buried him by the riverside, and planted above his
grave a post on which were painted various symbols and rude
devices. This monument was known throughout the Genesee
Forests as ‘ The Painted Post.’ It was a landmark well known
to all the Six Nations, and was often visited by their braves and
chieftains.” This account of the origin of the Painted Post was
given to Benj. Patterson, the hunter,'by a man named Taggart,
Who was carried to Fort Niagara a prisoner by McDonald’s party,
and was a witness of the burial of Capt. Montour, or at least was
in the encampment at the mouth of the Tioga at the time of his
death. Col. Harper, of Harpersfield, the well known officer of
the frontier militia of New York in the Revolution, informed
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