CANISTEO, Steuben Co., NY - Settlers
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CANISTEO, Steuben Co., NY - Settlers
| G.B. Kirkwood (View posts) | Posted: 3 Sep 2000 12:00PM GMT |
Classification: Biography
Surnames: BENNETT, JAMISON, STEPHENS, CROSBY, SAXTON, PORTER, ERWIN, THOMAS, WYNCOOP, HADLEY, BROWN, KRESS
HISTORICAL GAZETTEER, PART FIRST, Steuben County, New York, compiled by Millard F. Roberts, John Single Paper Company, Ltd., Syracuse, N.Y., 1891.
CANISTEO - FIRST SETTLEMENT: page 192 - 194
"The valley of the Canisteo was among the earliest settled portions of the county. Early in 1788, SOLOMON BENNETT, CAPTAIN JOHN JAMISON, URIAH STEPHENS, BENJAMIN CROSBY and son RICHARD CROSBY from the Wyoming valley in PA, started on an exploring expedition up the western tributaries of the Susquehanna. They passed up the Chemung, and at Painted Post (where they found a half dozen settlers and SAXTON and PORTER, the Phelps and Gorham surveyors) the company divided, a portion going up the Conhocton as far as the site of the present village of Bath, while others continued their way up the Canisteo. Finding no suitable place for a settlement on the Conhocton, the party which followed that stream crossed the hills and came onto the Canisteo near the present residence of JOSHUA C. STEPHENS and there joined their companions.
These explorers determined to become the possessors of the two townships on the river, which included these flats. They were joined in the purchase by the following: COL. ARTHUR ERWIN, JOEL THOMAS, URIAH STEPHENS, Sr., and his son, JOHN STEPHENS, WILLIAM WYNCOOP, JAMES HADLEY, ELISHA BROWN AND CHRISTIAN KRESS.
In the summer of 1789, a number of men were sent to the flats to cut and stack a sufficient quantity of wild grass to winter the cattle that were to be driven on. In the fall of the same year, URIAH STEPHENS, Sr., and BENJAMIN CROSBY, with portions of their families, came from Newtown to commence settlement. The provisions, baggage and families were carried up in seven-ton boats, while four sons of Mr. STEPHENS, ELIAS, ELIJAH, BENJAMIN and WILLIAM drove along the shore the cattle belonging to the families in the boats, and the cattle of four other families who were to join the settlers the following spring. From the mouth of the Canisteo to the upper flats, the movement was slow. The frequent rifts to be ascended, the accumulation of drift-wood and the trunks of fallen trees which obstructed the channel, rendered the journey tedious and toilsome in the extreme. On one day but six miles were made...
The first work of these hardy men after landing on the flats, was to take their axes into the woods, cut down suitable trees and build a house of logs 24 x 26 feet. There was but one room below, and this contained a cavernous fireplace in each of its four corners. The two families passed the winter here very comfortably. In the following spring they were joined by two more families, and one domiciled before each fireplace, and "each family occupied its own territory with as much good humor as if divided from the others by stone walls and gates of brass".
CANISTEO - FIRST SETTLEMENT: page 192 - 194
"The valley of the Canisteo was among the earliest settled portions of the county. Early in 1788, SOLOMON BENNETT, CAPTAIN JOHN JAMISON, URIAH STEPHENS, BENJAMIN CROSBY and son RICHARD CROSBY from the Wyoming valley in PA, started on an exploring expedition up the western tributaries of the Susquehanna. They passed up the Chemung, and at Painted Post (where they found a half dozen settlers and SAXTON and PORTER, the Phelps and Gorham surveyors) the company divided, a portion going up the Conhocton as far as the site of the present village of Bath, while others continued their way up the Canisteo. Finding no suitable place for a settlement on the Conhocton, the party which followed that stream crossed the hills and came onto the Canisteo near the present residence of JOSHUA C. STEPHENS and there joined their companions.
These explorers determined to become the possessors of the two townships on the river, which included these flats. They were joined in the purchase by the following: COL. ARTHUR ERWIN, JOEL THOMAS, URIAH STEPHENS, Sr., and his son, JOHN STEPHENS, WILLIAM WYNCOOP, JAMES HADLEY, ELISHA BROWN AND CHRISTIAN KRESS.
In the summer of 1789, a number of men were sent to the flats to cut and stack a sufficient quantity of wild grass to winter the cattle that were to be driven on. In the fall of the same year, URIAH STEPHENS, Sr., and BENJAMIN CROSBY, with portions of their families, came from Newtown to commence settlement. The provisions, baggage and families were carried up in seven-ton boats, while four sons of Mr. STEPHENS, ELIAS, ELIJAH, BENJAMIN and WILLIAM drove along the shore the cattle belonging to the families in the boats, and the cattle of four other families who were to join the settlers the following spring. From the mouth of the Canisteo to the upper flats, the movement was slow. The frequent rifts to be ascended, the accumulation of drift-wood and the trunks of fallen trees which obstructed the channel, rendered the journey tedious and toilsome in the extreme. On one day but six miles were made...
The first work of these hardy men after landing on the flats, was to take their axes into the woods, cut down suitable trees and build a house of logs 24 x 26 feet. There was but one room below, and this contained a cavernous fireplace in each of its four corners. The two families passed the winter here very comfortably. In the following spring they were joined by two more families, and one domiciled before each fireplace, and "each family occupied its own territory with as much good humor as if divided from the others by stone walls and gates of brass".