Early Town Histories

Follows are the early histories of DeRuyter, Cuyler, and Lincklaen. The excerpts originate from Our County and Its People, written by John Smith in 1899 for DeRuyter, Gazetteer and Business Directory of Cortland County, compiled by Hamilton Child in 1869 for Cuyler, and Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, compiled by Hamilton Child in 1869 for Lincklaen.

Early History of DeRuyter

This is one of the five towns that were formed previous to the erection of the county and was set off from Cazenovia March 15, 1798; it then contained the territory of the present day towns of German, Lincklaen, Otselic and Pitcher, in Chenango county, and Georgetown in Madison county. The town received its name in honor of Admiral De Ruyter, of the Dutch navy. It is the southwest corner town in the county. It presents a hilly surface which is broken by the valley of the Tioughnioga River, which with numerous small tributaries, drains and waters the town. The soil is of general good quality, sandy and gravelly loam on the hills and rich alluvium in the valleys. The village of the same name as the town is situated in the southwestern part of the town; it was incorporated in 1833. There are only two post-offices in the town — De Ruyter and Sheds (Shed's Corners.) The population of the town as shown by the census taken at various dates from 1835 was as follows:

The principal occupation of the farmers of the town is dairying to which general farming has largely given place in recent years. Some twenty-five years ago, when the manufacture of cheese in factories was a prominent industry, five factories were established in the town; but there are only three now in operation — one a mile and a half north of the village, one four miles north of the village and one at Shed's Corners. Large quantities of excellent butter are made by individual farmers throughout the town. The raising of potatoes for market has taken on considerable importance within quite recent years and at fair prices are a profitable crop. The numerous saw mills of early times are nearly all idle. Considerable hardwood lumber is still cut, most of which goes to the Bryant Furniture Company, which operates a steam saw mill in the village and has a large factory in Truxton.

The destruction of the records of this town renders it impossible to give the date and proceedings of the early town meetings, and doubtless deprives us of much important and interesting material. The town constitutes a part of the second school commissioner's district of the county and is divided into ten school districts with a school house in each, in which are employed fifteen teachers in 1897, to teach a total of 340 children. The present value of school buildings and sites is nearly $10,000. An excellent high school is conducted in the village of De Ruyter, which is the direct successor of the old De Ruyter Institute, founded in 1836 by the Seventh-Day Baptists. It became a Union free school in 1874, and the name, De Ruyter Union School and Academy, was adopted in 1877. The present faculty includes Irving Smith Sears, principal; Jannie Van Demark Sheely, preceptress, and four assistants. The attendance at the present time is about 270.

As at present bounded the town lies wholly within the Gore. Settlement began in 1793 by Elijah and Elias Benjamin and Eli Colegrove. Both the Benjamin brothers had families, members of which and their descendants have been prominent in the community. Joseph Messenger, Samuel Thompson, and William and Thompson Burdick became settlers in 1795, and Daniel Page, Gideon Foster and Eleazer Gage a little later. In 1800, or within a year or two thereafter, Matthew Wells, Jonathan Shed, Darius Benjamin, Samuel Bowen, Levi Wood, Sylvester Crumb and probably a few others located in different parts of the town. Among other settlers previous to or about the time of the formation of the county in 1806 were Joseph Rich, Jonathan Bentley, Benjamin Merchant, Job Webb, Benjamin Stratton, Abram Sutton, John Shepard, James Hunt, Nathaniel Wright, John Pierce, Reuben Burnard, John Gifford, Ephraim Arnold, Beman Hoag, David Wood, John Hewitt, Joseph, Thomas and Benjamin Mitchell, Dr. Ephraim Otis, Stephen Bogardus, Benjamin Wybert, Enos and Amos Peasley, Elijah Cornell, Joseph and Benjamin Tripp, and Joseph Underwood. Many in this list were Quakers, who established a Meeting about 1806, and have always been numerous and influential in the community. These and the settlers who came in later soon cleared parts of their farms, built saw mills and grist mills, opened roads, established the schools and churches and gradually surrounded themselves with the comforts and advantages of the older settled localities further east.

De Ruyter Village. — This village is pleasantly situated on the Tioughnioga on the western border of the town and is a station on the Lehigh Valley railroad. The early gathering at this point was due mainly to the building of a saw mill immediately after the arrival of the first settlers; this was soon followed by a grist mill, and in 1800 Samuel Bowen opened the first store. Two or three other merchants began trading before the erection of the county in 1806. The post-office was established in 1810. Ephraim Arnold established an early tannery, and Daniel Page built the first public house in the corporation as early as the beginning of the century. The Cazenovia Coal and Lumber Companies carries on business here. John Rice Rider established a banking business in 1864, and in 1870, E. B. Parsons and E. B. Crandall opened the E. B. Parsons & Co.'s bank, with $15,000 capital, This institution subsequently failed. In 1889, the De Ruyter Banking Company was organized by B. S. Bryant, president; M. E. Teller, vice-president; F. S. Mitchell, treasurer and cashier. The capital is $10,000.

The village fire department had its inception in 1833, when the first engine was purchased, and measures adopted for building an engine house and town hall; the latter was erected in 1839 and was sold in 1855 and a new one built. The department now consists of a hose company and engine company of seventy men. A system of water works was established in 1897, which supplies the public with pure spring water and gives a pressure in pipes of 134 pounds to the square inch; twenty eight hydrants have been set in the village, thus rendering the fire engines subsequently useless.

Physicians practicing in the village are Drs. Silas Clarke, Edwin M. Coon, James E. McClellan, C. P. Monro, and J. H. Shaffer, the latter a dentist. De Ruyter has had two or three lawyers of more than ordinary ability and repute. The present attorneys are Wallace E. Burdick, J. H. Poole and H. D. Messenger.

De Ruyter has had several newspapers which are now extinct. The first was the De Ruyter Weekly News, started in 1862 by J. E. N. Backus; it lived about two years. The De Ruyter New Era was founded by John R. Beden in 1870. The De Ruyter American was established in December, 1896, by N. E. Bugbee and was discontinued in November, 1897. The De Ruyter Gleaner was established September 18, 1878, by W. W. Ames; it absorbed the New Era in 1889 and is still continued as a healthy, ably conducted journal.

The Taber House, built in 1849, is now conducted by John Coye; the Central Hotel was changed in name to the Park Hotel and much improved and is now conducted by W. W. Owens. The De Ruyter Hotel was built for a dwelling by M. R. Merchant; it passed to Isaac Samson, who sold it to M. W. Baldwin; he changed it to a hotel in 1893.

There are four churches in the village — Congregational, organized in 1897 and built an edifice in the same year; Baptist, organized in 1798; Seventh-Day Baptist, formed within a short time after settlement began; Methodist, organized before 1817.

De Ruyter village was incorporated April 15, 1833; reincorporated December 7, 1847, and again February 18, 1878, under the law of April 20, 1870.

Shed's Corners. — This is a mere hamlet in the northeast part of the town on the Tioughnioga, which took its name from Jonathan Shed, the pioneer of that locality. The post-office, which has been in existence there many years, was changed in name recently by the Department, to Sheds. There was formerly a Universalist church which has become extent; a Methodist church has been in existence many years. A hotel was kept by Allen Randall, which was burned and not rebuilt. One of the cheese factories and milk stations of the town is in operation here, and one store.

Early History of Cuyler

Cuyler was formed from Truxton, November 18, 1858. It is the north-east corner of the County. The surface is a broken and hilly upland. The east branch of the Tioughnioga River enters the town near the north-east corner and flows diagonally across, leaving near the center of the east line. The other streams are small brooks, and most of them tributaries of the Tioughnioga. Muncey Hill, near the center, is the highest land in the town, and is a wild, broken region, suitable to cultivation. The soil is chiefly a sandy and gravelly loam.

Cuyler, (p.v.) situated a little north of the center of the town, contains a Methodist Church, a hotel, several mechanic shops and about 200 inhabitants.

Keeney Settlement, situated on the north line of the town, contains a Baptist Church and about a dozen houses.

The first settlement of this town was made in 1794 by Nathaniel Potter, who moved from Saratoga County with a wife and a daughter five weeks old. He settled on lot 96, paying one dollar and ten cents an acre for his land. He was killed in 1798 by the fall of a tree; his little boy about five years old was with him at the time. Mrs. Joseph Keeler was the first to find him, crushed beneath a large tree, but still alive. He asked for water and was supplied by Mrs. Keeler, taking his hat as the only substitute for a pail. He then requested her to pray with him, but this request was not granted. The daughter of Mr. Potter is the mother of Stephen Patrick, and now lives with Wesley Patrick in this town. Mr Morse was a soldier of the Revolution and drew lot 87, upon which he was located. He came from New Jersey. James Lockwood came up with him from Pennsylvania. They came in a canoe up the Tioughnioga River, and then took an ox team to their place of destination. Joseph Keeler and brother settled on the same lot. Isaac Brown settled on lot 99, about the year 1806, and Zebadiah Gates on lot 88 in 1807. Charles Vincent settled on lot 78 in 1806, and James Vincent in 1800. Jesse Blanchard settled on lot 66 in 1798, and Benjamin Brown, from Connecticut, settled on lot 57 in 1795. Daniel Page settled on lot 79, where widow Hinds now lives. James Dorwood, from Rhinebeck, came into the town in 1806. He was an ingenious mechanic and is said to have built the first carding machine in the State. He was a native of Scotland, and left his native country when eighteen years of age to avoid being drafted into the army by King George III. Huldash Dorwood, now 97 years of age, lives in the town. Jacob Hollenbeck and John Brown settled on lot 77 in 1806‑8. Thomas Fairbanks, from Massachusetts, settled on lot 60 in 1803, and Ephraim Fairbanks settled on the same lot, on the farm now occupied by Joseph L. Burdick. Oliver Heart settled on lot 80 in 1806, on the farm now occupied by H. F. Boyee.

Mr. Joseph Sweatland kept the first inn in 1806, hanging his sign upon a tree; and Oliver Mix taught the first school, in the bar‑room of the first tavern, in 1807. Tydaman Hull kept the first store, in 1806, where Mr. Neil now lives. Wanton Corey, aged twenty years, and Deborah Morse, aged seventeen, were the first couple married in town, in May, 1806. Garret Lockwood and Irene Culver were married about the same time. Benoni Harris was the first Methodist minister who preached in the town, in 1808. The sermon was preached in Slingerland's barn. Jabez Keep taught school in Daniel Morse's log house in 1800, and Captain Thomas Queensbury, in Hollenbeck's barn, about the same time. Joseph Sweetland built the first grist mill, in the north-east part of the town, on lot 79, in 1805. John Corbet built the first saw mill about the year 1803. The first death in the town was that of Mrs. Susannah Potter, wife of Nathaniel Potter, in June, 1795. Mr. Potter, his daughter and a baby four months old, were all the persons present at her death. Mr Potter went four miles for neighbors to lay out his wife, and took the door of their log house with which to make a coffin, that being the only material at hand suitable for the purpose. Wild animals were very numerous and the flocks and herds of settlers frequently suffered from their depredations. It was necessary to yard them at night to protect them. Mr. John Hooker had a cow killed by wolves, and afterwards, having dug a pit to entrap the beasts, he caught seven, and received a bounty of $10.00 for them.

The population in 1865 was 1,447 and the area 25,737 acres.

Early History of Lincklaen

Lincklaen, named from Col. John Lincklaen, the former proprietor of the township, and agent of the Holland Land Company, was formed from German, April 12, 1823. A part of Pitcher was taken off in 1827 and another part in 1833. It lies in the north-west corner of the County. Its surface is a hilly, broken upland, divided into ridges by the narrow valleys or ravines of the streams running north and south. The declivities are generally steep and the summits from 400 to 600 feet above the valleys. Mud Creek flows south through the west part of the town, into the Otselic. Ashbel Creek and several other small streams take their rise in the south and east parts of the town and flow into the Otselic. The soil is a shaly and clayey loam.

Lincklaen, (p.v.) situated on Mud Creek, in the west part of the town, contains a Methodist and a Congregational church, a hotel, a saw-mill, a cider-mill, a blacksmith shop, a harness shop, and about a dozen houses.

The Congregational Church was re-organized in 1859, under the labors of Rev. O. Ketchum, and consisted of eighteen members. The number of members at present is only fourteen, and they are without a pastor. The church edifice is a substantial wood building occupying a commanding site at the south end of the village. The Methodist church stands upon the opposite side of the street. It is a frame building and was erected in 1861, Rev. Albert Ensign is the present pastor.

About a mile south-east of Lincklaen, on lot 20, is the Lincklaen Cheese Factory and Creamery, for the manufacturer of butter and skimmed milk cheese. David E. and Samuel R. Stillman are the proprietors. About three-fourths of a mile north of Lincklaen is a saw-mill, grist-mill, and carding machine of W. D. & W. A. Wilcox.

Burdick Settlement, in the north part of the town, contains a Seventh Day Baptist church, a school house, a blacksmith shop, two shoe shops, a wagon shop, a cheese factory, and sixteen dwellings. The cheese factory of Jerome F. Wheeler, located at this place, makes English cheddar cheese. The Church in this place was set off from DeRuyter in 1831, and contained at the time of its organization thirty members. The present number is 91. Rev. Lebeus M. Burdick was the first pastor; Rev. Amos W. Coon is the present pastor. The church edifice is a small wooden structure erected in 1836.

On lot No. 10 in the south-east part of the town, is a saw-mill of Oren N. Pitts. On lot No. 7, in the east part of the town, is a Baptist church. The edifice was erected in 1844, at which time the membership was about fifty; at present, the number is about twenty-five, and they have no regular service. On lot 46, in the south-east part of the town, is the creamery and cheese factory of Zira Parce, for the manufacture of butter and skimmed milk cheese.

The first settlements were made about 1796, by Gurdon Wells, Abel Fairchilds, Elisha Catlin, Joseph Pulford, Nathaniel Gray, Wolcott Bennett, Joseph Darling, Jesse Catlin, Aaron Peet, John Wilson, Elisha Blount, Chrisopher Shipman, and others by the name of Backus and Walters.

The first birth was that of Matilda Wells, in 1800, and the first death that of a child of Christopher Shipman. William Bly was the first school teacher; Elisha Catlin kept the first inn; and Fairchild Brothers the first store. Catlin & Shipman built the first saw-mill, and J. Pulford the first grist-mill. The first religious services were held in 1798 by Rev. Seth Williston.

The population of Lincklaen in 1865 was 988 and its area 16,072 acres.

It contains ten school districts with a population of 299, 273 of whom attended school during the past year. The average attendance was 140, and the amount expended for school purposes $1,693.56.