TI)c Roll of Pioneer Lumbermen. 



IT may fairly be assumed that in each locality throughout the State the com- 

 mencement of the lumber industry was coincident with the erection of the 

 first sawmill, all work before that being confined to individuals who labored 

 to supply their personal needs only. But with the building of a mill there would 

 ensue a combination of labor to supply a general demand, which constituted to 

 some extent what is known as lumbering operations. 



In the statistics appended here there will be found the year when the first 

 settler located in each town mentioned, the list including the greater part of the 

 State ; also, the year in which the first sawmill was built in that town, together 

 with the name of the pioneer who built it. It is understood that most of these 

 towns had no existence then as such, but were set off or constituted subse- 

 quently ; and the date here given means that the first settlement or erection of a 

 sawmill occurred at that time in a locality which to-day is within the town named. 



The historical facts thus given were compiled by the author from the various 

 town and county records in the State Library at Albany. JNIuch valuable infor- 

 mation relating to the first settlement of each town was found in Hough's Gazeteer 

 of the State of New York ; and some interesting facts connected with colonial 

 times were obtained from Dr. O'Callaghan's Documentary History of New York. 



As this part of the work necessitated a careful examination of the early history 

 of each one of the 977 towns in the State, it will be seen that the task required 

 no small amount of time and patience. But the information thus obtained and set 

 forth here will be of little interest to the general reader ; and so the question may 

 arise as to \vhether the result is worth the cost. In answer it should be said that 

 any history of the lumber industry must properly commence with the beginning 

 of that industry ; and that there was no other way to determine definitely when it 

 commenced in the various localities throughout the State except by ascertaining 

 the date when the first sawmills were put in operation. 



It may be noticed that the list is incomplete as regards some of the towns in 



the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. An exhaustive examination was made of the 



town and colonial records relating to that region, but with only partial success, as 



but little mention is made in them of the erection of sawmills, or of the lumber 



industry. 



285 



