86 



HISTOEY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



many years, and supported their families with the productions of the 

 soil; and they have been treated by the agency with scrupulous jus- 

 tice, and almost unexampled forbearance and kindness. 



" The settlers who have rejected the appraisement I had in view 

 have unfortunately thus deprived me of the services of Mr. Grattan 

 H. Wheeler in the prosecution of my plan of relief. Mr. Wheeler is 

 known to be an independent, judicious, and honest farmer in Steuben 

 County, and a respectable member of our State Senate. I had selected 

 him as the proper person to make the appraisement; but, being now 

 deprived of the benefit of his services, I forbear to notice the qualifi- 

 cations that eminently fitted him to execute the ofiice of appraiser in 

 a manner satisfactory tc all parties. 



" Since the appraisement of the lots by an independent, judicious, 

 and honest farmer appears to be a feature of my plan of relief which 

 is particularly disagreeable to many of the settlers, I shall not persist 

 in having the appraisement made. With this exception, however, it 

 is my fixed purpose to carry the plan fairly into efi'ect. 



*' You will therefore be pleased tt) repeat your invitation to the set- 

 tlers, in all the townships belonging to the estate, to make payments 

 on the contract debts ; and to inform them that, on their making 

 reasonable payments, you are authorized, in all cases where abate- 

 ments are proper, to reduce the contract debts according to the equit- 

 able and liberal principles of my plan of relief; and also to allow 

 them easy annual installments for the payment of the balances. The 

 applications for reducing the contract debts should claim your partic- 

 ular attention, and you are requested to favor the applicants with 

 every equitable and liberal relief their situation may require, and 

 your information may qualify you to grant. With respect to applica- 

 tions from settlers in the townships which Mr. Fowler has examined, 

 I imagine you already have sufficient light to guide your judgment; 

 and as to applications from settlers in the townships which have not 

 been examined, it is my desire that you grant them such relief as 

 prudence may recommenl under the limited information within your 

 reach. 



"I have heard, with much gratification, that, notwithstanding the 

 settlers have been advised to the contrary, a respectable number of 

 them have made payments, and taken new contracts at abated prices. 

 I cannot help cherishing a hope that their prudent and upright con- 

 duct will be followed by the other settlers in the several townships. 



*' I shall wait a reasonable time on the settlers who have resolved to 

 suspend payments, with the expectation that, on their calmer reflec- 

 tion, they will see the good sense of abandoning the ground they have 

 taken. But, if a reasonable time should elapse without receiving 

 payments from them, it will then become my imperious duty, however 

 painful to me its execution, to take leyal measures to enforce the per- 

 formance of contracts which the settlers have so willingly and fairly 

 entered into. And, in taking such measures, I do not entertain the 

 smallest doubt but that the wholesome laws of the State, and its con- 

 stituted authorities, will aff"ord the same just and effectual protection 

 to the rights of my principals which they have uniformly afforded to 

 the rights of all other owners of real property in the State. 



"■ I have thus explained, and I hope with clearness, the course of 

 policy which, after dispassionate and deep deliberation, I have adopted 

 for the conduct of my agency. The course is sanctioned by my judg- 

 ment and approved by my conscience. I shall pursue it with steady 

 and firm steps, without turning to the right or to the left. It is not 

 my intention to be the first land-agent in the State to set the danger- 

 ous example of yielding to an attack on the rights of property; nor 

 is it my intention to submit to the dictation of any combination of 

 men, be it ever so numerous, that is formed to force me from the 

 direct path of duty in the management of the great trust committed 

 to my charge. 



" Faithfully to fulfill these intentions I conceive to be a solemn obli- 

 gation which, as an agent, I owe to the interests of the worthy family 

 that has honored me with its confidence. I conceive it likewise to be 

 a solemn obligation which, as a citizen, I owe to the high reputation 

 our State sustains for its wise, impartial, and energetic administration 

 of the laws ; to the rights of all the owners of real property in the 

 State, whom, to a certain extent, on this occasion I may be truly said 

 to represent; and also to the welfare of every other class of my fellow- 

 citizens, whose prosperity and happiness are inseparably connected 

 with the preservation of the rights of property, — rights which consti- 

 tute the main pillar that supports the fabric of our free and excellent 

 government. 



^' For the general information of the settlers, I request you to have 



this letter published in the Bath and Angelica newspapers; and in all 

 your dealings with the settlers it is my wish that you treat them with 

 the courtesy and kindness becoming your station and the character 

 of the agency. 



" With great respect, 



" I am, dear sir, 



^^Your humble servant, 



"Robert Troup. 

 "Wm. W. M'Cay, Esq." 



CHAPTER XYIII. 



SOCIETIES. 



Steuben County Medical Society — Steuben County Homoeopathic 

 Medical Society — Southern Tier Homoeopathic Medical Associa- 

 tion — Hornellsville Academy of Medicine — Steuben County Agri- 

 cultural Society. 



STEUBEN COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



This society was organized prior to 1818, the records 

 not showing the exact date. It consists of the major part 

 of physicians of the county, convened for the purpose of 

 professional and social advancement. Its first president, as 

 shown by the minutes, was Dr. Warren Patchin, who was 

 elected in the year 1818. The eldest living member is Dr. 

 James Faulkner, now of Dansville, Livingston Co. He 

 attended the first recorded meeting sixty-one years ago. 

 The society has held since that date annual and semi- 

 annual meetings at Bath, Dansville, Corning, Reading, and 

 Hornellsville (Dansville and Reading were at date of or- 

 ganization in Steuben County). The society has labored 

 under some difficulties, chief of which has been the widely- 

 separated location of its members. It has been useful to 

 physicians of the county in a professional and social way, 

 giving opportunity for consulting concerning cases and com- 

 paring modes of practice. This organization has been the 

 greater prized, as many of its members have been in rural 

 districts at a distance from professional brethren. The 

 older members were exposed to many hardships. Their 

 patients were widely scattered in small openings in the 

 primitive forests ; the roads, illy made, often mere bridle- 

 paths. In the heat of the day and in the darkness of the 

 night, in sunshine and in storm, these men have done an 

 arduous, important, and often unrequited duty to the in- 

 habitants of the county ; and, in the main, they have 

 done it well. Many are the associations of joy and sorrow, 

 sickness, accident, and death that will be recalled by the 

 perusal of the following list of members of this honorable 

 body. It will be seen that many have finished their labors 

 and gone to their rewards. The first twenty names oh the 

 list were members prior to 1820. 



John D. Higgins,* Bath. 



Willis F. Clark.* 



Warren Patchin,* Patchinsville. 



Samuel Gorton.* 



James Faulkner, Dansville. 



Enos Barnes, died at Geneva. 



John Warner.* 



James Warden, died at Mead's Creek. 



Andrew Kingsbury.* 



* Deceased. 



