TOWN OF BATH. 



1G5 



and gave their bonds for thousands and hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars, which was the ruin of all who embarked 

 in such foolish speculations. They became the victims of 

 a monomania. Capt. Williamson believed that this specu- 

 lation would hasten the settlement of the country, but its 

 tendency proved to be the reverse. Besides, it was the 

 ruin of many honest, enterprising, and industrious men. 



" The next project that claimed his attention was the im- 

 provement of our streams. They were then called creeks, 

 but when they came to be improved, and were made navi- 

 gable for arks and rafts, their names were changed to those 

 of rivers. The colonel ordered the Conhocton and Mud 

 Creeks to be explored by a competent committee, and a 

 report to be made, and an estimate of the probable expense 

 required to make them navigable for arks and rafts. The 

 report of the committee was favorable. A number of hands 

 were employed to remove obstructions and open a passage 

 to Painted Post, which was done, though the channel still 

 remained very imperfect and dangerous.* 



" The question was then asked. Who shall be the first ad- 

 venturer? We had not as yet any surplus produce to 

 spare, but lumber was a staple commodity, and was in great 

 demand at Harrisburg, Columbia, and Baltimore. I there- 

 fore came to the conclusion to try the experiment the next 

 spring. I went to work and built an ark 75 feet long and 

 16 feet wide, and in the course of the winter got out a 

 cargo of pipe and hogshead staves, which I knew would 

 turn to good account should I arrive safely at Baltimore. 

 All things being ready, with a cargo on board, a good pitch 

 of water, and a first-rate set of hands, we put out our un- 

 wieldy vessel into the stream, and away we went at a rapid 

 rate, and in about half an hour reached White's Island, five 

 miles below Bath. There we ran against a large tree which 

 lay across the river. We made fast our ark to the shore, 

 cut away the tree, repaired damages, and next morning 

 took a fair start. It is unnecessary to state in detail the 

 many difficulties we encountered before we reached Painted 

 Post, but in about six days we got there. The Chemung 

 Biver had fallen so low that we were obliged to wait for 

 a rise of water. In four or five days we were favored 

 with a good pitch of water. We made a fresh start, and in 

 four days ran two hundred miles, to Mohontongo, a place 

 twenty miles from Harrisburg, where, through the igno- 

 rance of the pilot, we ran upon a bar of rocks in the middle 

 of the river, where it was one mile wide. There we lay 

 twenty-four hours, no one coming to our relief, or to take 

 us on shore. At last a couple of gentlemen came on board, 

 and told us it was impossible to get the ark ofi' till a rise of 

 water. One of the gentlemen inquired, apparently very 

 carelessly, what it cost to build an ark of that size, and how 

 many thousand staves we had on board. I suspected his 

 object, and answered him in his own careless manner. He 

 asked if I did not wish to sell the ark and cargo. I told 

 him I would prefer going through if there was any chance 

 of a rise of water ; that pipe-staves in Baltimore were worth 

 $80 per thousand, but if you wish to purchase, and will 

 make me a generous ofi'er, I wall take it. He offered me 



* The Conhocton was declared navigable above Liberty Corners. 

 The first attempt at clearing the channel was made on the strength 

 of a fund of $700, raised by subscription. 



$600. I told him that was hardly half the price of the 

 cargo at Baltimore, but if he would give me $800, I would 

 close the bargain with him. He said he had a horse, 

 saddle, and bridle on shore, worth $200, which he would 

 add to the $600. We all went on shore. I examined the 

 horse, and considered him worth the $200. We closed the 

 bargain, and I started for Bath. I lost nothing by the 

 sale, but if I had succeeded in reaching Baltimore I should 

 have cleared $500. 



" The same spring Jacob Bartles and his brother-in-law^ 

 Mr. Harvey, made their way down Mud Creek, with one 

 ark and some rafts. Bartles' mill-pond and Mud Lake 

 afforded water sufficient at any time, by drawing a gate, to 

 carry arks and rafts out of the creek. Harvey lived on the 

 West Branch of the Susquehanna, and understood the man- 

 agement of such crafts. 



" Thus it w^as ascertained to a certainty that, by improv- 

 ing these streams, we could transport our produce to Balti- 

 more — a distance of three hundred miles — in the spring of 

 the year for a mere trifle. 



"In the year 1795 I went to Albany on horseback. 

 There was no road from Cayuga Lake to Utica better than 

 an Indian trail. ... I had got it into my head to dispose 

 of my chest of tools and turn merchant. I therefore set- 

 tled my accounts with Col. Williamson. He gave me a 

 draft on a house in Albany for $1500, accompanied by let- 

 ters of recommendation. I laid in a large assortment of 

 merchandise and shipped them on board a Mohawk boat. 

 Being late in the fall, the winter set in and the boat got 

 frozen up in the river about thirty miles west of Schenecr 

 tady, at a place called the Cross Widow's, otherwise called 

 the Widow Yeder's. Here the goods lay for about two 

 months, till a sleigh-road was opened from Utica to Cayuga 

 Lake. About the last of January I started with sleighs 

 after my goods, and in two weeks arrived at Bath. 



" I have already mentioned that Col. Williamson ex- 

 pended a good deal of money in improving a number of 

 farms and erecting a number of buildings on them, which 

 gave employment to many hands.f These hands were my 

 best customers, and paid up their accounts every three 

 months by orders on Williamson ; but orders came from 

 England to stop such improvements, and shortly after Col. 

 Williamson resigned his agency. Those tenants and labor- 

 ers got in my debt at this time about $4000, and in one 

 night the whole of them cleared out for Canada. They 

 were a sad set of unprincipled scamps. 



" My next start in business was attended with a little 

 better success. My brother Charles kept a small store in 

 Bath, and in the year 1800 we entered into partnership. 

 I moved to Dansville, opened a store, and remained there 

 one year. I did a safe business, and took in that winter 

 4000 bushels of wheat and 200 barrels of pork ; built four 

 arks at Arkport, on the Canisteo River, and ran them down 

 to Baltimore. These were the first arks that descended the 



-j- The author of McMaster's history makes this note : Several of 

 the Haverling, Brundage, and Faulkner farms, north of the village 

 of Bath, were cleared by Capt. Williamson. He built large framed 

 barns on them and settled them with tenants. The scheme was a 

 failure. After Capt. W.'s departure the farms were almost hopelessly 

 overrun with oak-bushes. 



