TOWN OF CAMPBELL. 



209 



from falling. Then Nute attempted to shoot, but his gun 

 would not go oiF, so Ben reloaded his gun. The hunter 

 then shot and brought him down dead. One man could 

 not lift him from the ground. They turned the skin oiFas 

 whole as they could ; filled it with straw. It looked quite 

 natural. It measured eight feet from the end of its nose 

 to the tip of its tail. Benjamin Patterson, well known 

 about Painted Post and Corning, saw it, and said he had 

 killed many of them, but he never saw as large a one as 

 that."* 



The first grist-mill was built by Gen. John Knox and 

 Archa Campbell, in 1812. It stood across the race from 

 the present flouring-mills of Bemis & McKay. 



In 1846 a saw- and grist-mill combined was built by 

 Marcus Wheelock for Andrew Langdon, where the Bemis 

 saw-mill now stands. Mr. Samuel Cornell, now residing 

 with his son-in-law Emmons Abel, was many years miller 

 in this mill. He is the father of John Cornell, of Bath, 

 and Johnson Cornell, of Cooper's Plains, and is now eighty- 

 four years of age. 



mead's creek colony. 



David Holmes and his brother William were the original 

 owners of the lands on Mead's Creek, in the eastern part 

 of the town. They traded their wild lands here with the 

 first settlers for small farms in Vermont. The offer to ex- 

 change in this manner induced quite a colony to emigrate 

 to this part of the town in 1816. The original colonists 

 were Jonas and Jacob Woodward, Hinsdale Hammond, and 

 Stephen Corbin, from Windham Co., Yt. Jonas Wood- 

 ward had a family of eleven children, and his son Jacob, 

 still living near the old homestead, was a young married 

 man when they came to the town. From his remarkably 

 clear recollection we have elicited the following facts con- 

 cerning the old settlers : 



The colony came in 1816. The next year Sampson 

 Bixby and his son Amasa settled in the edge of what is 

 now Hornby. Mr. Hammond settled on the place where 

 the Hendersons and Mr. Welch now reside. Seth Hammond 

 settled on the Mead's Creek road, where I. F. Dibble now 

 lives. Jonas Woodward settled on the Harmon Stevens 

 place, un Mead's Creek, and Jacob Woodward on the place 

 now occupied by Mr. Anthony Brown. He built here his 

 first log house, in 1817. About ten years later he settled 

 on the first farm over the Hornby town line, where he 

 resided about twenty years. Then he exchanged his farm 

 with Amos Bixby for the place which he now owns on 

 Dry Bun, and where he has resided for the past thirty 

 years. 



Of the original settlers all are dead except Jacob Wood- 

 ward. He was born in Windham Co., Yt., Jan. 2, 1794, 

 and is consequently in his eighty-sixth year. Jonas and 

 Benjamin Stevens, Mrs. Lucy Teeple, and Mr. Woodward 

 are the oldest settlers now left in town. Alson Pierce, 

 whose place is just over the line, in the town of Erwin, 

 settled here from Windham Co., Yt., in 1814. 



Z. W. Woodward, son of Jacob, is a citizen of the town, 

 residing on the old homestead. Demis Woodward, now 



*Mr. Stevens wrote this sketch at the age of seventy-five. 



27 



Mrs. S. N. Everett, a daughter of Jacob Woodward, re- 

 sides on the farm adjoining the old homestead. A daugh- 

 ter of Hinsdale Hammond, who was born in Yermont, and 

 came here with the family, is still living in Hornby. Her 

 name is Bachel, widow of the late Jonathan Bemington, 

 who came to the town about 1818. 



When the colonists came here there was a little patch of 

 land which had been cleared by Cyrus Ames, the hunter, 

 on the place where Jonas Woodward settled, on which was 

 a little log cabin. All the rest of the valley was an un- 

 broken wilderness. The hunter's cabin was made the com- 

 mon stopping-place of the settlers till they could get their 

 own cabins ready for occupancy. 



Of the eleven children of Jonas Woodward whom he 

 brought with him to this valley, eight are yet living. Two 

 daughters — Mrs. Lucy Davis and Mrs. Olive Wheeler — 

 reside in Bradford. 



The first school in the settlement was taught in the hun- 

 ter's cabin, by Rhoda Simmons, in 1817. The next school 

 was taught in a frame barn. Betsey, wife of Joseph Wood- 

 ward, and Mrs. Davis, his sister, were among the early 

 teachers. The first school-house proper was a log building 

 on land now owned by David Cook. 



The little colony from Yermont were mostly Baptists. 

 On the 22d of February, 1828, they organized what was 

 known as the " First Baptist Church of Painted Post," 

 Rev. Jonathan Stone, pastor. They held services in private 

 houses and at the first school-house. About 1840, they, 

 with others, built the Baptist church at Cooper's Plains, 

 where the members in this neighborhood now attend wor- 

 ship. Rev. A. Tilden, pastor. 



ORGANIZATION. 



The act for the organization of the town was passed 

 April 15, 1831. The first town-meeting was held at the 

 house of Samuel Bestly, at which Daniel Clark was elected 

 Supervisor ; Milo Hurd, Town Clerk ; William Stewart, 

 Samuel Cook, Daniel Horton, Assessors ; John H. Burritt, 

 William Stewart, Selah Hammond, Commissioners of High- 

 ways ; Joseph Stevens, Plyna Cobb, Overseers of the Poor ; 

 Holace Corbin, Frederick Stewart, Miner Campbell, Com- 

 missioners of Schools ; Milo Hurd, Harvey Burritt, Daniel 

 Horton, Inspectors of Schools ; Aden J. Pratt, Collector ; 

 Aden J. Pratt, John Bobbins, Jr., Constables ; Parley 

 Seamans, Alvin Corbin, Justices of the Peace. The town 

 was divided into fourteen road districts, of which the fol- 

 lowing persons were overseers in the order named, beginning 

 with District No. 1 : Richard Gregory, Samuel Bestly, 

 Daniel Clark, Gilbert Reed, Benjamin F. Balcom, Alson 

 Pierce, Peter Covenhoven, Stephen Boy den, Moses Ham- 

 mond, Moses Woodworth, Salmon Hunsinger, Salmon 

 Dickinson, Parley Seamans, Hosea Bobbins. 



LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS. 



Supervisors. Town Clerks. Collectors. 



1832. Daniel Clark. Milo Hurd. A. J. Pratt. 



1833. William D. Knox. Harvey Burritt. " " 



1834. " '' Daniel Clark. Minor C. Nute. 



1835. Benjamin Farwell. Jared Stevens*. " " 



1836. ** " Frederick Stewart. " " 



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