C O H O T O N". 



-<♦►- 



GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION. 



This town is situated in the northern border of the 

 county west of the centre, and is bounded north by Ontario 

 County, east by Prattsburgh, south by x\voca and part of 

 Howard, and west by Way land and part of Fremont. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



The surface of the town is mostly a hilly upland, sepa- 

 rated into ridges by deep and narrow valleys. The princi- 

 pal stream is the Conhocton River, which flows in a south- 

 erly direction through the centre of the town, and is bordered 

 by a rich valley varying from a quarter of a mile to a mile 

 in width. The soil of the valley of the Conhocton is allu- 

 vium mixed with clay and loam, and is very productive, 

 while a slaty and gravelly loam prevails chiefly on the up- 

 lands. These uplands, however, or hills, as they are called, 

 such as Lent Hill and Potter Hill, are among the best farm- 

 ing lands in the town, the only waste lands being along the 

 steep declivities of the hills and ravines. The town is 

 watered with many clear brooks and springs, and is well 

 adapted to grain, fruit, grazing, and dairy purposes. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 



Shortly after the settlement of Bath, about 1794, Joseph 

 Biven was sent by Col. Charles Williamson to erect a tavern, 

 for the accommodation of settlers, on the Pulteney estate, 

 in the north part of what is now the town of Cohocton. 

 Little is known of Mr. Biven except that he located his 

 tavern at a point then known as the " Twenty-two Mile 

 Tree." After roads were laid out through that section, the 

 place was known as " Biven 's Corners." It is now North 

 Cohocton, a name which it has borne since the post-office 

 was established here in 1828. The site of the original 

 tavern was that on which William Yan Biper now keeps a 

 hotel. Frederick Blood, one of the early settlers of the 

 town, kept a hotel on this corner for many years. He was 

 the father of John, Asa, Avery, Ziba, and Frederick Blood, 

 Jr. The latter resided till his death on the farm, since 

 divided between Harvey Johnson and Alonzo Parks ; he 

 was the father of the present Mrs. Oliver Bice, proprietor 

 of the Mountain View Hotel, at Blood's Station. Asa, 

 John, and Ziba removed to the West many years ago; 

 Avery died in North Cohocton, at the house of his sister 

 Harriet, widow of the late Isaac Leggett. 



Frederick Blood was a native of Germany, and came to 

 this town from Ballston, Saratoga Co., N. Y. He had 

 been enticed into the naval service in his native country 

 when quite a small lad, and had come to America as a 

 drummer-boy on board a man-of-war. 



In 1802, James Woodard, from Yermont, settled in the 

 town, with a large family of sons, among whom were Aruna 



and Obadiah Woodard. James Woodard settled on the 

 place where George Waldron now resides, and built a log 

 cabin. His son, Aruna, settled on the place now occupied 

 by David S. Wait. For several years their cabins were the 

 only landmarks in that neighborhood, Naples, in Ontario 

 County, being the nearest settlement where anything but 

 the rudest frontier comforts could be obtained. 



Jonas Cleland and his son, James Cleland, now the oldest 

 settler in Cohocton, came into the town from Pompey, 

 Onondaga Co., in 1805. At that time there was not' a 

 house from Naples to Avoca, except the cabins of the Wood- 

 ards, above mentioned, and the house of Joseph Shattuck, 

 uncle of Hon. Stephen D. Shattuck, at the corners where 

 the village of Liberty now stands. This house was a prom- 

 inent one in the town, was one of the earliest hotels, and, 

 on account of its convenience and central location, was the 

 place for holding the town-meetings for many years after 

 the town was organized 



The first house between Liberty and Avoca was built by 

 Jonas Cleland, in 1805, or early in 1806. It stood near 

 the Davis Creek, not far from the barn afterwards built and 

 owned by Albertus Larrowe, grandfather of the present 

 owner. Mr. Cleland bought of the Pulteney estate a tract 

 of land a mile square, south of Liberty, for twelve shillings 

 an acre. On a portion of it he built a house, which he sold, 

 together with part of the land, to Albertus Larrowe, and 

 then built another house, where he settled with his family, 

 just south of the Davis Mill, now owned by Thomas War- 

 ner. He also built the first saw- and grist-mill in the town 

 of Cohocton. The saw-mill stood on the site of the present 

 Warner Mill ; the grist-mill was built on the opposite side 

 of the road from Mr. Cleland's house, the road then running 

 down on the flat instead of where it now does. The saw- 

 mill was built about 1808 ; the irons used in it were manu- 

 factured in Europe, and had been left on the spot by Col. 

 Williamson, who had undertaken to build a mill here prior 

 to his retirement from the agency of the Pulteney estate, 

 and had proceeded so far as to get out the timber for the 

 dam, and make other preparations for building. Being 

 called from the agency unexpectedly, the work was left un- 

 finished, and the materials and irons, a few years after, were 

 used by Mr. Cleland in carrying out the original purpose 

 for the benefit of the settlers. 



The grist-mill built by Mr. Cleland at a somewhat later 

 date, was a great boon to the early settlers. Before its 

 erection they had to go on horseback with their grists to 

 Naples or to Dansville, the roads being such at that early 

 day as not to admit of traveling with any wheeled vehicle. 



Alvin Talbot came into the town soon after, and settled 

 on the Dusenberry farm. Ezra Parker settled on the old 

 Dewey place, now owned by James Cleland. Job Briggs 



237 



