TOWN OF CORNING. 



257 



road facilities are ample, — -one branch of the Erie winding 

 up through the rich valley of the Conhocton to Rochester, 

 another traversing and bringing into close communication 

 the inhabitants and towns of the Canisteo; thence westerly 

 to Dunkirk and Buffalo. The connections made by the 

 Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim, Tioga and Blossburg, 

 stretch out to the coal regions, and penetrate the agri- 

 cultural and lumbering interest of Northern Pennsyl- 

 vania, thus insuring connections of high importance to its 

 permanent growth. Nearly a million tons of bituminous 

 coal find an outlet within her limits, many thousand tons 

 of which are reshipped to various towns and cities East and 

 West. 



INCORPORATION AND OFFICERS. 



The petition for the incorporation of Corning was made 

 in behalf of the people by Horace Gr. Phelps, James C. 

 Davis, and Joseph Herron on the 31st of August, 1848. 

 The petition was granted by Hon. David McMaster, county 

 judge, Sept. 6, 1848, he appointing S. T. Hayt, William 

 Hood, and John P. Shapley, inspectors of election, to take 

 assent of the electors for incorporation. The vote taken 

 Oct. 25, 1848, showed 118 in favor of incorporation and 5 

 against it. The first charter election occurred Jan. 12, 

 1849, and resulted in the choice of the following Board of 

 Trustees : Horace G. Phelps, Laurin Mallory, George T. 

 Spencer, Aaron H. Foster, and James S. Robinson. At 

 the first meeting of the board, Laurin Mallory was elected 

 President, and Thomas Messenger Clerk. At the regular 

 election in March following the same trustees were elected, 

 and Mr. Mallory was re-elected President. 



The Board of Trustees selected their presiding officer 

 until the charter was amended, in 1858, when the president 

 of the village became elective by the people. The following 

 are the names of the presidents of the village from its 

 incorporation, and the years they served : 



1849. Laurin Mallory. 



1850. G. T. Spencer. 



1851. J. B. Graves, M.D. 



1852. A. H. Foster. 



1853. A. H. Foster. 



1854. Merrill Colby. 



1855. Merrill Colby. 



1856. Alexander Olcott. 



1857. Robert Olcott. 



1858. G. D. Williams. 



1859. Jacob II. Lansing. 



1860. Jacob 11. Lansing. 



1861. Hiram Pritchard. 



1862. Hiram Pritchard. 



1863. Chas. G. Denison. 



1861. Cyrus D. SilL 



1865. Chester S. Cole. 



1866. Austin Lathrop, Jr. 



1867. Austin Lathrop, Jr. 



1868. Henry GofF. 



1869. Alonzo H. Gorton. 



1870. George Hitchcock. 



1871. Chas. G. Denison. 



1872. Chas. G. Denison. 



1873. Lewis C. Kingsbury. 



1874. Chester S. Cole. 



1875. John Iloare. 



1876. Joshua B. Graves. 



1877. Chas. G. Denison. 



1878. Edwin Bannister. 



CORNING POST-OFFICE. 



About the year 1840, Mr. Philo P. Hubbell, afterwards 

 clerk of the county, removed the '' Painted Post" post-office 

 from Centreville to Corning. Soon after the inauguration 

 of President Harrison, in 1841, the name was changed to 

 Corning Post-office, and Maj. S. B. Denton was appointed 

 postmaster. Under the administration of President Polk, 

 in 1845, Maj. Denton was superseded by the appointment 

 of John McBurney. The successors of John McBurney 

 were George P. Loveland, Philo P. Hubbell, W. B. Whi- 

 ting, Thomas Messenger, and D. B. Cumpston, until the 

 33 



spring of 1853, when George W. Dyer was appointed post- 

 master. Mr. Dyer commenced a thorough and complete 

 renovation of the office and its appurtenances, making it in 

 appearance and convenience more commensurate with the 

 progressive spirit of the village and the growing wants of 

 the citizens. He erected the commodious building; in which 

 the office remained till 1856, putting therein 500 boxes and 

 drawers in place of the 190 boxes of the old office. After 

 several other changes of location, the office was removed to 

 its present convenient quarters in Brown Block, in 1873. 

 The postmasters since George W. Dyer have been C. C. B. 

 Walker, D. A. Fuller, C. H. Tomson (twelve years), 

 George W. Pratt, and E. Clisdell, the present incumbent. 



FIRE DEPARTMENT. 



On the 4th of January, 1851, the Board of Trustees 

 adopted a resolution that two fire companies be formed. 

 Jan. 10, 1851, Kescue Fire Company No. 1, Rescue Hose 

 Company No. 1, and Bough and Beady Fire Company No. 

 2, and Bough and Beady Hose Company No. 2, were or- 

 ganized ; D. B. Cumpston and Thos. W. Adams, foremen 

 of the first two, and Alexander Olcott, of the latter respect- 

 ively. The name of Bough and Beady was afterwards 

 changed to Neptune. In 1857, Alliance Hook-and-Ladder 

 Company No. 1 was organized, with John Bulmer, fore- 

 man. 



In 1862 the fire department was incorporated with Al- 

 fred Jones as President, and George W. Pratt, Secretary. 

 C. H. Thomson succeeded Mr. Jones, and William Walker, 

 Mr. Pratt. 



The department is now organized as Alliance Hook-and- 

 Ladder Company No. 1, Pritchard Hose Company No. 1, 

 Olcott Hose Company No. 2, and Sherwood Hose Company 

 No. 3 ; A. H. Gorton, President ; C. G. Denison, Vice- 

 President; Thomas H. Thomson, Secretary; Frank 

 Kingsbury, Treasurer; F. W. Jenners, Chief Engineer; 

 H. S. Edson, First Assistant Engineer ; and B. E. Cole, 

 Second Assistant Engineer. 



CANAL COLLECTORS AT CORNING. 



1845-47, Thomas McBurney: 1848, A. M. Fridley ; 

 1849, D. D. Comstock; 1850-51, H. Thurbur; 1852-53, 

 Thomas McBurney; 1854-55, E. Dodge; 1856-57, J. S. 

 Bobinson ; 1858-59, J. H. Lansing ; 1860-61, George W. 

 Pratt; 1862, E. P. Bogers;* 1862, Thomas McBurney; 

 1863-66, George W. Pratt; 1867, Luzerne Todd; 1868- 

 69, Frank B.Brown; 1870-71, Peter Bease; 1872-73, 

 Truman S. Pritchard; 1874-75, Charles G. Denison; 

 1876-78, Nelson L. Somers. 



RAILROADS AND BUSINESS. 



The railroad and shipping enterprise of Corning is a large 

 item in its business. The main line of the Erie Bailway 

 was completed to Corning in December, 1849, and was 

 opened for business in January, 1850. Mr. J. A. Bed- 

 field, of this village, afterwards superintendent of the 

 Northern Central Bail road, was the first agent. Mr. A. T. 



^- Rogers was removed and McBurney appointed in his place the 

 25th June, 1862. 



