TOWN OF CORNING. 



267 



Dr. G-eorge W. Pratt, best known as the veteran editor 

 of the Corning Journal^ was among the early practicing 

 physicians of this village. Dr. Pratt was born in Milo 

 Yates Co., N. Y., in 1821. His father, Joel B. Pratt, 

 came to Painted Post, and settled at the mills, a mile below 

 Corning, in 1834-. Dr. Pratt began his medical studies with 

 Dr. William Turbell, of Corning ; he then studied about 

 two years with Dr. Boynton, at Elmira, and graduated at 

 the Medical College at Geneva, N. Y., in January, 1815. 

 In March of that year he commenced practice in Corning, 

 and practiced till September, 1849, when he removed to 

 Marshajl, Mich., where he practiced and edited a paper till 

 April, 1851, and then returned to Corning and practiced 

 medicine here till 1853, when he bought out Mr. McDow- 

 ell, and became fully engrossed in the Corning Journal^ of 

 which he had become editor and one-third proprietor, in 

 July, 1851. 



Dr. J. B. Graves is one of the oldest practitioners in the 

 village. He was born in Bridport, Vt., in 1806, graduated 

 at Castleton, in that State, in 1828, and practiced medicine 

 in the city of Troy. In 1842 he came to Corning, and in 

 1843 began a successful medical practice, which he still 

 continues. (See biography of Dr. Graves.) 



Dr. Charles M. Graves, son of Dr. J. B. Graves, a grad- 

 ate of the University of Kentucky, practiced in Corning 

 about five years prior to his death. 



Dr. A. T. Mills is a native of Corning, and graduate of 

 the Medical University of New York. In 1863 he com- 

 menced practice with Dr. Graves, and has continued ever 

 since. 



Dr. W. S. Purdy was a former resident and practitioner 

 at Bradford and Addison, and settled in Corning in 1869. 

 He was born in Newburgh, N. Y., and graduated at Geneva 

 in 1S33. 



Dr. A. M. Gamman graduated at the New York Medical 

 College in 1876, and settled as a physician in Corning the 

 same year. 



Dr. William J. Bryan settled in Corning in 1869, and 

 practiced here till his death, in July, 1877. He was a 

 graduate of the Homoeopathic Medical College at Cleveland. 



Dr. E. W. Bryan, brother of the above, and graduate of 

 the same college, began practice here in October, 1877, and 

 until November, 1878, was in partnership with Dr. Gamman. 



Dr. Eber Van Keuren, formerly practicing at Bath and 

 Hammondsport, settled in Corning in February, 1877. He 

 graduated at the Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., 

 in 1845. 



Dr. George Hallenbeck commenced practice as a phy- 

 sician in Corning, in 1876. He is a graduate of the Med- 

 ical Department of the University of New York, in class of 

 1875-76. 



Dr. J. D. Gilbert is in practice at Knoxville. 



Dr. Benedict, deceased ; Dr. N. B. Seeley, now in El- 

 mira ; Dr. B. H. Gilbert, of New York City, the original 

 projector of the Metropolitan Elevated Railway of New 

 York ; and Dr. J. N. Skelton, formerly practiced in Corn- 

 ing. 



FIRES IN CORNING. 



On the 18th of May, 1850, the noon strokes of the 

 tower-clock in the old Presbyterian church steeple were 



continued by a din of alarm-bells, and a dense volume of 

 black smoke rose above the roof of the Corning House, 

 from the shops of the Corning and Blossburg Railroad. 

 The flames immediately communicated with the Corning 

 House, which in an incredibly short time was wrapped in 

 fire. There was no effective fire-apparatus in the village. 

 The wind, strong when the fire broke out, soon increased 

 to a gale. The flames from the Corning House leaped the 

 streets in every direction, and sealed^ the doom of the busi- 

 ness portion of the place. Building after building went 

 under till not a store nor a shop nor a public-house, we 

 believe, remained standing when the disastrous day closed. 

 This catastrophe is known in local history as the ^' great 

 fire." To this day trees may be seen on the south side of 

 Erie Avenue with their front sides scarred with the ex- 

 treme heat. 



In the spring of 1851 a second large fire occurred, start- 

 ing in the barns of the old Clinton House, and destroying 

 nearly all property on the north side of the street to the 

 Dickinson House. 



On the 30th of June, 1856, a most disastrous conflagra- 

 tion again swept the western portion of the business street. 

 The fire broke out in the old foundry of Payne & Olcott, 

 about half-past four o'clock in the afternoon, and burned 

 till near midnight, sweeping both sides of Market Street 

 for nearly a whole block each way. It passed over to Erie 

 Avenue, and destroyed several dwellings, stopping only after 

 the most laborious exertions to stay its progress in the rear 

 of the present Erie Station and Arcade Block. The loss 

 in this fire was set down at $150,000. The two fire- 

 engines did good service, but assistance from Bath was 

 called in. 



Again, on the 16th of July following, the eastern por- 

 tion of Market Street w^as laid in ashes. The fire started 

 in the large wood-built Dyer Block, at three o'clock in the 

 morning, and was not got under control till some time after 

 daylight. Property to the amount of $125,000 was de- 

 stroyed. Many of the fine brick stores which had risen 

 on the ashes of the great fire of 1850 were among the first 

 to succumb. 



Subsequently fire swept through where now is the 

 Arcade Block, destroying a fine stone flouring-mill on the 

 site of the present Erie Passenger Depot, which was re- 

 moved from the extreme west end of town. 



Other minor fires have visited the devoted town, till it 

 has seemed almost a hopeless task for the people to rebuild. 

 Yet, in the face of discouragements and disasters seldom 

 equaled in a place no larger and within so short a number 

 of years, the good village has reached, if not yet the fur- 

 thermost expectation of its founders, yet a place of enduring 

 and growing importance among the towns of the Southern 

 Tier. The trials of its people have not been endured with- 

 out triumphs, and there has been an active, determined 

 spirit on the part of its citizens to build up its institutions 

 on a firm and prosperous foundation. 



MASONIC RECORD. 



We find in the lodge at Corning the following memo- 

 randum, furnished by the late Philo P. Hubbell, of the 

 oldest Masonic organization in Steuben County : 



