TOWN OF ERWIN. 



293 



run night and day, and is under the efficient management 

 of Mr. Charles Iredell. The products are shipped directly 

 from the works to all parts of this continent, and to 

 Europe. 



Since 1855, tobacco has been successfully raised in the 

 valleys, and nearly an hundred acres are annually planted 

 in the town. Calvin Lovell, Esq., residing on a farm near 

 the Gang-Mills, is the pioneer in the culture of this lucra- 

 tive production. 



About three o'clock a.m. on the morning of the 7th 

 of May, 1860, a fire was discovered in the foundry then 

 owned by Messrs. Curtis, Erwin, Brooks & Co. It spread 

 rapidly and consumed the foundry block and buildings, the 

 barn of the company, the barns, livery-stable, and market 

 of the hotel, five dwellings and five barns on the north side 

 of Water Street, and four stores, wagon-, and blacksmith- 

 shop on the south side. It was estimated that more than 

 $50,000 worth of property above insurance was destroyed. 



The same year Messrs. A. Weston, Wm. C. Bronson, 

 Charles H. Erwin, and Wm. II. Calkins rebuilt the foun- 

 dry and machine-shops, to which they have added at various 

 times since. In 1865, with the addition of Maj. McGrath 

 to the company, they erected the extensive door-, sash-, and 

 blind-factory, which flourished a few years and was then 

 abandoned. 



The large three-story brick block on the corner of Ham- 

 ilton and Water Streets was erected by Wm. C. Bronson, 

 in 1860. In 1869, Dr. Orcott's drug-store and H. D. 

 Edwards' jeweler-store were added. 



In 1870, Wm. C. Bronson and Harris C. Higman opened 

 a bank in the Bronson Block. In 1872 these gentlemen 

 purchased the Bank of Cayuga Lake, and Mr. Bronson 

 the building of C. F. Piatt. Mr. Bronson immediately 

 commenced the enlargement and rebuilding of the old 

 bank, adding an iron and plate-glass front and another 

 story. In January, 1873, Mr. Bronson purchased Mr. 

 Higraan's interest and became sole proprietor. 



In 1872, Mr. Bronson built on his lot, in front of the 

 Erie depot, an iron-roofed, fire-proof planing-mill, and in 

 1873 opened, with George Dorn and Alva Bronson, an 

 extensive lumber-yard. This mill has a capacity of 50,000 

 feet of dressed lumber per day. 



On the 28th of February, 1873, the village was scourged 

 with another desolating fire. All the buildings Jbetween 

 Hamilton Street and the Erie railway-crossing, on the 

 south side of Water Street, including the Empire Block, 

 were consumed. Nearly all of these buildings have since 

 been replaced by better structures. 



NEWSPAPERS. 



The first newspaper started in the village was the Painted 

 Post Gazette^ in the year 1846, by Mr. Fairchild. It con- 

 tinued to be issued only a few months. In May, 1848, 

 Messrs. Ransom Bennett and B. M. Hawley commenced 

 the publication of the Painted Post Herald^ which was 

 continued about one year. 



In October, 1870, Wm. C. Bronson, H. C. Higman, and 

 S. H. Ferenbaugh began the publication of the Painted 

 Post Times. Mr. Higman retired in 1872. The paper 

 has lately been discontinued. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL. 



John E. Evans taught the first school in the village, or 

 rather in the pioneer settlement ; for it was a quarter of a 

 century at least before the village was laid out. " The first 

 school-house," says Mr. Erwin, " that we recollect, was 

 situated on the site of the dwelling now occupied by E. S. 

 Borland, which is also Messrs. Hodgman's farm-house. This 

 school-house was built of plank, and the rent of ground 

 given by Capt. Samuel Erwin. The next one was built on 

 the south side of the river, and is now used as a dwelling 

 by Mrs. Hallack. In 1848 or 1849, the late Arthur Erwin 

 built a large two-story frame building on the south side of 

 the river, nearly opposite the residence of the late C. J. 

 Chatfield. This building was rented to the district, together 

 with two acres of ground, for $100 per annum, to be used 

 for a district school. The main building was some 50 by 

 75 feet, with a projecting gable, supported by four large 

 pillars in front, and a wing on the north and south sides, 

 making a front upon the street of about one hundred feet. 

 It was used by the district school till 1868, when the pres- 

 ent model brick school-house on Charles Street was built, 

 at an expense of $14,000, including the lot and furniture. 

 William C. Bronson was the contractor, and Maj. M. H. 

 McGrath the architect. The old building, after being 

 abandoned for school purposes, was converted into a tobacco 

 warehouse, and was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1871. 



The public school is a union free school, with an academic 

 department. It is provided with a valuable library of mis- 

 cellaneous books and works of reference, has a fine lot of 

 new apparatus for performing philosophical and other experi- 

 ments, and is received under visitation of the Begents. 



The school has been designated by them to instruct a 

 teachers' class during the winter term, beginning Jan. 6, 

 1879, in methods of teaching, school management, and in 

 general normal training. 



Board of Education. — S. B. Howell, President ; E. H. 

 Smith, Secretary ;' W. H. Calkins, J. Z. Wilder, A. F. 

 Timerman ; J. Monroe Smith, Treasurer. 



FacuIhj.—¥^. W. Griffith, Principal; Bell S. Arnold, 

 Academic Assistant ; Florence E. Willson, Intermediate 

 Department ; Minerva D. McCarty, Primary Department. 



Calendar. — Winter Term commences Jan. 6, 1879 ; 

 closes April 4; Spring Term commences April 14, 1879; 

 closes June 27. 



Rates of Tuition. — All actual residents, free ; non-resi- 

 dents as follows : Academic Department, per term, $5 ; 

 Primary and Intermediate Departments, $3. 



Attendance during the past school year, 160 ; Academic 

 Department, 75. 



cooper's plains. 



We learn from Mr. Alson Pierce, an early resident of 

 Cooper's Plains, that one John Williams, a " Hessian," 

 who had been taken prisoner at Burgoyne's surrender at 

 Saratoga, settled on lands adjoining the town line between 

 Erwin and Campbell about 1795. In 1814 part of this 

 land was bought by Judge McBurney, and in 1815, Alson 

 Pierce and the two Cobbs purchased most of the remainder. 

 Mr. Pierce came from the State of Vermont, and at the 

 time of his settlement there was a road leading from 



