HARTSVILLE. 



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GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



Hartsville lies on the west border of the county, 

 south of the centre, and was erected from Hornellsville, 

 Feb. 7, 1844. The surface is a hilly upland, broken by 

 several deep valleys. The valley of Bennett's Creek ex- 

 tends along the east border of the town, while Purdy Creek 

 flows east through the north part, their valleys being bor- 

 dered by steep hills from four to six hundred feet high. 

 The soil is productive, being for the most part a shaly and 

 clayey loam. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 



Joseph Purdy, a native of Ireland, and for some years a 

 prominent citizen of Steuben County, was the first actual 

 settler in the town of Hartsville. In the year 1810 he 

 moved up the creek which bears his name, and settled in 

 the northwest corner of the present town, occupying a par- 

 tially-completed cabin, which had been commenced and 

 abandoned by a Mr. Brookins the year before. He was 

 the sole occupant of the town until 1819, when Jesse, 

 father of Silas Palmeter, a native of Madison County, 

 Perry Potter, and his brother Andrew, and William D. 

 Burdick, who was a boy of seventeen, and lived with Mr. 

 Potter, settled on the ridge near the head of Crosby Creek, 

 in the northwest part of the town. William D. Burdick 

 " booked," that is, had fifty acres reserved on the books at 

 the land-office for his purchase, when of age, but soon after 

 traded to his brother, who lived over the line in Allegany 

 County, for an old watch. 



Daniel P. Carpenter came from Orange County with an 

 ox-team, in the summer of 1822, and settled on the 

 Vickers place, half a mile below Hartsville Centre, moving- 

 into an unfinished log house, that had been built in the 

 deep woods, which almost closed together above its roof 

 Their only neighbor was Mr. Purdy, two and a half miles 

 down the creek. In October, Frank Powell, father of H. 

 F. Powell, came from Dutchess County, and located below, 

 near the cemetery, living in the old Brookins cabin while 

 building. Mr. Powell was grandfather of Nathaniel and 

 Elisha Purdy. 



This valley was a famous hunting-ground, deer gathering 

 in numbers to feed upon the mosses which clung to the 

 trees in the shady valley. Fearful stories were related by 

 the hunters of the Canisteo Valley, to dissuade people from 

 settling here and spoiling their favorite hunting-ground. 



On the flat, near Hartsville Centre, were found many 

 bent poles, which had been used by the Indians in their 

 camps, and the early pioneers plowed up mortars and other 

 implements about the old cornfield, which was abandoned 

 by the Indians when the white men came into the valley 

 There were several of these cornfields along Purdy's Creek, 



and a large apple-tree stood for some years, below the Purdy 

 place. 



While Mr. Purdy lived in the Brookins house, a fright- 

 ened deer, chased by wolves, sought refuge in the house, 

 and was killed by the family, at a time when they were in 

 such want of provisions that Mrs. Purdy, who was a pious 

 lady, considered it a special dispensation of Providence. 



A young man came over the hills from Allegany County 

 at an early day, and discovering a deer-lick near the head of 

 Purdy Creek, went down to the Canisteo, found the num- 

 bers of the land, and continued on to Bath, in great glee, 

 to enter the land on which to locate a salt-work. He was 

 under age, but received a " booking,'' which reserved the 

 land from entry until he should be old enough to purchase. 

 Beturning to Canisteo, he borrowed a kettle, and with ket- 

 tle, axe, gun, and tinder, returned to the spring and boiled 

 industriously for several days, but obtaining no salt, left in 

 disgust. This place, known as the Birch lick, was a famous 

 place to watch for deer, which were shot in the night as 

 they came to drink. Gravel was scattered where they would 

 rattle when stepped upon, a gun was sighted where the deer 

 was supposed to stand while drinking, supports were fixed 

 under it, and the patient hunter lay in ambush with his 

 gun " set," awaiting the time when the exciting rattle of 

 the gravel should signal him to fire the gun, after which the 

 deer was almost certain to be found. Later, when in the 

 darkness an ox was shot, this risky sport was abandoned 

 for the more laborious trail, where they would be shot while 

 crossing at some favorite point from one hill to another. 



In 1823, William Hudson and John Gransfer located 

 below Mr. Carpenter, on the creek. Ilobert G. Martin set- 

 tled on the present fine farm of Bichard F. Allison, and 

 was married to Mary A. Gleason, a member of Mr. Powell's 

 family, in December of 1828. This, the first wedding in 

 the town, was quite an affair, and was attended by the en- 

 tire population of the valley, consisting of Mr. Hudson and 

 wife, Mr. J. Martin and wife, D. P. Carpenter and wife, 

 John Granger and wife, Mary Carpenter, and Susan Nichols. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Hudson stood up with the happy couple. 

 The ceremony was performed at one o'clock, after which 

 the party sat down to a hearty dinner of baked beans and 

 sausage, and a jovial time was had until it was time to 

 wade back home through the deep snow to do the chores. 

 It was not considered safe to leave a house alone a great 

 while then, lest the wooden chimney should take fire, as 

 was a common occurrence when at home. 



Sarah Ann, daughter of Daniel P. Carpenter, was the 

 first white child born in the town, her birth occurring in 

 January, 1823. The first death was that of Charlotte, 

 daughter of Ebenezer Martin, in 1823. In 1824, Joseph 

 Thompson moved on to the abandoned place of Mr. Hud- 



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