JASPER. 



■^(•^ 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



The town of Jasper was erected from that part of Can- 

 isteo comprised in township number two, in the fifth range 

 of the Phdps and Gorham purchase, and a part of Troups- 

 burgh, included in the same township, Jan. 24, 1827. The 

 name was given in honor of Sergeant Jasper, the hero of 

 Fort Moultrie and Savannah Spring. A half a mile was 

 annexed to Greenwood from the west side, in 1848. It 

 has Canisteo and Cameron on the north, Rathbone on the 

 east, Woodhull and Troupsburgh on the south, and Green- 

 wood on the west. The surface is very hilly and broken, 

 the highest summits being over 2000 feet above tide. The 

 streams are small, and for the most part run through deep 

 and narrow valleys. Col. Bill's Creek rises near the resi- 

 dence of P. Ostrander, and runs north to the Canisteo ; 

 the head-waters of Tuscarora Creek rise near the residence 

 of J. S. Whiteman, and run south into Woodhull. The 

 soil of this town is chiefly a slaty, gravelly, and clayey 

 loam. 



early settlement. 



In the fall of 1807 a person standing upon the high- 

 land in the northern part of Jasper, and looking to the 

 south and east, would have been greeted with a sight which, 

 once seen, is never to be forgotton. Far off down the val- 

 ley, the bright green tops of the tall pines floated lazily in 

 the light breeze, their giant trunks revealed in the lowlands 

 nearer by, then blending in the distance like the green of 

 growing grain, covered the entire valley, extending in groups 

 part way up the hill-sides where the yellow of the beech and 

 maple fringed the higher land, while dark-blue strips of 

 hemlock extended up the narrow valleys on either side and 

 became finally lost in the golden glow of autumn, far out 

 over the hills. Away off to the south, beyond a fringe of 

 pines higher than the rest, rises a thin blue smoke, perhaps 

 the camp-fire of some roving hunter. 



Let us descend into the valley in our course towards it. 

 On either side of the narrow ridge the ground, covered 

 with a soft brown carpet of pine leaves, descends into the 

 swampy level of the higher lands where the waters from 

 numerous hill-side springs gather to form the little brook 

 which flows down through the valley. The woods are 

 alive with birds and squirrels. A breaking twig startles a 

 herd of deer, and, with a snort of alarm, they rapidly dis- 

 appear among the tall pines, their clattering hoofs breaking 

 the stillness of the forest with a startling sound. Follow- 

 ing: the course of the little brook the sound of the wood- 

 man's axe breaks the stillness, and leads us over a slight 

 hill to the south. As we reach the ascent, light shines 

 through the open trees and reveals a short distance ahead 

 a small clearing in which a man is busily trimming the 

 342 



limbs from a tall pine upon whose fallen trunk he stands. 

 A few rods beyond is the little cabin. The smoke which 

 led us here rises in lazy wreaths from a burning log, beside 

 which stands the large old-fashioned bake-kettle perched 

 high upon its iron legs and its lid covered with smouldering 

 ashes. Near by stands a pail with one long stave extend- 

 ing upward for a handle, and over the fire swings a black- 

 ened copper kettle. As we enter the opening the chopper, 

 a large muscular man with bare arms and open collar 

 thrown away from his breast, descends from his high 

 perch, and, bidding us welcome with a strong German 

 accent, leads the way to his cabin. This man is Nicholas 

 Prutsman,* and the little blackened acre, half filled with 

 stumps and surrounded with a rude fence of logs and 

 poles, is the first cleared land in the town of Jasper. 



Nicholas Prutsman, Sr., a native of Germany, left the 

 Tioga Valley, with his family and household effects in a 

 wagon, in the spring of 1807, and moving down the valley 

 and up the Canisteo to Addison, followed the course of the 

 Tuscarora Creek, up past the Caleb Smith settlement of the 

 year before, in Woodhull, still farther up the north branch 

 of that stream, clearing a road with his axe as he progressed. 

 At a distance of nine miles above the last settlement he 

 turned to the west, and following a small tributary a mile 

 towards its source, unhitched his team, turned them loose 

 in the woods, and made his camp for the night under a 

 giant oak, seven miles from the nearest habitation. Here, 

 accompanied by his wife and children, he camped while 

 building the little cabin which in after-years was replaced 

 by the old homestead near Marlatt's Corners, the public 

 highway passing under the old " camp oak," directly in 

 front of the house. Mr. Prutsman built the first saw-mill 

 near the Tooo;ood place. His daughter, Sally Prutsman, 

 who was the wife of the late Orrin Kittle, was the first 

 white child born in Jasper, her birth occurring April 28, 

 1808. Adam Brotzman, his brother, came the next year 

 and located at the " five corners," his place being a mile 

 distant, towards the east. 



Andrew Craig, Sr., one of the most prominent men in the 

 town during his life, left Ireland during the great rebellion, 

 at the age of eighteen, and in 1810 left his home near 

 Philadelphia for the new Western country, and was ap- 

 pointed a sub-land-agent for the proprietors in that city. 

 The first night after his arrival was spent by Mr. Craig in 

 an Indian wigwam, near the present village. His farm 

 joined Andrew Simpson's, south, these two farms occupying 

 what is now a beautiful village. Mr. Craig made the first 

 butter for market, his wife going with him to Philadelphia 



* Nicholas spells his name Prutsman, while his brothers Abram 

 and Philip spell theirs Brotzman, their children following their exam- 

 ple. 



