388 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



lished, and meetings were regularly held by the ministers 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and occasionally by 

 Rev. 0. P. Alderman. A Sunday-school was also opened 

 with a large attendance. A Masonic lodge was established, 

 E. P. Mulford being the first Worshipful Master. Good 

 Templars held their sessions in the same hall, which was in 

 the upper story of the boarding-house, and the " Know 

 Nothings," who were traced to the bushes under the large 

 apple-tree in the front yard, were said to have also held 

 their meetings there. A post-office was opened in 1853, 

 and Noble H. Rising was made postmaster. 



The white-pine edgings, which accumulated rapidly at 

 the mill, were run out on an elevated railway and thrown 

 upon the ground, until the pile was high enough to extend 

 the temporary track upon its top. When a mound had 

 been formed some 40 feet in diameter, the railway was 

 removed and the pile was fired, to destroy the encumbrance 

 of so much wood. While it was building, the whole settle- 

 ment supplied their fires with fuel from this pile. 



The business of the town centred at Risingville for 

 several years, through the influence of lumbering, and the 

 yellow paper money of the Bank of Goshen, familiarly 

 called " butter money," with which the hands were paid, 

 became well known throughout the town. 



Turbell & Co. had some 2000 acres of heavy pine lands, 

 which were gradually made into small farms after the lum- 

 bering ceased. The settlement was finally abandoned, and 

 the old buildings have been removed or fallen into decay. 

 The old mill was destroyed by fire, and has since been 

 replaced by a small grist-mill, the first in the town, which 

 was erected by Eber Fisk, in 1874. 



The principal occupant and present owner of the valley 

 which comprised this settlement is James Jerry, a native 

 of Berthier, Montreal, Canada, who came to the settlement 

 as a sawyer in the mill, but is now one of the most influ- 

 ential citizens and a leading dairy farmer of the town. 

 His residence, on the site of the old house where the log 

 teamsters boarded and held their boisterous carnivals, is 

 one of the finest in Thurston. The family of Thomas 

 Spencer, who came from Springwater in 1853, occupies the 

 Noble Rising place, and a neat little church has been added 

 to the settlement, which also contains a school-house, two 

 stores, and five other residences. Mr. Carty Wright, a 

 farmer, a short distance below the grist-mill, and William 

 and James Hanrihan, who settled in the southwest corner 

 of the town, first came to work in the Turbell mill. 



John Richtmyer settled a mile north of Risingville, in 

 1848. His son, William Richtmyer, is a prominent farmer, 

 and has been supervisor of the town. H. G. Willard was 

 one of the earliest settlers on the hill to the east. 



There are two cheese-factories in the town, one on Bonny 

 Hill, and another opened in 1875, by John Adamson, in 

 the southwest. 



Leonard Aldrich and Lyman H. Phillips, residents of 

 Merchantville, have both filled the office of justice of ses- 

 sions. 



ORGANIZATION. 



This town was named in honor of William B. Thurston, 

 a member of the Society of Friends or " Quakers," and one 

 of the principal land-owners of the town. 



At the first annual election of the town of Thurston, held 

 in the house of Joseph Cross, on the present Beaton place, 

 on North Hill, April 2, 1844, the following officers were 

 elected : Joseph Cross, Supervisor ; Noble H. Rising, Town 

 Clerk ; John S. De Pue, Henry Briggs, Peter D. Edsell, 

 Arnold Payne, Justices of the Peace ; Henry Rising, James 

 L. Ostrander, Fenner Eddy, Assessors; William Jack, 

 Amos Fluent, Jared Goodsell, Commissioners of Highways ; 

 Stephen Wakeman, Abijah Youmans, Overseers of the 

 Poor; John S. Eddy, Collector; Oliver Stewart, Oliver 

 Baker, James A. Booth, Jefi'erson Moore, Nathan Stephens, 

 Constables ; Warner A. Aldrich, Samuel R. Creveling, 

 Aaron R. De Pue, Inspectors of Election. 



LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS. 



Supervisors. 



1844. Joseph Cross. 



1845. Fenner Eddy. 



1846. " " 



1847. " '' 



1848. " " 



1849. John S. De Pue. 



1850. " '' 



1851. Noble H. Rising. 



1852. Cornelius Bouton. 



1853. '' " 



1854. John Royce. 



1855. " " 



1856. John S. De Pue. 



1857. " " 



1858. " '' 



1859. " 

 1860. 

 1861. 

 1862. 

 1863. 

 1864. 

 1865. 



1866. Oliver P. Alderman. 



1867. Alva Carpenter. 



1868. James Jerry.*" 



1869. Alva Carpenter. 



1870. ^' " 



1871. " " 



1872. Lewis Masters. 



1873. " " 



1874. Lyman H. Phillips. 



1875. James Jerry. 



1876. " 



1877. William Richtmyer. 



1878. " 



Town Clerks. 

 Noble H. Rising. 



Collectors. 

 John S. Eddy. 

 Eliphas Fish. 

 Sam'I R. Creveling. Stephen Wakeman. 



u (< 



Noble H. Rising. 



Thomas S. Aldrich. 



Oliver Stewart. 

 John Royce. 



Sam'l R. Creveling. Lewis Sears. 

 Sch'yl'r D. Johnson. John A. Stocking. 

 Edwin Merchant. " ** 



William Merchant. 

 Edwin Merchant. 



Clark Babcock. 



Andrew Shauger. 



James Medowell. 



Andrew Shauger. 



(( it 



Harmon Stevens. 



Edwin Merchant. 



0. F. Corwin. 



Smy'r A- Whitcomb. '^ ** 



Seward Aldrich. 



Hen. Knickerbocker. 



it ({ 



it 



n 



a 



Orlando F. Corwin. 

 Ezra M. Royce. 



« " John A. Filkins. 



Orlando F. Corwin. Josiah R.J. Johnson. 

 B. F. Stamp. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



1844. John S. De Pue. 

 Henry Briggs. 

 Peter D. Edsell. 

 Arnold Payne. 



1845. Edwin Merchant. 

 Warner M. Aldrich. 



1846. Joseph Cross. 

 Abijah Youmans. 

 Peter D. Edsell. 



1847. Benjamin B. Bancroft. 



1848. John S. De Pue. 

 Henry Briggs. 



1849. Henry Briggs. 



1850. Warner M. Aldrich. 



1851. B. B. Bancroft. 



1852. J. S. De Pue. 



1853. Eleazer P. Mulford. 



1854. H. P. Clark. 



1855. B. B. Bancroft. 



1856. Jerrad H. Goodsell. 



1857. Schuyler D. Johnson. 

 John Conner. 

 Henry Briggs. 

 John S. De Pue. 



1858. H. P. Clark. 

 J. S. De Pue. 



1859. Henry Briggs. 

 James N. Jack. 



* At the regular election Alva Carpenter and Leonard Aldrich, can- 

 didates for supervisor, received a tie votej and James Jerry was 

 elected at a special election. 



