408 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YOEK. 



as it was then called. They settled at or near the mouth 

 of the Cowanesque River, in Pennsjlyania, only a few miles 

 south of our State line, in 1787. The land on which they 

 settled had not yet come into market, and they chose to 

 change their location rather than risk further improvements 

 when any doubt rested with the title. 



Mr. Daniels was of Dutch origin, small of stature, but 

 tough and hardy, while his wife (whose name was Hoose) 

 was tall and erect, and carried a mark of dignity in her 

 every movement. Mrs. Baker was a daughter of Mr. 

 Daniels, and the very image and pattern of her mother. 



Samuel Baker was a native of Connecticut. When fif- 

 teen years of age he was taken by the Indians, and re- 

 mained a prisoner till released by the surrender of Bur- 

 goyne at Saratoga. He afterwards enlisted in Col. Willett's 

 corps, and served for a time in the army. He was a large 

 man, not particularly tall, but his shoulders were high, and 

 a large head set on a short neck, so that he was generally 

 called a tall man. In his more advanced years he became 

 corpulent, and his weight was something over two hundred 

 pounds. They reared a family of six sons and six daughters, 

 all of whom married and reared families. One son, Thomas, 

 stood six feet four inches in his stockings, with the same 

 high shoulders of his father, and when in tolerable working 

 condition weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. 



Amos Stone was unmarried when they settled on the 

 Cowanesque, but soon after married a Miss Ives, of New- 

 town. These three men and their wives all lived past ninety 

 years, except Mrs. Stone, who died about thirty years after 

 their settlement in this valley. All these first families occu- 

 pied the farms on which they first settled until they died. 



Samuel Baker died in 1842. He was prominent in the 

 early settlement of the county, and for several years held 

 the ofiice of associate and first judge of the county court. 

 Mr. Daniels took the farm on the north side of the inlet, 

 at the head of the valley ; and Mr. Baker on the south side 

 adjoining, while Mr. Stone took the next farm belOw Mr. 

 Baker, on the same side of the stream ; Mr. Aulls next 

 below Mr. Stone. This location had been selected by Judge 

 Baker, while on a trip to Canandaigua, which he made 

 through the woods by following the township line, which 

 line, in crossing the valley, now forms the western boundary 

 of the Hammondsport corporation. 



These were soon followed by William and Eli Read, 

 Capt. John Sheathar, John Faulkner, and James and 

 Abram Brundage, all of whom became fixtures except Capt. 

 Sheathar, who located on the lake, and soon after gave place 

 to Lazarus Hammond. 



Mr. Faulkner sold to Cornelius Younglove in 1807, and 

 took a new farm about midway between the lake and Bath, 

 on the Two-Rod road. This was a road cut as nearly in a 

 direct line as the land would allow from Bath to Pratts- 

 burgh. Capt. Stone paid for his farm in cutting this road. 

 The most of the farms of those above mentioned are yet 

 in the possession of their descendants. This is quite un- 

 usual ; for men who settle a new country are more inclined 

 to fall in love with the excitements attendant upon early 

 settlements and follow their drift, than to tame down and 

 run into the quiet habits and plodding way of the everyday 

 old country farmer. 



Capt. John Sheathar was the original purchaser and first 

 settler on lands where the village of Hammondsport now 

 stands. He bought of Charles Williamson 145 acres, de- 

 scribed as follows : " Beginning at a post on the bank of 

 the inlet of Crooked Lake ; thence north two degrees east 

 one hundred and sixty perches to a post ; thence west one 

 hundred and forty-four perches and five links to a post; 

 thence south two degrees west to a thorn-tree on the bank 

 of the inlet ; thence down along said inlet of the lake to 

 the place of beginning." The deed of conveyance from 

 Charles Williamson bears date Sept. 25, 1796. Capt. 

 Sheathar also bought at the same time a portion of land 

 adjoining this, in what is now the town of Wayne, which 

 he conveyed to his son, James Sheathar, Feb. 20, 1800. 



The premises on which Capt. Sheathar lived were sold at 

 sheriff"'s sale, and Sheriff* Wilson conveyed the same to 

 William Root, of New York, in a deed bearing date Oct. 

 30, 1802. The premises are described in the deed as "All 

 that plantation or farm on which the said John Sheathar 

 now resides, being partly in township number five in the 

 second range and partly in township number five in the third 

 range." This place, containing 170 acres, and described as 

 " all that part of lot number twelve in the tenth range of 

 lots west of the inlet of Crooked Lake," was conveyed by 

 William Root to Lazarus Hammond, June 9, 1807. Mr. 

 Root did not complete his title, but sold his interest in the 

 premises to Mr. Hammond for " ten dollars, lawful money 

 of New York." Mr. Hammond completed his title to the 

 above lancj, and 50 acres in lot twelve in the eleventh range 

 of lots, Aug. 18, 1826. 



Capt. Sheathar, like most of the first settlers in this sec- 

 tion, had been a Revolutionary soldier. He held a com- 

 mission as captain of dragoons, and had the reputation of 

 being an excellent officer and a favorite with Gen. Wash- 

 ington. He lived on his farm at the head of Crooked Lake 

 in good style, and fared sumptuously. He was a generous, 

 hospitable man and a true patriot. He was a stout, portly 

 figure and made a fine appearance on horseback, dressed in 

 his Continental regimentals, as he used to appear on all 

 celebration occasions. Some of the early settlers still living 

 at Hammondsport have a distinct recollection of him, or of 

 the descriptions given of him by their parents and those 

 who were his contemporaries. 



For many years the settlement in. Pleasant Valley was 

 the most prosperous, and one of the most important, in the 

 county. The soil was very productive and yielded a supply 

 for the inhabitants, and furnished much food also for the 

 less fortunate inhabitants of the Pine Plains, as Bath was 

 called. An old settler of Pleasant Valley gives the follow- 

 ing account of the relation of the valley to Bath in those 

 early days : 



"If it had not been for the valley the pine plains would 

 have been depopulated. After court had been in session 

 two or three days, you would see a black boy come down 

 here on a horse, and with a big basket, foraging. He would 

 go around to all the farms to get bread, meat, eggs, or any- 

 thing that would stay life. Bath was the hungriest place 

 in all creation. You couldn't trust a leg of>mutton to any- 

 body but the land-agent." 



The Brundages were early settlers in Pleasant Valley. 



