410 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



appointment of a committee to see to bis affairs, he having 

 a voice as to who the committee should be. Mr. Read had 

 spent most of his time for the last twenty years reading, and 

 most of his reading had been from the Bible. He had 

 steadily avoided intercourse with his neighbors. His wife 

 died in 1868, old but active to the last for one of her years. 



Daniel Bennitt, father of Benjamin and Samuel B. 

 Bennitt, settled in Urbana, three miles north of Ham- 

 mondsport, in 1796. He purchased land in what is known 

 as the Schermerhorn tract. Abram Be Puy, David Hutches, 

 Samuel Drew, Derrick Brink, Joseph Rosenkrans, Jonathan 

 Easton, Henry Schoonhoven, John Daniels, and Samuel 

 Townsend were some of the pioneers. 



Among the early settlers were John Phillips, Obediah 

 Wheeler^ John Walters, Cornelius Younglove, Reuben 

 Hall, Andrew Layton, Henry Griffith, Daniel Kingsley, 

 Caleb Rogers, Noah Griffith, Robert Harrison, Isaac Noble, 

 Isaiah and Erastus Webster. Caleb Chapman settled on 

 the place now occupied by Mr. Gleason, in North Urbana, 

 where he first kept a log hotel. The first log tavern, where 

 the '' Urbana House" now stands, was kept by a man by 

 the name of Hull. John Walters was the first settler on 

 the farm now owned by James Brundage. Obediah Wheeler 

 was several times supervisor of the town, was one of the 

 early justices of the peace, and held the office as late as 

 1861. Israel R. Wood, father of Jonathan Wood, settled 

 in North Urbana in 1813. 



ORGANIZATION. 



Urbana was formed from Bath on the 17th of April, 

 1822 ; a part of it was re-annexed to Bath, May 3, 1839. 

 At the same time a part of Wheeler was annexed to Ur- 

 bana, and a part of Pulteney, April 12, 1848. 



In pursuance of the organizing act, the first town-meet- 

 ing was held at the school-house in Pleasant Valley on the 

 fourth Tuesday in March, 1823, and Henry A. Townsend 

 was elected Supervisor ; Lazarus Hammond, Town Clerk ; 

 Andrew Layton, H. Griffith, and Abraham Brundage, 

 Assessors ; Obediah Wheeler, Reuben Hall, and Abraham 

 Brundage, Commissioners of Highways ; Caleb Rogers, 

 Collector; Caleb Rogers, Daniel Kingsley, and William H. 

 Ennis, Constables ; Samuel Baker and William Read, 

 Overseers of the Poor; William Read, Edward Townsend, 

 and Franklin Baker, Commissioners of Schools. 



The following, in the order named, were elected Over- 

 seers of the twenty-one road districts into which the town 

 was divided: Abraham Brundage, Samuel Baker, John 

 Walters, Cornelius Younglove, William Read, John Brun- 

 dage, Noah Griffith, Robert Harrison, John Daniels, Reu- 

 ben Hall, Simon I. Jacobus, John Plane, John Richardson, 

 Andrew Layton, Isaac Noble, Stephen Douglas, Isaiah 

 Webster, Erastus Webster, John Loder, Simon Ingersoll, 

 James Harrison. 



John Walters, Abraham Brundage, and Reuben Hall 

 were chosen Fence-Viewers, and William Baker, Pound- 

 Master. 



At this meeting a tax of $50 was voted for the support 

 of the poor, and also to raise as much money by tax on the 

 town as is received by the town from the State for the sup- 

 port of schools. 



At the general election, Nov. 3, 1823, Robert McCay 

 received 67 votes for Senator ; James Norton, 59 votes ; 

 John Bowman, 25 votes; and James McCall, 18 votes. 

 For member of Congress, Daniel Cruger received 69 votes, 

 and William Woods, 25 votes. Grattan H. Wheeler ran 

 against four other candidates for Assembly, the vote being, 

 George McClure, 21 ; Elisha Hanks, 35 ; William H. Bull, 

 30 ; Ichabod Andrews, 13 ; Grattan H. Wheeler, 68. 



Edward Townsend, Franklin Baker, and William Read, 

 commissioners of schools, laid out seven districts in the 

 town in 1823. The boundaries of District No. 1 were as 

 follows : " Beginning at the southeast corner of Seth Read's 

 lot, and running north to the north line of said town ; thence 

 west along the said town-line to the town of Wheeler ; 

 thence south along the line of the said town of Wheeler to 

 the bounds of Cornelius Younglove's lot ; thence west along 

 the said town-line to the town of Wheeler ; thence south 

 along the said town-line to the corner of the said town of 

 Wheeler on the old Town road ; thence east to the bounds 

 on Richard Daniels' lot ; thence along the north lines of the 

 said Daniels', Younglove's, Eli Read's, and Lazarus Ham- 

 mond's lands to the place of beginning." Those familiar 

 with the " old landmarks," or who can trace the boundaries 

 of this district on a map, can see what District No. 1 in the 

 town of Urbana was 56 years ago. District No. 4 was 

 called " Mount Washington District," and No. 7, " Pleas- 

 ant Valley District." 



On the 25th of May, 1827, the commissioners of schools 

 reported $59.76 received from the State for the support of 

 schools, and the same amount collected by tax from the 

 town. This sum was divided among the districts as fol- 

 lows: District No. 1, $12.08 ; No. 2, $5 ; No. 3, $9.61 ; 

 No. 4, $19.21; No. 5, $16.91; No. 6, $14.98; No. 7, 

 $33.05; No. 8, $8.08. 



In 1840, the amount received from the State for the 

 support of schools was $229.62, and an equal amount raised 

 by tax upon the town. The sum, being $459.24, was ap- 

 propriated as follows: $367.39 for teachers' wages, and 

 $91.85 for libraries. The number of children over five 

 years of age and under sixteen, in the town, was 590. 

 Three years later the number had diminished by 16, being 

 574, and in 1848 was reduced to 550. After this there 

 seems to have been a steady increase of the juvenile popu- 

 lation. 



LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS. 





Supervisors. 



Town Clerks. 



Collectors. 



1823. 



Henry A. Townsend 



. Lazarus Hammond, 



Caleb Rogers. 



1824. 



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1825. 



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1826. 



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William Hastings. 



11 (I 



1827. 



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William Baker. 



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1828. 



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11 11 



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1829. 



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Stephen S. Havens. 



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1830. 



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11 11 



1831. 



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U it 



1832. 



John P. Poppino. 



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Daniel C. Miller 



1833. 



William Baker. 



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11 11 



1834. 



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1835. 



John J. Poppino. 



Samuel Brundage. 



11 11 



1836. 



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Jacob Larrowe. 



Daniel W. Whee 



1837. 



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11 11 



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1838. 



Amasa Church. 



11 a 



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1839. 



Jacob Larrowe. 



William Rande]. 



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1840. 



Obediah Wheeler. 



ZenasCobb. 



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