Stories from Tioga County's Past

Timeline of Afro-American History in Tioga County
with references pertinent to both New York State and the United States

For more information, contact
The Newark Valley Historical Society
PO Box 222, Newark Valley, NY 13811
(607) 642-9516
E-mail EDNIZ@prodigy.net

Accessible Archives [online database]

Albertson, Capt. Charles L. History of Waverly, NY and Vicinity. Waverly, NY Waverly Sun, 1943.

Beauchamp, Rev. Wm. M., Ed. Moravian Journals Relating to Central New York, 1745-1766. Syracuse Dehler Press, 1916. from Brother David Zeisberger's Diary. Rpt. Bowie, MD Heritage Books, 1999.

Czerkas, Jean M. Letter to the Tioga County Historical Society regarding the 100^th anniversary of the statue.

Deuel, Ryan. "Slaves took 'railroad' to freedom". Press & Sun-Bulletin. February 3, 2004, A1+.

Dimitroff, Thomas P. and Lois S. James, History of the Corning-Painted Post Area 200 Years in Painted Post Country qtd. "On Freedom's Threshold The African-American Presence in Central New York, 1760-1940". Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. Vol. 19, No. 1, January 1995. pp. 44.

Division of Archives and History. The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in 1779. "Account of the Battle of Newton". Letter to Gov. Clinton from T. Barber [Clinton papers, 5242] Albany University of the State of New York, 1929.

Everts & Ensign. Four County History.

Gay, W. B. Historical Gazetteer of Tioga County, New York 1785-1888. Syracuse, NY W. B. Gay, nd. Reproduction Evansville, IN Unigraphic, 1978.

Gladden, Washington. Recollections. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909.

Leamer, Laurence E. "Blacks in Vestal", unpublished manuscript by Vestal town historian, 1984, 1-2 qtd. Sernett, Milton C. "On Freedom's Threshold The African-American Presence in Central New York, 1760-1940". Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. Vol. 19, No. 1, January 1995. pp. 44.

Harley, Sharon. The Timetables of African-American History. New York Simon & Shuster, 1995.

John Honey Jones Committee materials and documentation.

Kingman, Leroy Wilson. Early Owego. Owego Owego Gazette, 1907. Rpt. Interlaken, NY Heart of Lakes Publishing, 1987.

McManus, Edgar J. A History of Negro Slavery in New York. Syracuse Syracuse University Press, 1966.

Nizalowski, Edward. "Ethnic-Immigrant Groups". Seasons of Change. Thomas C. McEnteer, Ed. Owego, NY Tioga County Legislature, 1990.

Phelan, Helene C. And Why Not Every Man? An account of slavery, the Underground Railroad, and the road to freedom in New York's Southern Tier. Interlaken, NY Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1987.

Pierce, H. B. and D. Hamilton Hurd. History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler Counties. Philadelphia Everts & Ensign, 1879.

Schaetzke, E. Anne. "Slavery in the Genesee Country (also known as Ontario County) 1789 to 1827". Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. Vol. 22, No. 1, January 1998, pp. 7 - 40.

Sherwood, Bill. [Richford Town Historian]

Vinson, Robert Trent. "The Law as Lawbreaker The Promotion and Encouragement of the Atlantic Slave Trade by the New York Judiciary System, 1857-1862". Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. Vol. 20, No. 2, July 1996, pp. 35-58.

Watrous, Hilda R. Owego Reflections 1887 - 1987. Interlaken, NY Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1994.

Williams, Bob. Former Chief of Police of the Village of Owego.

Wilson, Carol. Freedom at Risk The Kidnapping of Free Blacks in America 1780-1865. np University Press of Kentucky, 1994.

(1) National references are taken from The Timetables of Afro-American History by Sharon Harley unless otherwise noted.

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The Underground Railroad in Tioga County
A Piece of History With Many Gaps to Fill
By Ed Nizalowski

The Underground Railroad refers to a loosely connected support system that aided fugitive slaves who escaped from the South and eventually made their way to Canada. Although laws against helping these individuals had been on the books since the 1790's, enforcement north of the Mason-Dixon line was often quite lax. This would change, however, with the passage of the Missouri Compromise of 1850. Northerners were now under greater pressure to incarcerate fugitive slaves and arrest those who harbored them or who facilitated their escape.

Tioga County's association with the Underground Railroad has a long history, but as is the case in so many other parts of the country, actual documentation and credible evidence for involvement can be very difficult to verify. I have personally done very little research regarding this topic until recently. Most of what I had read was often based on conjecture, oral history or unsubstantiated claims that would make the reader curious, but with little of substance that would stand up in court.

I decided to make an effort anyway after being contacted by a member of the Southern Tier Underground Railroad Commission to speak about the Underground Railroad in Tioga County. I told them told them that the best I could probably do would be to summarize what I have collected in my vertical file over the years, but since historians are as vain as everyone else, I was hoping I could do better than that.

Research regarding the Underground Railroad should be done in conjunction with research regarding the Abolitionist movement as well. The people involved in this activity are usually documented to a greater extent and this may often give substantial clues concerning those who willing to break the law to aid a fugitive slave. Abolition began polarizing many of the churches and organizations in Tioga County by the 1830's. Hammon Pinney was one of the leading abolitionists and was also a founding member of the Baptist Church in Owego. Abolitionist meetings began in 1837, became more formal two years later, but many detractors were adamantly opposed to the organization. Meetings were marred by "wild confusion and violence" and the Abolitionist Gerrit Smith was pelted with rotten eggs when he spoke in 1840. Frederick Douglas cancelled a speaking engagement in this same year for fear of his physical safety, but returned to speak in 1857.

The research that has been done concerning the Underground Railroad has almost exclusively been focused on Owego. There are four homes on Front Street (#100, #294, #313, #351) that have been linked to the Underground Railroad, with the home at 351 Front Street being owned by Judge Farrington, a prominent Abolitionist. The home was reported to have a hidden staircase and a secret crawl space under the cellar. At 294 Front Street, a building once owned by the Eagles Club, a brick lined tunnel had been found running along the north wall. How this tunnel may have helped fugitive slaves has always been a matter of speculation.

The home in Owego that has the best evidence for being a station for fugitive slaves is located at 351 Main Street. This had been the home of none other than Hammon Pinney and did have a hidden space in the cellar. Another link that helps give credence Hammon as a stationmaster comes from a story passed on by when the property changed hands. In 1867 when the Hastings family bought the property from Frederick Pinney, Hammon's son, the new owners were told that the home had served as a station for fugitive slaves. This story was passed on for over 100 years. The best evidence for Hammon being a stationmaster comes from his obituary that appeared on March 3, 1898 where it also states that his home served as a station. This is one of the few written references from the 19th century identifying a specific individual.

An article appearing in the Waverly Sun and Nichols Recorder in 1945 written by Mary Finch lists a number of homes that might have been stations. These included the homes of Luther Stone, Alexander Brooks, Philip Finch and Henry Young. A story had been passed on regarding the hiding of an abolitionist who came to speak in Waverly and another story related that Harriet Tubman herself spoke in the village. However, Mary Finch admitted in her article that she had no documentation or written references to back up any of these statements.

A great deal of my information on Tioga County history comes from the Owego Gazette. It is certainly a good source, but it is certainly not the only one available and since it was the voice of the Democratic Party, partisanship often colors the types of stories covered and their treatment. I was able to spend some time looking at the Owego Advertiser, which became the Owego Times and subsequent voice of the Republican Party. The Owego Times is no less partisan, but it does provide a different point of view and the time that I spent straining my eyes over the microfilm proved very valuable. I can now at least prove that fugitive slaves passed through Owego.

In a short article entitled "Underground Railroad" dated August 31, 1854, the Times relates the story of a fugitive slave from Maryland who passed through the village with a son, age 2 1/2. The man had been horribly treated by an overseer who had "mutilated him in a fit of drunken passion" resulting in the loss of an eye. What prompted the man to flee was learning that his master had been offered $125 for his son. The article did not mention any names of those who had spoken to him or who may have provided assistance. His only guide was the North Star. The article went on to say that Douglas, presumably Stephen Douglas, would soon introduce legislation to have the North Star removed from the sky since this constitutes proof of it being a "decided Abolitionist".

Another article that was very enlightening had the headline "More Buying Slaves by Abolitionists and Republicans on Sunday" that appeared on September 25, 1856. This concerned the plight of John Parker, a slave who had been emancipated in 1850 by Benjamin Davenport of Jefferson County, VA. Parker had released 18 of his slaves from bondage as a decision he made on his deathbed. The slaves would need to leave Virginia within 30 days or be put into prison and resold. Parker left the state for Delaware County, PA, and by some means his wife and son, who had belonged to another plantation owner, joined him. John and his wife had three more children.

On the night of November 9, 1855, the door to their home was broken down, his wife was held captive and a gun was placed to Parker's head. The men left with his wife and Parker's son, now age 9. Samuel Brown, a lawyer in Virginia, negotiated a deal whereby John could purchase his wife and son for the sum of $950.

A group of people had assembled at the Wesleyan Methodist camp in Candor, NY, for the purpose of helping raise money for Parker. Parker had accumulated over $600 at that point and the camp meeting had raised over $100 in cash and three gold rings that women had dropped into the plate. A Buchanan supporter who happened to be at the event dropped a rifle ball into the plate as a gesture of disapproval for the entire affair. This action had just the opposite effect. The group became so incensed by this insult and veiled threat to their activities that another $50 was raised. By the time Parker left Owego, he only needed $80 more to reach the goal of securing freedom of his wife and son.

There are a variety of homes in Northern Tioga County where oral history links them with fugitive slaves. These include the house at Bushnell Corners (junction of Wilson Creek Rd. and Ketchumville Rd.), the home at the corner of Route 38 and Brown Rd. (Town of Berkshire), the home of Beverly Swaney (Brown Rd., Town of Newark Valley), the home of Ron & Marie Brown (Route 38, Newark Valley), the home of Marty Wilcox (near the junction of Routes 38 and 79 in Richford) and the Gee home (west of Richford on Route 79). The home of Ron and Marie Brown is across from a former brickyard that belonged to William Loring. There is a story relating to a tunnel that passed from the home to the adjoining brickyard where slaves could hide inside piles of brick.

The most likely home for a station in this end of the county is the one that belonged to Carlisle P. Johnson, a merchant from Berkshire. His home was at the corner of Glen Road and Route 38, across from the Congregational Church. This is a quote from Gay's Gazetteer, a history of Tioga County written c. 1888: "Although the vicinity of Berkshire was not without its slaveholders at an early day, there existed a general and widespread opposition to this 'peculiar institution' of the South for years preceding the rebellion, and the town was not without its members of the 'underground railroad'. Frederick Douglas and other slaves received substantial aid from this organization on their journey to Canada, Douglas having been a guest of the Hon. C. P. Johnson, an old abolitionist." This does not directly state that Johnson was a stationmaster, but it is certainly implied.

There are numerous stories relating to a tunnel that existed between Johnson's store and the old Congregational Church as well. The store has been gone for many years, but Dave Howland, the present owner of the property, told me that there was an opening in the cellar wall of his home that faced the church. He had blocked this opening many years ago because of the draft that it caused coming into his cellar. He also remembers a large depression in their lawn that apparently resulted from the tunnel's collapse. A previous owner, a Mrs. Parker, who feared that someone might fall in and sustain injury, had done this on purpose. The resulting depression became a local dumping ground for village residents. Dave's father pulled out different types of debris over the years and also kept bringing in fill dirt to level the property. There is no longer any trace of this depression.

I wrote to Dave's mother, Mrs. Nancy Howland, asking for information. She had little in relation to the tunnel, but did say that a Mr. Fred Royce spoke to her husband about Johnson's involvement with fugitive slaves when they moved to Berkshire in the 1940's. The home, unfortunately, no longer exists. It sustained too much smoke damage in a fire several years ago and was demolished.

These stories made me take a second look at a ledger loaned to me by a custodian at our high school, Henry Sharp. Henry's great-great grandfather, Anson Kimball, was a tradesman prior to the Civil War who specialized in stonework and masonry. Between 1846 and 1848 Anson worked for Carlisle Johnson a total of 235 days and was paid $367.39. The ledger states that he was working on something called Brookside Cottage. This was an enormous sum of money if it was simply for an ordinary cottage.

Personally, I don't believe that Brookside Cottage ever existed. I have seen it on no maps of Berkshire and have seen no reference to it in anything written concerning Berkshire history. No one in Berkshire has ever heard of it. Could this have been the mysterious tunnel in question? It certainly can't be taken as proof, but it was built during the right period of time making it one more piece to add to the puzzle.

I would like to share some of Johnson's views regarding slavery. This is a good illustration of the fervor and the hatred that the old time Abolitionists had in regard to this institution. He also felt the same way about the evils of alcohol. These views are very similar to many other reformers of the period. These remarks appeared in the Owego Times on Feb. 25, 1858:

"Nor must I be frightened into a 'masterly inactivity' of deportment towards the dark-blooded monsters, Intemperance and slavery, because of their immense wickedness, and all-pervading, blighting influences."

"Nor can I rest content and innocently and hopefully fold my arms with only an evanescent, or periodical effort to cripple the 'hydra monsters', letting off at long intervals only a single gun into the Sevastopol of abominations."

"Nor must I be dismayed at their giant proportions, even though all others are."

"But because of the frightfulness of the seven-fold curse, and the wailing hopelessness of their victims, should not every friend of humanity, and especially every one of God's ministers, possessed as they are, of the strong-holds of moral power of the whole country, as completely as any military power ever possessed any county, with reason and right, and the universal conscience and God on their side-each rise in consciousness of his might, and let off whole broad-sides of god's scathing truth against sins so colossal, as to sit astride the ocean with leprous feet upon the necks of millions in two continents!"

"Thus instructing the people in regard to questions so vast in their just proportions, until public opinion in its steadily increasing strength shall roll on bloodlessly like a mighty avalanche burying forever the devils most infernal soul destroying inventions"

Ever Yours, for the Right,
C. P. Johnson
Berkshire, Feb. 15th, 1858

If a person feels that strongly about the evils of a particular institution or practice, does it stand to reason that a person of that type would commit an act of civil disobedience and break the law for the sake of helping another person gain their personal freedom? If I were a law enforcement official from the 1850's and was told that a fugitive slave was making his way toward Berkshire, Johnson's home would be the first place I would investigate.

At the presentation that was done on the Underground Railroad by the Southern Tier Underground Railroad Society at Roberson Center in February, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that research was being done in the Candor area by Gwen Clark of Homestar and Carrie Kerr, a teacher with the Ithaca School District. Much of this focuses on the Booth family. Call Gwen at 659-4802 if you have anything to share regarding abolitionist or Underground Railroad activity in that part of the county. Information relating to the Underground Railroad and other facets of Black history in this region are being collected and studied by two other groups: the Southern Tier Underground Railroad Commission and the Center to Anti-Slavery Studies. The later group is located in Brooklyn , PA.

If you have stories to share regarding this topic, give me a call (607-642-8075) or write (441 Brown Rd., Berkshire, NY 13736) or e-mail edniz@prodigy.net.

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Rollie Noble & His Remarkable Flag - A World War II Story
By Ed Nizalowski

Preface: The Historical Society gives a salute to the Rollie Noble Flag and the man for whom it is named. The flag was the first to fly in Europe at the end of hostilities during the Second World War and is now on display at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia. Rollie became a "Distinguished Citizen of the Community" in Newark Valley and was the person most responsible for the initial restoration of the Bement-Billings Farmstead.
 
On May 9, 1995, the Historical Society had a special rededication program for the flag. An address was given By Ed Nizalowski.

The stimulus for this tribute comes from a variety of sources. Telling the story of a very unique and interesting flag and honoring the veterans of the Second World War is certainly reason enough, but we also want to draw attention to Rollie's life. Who was this individual who did so much for the Historical Society and for the people of Newark Valley in general? For Rollie making sacrifices for his country and making sacrifices for his friends and neighbors did not seem that much different from one another.

I considered Rollie a friend, but I don't claim any great distinction in that regard because Rollie was basically a friend to everyone. One of Will Rogers' most famous remarks was "I never met a man I didn't like" and anyone who met Rollie just couldn't help but like him. I certainly admired the man and had always looked on him as one of those elderly affable gentlemen that many towns are fortunate to have.

But in speaking with people who knew him more intimately, the people that worked with him, especially as it pertained to the Farmstead experience, a much fuller picture emerged. He was much more unique than I had realized. There were talents, abilities and experiences that I had not been aware of. But through it all he had a view of life and a view of human nature that was refreshing, sincere and certainly one that should be emulated.

Early Life

The Noble family went back five generations to the 1840's. He lived in a home that had been built in the 1830's. He had an Aunt Alida who became fairly prominent as an artist. Her specialty was copying the works of the old masters and had traveled to Europe for that purpose.

Rollie was born in 1911 and was runner up in the beautiful baby contest at the Northern Tioga County Fair. He was edged out by Myrtie Louise Billings. Perhaps she had the home court advantage since it was her grandfather's farm where the fair was being held. At any rate, these two would link up again toward the end of Rollie's life.

Rollie graduated from High School in 1932, which was one of the worst years that anyone would want to be out seeking a job. It was at this time that Rollie began working for the Village of Newark Valley, an association that would continue for many years to come.

World War II

War broke out in Europe in September 1939. Within a year the United States felt that some kind of military preparedness was necessary and instituted a draft by the end of 1940. Rollie volunteered for service believing that he could serve his one year of service and be finished with his obligation. He was among the first ten men from Tioga County to enter the military draft of November 1940. The attack on Pearl Habor changed plans for a lot of people and Rollie was among them. He said that his discharge papers were literally ripped up in front of him and that one year turned out to be the longest one of his life.

First ten men to enter the draft from Tioga County. This picture appeared in the Owego Gazette on November 28, 1940.

Front row (left to right): Gordon Dewitt Baker of Owego, Roland Victor Noble of Newark Valley, Michael Okrepkie of Newark Valley, Frank Raymond Covert of Berkshire, Nick Wasylysyin of Berkshire. Back row (left to right): Lester Donald Grummons of Newark Valley, John Robertson Sidey of Waverly, Robert Samuel Cameron of Waverly, John Park Tribe of Nichols, Leonard Bernard Schmidt of Owego.

Rollie was stationed in Washington. He became a Staff Sergeant and gained skill as an armorer-artificer. These are the people who repair, assemble and test new types of firearms and armaments. It was here that he made friends with Adam Graf, who later married a Newark Valley girl and moved back to the Village with Rollie. Rollie had his own personal tragedies that happened during the war as well. His father died in February 1942 and his mother passed on within three years in December 1944.

As the war was beginning to reach its conclusion, Rollie had the desire to play a more active role and requested duty overseas. He was told that there were plenty of Staff Sergeants in Europe and that a reduced rank would be the necessary prerequisite for active duty. This he accepted and once again became a private.

The Making of the Flag

There is a certain amount of confusion relating to the surrender of the armies in Europe. Mass surrenders were taking place on May 3rd and 4th. It was on May 7th at 2:41 AM that Gen. Jodl of the German High Command surrendered to Eisenhower. Although most individuals consider May 8th as V-E Day, the Russians wanted a separate surrender themselves. This was done with Gen. Zhukov in Berlin on May 9th.

The story of the flag begins sometime around May 5th. It was about this time that Rollie and his buddies in Co. K voiced a desire to have a flag to display on the armistice. They soon realized that one was not available and found some bedsheets in the hope that they could make one. This turned out to be an exercise in futility.

It was at this point that Rollie and a fellow Staff Sergeant went into town and found an Austrian tailor. The tailor viewed the prospect of making an American flag as adding insult to injury and had no desire to proceed with any work. With a few threatening gestures to their sidearms, the tailor realized that "no" was not an option. The material was procured from Nazi banners and Austrian flags. A patch of white cloth was dyed blue and it was upon this that the stars were sewn. Over the space of two or three days or about eight hours worth of work, the flag came into being.

The Morning of V-E Day

Early in the morning of May 9th the flag was hung from the second floor of Company Headquarters in Linz. At 5:00 AM Gen. Patton himself came driving down the street. When he noticed the flag he stopped, saluted and asked about the origin of this particular flag (in his characteristically colorful language, of course). When he heard the particulars of the story he remarked, "Boys, I believe that this is the first American flag to be flown after the official end of hostilities." With that he saluted the flag once again, got back in his jeep and drove off.

It turned out that the flag became Rollie's possession. He took it back home and told a few people about the story, but since Rollie was not the type to spin war yarns the flag and its story faded from memory. Rollie placed it in a frame and hung it over his mantelpiece.

The Flag Gets a Home

There's not much to tell regarding the flag until November 1982. It was at that time that Rollie was sitting with a few of his friends watching the movie Patton. Rollie started to share some of his experiences with the Third Army and included the story of the flag. One of those in the room that night was Art Berg, himself a veteran of World War II. The story of the flag made him keenly interested and he inquired as to the flag's whereabouts. According to Art, the conversation went something like this:

Rollie: "The flag is in a frame over my mantelpiece"

Art (quite awestruck): "You've got it at home? That flag belongs in a museum!"

Rollie: "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe they could place it in the municipal building or up to the Farmstead."

Art: "No, no. That belongs in a place like the Smithsonian or West Point."

From that point on Art began the job of authenticating the story from other members of Rollie's company and looking for a proper place where the flag could be displayed and preserved. His awareness of the story and his desire to follow through on the task at hand had come none too soon. Rollie passed away on March 26th, 1983.

Rollie was buried in Hope Cemetery with full military honors provided by the VFW in Owego, NY. It is worth noting that the first man of the honor guard for Rollie was Ernie Blaasch, a German born member of the Hitler Youth Movement who later became a naturalized U. S. citizen. The last man of the honor guard was Tom Ichikawa, an American-born Japanese and a member of the famous "Go For Broke" infantry battalion during W. W. II.

Art continued his efforts and decided that the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia, would be an appropriate place for the flag after visiting the museum personally on April 2, 1984. The Noble family concurred in that opinion. Plans were made for an official dedication of the flag and for a formal acceptance by proper authorities.
	David Noble and Winnie Noble Smullen turn the flag over to Maj. John C. Green, representing the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia.

On July 2, 1984, the flag was flown for a second time near the Tappan Spaulding Memorial Library in Newark Valley. After the flag was taken down, the group that had assembled to witness the dedication proceeded to the Noble Room inside the Municipal Building. It was here that David Noble and Winnie Smullen Noble, Rollie's brother and sister, formally turned the flag over to Maj. John Green, representing the National Infantry Museum.

On July 26, 1984, Winnie and Cliff Smullen took the flag to Fort Benning, Georgia, where the flag was placed in the flag room beneath a portrait of Gen. Patton himself. On October 11, 1987, a monument and plaque telling the story of the flag was erected near the Tappan Library by Art Berg and Ken Gray.

Farmstead Restoration

	I want to jump back in time to Rollie's life after World War II. He became Superintendent of highways for the Village and became a regular fixture of Village life making sure that repairs were made in a timely manner and the streets were kept clean. He held this position for 23 years.
Rollie in his garden having fun with his dog.

People described him as someone who loved nature, animals, and plants. I was told of a goat that he treated more like a dog and a trick horse that could count. He loved history, especially anything relating to Native Americans. He always placed flags on the graves of veterans in the Town cemeteries. But by the mid-1970's he was forced to slow his pace due to a heart condition and actually suffered one heart attack. However, a project came along that gave him a second wind and probably extended his life by a few years.

The Bicentennial year 1976 was one of considerable historical activity in the United States. Many historical projects were initiated during that period of time and a number of historical institutions can trace their beginnings to that time period. Newark Valley was no exception.

A number of people were drawn together by the town's history. They were concerned because so much local history had disappeared, gone unrecorded, was not being maintained or properly documented. In spite of all this, there was so much that was left and there was so much that could be done with it. Their hope was to build or establish a town museum or initiate some kind of restoration project. They approached Rollie with their ideas. He was very sympathetic, but told them that he was an old man in poor health and wasn't sure there was much that he could do.

This is when one of Rollie's childhood friends came back into the picture, the one who had put Rollie in second place in the beautiful baby contest. This was Myrtie Louise Billings Hills. Her family home was a virtual time machine. It had not gone through any major structural or interior changes since before the Civil War.

	She was willing to donate the house and an acre and a half of property with the provision that the home be turned into a museum. When Rollie found out what was taking place, his heart condition didn't seem quite so bad after all and for the next five years the Farmstead became a second home.
Rollie standing before the open hearth at the Farmstead. Picture appeared in the Sunday Press, March 4, 1979.

Although structurally sound, the Farmstead had seen many years of neglect and needed a massive amount of work. New clapboards were needed. The interior needed painting and wallpapering. The open hearth was uncovered and was found to be still usable. The hardwood Victorian floor in the kitchen was replaced with one more in keeping with the early 1800's. An outside porch was rebuilt and stone steps brought in. After hundreds of hours of work by a variety of volunteers, the house was opened to the public in 1980 as a living history site interpreting the period of the 1840's.

Rollie at work on the black smith shop, summer of 1980. Picture appeared in the Press & Sun-Bulletin in January 1981.

Rollie kept on working, however, and focused his attention on outside projects. He helped move a corn crib, build a saphouse and move a granary into place. He laid the foundation for a small barn that was moved to the Farmstead. Pine logs were brought from the woods at the Middle School and with an ax he fashioned them into a log cabin black smith shop the way it was done in pioneer days.

Besides this, many antiques that had been in his family for many years became part of the Farmstead. He often bought items at auctions for the Society and never asked for any reimbursement. And he loved sharing his stories with children. School tours began at the Farmstead soon after it opened and Rollie was there sharing knowledge and spinning yarns.

Fortunately, Rollie was able to receive some measure of recognition for what he had accomplished. . He received the Distinguished Citizen Community Award in 1980. January 27, 1981, was declared Rollie Noble Day and the public meeting room in the Municipal Building was named after him. Rollie still wanted the Farmstead to grow. His next project was going to be a barn, but I think that someone upstairs decided that Rollie's heart shouldn't give out when he was 25' up in the air on a ladder.

The Farmstead has changed a bit since Rollie left it in 1983. A Farmer's Workshop was added to enable demonstrations of woodworking tools and skills. In 1996, Myrtie Louise Billings Hills generously donated the remaining adjoining property bringing the farmstead up to 90 acres. In June of 1999, an English threshing barn was erected behind the house. And just keeping up with the maintenance of the buildings, learning interpretive skills and developing educational programs has occupied plenty of volunteer time. The Society also began restoration of the Newark Valley RR Depot in the early 1980's and an excursion train began making stops in 1985. We are still investigating ways to build a visitor/education center.

Conclusion

Art and I have talked at length about the flag and historical projects in general. One subject that often surfaces is a rationale for all the time and effort that has been put into this project. We concluded that a major motivating factor is that we both like stories from the past and we both think that they are important. They help explain who we are and often provide a roadmap or at least some guideposts for charting the future.

Art and I have talked at length about the flag and historical projects in general. One subject that often surfaces is a rationale for all the time and effort that has been put into this project. We concluded that a major motivating factor is that we both like stories from the past and we both think that they are important. They help explain who we are and often provide a roadmap or at least some guideposts for charting the future.

There are hundreds of stories that are interesting, a few dozen that are significant and once in a lifetime a story will come along such as the one that is lying in that case. If Art Berg hadn't heard the story when he did and hadn't followed through on authenticating and seeking a proper home for the flag, this is one piece of history that could have gotten lost in the shuffle and we all would have been that much poorer. We owe Art a debt of gratitude.

We've covered a lot of ground. We talked of the flag, Rollie's role in its making and in a larger sense it has been a way of honoring all the veterans of World War II. We've shared stories of Rollie's personality and have shown how his role in the community took on even greater significance in his "declining" years. And if the world is a better place for having people like Rollie Noble in it, then we need to say so and have events like this to publicize those qualities.

Barbara Fox, an early director of the Historical Society, once said that Rollie was very apologetic about how long it was taking him to get certain tasks completed. Barbara was more concerned that he was pushing himself faster than he should. Rollie's reply was, "If you don't care how long it takes, I'll live forever." As long as the Farmstead exists and as long as there are staff and volunteers to interpret it for the public, that is a statement that will continue to be true.

Special Notes

Since the rededication, the Noble Flag has been featured in two national magazines. The story "Rollie Noble's Flag" appeared in The American Legion magazine in June 1996 and "Handmade Flag of Freedom" appeared in American History in June 1997.

Art Berg passed away on May 1, 1997

Rollie at work at the Farmstead with his characteristic smile. This shot is one of the Society's favorites.	The flag as it is displayed at the Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia, beneath a picture of Gen. Patt.
Shot taken overseas. Rollie is on the far left.	Rollie Noble and Adam Graf after another fishing trip.
Rollie leveling the corn crib at the Farmstead.	The plaque near Tappan Spaulding Library where the flag was flown on July 2, 1984.
Rollie talking to a group of school children at the Farmstead. This picture appeared in the Press & Sun-Bulletin on March 28, 1983, two days after Rollie died.

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The Rollie Noble Flag
By Ed Nizalowski

Although Roland "Rollie" Noble passed away in 1983, his memory is still a strong one for many of us in Newark Valley. There are constant reminders as we drive by the home where he lived, any time we use the Noble Room in the Municipal Building and drive by the Bement-Billings Farmstead, where he did much of the initial restoration work. To most of us Rollie was a kindly man with a warm smile who enjoyed helping his neighbors and the community at large. But because Rollie was unassuming and humble to a fault, there was another part of his experience which nearly went with him to his grave.

Rollie was one of those 16,000,000 who served during the Second World War, but even from the beginning he was part of a distinct group. Rollie volunteered for the service and he left with the first group of 10 men who entered the military from Tioga County in November 1940. His hitch was supposed to be for a year, but he said that he watched his discharge papers "ripped up in front of him" when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Rollie was stationed in the State of Washington throughout most of the war and attained the rank of Staff Sergeant . He decided that he wanted active duty, however, and was willing to accept the rank of Private in order to do so.

Rollie was part of Company K - 260th Infantry, 65th Division of Gen. Patton's Third Army. They first set foot on French soil on January 22, 1945. In the waning days of the war in Europe, Rollie's company was approaching the outskirts of Linz, Austria. He voluntarily left his post to drive an ammunition trailer and truck out of range of enemy fire. For this action he received a Bronze Star.

Rollie's career and sacrifices to this point were similar to what thousands of men and women had done during the war and would certainly rate him no special place in the history books. But what he and his buddies did in the next few days definitely reserves them a spot.

And with the end of the war in Europe rapidly approaching, it was on May 5 that the personnel of Company K decided that they wanted to fly an American flag on the day of the armistice. They soon realized that one was not available, but after searching through the town Rollie and a fellow Sergeant (convinced) a local tailor that he should accept the job. They used Austrian flags for the white material, Nazi banners for the red material and lacking blue material they dyed some of the white. As they watched, the flag came into being.

At 4:30 A.M. on May 9 the flag was hung from Co. K Headquarters from a second story window. At 5:00 A.M. Gen. Patton came roaring into town. He stopped when he saw the flag, saluted and inquired as to where such a flag had been found (although in language a bit more colorful ). Several heard him remark that "as far as he was concerned it was the first American flag to be flown over Europe after the official end of hostilities." Patton saluted the flag once again and left.

It turned out that Rollie gained possession of the flag and took it back to Newark Valley with him. He shared the story with a few family members, but since Rollie wasn't one to spin war stories very few knew of its history or significance. It was while watching the movie Patton with a number of friends in November 1982 that Rollie slipped in the story of the flag along with a few other reminisces of the good General. Fortunately one of those who was listening was Art Berg, a resident of the Town of Owego. Art was a veteran of World War II and quite an avid history buff. He realized that the flag and its story needed a wider audience.

Art began authenticating the story and started to look for a suitable place where the flag could be displayed. Rollie was in favor of these actions, but he did not live long enough to see any of them come to fruition. He died in March 1983.

Art continued his work and decided that the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia would be the proper repository for the flag. The family concurred with this opinion. A ceremony honoring the flag was held on July 2, 1984, in Newark Valley at which time it was flown for a second time. It was then turned over to a representative from the Infantry Museum. It is now on display beneath a portrait of Gen. Patton.

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Rollie Noble
By Ed Nizalowski

The 50th anniversary of World War II has sparked much interest in what was one of the greatest wars of human history. Many men and women from Tioga County were part of this conflict, but a Newark Valley resident, Rollie Noble, played a special part in it.

Rollie was one of the first men drafted in Tioga County in November, 1940. At the end of the war he was part of the 260th infantry, 65th division of Gen. Patton's army stationed in Linz, Austria. As V-E Day drew near, Rollie and some of his friends wanted to fly an American flag once armistice was declared. Unfortunately, none were available. By using some Austrian and Nazi banners and commandeering the services of an Austrian tailor, a flag was made and was flown in the early morning hours of May 5, 1945. Gen. Patton drove by and remarked that it was probably the first American flag to fly over Europe at the end of hostilities.

The flag was in Rollie's possession until his death in March 1983. The Noble family turned the flag over to a representative from the Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia, on July 4, 1984. This was done in the Municipal Building in Newark Valley in a room dedicated to Rollie in 1982. The flag was then taken by VFW Honor Guard and flown from a flag pole near the Tappan-Spaulding Memorial Library for the first time in 39 years. The flag is now on display in Fort Benning, Georgia.

May 1995 would be an appropriate time to rededicate the flag and remember the sacrifices of all the men and women who came from small towns and villages like Newark Valley, but who were caught up in one of history's greatest cataclysms. Rollie played a special role because he was one of the first to be drafted and saw it right to the end. Rollie continued his service to the community throughout his life, especially in his efforts to restore the Bement-Billings Farmstead. This is a legacy which all of us can appreciate to this day.

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How Can We Save the Town?
This Town Needs Your HELP

Technology was causing many changes. Some jobs and businesses were disappearing. What would the future hold for the community? Could it survive?

By 1900 agriculture and commerce in Tioga County had undergone a transformation. Machines were replacing horses on the farm. Railroads were opening up new opportunities in the Midwest and West. Many young people were leaving the farms and heading for the big cities. The US Postal Service instituted Rural Free Delivery making it so much easier to purchase goods from a mail order catalog. Some thought it spelled doom for commerce in Tioga County. In an effort to turn the economic tide, from February 28th through July 4th of 1907, the Owego Gazette ran a remarkable series of advertisements.

A century has passed. Mail order catalogs have become part of history. The dot-com fad has passed. But technology is still causing many changes. Computers and the Internet are transforming jobs and businesses. In the new global economy, private sector jobs are moved around the world like pawns on a chess board. Are public schools preparing our children for the new economy? Are state and local governments building the infrastructure needed by 21st century businesses? Some are wondering what the future will hold for our children and our communities.

Take a moment to read some of the ads  that appeared in the Owego Gazette, and an article written By Ed Nizalowski (below).

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1907 Owego Gazette Advertisements

Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!

That's the way Grant's guns thundered at Vicksburg and Lee's guns thundered at Fredericksburg. Each of them thundered a little louder than the other fellow at each place and won the battle. The was is over long ago, but Booming still wins. Make this town and the country around it your battleground, and then boom! If you boom loud enough, people will come from afar off to find out what's up. Then a little more booming will take them prisoners and add them to the population. Then they will begin booming, and other willing captives will come in. This is the inside history of every town on earth that amounts to anything more than a hill of beans. Booming may be done in many ways. A board of trade can do it. A commercial club or business men's club can do it. You can do it individually. If you don't believe in this town, why do you live here? If you do believe in it, why don't you boom it? Every new family means money in your pocket if you are in business here or own property here. If you make your living by working here, every increase of population tends to increase your wages, every new industry brought to town tends to enlarge your opportunities for making a good living.

Batteries in a battle boom together. If only one gun booms now and then it helps some, but when they all boom together something big is going to happen right off. It's just the same with town booming. When we all boom together, the things we desire to have happen will begin happening. Now, suppose you who read this suggest through the columns of this paper some method of massing our boom batteries and making a noise that will bring people running into this town to go into business, start a factory, develop some of our natural resources. N. B. BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Don't You Like This Town?

You live here. Your business interests are here. Your home is here. You are reading a Mail Order Catalogue. That indicates that you are not spending your money in this town. You are spending it with strangers in a big city. That city has no use for this town except to get your money. This town has use for your money. If spent here, your money will help to build up the town. It will help to build up your own business. In the long run more of your money will come back to you if you spend it at home than it you send it to Chicago or some other large city. You spend a dollar with Smith, up the street. Smith spends it with Brown, around the corner. Brown is just as likely to spend it with you as with anybody else. Did you ever think of that? All of us have to spend money. There is an art in spending it where it will do the most good. If spent so that it will circulate around this town and community, it will help this town and community. You belong to this town and community. Therefore it will help you. Isn't that good logic? Suppose you think it over next time you pick up the Mail Order Catalogue.

Why Do Country Boys Flock to Big Cities?

Most small towns are short of young men. As a rule there are plenty of agreeable girls who would not object to matrimony; there are plenty of old people and enough babies to go around. But the boy -- oh, where is he? The boy, the young man, has gone to the city, where he imagines there are opportunities. To him the old home town is dull and stupid. He sees no future for himself there. Both for social and financial considerations he rushes off to the great city. Very frequently he finds that he is lonesomer there than at home -- nearly always so; and even more frequently he finds that riches do not grow on ten story walls. BUT STILL HE GOES TO THE CITY. In going there the boy simply follows his daddy's dollars. For years his daddy and his mother and his big sister and his Aunt Mary Ann have been mailing their money to the big city for Mail Order bargains.

Result: Home merchants don't thrive, grass grows in the streets, no jobs are to be had, no opening for a new business, and the young man goes to the city because it is a place where people have traded at home and built up their own community and provided opportunities for outsiders as well as for themselves. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR BOY AT HOME BUILD UP YOUR TOWN SO THAT HE CAN BUILD UP HIS CAREER AMONG HIS HOME FOLKS.

Personal Recollections of a Dollar

I am a dollar. A little age worn, maybe, but still in circulation. I am proud of myself for being in circulation. I am no tomato can dollar - not I. This town is only my adopted home, but I like it and hope to remain permanently. When I came out of the mint I was adopted into a town like this in another state. But after a time I was sent off to a big city many miles away. I turned up in a Mail Order house. For several years I stayed in that city. Millionaires bought cigars with me. I didn't like that, for I believe in the plain people. Finally a traveling man brought me to this town and left me here. I was so glad to get back to a smaller town that I determined to make desperate efforts to stay. One day a citizen of this town was about to send me back to that big city. I caught him looking over a Mail Order Catalogue. Suddenly I found my voice and said to him - he was a dentist, by the way:

"Now, look her, doc. If you'll only let me stay in this town I'll circulate around and do you lots of good. You buy a big beefsteak with me, and the butcher will buy groceries, and the grocer will buy dry goods, and the dry goods merchant will pay his doctor's bill with me, and the doctor will spend me with a farmer for oats to feed his buggy horse, and the farmer will buy some fresh beef from the butcher, and the butcher will come around to you and get his tooth mended. In the long run, as you see, I'll be more useful to you here at home than if you'd send me away forever." Doc said it was a might stiff argument. He hadn't looked at it in that light before. So he went and bought the big beefsteak, and I began to circulate around home again. Now, just suppose all the other dollars that are sent to Chicago or some other big city were kept circulating right here at home. You could see this town grow. HONEST - AIN'T I RIGHT?

How Much Could You Get For Your Farm?

You are a farmer. You live near this town. You own land. Let us say that you own more than you need and would like to sell a hundred acres. How much could you get per acre? Land values have risen lately. But has the value of your land risen as you think it should? Your land is good land. You think it is worth considerably more than anybody has offered you. Well, let us see. A man buying farm land naturally prefers to locate near a thriving up to date town. He wants good home markets for his crops. He wants good schools. Let us say your land is three miles from town. A farm that looks very much like yours is three miles from a town twice as big and twice as prosperous as this town. If you were going to buy a farm for your own occupancy, wouldn't you pay a whole lot more for land near the town that is twice as large and twice as lively? Of course you would. It would be good business.

Now, what makes a town big and bustling? Money. Money in circulation. Not in circulation in Chicago, for instance, but right in the town that wants to grow. How much money have you sent to the big Mail Order houses in the city the past ten years? How much have your neighbors sent? How much have all of you together put out of circulation here at home? It is probably beyond calculation. If all that money had been spent in your own home town, isn't it reasonable to assume that the town would have grown more than it has grown? Wouldn't this town be a bigger and better town? Wouldn't it have more stores to buy your produce? Wouldn't it have more public improvements to make it more attractive to outsiders who might come here to live, to go into business, or buy your surplus land at a good figure? TO TRADE AT HOME MEANS TO HELP THE TOWN AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD. TO HELP THE TOWN AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD MEANS TO HELP YOURSELF.

Help! Help! Help!

Nothing very serious the matter -- don't get excited -- but your HELP is needed Every man, every woman and every child can HELP. This town needs your HELP. It is a good town, but every good citizen wants to see it become a better town. But unless the good citizens stand by the town, lend a hand, put a shoulder to the wheel or get in front and pull, without balking, there won't be any noticeable progress. Towns are not Topsies. No town "just grows". It's the people in a town and around it who make it grow by feeding it the right sort of diet. A pig in a poke won't get fat. Nor will a town with its light hidden under a bushel attract attention from outside. Unless you throw corn into a lean shoat the animal never will become a fat porker. It is just as necessary to feed a town and community with fresh material from the outside world.

It is up to you and each of us to get out and forage for the town. Speak a good word for it. Write a good letter for it. To you the place where you live is the most important place in the world. It is the best place in the world. It is the center of the world. The universe revolves around it. This being so--and you can't deny it--why not HELP advertise the center of the universe? Why not tell your friends and acquaintances elsewhere what they are missing by living away from the real center? Talk has built up many a town--every town, in fact. Talk can build up this town. You can't talk too much if you talk right. P. S. HELP! HELP! HELP!

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Save the Town! Save the Countryside!
By Ed Nizalowski

A Personal Perspective

Two qualities that a good historian should have are the ability to see how historical curiosities can be avenues for research and the ability to see how such events and phenomenon might be tied together into a larger pattern of historical experience. Understanding the historical dynamics behind the "Booming the Town" campaign in Owego, New York, enabled me to see how some puzzling events and observations fit into a mosaic that stretched decades into the past and has also provided an interesting perspective to the present.

The first observation that puzzled me was from my own daily life. I was standing in front of our local Catholic church in Newark Valley listening to a babble of Eastern European tongues after a church service. These immigrant parishioners, mostly Poles, had bought farms in Tioga County shortly after World War I. I started to wonder: what had brought these people here from the other side of the ocean to this section of upstate New York? Another instance involved research concerning a black burial ground in a tract of state forest and learning that what was now forest had once been a very productive farm. Why had this once thriving enterprise declined to the point that in 1933 New York State was able to buy it for $3.50 an acre? In a third case, while skimming through one of the county's newspapers, I came across an article regarding the shooting of a deer. This was described as a "reprehensible act" since white tail deer were a protected species. (1) The year was 1923 and this was front page news. Since many people now view these animals as "rats with antlers", there was a definite gap in my understanding of local history.

The stimulus for studying the "Boom the Town" campaign came from my perusals of the Owego Gazette, a local newspaper based in the county seat. In trying to comprehend what was taking place in the county in the last quarter of the 19th century, I began to realize that the "quality of life" was taking a turn for the worse. Farmland was shrinking, industry was not developing and people were leaving both the countryside and the villages for greener pastures.

When turning the pages of the newspaper for 1907, I spotted some ads that caught my interest. I soon realized these were part of a campaign, a campaign to "Boom the Town". By understanding the events leading up to the campaign, the reasons for its initiation and subsequent results or lack of results, some historical curiosities starting making sense. Like pieces of a puzzle, the phenomenon of Polish farmers in front of a church, a once thriving farm grown to forest and the reappearance of a once exterminated species began to fit into a broader pattern of regional, state and national history.

First Efforts to Attract Industry and Stem Population Loss

In the 1870's Tioga County was a rural enclave nestled in the hills of what is called the Southern Tier of New York. Although it was extensively farmed and had developed a respectful commercial and industrial base, the county was at the crest of a hill. Two sources of capital that had helped fuel the economy, lumber and the exceptionally fertile land that came as a consequence, were all but gone by the 1870's. The lumbermen went west and many of the smart farmers followed them. The industrial sector was also not keeping pace with many other parts of the country or even with certain cities within the region. Between 1870 and 1875 the county's population dropped from 33,178 to 32,915 starting a trend that would continue for 50 years.

There was at least one person who saw storm clouds on the horizon quite early. William M. Martin, an Owego tradesman, wrote a letter to the Gazette in 1870 warning that even though Owego had passed through "the adversities of fire, flood and war" this was no time for complacency. (2) The cities to the east (Binghamton) and to the west (Elmira) were building an industrial base that could very likely surpass that of Owego. The need for investment in infrastructure and the ethic of spending money locally were passionately stressed. These themes would have a familiar ring for half a century.

Six years later, instead of an individual beating the drum for business and commercial progress, an entire group of people gathered at Wilson Hall for the purpose of advancing industrial development in Owego. (3) Dr. James Wilson, owner of the hall, proposed the following agenda for keeping Owego on the map: increase the respectability of the town, always speak well of the town, encourage home enterprise (spend locally) and provide inducements for new businesses to move into Owego. (4). A letter sent to the Owego Gazette in 1891gave many of the same reasons for a decline in the local economy: lack of enthusiasm and enterprise; lack of outside capital; lack of leadership and system and lack of investment in home industries.(5) These initial efforts met with marginal success; by 1890 the population of the county had dropped by almost 10%.

The theme of spending your money locally would become of even greater importance with the astounding success of the mail order houses such as Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. The introduction of Rural Free Delivery in 1893 (not available to the northern counties of New York until 1900) and parcel post in 1913 brought even more business to these new franchises. (6) For the local tradesman or merchant it was difficult if not impossible to match the quality, variety and price of the merchandise available from these mail order houses.

The declining fortunes of the Village were being duplicated off in the hillsides. Agricultural land was being left vacant by the early 1880's. The future of farming began to look as uncertain as the future of industry and commerce. The topic for the May 1887 meeting of the Tioga County Dairymen's Association was the following : "Does Farming Pay?". (7) Although the meeting accentuated the positive, for an increasing number of farmers these views were falling on deaf ears. By 1893 entire farms were being abandoned.

Although political blame for this state of affairs would shift back and forth, it did not seem to matter which party was in office. The land and those who worked so hard to make a living from it, simply could not compete with the agricultural bounty of the Midwest and Far West. Tioga County was not alone. The US Census of 1900 revealed that 22 counties in New York State had lost population. In fact, this was a phenomenon being repeated in much of the East, especially in the "old agricultural regions" of New England and the Middle Atlantic States.

A Campaign to "Boom the Town"

An unhealthy economy often translates into a change in the political structure. Such a change occurred in January 1907 when the "Citizens Party", a coalition of Democrats and Republicans defeated the entire Republican ticket in the Village of Owego. (8). This new group had been swept into office with their "Booming the Town" campaign with the promise that business and industrial conditions would subsequently improve.

What followed were a remarkable series of eighteen ads that ran nearly every week from February 28th through July 4th. They appeared to be public service ads, but the source was never identified. A simple graphic would illustrate each point. It was a campaign to reaffirm country values, instill community pride, reenergize a sluggish economy and convince people that if everyone pulled together there would be better days ahead.

The first ad to appear was "Don't You Like This Town?" showing a dapper young man whose nose would appear to be pressed against the binding of a "mail order catalog". (9) The arguments, logic and rationale presented in the first of these ads would be repeated in a variety of ways over the next five months: spend your money locally; don't send it off the "strangers in the big city".

One ad that might be described as a classic appeared on March 21st, "Why Do Country Boys Flock to the Big Cities?". (10) The graphic shows a young determined country boy with feet the size of gunboats dressed in his country best. With suitcase and cane in hand he is off "to Bigville". Why does he go? The reason is simple: he is following the dollars that daddy and other family members have sent to the mail order houses for so many years.

The variety of approaches used in this advertising campaign were quite remarkable. Some were reasoned, rational conversations while others used passionate, dramatic language laced with hyperbole and theatrics. Many of these were very critical of those who stayed in a perpetual state of pessimism, inaction and lethargy. The author's favorite of the group, though, is "Help! Help! Help!" (11) After the usual pitch for self-reliant citizens to work together for the common good, the ad copy gave the following message:

"It is up to you and each of us to get out and forage for the town. Speak a good word for it. Write a good letter for it. To you the place where you live is the most important place in the world. It is the best place in the world. It is the center of the world. The universe revolves around it."

The Citizen's Party had made some very ambitious promises. Delivering on those promises after declining fortunes stretching back to the 1870's was a tall order. Whatever efforts that the Citizen's Party had accomplished to "boom the town" had a hollow ring with the tabulation of the 1910 US Census. The Village population had continued to drop and the county population (25, 624) was almost 23% below the figure of 1870. (12)

The "Booming the Town" campaign in the Village of Owego had little impact on the declining fortunes among farmers. Officials from Washington came to assess the situation in October 1909 including the Chief of the United States Bureau of Soils and the US Secretary of Agriculture himself. (13) They blamed the adverse farming conditions on the depopulation of the country and poor farming methods in general. (14)

Efforts to unify farmers had not been successful for a variety of reasons: farming industry was scattered, communication was infrequent and social and commercial ties were very diversified. A milk strike in 1916, however, exhibited a rare solidarity among dairymen and considerable support from the rural community. The Dairymen's League had called for a strike within a five state area and 95% of Tioga County's milk had been withheld from shipment. Part of the League's efforts focused on education and a desire to gain appreciation from both the marketplace and the general public:

" . . . .the 17,000 members of the dairymen's league have done their work so thoroughly that the greatest city of America has come to realize that there is a real live creature known as a cow behind the milk bottle far up state, and still further back a human being, who feeds and milks and shelters this cow. It is known in New York City that milk does not flow from a spring like water from the main." (15)

Nature Makes a Comeback

Once land is vacant, the entire process of succession to its natural state of equilibrium starts once again. Once the flora have evolved to a particular environmental stage, the fauna will not be far behind. One of the most fascinating and best documented species illustrating this phenomenon is the white tail deer.

In 1907 it was reported that passengers on a train traveling between Berkshire and Newark Valley [in Tioga County] had seen a young deer bound out of a thicket. (16) The last time a deer had been seen in the county was May 1847. In October 1923, in what was reported as a "reprehensible act", a doe was shot about four miles northeast of the Village of Owego. (17) The paper suggested that the perpetrator should have six months in prison and a $200 fine. "A young doe is one of the most innocent creatures in the world. Most folks would as about soon shot a baby".

Tioga County residents were generally elated over the return of the white tail deer and the paper felt that nothing should be done to deter the natural increase. They did not have to wait long. Within five years the debate over an open season on white tail deer became a heated discussion ending in 1941 when an open season was established. By this time beavers were becoming more common as well and, although quite sporadic, black bear were once again wandering the hills of Tioga County the way they had a century before.

The Immigrant Farmers

At the turn of the century, the federal government began recruiting immigrant farmers to reclaim many of the abandoned farms in the East. New York State began efforts of its own in 1905. (18) Two major ethnic groups that settled in Tioga County in this regard were the Finns and the Eastern Europeans. The first Finns came to the area about 1910 with the first Eastern Europeans about five years later. The Eastern Europeans were by and large Polish with a fair number of Russians and Ukrainians. There was also a certain number of German, Austrian, Swiss and Dutch farmers who came in this period as well.

Work by such concerns as the Stout Real Estate Agency in New York City brought the first Finns to Tioga County in 1910.(19). The ads spoke of fertile soil, good roads, natural beauty and profitable markets. It wasn't long before warnings appeared in the Finnish newspapers to be suspect of such lavish descriptions.

But the Finns appeared to prosper and were actually fulfilling the exhortations and advice that had emanated from the "Boom the Town" campaign. Farmland was being recovered, children were filling the schools and community institutions were being revitalized. One Finn who exemplified this new spirit was Matthew Herrala who had bought a farm near Halsey Valley in 1913. He was virtually lionized by a doctor from Tioga County, M. B. Dean, who wrote an article about him that appeared in the Rural New Yorker. According to Dean, Herrala's success stemmed from a family that worked hard for a common purpose with a high degree of spirit, energy and cooperation. In spite of the admiration that Dean had for the Herrala's, he had to admit that the future of such enterprises might not be long term:

" The Herrala's are the forerunners of a new race of pioneers. Under their hands the hills will again blossom; their children will inherit them, becoming themselves the 'old families,' and then who knows but that education, refinement and luxury will force them, in turn, to give way to a hardier race." (20)

As with the Finns, the Eastern Europeans initially came through the efforts of real estate agents. One agent in particular, Stanley Moranski of Owego, was especially active in this regard. The ads aimed at this ethnic group were also quite inflated. It wouldn't be long before this "new race of immigrant pioneers" would realize why the Yankees had left these farms in the first place.

In spite of these trends, a mini-land boom did occur in 1921. (21) Western and Canadian farmers, many of whom had spent their childhood in New York State, had been showing a strong interest in coming back east. Another source of potential farmers came from workers who found themselves taking pay cuts and being laid off after the "boom times" of World War I. Rather than using up their savings, these people began looking for self-supporting farms. This revitalization of the farm economy was short-lived, however. The news from 1923 and 1924 painted a picture that took its cue from the trends and developments that had been at work for half a century: people leaving for the cities and a continued depression of commodity prices. (22)

A bulletin was issued by Cornell University in 1929 concerning abandoned farm areas in New York State. (23) The viewpoint that immigrant farmers could bring the hill farms back to life prompted the writer of the bulletin, Lawrence M. Vaughan, to study an area known as Bull Hill where almost 75% of the farmers were Finnish. Although many farms had been brought back to life, Vaughn felt that this was a phenomenon that could not sustain itself. Of the farms that the foreign-born had reclaimed, 20% of these were already in a second state of abandonment.

The apparent prosperity of the working farms was based on two factors. First, the foreign-born farmers had large families and their children and wives worked with them. Thus there was no cash expense for labor. Second, most of the foreign-born men had settled first in the cities where they had learned a trade. Leaving the farm in the winter months for work done in these trades added significantly to the household income. He reached this sobering conclusion:

"A resettlement of these areas is simply repeating the process of abandonment through which they have already gone. It constitutes a great social loss, as many men spend the better part of their lives trying to make these farms pay, and the money invested there would return much more if spent in some other way" (Vaughn, p.90)

Owego: The Last 70 Years

The Great Depression brought a halt brought a halt to many "Booming the Town" campaigns. A shoe factory in Owego that was part of the Endicott-Johnson Corporation based in Binghamton helped provide a certain measure of stability for village residents and those within commuting distance. Farmers saw milk prices drop to $1 a hundred weight. A milk strike in 1933 had widespread support, but did little to increase the price farmers received for their milk. New York State was already buying land for its forest preserves.

The Second World War took men out of the area and provided work for nearly every able bodied man or woman on the home front. With the closing of the war agriculture would continue down the path established in the 19th century. The amount of land in agricultural use would continue to shrink along with the number of family farms. Those that stayed in the business would be caught in the cycle of new guidelines, rules, market developments and the never ending task of keeping buildings and equipment functioning and up to date. The amount of capital investment necessary to stay in dairy farming would become enormous.

The old industrial base of the area has gone through an almost complete transformation. The shoe factories, foundries and other manufacturing concerns would weaken and disappear as companies such as IBM, General Electric and Singer Link expanded due to the developments in the high tech industrial sector and the budget outlays for the cold war. In 1956 IBM actually built a new facility in the Town of Owego, very close to the Village limits. The "promised period of industrial expansion" had actually begun.

The new millennium sees Owego, its sister towns in the county, and much of the Southern Tier in another state of uncertainty. The region was not prepared for the end of the cold war. Although the population of Tioga County, now estimated at 52, 216 is fairly stable, the Southern Tier in general has seen thousands leave for the south and west. The IBM plant in Owego has had two different owners since 1994. Dairy farmers are once again facing production costs of a commodity that does not seem to justify the long hours and the general insecurities of agriculture. Over Labor Day weekend this year, a number of farmers dumped their milk in protest.

Across the Southern Tier and in much of rural America there is a crisis. It is a crisis that extends beyond the continued loss of the agricultural base and the various efforts to revive sagging industrial and commercial concerns. This is one of identity, character and sustainability. Should a village, town, county or region simply surrender to whatever commercial or industrial development happens to place itself on the doorstep? Will this development provide long term benefits that will justify the infrastructure costs that will be incurred by municipalities?

In regard to agriculture, the decisions become even more complex. Rural America is defined by the agricultural landscape, the ability of farmers to utilize large areas of open space, but we now that we have an agricultural economy that makes if very difficult , and in more and more cases virtually impossible, to keep prime farmland out of the hands of developers. Questions regarding the role that these open spaces play in our emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being have taken on greater importance.

It is difficult to pick up a newspaper in the Southern Tier and not find some article that pertains to these issues. Before community leaders and businessmen throw themselves into protracted efforts to revive the local economy, a history lesson is necessary. Much can be learned by examining the dynamics of change that began taking place in the county 130 years ago and the motivation and success of Owego's efforts to "Boom the Town".


Bibliography

1. "Unknown Hunter Shoots a Deer in Owego". Owego Gazette. ( October 11, 1923).

2. Martin, William M. "The Present and Future Prospects of Owego - What Are They?" [letter] Owego Gazette. (May 5, 1870).

3. "The First Step Toward Inducing Manufacturers to Locate in Owego" Owego Gazette. (Jan. 13, 1876) p. 3.

4. Dr. Wilson made this statement: "clean out the houses of ill fame, put down illegal liquor selling, and close up gambling houses." In Dr. Wilson's opinion, Owego had too much rum, vice and immorality. Whether Owego had sunken this far into depravity or whether Dr. Wilson had a puritanical view of public mores hasn't been determined. The Historical Gazetteer and Directory of Tioga County, New York, published in 1887 gives the following information. There were 7 liquor dealers and 21 saloons in the Village not including bars in hotels. The licenses brought in a considerable amount of income: $45 for hotels in Village, $45 for stores, $30 for druggists (sold for medicinal purposes) and $25 for ale houses. The Town of Owego was issued 45 licenses and the Village of Owego 42. [Gazetteer reference from Watrous, Hida R. Owego Reflections 1887-1987. (Owego, NY: Tioga County Historical Society, 1994), p 51.].

5. "How to 'Boom' a Non-Progressive Town - Some Suggestions That Are Worthy of Consideration" [letter] reprint from Board of Trade Journal (Elmira) in Owego Gazette, March 26, 1891.

6. Gustaitis, J. "Closing the Book". American History Illustrated. July/August, 1993, p. 36.

7. "Discussion of the Question, 'Does Farming Pay?' . . . ." Owego Gazette. May 12, 1887.

8. "Cits Win in a Walk". Owego Times. Jan. 10, 1907.

9. "Don't You Like This Town?". Owego Gazette. Feb. 4, 1907.

10. "Why Do Country Boys Flock to the Big Cities?" Owego Gazette. March 21, 1907.

11. "Help! Help! Help!" Owego Gazette. May 9, 1907.

12. "A Slump in Population". Owego Gazette. September 29, 1910.

13. "The Abandoned Farms". Owego Gazette. Oct. 7, 1909, p. 2.

14. "Abandoned Farms". Owego Gazette. Oct. 21, 1909, p. 2.

15. "The Milk Strike is Being Conducted Orderly" Owego Gazette. Oct. 5, 1916.

16. "An Unusual Sight". Owego Gazette. June 20, 1907.

17. "Unknown Hunter Shoots a Deer in Owego". Owego Gazette. Octo. 11, 1923.

18. "The State Department of Agriculture . . . . Abandoned Farms Occupied and Reclaimed". Owego Gazette. Aug. 10, 1905

19. Much of the information concerning the Finns is taken from "Finnish Farmers in New York, 1910-1960" by A. William Hoglund. In Trek of the Immigrants: Essays Presented to Carl Wittke. O. Fritiof Ander, Ed. Rock Island, IL: Augustana College Library, 1964. Pp. 141-155 and 286-290.

20. Dean, M. B. "New Familes on Old Farms: The Pioneer Spirit Needed". Rural New Yorker. Sept. 14, 1918. Qtd. in "What Matthew Herrala Has Accomplished in Five Years". Owego Gazette. September 26, 1918, p. 3.

21. "The Slogan Now is 'Back to the Farm'". Owego Gazette. Jan. 20, 1921, p. 6.

22. "New Light is Shed on Exodus From Farms to City". Owego Gazette. Feb. 22, 1923, p. 7; "New York Dairymen Are Facing Serious Situation". Owego Gazette. April 17, 1924, p. 6.

23. Vaughn, Lawrence M. Abandoned Farm Areas in New York, Cornell University Agricultural

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Notes on the Black Burial Ground
By Ed Nizalowski

Location

• Located in Oakley Corners State Forest, tract of 1,042 acres, lying primarily in the northern part of the Town of Owego, partly in Town of Newark Valley

• The site itself is probably very near the boundaries dividing the towns on a relatively flat area of a sloping hill

Evolution of the Story

• The story is part of the oral history of that general area (Oakley Corners and East Newark Valley)

• Ed Nizalowski, Sr. walked by the site on hikes in the 1920's and 1930's

• Passed the story on to his son, Ed, Jr., c.1962

• Ed, Sr. tried to relocate c. 1970, but terrain had changed due to growth of forest

• Ed, Sr., told his nephew, Ray Kuzia, where the site was probably located and he was successful

• Ray took Ed, Jr. to the site in 1980

Description of Site

• The site is approx. 50' square with roughly a N-S-E-W orientation

• There is a crumbling stone wall that surrounds it

• The site is approx. part of 1 1/2 acre area that has grown into native hardwoods; surrounding this are red pine planted in the 1930's

• Several stones that appear to be headstones are imbedded in the ground; the stones are shale and have no inscriptions; several other stones of this type are lying in the ground

• Natives of the area have stated that more stones had been present, but these were taken at some point

• There are several deep depressions that probably indicate vandalism of some of the graves

Historic Record

• US Census for 1870 indicates 5 blacks resided on the Livermore Farm: 4 male field hands, 1 female housekeeper, all were born in Virginia

• NYS Census for 1875 indicates 3 black field hands resided on the farm; all were born in Virginia; no one was the same in that five year period

• Blacks resided on the farm at least as late as 1879

• There were also blacks on the Oakley Farm as well

• There is no written evidence relating to the burial ground or what bodies might lie within

Research into the burial ground led to three articles in Afro-Americans in New York Life and History:

• "The Forgotten Burial Ground" Jan., 1985

• "Margaret Williams and the Black Community of Owego" Jan., 1986

• "Murder in Newark Valley, 1879: The Murder of Elbridge Rewey and the Trial and Execution of Daniel Searles" Jan., 1987

• Commentary for Monitor Radio ( March 6, 1995)

• "Action News for Kids" program (May 20, 1995)

• Application made to National Register for Historic Places (March, 2000)

Highlights relating to Black History in Tioga County

Prior to Revolutionary War

• Blacks present in the Southern Tier prior to white settlement (escaped slaves who had been accepted by Native Americans)

• Black man captured at Battle of Newtown by American forces during the Clinton-Sullivan campaign

1790-1865

• Slavery existed in Tioga County (New York was largest slave holding state north of the Mason-Dixon line immediately following the Revolutionary War

• US Census 1820: 80 slaves, 32 freeman (Tioga County still included Chemung)

• Majority of slaves in Town of Caroline area; had been settled by group from Virginia and Maryland

• Slavery abolished in 1827; part of 28 year process

• Black church established in Owego (1842); AME Church of Owego (Bethel Church)

• Blacks can be found in nearly every town in Tioga County (at some point); highest concentration and greatest community development in Village of Owego

• Underground Railroad activity very likely in Tioga County; several homes strong candidates: Farrington & Pinney (Owego) and Carlisle (Berkshire)

• No evidence of Blacks being involved in the Underground Railroad to date

• Several area Blacks enlisted in the Civil War

Post-Civil War

• Large increase in population; influx from south

• Population reached 225 in 1892 (county population approx. 30,000)

• Steady decline through the 1950's; county population in general would decline in the same period

• Blacks in both WW I & WW II (every Black man eligible was in the service)

• Klan active in Tioga County in the 1920's; target more likely Southern and Eastern Europeans rather than native blacks (speculation on my part)

Post World War II

• Black church dissolved sometime in the early 1950's

• Black population around 200 (county pop. around 50,000) [1990 Census?]

General statement relating to the Black presence in Tioga County:

Blacks were not treated as complete equals, but it was still a place where success and respect could be attained especially in particular fields. In this environment they were able to raise families, establish roots, develop community institutions, and play an important part in the county's history. A number of individuals and particular families are worthy of recognition. For Blacks not to be part of the county history would leave a huge gap in the historic record.

 
Notes relating to the History of the Livermore Farm

Livermore family from Spencer, Massachusetts

Deed transactions:

• Grand Division of the Boston Purchase (lots 15 & 16, parts thereof)

• McMaster's East Half Township (lots 2, 3 & 7, parts thereof)

• 1818 (Amos Livermore) [approx. 200 acres]

• 1823 (Obadiah Livermore) [sold for $200]

• 1827 (Rufus Livermore)

• 1834 (Phineas Livermore)

• 1839 (James Madison Livermore) [sold for $1,000 on Oct. 1st at 12 Noon] (Most people referred to him as Madison)

• Between 1840 and 1853 Madison bought 4 more parcels; farm acreage was now 560

• During the 1870's and perhaps prior to the 1870 date, Madison had Black field hands living on his farm; Blacks were there at least until 1879

Ag Statistics from NYS Census of 1875

• 250 ac. (improved) 280 ac. (unimproved)

• 120 ac. (pasture) 95 ac. (meadow)

• 35 ac. (plowed) 19 ac. (oats)

• 12 ac. (potatoes) also raised winter wheat, buckwheat and Indian corn

• 100 tons of hay (1874) 44 milk cows

• 6,000 lb. of butter (1874) 77 sheep

• 200 apple trees

Madison retired from farming some time in the 1880's and moved to the Village; the home that he built is at 148 Main St.

Madison died in 1910 at the age of 94; he outlived his second wife by 15 years

1910 (Orlando Livermore)

• Jan. 1, 1913 (Merrill Mott)

• Merrill was a victim of the flu epidemic of 1918

October 8, 1919 (Ambrose Hofman)

Ambrose was an immigrant from Bavaria, who had recently successfully raised beef cattle in South Dakota. Those were his plans for the Livermore farm. Unfortunately, the price of beef dropped from 20 cents a lb. to 7 cents in the years after World War I. Ambrose died of a heart attack in 1926. The farm was left to his widow and two children.

June 26, 1933 New York State

• Selling price was $1,987.72 (about $3.52 per acre) Buildings could be removed until July 27, 1933 and timber removed until Jan. 1, 1934. The main barn (over 100' long) and horse barn were in good condition; the house was in fair condition although it hadn't been occupied in a number of years

• This farm along with the Oakley Farm became the Oakley Corners State Forest.

• Red pine was planted in much of the acreage with native hardwoods left to reseed themselves

The Human Presence in the State Forest

The story of the Livermore Farm is similar to thousands of hill farms in what were known as the "old agricultural districts" (New England and Middle Atlantic States). Some land of this type was being abandoned even before the Civil War, but the rate of vacancy mushroomed in the period from 1880-1920. The final blow to many hill farms was the Great Depression at which time NYS bought many hundreds of these farms for back taxes.

The story of settlement and the process of abandonment can often be seen as one walks down a trail or views the forest from a vantage point. The plantings of the 1930's are readily apparent, but one can often notice differences in the age of trees from one area to another. These often represent fields or pasture that had been left vacant from varying time periods. An empty field will soon result in a proliferation of golden rod, briars and brush that soon lead to the first species of trees (birch, poplar, sumac, pin cherry). After a generation these trees provide the environment for the climax species of the eastern hardwoods forest (maple, oak, ash, black cherry, beech). Intermixed are the two softwood species (white pine and eastern hemlock).

Seeing anything that matches the quality and height of the primeval forest that was here when the first settlers came is a rare occurrence. Only a small percentage of the forest east of the Mississippi escaped clear cutting. The canopy height was in the 150' range with numerous trees of only moderate dimensions (2' to 3' in diameter). Mammoth trees did exist, however. Mention is made of white pine in the Town of Candor being 175' high and 5' in diameter (Gay's Gazeteer). This type of forest takes several centuries to come into being and will only occur in places that are completely protected. With hardwoods being of such value, most trees are harvested long before they can reach this kind of growth.

The human presence can be seen in a variety of ways. Stone walls are often encountered as well as piles of stone. A line fence indicated by left over strands of wire will often show dramatic differences in the age of trees and their species from one side to another. A very old fence line or border between two fields or two parcels of property often indicates some line of demarcation even though no strands of wire are visible. A cistern constructed near a spring can often be seen in a former field that was once the domain of cattle.

Foundations for barns, outbuildings and homes will generally show a different type of vegetation. Much of this may have been introduced or is simply a function of the home being a place of residence even after the fields had been left to nature. Burial grounds or cemeteries are not an infrequent occurrence. Families were allowed to bury on their own property well into the 19th century. Although this still can be done, it is not customary practice.

As you walk through the hills on various trails or simply "bushwhack" your way on an adventure, you are encountering the archeological sites of the next century and beyond. But what is so very remarkable is that much of the history can be traced through deed transactions and there is still time to record many of the stories before the hills cover them with foliage and the ravages of weather and time. One never knows when a forgotten story could lead to an adventure.

Some natural features to notice as you drive down the state lands road from Oakley Corners to our disembarking point:

• The old road and the state road are the same first .2 of a mile. At the sharp left it takes a new direction; the old road would have gone straight into the woods

• The trees for the first 1/2 mile are native hardwoods that are relatively young

• As you come to the bottom of the grade, there are more eastern hemlock (approx. .6 mile); they become very prominent along the stream

• Once over the stream you begin to see plantings of red pine

• The hardwood trees in the area are much older; many have already been harvested

• Disembark near a gravel pit (approx. 1 mile)

An excellent source of information on this type of interpretation can be found in the book "Reading the Forested Landscape A Natural History of New England" by Tom Wessels The Countryman Press, 1997.

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Church Helped Maintain and Strengthen Black Community
By Ed Nizalowski

Churches have long been one of the institutions that help maintain more than a certain set of religious beliefs. Often they have not only served as a refuge for the nurturing and strengthening of particular cultural and character traits, but have also been a vehicle to maintain national, racial and/or ethnic pride and identity. This has been no more true than with the black churches and can certainly be applied to Owego's black church. Although the black population in Owego was only 46 in 1840, a group banded together and established a church in 1842. Charles Pumpelly seemed to be involved financially in some manner and the founder was the Elder Spicer.

African Methodist Episcopal Church 116 Fox St., Owego, NY

Trustees were William Pearl, Prince Van Ness, Fred Wittan, James Hollensworth and John Bogs. It was to be known as the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Owego, commonly known as the Bethel Church. It started with 25 members and would last over 100 years. (*) (Transcription of Incorporation Papers)

The location of the church is now a vacant lot on 116 Fox St. near the corner of Spencer Avenue. Wesley Marshall is the present owner of the property. The building had been the former First Presbryterian Church that had been moved to the Fox St. location. Marshall's stepfather, Rev. John Williams, had been one of the pastors.

Much of the church's activities were typical of any congregation and the members took an active role in raising money for their pastor and operating expenses. A fair was started in 1844 that often took place in Ahwaga Hall. This was an annual event that was being held as late as 1934. Other activities included special concerts, camp meetings, picnics, suppers, ice cream socials and the like. The Orion Orchestra was the featured music for a performance in 1900 and the Orpheus Jubilee Singers came in 1910.

The church congregation was strong enough that it hosted the annual conference for the New York district in both 1877 and 1892. The conference in 1892 was the 72nd annual for the AME church and lasted five days. Along with the various committee reports, the visiting ministers gave sermons in a variety of other churches in the community that Sunday.

One dispute that had been referred to the judicial committee involved the Rev. Mosselle of Lockport. A hotel of which he was the owner was being leased to someone who was selling alcohol. The judicial committee felt that this should not be allowed and Rev. Mosselle agreed with their ruling. The New York district at that time consisted of 13 churches, one of which was in New Jersey.

There were several times where disputes within the church spilled into the local papers. In preparation for the conference in 1892, conflict erupted between those raising money for remodeling and those raising money for the pastor's salary and other operating expenses. In 1909 the Rev. L. Walter DeShields left under a cloud of suspicion. Although this "energetic" pastor had reduced the church's debt by several hundred dollars, he had been accused of being too familiar with some of the females of the congregation.

Two events just prior to World War I were of special interest. A parade given by members of the church in July 1911 created "much amusement". According to the Owego Gazette, "the paraders were grotesquely costumed, representing historical personages, who were gorgeously arrayed in discarded regalia of fraternal societies." The parade had been organized by the pastor's wife and passed through the street to the accompaniment of a drum beat. The parade bore a resemblance to the "Pinkster" carnivals held by blacks along the Hudson River. These had cultural ties to similar festivities that had been done by Dutch.

In September 1913 Samuel Cheeks at age 81 had his sins washed away by being immersed in the Susquehanna River. This was the first river baptism to take place in over 25 years and news of the event drew a crowd of over 200 who lined the shore and filled motor boats and canoes. The rite was administered by Rev. John H. Allen from Elmira because the pastor the Bethel Church, Rev. Thomas Hebbons, was too afflicted with rheumatism.

By the 1920's the church decline and lack of members was becoming evident. Mary P. Chase in a letter to the Owego Gazette (April 24, 1924) deplored the general lack of interest and the fact that so few young people were in attendance. She reminisced about the days when the pews were full and various events and activities had such strong support from both the black community and from other churches in the area. "Why can't those days be again?" was her plea to revive the past.

Unfortunately, the situation worsened over the next decade. In another letter to the Owego Times (September 28, 1937) she sought greater financial aid and interest from the black community. Although she stated that the Bethel Church was a place where " we can meet at any time, and for any legitimate purpose, without fear of being discriminated against", she also acknowledged that "white benefactors" had been assuming much of the financial responsibility for the church in previous years. But with appreciation lacking from the black community, white aid had ceased.

The church did make an effort to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 1932. The Rt. Rev. W. H. Heard, the presiding bishop of the First Episcopal Church, gave a special address with many white pastors of the Owego Churches in attendance. The author could not find any special commemoration for the church's centennial in 1942. With the Second World War under way and what was probably continued decline in support, the prospects for many more years of official activities looked bleak.

The author has not been able to pinpoint the exact year of dissolution. Services were still being held into the late 1940's perhaps even the early 1950's. When the congregation could no longer maintain a pastor, the building was used for storage by a plumber, but lack of maintenance eventually made the building unusable and it was torn down.

Transcription of Incorporation Papers African Methodist Church of Owego

At a meeting of the male persons of full age belonging to the African Methodist Congregation or Religious Society, in the village of Owego, Tioga County, New York, assembled at the house of Prince VanNess, in said village, on Tuesday the eleventh day of October in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty two, (being the place where the said congregation or society statedly attended and have attended for divine worship for the last two years) - for the purpose of electing trustees to the charge of the estate and property belonging to said congregation or society, and to transact all affairs relative to the temporalities thereof, and for the purpose of becoming incorporated under & by virtue of the act entitled "an act to provide for the incorporation of religious societies" - passed April 5, 1813 - public notice having been given of said meeting and the object thereof to the said congregation or society by the Rev. Thomas Jackson, the minister of said congregation or society at there said stated place of public worship, more than fifteen days before said meeting, and for two successive Sabaths preceding the same. James Moore and Richard Thompson, two of the members of said congregation or society were unanimously nominated to preside at said election: and we the above named James Moore and Richard Thompson, do hereby certify that the facts and circumstances herein above contained and in all respects true and that in pursuance of the said nomination we did preside at said meeting & that thereupon the following persons were duly elected by plurality of voices, to wit Oliver Hazen, Luther Johnson, John Boyer, James Hollensworth & Prince VanNess, under the name & style & title of "The Trustees of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Owego." And to be considered as a part or branch of the general African Episcopal Church or Mother Church in this state so far as Ecclesiastical government is commenced - The said congregation or society to be called in common language the Bethel Church in Owego - all which we certify - witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals at Owego on the aforesaid 11th day of October 1842.

Signed sealed and executed in presence of Stephen Strong

Tioga County ss On this eleventh day of October in the year one thousand eight and forty two personally came before me the above named James Moore and Richard Thompson, to me known, who severally acknowledged that they had executed the foregoing certificate.

Recorded December 2nd at 9 AM 1842
Recopied from Miscellaneous Book 1, page 289

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The Black CCC Camp
By Ed Nizalowski

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created on March 31, 1933, for the purpose of providing employment for young men, ages seventeen to twenty three, on projects to increase, preserve and restore the natural resources of the United States. It was administered jointly by the US Army and the US Forest Service. Born of the Great Depression, there are few programs from that era that have had as lasting an impact on the nation's landscape or the men for whom it benefited.

Tioga County had its own CCC camp built at Straits Corners in the fall of 1935. The target population was unique, however. On November 1st the camp's 15 buildings were occupied by 180 black veterans of World War I, two of whom had also fought in the Spanish-American War. They were under the command of two US lieutenants. The camp, known as SCS-7, was one of two camps for blacks in New York State, the other being in Norwich. Another unique feature was that this camp was under the auspices of the Soil Conservation Service and was one of the first camps in New York State to work exclusively on private lands. Landowners needed to join a Soil Conservation Association before they could apply for CCC work on their property.

In February of 1936 the educational advisor spoke of the educational component at the camp. This aspect was made difficult by having such a wide range of talents and abilities. The camp at that time included four college graduates and ten men who were illiterate. In spite of this there were classes in agriculture, journalism, dramatics and music. A weekly camp newspaper was published and weekly minstrel shows were performed by the dramatics class. (Owego Gazette, Feb. 6, 1936

The camp rendered valuable help to the county during the flood of 1936. They also gave a minstrel show in the spring of 1936 to aid the AME church. There was a two day celebration when the camp had its first anniversary in September 1936 which included a dance, speeches and dinner for 300 people. By this time New York State had a total of 164 camps which had 16,704 men. Each man received $30 a month plus room and board with $25 going back to the man's home.

In a letter by one of the camp's members printed in the Owego Gazette on December 3, 1936, the writer expressed appreciation for what the camp had done for him:
"The CCC companies are not as most people think of it, merely as a place of hard labor and toils and a place to eat and sleep; it is a real place of advancement in every respect. . . . . ."

His regard for one of the officers equally appreciative:
"For this officer, there is no day too cold, no night too dark, and no hour too late that he isn't ready and willing to answer the call of his company. Lieut. Wallace has been a father, brother and member to the men of his company."

In January of 1937 the camp members dug poles to bring electric lines from Tioga Center to Straits Corners. This provided electric service to 27 farmers. In February the camp got the highest rating out of the 24 in its district. When it was learned that the camp would close in 1938, the Owego Gazette had this to say:
"The people of Tioga county generally will be exceedingly sorry to see this camp of great benefit to the agricultural interests of this county. The soil conservation work which they have carried out has improved the farms of a great many farmers, as examples of what may be done in preventing soil erosion by the construction of a system of ditches and strip farming to other farmers in all sections of the county. And the woodlot survey already referred to, in which the CCC camp veterans have had an important part, is a thing which will prove of great value to closed. The work, which has been performed by these colored veterans, has been the 900 land owners included in the area surveyed." (Owego Gazette, Mar. 10, 1938)

The CCC's legacy in other parts of the country was equally impressive. Over 200 major types of work had been accomplished. Through March 31, 1939, a total of 2,180,000 men had worked 8,500,000 man days doing work which included the planting of 1,575,400,000 forest trees and the building and maintaining of 140,000 miles of roads and trails.

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The 'Departed Glory' of an Owego Singer
By Ed Nizalowski

Imagine being a native of Owego on a business trip in Batavia, Java (now Djakarta, Indonesia) in 1930. Having someone from your hometown wait on you in a restaurant would seem an unlikely possibility. But this actually did happen to Charles Hyde, then President of the West Coast Trading Company based in Tacoma, Washington. His contact was William "Billy" Cheeks, a black man who had left Owego in 1899. How Cheeks came to be a waiter in a Far East restaurant is a story with the kind of triumph, adventure and misfortune that might read like a script from a movie.

William, born in Virginia in 1869, was the eldest of Moulton and Ellen Cheeks' 19 children. The entire family possessed a remarkable degree of musical talent which they showcased as a unit. One of these family concerts took place at Ahwaga Hall in 1887 when the family numbered 13. The concert drew such a crowd that many were obliged to stand throughout the performance. Individual family members performed as soloists or with various musical troupes for many years.

But William's baritone voice was exceptional. He left Owego in 1899 and formed a quartet with three other blacks. The quartet consisted of two tenors, a baritone and a bass. Their concert tour was the stuff of dreams. In 1902 they performed before King Edward VII of England. They did a private party for Kaiser Wilhelm, toured the courts of Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary and the King of Sweden. Czar Nicholas II was so impressed with the quartet that he gave them a golden medal of merit.

World War I cut their European concert tour short and they returned to the states. In 1922 they returned to Europe hoping to repeat their past glory. Unfortunately, Europe had radically changed. The royal courts were gone or of diminished importance and means. They decided that fame might be had in the Far East and took the Trans- Siberian Railway to Vladivostok. It was here that one of the tenors left the group.

Making their way to Shanghai, they met a Russian contra alto who became romantically involved with a member of the quartet and also became its fourth singer. These new circumstances greatly disturbed Cheeks and when they performed in the Dutch Indies in 1924, he decided to strike out on his own. He secured employment at the Globe Theatre in Batavia singing between films.

But as old age crept on, the voice that had brought him such triumph began to fail as did his health. Lacking other skills, his livelihood came from such things as selling post cards, playing banjo, waiting on tables or being a doorman.

It was in these circumstances that William explained his plight to Charles Hyde. He wanted Charles to relay word to his relatives still in Owego that he wished to come home , but did not have the means to pay for a ticket. When contacted, the response from the three siblings still living here was not a positive one. They had neither the money for a ticket nor the ability to care for him because of his poor health. They felt it would be better for him to stay in Batavia where he had many friends and had the support of the members of the American colony.

William died on September 27th, 1939, following an attack of pneumonia. He was buried in the British Anglican section of the Djati Petamboeran Cemetary in Batavia. The newspaper De Java Bode ran a story entitled "Departed Glory From Celebrated Singer to Porter". It described the remarkable life of this "quiet, cultured" individual and went further to say that he was more or less a forerunner to Paul Robeson, who was winning such fame in concert and film in that period of time.

Cheeks deserves to be rated among the most famous individuals who called Tioga County their home. At present the only references that the author has been able to find are located in the Owego Gazette and the Owego Times. His circumstances, contributions and life are worthy of further investigation.

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Forests in New York's Southern Tier
By Ed Nizalowski

For the most part, the Southern Tier was one vast forest prior to the 1790's. There were some grasslands and the Indians did engage in agriculture, but in most any valley, hill or crevice where a tree could take root, the forest grew unmolested. When most people think of the forest their experience is with the second and third growth trees which now cover much of the Southern Tier. But the forest that confronted the early settlers was of an entirely different nature. The canopy was 130 to 160 feet above ground. Hardwoods grew unbelievably straight, often without branches for the first 80 feet.

It was this kind of forest that provided the material for the first homes and barns. Beams 30' to 50' in length were hand hewn. Hand hewing is physically demanding work, but it is made much easier when the log is very straight and uniform, with few knots and a very gradual taper. Excess usable timber was cut, lashed into rafts and sent down the river. Much of the rest of the forest was cut down and burned up for potash or just left to rot.

Although the forest can be viewed as the dominant factor in the development of this area from the period of 1790 through the Civil War, I have found precious few references to it. In recording the early history of Candor from Gay's Gazeteer (1887), instances of white pines being 5' in diameter and 175' high were mentioned.

But at least one early settler made note of the forest and was able to appreciate its natural beauty. David Williams of Berkshire had this to say on his 90th birthday:

"Every blow that has been struck by man in the valley has diminished its beauty, and every farm in the town, if restored to its primitive state, would be worth more to-day than with all the improvements that man has made here."

The Southern Tier was probably 99% forest before settlement. Although accurate figures aren't available, we probably dropped to the 25% range in the mid-19th century. We are now in the 70% range and this figure continues to climb. We are not likely to see the ancient forest returning unless their is a vast migration from the area and the trees start to sprout from the cracks in the concrete.

Trees are a renewable resource that provide us with a variety of useful, wonderful products which everyone uses. We have learned that harvesting a forest can be done in an ecologically sound manner which will allow for continued cutting every 25 to 50 years. We should also remember that trees do not live forever. Taking wood from the forest and making something useful with it provides us with a way to appreciate this material far beyond its natural life.

But there needs to be places where the trees are allowed to grow, where they can fight for the light and nutrients without human intrusion. And eventually we will see those monarchs of the forest which become more than just natural phenomena but "ambassadors from another age".

This anecdote from Polish history may illustrate our particular European-Christian view of the primeval forest. In 1387 the union of Poland and Lithuania took place with the marriage of Wladyslaw Jagiello and Jadwiga of Anjou. In order for the marriage to take place, the Lithuanians agreed to convert to Christianity. The eternal fire of the pagan god Perkun was overturned and extinguished. The agreement also included this: the felling of the groves of the sacred oaks.

The native Americans viewed their oaks as sacred as well as the rest of the forest, but the early settlers had a different view and eliminated every stand of primeval old growth forest whether it was on land that was usable or not. The historical record and description of this forest was never recorded and with the physical presence gone, its existence has all but dropped from our memory.

It has only been recently that we have felt a need to preserve areas that will duplicate the vast primeval wilderness that existed just two centuries ago. It is these areas that will put us in touch with the early days of settlement, with the realm of the native American and with the natural and spiritual forces that reside within these hills and valleys.

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Tales from the Merchant Marine
By Ed Nizalowski

In many ways the Merchant Marine was a forgotten branch of the war effort during World War II. Although they weren't given the status, recognition and benefits that enlisted men in the regular service were given, their casualty rate was almost the same as the marines. Here are two merchant marine stories from Tioga County. Although one case would seem quite notable, they both turn out to be typical stories stories about the men who served in this branch of the service.

The first concerns John Shumway, Sr. John was born in 1883 in Otsego County and at age 18 succumbed to a restless desire to see the world. With 50 cents in his pocket he headed west and worked his way to Seattle, Washington, where he spent time as a lumberjack in the great Northwest forests.

In 1905 his restlessness focused on going out to sea and in choosing between a whaler and the US Navy, he chose the latter. He was so enthusiastic about going out to sea that the officer in charge waived his physical and before nightfall he was shoveling coal on the cruiser Philadelphia. John was later transferred to the Concord and spent his hitch in the Philippines, China and Japan. In the Philippines there was action subduing the Moros.

John left the Navy in 1909 whereupon he returned to Otsego County and got married. In 1913 he moved to Tioga County and operated a general store in Waits for nearly 20 years. In 1931 he purchased a farm on Sulphur Springs Road.

Staying on the farm during the Second World War would certainly be justified for a man pushing 60, but this was not to be the case. Although an article in the Owego Gazette (May 20, 1943) states that John initiated seeking military service, one family member feels that he was actually contacted by the war department to see if he would be willing to put his seafaring skills to use again. Although too old for the Navy, the Merchant Marine was willing to accept him. Another family member, John Cotter, drove John to the Seamen's Institute in lower Manhattan to enlist.

John sailed on a number of ships including the William P. Floyd and the Benjamin Huntington. His ports of call were Italy, North Africa, Sicily, England and Wales. One of his ships was torpedoed and he wasn't able to contact his family back in the states for several months. John left the Merchant Marine in 1946, a year after the war was over. Apparently sea life still agreed with him.

According to Steve Shumway, John's education did not get much past third grade, but he stated that John was one of the most intelligent men he had ever known. (John was Steve's great-uncle). He had a photographic mind and would relate stories that went back to the 1890's. Some of John's letters from his time in the Merchant Marine had been published in one of the Owego papers. Steve found one of the letters and was planning to read it to him. John asked for the date of the letter and then proceeded to recite it, word for word, even though twenty years had lapsed.

The other merchant marine story concerns Stuart "Ed" McCullough of Newark Valley, taken from an Owego Times article (July 15, 1943). This article gave more particulars of the merchant marine and the role that it was playing in the war effort. Often the ships were going out to sea without being fully equipped and with a number of inexperienced hands. In one case someone down below had turned on the deck lights by accident in a sub zone. The navy gun crew promptly shot them out rather than lose time getting to a switch.

Seeing life in other countries and experiencing the privation and monotony of sea life prompted this remark from Stuart while he was home on leave: "And did these hills look good to me. . . . all the states but these hills around here most of all."

Getting back to John Shumway, the author felt that this man might have the distinction of being the oldest recruit in the merchant marine during the war. Putting this claim out on a Prodigy bulletin board brought this response from Bill Jopes of Tucson:

"I'm sure Shumway's story was very interesting and he was an old man to be going to war, but there were a lot of old timers shipping out then. I sailed with at least two men in their seventies. I also sailed with some 14 and 15 year old kids. They probably lied to get in, the minimum age was 16, but I don't think they cared how old you were if you could pass the physical which was simple."

He remarked that anything that might be written about "ol Shumway" and his buddies would be appreciated since status and recognition had been denied this branch for so long.

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Memories of Christmas
By Ed Nizalowski

Most people have special recollections concerning the Christmas holidays. Mine are associated with a traditional Polish Christmas which was celebrated on my grandfather's farm from the 1920's through the 1970's. The most important component concerned the activities and traditions associated with Christmas Eve or wigilia in Polish.

It was important to begin soon after sundown, but later than anticipated barn chores could cause a delay. Since my Polish grandmother died in 1956, my mother and my aunt cooked the food in their respective homes and we brought these things to the farm.

In the dining room there would be a tree with fairly simple decorations. Occasionally wheat or straw would be placed in the corners of the room. Hay was always placed under the table cloth.

Fasting was necessary during the day, but the food for wigilia was especially important. Meat was not allowed. The first course would be mushroom-barley soup. Hopefully the mushrooms were ones that had been picked in the fall and might be a type called podpienki, which were especially flavorful.

Next would come pickled herring. The two main courses were golombki (cabbage rolls) and pierogi (dumplings). The could have rice or buckwheat filling and the pierogi could have potatoes, sauerkraut or prunes). Fish was not as important to us, but played a much bigger role in many Polish homes. Homemade breads were a special treat and desert was poppy seed roll or kolachki.

When everyone was ready for the meal and at their seats, a candle was lit to symbolize Christ being the light of the world. The adults then said the our Father and Hail Mary in Polish. These two prayers have a chanting-hypnotic effect when recited by a group of people. we then had a toast with holiday spirits. Almost every kid got a little something to partake in the toast.

Next came oplatki. Oplatki are square sheets of communion wafer that have religious or holiday scenes embossed on them. The head of the household would go to each person at the table and have them break off a piece. In our case my grandfather would start with my father, who was his oldest son. when this happened you wished each other holiday greetings or perhaps success in future projects or trials that might be pending. If could also be a time of reconciliation for disputes that had erupted over the course of the year. In each case there was a hope that everyone could return once again for the next wigilia.

My father would make sure that he got a big enough piece that he could go to his wife and then to all his children and go through the same greetings. If the original piece was not adequate others pieces could be started. Sometimes we embraced and often kissed each other. This was also customary for the men, which is accepted practice in Polish culture.

We usually received from our relatives in Poland. This was a special way of remembering them and extending them good wishes even though they could not be physically present.

After the meal we got presents from my grandfather and uncle. We got presents from our parents on Christmas day.

As we were sitting around the table munching on treats, my grandfather would often burst into a Polish Christmas carol. He had quite a good voice, but this could be disconcerting until you got used to it. We would sing American carols as well.

As a youngster, I was not aware of the significance or meaning behind many of these traditions. I have since learned more of these matters and learned about many traditions that could be part of a Polish Christmas Eve. Many of these had been carried over from pagan times. Although the Christian church allowed some of these to stay or had simply given up trying to stop the traditions, it frequently changed the interpretation of the custom. Much of the folklore centered around Christmas Eve being the shortest or nearly the shortest day of the year. It was a harbinger of lengthening days and thoughts of spring and planting.

There was a traditional belief that spirits were about on Christmas eve and needed to be appeased. Prophecies might be garnered about the coming year. Actions done correctly would enhance the coming year or if done incorrectly would lead to difficulties.

If was important to have an even number of guests at the table. An odd number would mean that someone at the table would die during the course of the year. It was also important to start when the first evening star appeared in the sky.

Young girls could pull a straw from underneath the tablecloth to see what kind of man they might marry. If one were free of sin and pure of heart, there was a chance of communicating with the animals in the barn. Leftover oplatki could be fed to the dogs to keep them sane during the next year and a mixture of and vegetables fed to the cattle would keep the milk plentiful and unspoiled.

With the Eastern European farming culture steadily diminishing, these kinds of traditional celebrations are a thing of the past. we still get together on Christmas Eve to visit with family members, but the religious and traditional significance no longer has the same driving force. We can lament the decline and disappearance of these traditions, but much of it stems from an inevitable process of assimilation and transformation.

I would enjoy experiencing those times again, but I realize that the special historical and cultural forces which produced those times cannot be duplicated. However, I keep thinking of a perception that was stated by a Civil War veteran in the PBS series that was written by Ken Burns. The man somehow felt that somewhere in space and time the Civil war was always being fought. Gallant acts of bravery and heroism continued without stop and the fallen heroes were carried from the field of battle by warrior maidens who brought them to Valhalla. The heroes would celebrate their actions until they were ready to return to battle and fight along side the living.

In my own mind I feel the same way about these traditional celebrations. It was a very intense experience which fascinated me when I was young and for which an appreciation has steadily grown. Somewhere in the cosmos the celebrations of these Eastern European peasants who brought the hill farms of Tioga County back to life continue. As they feasted in real life, so we can feast on these traditions which they brought from another part of the world, traditions for which they struggled, succeeded in maintaining and passed on to their progeny.

For your listening pleasure, you may hear Polish Christmas tunes at Dr. Mieczyslaw A.Klopotek's Website.

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The Mystery of the Pumpkin Pine
By Ed Nizalowski

On September 7, 1997, an article written by Rick Marsi entitled "The Great Pumpkin Mystery" appeared in the Press and Sun-Bulletin. Rick had visited with harry Hagelberg of Windsor, NY, whose entire home was made of wood which had been referred to as "pumpkin pine". The wood in question is a type of white pine which has an especially bright and unusual coloring.

Hagelberg first became aware of this in 1955 while in the process of remodeling his home. He contacted a variety of foresters for information. They ventured a theory that the boards had come from virgin pine which might be several hundred years old. When these trees were able to grow for this length of time, the oxidation of sugars inside the tree caused the heartwood to take on this "dark pumpkin-colored patina." Hagelberg's home had been built prior to the Civil War and was very likely built from the trees of the primeval forest. It was also surmised that the home might have come from one single tree.

I found this article very intriguing and fascinating, but I could not buy into the theory that the pumpkin pine was simply a characteristic of old growth. I felt that there was some other factor or factors which came into play.

Learning about the character and nature of the primeval forest that existed in the Southern Tier has become another one of my quests, but it has been difficult to find much specific information. Since I don't know of any logging much earlier than the 1790's, this entire area was one large primeval forest. In one the histories written about Tioga County back in the 1880's, it mentions that there were instances of white pine in the Town of Candor that were 5' in diameter and 175' high. White pine of this type could probably be found throughout the Southern Tier.

In the book Timber Frame Construction by Jack Sobon and Roger Schroeder, they state that the dense heartwood of old growth white pine became reddish brown, but that would normally not apply to the entire log. They also gave the dimensions used for masts back in the colonial period: a 100 footer, squared to 3 X 3 at the butt and 2 feet square at the top and a 120 footer, 4 feet square at the butt and 30 inches at the top. The original masts on a ship like the USS Constitution were single trees, but it was discovered that laminating the masts made them withstand greater cannon fire.

A letter by John Pochis which appeared in the Press and Sun-Bulletin on September 15 provided further information. According to John, Norm Abram of the PBS series New Yankee Workshop referred to pumpkin pine as the heartwood of mature eastern white pine trees. It was a favorite of colonial furniture makers because of its color and uniform consistency. Many described the workability of the wood like cutting into a pumpkin. Pochis also mentioned that there were many accounts of pumpkin pine exceeding 200' in height and 8' in diameter.

Although much of the old growth was gone by the period that Mr. Hagelberg's house was being built (1840-50), some stands still existed. However, it is not likely that you would build your entire house from a single tree, regardless of the size. You might obtain most of your boards from a single tree, but for the frame you would select specimens that would be more in the range of 2 feet in diameter and perhaps 100 feet tall. This kind of tree is much easier to hand hew.

An Internet search pulled up 58 references to pumpkin pine. Almost all of them were in New England: country inns, bed and breakfasts, and real estate agencies. It also included a reference from Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

A fellow in Branford, Connecticut, will make you a pumpkin pine table from 5' to 9' long ranging in price from $1,095 to $1,695. An Aged Woods outlet in York, Pennsylvania, sells "antique distressed" white pine which has a wine stain color.

I spoke with Ellis Bradley who runs a shop in Connecticut and he said that the term was coined by Pennsylvania woodcrafters and then was subsequently adopted by New Englanders. He said that the old growth white pine would have a much greater percentage of heartwood. Not only would the initial color be different, but this would change once it had contact with the air and would change with subsequent working of the wood.

I contacted Mr. Hagelberg by phone and was able to pay him a visit on November 17th. Hagelberg, it turns out, was of Finnish origin and had moved to Windsor from Brooklyn in the early 1950's. He gave me a tour of the house which exhibited the typical construction of homes from the early to mid-1800's. I had a chance to view the flattened logs which served as floor joists in the cellar and the 45' plates which ran the full length of the attic.

His pumpkin pine boards shown in their brilliance in his living room although I would describe their color as more of a light brown with a yellowish-golden cast which seems to hover just over the surface. It was a remarkable tour given by a remarkable man. In spite of being born in 1901, he was still in pursuit of understanding more about this remarkable wood which had sheltered him and his family for so many years. He appreciated my interest, my research, and my visit.

In my estimation the pumpkin pine is still a mystery. It is more wide spread than I had imagined, but it still seems to be unique. If it were simply a function of old growth, primeval forest, then it should be fairly common because most everything built prior to the Civil War came from an old growth forest that stretched from Maine to Michigan.

I speculate that it might be something in the soil which is taken up by the pine or perhaps large pine stands eventually change something in the soil after tons and tons of needles, limbs and logs have dropped over the years. One point that helps support this theory is that the original article of September 7th mentioned that a 10' trunk of white pine was near Hagelberg's home. The shavings indicate that it is pumpkin pine, but this is not likely a tree from 150 years ago. This stump cannot be that old since white pine stumps do not last that long. And if the frame (plates, posts and purlins) were from moderately sized trees, these might still be quite old but certainly not ancient and the percentage of heartwood would not be that great. Be that as it may, the mystery and wonder of the pumpkin pine is one of the historical oddities that help keep the neurons of your mind from lapsing into complacency.

I will end this pumpkin pine missive with Thoreau's reference which comes from the chapter "Winter Visitors". He mentions one particular visitor with whom Thoreau spent many an evening: "A blue-robed man, whose fittest roof is the overarching sky which reflects his serenity." In a wonderful analogy combining philosophy, intellect and nature, Thoreau pays homage to the white pine which he loved so much:

"Having each some shingles of thought well dried, we sat and whittled them, trying our knives, and admiring the clear yellowish grain of the pumpkin pine."

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Immigrant Churches in Tioga County
By Ed Nizalowski

On a road that once had a half dozen dairy farms, there are new neighbors whose way of life and beliefs are a dramatic change from previous newcomers. A vacant horse farm on Brown Road in Berkshire is now the home to the Church of Christian Gospel Faith. The congregation describes itself as Russian Pentecostals: men, women and children who previous addresses had been in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

These are people who have experienced hardships that few of us in the Southern Tier can imagine. Being Christian in a communist country brought one form of persecution and not being part of the Orthodox tradition led to another type of alienation. Some older members had been subjected to both the terror of the Stalinist years and the cataclysm of World War II.

Tioga County was settled by Yankee stock from New England whose stalwart Protestant beliefs led to the formation of congregations while many families were still living in log cabins. But the Pentecostal Church actually represents another example of how a variety of religious beliefs have found a haven in the Tioga County countryside and these differing persuasions can be seen early in the county's history.

Among the first were a group of German Lutherans who fled the hostile atmosphere of French controlled Alsace-Lorraine. It is from these people that the Germany Hill area of the Town of Tioga received its name. In 1868 the congregation was asked to join the Methodists. Staying Lutheran would have been preferable, but with no minister available, the Germany Hill Church changed its religious allegiance.

Although German immigrants were common in Tioga County, most assimilated quite well into established community institutions. The influx of German immigrants after World War I did lead to the establishment of a Lutheran Church in 1921 on Talcott Street in Owego whose minister was Rev. Frederick Dodzuoweit.

Tioga County saw some of its first Irish immigrants in the early 1840's when Irish men were driving piles for the New York & Erie Railroad. The first resident pastor in Owego was John Sheridan in 1844 with the first church being erected in 1850. The Irish were in Waverly by the mid-1830's, but the church of St. James wasn't dedicated until 1853. Tanneries brought the Irish to Newark Valley where St. John the Evangelist parish was established in 1880.

The wave of immigration following World War I brought new faces and a few new imprints on the religious character of Tioga County. One of the largest groups of Finnish farmers in the United States established itself in the towns of Spencer, Van Etten and Newfield. They brought back life to abandoned farmland and did the same in 1927 to a church in Van Etten which had been vacant for 12 years.

Polish immigrants in Candor built their own church and had it dedicated in 1930. The church was named for St. Francis and was built in Catatonk. The Catholic Church in Newark Valley went through a transformation as well. The number of Eastern European newcomers was so great that the church essentially became a Polish parish with a bilingual priest.

A former Protestant church on Barden Road in Candor deserves mention as well. Although much of the church had collapsed, the front part withstood the elements for many years, perhaps being protected by trees which nearly surrounded it. What gave this church distinction was a faded orthodox cross near the peak of the gable roof. Stories circulate regarding use by both Ukrainian Orthodox and a splinter group of Polish National Catholics, but written evidence is almost completely absent.

The Jewish presence in Tioga County became strong enough that in 1941 a Jewish religious center was established in Waverly. The 42 member congregation drew its members from Waverly, Sayre, Athens and Towanda.

The Russian Pentecostals attending the Brown Road church travel from Ithaca, Binghamton and many points in between. The location actually works quite well given the varied geographic locations of the parishioners and many must have felt that an unseen hand was at work to enable them to establish a home base. Pastor Vladimir Samarsky expressed his gratefulness this way: "All my life, I dreamed about having my own church. My dream came true here in America." With so many congregations in decline the Church of the Christian Gospel Faith is a welcome reversal. The 130 adults in the congregation have nearly 200 children.

There church sits on property that was the first land settled in Northern Tioga County. A group led by Isaac Brown of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, left their hometown on February 23, 1791 and took 37 days traveling by oxen and sled to reach their new surroundings. Many of these new parishioners pass by the graves of the first residents on their way to church every Sunday. It would seem a reasonable statement to make that the pioneering spirit is still alive in Tioga County.

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Laban Jenks, The Pioneer
By Ed Nizalowski

Laban Jenks and his brother Elisha accompanied their cousin, Michael Jenks and Jonas Muzzy when they came to The Boston Purchase from their homes in Massachusetts. Laban left his wife Prudence and his three small children, Lucy, Smith and Orren in the Berkshire area of western Massachudttus, probably with relatives. The four pioneers arrived in this area (Jenksville) on August 12,1796. It is said that Jonas Muzzy felled the first tree in the valley of the West Owego Creek. (Gay's Gazetteer)

Judge Avery of Owego gave the names of Michael Jenks, Laban Jenks, Elisha Jenks, Captain Scott and Thomas Baird as "early pioneers, well known and much respected". Judge Charles P. Avery was the first judge elected in Tioga County. Judge Avery was deeply interested in Indian and pioneer history in this part of the state. From early settlers he gleaned many interesting and valuable reminiscences of pioneer life in the Susquehanna Valley. (Our county and it's people)

"The early pioneers made the forests ring with the sound of the ax and the mighty trees fell beneath their swift blows. Early and late they worked, each clearing a little space around him, leaving the huge virgin trees where they fell, trimming, piling and burning the brush. The familiar terms of "Gee! Haw! Buck!" resounding through the forests as each in turn guided the slow plodding oxen between the stumps and around the logs, plowing up the mellow soil, making it ready for Indian corn and other grains". (generally attributed to Judge Avery)

When the Jenks brothers arrived here they had very little, either in resources or money. It was common practice in those days to basically stake out (the lots had already been surveyed a decade earlier) and start clearing the land, then file a deed and pay for the land a few years later. First things first, shelter must be built and these were often very crude.

Laban and Elisha decided on Lot 300 of the Boston Ten Townships, which was in the southwestern corner of the Town of Union (Berkshire). Michael Jenks selected Lot 261 in the northwestern corner of Newark Valley. They had carried maps containing the lot numbers with them from Massachusetts, additionally, Michael's father, Isaac, was one of the sixty associates in the purchase of the ten townships. Laban and Elisha split lot 300 in half, each getting about 135 acres, Laban taking the southern half and Elisha taking the northern section.

The three Jenks' probably worked together and helped each other often. Laban went back to Massachusetts once, perhaps twice a year to visit his family. The early years were hard and lonely, but the land had to be cleared, the crops planted and harvested and a more suitable cabin had to be built and readied for the day when he would bring his young family to the wilderness. The years went by and the spring of '99 arrived and everything was ready. First the deed had to be attended to and on March 20, 1799, Laban and Elisha Jenks purchased Lot 300, containing 273 acres for the sum of $1200 and Prudence and the children arrived very soon after.

Laban and Prudence had many children and by the time that event filled spring of 1799 had rolled around, there were five. While they resided in Jenksville in the town of Berkshire, seven more children were born to them. By 1811, the farm was recognizable and the little settlement of Jenksville was beginning to prosper, but events had become a little mundane for Laban. His next venture was to set up a small trading post in the wilderness, only a couple of miles north of his farm and there he traded with the other settlers. On May 1, 1814, Laban traded his farm for that new area, 415.5 acres covering what is now Speedsville. Two more children were born while they lived in the town of Caroline. While in Speedsville (also called Jenksville in those early days) Laban sold small lots off and a prospering settlement soon developed. (obtained from census data and deeds recorded at the Tioga County Clerk's Office) Old Laban soon got the pioneering itch again and on November 10, 1821, he and Prudence moved to Bloomfield Township in Michigan, taking the smaller children with them.

 

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Reflections On World War II
By Ed Nizalowski

The 50th anniversary commemorations for one of the greatest wars of human history, perhaps the greatest war, have finally passed us by. Starting in 1989, the 50th year since the invasion of Poland, the different turning points and milestones have been relived and reassessed. Because of the numbers that were mobilized, over 16,000,000 in the United States alone, there are many veterans who have had a chance to share their memories, examine the times in which they lived and often have visited the places where life and limb had hung in the balance.

There is no accurate way of determining how many from Tioga County served during the conflict, but it would certainly number in the hundreds. The graduating classes from the late 1930's and early 1940's probably had few eligible males that weren't in uniform. It became commonplace to have three or four sons and daughters in the service.

There were certain families that deserve special recognition, however. The Kobylarz family of Newark Valley had six sons in the service by the end of the war. The Patch family of Berkshire also had six in the service, all of whom became officers.

There were four veterans of World War I who enlisted with their sons. The Kline family of Lockwood had three sons and four grandsons in the service. Owego's black population served with distinction. Every eligible male, 19 in all, entered the military. And in May 1943, John Shumway, Sr. of Owego probably became the oldest recruit in the merchant marine at age 59.

By looking through the local press, one can read much of the entire history of the conflict and it can be done through the words and deeds of individuals rather than the broad brush of a textbook or encyclopedia. An Owego resident was killed at Pearl Harbor. Other Pacific theater operations include Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, the Phillipines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Tioga County residents served in the North Atlantic and flew the planes that defeated the Axis powers in the Mediterranean and Western Europe. Other county residents were involved in the invasion of North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, Anzio, D-Day and the final defeat of Germany.

Two stories deserve special note. At the end of the war in Europe, a resident of Newark Valley, Rollie Noble, was involved with having a flag made that was probably the first to fly over Europe on the Armistice. The flag was fashioned from captured Nazi banners and Austrian battle flags and is now in the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia.

The other story is that of Cpl. Margaret Hastings of Owego. In May 1945 she was one of three survivors of a plane crash in the jungles of New Guinea. The 45 days that these three spent in the wilds and their subsequent rescue became something of an international news event.

It was a remarkable time. The country was united in a way that hasn't been equalled in the 50 years that have passed. The enemy was well-defined, the goals were specific and the local newspapers let the neighborhood know who had shipped out, where they were stationed and, in some cases, who wouldn't be coming back.

It was a call to duty which few tried to avoid, a show of patriotism and pride which was not based on nationalistic intentions but in the hope that the world might be a better place when the necessary sacrifices had been expended. For the vast majority it was not viewed as a chance to be a hero, but more of a necessary task that needed to be accomplished before the real business of living could proceed

And we have the pictures and images of a generation in transition. There are the faces of the draftees, the young recruits: a hesitant smile, a look of uncertainty, a boyish face with a manly grin facing the unknown. As the war ran its course, the images matured quickly from the process of men and women who had travelled to distant places on the map to experience some of the worst that humanity can offer and perhaps some of the best. The faces of "The Good War" transformed by a rite of passage which happens all too frequently in the course of events.

Many had probably dreamed of adventure in far off places as they sat in the one room school houses or tried to generate some excitement from watching the change of the seasons. For many this was a dream that became all too true and the memories of home strengthened by receiving letters and local newspapers became a well-spring that helped maintain peace of mind and resolve. And it is probably true that even for the most "adventuresome" of these soldiers of the field, village or countryside, there was probably no greater reward than to once again view the hills and valleys of Tioga County.

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Blacks Served With Distinction in Two World Wars
By Ed Nizalowski

Seven blacks were included in this contingent that left for Fort Dix during World War I. This photo was taken on November 23, 1917. Lionel Williams, bottom row second from left, was awarded the Silver Cross for repairing telegraph wires under fire.

There were over 370,000 Blacks that served in the Armed Forces during World War I. About 200,000 were sent overseas and 150,000 were placed in labor or stevedore battalions. When the British government requested that "Negro troops" not be sent overseas, Gen. John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, made an official reply to the British saying that "colored combat divisions" were going to be sent to France and that "I cannot and will not discriminate against these men."

Pershing's advocacy of Black soldiers came from his experience as commander of the 10th (Negro) Cavalry. It was from this advocacy that he gained the sobriquet "Black Jack" (originally "Nigger Jack"). He served with them in the Montana Territory, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and the expedition to Mexico in 1916. Even an individual of Pershing's stature could not eliminate the deep-seated prejudice that existed in the military and in much of America's public policy regarding the Black soldier during World War I.

America entered the war in April 1917 and the first Tioga County recruits left in September. A number of blacks left with some white recruits on November 23, 1917. A second group of six blacks left from the Erie station for Camp Upton on Long Island on August 1, 1918. This second group was given a "rousing send-off" by about 200 people although the Jim Crow laws of the day relegated these new recruits to the rear of the train.

After the armistice there were a number of stories about the "fine record made by the colored soldiers" of which 42,000 served in combat. Nearly all of Tioga County's blacks fought with the 349th Field Artillery, which fought the last hours of the war near Metz. They were part of the 92nd Division, also known as the Buffalo Division.

There were 10 blacks from Owego that served in the military, which was 100% of those eligible for service. Seven came back as sergeants and three as corporals. Sgt. Lionel Williams received a Silver Star for repairing telephone wires on Mousson Hill under fire.

Blacks in the military hit bottom in the years between the wars with the number in the Army falling below that of the year 1900. By 1937 Blacks were less than 2% of the Army and National Guard.

When mobilization plans were being made in 1940, top military leaders faced a dilemma on the use of Black manpower. There was a widely held view that Blacks were unreliable in combat, but it had also been determined that if combat loses were born exclusively by white soldiers, there would be resentment from the families of white enlisted men.

By 1944, however, Owego's Blacks had equalled the record of their World War I forbears. There were 19 men in the service, which was 100% of those eligible for the military. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rollins of 521 East Front Street had three sons in the service: Staff Sgt. Henry Rollins, Jr., Pvt. George Rollins and Seaman Charles Rollins.

Henry Rollins, Jr. did his basic training at Fort Belvoire, Virginia, and became part of the 374th Engineering Battalion. After further training in Georgia and Texas, he left for England in late 1943 and was stationed at Bristol. His unit arrived in France shortly after D-Day and served with a number of armies including Patton's. There last mission was to build a bridge over the Rhine at Cologne, Germany.

Henry had this to say about the treatment of Black soldiers during World War II:

"There were a lot of negative feelings toward us. We had white officers, some of whom treated us well and others that didn't. It was just the nature of the times and I'm glad that they're over. But the Army was a real eye-opener for me and made me a better person. I made many friends and have maintained contact with many of those [Army] friends over the years. I also got to see many countries, although I didn't have much chance to sightsee".

The use of Blacks during the Second World War was a continual policy problem for the military. Prejudice and discrimination fostered lack of support and often staunch opposition to Blacks being placed in combat units, officer candidate schools, pilot training programs or even being placed in overseas duty. When they were given a chance to show their metal, their achievements and acts of heroism were ignored or downplayed.

Their record of accomplishment was a remarkable one given the obstacles that were part of their daily life. It was the perseverance and patriotism of the Black soldier during both World Wars which helped bring about the full integration of Blacks into the military, something which has only happened in the second half of the 20th century.

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The Story of a Polish-American Farm Wife
By Ed Nizalowski

In the category "Tough Times, Strong Women" there is no more worthy candidate than Aniela Nieradtka Kobylarz (1882-1986). Aniela was of Polish heritage and was born in an area of Austria-Hungary known as Galicia. She came to the United States with her husband Franciszek (Frank) Kobylarz around the turn of the century.*

Their first residence was Passiac, New Jersey, where Aniela worked in a silk factory for 8 cents an hour. The next move was Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where Frank worked as a glass blower. Moving further west, Frank worked in the lumber camps of Ironwood, Michigan, and from 1915 to 1919 they owned a farm near Gleason, Wisconsin.

Frank was on the lookout for a better farm and read an ad for farms in the Polish language paper, Kurier Polski about farms in Tioga County. Frank travelled to Newark Valley in the fall of 1919 and found a farm that he liked. He wrote back to the family to head back east.

There were a number of immigrant farmers who moved into this county in the period of 1915 to 1925. They included many Eastern Europeans, Germans and a large contingent of Finns as well. They revitalized a number of farms off in the hills that had been going into decline or had been completely abandoned.

Women had a role that was both important and difficult. In spite of the long hours of work and few modern conveniences, many of these immigrants had large families. Few, however, had families larger than Frank and Aniela Kobylarz. There were 18 children and a 19th child was adopted. All of their children were born at home and all but three lived into adulthood. There were enough boys for their own baseball team.

Victor's recollection of his mother was especially vivid in describing how she kept food on the table with a family that large. These remarks came from an interview recorded in 1986.

"Every other day she would use 25 lbs. of flour. She had a great, big wood stove so she could put 12 loaves of bread in the oven at one time. And this went on winter and summer, every other day. Then Saturday, we call them paczki (donuts), maybe a half a bushel of them. Sunday morning, six or eight pies."

"And she never measured nothing. You ask her for a recipe . . . . You know in Polish a handful is a gaszka. 'Gaszka tego, gaszka tego . . . .' 'How much? Half a cup?' 'Ah, I don't know . . . handful of this . . .handful of that.'

"We ate a lot of potatoes and cabbage and raised 15, 20, 25 pigs. And all winter long she was rendering lard . . . canning pork, canning beef. 'Cause we had no freezers, no refrigerators, we had to can all that stuff. I'd say she put up a thousand jars of meat every winter."

"She had 18 kids before we got electricity and she got a washing machine. Do you realize how many thousand diapers she scrubbed on them old fashioned washboards?"

Mrs. Kobylarz did more than cook, clean, take care of the house and raise 18 children. In the period before they moved to Newark Valley she also kept boarders as well. This was a common practice among many of the immigrant families in the early part of the 20th century. She also did barn chores and field work.

Although Victor remarked, "She didn't have to pray to enter heaven; she worked her way to heaven without praying", he also added that prayer and her Roman Catholic faith were very important. One of his most cherished memories was seeing his mother and her Bible when he would bring her the paper each Sunday.

* Most of what the author has learned about Mrs. Kobylarz and the Kobylarz family came from her son Victor (1907-1991).

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A Remembrance of Margaret Williams
By Ed Nizalowski

I would like to share my memories and recollections of Margaret Williams. When I first began discovering the Tioga County's Afro-American past back in 1981, I was given her name as a contact. At the time I was trying to learn more about the Black burial ground in the Oakley Corners State Forest. When I first spoke to Mrs. Williams over the phone, she was not able to help me with the Oakley Corners research, but during the course of our conversation I realized that this woman had some interesting stories of her own. We first met face to face at her home on Fox Street.

She loved talking about her family history and in this regard she was rich beyond measure. She could stake a claim as a true daughter of the American Revolution. Her great-great-grandfather, Thomas Reynolds, was one of nine free black residents of Bristol, Rhode Island, and was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He eventually moved to Union, New York, where his daughter, Nancy, became a bound girl at the old Washingtonian Inn. Nancy married Jerrad Barton and Mrs. Williams believed that they had eleven children.

Oscar Barton, Margaret's grandfather, was one of those children. He was born on October 26, 1832, and was a drummer in Company B of the 26th New York Colored Infantry Regiment. Oscar also played violin, but he made his last public appearance as a drummer for the dedication of the Soldier and Sailor's Monument in Owego in 1892. He was the last surviving member of his company dying on August 10, 1933. Margaret's paternal grandfather, Wilson Ransom Scott, was a runaway slave of 15 or 16 who asked for asylum with Union troops in Virginia during the Civil War. Wilson's skill with horses enabled him to stay with the army. After the war an officer brought him to Owego and helped him get a job with the Bloodgood family in the Town of Tioga.

Margaret's husband, Lionel, was a barber who was drafted into the service during World War I. He received a citation for repairing telegraph wires under fire.

Oscar Barton on his 100th birthday

Although Margaret never had any children, she had a deep affection for them and practically became a second mother to the Wood family of Owego. Originally she had planned on staying with the family for three or four weeks while Mrs. Wood was having her second child. This brief stay lasted 50 years. She grew to love the family a great deal over this period of time and the feeling was mutual.

Prejudice against Blacks was not at the same level as in the South, but it certainly did exist and seemed to fall heaviest on the women. This was especially true when it came to the workplace. Men were able to do construction work and develop trades such as being a chef or a barber. Black women were almost exclusively domestics and were often treated poorly.

I recorded an interview with Mrs. Williams on August 25, 1982. The transcription appeared in Afro-Americans in New York Life and History in January 1986. I visited with her on a number of occasions before her death in 1990. She always enjoyed the visits and was an important link with Owego's Afro-American past.

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The Kobylarz Family in World War II
By Ed Nizalowski

World War II mobilized the nation's manpower and resources greater than any war before or since. A total of 16,000,000 men and women served in the armed forces and millions of others worked in defense plants and did their part for the war effort on the home front.

Because of demographics and patriotism, a high percentage of the armed forces came from the Southern and Eastern European immigrant families that came to this country in the late 19th and early part of the 20th century. Over a million people in the armed forces could claim their heritage as Polish- American, and because large families were common, having five or six in the military was not unusual. The Kobylarz family of Newark Valley was part of this group.

By January, 1942, brothers Walter, Leo and George had enlisted. Lewis joined in September of that year. Edward entered the military in April, 1943, and a sixth brother, Lester, enlisted in May, 1944.

On September 22, 1942, Mrs. Frank Kobylarz was awarded an Emblem of Honor pin by an association based in New York City. This association gave recognition to families that had a large number in active military service. Mrs. Kobylarz received the recognition through the efforts of Mrs. Edwin Bushnell of Newark Valley.

The pin was awarded at a public ceremony held at the Newark Valley Central School. Of her nine sons, only one, Samuel, was still on the farm. The other four not in the military were involved with defense work. According to the Owego Gazette, "Thus it is probable that there is not, in the nation, another family that is giving greater aid to its country in this time of need."

Of the six that were in the service, two of them distinguished themselves exceptionally.

Walter became a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force in December, 1942, being trained as a bombardier. He became a First Lieutenant in about a year and in February, 1944, he was awarded the Air Medal and Nine Oak Leaf Clusters for his part in the 50 combat missions in the Mediterranean theater.

The highlight of his flying time came in a raid over an aircraft factory at Reggio Emilia, Italy. It was his group's 200th mission and he was selected as lead bombardier. Although Walter had never been injured many of his crew mates died close by him. In one raid over France his B-17 was the only one to return, but the plane was shot up so badly it was "only by the Grace of God" that he made it back to base.

Walter came back to the states and received specialized training in advanced bombing techniques. He taught other bombardiers until the end of the war.

Another Kobylarz brother who "covered the waterfront" in the European theater of the war was George. George entered the military in the fall of 1941 and worked his was up to Staff Sergeant as part of the Army's First Division.

He was in the invasion of Africa, involved in the fight against Rommel and the invasion of Sicily. He was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action near Mateur, Tunisia, on April 30, 1943. Although constantly endangered by strong enemy counter attacks, George stayed with a wounded comrade until evacuation to the rear was possible.

George was wounded by shrapnel during the D-Day invasion. Although he described the invasion as 100 times worse than anything he had been through, he didn't understand why he wasn't scared.

George recovered quickly, but was injured much more severely in September, 1944. Just as his unit crossed into Germany and hit the Siegfried line, shrapnel hit him in the left leg and two hours later another piece hit him below the knee. After George recovered, the Army didn't feel that it was necessary for him to add more time to his 33 months in combat.

The contribution of one of the sisters should not be left out. At war's end Genevieve Kobylarz was in training to be a nurse. The family was a few months shy of having seven in the service.

It should also be mentioned that the Patch family of Berkshire had six in the service also, all of whom served as officers. Mrs. Miriam Patch made a flag with six stars representing each of the children. This flag has been given to the Tioga County Museum and is now on display.

The record for the country when it comes to family members in the service is held by a Polish sharecropper family, Mattie and Stas Ripkowski, of Dayton, Texas. There were nine brothers in the service during the Second World War and eventually all 12 brothers served in the military.

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The Forgotten Burial Ground
By Ed Nizalowski

Grave Markers in the Oakley Corners State Forest

The burial ground is located in the Oakley Corners State Forest, County of Tioga, which is in the Southern Tier of New York. My father, who grew up on a nearby farm, would go there for walks in the 1930's. State forests often have cemeteries, but this one was a bit unusual because according to the local folk, Blacks were buried there. My father's curiosity was piqued, but his inquiries yielded little information and the burial ground became a mystery.

My father mentioned the burial ground to me several times in the 1960's in the hope that he could return to the site. Although he passed on before he was able to do so, he had described the location to my cousin, who took me there in 1981. It was quite a thrill to finally see the place. It is surrounded by a crumbling stone wall. There are field stones which appear to be headstones, but they have no inscriptions.

I became caught up in the mystery and began my search. In making inquiries, several elderly residents referred to the place as the old Livermore farm. This led me to the State and Federal Census books and when I looked at the records from the 1870's, I had another thrill. Etched on the yellowed paper were the names of Blacks employed as field hands and a woman employed as a housekeeper. With their birthplace listed as Virginia, I assumed they must have been former slaves who somehow found their way north after the Civil War. But further research led me to discover an Afro-American past in Tioga County that would span over 200 years.

I learned that several Blacks from this area gained prominence, including a world-renowned singer, William Cheeks. But even more important were the scores of individuals who raised families and tended their homes in a political and social climate which , although not entirely free of prejudice, brought about a considerable measure of success and respectability.

The Livermore farm might not ordinarily generate any special interest, except for a brief period of its history when people of another race tilled its fields. My father discovered their burial place during one of his many walks into the woods satisfying his love of nature and the outdoors. But it was his love of history and his natural curiosity that made him realize that a black burial ground in the middle of a state woods had significance. The path that he hoped to follow to solve the mystery of their presence was cut short, but I was able to continue his journey, and it has led to the discovery of a unique and diverse Afro- American heritage, part of which lies hidden in the hills and valleys of Tioga County.

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"One Woman, One Vote" The Campaign in Tioga County
By Ed Nizalowski

The 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was quietly signed into law on August 26, 1920. This capped a struggle which had lasted for 72 years starting with the Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19 and 20, 1848. At the time of the convention, most of the women who would benefit from the campaign had not yet been born.

One of the leaders of the movement, Susan B. Anthony, would pay two visits to Tioga County in 1869 and 1894. However, the first "invasion of the suffragette" came to Owego in 1912. The Suffragette was a creation of the 20th century, being defined as a woman willing to speak in favor of women's rights out in the street rather than just in a meeting hall.

With a vote scheduled for 1915, the suffrage campaign began in earnest in July, 1914. Miss Jane Olcott of Virginia gave an opening address. Two of the problems mentioned concerned the women who openly disagreed with the suffrage cause and the need to distance the American Suffragette from the more "militant" English counterparts.

A Suffrage Headquarters was opened at 16 1/2 Lake Street in early September, 1915. A mass gathering was held at the Tioga Theater on October 5, 1915. The speakers were Mrs. Philip Snowden of Great Britain and Lieut. Gov. W. Y. Morgan of Kansas. Previous to this was a parade which consisted of 13 young girls dressed in white and wearing "Vote for Women" sashes. Each girl represented a suffrage state and each girl held a placard with the state's name.

Mrs. Snowden stated that there is not a man in the country who argues that women getting the vote is not just. If a woman can be taxed she should be able to vote. Women are no better than men, but they do seem to measure things more in terms of social and moral benefit. They vote for legislation that makes a better world for children, for old age pensions and programs "to give comfort to the worn out veterans of industry." The legislation in New Zealand, where women have voted for many years, was given as an example.

The campaign stayed intense to the end with voters receiving slips of paper urging them to vote for the amendment as they came to their polling places. In spite of this, suffrage was soundly defeated by 634 votes with only two towns, Spencer and Barton, voting in favor. One disturbing observation was the 344 blank votes that were cast, indicating that many voters were largely indifferent to the question.

The amendment came for a vote again in 1917. Suffragists were predicting victory, although popular opinion ran to the contrary. Instead of handing out leaflets, two "women watchers" sat at each polling place checking voters as they deposited their ballots. At the same time they did knitting for the soldiers in France.

Interest was intensified by suffragists who were picketing Washington. According to the Owego Gazette, this was done "to the disgust of the people of the United States", but was generously overlooked by the voters of Tioga County. Suffrage passed by 114 votes.

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"Did You Buy From Your Local Merchant Today?"
By Ed Nizalowski

In the late 1800's much of rural America was experiencing relative prosperity, but the selection of goods and merchandise available to this segment of the population was usually limited to what could be stocked profitably on the shelves of the local general store. Local merchants could not buy in large quantities which increased the retail price and certainly could not keep particular items on the shelf that might only be of use to a customer or two.

But there was a market ready to be exploited and into this void stepped Richard Warren Sears (1863-1914). In 1886 he acquired a shipment of cheap pocket watches and a year later published a mail order catalog featuring only jewelry and watches. That same year he hired a watchmaker, Lavah Curtis Roebuck, and by 1893 they had formed Sears, Roebuck & Co. That same year they published their first general merchandise catalog.

The success of the catalog was significantly enhanced by the introduction of Rural Free Delivery in 1893 and parcel post in 1913. Other firms such as Ward's jumped on the bandwagon as well. But the huge success of these mail order houses meant that country store owners not only faced stiff competition, but were in danger of closing their doors completely.

The local newspapers realized that their livelihood stood to suffer as well and at least a few decided to fight back. In 1905 the Elmira Gazette started to "conduct a war" against the people of that city who were taking their hard earned dollars and putting them in the pockets of merchants outside the city or in the coffers of the mail order houses.

The reaction to this campaign from the Owego Gazette was very positive. They felt that this criticism applied equally to those citizens of Owego who often went to Binghamton and New York to buy goods, often paying higher prices for the merchandise. Wives of certain businessmen were setting an especially bad example when they engaged in this practice. An example from Candor was used to highlight the unsoundness of such purchases. A farmer from that town had recently bought a blanket from a mail order house for which he paid $1.95. It turns out that this blanket had been made at the Candor blanket factory and could have been purchased for only 90 cents.

I
n 1907 a series of advertisements appeared in the Owego Gazette which would develop these themes in much greater detail. They had a generic quality to them and probably appeared in hundreds of local newspapers around the country. Each had a graphic illustrating the particular point being emphasized.

One of the first ones to run had a man with his nose deep in the pages of a mail order catalog. It was entitled, "Don't You Like This Town?" The logic presented was that everyone needed to spend money and that you should spend your money where it would do the most good. If you spend your money locally it will help the town and in turn the town will help you.

Another problem addressed was "Why Do Country Boys Flock to the Cities?" They were merely following their father's dollars that had been spent outside the community. What would you expect a boy to do?

Four of the ads exhorted the local folk to promote and brag about the town: "If you don't believe in this town, why do you live here? If you do believe in it, why don't you boom it?" And of course the best way to brag about the town was in your local newspaper. That theme was emphasized more than once.

It would be hard to gauge if these ads did any good. Owego's commercial district has certainly not disappeared, although many businesses from the turn of the century have long since gone. But when you assess the commerce and business climate in all the towns and villages of the county, there is a wide range presented on the economic vitality scale and many once prosperous hamlets have become little more than a name on a map and a memory. We are told that history can teach us and it would seem that there are lessons to be learned from a series of long forgotten advertisements that appeared in a local paper almost 90 years ago.

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An Invitation to the Trout Ponds
By Ed Nizalowski

"Grand Opening of the Newark Valley Trout Ponds -- 2,000 healthy, handsome trout on exhibition"

This was a headline for an article from the Owego Gazette on June 8, 1871. A group had travelled from Owego for opening festivities and were very impressed by the work that Messrs. Waring and Davidge had done. In the space of two years thirteen ponds had been completed "literally alive with beautiful trout" that were from eight to fifteen inches in length and weighed between one-quarter to two pounds each. At the terminus of the ponds there was a hatching house, where 60,000 trout had been released the past season.

Norman K. Waring, a builder of wooden bridges throughout the United States, had principal charge of the works, and had definitely applied his handiwork to the grounds. There was an elegant pavilion capable of accommodating 300 to 400 people, a bowling alley, a croquet court and a baseball diamond. Mr. Waring had not forgotten the natural world: "The grounds are splendidly shaded with an abundance of trees of natural growth and are covered over with comfortable seats beneath stately forest trees, and by the side of cold refreshing springs . . ."

There were two good hotels in Newark Valley at the time -- the Newark Valley House (the present site of the Municipal Building) and the Dimmick House, near the Depot of the Southern Central Railroad. The Dimmick was not quite complete, but was still open for customers.

The writer for The Gazette believed that 800 people came on opening day. He felt he was speaking for the group when he said that the Trout Ponds "offer greater attractions to pleasure seekers, than any other resort in this region of country." Remember, this was four years before Hiawatha Island. Music for the occasion was provided by Messrs. Paris and Smith, assisted by members of the Ahwaga Cornet Band.

As with many facilities in rural America, the Trout Ponds went into decline reaching a low point in the 1940's and 1950's. In 1954 the Ponds were sold to the Village of Newark Valley for a $1 and clean-up began in 1957.

If you visit the Trout Ponds during the Depot Days/Village Centennial Weekend (July 29 - 31), you may catch some of the spirit that Norman K. Waring had engendered in his day. There's a town picnic and a free concert on Friday evening. Saturday's happenings include a splendid display of antique trucks, a crafts show, children's games and hot air balloon rides. There's only one way to end a day like that: fireworks in the evening.

There is no doubt that your reaction will be similar to that of The Gazette in making its final comment on the music of opening day, June 1, 1871: "to say it was good is no exaggeration."

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A Second Look at Edward R. Eastman
By Ed Nizalowski

The name Edward R. Eastman still generates a great deal of interest and respect in the northern part of the county. He was born on a hill farm in Berkshire in 1885, but later had a varied and distinguished career that included farming, teaching, organizing and writing. He was editor of the American Agriculturalist for 36 years and wrote a variety of books dealing with country life.

I have read three of his novels, the latest being Tough Sod written in 1945. The setting has a local feel to it, but could be anywhere in the Southern Tier or could be extended to include much of the Northeast.

The plot involves a young farmer, Allen Clinton, who believes in agricultural courses, the Farm Bureau and other progressive ideas vs. Ezra Chittendon, a local mill owner and power figure. There were plenty of farmers who didn't like change and a man like Chittendon could manipulate and threaten in a variety of ways to maintain the status quo. A long time attraction between Chittendon's daughter and Clinton adds some romantic interest.

The specific flash point in the particular novel involves New York State's efforts to rid dairy herds of tubercular cows, which spanned a 30 year period from the 1890's thru the 1920's. The county sheriff gets a lead that Clinton has sold some cows that had tested positive for TB. This turns out to be the case and Clinton is arrested. This convinces those in Chittendon's camp that the entire TB campaign is crooked and is yet another effort by the state to ram unwanted changes down farmer's throats.

Eastman's purpose for writing can be a bit too obvious. Since he was an agriculture teacher, a high school principal, a Farm Bureau Agent and a Farm Credit Director, you can imagine what point of view he was trying to promote. But interspersed with his message-laden plot are many genuine vignettes or scenes from life in the country. I think Eastman gives a wonderful portrayal of showing how people reacted or what they thought and talked about when they did their chores, plowed the fields or sat down for a Sunday dinner.

The novel is meant to show the changes that took place in agriculture and country living in the 50 year period preceding 1945. This is done very accurately, but it takes its material from a somewhat limited viewpoint. It would be similar to basing your entire knowledge of country living by studying paintings by Norman Rockwell and Grandma Moses.

The experience and conflicts of that period were much richer and complicated than what Eastman presents in Tough Sod. Between 1890 and 1920 many areas in the "old agricultural regions" were not just struggling, they were losing. In Tioga County there was a 16% drop in population from 30,000 to 25,000. Much of the population loss came from the hill farms and communities. This set the stage for immigrant farmers who gave these areas a second lease on life.

Can you really write about this period without saying anything about the Great Depression? The stresses from this event climaxed in the milk strike of 1933 and put thousands of acres of land into the hands of New York State which have now become our state woods.

Eastman makes only a few oblique references to the natural world. Once the cows leave the pasture and the fields stopped being tended, nature begins to creep in from the hedgerows. This increase of brush and forest land can be dramatically illustrated by examining the status of the white tail deer. At the beginning of the century deer were a protected species. By 1941 they could be hunted legally.

In spite of this limited viewpoint, there is a "country ethic" that emerges from his novels which has validity and which has meaning for "country folk" today. It was taken for granted that people should work hard and accomplish something. Whether you got your ideas from "book learning" or from your own ingenuity or stubbornness was up to you. There was no shortage of points of view, antagonism and conflict, but when anyone fell on hard times or trouble, everyone pulled together to help out. You could depend on neighbors to do what every they could.

One of my favorite parts of the novel starts in the saphouse. Two men remark on this being the first sign of spring and swap stories late into the night. The mood changes abruptly when it is learned that the mother of one of the men has taken a turn for the worse and she goes to her reward by the time the doctor comes to the door.

The funeral is held in the home and all the neighbors help with food and keeping up with chores. But adjustments need to be made quickly and the work and concerns of farm life take precedence over any extended grieving period. In the next sequence two men are out doing spring plowing discussing the merits of being a farmer. Does plowed ground give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day or does it illustrate the "merry-go-round" of farmlife with the "merry" left out? Such discussions still take place today.

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Germany Hill
By Dr. Eugene E. Bauer

The History of Germany Hill As written by Dr. Eugene E. Bauer in 1925, appearing in the Owego Times, Tuesday, June 16, 1925, and originally transcribed to HTML by Steve Shumway.

In the writing of this brief outline or the very early history of the settlement of Germany Hill the writer has limited his narrative to the original few families comprising the settlement. All the early families left numerous descendants and if genealogy were recorded this little sketch would become a volume.

In compiling these few lines, the writer wishes to acknowledge the help of Nicholas Snyder, of Owego, N. Y., one of the few survivors of the second generation, and George Bauer, or Owego. N. Y.. of the third generation, who have a remarkable knowledge of the early happenings as they had been related to them by their forefathers. Eugene Bauer.

War and differences in religious belief have changed the destinies of many persons. Europe was beset with wars early in the eighteenth century as it is today. Alsace-Lorraine, a garden spot, was a choice morsel for the war dogs to combat over, and, as in every war, the real fight was waged, the real blood was shed and the real heart breaks were suffered by those persons who had no quarrel with their neighbors and who had no wish for aggrandizement of their neighbors wealth.

So it was with the early settlers of "Germany Hill." Favored with a healthful, mild climate, wonderfully fertile soil and peace loving industrious neighbors, nothing would have induced them to leave their homes in eastern France had it not been for the constant specter of war with its draft upon the young men and wealth of the country to satisfy an insatiable toll.

At the time the early settlers of Germany Hill left France, all the able bodied men of eighteen were drafted in an eight-year service in the standing army and as wars were frequent a large majority of these men saw active service and many never returned. They were not only called upon to fight their own country's battles, but frequently were rented out by their rulers to fight for some other country. Dissatisfaction naturally followed this rule of iron and they looked to America for relief.

The manner of their living in Alsace was so different that a few words will give the reader a clearer idea of the hardships endured by them as pioneers in America. The men were little given to agriculture. Land was rarely sold. Each father dividing his holdings among his children as they grew up and they in turn redivided among their children.

Consequently each family owned from three to twenty patches of land hardly larger than our gardens and often separated for miles. The women and children of the family tilled these "farms" mostly by hand work. The men were artisans, teachers, weavers, wood-workers, and tailors. They lived in villages. In close quarters, barely warmed on account of scarcity of fuel. Their wants were few as they lived simple lives. In religion they were followers or the teachings of Martin Luther: The village pastor usually filling the positions of pastor, teacher, and legal adviser and to his followers his decisions were final and satisfactory

Philip Kapple -now called Caple- was the first to break the home ties and come to America. He landed in New York in 1838 and worked for a time in a sugar refinery. Wanderlust soon took him to Huntersland, near Albany, where he worked on a farm. While there be became acquainted with Isaac Garvey, who had a brother at Pipe Creek, now Strait's Corners, in Tioga county. This brother, Daniel Garvey, needed help and sent for Kappel, who came to Strait's Corners and worked for him during the year 1839.

The glowing accounts of America that he was able to get to Europe by letter once or twice a year stating that there was freedom and lots of wood made his neighbors and relatives in Alsace dissatisfied with their lot and in 1840 Adam Koenig, now King, Peter Schnieder, now Snyder, and Adam Heimberger, now Hanbury, came over. Mails were not as dispatched in those days and they went to Huntersland in Albany county, only to find that Caple had gone to Pipe Creek. Undaunted they started out to find Caple at Pipe Creek in Tioga. After walking from Albany to Tioga Centre they were directed to Tioga Point, now Athens, where they found their mistake and walked back to Pipe Creek, following the creek in the direction of Strait's Corners, where Caple could be found.

At Beaver Meadows, on Pipe Creek, they stopped to inquire and were invited to eat breakfast, consisting of buckwheat cakes and maple syrup, the buckwheat cakes they ate heartily of but refused the maple syrup, saying it was a luxury. They afterwards told their friends that they had been fed from a jar of manna, that the more was taken out the fuller it became. This was probably due to the chemical action of the soda used to sweeten the batter.

After breakfast they continued up the creek in search of Caple, making inquires as they proceeded. No one seemed to know of Caple and as a new thought they decided to ask for Garvey, his employer. When at the next door, but one of their destination they asked again, but the nearest that they could say Garvey was Govlay and of course no one had ever heard of Govlay. Disheartened they turned about and walked back to Albany County to be better directed. Reaching Huntersville they got more explicit directions and again walked to Pipe Creek and were rewarded by finding Caple after a two-months' search.

Caple, Snyder and King then pooled their money and bought one hundred acres of land at Strait's Corners. They then sent for their families who came to New York by ship, from New York to Ithaca by canal and were met at Ithaca by teams and transported through the woods to Strait's Corners. This partnership in the farm continued for a few years and was terminated by Peter Snyder buying the interests of the other two. Adam Bauer and family came over in 1840, bringing with them the family of Adam Hanbury, who had been in this country for two years. A short description of the immigration experiences of the writer's grandfather will be given us an example of the hardship travel in the early days. After selling all but their necessary family belongings to their neighbors, the remainder was securely packed in large wooden chests dimensions three by three by six feet. strongly built and iron-bound. These were taken by stage from Strassburg to Havre, a trip of eight days continuous day and night travel. At Havre it was necessary to wait for an incoming ship as with the uncertainty of said craft no regular schedule could be carried out. After waiting two weeks, passage was secured and the trip started. Favorable winds took them well on their way and a quick passage was anticipated. During the night the winds changed and in the morning the ship had drifted nearly back to the place of starting. Backward and forward zigzagging from left to right, to the will of the wind, buffeted by storms until even the captain of the vessel feared for their safety they finally reached New York city forty-nine days after leaving Havre. Exacting officials made considerable delay at "Castle Garden" before they were allowed to land. Goods, belongings, and families were then transferred to smaller boats and transported up the Hudson river to Albany, where another transfer was made to canal boats, which took them to "Cayuga Bridge," now Seneca Falls, where they were again transferred to lake boats and brought to Ithaca. On the way from Albany to Ithaca it was necessary to stay in Syracuse over night. They left the boat and went to a hotel for lodgings, but were told that all rooms were full.

Woman Is Victorious
Undaunted, Mrs. Hanbury returned to the boat, got a bundle of bedding, took it to the hotel and proceeded to make a bed for her three small children on the lobby floor. There was some altercation with the clerk, but as neither could understand what the other said, the lady came out victorious and her children had a good warm bed for the night, the older persons sitting up all night. In the morning they had breakfast and after paying their bills were given a friendly farewell by the "tavern keeper," who evidently had taken the intrusion good naturedly. King and Snyder had been notified of the approximate time of Bauer's arrival. Approximate in those days meant one to three months. They accordingly made trips to Ithaca on foot, a distance of thirty miles, each going on an alternate day to meet their relatives upon their arrival. After daily trips for one month they were rewarded. Their visits had been so frequent that the station master knew them and knew the route by which they came down the hill into Ithaca and told Mr. Bauer that "his folks were coming." It happens that the German word for fox sounds very much like the English word folks and grandfather looked long without seeing the fox. An all day ride in an ox-cart from Ithaca was theirs - considerable difference from the thirty minute run of to-day in an auto or a palace car.

Came by Railway
Peter Hopler and Adam Culli came over in 1847. They came by the same route, but in the meantime a railway had been built from Ithaca to Owego on the route now followed by the Cayuga division of the Lackawanna railroad, which made transportation much easier, even though the motive power of the railway was horses.

Philip Weber came over in 1851 and was shown a map and told to point out his destination. He found Oswego and not being familiar with the language said that was his destination and was sent there. During his stay in Oswego he had a job sawing wood with a bucksaw, which he enjoyed very much. Wood had been so scarce in his country that he had never cut any.

Learning of his mistake Adam Culli went to Oswego and got him.

Charles Rauscher and his family came over in 1852, bringing with him a widow and two daughters by the name of Rauscher, who were no relation to him.

The widow Rauch and her son, George and Nicholas Schneider and family, who was no relation to Peter Schneider, came over in 1846.

Peter Eberhardt and John Ulrich came to the "hill" in 1866, but had been in New York City for some time before.

Nicholas Ott and family, Nicholas Zorn and family, Paul Meder and family, and Peter Eberhardt (now Ahart), came on the hill in the late 50's, making the trip from New York city over the Erie railroad, which had just been completed, a great demonstration having been given at Owego upon the arrival of the first train.

Builds His Home

The writer's grandfather, not being satisfied with conditions at Pipe Creek, walked to Buffalo in search of better things and when nearing his destination, met a German coming out of the city who told him that times were so hard there that women were sawing wood for a living. Discouraged at this report he retraced his steps to Pipe Creek. Taking a hoe he explored the woods for miles around, digging holes at different places to examine the soil. If he found stones he went farther. He finally decided on a tract just west of where the Germany Hill church now stands, bought it of Ezeklel DuBois and proceeded to clear a place large enough to build a house. The stone work of this house still stands, the wood having decayed many years ago.

Transportation was slow, the principal mode of travel being with an ox-team and heavy lumber wagon. Roads were merly trails through the woods. On account of the dense forests the ground was wet and full of sink holes, consequently all roads were built over high ridges and hills. These trails naturally became the public highways as the country became more settled with the result that many of our highways are over and on the highest ground when it would be far easier to reach places along the lower valleys and streams. Land was cheap. One could have his choice of any of the farming lands outside the corporation for $4 per acre. The same reason that made the early settlers build their roads on high grounds made them select their farms on high ground. The beautiful valley of the Susquehanna, west of Owego, appeared like a heavily timbered swamp.

No Small Task to Clear Farm
For miles around Owego, all the land was heavily timbered only the very largest of the pines having been taken off and it was no small task to clear a farm and make it productive as a very large part had to be done by hand work, as machinery was not to be had. The first acre on the writer's grandfather's farm was chopped off, logs and brush burned, stumps dug out, ground loosened, seed sown and raked in, grain cut with a sickle and thrashed with a flail, all work to the milling of the grain done by hand, and to finish the grain, was put in a bag, thrown over the shoulder and carried seven miles to a mill to be ground.

Having left one of the garden spots of earth to come to a wilderness among strange people, who spoke a strange language they did not understand, their plight was little less than pathetic. Wood and lumber were so plentiful there was but little market for it. Crops could not be raised until the land could be cleared, which was a slow process.

A True Friend
In the person of Patrick Leahy, founder of the Leahy grocery and father of James and Joseph Leahy, they soon learned they had a true friend. He conducted a store where they could buy their necessities. He learned to know them and gave them credit. If they were hard pressed and needed money he had money to loan. If they had a few extra dollars he would care for it for them as they knew nothing of banks. If they needed advice he had the ability and heart to give it. He told them what things they could sell and where to sell it. He told them of a market in Owego for wild berries, which grew in abundance in the woods. Arising at daylight, often before, they would go to the woods and gather berries until noon. In the afternoon walk seven miles to Owego and sell the berries for five to ten cents per quart, depending on a flush or lean season. To these men who had been in the habit of working for two cents a day in France, a dollar a day seemed a rapid road to fortune. Many lasting friendships were established between the berry sellers and their Owego customers in these dealings.

The building of the Erie railroad in 1854 made a market for wood, which paid them $.75 to $1 per cord, delivered to the Erie station in Owego. All Erie locomotives burned wood instead of coal and there was a ready market for all they could bring, even though the price was small. Cutting and delivering a cord (128 cubic feet) of wood with a slow moving ox team was a two-days' task and the profits were small, yet they were contented and happy because they were giving real service for money received. A school was established in a log school house in the late forties and their children were taught in English, according to the curriculum of those days.

Lutherans But Adopt Methodism
In 1868 the colony had outgrown the log school house as a place of worship and by voluntary contributions of work and material, a capacious building was erected for a "meeting house." About this time Methodism was sweeping the land and they were asked to unite with the Methodist church. Again they found themselves at the parting of the ways. They were Lutherans, but there was no Lutheran minister. They had no quarrel with the Methodists, but their religious habits were fixed. Long they deliberated and as usual they accepted the practical side and united with the Methodists and dedicated their church to Methodism, where their children could be taught the principles of Christian religion. The church stands today, never having been without a pastor and very few Sunday services missed. All the younger generation and many of the older accepted Methodism as their faith.

One of the older ladies was undecided and was praying fervently to the Lord to direct her whether to change faith to Methodism or remain Lutheran. Her husband ,in another part of the house, heard her and said: “You old goose remain what you are." She thanked the Lord for her answer (and who dares say it was not) and remained a staunch Lutheran ever after. Many ludicrous things happened, due to their lack of knowledge of the English language. One of the older class was selling berries and her customer asked her "Have you a husband,” which was promptly answered, “No we have an ox team."

In compiling this brief history, the writer has limited his statements to families who occupied what is Germany Hill proper. There were many Germans who settled in neighboring sections and mingled with the ones spoken of, but were not inter-related or classed as residents of Germany Hill. Nearly all the farms originally owned by the early settlers are in the hands of their direct descendants today. Industrious, frugal, honest to a fault, they accepted their lot, hard though it was, they fought their fight and won, and left a progeny not German ,not French, but one hundred percent American.

Note: Comments about this article should be e-mailed to Steve Shumway.

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A Word from Bucky the Deer
By Ed Nizalowski

The early settlers of the county marvelled at the quantity of wildlife and game that existed in the woods. Much of this wildlife, including the whitetail deer, was gone within two generations. The last record of a deer being killed in Tioga County in the 1800's was 1847.

Whitetail deer became a protected species. By 1907 it was a $100 fine for killing a deer or even possessing one. But starting in the 1880's farms off in the hills began to shrink and go into decline. Once people left their homes, the land went back to nature.

By the 1920's there was enough forest to support a deer population. By the 1930's a debate began as to whether they should be hunted. At first there was a great deal of opposition, but it was finally decided that a legal season for whitetail deer would commence in the fall of 1941.

Since this would make quite a change in the status of deer, a writer for the Owego Gazette decided that there was no "sensible reason why a worthy specimen of the venison corporation should not be privileged to appear in self-defence." On January 23, 1941, the paper printed an imaginary meeting between a deer and a human.

The writer had been standing beside the road in the great outdoors of Tioga County and was having an extremely stimulating and thrilling interaction with the natural world. As he was watching a landscape scattered with cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, it came to mind that those "dumb happy creatures" must have more intelligence than just a large appetite. He gave voice to his feelings and said, loud and clear, "Maybe they have a language".

Immediately there was a snapping and cracking in the bushes. "A truly muscular chunk of venison . . . greeted me with a musical snort" and opened the conversation with "Hi there, Bud!" What followed was a discussion between Bud - a Mendacious Man who quizzes a Deer and Bucky - a Brawny Buck who has the answers.

Bucky's opening remarks indicated that he was an eloquent representative of his species:

' Heard what you said, Mister Wise Guy, about the possible existence of an idiom exclusively confined to the animal kingdom. After listening to the conglomerate gab you humans use every day, we dumb clucks decided unanimously that such indiscriminate talk is what we need none of.'

Bucky was also quite defensive about this exclusive privilege that humans engaged in to shoot, hook and set traps. When Bud told him he was not a member of that fraternity and that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn even if he had a gun, Bucky became more at ease.

Bucky, it turns out, was a field representative for the I. O. D. D. (Independent Order of Dependent Deers). He was returning to this territory because according to family tradition his race had been share-cropping with the Indians when the settlers first came.

Bucky had been born in Pennsylvania which made him either a Quaker or a Pennsylvania Dutch, but his gang claimed three Finns, two Scandinavians, seven Italians, two Poles and one Greek as part of its heritage. His wife liked to brag about her girlhood days dining in the big truck gardens and insisted that this early vegetable diet had established her present school girl figure. They even had tracked her genealogy back to the pair that Brother Noah had placed on the Ark.

On October 16, 1941, the Gazette printed a letter which Bucky had written to Bud in which he was bemoaning the unfairness of life. Soon he and his gang would become targets for eager hunters when they had virtually no defense.

But as a representative of the Amalgamated Deer Corporation of the United States and Canada, he seemed resigned to his fate and was warning the hunters to avoid shots that might injure domestic animals or the farmer and his family. He also put in a good word for Messrs. Mitter and Baker, "the imperial enforcement specialists -- hard as nails, but kind and considerate".



This philosopher/raconteur from the animal world ended his letter like this:

"Well, my dear co-operative chum, I have purposely refrained from making the following confession, but I feel you should know that my coming election as president of our Amalgamation is practically assured. It will be my fifth term -- something to brag about, isn't it?

Sure, it may be my last. I guess we know that ballots and bullets are both deadly."

Your deer friend,
"Bucky"


If one day while walking in the woods you feel a spiritual excitement and an overwhelming urge envelopes you to make some kind of direct communication with the natural wonders that surround you, perhaps some of Bucky's relatives are still traversing the hills of Tioga.

Note: See also the Stories from the Natural World for "letters" from Bucky.

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