Gazetteer of
the State of New York: Embracing a Comprehensive View of the Geography, Geology,
And General History of the State, and a Complete History and Description of
Every County, City, Town, Village, and Locality. With Full Tables Of Statistics.
By J. H. French. Syracuse, N.Y.: Published By R. Pearsall Smith
1860.
Page 624.
CORNING 3-- was formed, as "Painted Post," 4 March 18, 1796. Its name was changed March 31, 1852. Erwin
and Hornby were taken off in 1826, and "Wormly" (now Caton) in 1839. A part was
annexed to Erwin in 1856. It lies on the E. border of the co., S. of the center.
The wide valley of Chemung River, extending N.W. and S.E. through the center of
the town, and several lateral valleys, divide the uplands into rounded hills and
narrow ridges. Its streams are Borden, Post, Narrows, Clump Foot, and Winfield
Creeks, tributaries of Chemung River. The soil upon the hills is a heavy, slaty
loam, and in the valleys a fine quality of sandy and gravelly loam, occasionally
intermixed with clay. Corning, (p. v.,) incorp.
Sept. 6, 1848, is situated on the S. bank of Chemung River, in the W.
part of the town. It is a half-shire of the co. The Chemung Canal, the Blossburg
& Corning R. R., and the B., N. Y. & E. R. R. terminate here; and the
village is an important station on the N. Y. & Erie R. R. It contains 5
churches, 2 newspaper establishments, 2 banks, a State arsenal, and several
mills and manufacturing establishments, and commands an extensive and constantly
increasing trade. 5 Pop. 3,626.
Knoxville, 6 opposite Corning,
contains 2 churches and a pop. of 628.
Gibson lies on the N. bank of the Chemung, 1 mi. E. of Corning.
Pop. 428. Centerville contains 25 houses. East Painted
Post is a p. o. The first settement was made near the village of
Corning, in 1788, by Frederick Calkins and Benj. Eaton. 7
The first religious services were conducted by John Warren, in 1793. There are 7
churches int own. 8
3 Named from Hon. Erastus Corning, of
Albany. 4 In the summer of 1779, a party
of tories and Indians, under the command of a loyalist named McDonald, returned
from an incursion into the Susquehanna settlements, bringing with them many of
their number wounded. At the confluence of Tioga and Conhocton Rivers, Captain
Montour, son of the famous Queen Catherine, a chief of great promise, died of
his wounds. "His comrades buried him by the riverside, and planted above his
grave a post on which were painted various symbols and rude devices. This
monument was known throughout the Genesee Forests at 'The Painted
Post.' It was a landmark well known to all the Six Nations, and was often
visited by their braves and chieftains." This account of the origin of the
Painted Post was given to Benj. Patterson, the hunter, by a man named Taggart,
who was carried to Fort Niagara a prisoner by McDonald's party, and was a
witness of the burial of Capt. Montour, or at least was in the encampment at the
mouth of the Tioga at the time of his death. Col. Harper, of Harpersfield, the
well known officer of the frontier militia of New York in the Revolution,
informed Judge Knox, of Knoxville, in this co., that the Painted Post was
erected over the grave of a chief who was wounded at the battle of the
"Hog-Back" and brought in a canoe to the head of the Chemung, where he died. It
was well understood by the early settlers that this monument was erected in
memory of some distinguished warrior who had been wounded in one of the border
battles of the Revolution and afterward died at this place. The post stood for
many years after the settlement of the co. and the story goes that it rotted
down at the butt, and was preserved in the bar-room of a tavern till about the
year 1810 and then mysteriously disappeared. It is also said to have been swept
away in a freshet. - McMaster's Hist. of Steuben.Simm's Hist
Schoharie, p. 333. 5 In 1852, 40,000
tons of Blossburg coal, brought by the Elossburg & Corning R. R., were
transhipped at this place, and 50,000,000 feet of lumber were
exported. 6 Named from Judge John Knox, of this
town. 7 Benj. and Peleg Gorton, Jr., Ephraim
Patterson and his sons Ichabod and Stephen, Bradford Eggleston, Justus Wolcott,
Elias William, and Henry McCormick, Hezekiah Thurber, Jonathan Cook, Samuel
Colgrove, and Eli and Eldad Mead settled in the town in 1790-91-92; Jonathan and
Warren Rowley in 1794; James Turner and Caleb Wolcott in 1795; George McCullock
and Benj. Patterson in 1796; and Nehemiah Hubbell in 1798. The first birth was
that of James Calkins, Nov. 24, 1790; the first marriage, that of Benj. Gorton
and Rachel Wolcott, in 1794; and the first death, that of Ichabod Patterson, in
Aug. 1794. Ichabod Patterson built the first sawmill, and Jas. Henderson the
first gristmill, both in 1793; Benj. Eaton kept the first store, in 1791, and
Benj. Patterson the first inn, in 1798. The first school was taught by Samuel
Colgrove, in 1793. 8 2 Bap., 2 M.E., Prot. E.,
Presb., and R.C.
