New York
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RESOURCES | Steuben
County New York |
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Cameron Township.
Cameron township was formed from Addison, April 16, 1822. It lies partly in the valley of the Canisteo, and is bounded on the north by Bath, east
by Thurston, south by Rathbone and Jasper, and west by Canisteo. It was named in honor of Dugald Cameron, one of the early settlers of Bath. Its
northern portion forms the watershed from which flow tributaries of the Conhocton river on the east, and the Canisteo river on the west and south. The
land along the valley of the Canisteo is quite productive, as well as that in the uplands of the north and east, and many fine farms are to be found. The
New York Lake Erie and Western R. R., passes through its southern limits, having three stations in the township.
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Lumbering was carried on extensively for many years, the product of the forest being made into rafts and floated down the Canisteo river. Soon after
the construction of the Erie railroad in 1850, the business of rafting gradually began to diminish, until it is now substantially abandoned. The shipping of lumber, bark and shingles is now confined to the railroad.
The early settlers were Richard Hadley, Samuel Baker, James B. Wheeler, Urbane Baker, Amos Caldwell, John Place, John Dean, James Jones, Luther White, Amasa Downs, James Brownell, John Hallett, Elisha Leach, Hirah Chase, Chauncey B. Hubbard, Reuben Drake, Elias Mason, James Knickerbocker, Henry Knickerbocker, Andrew Bates, John Shaw, Hiram Averill, father of Gen. William W. Averill, John French, J. D. Yost, Isaac Santee, Byron French, Joseph Loughrey, Moses L. Pierson, Dexter Pratt, George S. Pierson, Andrew G. Pierson, James H. Miles, Reuben W. Miller, Stephen Baskin, James Swartwood, George Cameron.
The first annual election for town officers was held in February 1823. Elias Mason was the first supervisor.
—Richard Hadley built the first saw mill, in 1811.
—Samuel Baker built the first grist mill in Cameron, in 1816.
—There was an Indian settlement in Cameron, as late as 1804.
—Presbyterian Church erected in the village of Cameron, in 1853.
—Cameron Village Methodist Church, organized in February 1851.
—Rev. John B. Chase, a Baptist minister, preached in Cameron, in 1832.
—Baptist church organized July 11, 1844, under the pastorate of Rev. Moses Rowley.
—Christian Church erected in 1854. First preaching by Rev. John Stocking, in 1831.
. —Rev. Abner Chase, a Methodist preached in Cameron in 1812. Church organized in 1834.
—There were 95 citizens of Cameron engaged in the war of the rebellion, the Union army.
—A branch Methodist Church was erected in 1872, at a cost of $2,500, on South Hill, Cameron.
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