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 627.
PULTENEY 7-- was formed from Bath, Feb. 12, 1808. Prattsburgh was
taken off in 1813, and a part of Urbana in 1848. It lies upon the W. shore
of Crooked Lake, and is the N.E. corner town of the co. The surface is a
rolling upland, 700 to 900 feet above the level of the lake. The declivities
along the lake shore are broken by numerous narrow ravines formed by small
streams. The soil is chiefly a shaly and gravelly loam, and in some parts near
the lake it is clayey. Harmonyville (Pulteney p.
o.) contains 2 churches and 20 houses; and Bluffport (South Pulteney p. o.) 20
houses. Peltonville (p. o.) is a hamlet.
Gulicksville, a landing on the lake, has a storehouse and 8
houses. Settlement commenced in 1802. 8 Rev. Ephraim Eggleston, the first settled preacher, removed to the town
in 1805. The census reports 6 churches. 9
7 Named from Sir Wm. Pulteney, former owner
of the Pulteney Tract. 8 The first
settlers were Saml. Miller, John Van Camp, G. F. Fitssimmons, and John Block.
James and George Simms, Henry Hoffman, Abraham Bennett, and Shadrach Norris
settled in the town in 1805; and Saml. and Nathaniel Wallis, John Ells, Wm.
White, James Dally, Erastus Glass, Harmon Emmons, and Seth Pierce in 1806. The
first marriage was that of Christopher Tomer and Jane Miller, in 1809; and the
first death, that of a child of Jas. Dally, in 1806. Melchior Waggoner built the
first sawmill, in 1810, and the first gristmill, in 1814. Shadrach Norris kept
the first inn, in 1807; and Augustus Tyler, the first store, in 1808. The first
school was taught by Polly Wentworth, in 1808. 9 2
Bap., 2 M.E., Cong., and Presb. 3 Bap., Christian,
Presb., and Wes. Meth.
