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History of Tioga County, PennsylvaniaIf You Have Photos of People Mentioned on the Page, Send Them In For Inclusion Return to 1883 Table of Contents |
WESTFIELD TOWNSHIP.
By Butler B. Strang.
Westfield township and Westfield borough (which was erected from the township lie in the western tier of townships, next to the Potter county line. The township is bounded on the north by Brookfield, east by Deerfield, south by Clymer and west by the county of Potter. It lies near the head of waters of the Cowanesque River, which runs from west to east through the northern portion of the township. Its elevation is 1,734 feet from the sea level, though the valley in which the borough lies is considerable lower.
The valley has a rich alluvial soil with a gravel subsoil, producing fine crops of wheat, corn and the other cereals. Of late the farmers have engaged in raising tobacco, and have been very successful, both as to quality and the quantity of the corp. The upland soil, while producing fine crops of grin, is better adapted to grazing and dairy purposes, and had no superior in the northern Pennsylvania or southern New York for raising cattle and sheep and making butter and cheese.
ORGANIZATION OF OFFICERS.
The township was taken from Deerfield, in 1808, and was originally about six miles by seven. In 1852, a portion of Clymer township was taken from it, and it is now about four miles north and south by six miles east and west. Its population by the census of 1880 was 907.
Below is a list of the township officers so far as a record of the same can be found:
Supervisors.--Christopher Sayles, William Ladd, Zena Atkins, George Leonard, John Craig, C. Eastman, Theodorus Doty, Sylvanus Baker, A.C. Bancroft, Dyer Weeks, Alvin Butler, Charles Goodspeed, Barton Hunt, John King, Halsey Aldrich, Edmund Guernsey, E.G. Hill, Nelson Burdic, John Barr, S.A. Buck, John Howland, T.R. Leonard, H.N. Aldrich, A.M. Thompson, James King 2nd, N.V. Seagars, Arthur Carpenter, Page Sprague, Emerson Rexford, John Craig, L.H. Knapp, James E. Dodge, William H. Baker, C.D. Walters, William N. Hulburt, Ira B. Luce, Burton Hunt, John Little, William Lattimer, Frank Strag, Jonathan Stevenson, James Davis, L.H. King, E.A. Buck, Alonzo Seamans, William Convers, S.R. Haven, George Close, S.A. Leonard, Jonathan Stevenson, Page Sprague, W.L. Convers,
Town Clerks.--B.B. Strang, C. Eastman, A. Streeter, G.H. Niles, H.N. Aldrich, M.H. Abbey, ambrose Close, Elisha Turner, William Hulburt, Emerson Rexford, L.H. Knapp.
Justices of the Peace.--Shelden Tuttle, William Ladd, Jocob Everett, Hiram Tubbs, Zaccheus Malloroy, Charlton Phillips, I.C. Thompson, T.R. Leonard, William Finkner, Francis Strang, George Close.
School Directors.--Zena Atkins, Richard Krusen, E.G. Hill, Reuben Short, S.A. Leonard, Benjamin Tubbs, Jonathan Seamans, Hollister Baker, William Ladd, Dyer Weeks, Ira Luce, James King, Francis Strang, C. Phillips, Edwin Davie, S.W. Harris, S.S. Baker, John Champlin, H.H. Bostwick, P.E. Rexford, D.H. Sherwood, Orville Brown, Hiram McCoy, John B. Stevenson.
The early school books are destroyed, and it is impossible to get a full list of township directors.
Auditors.--William Ladd, Zena Atkins, George Leonard, C. Eastman, Dyer Weeks, Sylvanua Baker, Charles Goodspeed, John King., Edmund Guernsey, Nelson Burdic, S.A. Buck, T. R. Leonard, Arthur Carpenter, E.G. Hill, Emerson Rexford, John Craig, L.H. Knapp, William H. Baker, William N. Hulburt, Barton Hunt, William Lattimer, Jonathan Stevenson, L.H. King, Hiram McCoy, William Convers, John B. Stevenson.
Town Treasurers.--Richard Krusen, Zena Atkins, Thomas Baker, Hiram Tubbs, H.N. Adrich, Reuben Short, G.D. Walters, I.C. Thompson, N.J. Burdic, David Close, Jonathan Seamans, Sylvanua Baker, Theodorus Doty, John Goodspeed, Morris Pritchard, Barton Hunt, A.J. Burdic, John Ackley, Charles Scott, W.N. Hulburt, Page Sprague, William Lattimer, J.L. Calkins, L.H. Knapp, S.S. Baker, I.C. Thompson, S.R. Haven, William Convers, John Swimelar, Edwin Darcy, J.P. Stevenson, S.W. Harris, T.R. Leonard, Sylvanus Baker, A.H. Bostwick, P.E. Rexford, John Champlin, D.H. Sherwood, Orville Brown, Morris Pritchard.
Constables.--Zaccheus Malloroy, John Roberts, Isaac Plank, Seth Tremain, Joel Calkins, William Finkner, A. M. Thompson, G.H. Tremain.
The vote for township officers February 21, 1882, was given as follows in the Wellsboro Agitator:
Supervisors--Barton Hunt, 105; Ira Luce, 72; Willard King, 54; William L. Convers, 21. Justice of the Peace--T.R. Leonard, 123. Constable-Seth Tremain, 123. School director--S.K. Rumsey, 108, Dana Learn, 96; J.M. Howland, 28; Peter Edgcomb 13. Assessor--G.D. Walters, 100; S.R. Haven, 24. Assistant assessor--Hiram Sprague, 124; James Metcalf, 105; E. A. Buck, 21. Treasurer-Benjamin Tubbs, 64; Nathan Barr, 59; S.W. Harris, 2. Town clerk--L.H. Knapp, 109; George B. Davis, 16; Judge of election-James King, 121. Inspectors of election--William Howland, 61; Peter Edgcob, 52; Benjamin F. Swimelar, 13. Auditor--Alonzo Seamanns, 105; M.L. Weaver, 18.
THE EARLY SETTLERS
of Westfield were mainly from New York and the New England States, and the present population is largely composed of people from those States and their descendants. The settlement of Westfield township began about 1809. The first settlers were Poter Lapham, Nathaniel Mann, Ayres Tuttle, John Thomas and Reuben Cook, who settled in the valley below the site of the village; and Abraham Pease, Jonathan Pierce, Stephen Potter and two men named Riggs, who settle in and a little west of what is now the village.
Ayres Tuttle was an enterprising though eccentric man, and soon opened up a large farm just east of the village; built a commodious house, in which he entertained travelers; kept some merchandise, which he exchanged for furs and deerskins; tanned the deerskins and made them into gloves and mittens, and subsequently built a store and an "ashery" for making potash. He was for many years the principal merchant and dealer in the neighborhood. He was known for many miles around, and was, all things considered, the leading citizen. He was for many years a justice of the peace, and was an amiable Christian gentleman. A grandson, Cyrus Tuttle, still lives on a part of the old farm, and is believed to be the only male descendant of either of the original settlers who is now living near Westfield and bears the name of one of them.
MILLS.
Soon after the settlement began a grist-mill was built on the Tuttle farm by
a man named Saxbury. It was a primitive affair, but served to grind the grain
raised by the early settlers, who before that were compelled to carry their
grain 40 miles to Corning to be ground. About that time Porter Lapham and James
Turner built a saw-mill where is now the west line of the borough, and to it
they afterward attached a carding machine, at which the wool raised by the
settlers was carded, to be then spun and woven into cloth by the wives and
daughters of the pioneers. For many years these establishments constituted all
the manufacturing business of the township, with the aid of which the industry
and skill of each family enabled them to erect their own buildings, make their
own clothing, make and mend their own boots and shoes, hats and caps, and
generally provided themselves with the necessaries and may of the comforts of
life, and at the same time to fell the trees, and clear the lands which have
since been developed into fertile farms and a busy village.