Tri-Counties Genealogy &
History by Joyce M. Tice
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The Trades Our People Followed |
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Bradford County PA
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Chemung County NY
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Tioga County PA
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The Blacksmith has been replaced by the Tire Stores |
| Article: The Trades Our People
Followed |
| Township: |
Article by Helen Mac Dougall Samson (1909-1995)
1976
Sent in by Walt Samson |
| Retyped by Debbie Hansen |
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CHEMUNG VALLEY REPORTER, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1976
The Trades Our People Followed
By Helen M. Samson
Early directories list professions and businesses not practiced today.
No one in 1860 was an astronaut or an atomic scientist. But, not a person
today could be listed as a grain cradle maker or a dealer in stone pumps.
Times change and from 1876 to 1976, so do the jobs people do.
In an 1868 directory, doctors were listed variously. Some were physician
surgeons, but many were plain physicians. One was a botanic physician and
he may have had something in common with the Indian doctor. His name was
Tillson and he "boarded" and did not own a house. He may have changed towns
too rapidly for that. If you had an aching tooth there were specialists
in those days too, and a dental surgeon could remove it for you. He didn’t
use novocaine but it was rumored that a good shot of whiskey helped to
numb the pain. One Mr. Butcher, who was located on Water Street in Elmira,
was listed as a practical phrenologist and he came from London to touch
the bumps on the local heads and advise the proper conduct of affairs in
light of the information the contour of the head gave him.
The Feminist movement had not been whispered in 1868 but many women
were forced or preferred to earn their livings. The perennial unmarried
school teacher was present and any number of other "Misses" were listed
as dressmakers and millinery stores. Not many vocations were open to women
but a girl with some education might open a day and boarding school as
the Misses Gallatian did on the south side of Elmira. Another woman advertised
a "select school." This term meant a private school for which the parents
paid a tuition fee and the child, usually a girl, might learn French and
music and fancy embroidery stitches in addition to necessary reading and
number courses. Real ladies were not expected to be too learned.
Seamstresses made the best dresses of the women of the town. These were
worn to every dress up occasion for several years and then were not retired.
Good material could be ripped apart, turned and made up again. The well
known serge suit often received this treatment. Hats were hats in those
days. A "shape" was loaded with fruit and flowers and they could be replaced
the next summer with a whole new look. A more expensive hat might have
had feathers and sometimes, the entire skin of a bird – complete with beak
and wings. The Egret in Florida nearly reached extinction through the high
style of women’s millinery.
Many businesses were listed, complete with names of the firm’s members
and often the brand name of the product. The Wychoff Brothers made wooden
water pipes and their large pipes are still being dug up in the streets
of Elmira and still in good condition. Mr. Greener was making his famous
pianos, a collector’s item today. In Horseheads, Benjamin Westlake was
making bricks and several small businesses were engaged in making carriages
and wagons. The smaller towns also had their thriving industries. A firm
made bricks in Breesport at one time and sash and blind factory in Millport
gave employment to a few workers. They also made canal boats there when
the canal was in its prime and from time to time, tiny factories made things
needed by the basically rural population. One advertised axe and pick and
adz handles. An iron bridge over a stream in Schuyler County bore the inscription,
"made in Millport." An early directory lists an enterprise in Horseheads
that was making the ornamental ironwork so popular on store fronts and
public buildings.
Outside of Elmira most names are listed as "farmer," owns or works specific
number of acres. Surprisingly enough, a man on Sullivan Street in Elmira
was a market gardner on only one acre of land and Hoffman Street had much
farm land.
And then there were many other forms of employment, not heard of today.
There was a dealer in human hair and a wig maker. Several were coopers
and one firm was a "puller and tanner of sheep pelts." A firm made candles
on a large scale in earlier times and a putty factory made this needed
commodity. There were dealers in beeswax and hides. Nothing went to waste
on the farm and there was a sale for most things considered by-products.
There were government employees in those days, too. An inspector of
coal oil and distilled spirits was listed, a poormaster, the captain of
the night watch and even a collector of internal revenue. (And you thought
income taxes were new?) However, this collector must have had a different
duty than the ones of today.
There was the leader of the cornet band and no other occupation was
given. An amazing job was that of "head outer." This one didn’t work a
guillotine but was the top man in the clothing store and tailoring business
of J. and R. Mosher’s place in Horseheads.
There was the owner of a pile driver, a man who made horse rakes and
a specialist who called himself an "Artesian well" driller. The manufacturer
of soda water preceded the bottled soft drink makers of the present. There
were many who were listed simply as "saloon" with no fancy names at all.
It was hard working era, a hundred and more years ago. Muscles counted
for more than earning and most men turned to the land for a living. And,
these were the people from whom we sprung
