Bradford County PA Chemung County NY Tioga County PA Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice History of Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung, Tioga 1879 Chapter 50

Town of Big Flats Tri-County Genealogy  & History Sites Home Page How to Use This Site Warning & Disclaimer Town of Big Flats Page 1879 Four County History - Table of Contents No Unauthorized Commercial Use Say Hello to Joyce  Typed for Tri-Counties by Debbie Hansen Formatted by  Joyce M. Tice Big Flats Biographical Sketches

BIG FLATS.

This town lies on the west border of the county, south of the center. Its surface consists of a broken upland, and in the north and south separated by a wide intervale of flat, which extends northeast from the Chemung through the center of the town, and contains 26,671 acres, of which 16,853 acres are improved, and has a population of 1936, as per census of 1875. The soil upon the hills is a slaty loam, and in the valleys is a rich and productive alluvial. The Chemung River runs through the town, and has several small tributaries, the principal of which is Sing Sing Creek. The principal business of the inhabitants is agricultural, and tobacco is very largely cultivated upon the flats.

Owing to the smallness of the streams running through this town, but little attention has been paid to manufactures, and the inhabitants have devoted every effort to the cultivation of land and development of its agricultural interests, and in this respect they are eminently successful.

The northern portion of the town is a part of the Watkins and Flint Purchase, and the southern a part of the old town of Chemung.

Certificates of location and of survey were granted to the following persons prior to the final settlement of the Watkins and Flint Purchase; some of them in that tract, the remainder in Chemung township, which was laid out in 1788 by James Clinton, John Hathorn, and John Cantine, and contained 205 lots:

Oct. 15, 1788, James Thornton, lot 125, 336 acres.

Oct. 27, 1788, Henry Wisner, lot 126, 880 acres.

Oct 21, 1788, John Miller, lot 98, 450 acres in town of Chemung, and assigned to Thomas Nicholson, Jr., Nov. 7, 1791.

Nov. 1, 1788, Tennis Dolson, lot 118, 390 acres.

Nov. 3, 1788, John Harris, lot 119, 420 acres.

Nov. 4, 1788, Abijah Whitney, lot 123, 608 acres.

Nov. 4, 1788, David Perry, a lot of land indorsed 123, of 720 acres.

Oct. 27, 1788, Henry, William, and John Starett, lot 121, 2917 acres, which was assigned, Jan. 12, 1791, to John J. De Moder.

Oct. 28, 1788, Thomas Handy, lot 120, 182 acres.

Jan. 15, 1789, Belden Bart, lots 194 and 198, of 625 and 271 acres.

Jan. 15, 1789, John Miller, lot 199, 400 acres.

Jan. 26, 1789, Henry Wisner, 2000 acres on northerly side of Tioga River, at the mouth of a creek called Sing Sing, and lying near the town of Chemung.

Feb. 17, 1789, Henry Wisner, 2000 acres in the town of Chemung, beginning 10 links south of northeast corner of another tract, granted to him on Sing Sing Creek and Tioga River.

March 23, 1791, a certificate of surveyor-general that Christian Myneer is entitled to lot 117 in town of Chemung, and Thomas Handy is entitled to lot 115, 309 acres, in same town.

March 23, 1791, John Handy, lot 114, 800 acres.

Feb. 29, 1792, Obadiah Gore, Matthias Hollenbach, William Buck, and Avery Gore, 3850 acres, now mostly owned by Stephen Owen, Lewis Fitch, James Tarr, and M. H. Wells.

Feb. 6, 1794, John Hathorn and John Suffern, 200 acres in town of Chemung, and the same date another tract of 200 acres.

The west line of the town is the old Massachusetts pre-emption line, and one of the monuments is still standing about forty rods from Nicholas Mundy’s residence, on west side of the road leading from Elmira to Painted Post. It is about two and a half feet high and a foot square, and is marked on one side:

8 miles & 209 Ps.

Var. 3* 20’

West

1792

and on the other:

MASSACHUSETTS

(rough drawing of a human figure.)

PRE EMPTION.
 
 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Before this territory was divided into townships, and while the lands yet belonged to the State, in 1787, Christian Myneer, with his wife and seven children, came up the river in a canoe, and landed on the north side, and built a log cabin and planted corn. On the other side of the river was an Indian clearing and cornfields. During that summer a man with his family came up the river, and seeing the clearing and cornfields, landed, and went out into the field where Myneer was hoeing corn, and endeavored to impress upon his mind that the land he was on belonged to him and that he must vacate; but Myneer was not disposed to yield his rights, and after finding that he could not prevail upon him to give up the premises he went on up the river. Myneer remained upon the land where he first settled, and March 23, 1791, a certificate was issued to him of lot 117, of 330 acres, where Noah Symonds now lives, and lying on both sides of the river. Several of his children lived and died here, and his grandson, John Minier, still lives at the village of Big Flats. He was a justice of the peace by appointment for several years. A portrait of him, said to be accurate, is in the possession of John Minier, and was painted by a young lad, about 1833, while the old pioneer was seated with others around the stove in the store of Mr. Arnot, at Elmira. He used to relate that in the next summer after he came in, a party of Indians came from the west, having with them a prisoner, whom they blindfolded and tied to a tree near where the Suspension Bridge crosses the river. They then went away, and were gone three or four hours, and when they returned they had a quantity of lead with them.
 
 

He died in 1837, and was buried of the farm where he settled, and he and his wife lie side by side where they early toiled amid the hardships of pioneer life. Tennis Dolson and his family came next, in 1788, and settled on lot 118, next to Mynier, and the island in the river opposite is called Dolson’s Island. He and his wife are buried on the farm. Caleb Gardner and Captain George Gardner, his son, and Henry Starrett came in from Pennsylvania in 1788, and settled above Mynier. Caleb Gardner located on the farm now owned by John Minier, and built a log house between Mr. Minier’s house and the river, and the stones that formed the fire-place are still there. He and his wife are buried a short distance from where the house stood, under an oak tree. Henry Starrett settled on the lot, a portion of which is known as Starrett’s Hollow. Captain George Gardner settled on the same lot with his father, but nearer where the villiage now is, and in 1807 built a frame tavern where John Minier’s house now stands, and kept it many years, and was one of the enterprising men of the settlement. Clark Winans came in 1788, and settled on Sing Sang (as it was then called) Creek, that runs through his farm, and built a log house on the bank. The New York Commercial Advertiser of some years since is responsible for the following. Colonel John Hendy lived in what is now Elmira, yet the man and woman referred to are Clark Winans and his wife, who settled in this town and were evidently on their way to this place: "One Saturday afternoon about four o’clock, in the summer of 1788, while Colonel John Hendy was working on his log hours, a man and woman, both on horseback, emerged from the Indian pathway, and crossed the Newtown Creek to his land. The man rode before with a basket on each side of his horse, and a child in each basket, while the woman brought up the rear, having on her nag the goods and chattels of the family, for they were man and wife. The husband rode up to Colonel Hendy, inquiring, with much anxiety, if there was a doctor to be found in the vicinity.

"What is the matter?" said the veteran.

"My wife has got hurt by the stumbling of her horse, and wants a doctor as soon as possible," was the reply.

"That is very unfortunate," said the colonel; "for there is no doctor in this wilderness."

He had no shelter nor resting-place to offer them, save the ground, the pine-trees, and the canopy of heaven. They rode on a few rods and stopped, for stop they must, under the best shelter they could find.

On Sunday morning Colonel Hendy met the man in the woods, near the spot where they had conversed before, and inquiring how his wife was, was answered, "She is as well as could be expected."

The colonel did not think again of the travelers until Monday, when he sent his son to look after them. The boy returned with the intelligence that they were getting ready to start.

"But how is the woman, my boy?" said he.

"The woman, eh? Oh! The woman has got a baby, and I guess she wants another basket to put it in."

The child whose birth is told above was Clark Winans, Jr.

John Winters and Joel Rowley came from Pennsylvania, and settled in 1790. Winters, on the farm now owned by Martin Hammond; and one of the old settlers related to the writer, that Winters told him he paid for his farm of 200 acres by hunting bears and wolves, and getting the bounty from the State and the sale of the skins. Joel Rowley settled next to Colonel George Gardner, where Peter Rinehard now resides, and owned most of the land on which the village of Big Flats now stands. His son, Wilson W. Winters, was born in 1805, and has lived here the most of his life, and here he died in June, 1878, at seventy-three years of age.

William and Robert Miller, Cornelius Lowe, John Emmons, and David Van Gorder came in 1794-95. Robert Miller settled on the farm next to John Winters. He was justice of the peace for several years, and finally moved west. Cornelius Lowe had kept store at Newtown, and settled near where Lowe’s Pond now is, and carried on an enterprising trade in skins and furs, carrying them through Catlin to Seneca Lake, thence by bateaux to the portages on Seneca River, and on to Salina, returning loaded with salt to the head of the lake, where it was stored for sleighing, when it was brought over and reshipped in the spring in arks on the Chemung.

David Reynolds, with his two sons, James and Nathan, came from Pennsylvania about 1800, and settled in what is called "Egypt." Afterwards purchased a large tract of land nearer the village, built a log house near where John D. Parks resides, and a saw-mill near the bridge that crosses Sing Sing Creek, as early as 1805. He moved west, his sons remaining here.

John Huey, about the same time, brought in a stock of dry goods from Philadelphia, and opened the first dry goods store in the village, and in the building a part of which now composes the dwelling of Abram Minier. George Schriver was his clerk.

Eleazer Owen came here in 1805 (his wife was the daughter of William Buck, one of the party that took up the tract of 3850 acres in 1792), and settled on the land where Stephen Owen now lives. Eleazer Owen was born in 1780, and died in 1859, at seventy-nine years of age. His father was killed in the Wyoming massacre.

Andrew and John McNulty and Nathan Sanders came in about 1810. Andrew settled where Charles Hammond lives. John married a daughter of Eleazer Owen, and settled where Mrs. Margaret McNulty now resides. Nathan Sanders settled where Lewis Fitch lives, and kept tavern for many years, and is still living, at upwards of eighty years of age. Thomas Taylor, of the Horseheads Journal, married his daughter.

Reuben Mundy, from New Jersey, settled in 1819, and bought 225 acres where his son, Nicholas Mundy, lives. Mrs. Catharine Hughson, of Big Flats, and Mrs. Mary L. Owen, of Elmira, are daughters.

INITIAL EVENTS.

Christian Myneer was the first white man who, in this town, laid the foundation for its present prosperous condition, planted the first corn, set out the first orchard, built the first log house, and first frame house and frame barn, and the first birth, marriage, and death occurred in his family. Christian Myneer, Jr., was born in 1790, and was the first white child to the "manor born" in this town. A daughter of Christian Myneer, about six or eight years old, was the first to obey that dread summons that comes once to all; but Tennis Dolson was the first adult who died in the settlement. Catharine Myneer, a daughter of Christian, and William Applegate were the advance-guard of the host who have willingly enrolled themselves under the banner of Hymen.

The first saw-mill was built by William Miller, before 1800, on Sing Sing Creek, a short distance above where the grist-mill of S. S. Stephens stands.

Captain George Gardner built the first frame tavern, in 1807, where John Mineer’s house now stands, and in 1810 the first Masonic lodge was organized, and meetings held in the attic of this tavern.

The first cemetery was located in Big Flats, and the first recorded death is that of Amos Rowley, who died June 5, 1809, aged thirty-nine years. A few feet from this store stands a locust-tree that is a living monument to his father, as he lies buried under it. The second recorded death is of Isabella Miller, the wife of Robert Miller, who died July 14, 1809.

The first church organization was Baptist, in 1807, and the first regular pastor was Rev. Roswell Goff. The first church edifice was erected in 1827. The first school-house was erected in the corner of the cemetery lot as early as 1815, and the first teacher was Cornelius McGinnis.

The first brick house was built by Clark Winans, in 1812, from brick manufactured on the premises.

The first distillery was built by Aaron Cook, near where Valentine Tarr lives, and was burned in 1812.

The first postmaster was Robert Miller.

The first tobacco was raised by Sidney Elmore, in 1850, on what is now the John D. Parks farm.

SCHOOLS.

The report of the condition of the schools of the town is taken from the county superintendent’s report for 1877.

The town is divided into eleven districts. The number of children of school age is 506. There have been 247 weeks of school, and 384 pupils. There are 7 male and 11 female teachers, and a library of 637 volumes, valued at $178. There are eight frame school-houses, valued, with sites, at $5940.
 

SOCIETIES.

In 1810 a lodge of Freemasons was in existence, and held their meetings in the attic of Captain George Gardner’s tavern. Daniel E. Brown was W. M.; Captain George Gardner, Benjamin Farrell, and others were members. For a time they maintained a goodly number, but finally disbanded. A new charter was obtained July 11, 1855, and a lodge was instituted as Big Flat Lodge, No. 378, Dr. C. Peebles as first W. M. Their meetings were held in Dr. Peebles’ house; they number at present 81 members, and H. L. Storms is the W. M.

RELIGIOUS.

The first church organization in the town was of the Baptist denomination, and was constituted, Aug. 30, 1807, by a council from the churches of Romulus, Ovid, and Chemung, by Elders Caton and Goff, with 28 members. Their first services were held in George Shriver’s barn, and afterwards in school-houses. The first edifice was erected in 1827, and occupied the first time Jan. 19, 1828. It was situated about 100 rods northeast from where J. R. Lowe resides, and is now used as a tobacco house. In 1852 a meeting-house was built, and first occupied Sept. 9, 1852, at the village of Big Flats, at a cost of $3000. The first pastor was the Rev. Roswell Goff, and he was succeeded by Revs. Philander D. Gillett, under whose patronage the first church was built, Stephen Wise, Aaron Jackson, Benjamin R. Swich, Daniel Reed, James Coffin, Isaac Estabrook, Samuel Keim, J. W. Emery, David Burroughs, Chas. L. Bacon, Wm. N. Entwistle. They have no pastor at present, and number 95 members, and have a Sunday-school of 70 members, with a library of 200 volumes. J. R. Lowe, Superintendent.

A FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH

Was organized here years ago, and a meeting-house was built on the property of Comfort Bennett, but is now disorganized, and the building is used as a granary by Mr. Bennett.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Was organized about 1825, and the first deacons were Nathan Reynolds, Charles Frye, and Joseph Pound. A Sunday-school was held in Esquire Robert Miller’s barn, across the street from the school-house. Seats were arranged on the barn floor, and about 100 children were gathered there. Revs. Rouce, Ford, and S. Jones preached before the church was built. The first settled pastor was the Rev. M. Harmon, and was succeeded by Revs. – Shaw, -- Whiting, Sidney Mills, -- Clark, T. Harrington, C. W. Higgins, E. S. Willson, Wm. Atwood, and S. D. Jewell, who is the present pastor. They have at present 61 members, and a Sunday-school of 75 members. S. T. Owen, Superintendent. The church was built on its present site in 1828-29, by Benjamin Farrell, Eleazar Owen, Nathan Reynolds, Robert Miller, Charles Frye, John Winters, Clark Winans, and David Reynolds, and dedicated January, 1830; Rev. David Harrower, an old Scotch covenanter, making the dedicatory prayer.

THE METHODISTS

In this section held meetings at an early day, and the Rev. Edward T. Gilbert was the pastor about the time the Presbyterian Church was organized in 1825, but he soon after joined the Episcopal Church, and the society had a feeble existence, being supplied with circuit preachers until 1853, when it was reorganized under Rev. John Nevin, presiding elder, with eight members. Rev. Isaac Ketchum was the first pastor, and he has been succeeded by Revs. F. Kent, George Wilkinson, W. E. Pindar, John Hutchins, William Walzeworth, Eli Brown, R. D. Munger, Harris Peek, W. Slother, A. T. West, G. J. Dubois, A. W. Staples, C. W. Winchester, A. S. Durling, J. Sackett, A. D. Edgar, S. S. Rhinevault, and G. E. Moxy, who is the present pastor. The church contains 90 members, including two appointments, Quackenbush Hill and Sing Sing. The present church edifice was erected in 1865.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was organized in 1830, and soon after a church-building was erected above the bridge by Mr. John Mineer; Captain George Gardner contributing the land, and Trinity Church, of New York, $800. Rev. E. T. Gilbert was the first rector. In about 1842 or 1843, by removals and other causes, it was discontinued; but services were held occasionally by Revs. Skinner, Burrows, and Lighborn, of Corning, and Hull, of Elmira. In 1859, Rev. Mr. Moody became their rector.

Oct. 24, 1861, Bishop De Lancey visited the society, and gave an order for incorporation, and L. A. Tuttle was chosen Senior Warden; A. H. Gales, Junior Warden; William Woodward, W. A. Tuttle, John Haggerty, A. J. Bennett, A. D. Huey, O. T. Tuttle, Jedediah Stowe, and A. B. Steele, Vestrymen.

Application was made to Bishop De Lancey to appoint Rev. Henry M. Brown a missionary minister for this church and Horseheads, which was granted; and he was succeeded by Revs. Robert R. Goudy, John A. Bowman, and George W. G. Van Winkle. They have no pastor at present. Number of communicants, 16.

A church was erected (where it now stands) about 1831, at a cost of $6000, Lorain A. Tuttle contributing $3000.

In the Big Flats cemetery a plain, unpretending obelisk marks the last resting-place of William Mapes, a veteran of the Revolutionary war. At its dedication John L. Sexton, formerly a resident of this town, but now in the bureau of statistics at Harrisburg, Pa., delivered an address commemorative of the old veteran and his long life, from which we compile the following sketch:

A VETERAN OF THE REVOLUTION.

"William Mapes was born Oct. 28, 1754, on the north branch of the Raritan River, New Jersey. He enlisted in the army of the United States, and soon afterwards was in the battle of Monmouth, and was borne from the field with right arm pierced with a bayonet, and left knee shattered with a bullet. After his recovery he went with General Sullivan, and assisted in destroying the Indian settlements and cornfields through this section. He was one of the heroic remnants of the Continental army, who were gathered together Oct. 19, 1781, to receive a formal discharge from Washington. He received his discharge from Washington’s own hand, and bore that chieftain’s signature. On his way home to New Jersey, he witnessed the parting of Washington and his generals at New York.

"Half a century rolls by. The constitution of the United States had been made, Washington had been called from his home at Mount Vernon by the unanimous suffrage of the people, to act as chief executive of the infant Republic, serving with equal fidelity and zeal in the high capacity of chief magistrate, as he had when in command of the Continental army. He had again retired to the peaceful shade and walks of his loved Mount Vernon to enjoy domestic peace and tranquility, and been succeeded by Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams, and the hero of New Orleans. A second war with Great Britain ensued, in which the rights of adopted citizens were more fully understood and defined, developing new powers, and bringing into public notice new men and measures. The population of the country had increased from three to ten millions. The arts and sciences, agriculture and manufactures, were in a flourishing and prosperous condition. Steam had been used as a motive-power, internal commerce had been fostered; the Erie Canal, uniting the great chain of inland seas with the ocean, had been completed; new States had been admitted to the Union, --coequal sovereigns with the original thirteen. The new Republic of Texas had, by the inspiration and influence of our free institutions, been warmed into life, and was contending with Mexico for her independence. The corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument had been laid, and Webster had immortalized the fame of his countrymen; the Star-spangled Banner was known upon every sea and respected in every country.

"General Williamson, with his party of English and German emigrants, had been conducted into the wilds of Southern and Western New York by Benjamin and Robert Patterson, two soldiers of the Revolution. Colonel John Hendy had settled upon the banks of the Chemung, near Ka-na-we-o-la. James Clinton, John Hathorn, and John Cantine, assisted by Moses De Witt, had surveyed this section of the State, and had opened up the former abode of the red man, and the axe of the daring and hardy pioneer had converted this region – the vast wilderness of 1779 – into a country rich in agricultural productions. Thirty-five new counties had been organized west of Montgomery, the mother of counties; hamlets, villages, towns, and cities had sprung up, as if by magic, over the entire region. Fifty years, I say, had passed away since the farewell of Washington to his army on the banks of the Hudson, when an old man, - a veteran of the Revolution, his head silvered with the frost of more than eighty winters, - made his appearance in our midst; fifty years before he had passed over this region in pursuit of the enemies of our country; and took up his abode at Big Flats, and lived here for more than twenty years, and died April 1, 1856, aged one hundred and three years, and was buried in the cemetery at Big Flats."

CEMETERIES.

In the first laying out of this settlement, as they began to cluster together on and near where the village of Big Flats now stands, a tract of three-quarters of an acre was set apart by the proprietor of the land where the cemetery now is for cemetery and school purposes. July 24, 1845, an organization was perfected, and the Cemetery Association of Big Flats was incorporated, and new ground was purchased adjoining the old, and the whole contains about four acres.

The first President was William A. Tuttle; John Haggerty, Vice-President; William Woodward, Treasurer; and John D. Williams, Secretary. The present officers are John Storms, President; Dr. William Woodward, Treasurer; and Dr. George A. Woodward, Secretary. There are no other associations in the town, but several smaller cemeteries, the oldest of which is near the old Baptist church above J. R. Lowes.

BIG FLATS

Is situated near the west border of the town, and is a station on the Erie Road. It contains four churches (Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian), hotel, dry-goods store, three groceries, blacksmith-shop, three carriage-shops, two tobacco-packing houses, a cigar-manufactory, school-house, post-office, steam-mill, town hall, millinery-store, and five physicians.

The Big Flats Steam-Mill was built by H. Voorhess in 1869, as a grist-mill, with three run of stone. In 1872 a saw-mill was attached, with a capacity of cutting 750,000 feet of lumber per annum. It is operated by an engine of 60 horse-power, and is now owned by Voorhess & Rhinehardt.

Big Flats Grist-Mill is situated about three-quarters of a mile from the village, and on Sing-Sing Creek, and is where William Miller built the first saw- and grist-mill in town, and was built by S. S. Stevens, who still owns it. It is run by water and has three run of stone.

Quackenbush & Co. manufacture about 60,000 cigars a month, and employ 10 hands. They commenced business in 1876.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The canal which passes through this town from west to east is termed the Chemung Canal Feeder, and was constructed at the same time the other portion was, which extends from the Chemung River at Elmira to the head of Seneca Lake.

At one period the feeder conveyed a larger portion of freight than the direct canal, and about 1850 one-eighth of the tonnage arriving at Albany passed through this branch, consisting principally of coal and lumber. The Erie Railroad passes through the town, having a depot at Big Flats.

There are two bridges crossing the river in the town, - one, a suspension-bridge, built about 1870 by the town at a cost of $15,000; the other is incorporated as the Lumberman’s Bridge, and crosses at the southeast corner of the town.

The members of the assembly who have represented this district from this town are Colonel George Gardner, Samuel Mineer, and John Haggerty.

CIVIL HISTORY.

The territory of which this town was formed was taken from Elmira, while that town was in Tioga County, April 16, 1822, and takes its name from the broad flats that extend through the town.

No records can be found of the officers of the town from its organization till 1830.

The following is the list of the supervisors, town clerks, and justices of the peace, as accurately as they can be ascertained:

Credit is due to Dr. William Woodward, Dr. C. E. Peebles, John Mincer, John L. Sexton, J. R. Lowe, John E. Tarr, Rev. S. D. Jewell, Dr. T. Reed, and others, for information that has been valuable in the compilation of the history of this town.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

REUBEN M. MUNDY

A veteran of the war of 1812, was a native of the State of New Jersey, born near the city of New Brunswick, Feb. 28, 1793. He was married on the 4^th day of November, 1818 to Hannah Mundy, of Barton, Tioga Co., N. Y., who was born there May 17, 1793. The following are the names and dates of birth of the children of Reuben M. and Hannah Mundy: Nicholas S., born at Benton, Dec. 26, 1819; Catharine, born at Big Flats, Aug. 13, 1821; Simeon Lafayette, born at Big Flats, Feb. 10, 1825; Mary Louisa, born at Big Flats, Aug. 3, 1829. All are now living except Simeon L., who died by casualty, Dec. 18, 1853.

Reuben M. Mundy moved into the town of Big Flats in or about the year 1820, and settled upon a farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres, which he purchased of Jonathan Roberts on the 14^th day of June, 1820. This farm is now owned by Nicholas S., and to it have been added nearly three hundred acres, making it perhaps the most valuable, as it is one of the most productive, farms in the county.

Reuben M. Mundy was a most successful farmer. To the business of agriculture he devoted all his energies, and was repaid with prosperity and wealth. In his tastes and habits he was more intent upon attaining celebrity as a good farmer than honors as a politician, although very decided in his political opinions, which were those of a old-line Whig. Later in life, on the formation of the Republican party, he acted with the Democrats. He was remarkable for decision of character, and by integrity, charitableness, and fair dealing he held a high place in the estimation of all who knew him. He died at Big Flats, Jan. 23, 1862, and Mrs. Mundy at Big Flats, April 26, 1868.

Nicholas S. Mundy lives on the homestead farm, and cultivates this with its added acres. Like his father, he is proud to be a successful tiller of the soil, which yearly yields him ample returns, enabling him to render aid to many who are the objects of his bounty and munificence. For the past twenty-five years he has made a specialty of the culture of tobacco, being among the first to embark in that line of production in the valley. He had devoted a large acreage to this special product, averaging about twenty acres per annum, and in the year 1870 had some forty-two acres under cultivation, for the curing of which he has a large number of houses, which are superior both in durability and neatness of finish. Mr. Mundy is active and enterprising, and gives promise of many years of usefulness.

The sisters of Mr. Mundy are Catherine, the wife of Alfred Hughson, of Big Flats, and Mary Louisa, the wife of George H. Owen, of Elmira.

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