Annals of Binghamton
Appendix I

PREFACE TO APPENDIX.

The foregoing pages embrace all of the "Annals of Binghamton;" as compiled by Mr. Wilkinson and published in 1840. The events and incidents given in the Annals, though not great of themselves, still possess a peculiar local interest, which will be enhanced by the advance of time. As the country grows older the interest in early events always increases with the people. All persons are curious to know who first settled their neighborhood, and what events occurred in the early times of the settlement.

Mr. Wilkinson, at a most favorable period, and after much time, care and labor, gathered the facts which he has woven into the "Annals of Binghamton." The edition of the book was not large, there being only a local demand for it; and copies of it began to be rare and difficult of access. It was thought best, therefore, to republish the work, that all of our people who desired could possess themselves of the record of the early times of Binghamton and vicinity. It was deemed especially important to republish the book while there remained some of the older citizens to point out land-marks referred to in the Annals; for these land-marks, though well-known in 1840, had become almost unknown through the changes incident to the growth of Binghamton. The notes added at the bottom of the pages give an explanation of sites and places referred to, where the text would otherwise be obscure.

While thus reprinting the Annals it seemed best, by a supplement or appendix, to bring the record down to the present time. Many events that can be now learned from eye witnesses, or persons who participated in them, would soon become lost to the knowledge of the people unless gleaned or recorded. It also seems best that a history of our vicinity should be continued, since it is now so easy to compile and add to the Annals. Such a history it is a pleasure to read, and is often of real value.

In this appendix a brief record of important public events, of a local character, is attempted. This record by no means embraces minute events, like the Annals; for the population becoming larger, individual histories cannot well be traced, and transactions are only deemed important that concern a large number of persons.

As an inland town, Binghamton had comparatively excellent commercial facilities in 1840, the time at which our supplement begins. The Chenango Canal furnished the means of transport for heavy and bulky articles, communicating with the East and the West by means of the Erie Canal; and the place had already become the centre of an extensive trade. The advertising columns of the local papers of that day, bear witness to this fact, and also show that a respectable number of firms were then engaged in trade, and carrying full stocks of goods of all kinds, so as to furnish the customer with almost everything he might call for, from dry-goods to drugs and medicines.

For many years the country drained by the Susquehanna and Chenango, and in fact, all southern New York, had been a lumber region; and a lumbering community is proverbially thriftless and improvident. The large dealers absorb all the profits really earned by the humble laborer, who, looking upon the supply of timber as inexhaustible, spends all as he earns, and quite as fast. Thus for a long time, lumber had been regarded as almost the only thing that would yield a return in cash; the river furnished an easy transit to market, and a raft of pine promised almost immediate results. The early settlers were therefore chiefly engaged in lumber, and paid so little attention to the raising of their own bread that they often went abroad even for garden vegetables. All business was thus based upon the lumber product; and accounts at stores were arranged with reference to the season for rafting. The time for high-water which now seldom lasts over a week, in those days often endured two weeks or more; the country being so densely covered with forest that the accumulated snows of winter melted away very slowly. At such times, as raft after raft went sweeping by, the rivers presented a scene of life and activity which the older inhabitants love to recount even at the present time; and a taste for this exciting kind of voyage yet lingers in the country, kept alive no doubt by the stories of adventure and excitement incident to that kind of navigation, which so often furnish topics for conversation among old raftsmen; and so at the present day an occasional raft may be seen, at the proper season, gliding smoothly and swiftly by our city, or tied up at the river-bank awaiting a favorable opportunity to move.

Binghamton as a trading centre, and as an objective point for travelers through this region, has generally been well supplied with places of entertainment "for man and beast." The Old Chenango House, known far and wide, and which for many years occupied the site of the Congregational Church, finally succumbed to the flames in 1859. The Phoenix Hotel, formerly known as The Broome County Hotel, burned in 1838, was rebuilt, and about 1842, its name was changed to Exchange Hotel, which it still retains. At the present writing it has assumed a Mansard roof, giving it an additional story, and having been refitted throughout takes a new lease of life. The Binghamton Hotel formerly stood on the s. e. corner of Court and Water Streets, on ground now occupied by the American or Cafferty House. A temporary Hotel stood on the east bank of the canal and north side of Court Street, where the Crockery Store of Messrs. Benson & Gillispie now stands. Way's Hotel still does duty on Court Street opposite the Centenary Methodist Church, and probably ere long will give place to a brick edifice with all the improvements for keeping a hotel. The old Franklin House built and named when South Washingon Street was known as Franklin Street, was burned in the Autumn of 1867, and was afterward replaced by the present building, of brick. There is another house, No. 73 Water Street, now called the Chenango House, formerly the Cafferty House, and perhaps it has had other names, wich still retains the appearance of the tavern of the olden time; it was probably built before the Franklin House, and in the winter of '71 and '72 it was much damaged by fire.

In the immediate vicinity of the last mentioned Hotel the business portion of Binghamton first began to develope, and for a long time that part of Court Street near the river, and Water Street south of Court, included all the important places of business; and these were at first the only streets opened.

When the street now called Washington Street was first opened, it was regarded as a mere lane or back-street; no one supposed it would become a street of any importance, and hence as a thoroughfare it is rather narrow for the amount of business done upon it. Water and Washington Streets were naturally level and symmetrical; but for some distance East of Washington Street, comprising the original site of the central parts of the city, the land was very uneven, and this inequality had probably some effect in determining the final arrangement of the streets. See Annals, Chapter I., Original surveys.

In front of the Court House and at the intersection of Chenango and Exchange Streets with Court Street, there was a hill long known as Court-House Hill, from the top of which, some twenty-five feet above the present grade of the street, the boys in olden time used to coast down Court Street to the Chenango river. The hill has now been so cut away, that the name has gone over to the neatly rounded knoll, on which the Court-House now stands; and to ride down Court-House Hill a boy now slides down the gentle declivity in rear of the Court House towards Hawley Street, which by successive fillings, has been raised from 8 to 10 feet along the foot of said declivity. Thus decapitated at the top, and buried at the foot, Court-House Hill is likely to be known as Court-House Square in our local vocabulary. Known also to the older inhabitants, were quite a number of hillocks and ridges,

    "Ere the pruning knife of time cut them down,"

which have gone to fill up hollows and make rough places plain, until some of the localities can no longer be recognized by recalling the old topography, but resort must be had to an estimate of distances from some well known point.

CAUSES INFLUENCING GROWTH.

So long as lumber constituted the principal object of pursuit, the village continued to absorb all the profits of that traffic, and as a consequence its growth was slow; there was little inducement for others to settle than those who could draw their support more or less directly from the products of the lumber trade; but when the pine began to fail, and the long neglected soil began to be cultivated real and substantial improvement commenced. In 1840 although lumber was yet an important article of trade, agriculture had become a regular pursuit; and two years later, Oct. 1812, The Broome County Agricultural Society held at Binghamton, its first Annual Fair and Cattle-Show. The Fair-ground was on land now occupied by Jay Street and vicinity, in a field owned by Col. Oliver Ely. The field was entered through a "pair of bars," on Court Street, and the pine tree which lately stood in the centre of Jay Street was a conspicous object at that time.

The organizing of this society is interesting as a general and public recognition of the importance of a thrifty and enriching agricultural to the prosperity of any community. The hard logic of facts had proved to almost every one that nothing but patient, productive industry can permanently enrich. The money derived from lumber seemed to evanish, and they had been powerless to hinder it; but as soon as the town began to feel the impulse of a healthy agriculture, the vocation of the artisan and mechanic found place; and a steady, healthful growth commenced, and has continued with little interruption to the present time.

THE LOG CABIN,

a feature of the presidential campaign of 1840, stood on side of Court street near where the Drug store of Gillespy & Emmons now stands. The residence of Dr. Elihu Ely was standing at that time a little back from the street on the ground occupied by the stores of C. W. Sears and C. B. Perry & Co., and the corner now occupied by the City National Bank, and in part by the old Brick Store, which for many years had been a landmark for the vicinity. The house of Dr. Ely was moved off when Court Street became ineligible for residences, and now stands on Washington Street. It is owned and occupied by his son Mr. Richard Ely. Dr. Ely establish a furnace and foundry for the manufacture of plows, mill gearing and castings for machinery; it was located in "Millville," on the site of the Comb-Factory building. In 1842, the establishment was removed and located on ground East of the canal and in rear of the crockery store of Messrs. Benson & Gillespie and adjacent buildings. It was owned and run by Mr. Henry Mather, and subsequently by Messrs. Thayer & Overhiser.

THE BINGHAMTON ACADEMY

was opened on Wednesday June 1st, 1842, under the care of J. A. Wilson, A. M., as Principal. The Female Department was under the charge of Mrs. Wilson. Mr. Wilson was a gentleman of culture and experience, and had previously been at the Auburn Female Seminary as Principal.

The Board of Trustees was composed of the following named gentlemen: Rev. E. Andrews, Rev. D. D. Gregory, Rev. S. W. Bush, Rev. T. A. Stanton, Rev. Robert Baird, Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, Myron Merrill, John Clapp, Elias Hawley, S. H. P. Hall, Oliver Ely, Christopher Eldredge, Barzillai Marvin.

The Academy building was a substantial brick edifice of three stories, besides a basement fitted up for the residence of the principal. It stood on ground now occupied by the new County Clerk's office, and was taken down in 1867. The Academy was accepted and taken under charge of the Regents of the University of the State of New York, August 3, 1842, and, since that time, has participated in the funds which are annually distributed by authority of the Regents. In 1861, on the organiziation [sic] of the "Binghamton Free Schools," the Academy passed under control of the Board of Education and became the "Binghamton Central High-School; "../but in the Regents' Reports it is still designated as the "Binghamton Academy."

An exact representation of the Academy may be found in the "Iris," Vol. I. No 2, a semi-monthly journal of which we shall speak later.

OTHER SCHOOLS.

Besides the Academy there were two excellent schools for young ladies; the Binghamton Boarding School conducted by the Misses White; and a Female Seminary by the Misses Hills. Also, a School for Boys under the care and proprietorship of George Bartlett, A. B. These in addition to the regular district schools furnished all the facilities for education that the village and vicinity then seemed to need.

A CONVENTION IN BEHALF OF COMMON SCHOOLS.

We notice in the Broome Republican for Oct. 12, 1842, the proceedings of a Convention called by the Deputy Sup't. of Schools, Mr. Frazier, in the interest of the Common Schools in the County. Of this Convention Gen. John Bayless was President, and B. Marvin, Vice-President. The proceedings were interesting and important to educational interests. We select from an excellent set of resolutions reported by a committee of gentlemen from the towns represented in the convention, the following:

Resolved, That in view of the unparalleled morality and high dignity of the Scriptures, in the opinion of this convention, they ought to be daily read, without comment, by teachers and scholars in every common school.

Resolved, That uniformity of Text Books, in all the schools of the county, is in the highest degree desirable, and that their constant change subjects parents to onerous and unnecessary expense, and is the fruitful source of the want of system that is so plainly manifest in the schools of our county.

By resolution the following books were recommended for use in the Schools of the county, viz; Gallandet & Hooker's Spelling Book; Merriam's Series of Reading Books; Mitchell's Geographys; Davies' Arithmetics; and Brown's Grammars. Sup't. Frazier and Mr. Marvin were appointed a committee to see that proper books could be procured at reasonable prices sufficient to supply all the schools of the county: And finally the convention

Resolved, That the several school districts of this county be requested to call special meetings, to carry into effect the recommendations of this convention.

Thus early this county began to look after its public schools, in respect to which, it is no exaggeration to say, it has taken the lead of neighboring counties.

In June, 1842, Mr. C. P. Cook commenced the publication of, "THE IRIS," a semi-monthly journal devoted to miscellany, moral and sentimental tales, history, arts, biography, anecdotes, poetry, and general literature. It was at first printed in quarto, and in typography it was a remarkably neat and elegant specimen of printing. The contributors generally appended their initials to their articles. We give a few, with names in full of some persons who frequently contributed to it in poetry. Copies of " The Iris " are sometimes met with, at this time and well repay perusal.

"D. D." Dian Dodge, of Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y. "J. H. C." James Hamilton Collier, Esq. "E. D. W. " Emeline DeWitt., "C. A. W." Catherine A. White, of the Binghamton Boarding School. "Q." James H. Collier. "M." Mayhew McDonald. "C. F. P." C. F. Park. " J. B." J. Boughton.

There were several other contributors from Central New York whose names appear in full under the titles of their articles. " The Iris, " was a favorite with the public, and some of its pieces circulated widely, being copied from paper to paper, with many complimentary notices.

In the Broome Republican, for Dec. 7, 1842, we find the following obituary which will be interesting to many:

"At his residence in this town, on the first day of December inst., Capt. Joseph Leonard, in the 91st year of his age.

The deceased was a native of Plymouth, in Massachusetts, and in his youth, was engaged for a time in the whale fishery. He subsequently removed to the Wyoming Valley where he resided at the time of the Great massacre. Being however, fortunately stationed in the military service at one of the outposts, he was one of the few citizens who escaped after the engagement. He removed with his family into this vicinity, in the year 1787, and resided here up to the time of his death."

A CHAPTER OF ERIE.

An act to incorporate the New York and Erie Railroad was passed by the Legislature, April 24, 1832. In the list of corporators we find the following names of persons from this vicinity: Joshua Whitney, Christopher Eldredge, James McKinney, of Binghamton; James Pumpelly, Charles Pumpelly, John R. Drake, Jonathan Platt, Luther Gere, of Owego.

The Legislature seems to have regarded the locomotive as only a possibility, and was careful to empower the company: "To transport, take and carry property and persons upon the same, by the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any mechanical or other power, or of any combination of them, for the term of fifty years from the passage of this act. See Chap. 224, Laws of New York passed at the Fifty-fifth, session.

Section 6. Requires one line or track to be completed from the city of New York, or from some point on the western shore of the Hudson river to Lake Erie, and to convey passengers or materials thereon, before they shall lay down the rails of any part or portion of the second line or track.

Section 12. The said corporation shall not, at any point, connect the said single, double or treble railroad or ways, with any railroad, either of the state of Pennsylvania or New Jersey, or leading into either of the said states, without the consent of the legislature of this state, on pain of forfeiting the powers and privileges conferred by this act.

Section 20. If the legislature of this state shall at the expiration of ten and within fifteen years from the completion of said railroad, make provision by law for the repayment to the said company of the amount expended by them in the construction of said railroad, together with all moneys expended by them for permanent fixtures for the use of said railroad, with interest on such sums at the rate of fourteen per cent per annum, together with all moneys expended by said company for repairs or otherwise, for the purposes of said road, after deducting the amount of tolls received on said road, then the said railroad, with all fixtures and appurtenances, shall vest in and become the property of the people of this state. >P?Section 21. The Legislature may at any time hereafter alter, modify, or repeal this act.

The road was at first estimated to cost six millions of dollars; but subsequently a plan was adopted which would secure greater durability and usefulness to the road, and which, with other contingencies would raise the expense to above nine millions: and accordingly the capital stock was put at ten millions of dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.

This great enterprise was started at a time when the feasibility, and even the general usefulness of such means of communication, were held in question - the science of civil engineering was comparatively in its infancy - corporations strong enough in men and means to accomplish so gigantic an undertaking were then almost unknown in this country - capital proverbially chary of an enterprise involving any possible chance or risk, slow to invest in the work; and for several years this important improvement was allowed to languish. At length in 1836, four years after the act of incorporation, the Legislature passed and act to loan the public credit to the improvement for three millions of dollars, but so hampered with conditions as to render the act impracticable, and all work was suspended during another four years, in which poor Erie was subjected to a full share of the distrust, opposition, and contumely which usually fall to the lot of all great ameliorating enterprises, no less than to those which are hollow, pretentious, and undeserving. Regarded at first as a rival of the Erie canal and of the central roads, proposing to lay a track directly across the watercourses and divides of a region thinly inhabited, and which as many believed presented insuperable obstacles to engineering skill - a region which needing developement contrasted unfavorably with parts of the state already reached by state enterprises - this splendid work was contemned by the Legislature, and forced to rely upon private capital alone, and was then denounced for the failure of that reliance.(1) But, finally in 1840, the importance and necessity of the improvement had become so obvious to public opinion, and were so persistently urged before the Legislature, that the objectionable features of the act of 1836 were modified: and work was again commenced and prosecuted with vigor.

In May, 1841, Mr. Eleazer Lord retired from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Mr. James Bowen. In that year, the first section of the road from Piermont to Goshen, 46 miles, was opened for traffic, and the amount of business done upon this short distance exceeded the expectations of its most enthusiastic advocates. In 1845 surveys were begun for the improvement of the line, and for the settlement of the vexed question whether the road should pass through Sullivan county, or along the valley of the Delaware. A year and a half were consumed in these preliminary operations. The questions of route were at last finally adjusted; the line of the Delaware river was adopted, permission was obtained to run across a corner of Pennsylvania on the payment of $10,000 annually; the work of construction was actively resumed; and on the 3d of November, 1847, the road was extended from Middletown, 53 miles from New York, to Otisville, 8 miles; on the 6th of January, 1848, from Otisville to Port Jervis, 13 miles; on the 28th of December, of the same year, from Port Jervis to Binghamton, 127 miles; on June 1st, 1849, from Binghamton to Owego, 22 miles; in October of the same year, from Owego to Elmira 36 miles; on the 1st of January, 1850, from Elmira to Corning, 37 miles; on the 3d of September of the same year, from Corning to Hornellsville, 41 miles; and on the 22d of April, 1851, to Dunkirk, 469 miles from Piermont.

The construction and completion of this great thoroughfare imparted to real estate, and more or less to other property in Binghamton, an inflated and speculative value, of which the natural result was a reaction that was productive of more harm than the impulse had been of good. False ideas and extravagant notions in regard to the value of land, are among the first manifestations that a town has received an impulse from a great improvement, and in one instance certainly were disastrous in their effects upon the growth and prosperity of the village; for it is well known that under a more liberal and enlightened policy, Susquehanna, with its shops, and skillful, intelligent workmen, might, and ought to have become a part of Binghamton.(2) The opening of the New York and Erie Railway so greatly enlarged the commercial facilities of the place that the natural advantages of its situation began to be more and more apparent. Projects for the building of other roads soon began to be entertained; and as early as 1848 a meeting was held in Cortland County for the purpose of discussing the feasibility of building a railroad from Syracuse to Binghamton. From the south soon came the Lackawanna Railroad to furnish an outlet for the Wyoming valley and the rich coal fields of Northern Pennsylvania. Thus, with the opening of the Erie road, the construction of others along the valleys which radiate from the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers became only questions of time.

The inflation consequent on the approach of a railroad toward a new locality, that is, to one not previously reached by such improvement, is generally indicated by the erection of a quantity of cheap, unsubstantial buildings. A large shell of a hotel goes up near the site of the anticipated depot; then a number of thin, chilly looking dwellings, which are destined in a few years to be torn down, or be converted into barns and woodsheds. Whatever of this kind occurred in Binghamton has not left many of its traces; the place had in fact become too much of a village, before the advent of Erie, to be very greatly affected in this manner. But ere long buildings began to be erected after the plans of professional architects. The first were Christ Church on Washington street, and the building of the City National Bank, on the corner of Washington and Court streets. Since the latter building was put up there has been a marked improvement in the stores and other places of business which have been built on the principal streets; the dry-goods box has ceased to be a model of architecture, and we now have many store fronts that would be a credit to any city.

Next in time came the Broome County Court House, which was erected in 1857, by J. Stuart Wells, Esq., at cost of $32,000. It is the third building for such purposes that has been erected here. The building is massive and substantial in appearance, and conveys at once the impression that it was meant to last. It stands on a beautiful knoll and esplanade, carved out of an unsightly hill that formerly occupied the centre of the town, and being just sufficiently elevated above the surrounding streets, it promptly invites attention and will bear scrutiny. It has a front of 96 feet, ornamented by a Grecian portico of four Ionic pillars, 6 feet in diameter and 36 feet high; the width of the building is 58 feet. The underpinning, steps and pavement of the portico are of Onondaga limestone, and the superstructure of brick, painted and sanded. The rooms are ample and convenient; they have high ceilings and are well lighted and ventilated. On the first floor are the Supreme Court Library, rooms of the Surrogate and the County Judge, Supervisors' Room, Sheriff's Office, and the office of County Commissioners of Schools and Superintendents of the Poor. The Court Room is on the second floor, and for convenience of arrangement and excellence of appointments call hardly be excelled. The ornamentation is all in the severest taste, and the whole appearance of the room is appropriate to a place where the majesty of the law is asserted and vindicated. The roof is crowned by a lofty dome, surmounted by a small cupola, which is provided with an Iron-railed platform; the whole is reached by an inner stairway, and commands an extensive view of the city and its surroundings. The cupola sustains a noble figure of Justice, holding in her hands the symbolic scales with which she weighs out impartial judgement to every one who seeks her mediation or protection.

The Jail was built the next year after the Court House, at a cost of $15,000. The building includes the jail proper and a fine private residence for the Sheriff, or keeper of the prison. The criminals' cells are constructed wholly of stone and iron, walls, floors and ceilings being all of the same unyielding materials. The lower cells of the south alley were occupied, after his final sentence, by the notorious criminal, Edward H. Rulloff, Capito - Linguist, Humorist, Burglar, and Murderer. Here, in pursuit of his philological phantom, he studied, theorized, dreamed and wrote, and continued to write until three o'clock in the afternoon of the day before his execution. He then dispatched the precious manuscript, by express, pre-paid, sending also the Company's receipt by mail, to Professor Taylor Lewis at Schenectady, in full confidence that it contained that which would entitle him to a niche in the temple of Fame, and to the lasting gratitude of all students of comparative philology. Such a career, had it been consummated in the time of the elder Hazlitt, might have furnished an additional chapter to his grim essay "On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts." Regarding pre-eminent criminality as the objective point in a career, Rulloff's seems to have been a success, the most remarkable and terribly unique in the annals of crime.

The County Clerk's Office, now building (1872), occupies very nearly the site of the Old Academy. It is to be a substantial fire-proof structure, ample and suitable as a depository of important documents. The business and requirements of the old office had long since outgrown its accommodations, and the building stood in such relation to the New Court House as to have become a deformity; its removal, therefore, was both necessary and desirable, to give opportunity for grading the land on the west of the Court House. It is evident, more-over, that symmetry would have been consulted if the Court House had been placed fifteen or twenty feet further toward the east.

The Firemen's Hall, situated on Collier street, was finished in 1858. It has rooms for the fire apparatus and conveniences for thawing, cleaning and drying hose in winter; also separate rooms and parlors for the several companies; rooms for the Common Council and the Public Library. The Board of Education holds its meetings in the latter. The third floor is occupied by a hall for concerts, festivals, lectures and public meetings. There is also a room connected with the hall containing a range and work-tables for the convenience of festive occasions.

NEW YORK STATE INEBRIATE ASYLUM

The site selected for the Inebriate Asylum is a delightful one, comprising over two hundred and fifty-two acres of land, presented by the citizens of Binghamton, for the purpose to which it is devoted. It is situated about two miles eastward from the Court House, on the summit of a gently sloping eminence, some two hundred and forty feet above the water, and commands a view of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers, and valleys for eight and nine miles each way, while to the north-west every part of the city can be seen. The grounds surrounding the edifice are devoted to suitable walks and lawns, and the remainder to farming purposes for the use of the institution.

The design of the building combines prominence adapted to its conspicuous position, with neatness and beauty. The structure is three hundred and sixty-five feet in length, three stories high, in the castellated Gothic style, with massive towers, turrets and buttresses, embattled at the top. The transept is sixty-two feet wide by seventy-two feet deep, exclusive of towers and a portion of the front wall, thus making a large vestibule of the first story. The wings are fifty-one feet deep, and one hundred and forty-seven feet on each facade, exclusive of the projection of the towers, which are four feet six inches, making the extreme length three hundred and sixty-five feet. The centre portion of the wings projects seven feet on each facade, giving ample room on one side of the corridor for stairs each way, without diminishing the depth of the rooms, or the width of the corridor. The projecting portions of the wings have gables and turrets at the angles, six foot square at the bottom, chamfered at the second stage, and carried up octagonal toward the top. The basement is embellished with heavy base - the stories above are separated by heavy moulded string courses. The first story of the transept is divided transversely by a hall fourteen feet wide, running from front to rear entrances, and longitudinally by an other hall, of the same width, in the first and second stories, communicating at each end with the corridors of the wings. The hall in the third story is also fourteen feet wide. The second story of the transept contains a parlor on each of the two sides of the longitudinal hall, 22 by 28 feet. The transverse hall, which is fourteen by twenty-eight feet, can be shut off from the longitudinal by sliding doors, and used as a parlor, and the three rooms connected by sliding doors. The third story of the transept contains a chapel thirty by sixty-nine feet, and four rooms on each side of it, with a wardrobe to each. The basement and transept contain a kitchen, servants' dining room, butler's room, pantry and store and medicine rooms. The first story has four rooms twenty-two by twenty-eight feet besides the rooms in the towers and vestibule, an office reception room, physicians' room, and dining room. The rooms in the towers are eight feet square. Corridors, nine feet wide, run the entire length of the wings, and are lighted at the end by a large triple window, by a skylight next the transept, and by sash-doors in the centre. The wings are divided into separate wards, there being twenty-two rooms in each ward. The towers in the wings are seven feet square inside and fitted up with bath tubs.

The heights of ceilings in the transept are: basement, nine feet; first story, fourteen feet six inches; second story, fifteen feet six inches; chapel, twenty-six feet; and the rooms each side of it, ten feet. The heights of ceilings in the wings are: basement, nine feet; first story, twelve feet eight inches; second story, twelve feet, four inches; and third story twelve feet. All the windows above the basement are embellished with heavy stone mouldings; and the parapets, finished with projecting stone cornices and battlements. The second and third story windows in the transept, and in the towers attached thereto, have pointed windows. The windows of the chapel, and the centre window in the west elevation of the second story, will be of stained glass. The dressings to the doors, windows, battlements, wreathings, etc., are of Syracuse lime stone, and the entire front is composed of the same substantial materials; but the stone of the rear walls is obtained on the premises. The interior walls are chiefly of brick.

"This Asylum," writes the venerable Dr. Paddock in the Autumn of 1861, " is sui generis." As a remedial as well as charitable institution, it has no fellow. There is nothing like it in any other part of the world. Looking upon inebriety as a disease as well as a crime, the projectors of the Asylum propose to treat it in that character. It is believed that quite as large a proportion of the intemperate as of the insane can be restored to themselves and to society. Removed from temptation, and subjected to appropriate treatment, there is every reason to hope that many, at least, will be rescued from the drunkard's career, and the drunkard's grave. At any rate, humanity and religion alike demand the experiment.

The ceremonies of laying the corner-stone of this magnificent edifice took place September 14th, 1858. It has long been deemed the province of the Free and Accepted Masons to inaugurate such enterprises, and in the quaint style of their craft to signify their approval and crave blessings on the end. Accordingly by invitation of the trustees, the Grand Officers of the Masonic Fraternity, and many brethren, were present to initiate this truly grand and impressive ceremonial.

The occasion was one to attract and fix the attention of all thoughtful men; the beginning of an enterprise which involved interests and principles of the highest importance to civilization and to humanity; "the first of that which is probably destined to have no last while the world stands;" the laying of "the corner stone not merely of an edifice, but of a principal and a custom." Some of the most distinguished orators and philanthropists of our land were present, and addressed the vast assembly that came together on this imposing occasion. Citizens of distinction from all parts of the country honored it with their presence, not merely as idle spectators, but to unite their interests and their sympathies with those of the citizens of New York, in founding the first Inebriate Asylum in the world.

The speakers were the Hon. Benj. F. Butler, Pres't. of the Asylum, John W. Francis, M.D., L.L.D., the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, Hon. Edward Everett, M. W. John L. Lewis Jr., and Alfred B. Street, Esq. Of the distinguished speakers who interested and instructed the thousands that had assembled on that occasion, but a bare minority survived after ten years. Butler and Francis, Dickinson and Everett, had passed away to be no more seen or heard in time. Defessi jam longo labore requiescant in pace. Of the various and interesting exercises on that day, we have room only for the brief and quaintly impressive ceremony of laying the corner stone, by the Free and Accepted Masons:

Preliminary to the ceremony a box had been prepared which contained copies of important documents relating to the origin and founding of the institution: catalogues, reports, histories, and transactions of various medical societies, colleges, asylums, hospitals, and charitable institutions, the leading periodicals and magazines of the country, and various other relics and mementoes of our time.

In commencing, M. W. John L. Lewis Jr., the Grand Master directed the Grand Treasurer to deposit the box in the corner stone, and the stone was then laid in its proper place, under the direction of the Architect, Isaac G. Perry, Esq.

    The Grand Master then said:
    R. W. Deputy Grand Master, what is the proper jewel of your office?
    D. G. M. - The Square.
    G. M. - What is its moral and Masonic use?
    D. G. M. - To square our actions by virtue, and to square and prove our work.
    G. M. - Apply the implement of your office to that portion of the stone as needs to be squared, and make report. [It was done.]
    D. G. M. - M. W., I find the stone to be square; the craftsmen have performed their duty.
    G. M. - R. W. Sen. Grand Warden, what is the proper jewel of your office?
    S. G. W. - The Level.
    G. M. - What is its moral and Masonic use?
    S. G. W. - Morally, it reminds us of equality, and we use it to lay horizontals.
    G. M. - Apply the implement of your office to the foundation stone, and make report. [It was done.]
    S. G. W. - M. W., I find the stone to be level; the craftsmen have performed their duty.
    G. M. - R. W. Jun. Grand Warden, what is the proper jewel of your office?
    J. G. W. - The Plumb.
    G. M. - What is its moral and Masonic use?
    J. G. W. - Morally it teaches recitude of conduct, and we use it to try perpendiculars.
    G. M. - Apply the implement of your office to the several edges of the foundation stone and make report, [It was done.]
    J. G. W. - M. W., I find that the stone is plumb; the craftsmen have performed their duty.
    G. M. - This corner-stone leaving been tested by the proper implements of Masonry, I find that the craftsmen have skillfully and faithfully performed their duty; and I declare the stone to be well formed, true and trusty, and truly and correctly laid, according to the rules of our ancient craft.

Prayer was then offered by the R. W. Grand Chaplain, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, in which the brethren joined with heads uncovered, which produced a very striking effect. The response by them was, " So mote it be."

    G. M. - Let the elements of consecration now be presented.
    The Brother who carried the vessel of corn, then presented it to the Grand Master, who presented it to the Grand Marshal, and he placed it in the hands of the D. G. M. Marshall, and he place it in the hands of the D. G. M.
    The D. Grand Master then scattered it on the stone, saying:
    I scatter this corn as an emblem of plenty. May the blessings of bounteous heaven be showered down upon us, and upon all like patriotic and benevolent undertakings, and inspire the hearts of the people with virtue, wisdom and gratitude.
    RESPONSE - So mote it be.
    The cup of wine was in like manner presented to the Sen. Grand Warden, who poured it upon the stone, and said:
    I pour this wine as an emblem of joy and gladness. May the Grand Ruler of the Universe grant long life and continued health to the officers of our National, State, and Local Government - preserve the Union of the United States - and may it be a bond of friendship and brotherly love that shall endure through time.
    RESPONSE-So mote it be.
    The cup of oil was also passed to the Jun. Grand Warden, who poured it upon the stone and said:
    I pour this oil as an emblem of peace. May its blessings abide with us continnally, and the Grand Master of Heaven and Earth shelter and protect the widow and the orphan - shield and protect them from the trials and vicissitudes of the world - and so bestow his mercy upon the bereaved, the afflicted, and the sorrowing, that they may know sorrow and sighing no more.
    RESPONSE - So mote it be.
    The Grand Master then struck the stone three times with his gavel, and said:
    Having now, with the assistance of the Grand Lodge and the Fraternity, duly laid the foundation-stone of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, according to the rules of our ancient craft, we should supplicate the blessings of the Great Architect of the Universe upon the undertaking, and implore that He will be pleased to favor this noble Asylum of the unfortunate, wretched, and despairing, and make it productive of good to our common humanity - the just pride of our civilization, and an ornament to our great State.
    Brethren, be reverently attentive to our R. W. Grand Chaplain, while he supplicates in our behalf.
    GRAND CHAPLAIN. - May the All Bounteous Author of Nature bless the inhabitants of this place, and all here assembled, with the necessaries, comforts, and conveniences of life; assist in the erection and completion of this building, devoted to the great cause of temperance and morality; protect the workmen from every accident, and long preserve this structure from decay, and grant to us all a supply of the corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment, and the oil of joy. Amen.
    RESPONSE - So Mote it be.
    Grand Master - The grand Honors will now be given. Attention! Together brethren!
    The grand honors were then given by three times three.
    The Grand Master having seen and inspected the plan of the building, returned it, with the working tools, to the architect, and said
    Mr. ARCHITECT: These plans having been adopted by the Trustees of the Asylum, and approved by us, we return them to you together with these implements of your art, with the hope that under your skillful guidance the building may progress to completion with all due speed, and that it may long remain as an ornament of your skill as an architect, and the enterprise of those who projected the design.

The Grand Master then declared the ceremonies completed, and the stone laid in ample form, and proceeded to the delivery of his Address.

In closing our rather meagre account of the Inebriate Asylum, it seems eminently proper to make honorable mention of the gentleman whose enthusiastic and indefatigable efforts have created a new institution, which is an advance in the science of humanity, and which is destined to lead to an amelioration of the condition of civilization itself. Such mention was happily made in the conclusion of his Address, by the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D., in which he pays the following highly appropriate tribute to Dr. J. Edward Turner:

To the courageous and humane hearts and minds that leave the easy and beaten paths of indolent custom, to explore new ways of usefulness, to open new tracks of safety, to pioneer Humanity's questful progress, we owe peculiar honor; and if they clothe themselves in the modest garb of unassuming worth, we owe it all the more. I rejoice, then, to be able to lift to the pedestal of this majestic occasion, and there to place before the eyes of the friends of the unfortunate, of the inebriate, and his wretched victims only less miserable than himself, the name of the first man who proposed, and advocated, and successfully carried into effect, the project of an Inebriate Asylum - Dr. J. Edward Turner. May God reward his faith and his works!

One great event in physical science has illustrated the year in which we live, forever memorable in the minds of men, as the year in which time, and space, and sea, yielded to man's longing for union with his race. An other, not now so evident or so generally appreciated, has already occurred in the starting of a policy, the beginning of a class of benevolent institutions, destined to run round the world, and to unite all men in gratitude. As I looked last night at the flaming comet in our sky, and saw it inclined and plumed like a pen, fit and ready for The Almighty's own hand, I could not but feel, that if He should seize it and inscribe with its diamond-point upon the sky the chief event of this Annul Mirabilis it would be the foundation of a policy and a usage such as that we now celebrate - of an Institution, the first of its kind in the world, which proclaims that Mercy is better than Justice; nay, that Mercy is an exacter Justice.

At the close of these remarks Dr. Bellows was warmly applauded.

Of the progress of the Asylumn - of its early struggles - its partial destruction by fire and of its steady advancement toward success - we have not time to speak. The institution has been in operation long enough to demonstrate the possibility of reformation for the inebriate who is willing, or who is susceptible of being made willing to reform. This institution will undoubtedly demonstrate the propriety of demanding for society a higher order of protection from government than it has hitherto been willing to grant. "It is not only the inebriate who is destined to be restrained of his liberty and treated with medical and psychological skill, but the criminal, and the vicious of every grade, the moment their liberty becomes dangerous to society. And the terms of their confinement are ultimately to be limited only by the date of their cure; life-long for the incorrigible and incurable in all cases, brief as possible for all who yield readily to a humane treatment. Society gains nothing by holding for an hour any man a prisoner who is fit to be at large. Liberty and human rights gain nothing by allowing any man to be at large for a moment, who is destroying himself and his family and neighbors. All that we need is, what we are fast gaining a possession of, the tests and gauges of this fitness or unfitness; and then, precisely what we do with the idiot, the insane, and the thief, we shall do with the inebriate, the murderer, and the wealk and wicked of all classes."

The success of this institution is already attracting the attention of the civilized world; it is therefore an honor to our city, that through the enlightened liberality of a number of its citizens, such provision was made of site and surroundings, as to have located here the first Asylum for the Inebriate.

While the improvements just mentioned were making in our village other enterprises had been completed, or were in process of inception, which were to exert an important influence upon the growth and development of Binghamton. In September, 1852, the New York and Erie Company purchased the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad, which was immediately adapted to the "broad gauge," and connected with the Erie at Sufferns. From Corning a branch had been extending toward Buffalo, and it was opened for traffic in November of the same year; thus furnishing a direct route to Jersey City and New York for the travel which concentrates at Buffalo.

Allusion has already been made to the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad. This was one of the first of those enterprises which the geographical position of Binghamton determined; and being the first, it was slower in beginning than such undertakings usually are. It is safe to say that this road was talked of for more than twelve years before definite action was taken. A company was finally organized in 1852, and in July following contracts were let, and the work of grading commenced in September. The road is eighty miles in length, and was two years in building, the most difficult and expensive parts of the work being near the two ends of the route. It was opened for traffic in the autumn of 1854. In the mean time the Delaware and Lackawanna road had perfected its connection with the Erie at Great Bend, and Syracuse as well as towns along the line began more generally to enjoy the luxury of coal fires in ameliorating the rigors or our Northern winter. The argument for cheap fuel had been freely used in canvassing for the road at preliminary meetings, but as a fact was never realized to any extent, owing to a lack of competition in the coal trade. The Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad did not at first meet the anticipations of its projectors, and after a time was sold out on its "first mortgage bonds;" a new company was formed, and the road passed under different management, which succeeded in acquiring the ill will pretty generally of the inhabitants along the line, by an uncompromising repudiation of all obligations of the original company.

In the years 1851 and 1852 the project of a railroad from Albany to Binghamton began to be earnestly discussed, and in January, 1853, a company was formed and preliminary surveys were immediately commenced. The distance is a hundred and forty miles, through a region rich in agricultural products, but presenting a surface to task engineering skill in determining the most practicable line. Work was begun in September, 1853, and was prosecuted during the following season. In the latter part of 1854, after a large outlay had been made, many stockholders became discouraged, and it was only through the persevering efforts of the President, J. H. Ramsey, Esq., of Albany, and the Board of Directors that the project was not abandoned. The enterprise of these gentlemen, however, overcame the opposition, as also the financial difficulties of the situation, which were sufficiently depressing, and the work went slowly on, overcoming every difficulty and discouragement. The road was opened to Schoharie in September, 1863; to Cobleskill in January, 1865; to Oneonta, September, 1865; to Unadilla, March, 1866; to Sidney, October, 1866; to Bainbridge, July, 1867.

The last forty miles of the road toward Binghamton were built through a region of hills and narrow valleys which involved a great amount of labor and expense. In the autumn of 1867 the road was opened to Nineveh, in this county, in the vicinity of which is a tunnel of two thousand two hundred feet through a hill of loose gravel and rock - a work of great difficulty and danger. The road was finally opened to Binghamton in the month of January, 1869.

The road had been in operation but a few months when the "Erie Ring," looking upon the Albany and Susquehanna as a good sample of the "sick man," began to covet the possession of a thoroughfare which would give them absolute control of an enormous coal transportation, both for regions of supply and demand - the former including the most valuable coal mines of northern Pennsylvania - the latter comprising the Susquehanna valley, and Albany with its dependencies. Hostilities commenced by the perpetration of certain outrages under the forms of law - a device eminently characteristic of the Ring. First came a volley of injunctions restraining every officer of the assailed corporation from performing his duties, and leaving the road to operate itself. Thus much by way of opening. The next step was to procure the appointment of receivers, and the now notorious Barnard was willing and available for the asking. Accordingly, late one evening at the Erie offices, "the signature of that eminent magistrate was affixed to an order appointing James Fisk, Jr., and another person, receivers of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad Company. This was probably as irregular as any order ever signed by a judge." The consequences were momentous and significant - a disgrace to the judicial system of New York, and an outrage upon civilization and all legal forms. There were "scenes in courts of justice, where judges pelted one another with injunctions, and made a jest of their grave proceedings - scenes in the offices of corporations, where scuffles took place between contending receivers, both officers of the same court, and that the Supreme Court of New York " - scenes upon the railway, where contending forces were marshaled under opposing sheriffs armed with orders and injunctions signed in blank, and even sent by telegraph for use at the place of conflict; and, finally, as if our State had not yet been sufficiently humiliated and disgraced, resort was had to acts of open war. Mobs of armed laborers and partisans of the two corporations began to take forcible possession of the railway in dispute. The Judicial system of New York had sunk into helpless and contemptible collapse; there was no help for it; and the military were called out, as it proved, just in time.

Many will recollect the feeling of indignation that pervaded this community when it was rumored that a train filled with employees from the shops at Susquehanna and drawn by one of their heaviest engines, had gone up the road toward Albany, with the intention of clearing and seizing possession of the track by acts of guerrilla war. Just beyond the tunnel this train was met by another from Albany similarly equipped. The engines were driven into collision, and fighting immediately commenced. One cowardly miscreant fired a pistol several times into the Albany engine, but luckily without effect, and then fled - guilty, nevertheless, of intended and attempted murder. The Albany men were more numerous than their adversaries, and drove them back toward the tunnel. Shouts, yells, pistol shots, shrieks and groans, and curses of rage, from eight or nine hundred men mingled in inextricable confusion, rent the air as if pandemonium had broken loose. As the Erie men retreated through the tunnel there was a lull in the fight, and their engine backed away from the scene of the conflict. In a short time the Albany men attempted to follow up their partial victory. The Erie men rallied, and fighting was vigorously renewed, while stones, clubs, brick-bats, and old junk generally, enjoyed a few minutes at a premium. It was now quite past 8 o'clock in the evening, and becoming difficult to distinguish betwixt friend and foe, when suddenly the measured tap of approaching drums rose upon the air; the shindy ceased: neither party cared to sustain a bayonet charge, and they took to their heels with a unanimity and a celerity which could only have originated from a belief that the whole of the 44th regiment was behind them. The two companies bivouacked in the fields and prepared for a night attack, but were unmolested.

"The military now took possession of the road; the contending lawyers agreed to place it in the control of the Governor of the State, and a military officer was detailed to operate this railroad in a time of profound peace," because business had been paralyzed and travel deranged "by the riotous proceedings of the officers of the law, stimulated and directed by Justices of the Supreme Court." Thus ended the raid upon the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. Fortunately no lives were sacrificed, except that a few chickens experienced an abbreviation of their existence at the hands of the military. In a few months after these events the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad passed into possession of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. This company has built a branch road leading from its coal mine through the eastern part of Broome County, to form a junction with the Albany road, thereby diminishing the distance and the grade over which their coal must be drawn.

The railroad from Utica through the Chenango valley was begun at the same time that work on the Albany and Susquehanna road commenced. Its progress at first was slow, like that of the latter; but after it had reached the interior towns, and the advantage and convenience of such a road became more and more manifest, its final completion was assured. It was opened to the village of Sherburne in August, 1868, and to Norwich the following year.

In 1868 the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company purchased the Syracuse and Binghamton Road, and laid a third rail upon the roadway of the Syracuse and Oswego Road, for the purpose of running their broad-gauge cars to the latter place; but owing to some controversy in regard to crossing the track of the New York Central at Syracuse, their trains did not run to Oswego until 1869, when the D. L. & W. had, by purchase, obtained possession of the Syracuse and Oswego Road. Soon after these arrangements were completed this wealthy and enterprising company effected the purchase of the Utica and Chenango Valley Road, and putting on a heavy force of men, that work was pushed rapidly down the valley and made to connect with the Syracuse and Binghamton, at the Chenango Forks. In the mean time this company had in progress and had completed an independent line from Great Bend to Binghamton, thus forming a continuous line from Oswego to New York. Another railroad will probably ere long extend toward the south-west, connecting Binghamton and Dushore in Pennsylvania, and so complete the system of lines radiating from this natural inland centre.

Binghamton has generally been well supplied with newspapers. In 1839 the Broome Republican, established in 1822 by Major Augustus Morgan, was published by Davis & Cooke, and afterward by Mr. Cooke until 1848, when it was purchased by E. R. Colston and published about a year. The Republican afterward passed into the hands of William Stuart, Esq., and was edited and published by him, daily and weekly, after some changes presently to be noticed, until some time in 1864. It was next owned and published by the Carl Brothers & Taylor, until February, 1867, when it was purchased by Messrs. Malette & Reid, by whom it has since been edited and published.

In 1848 a daily called the Evening Express was issued from the Republican office, and in 1849 Messrs. Stuart & Evans began the publication of the Daily Iris, which was afterward merged in the Daily Republican. The weekly Iris, enlarged from the original semi-monthly of that name, was published by Edwin T. Evans, until 1853, when it was merged in the Republican. The Rev. William H. Pearne (Methodist) started the Susquehanna Journal in October, 1852, which was merged in the Republican in 1855. The Binghamton Standard (a weekly) was begun in November, 1853, by J. Van Valkenburg, and was published successively by him, by G. W. Reynolds, F. N. Chase, Alvin Sturtevant, and by M. L. Hawley & Co., until 1869, when by purchase it was united with the Republican and published weekly under the title of the Republican and Standard, and subsequently the Binghamton Republican, weekly, and the Binghamton Standard, semi-weekly.

The Binghamton Democrat is the lineal descendant of the Broome County Courier, which was started in 1831 and conducted until 1837 by J. R. Orton. During the next five years it changed hands six times, passing successively into the possession of Sheldon & Marble, J. C. Sheldon, E. P. Marble, E. P. & J. W. Marble, Marble & Johnson, and J. & C. Orton in 1842, by whom the name was changed to the Binghamton Courier and Broome County Democrat. "In 1846 it passed into the hands of Dr. N. S. Davis. During 1847 it was published by J. L. Burtis, under the abridged title of the Binghamton Courier;". Mr. Burtis sold out to J. T. Brodt, Esq., who conducted the paper until 1849, when it passed into the hands of the Hon. John R. Dickinson, and from him received its present title of Binghamton Democrat. The paper was edited and published by Judge Dickinson until 1855, when Mr. W. S. Lawyer was received into partnership, and this firm continued the publication till 1857, when Messrs. Lawyer & Adams bought out Mr. Dickinson. Mr. Adams died in 1860; at that time George Bartlett, Esq., was editor, but in the general readjustment of parties at the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Bartlett became a "war Democrat," and Hallam Eldredge, Esq., assumed the editorship of the paper, which position he held until 1871 or thereabout, since which the brothers William S. and George L. Lawyer have continued to publish, and also to edit the paper. The Binghamton Times, daily, was started December 1st, 1863, and published in quarto by C. B. Gould at the corner of Court and Collier streets. The paper was put under the editorial supervision of Edward K. Clark, Esq. It was Republican in politics, but having to compete with two dailies and three weeklies well established, its publication was discontinued in August, 1864. The Journal, an advertising sheet, was commenced in April, 1869, by J. E. Williams; it continued about six months, and discontinued owing to the continued absence of the proprietor. September 10th of the same year the Carl Brothers, formerly of the Republican, started the Democratic Leader, which still lives and is liberally patronized. In April, 1871, the Binghamton Times was revived as a weekly, under the supervision of its former editor, and published by the Times Association. In May, 1872, it passed into the hands of Messrs. Purdy & Cronin, and was changed from quarto to newspaper folio. Special pains is taken with the Times, and in typography and press-work it will bear comparison with any paper published in the State. Binghamton for many years has been fortunate in the possession of skillful printers and pressmen; and books, pamphlets and law-papers done at these offices are creditable specimens of the "art preservative of all arts."

The Young Men's Christian Association of the village of Binghamton was incorporated December 4, 1852. This organization was designed to furnish rational entertainment and instruction to the young men of the village by establishing a library, and sustaining a reading-room and courses of lectures during the winter season, and the holding of a meeting for prayer or other religious services on the Sabbath. The Association has preserved its organization for nearly twenty years. Its library now forms an important part of the Union School Library of the city. The following named gentlemen were the first officers of the Association, a number of whom are still residents of Binghamton: President, Edward Tompkins; First Vice-President, Solomon Judd; Second Vice-President, Charles S. Hall; Third Vice-President, Edward Z. Lewis; Corresponding Secretary, Franklin A. Durkee; Recording Secretary, James B. Chadwick; Treasurer, Julius P. Morgan; Managers, Henry S. West, George E. Flynt, Hallam E. Pratt, and J. T. Brodt.

The Binghamton Gas Light Company was formed in March, 1853. The works of the Company are situated at the foot of South Washington and Water streets; and although possessed of ample facilities, they have never accomplished anything very remarkable or praiseworthy in furnishing cheap "light for the dear people."

The facilities for education in Binghamton for the last thirty or forty years have been excellent. Mention has already been made of some of them. In 1847 the Misses Marsh opened a seminary for young ladies. It was known as Harmony Retreat, and was located on the north side of the corporation. This school was maintained for about sixteen years, and was ably conducted.

Miss R. S. Ingalls, a graduate of the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia, established the River-side Seminary in 1848. This was a boarding and day-school for young ladies, very pleasantly situated on the west side of the Chenango. It was conducted with remarkable success for about twenty years.

In 1857, Miss Barton opened a seminary for young ladies in the Doubleday Block on Henry street. This school was maintained about thirteen years.

In September, 1861, Miss Susan K. Cook, the accomplished daughter of the Rev. J. B. Cook, opened a school for young ladies at the residence of her father, on the corner of Court and Liberty streets, now the residence of R. K. Amory. This institution was not patronized as it deserved, in consequence of its distance from the centre of the village. Miss Cook now holds a prominent position in the Packer Collegiate Institute of Brooklyn.

The Legislature of New York, in 1861, passed an act conferring upon the corporation of Binghamton, the requisite powers to establish and sustain a system of free graded schools. The system was inaugurated in the Autumn of the same year, under the supervision of David H. Cruttenden, A. M., an able and experienced teacher. Under his administration the schools steadily and rapidly improved. Mr. Cruttenden resigned in the Spring of 1864, and Mr. H. T. Funnell, Principal of Ward School, No. 5, was appointed Superintendent. Mr. Funnell resigned in Oct. 1865, and for the remainder of the school-year the duties of Superintendent were performed by Prof. Geo. Jackson, principal of the Central High-school. In August, 1866, Prof. Norman F. Wright, of the Batavia Union School was elected Superintendent and filled that office until the Spring of 1868, when he resigned, and shortly after was elected to the Professorship of Ancient Languages in the Cortland Normal School.

Immediately on the resignation of Professor Wright, Geo. L. Farnham, Esq., formerly Superintendent of schools for the city of Syracuse, was elected to the position of Superintendent and has since continued to hold the office. Within five years more than two hundred thousand dollars have been expended upon school buildings. Superintendent Farnham has furnished the plans for Ward Schools No. 4, No. 5, and the Central High School; the last has been erected and furnished at an expense of about, $100,000. School building No. 5 and the Central High School building are not surpassed by any buildings of their class in the State, outside of the city of New York.

The system of free schools has in great measure withdrawn the patronage of the private schools, and on this account chiefly the several schools of this kind mention above were finally closed. The Central High School begins the school year of 1872 and 1873 in the new building, in charge of Professor E. S. Frisbee, M.A., a graduate of Amherst College, and who has for several years been at the head of the schools of Northampton, Mass.

The Roman Catholics have a flourishing school connected with the church property of their denomination, on LeRoy street, west of the Chenango. It is conducted under the general supervision of the Rev. James F. Hourigan, and has been very effective for good to the children and youth of that denomination.

The Susquehanna Seminary was founded in 1854, by the Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A substantial and imposing building of brick, one hundred and sixty-one feet long, and four stories high, was erected for the accommodation of the school. It stands on a beautiful eminence at the west side of the city. The school was maintained seven years, and finally became hopelessly embarrassed, and failed. The building, after standing unused for some time, was fitted up in 1867 at the expense of the State, for the use of the Blind Asylum, now located at Batavia, but was never occupied by it. It then was said to have been purchased by Mr. Place, who was intending to establish and endow an institution for the education of young ladies, to be entitled Place College. During about three years of the time that the building was owned by Mr. Place, it was occupied by the Susquehanna Valley Home, an asylum for orphan children gathered from the counties of Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Tioga, and Tompkins. Late in the autumn of 1871 the home was transferred to the Griffith mansion, where it is now located, and the Seminary building during the present summer (1872) has passed into the possession of other parties, by whom it is refitting, to be occupied as a seminary for young ladies. It is thus finally to be devoted to an educational use, for which it was at first intended.

The Susquehanna Valley Home, which is mentioned above, owes its origin mainly to John G. Orton, M. D., of this city, and is designed to furnish as nearly as possible to the dependent orphan children of the several counties named the comforts and refining influences of a home, in which these little waifs of fortune may be properly cared for, and educated to become good citizens - a home to which they will look back in after years with some of those tender recollections that cluster around a home, and make it the last place one would be willing to forget. To this end every appliance that parental care and ingenuity can devise, is to be employed, that the young years of these little unfortunates shall be as happy and free from anxious care as are those of children generally. This institution combines within itself the advantages of a well-regulated family, and a boarding-school.

The Binghamton Commercial College was first opened in 1859 by Messrs. Lowell & Warner. It is designed to furnish a thoroughly practical business education, and has been very successful in carrying out that design. In 1868 Mr. D. W. Lowell, who had become sole proprietor, sold out to Messrs. Bull & Wheeler, who had previously been teachers in the school; but in July, 1869, the school and property reverted to Mr. Lowell, who has since conducted it with much success.

In connection with the various institutions already mentioned, the Binghamton Water Cure is deserving of special attention. It is owned and conducted by 0. V, Thayer, M. D., and is patronized from a broad extent of country, reaching even beyond the Mississippi. The main building is eighty feet long by forty-five wide, and four stories high. It is situated upon the southern declivity of Mount Prospect, and so elevated as to command a full view of the city, and of a landscape so varied and picturesque as always to attract and challenge the study and admiration of the beholder. The building is provided with ample rooms, both public and private, for the accommodation of a large number of patients and boarders; while every provision is made for the quiet, comfort, and convenience of all. An abundant supply of pure, soft spring-water is conducted into the establishment through galvanized iron pipes. A beautiful grove of oak and maple surrounds the place, and every facility is provided for gymnastic exercises, both in doors and out. The culinary department is carefully supervised, and the table is all that can be desired, under the intelligent management of Mrs. Thayer, who is herself a physician, and therefore a helpmeet for so responsible a position, and an invaluable auxiliary, when her own sex seek treatment at this popular institution. In all that constitutes an eligible location for such an establishment, "Binghamton may safely challenge a comparison with any other interior town in the country. In salubrity of climate, certainly, it has no superior. This is not presumption, merely, but the dictate of experience, of which its sanitary statistics furnish the most conclusive evidence. If there be any other place superior to it, the writer knows not where to look for the enviable spot. Here the local facts are all favorable to health; and such a thing as cholera, or yellow fever, or other desolating epidemic has never been experienced. A safer retreat for the valetudinarian could perhaps scarcely be found."(3)

Binghamton has long shown a tender and commendable, solicitude in providing a final resting place for the dead. No better test of the culture and refinement of any community can be found than to visit its cemeteries; and to such a test, certainly, our city need not demur. Twenty years ago it become evident that the old cemeteries, however judiciously located at first and well cared for, were becoming inadequate to the wants of the village, and before many years the growth of the place would perhaps necessitate their removal. Accordingly, about the year 1855, the Spring Forest Cemetery was laid out on the west side of the Chenango, along the southern base of Mount Prospect, and toward its western extremity. It contains forty acres, and is large enough to afford a good variety of surface and scenery, while the vicinage is such as to admit of its easy enlargement whenever it shall become necessary or desirable. These grounds were tastefully laid out under the direction of the Superintendent of Greenwood Cemetery, and have become an attractive resort for the city; supplying in some degree the place of a public park. The elevated grounds on the north side present to view a landscape of surpassing loveliness - less bold and striking than the generality of views about Binghamton, it is yet in admirable keeping as a surrounding to the house appointed for all living.
    The pine wood gently sighing from the west,
    The brook soft gliding in the vale below,
    Speak to the care-worn soul of quiet rest,
    When quits life's fevered pulse-throb aye to flow.

Spring Forest Cemetery seems to supersede all the other Protestant cemeteries, and will doubtless in time receive into its bosom most of those bodies which have heretofore rested in the neighboring places of sepulture.

There are now eleven churches in Binghamton, and of the earliest of these in their origin, some account has already been given.(4)

ROMAN CATHOLIC.

This communion, prior to 1838, had done but little in the way of church organization; but in that year a house of worship, situated on LeRoy street, west of the Chenango, was dedicated. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes officiated on the occasion, which brought together a large congregation, and was a service of great interest. The building which was then dedicated was removed in 1868 to another location, to be used while the splendid edifice, now in process of completion, was erecting. The denomination has, from the first, steadily increased in numbers and importance; and aided generously by Protestant contributions here, and by large donations from their own people abroad, they now possess a fine ecclesiastical establishment, embracing a new brick church, comfortable parsonage, ample school buildings, and convenient burying grounds.

By appointment of Bishop Hughes, the Rev. James F. Hourigan took pastoral charge here in 1847, and has continued ever since to serve the church with distinguished fidelity and success. In no branch of Christian morals, however, has he been more successful than in that of temperance; and when we consider that he has over three thousand communicants under his supervision, his success must be attributed to an eminently wise and vigorous administration.

The new church, St. Patrick's, will seat two thousand persons, and its cost is estimated at $120,000. The church property is valued at $200,000.

The Convent of St. Joseph, under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph, has about 30 boarders and 400 day scholars.

The St. James School for boys has an attendance of about 130.
D. J. Dowden is the Principal.

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL.

The first organization of an Episcopal Church in this village, according to Dr. Paddock, was made on the 19th of September, 1810, the Rev. Daniel Nash, chairman. It took the title of St. Ann's Church. This organization was dissolved, and a new one effected six years later, Hon. Tracy Robinson, chairman. The first edifice was consecrated by Bishop Hobart, November 20, 1818, by the name of Christ Church. This building was sold to the Methodists, and removed to Henry street. A new edifice was erected in 1822. This stood till 1854, when it in turn gave place to the present stone building, which was opened for worship on the 4th of March, 1855. The cost of the church and furniture was estimated at thirty-five thousand dollars. It would probably require double that amount to build such an edifice at the present rates of material and labor. This was the first one erected, of the several elegant and substantial church edifices which now adorn the city. It stands on the west side of Washington street, opposite the junction of Henry street with the same, and is a beautiful specimen of the pure Gothic style in architecture; it will seat seven hundred persons. The following is a list of the rectors of the parish since 1836:

• Rev. Edward Andrews, D. D., from 1836 to 1843.
• Rev. J. F. Robertson, D. D., from 1843 to 1845.
• Rev. Edward Andrews, D. D., from 1845 to 1851.
• Rev. Amos B. Beach, D. D., from 1851 to 1861.
• Rev. M. C. Lightner, from 1861 to 1863.
• Rev. Charles Platt, D. D., from 1863 - (died Feb. 25, 1869.)
• Rev. William A. Hitchcock, from 1869 - (present rector,)