Captain Conrad Edick was born September 15, 1763, at German Flats, N. Y., where he remained till the place was burned in 1779, when he removed with his step-father to Stone Arabia, Montgomery County. Thence they went to Greenbush, near Albany, in the winter of 1781. There were some hostile bands of Indians and Tories in the spring of 1779 scattered in the Mohawk valley; but the destruction there bore no comparison to the ravages when the German Flats were burned in 1778, at which time Brant was at the head of a considerable force of Indians and Tories who plundered and destroyed property and scalped the settlers. Their operations extended to the massacre at Wyoming, Pa., July 3, 1778, and the defeat of the force stationed at Cherry Valley, N. Y., and the burning of that place November 10, 1778. To punish the savages, a formidable expedition was organized in June and July, which penetrated to the central and western part of New York State, destroying the Indian villages on its route. At Stone Arabia, N. Y., in the spring of 1780, Captain Edick volunteered for nine months as a ranger under Captain Crosselman, to scout the surrounding country through the woods along the Mohawk valley after Indians and Tories. He was in Fort Paris when a part of Stone Arabia was burned by the British, Indians, and Tories, under Sir John Johnson and Brant; and in the battle, October 19, 1780, when Colonel Brown, commander of the fort, was killed; also in the one in the afternoon, when the militia, under Colonel Dubois and General Van Rensselaer had arrived, and made a successful attack on the enemy. Johnson was nearly surrounded by them, but escaped through the river with the loss of one field-piece and his baggage, together with some men killed, wounded, and prisoners.
At Greenbush, N. Y., in the spring of 1781, Conrad Edick enlisted for nine months under Captain Aylesworth (or Ellsworth). They marched to Fort Plain, N. Y., on the Mohawk River, being soon ordered to Fort Herkimer for garrison duty; and in the fall the force returned to Fort Plain. During this term of service Mr. Edick was frequently employed in riding express between the two forts. While at Fort Herkimer he was scouting with a party when they were fired upon by Indians, and Captain Aylesworth and two privates were killed. Late in October, 1781, a large force of British, Tories, and Indians, under a British officer and Walter Butler, attacked Johnstown, Fulton County, N. Y., where many were killed and much property was destroyed. Colonel Willet came from Fort Rensselaer with re-enforcements, and among them was Conrad Edick. The Indians, having retreated, were pursued; and, being overtaken, a battle took place near Canada Creek about November 1, 1781. The militia at first fell back with the loss of a field-piece, but, soon rallying, retook the cannon; and, darkness coming on, the enemy retreated. Walter Butler was killed in the action, and the place on the creek was called Butler's Ford. Mr. Edick was present when the Tory Lieutenant Richtman, with the rear guard and baggage of the enemy, was captured. Late in the fall of 1781 he volunteered at Fort Plain for three years in a regiment being raised by Colonel Marion Willet, but was released until March, 1782, when he was mustered in a company of militia under Captain James Cannon, and later on was detailed at Albany as assistant and waiter to John Lansing, Jr., the muster master of other regiments. His term of detached service having expired, he rejoined Colonel Willet's command at Fort Plain, and, being appointed Corporal, served until discharged and the regiment disbanded in January, 1784.
In 1782 he was at different times one of the garrison at Forts Plain, Rensselaer, and Dayton. When the battle at Tirlock was fought, he was absent on express from Colonel Willet to Fort Herkimer. In the early part of the winter of 1782 he, with others, was engaged in making moccasins and snow-shoes for the troops destined to go against the British at Oswego, N. Y. In the depth of winter he accompanied the troops under Colonel Willet, enduring all the privations and hardships connected with the expedition, which was unsuccessful. Returning to Fort Herkimer, he remained there during the summer of 1783, and in the fall was ordered to Fort Stanwix, now Rome, N. Y., to assist in erecting a block-house, after which he returned to Fort Herkimer, and was later ordered to Schenectady or Albany for discharge. While he was at Fort Herkimer, General Washington visited the Mohawk valley. Mr. Edick was in the battle of Oriskany Falls. His widowed mother, who had married Nicholas Weaver, gave birth to her youngest child, Henry Weaver, in Fort Herkimer, on the memorable day of the fight and the death of General Herkimer, the patriot commander.
For two or three years after the war Mr. Edick found employment in different places, and in 1787 he came to a spot along the Delaware River, two miles below his later residence in the village of Deposit. In 1801 he settled in Deposit, where he continued to live until his death, which occurred August 22, 1845. He was married to Margaret Whittaker, of Deposit, Broome County, April 17, 1787. She died March 12, 1798; and his second marriage on September 23, 1799, was to Elizabeth Sneedon, of Conklin, Broome County, who died August 7, 1858. Two children were born to Conrad and Margaret Edick, namely: Phoebe, born in Deposit, July 20, 1788, who grew up, and married Peter Pine, of Deposit, March 7, 1804, and died in Deposit, February 4, 1856; and Jacob C., who was born April 22, 1790. He grew to manhood, and on September 3, 1810, married Sally Durfee, of Cannonsville. They lived in Deposit and vicinity all their lives; and there they died, mourned and respected by the whole community---the former on October 3, 1859, and the latter October 22, 1865. Seven children, all daughters, were born to Conrad and Elizabeth (Sneedon) Edick in Deposit, only one of whom is now living---Mrs. Jane Maria Orr, of Hancock, N. Y.
The second store established in Deposit was kept by Conrad Edick and Jabez Perkins. After a year or two in business here Mr. Perkins removed to Oxford. Then Jotham Parker, from Coventry, became a partner of Mr. Edick in the store. They also started a distillery near the large spring on the flat above the Erie depot. After having been run there for some years, it was removed, and set up on the present site of the union school building, formerly the Laurel Bank Seminary. H. Wright, a son-in-law of Conrad Edick, was the first editor and publisher of a newspaper in Deposit. About the year 1802 Mr. Edick built the house on the corner of Water and West Main Streets, formerly known as the Gregory house, which was the second frame house built in the old village, the first one being that of Peter Pine.
In those times, when the spirit of the Revolution still animated the country and company drills and annual general trainings were universal, Conrad Edick was commissioned a Captain, and assigned to the command of a company of militia. He was afterward known as Captain Edick. He was an active and energetic man, and carried on extensive mercantile, lumbering, and farming business. He purchased the Underwood house on the east side of the river, and resided in it for a number of years. At one time he owned all of the river lots above on the east side up to and including the Briggs farm, which he sold to Randall Briggs, who afterward occupied the premises. Thus it will be seen that Captain Conrad Edick was early on the ground in the settlement of Deposit, and took an active and prominent part in inaugurating that series of improvements which have resulted in what may now be seen in this beautiful little village.
Source: pages 261-264.
HON. WILLIAM B. EDWARDS, who was for eighteen years County Judge and Surrogate of Broome County, was born in Lisle, Broome County, N. Y., February 13, 1829. He came from an old and famous New England family, being a great-great-grandson of Jonathan Edwards, the distinguished metaphysician and divine, who was a native of East Windsor, Conn., and at the time of his death in 1758 was President of Princeton College, N. J., but is better known as the author of a remarkable treatise on the "Freedom of the Will" and as pastor of the Congregational church at Northampton, Mass.
Edward Edwards, a grandson of Jonathan Edwards, removed to Broome County, New York, as early as the year 1795, and was a member of the State legislature in the years 1797-98. He lived for a while in Binghamton, N. Y., then in Owego and Ithaca, N. Y., finally going West to Coldwater, Mich., where he died after residing there for some years. William Edwards, a son of Edward and father of William B., was born in Stockbridge, Mass., July 28, 1794. He was brought by his parents to Broome County; but he subsequently returned to Massachusetts, where he learned the scythe-making business. He married Miss Betsy Fay, of Vermont, and in the year 1813 came back to Broome County, and settled in the town of Lisle. William Edwards conducted a farm, and also built a factory for the manufacture of scythes, which was probably the first building ever put up in this region to meet the requirements of trade. He was an energetic and worthy man, and filled several local offices in the town. He died in the year 1867. His wife, who was about two years his junior, was reared in the family of General Burbank. To herself and husband were born thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Eliza, Mrs. Jesse Smith; Franklin B.; Emily, wife of DeCalvas Rogers; Hamilton, of Lisle; Charles, living in Steuben County; Timothy, in Tioga County; William B.; Mary, Mrs. Horace Green; David F., died in 1860; Frances, deceased, wife of Henry Smith; Elizabeth, unmarried, residing in Lisle. The mother died in 1878, aged eighty years.
The subject of this memoir, having in his boyhood received instruction at the district school of Lisle, went from there to the Binghamton Academy, where he was a student from 1844 until 1847, and finished his elementary education at the Portland Academy in 1850. He followed the example of many of our eminent professional men in teaching a term of school as a preparation for a further course of study. In the latter part of 1850, as an aspirant to the legal profession, he entered the office of A. McDowell, Esq., of Centre Lisle, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1853. A partnership being formed between himself and Mr. McDowell, they conducted a most successful business, removing in 1859 to Binghamton, where they remained but one year, returning at the end of that time to Lisle. In 1870 their practice had extended all over the different towns of the county, and had become very lucrative. So popular was Mr. Edwards that there was a general desire that the ermine mantle of Judgeship should be placed on his shoulders, and he was elected in the same year to that position. Three terms, each of them six years, he served, which was an overwhelming proof of his integrity and worth. So perfectly did he perform his duties that at the expiration of his first term there was no question of party lines in his nomination, the vote being for Judge Edwards with no distinction as regarded Republican or Democrat.
In 1871 Judge Edwards, having been elected County Judge and Surrogate of Broome County, dissolved partnership with Mr. McDowell, and removed with his family to Binghamton to reside, and at the expiration of his third term opened a law office in this city, where he continued the practice of his profession. His principal business was in the Surrogate Court, his work being largely directed to the care of estates and guarding the interests of widows and orphans. To his everlasting honor it can be said that not one dollar was lost by any widows or orphans while he had charge of their property. He was a faithful and active leader in the work of the First Congregational Church of Binghamton, and was, besides being Deacon and Trustee, for eighteen years its Sunday-school superintendent. He was deeply interested in the New York State Sunday School Association, and held office on its executive board for many years. He was a Director in the Susquehanna Valley Bank, one of the Trustees and Vice-President of the Binghamton Savings Bank, a Director and Vice-President of the Whitney-Noyes Seed Company, and also one of the Park Commissioners of Binghamton from the time of its presentation to the city by Mr. Erastus Ross till he resigned that position in 1890.
Almost immediately after his admission to the practice of law Judge Edwards was married to Miss Mary J. McCall, a resident of Lisle, but a native of Delaware County, where she was born in 1826. Their two children---Helen E., wife of Frank Snyder, and William Howell Edwards, a professor in the Brooklyn Boys' High School---constituted their family circle, and made a loving and happy home circle. In 1878 he purchased the handsome residence of the late Moses P. Morgan on the corner of Main and Walnut Streets, which he enlarged and beautified, making it an ideal city home. In person the Judge was tall and spare, carrying himself with a youthful vigor that made him look many years younger than he really was. Courteous and affable, with a pleasant smile and word for every one, he was respected and revered by all; and his death, which occurred on November 23, 1893, after a brief illness, was mourned and regretted by all classes in the community.
Judge Edwards was a rare example of a noble and symmetrical Christian character. He was a man of great practical sagacity, of sterling integrity and minute fidelity, of courage and steadfast hopefulness, of deep piety and personal consecration, and of simplicity of spirit and tenderness of heart. He was a power for righteousness and a leader in every good work in the church and community. At the memorial services which were held in the church on the afternoon of the Sabbath following his death a large concourse of people listened to addresses by representatives of the church, the Sunday-school, the Bar Association of Binghamton, the State Sunday School Association, and pastors of the other churches of the city. His body was taken to his native village of Lisle, attended from Binghamton by delegations from all the professions and societies to which he had belonged, and there, carried to his grave by the loving hands of his brothers, was laid away in his last resting-place in the beautiful rural cemetery where his ancestors were buried.
Source: pages 188-190.
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