BINGHAMTON was formed from Chenango, Dec. 3, 1855. A part of Vestal was annexed by act of the Supervisors, passed Nov. 24, 1862, and which took effect Dec. 15, 1862. ¹   It is one of the south border towns, lying west of the center of the County. Its southern boundary is formed by the Pennsylvania State line, and its northern part lies in the east and west angles formed by the junction of the Chenango with the Susquehanna. The town contains an area of 20,117 1/4 acres, of which, in 1865, according to the census of that year, 13,026, were improved. The surface is hilly in the south, but the north part embraces the wide and beautiful intervales extending along the two rivers at and near their junction. The hills are from 300 to 400 feet above the river, and are generally arable to their summits. The soil in the valleys is a deep, rich, alluvial and gravelly loam, and upon the hills it is a fine quality of slaty loam.
    The population of the town in 1870 was 14,758. ²   During the year ending Sept. 30, 1871, it contained nineteen school districts, ten of which were in the city, and employed 44 teachers, thirty-five of whom were employed in the city. The number of children of school age was 2,940, of whom 2,350 (?) were in the city; the number attending school, 2,844, of whom 2,353 were in the city; the average attendance, 1,461, of whom 1,259 were in the city; the amount expended for school purposes, $40,748, of which $37,325 were expended in the city; and the value of school houses and sites, $115, 570, those in the city being valued at $105,000.

    BINGHAMTON, ³   the seat of justice ⁴   of the County, is eligibly situated at the junction of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers, both as regards the rare, quiet beauty of its surroundings and the valuable commercial facilities it enjoys. It lies north of the center of the town. The Susquehanna enters the corporate limits of the city about the center of the east line and passes in a westerly and slightly southerly direction to near the south-west corner, where it leaves it. It receives the Chenango west of the center of the city. The latter stream flows in a southerly and slightly westerly direction from the center of the north line of the city. The city reposes in the valleys of these streams, encircled by fine hills of considerable elevation. It was incorporated as a village April 2, 1813, and as a city, April 9, 1867. By a charter granted May 3, 1834, its limits were enlarged and its territory was divided into five wards, the number it at present contains. ⁵   It is an important station on the Erie R. R., is the southern terminus of the Syracuse, Binghamton & N. Y., and the Albany & Susquehanna railroads, and the northern terminus of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R. R. These lines with their numerous connections bring the city within easy communication of all parts of our own State, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They extend to the valuable salt deposits at Syracuse and the lake ports, via Oswego, on the north, to the extensive coal mines at Pennsylvania on the south, and open to the products of its manufactories and the fine farming section surrounding it the great marts of commerce in the east and est. The city contains eight good hotels, two extensive tanneries and two finishing tanneries, four machine shops, three scale manufactories, one planing mill and two planing mills and sash, door and blind factories combined, six boot and shoe manufactories, ⁶   one steam flouring mill, and two flouring mills operated by water, two barrel factories, one comb manufactory, ⁷   one establishment for the manufacture of children's carriages and sleighs, ⁸   eight carriage shops, two hub and spoke factories, an oil refinery, a grain elevator, three express offices, (U. S., D. L. & W. and D. & H. Canal Co.,) six banks, ⁹   and numerous manufacturing establishments of less magnitude than those enumerated, a fuller description of which will be found in the Directory. There are ten churches ¹⁰ --many of them substantial and imposing structures; five public schools, which are so admirable conducted that the several private schools which recently flourished here, or most of them, have become extinct ¹¹; one commercial college, four newspaper and one job printing offices, ¹²   one water cure ¹³; and it is the seat of the New York State Inebriate Asylum ¹⁴   and the Susquehanna Valley Home. ¹⁵   The city contains 12,692 inhabitants ¹⁶; its streets are generally well shaded and are lighted by gas ¹⁷; and it is supplied with an abundance of pure, wholesome water. ¹⁸   The parts of the city separated by the Chenango are connected by two bridges; the Susquehanna is crossed by the same number within the city limits. There are many magnificent business blocks and a few private residences already constructed and many others are in process of erection or contemplated. Few cities of its size, or even older and larger ones, possess so many elegant buildings. The disposition to construct ornate and elaborate dwellings and buildings seems, from the following extract from the Annals of Binghamton, to have been acquired, or rather, perhaps, found opportunity to manifest itself, within the last thirty years. We quote:
    " * * * the buildings * * * are neat, convenient, and appear well from the street. There are but few poor houses, remarkable few for the size of the place. Again, it should be remarked, there are but few large and splendid dwellings, or edifices of any kind. A medium appears to have been studied, and much convenience rather than much ornament."
    This, it should be remembered, is the description of the city as it appeared in 1840.
    It is yet an open question as to whether Binghamton possesses the requisites for making it a great and popular watering place. Certainly the existence of mineral springs in its vicinity is the only thing it apparently lacks to constitute it such. But no little excitement was recently created by the discovery of a "saline-chalybeate" spring on land near the foot of Mount Prospect, owned by Lewis West. Cautious capital, however, and a magnified estimate of the value of the properties of the spring, have thus far prevented its development. Current reports ascribe to it most unusual and valuable qualities, which, if it possesses, must ultimately prove it to be the great desideratum of Binghamton. It is claimed to be the only spring of its kind known to exist in the United States, and to resemble very closely the one at Cheltenham, England, which is highly impregnated with salt and iron. ¹⁹   Another spring possessing similar qualities was subsequently found on the property of Thomas A. Sedgwick, adjacent to the former, and the opinion is expressed that an indefinite number may be obtained by digging to the level of the source from whence these proceed.
    The Binghamton Normal Music School was established in this city in the summer of 1871, having began its existence in Florida, Orange county, N. Y., as an experiment the previous summer. Its object is, as its name implies, to perfect teachers in this ennobling accomplishment and fit them to impart instruction to others. Although of recent origin the institution has already acquired an enviable reputation.
    The Binghamton Fire Department consists of the following named companies:

    One steamer and two first-class hand-engines are connected with the department. An engineer and fireman are employed and paid by the city. The engines are seldom called into requisition, but are always kept in readiness for use in case of an emergency. Reliance is placed principally upon the city water works. No serious fire has occurred since their advent. The companies include 300 active members.
    The Exempt Fire Association is composed of firemen who have served their time and who bank together for mutual protection and benefit. They are not controlled by the chief, but in exigent cases volunteer their services.
    The Firemen's Hall is a fine structure, situated on Collier street, and was finished in 1858, at an expense of about $10,000. Besides an ample depository for the appliances of the fire companies, it supplies a very convenient audience chamber for public meetings, lectures, concerts, and the like. ²⁰
    Although there are, as yet, no street railroads in operation in Binghamton, projects for the construction of two at least have been and are still in contemplation. ²¹   The immediate commencement of work on the Washington, and State Asylum Street R. R. is contemplated.
    The Binghamton Driving Park Association, "for the improvement of horses and to encourage the breeding of horses," was incorporated by an act passed April 23, 1870. Henry S. Jarvis, John S. Wells, John Rankin, Daniel S. Richards and Wm. E. Taylor were the first directors.
    Binghamton was the home of the late distinguished and talented Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, a son of whom she may well feel proud, whose remains repose in the beautiful Spring Forest Cemetery. A monument erected over his sepulcher by the Bar Association of New York was unveiled May 31, 1872, in connection with the dedication ceremonies on that day. ²²
    It is also the home of Prof. Royal E. House, the inventor of House's system of telegraphy. ²³

    HAWLEYTON (p. o.) is a hamlet in the south-west part of the town, on Little Snake Creek. It contains one church, (M. E.) two hotels, two blacksmith shops and one wagon shop. Near it are two saw mills which saw nearly two millions of feet of lumber annually.

    PORT DICKINSON (p. o.) is located in the north-east part, three miles north of Binghamton. It lies upon the east bank of the Chenango, and on the Chenango Canal. It contains a store, hotel, whip factory, cotton batting factory, broom factory and about fifty families. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co. have a depot at this place for the transhipment of coal. ²⁴

    Previous to the Revolution the country included within the limits of the town of Binghamton is not known to have been trod by the feet of white men, except, perhaps, as prisoners of the Indians, who held undisputed sway of all this region of the country, which seems to have been a favorite haunt of theirs. The placid waters of the Susquehanna have carried many a band of warriors on missions of death and rapine to the exposed frontier settlements of the whites. But such pictures are most unhappy retrospects when contrasted with the more pacific ones to which they have given place; hence we leave the Indian in the grandeur of his wildness and barbarity for the more pleasing contemplation of the almost magical transformations which the banks of this beautiful stream have witnessed under the genius of civilization and progress. The first white visitors to this region came with hostile intent. They were soldiers belonging to a detachment of the American army under the command of General James Clinton, on their way to join another large division of that army, destined against the Indians of this State, under the command of General John Sullivan. They encamped one or two nights upon the site of Binghamton city, where were several Indian wigwams, but no Indians to be seen. Corn, which was growing upon the island, was destroyed. It is quite probable that these troops destroyed an Indian village opposite the site of Port Dickinson, as vestiges of a recent village at that place were visible to the first white settlers.
    Eight years later, in 1787, Capt. Joseph Leonard, who is believed to have been the first white man to make a permanent settlement in the town, came, with a young wife and two little children, and located on the Chenango, in the vicinity of Port Dickinson. His wife and children were put into a canoe with the goods they brought, and rowed by a hired man; while he came up by land with two horses, keeping the shore and regulating his progress by that of his family. Leonard was originally from Plymouth, Mass., but immediately from Wyoming, Penn., where he owned a farm and lived several years. He was there under the arms at the time of the great massacre, though not in the field of action. At the time of the great ice freshet in the Susquehanna, his dwelling, with many others, was carried away by it. This calamity, together with the disputes which existed relative to land titles, induced him to leave and seek more peaceable and secure possessions. He received information from Amos Draper, an Indian trader in this locality, which led him to select this as his home. Two or three weeks subsequent to his arrival came Col. Wm. Rose and his brother, Solomon, the latter of whom settled in Lisle. Col. Rose located a little higher up the river than Capt. Leonard. "It was," ways Wilkinson, in the Annals of Binghamton, "but a short time after the arrival of the latter, that he, with Amos Draper, invited the Indians of the neighborhood to meet in council, and leased of them, for the term of ninety-nine years, one mile square; for which they were to give a barrel of corn per year. This lease, however, was invalidated by an act of the Legislature having been previously passed, and without the knowledge of these men, "that no lands should be leased or purchased of the Indians by private individuals.' But before it was known [by them] that such a law existed, Col. Rose and his brother purchased Mr. Draper's interest in the lease. It embraced where the three had located." Col. Rose and his brother came from Connecticut on foot to Wattle's Ferry, where they procured a canoe and brought with them stores to this place. Parties of Indians on the shore, sitting by their fires, engaged in their festivities, or skirting the mountains in pursuit of deer, were often seen by them, but never offered to molest them. They designed pushing on to the country bordering on the Conhocton and settling there; but learning at Union, from a Mr. Gallop, a temporary settler at that place, that the country they were seeking was in dispute, that they could obtain no satisfactory title to their land and that they would be obliged to fight for their crops, they turned back to the mouth of the Chenango, whose broad stream and pleasant banks impressed them favorably as they passed down, and sought the home before indicated. Soon after, during the same year, came Joshua and Wm. Whitney and Henry Green, from Hillsdale, Columbia county, and settled on the west side of the Chenango, about two miles above its junction with the Susquehanna, on what was afterwards called Whitney's Flats. In this town and in the vicinity of Port Dickinson, it is probable, was held the first council between the commissioners representing the proprietors of the Boston Ten-Townships and the Indians.²⁵   Among the settlers who came the same year, 1787, were _____ Lyon, who lived, previous to Leonard's advent into the town, in a temporary log house, near the site of Col. Page's ashery; and, who afterwards kept for several years the ferry across the Chenango; Jesse Thayer, who settled where Christopher Eldredge afterwards lived; Peter and Thomas Ingersoll, who settled where James Hawley afterwards lived; Samuel Harding who settled on the Bevier place, on the east side of the Chenango; Capt. John Sawtell, who settled opposite the Poor House; _______ Butler, who settled on the river bank, a little below Captain Leonard, and Solomon Moore, who settled on the site of the city of Binghamton. The next year about twenty families augmented the little settlement in this region and received from those who preceded them, in accordance with the urgency of their needs, the generous hospitality for which the early settlers distinguished themselves--a hospitality which meant, says Wilkinson, the impartial division among the needy settlers of such stores as the more prosperous had been able to accumulate, and which sorely taxed them at times to relieve the wants of new comers until they could create resources of their own. But this hospitality proved equal to the severest trial. The first roads were constructed by following the Indian paths when practicable and cutting away on either side the fallen logs, underbrush and saplings until a sufficient clearing was made to admit the passage of wagons. A circuit was made to avoid large trees when such interposed. Roads of this description were, in a few years, built on both sides of the Chenango, generally where they now run, and on the north side of the Susquehanna, both above and below the settlements on it. A sleigh road was opened to Unadilla in 1788. The early settlers had little occasion, however, to leave home, except to take their grain to mill, which was done by means of canoes on the river. The nearest mill was at "Shepherd's Mill," three miles north of Tioga Point, (now Athens, Penn.,) a distance of forty miles. The journey occupied a week, and sometimes a fortnight. "A considerable portion of their corn, however, was pounded, and thus converted into samp, by the simple machinery of a stump hollowed out for a mortar, and a pestle suspended by a sweep." The Indians raised corn and potatoes, and from them the seed was procured; but the other seed and the flour, what little was had, was brought from the Hudson, or up the Susquehanna in canoes from Wyoming. In 1790 their condition as regards milling facilities was ameliorated by the erection of a grist mill on Fitch's Creek, in the town of Kirkwood. John Miller, _____ Moore and _____ Luce moved with their families, from New Jersey to Wyoming, but owing to the unsettled condition of things in that country they remaind there but a short time and came to this town the first or second season of its settlement and located on the east side of the Chenango. Mr. Miller, it appears, was the first magistrate, he having acted in that capacity in New Jersey. He also first conducted religious exercises, before any regular minister visited the new settlement. He was a Presbyterian, and reported to be an eminently pious man. Meetings were held uniformly at the house of Samuel Harding, and he and his daughters walked a distance of four miles to attend them. Rev. Mr. Howe, a Baptist minister, who came in the summer of 1790, officiated in his ministerial capacity and succeeded in forming a church, consisting of ten or twelve persons, which was the first Christian society in this region, but which, after the removal of Mr. Howe, dwindled and became extinct about 1800. A considerable accession was made in the summer of 1789, by persons who settled in the valleys of the Chenango and Susquehanna. Among these was Daniel Hudson, who settled between Capt. Leonards' and Col. Rose's. The house erected on the site of Binghamton, by Solomon Moore, to whom allusion has before been made, was soon abandoned by him after he learned that he could not purchase the land, and in consequence soon dilapidated and disappeared. Thomas Chambers erected and lived in a log house on the site of the city. Other settlements were made here and a post office established June 23, 1798, with Joshua Whitney as post master. Up to the beginning of the present century, however, little disposition to occupy the site of the city was manifested, the attention of early settlers being diverted to Chenango village, a prosperous settlement at that time on the west side of the Chenango, about one mile above Binghamton, and just above the point of Mount Prospect which projects toward and near the river, which boasted of a hotel, a newspaper office, (the Constellation, published by Daniel Cruger, to which allusion is made in the history of the press,) a store, a distillery and a doctor's office. In 1800, Joshua Whitney became the agent of Mr. Bingham for the disposal of the latter's lands in this vicinity, and as the whole of the site of the village just alluded to was not embraced in Mr. Bingham's patent, and it had neither the advantage of as eligible a location, nor possessed a sufficiently extensive area for the growth of a village, such as might be built up at the junction of the two rivers, Mr. Whitney conceived the idea of diverting attention to the latter place and removing the village there. As a means to this end, he took advantage of reports which were circulated to the effect that Lucas Elmendorf of Kingston, Ulster Co., was about to build a bridge across the Chenango on the line of the great western highway which passed through the site of Binghamton, and represented that it must determine the prosperity of settlers in its locality and cause a corresponding decline in the growth of the upper village. He accordingly, in company with several others, who came by appointment, commenced a clearing on both sides of the river at the point, where he represented the bridge was to be located. The ground was surveyed and laid out into streets and lots in village form, the same year. The lots contained three-fourths of an acre and were sold generally for twenty dollars each; the corner lots were held at a higher price. To render the success of his plan more certain, Gen. Whitney purchased a number of buildings in the old village and moved them down to the new one. By this means the nucleus of a village was formed and its prosperity assured. New accessions were rapidly made for a few years and the village soon began to assume size and importance, but the bridge was not built until 1808. It was built by Marshal Lewis and Luther Thurstin, at an expense of $6,000, and was due to the enterprise, perseverance and pecuniary resources of Lucas Elmendorf.²⁶   It contributed largely to the growth of the village by removing the barrier to highway travel, presented by the Chenango, which had to be crossed at this point. From that time to the present the growth of Binghamton has been gradual but constant. It has suffered neither serious reverse, nor an abnormal inflation. The only important exception, perhaps, to the last part of the previous assertion was manifested by the temporary instability occasioned by the completion or location of the Erie R. R. through the village. That fluctuating tendency, however, gradually subsided into a steady and healthy growth. The advantages which the location of the city presents, if judiciously and liberally seconded or made available by its capitalists, by fostering existing manufacturing enterprises and encouraging new ones, must eventually make Binghamton an important commercial and manufacturing center.²⁷

    We purpose now to give a brief history of such of the churches of the town as have given us the necessary information. The first church organized in the town was, as before stated, done through the exertions of Elder Howe, in 1790, or soon thereafter. The Dutch Reformed Church, the second one established, was organized in 1798, by Rev. Mr. Manly, a minister of that persuasion. Meetings were held by the latter society in the chamber of a dwelling house, located about a mile above the village, on the east bank of the Chenango, which was fitted with conveniences for that purpose. Mr. Manly preached alternately at this place and Union, but remained here only a few years. After an interval, during which the society had no minister, the services of Rev. Mr. Palmer were secured, and under his pastoral labors the church was revived and its number augmented. This society, differing so little in the substance of its belief from the faith of the Presbyterians was merged into the latter society, which organized after the establishment of the village.

    Christ Church, (Episcopal) located at Binghamton, was organized Sept. 19, 1810, by Rev. Daniel Nash, under the title of St. Ann's Church. It was dissolved, and reorganized six years later, by Hon. Tracy Robinson. The first edifice was consecrated Nov. 20, 1818, by Bishop Hobart, and named Christ Church. In 1822 this building was sold to the Methodists and removed to Henry street, and a new one was erected in that year. In 1854 the present stone edifice was commenced and was opened for worship March 4, 1855. Its cost, including furniture, was about $35,000. It will seat 700 persons. The present value of church property is $75,000. The first pastor was Rev. James Keeler; the present one is Rev. Wm. A. Hitchcock. The present number of communicants is 350.
    The First Presbyterian Church of Binghamton was organized with twenty members, Nov. 20, 1817, by Revs. Ebenezer Kingsbury and Joseph Wood. The first pastor was Rev. Benjamin A. Niles; at present it is without a pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1819, and the present one, which occupies its site, was completed April 26, 1863, at a cost of $56,000. It is built of brick, and will seat 1200 persons. There are 637 members. The church property is valued at $75,000.²⁸
    The First Baptist Church of Binghamton was organized with five members, in 1831, by Rev. M. Frederick, its first pastor.²⁹   Their first house of worship was erected in 1831-2; and the present one, which will seat 1400 persons, in 1871-2, at a cost of $75,000. There are 708 members, who are ministered to by Rev. Lyman Wright. The church property is valued at $110,000.
    St. Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic) was organized with five members, in 1835, by Rev. Mr. Wainwright. The first house of worship was erected in 1837; and the present one, which is located on LeRoy street, in the city of Binghamton, and will seat 2,000 persons, in 1867, at a cost of $120,000. There are 3,000 members, who enjoy the ministration of Rev. James F. Hourigan, their first and present pastor. The church property is valued at $200,000.³⁰
    The Congregational Church was organized Sept. 26, 1836, with nineteen members, by Rev. John Starkweather, its first pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1837 and dedicated Dec. 22d of that year; the present one, which is located on the corner of Main and Front streets, in the city of Binghamton, and will seat 800 persons, in 1869, at a cost of $50,000. Rev. Edward Taylor, D. D., is the present pastor. The number of members is 310. The value of church property is $75,000.
    The A. M. E. Zion Church was organized with thirty-six members, in 1836, by Rev. Henry Johnson, its first pastor. Its house of worship, which is located on Whitney street, in the city of Binghamton, was erected in 1840, at a cost of $500. It will seat 125 persons. The present pastor is Rev. Stephen S. Wales; the number of members is 56. The church property is valued at $3,000.
    The A. M. E. Church (Bethel) was organized with sixty-five members, in 1838, by Rev. Chas. Spicer, its first pastor. The first church edifice was erected in 1838; the present one, which is located on Susquehanna street, in the city of Binghamton, and will seat 250 persons, in 1842, at a cost of $850. The society numbers forty-five. Rev. John Frizbee is the pastor. The value of Church property is $1,500.
    The M. E. Church, of Hawleyton, was organized with eleven members in 1856, by Rev. _____ Blaxey. Their church edifice was erected in 1857. It will seat 250 persons; and cost, $2,000. The church property is value at $3,200. It has fifty-two members. Rev. C. V. Arnold is the pastor.
    The First Free Methodist Church of Binghamton was organized with ten members, by Rev. B. T. Roberts, in 1862. Rev. D. M. Sinclair was the first pastor; Rev. C. H. Southworth is the present one. Their edifice was erected by the "Protestant Methodists" in or about 1841, and was sold by them, about 1851, to the "Court St. M. E. Society," by whom it was again sold, in March, 1867, to its present occupants, for $3,600. It will seat from five to six hundred. It is located on the corner of Court and Carroll streets. There are sixty members in full connection, and eight probationers. The Church property is valued at $12,500.
    The M. E. Church of Binghamton was organized by the consolidation of the Henry and Court street M. E. Churches³¹   in 1865, by Rev. D. W. Bristol, D. D., its first pastor. It then had 399 members in full connection, and 30 probationers; it now has 615 members and 58 probationers. Rev. L. C. Floyd is the pastor. The church edifice was commenced in 1866 and completed in 1868, at a cost of $65,000. It is located on the corner of Court and Cedar streets, and will seat 800 persons. The Church property is valued at $70,000. The edifice is known as the Centenary M. E. Church.
    The North Presbyterian Church of Binghamton was organized with fifty members, April 17, 1870, by Rev. C. Pierpont Coit, its first and present pastor. The church edifice, which will seat 350 persons, was erected in the fall and winter of 1869-70, at a cost of $9,000. It is located on the corner of Chenango and Munsell streets. The society numbers 145 members. The Church property is value at $12,000.

17 - The Binghamton Gas Light Co. was organized Oct. 1, 1853. Its capital is $50,000. The officers are: Chas. McKinney, president; C. B. Johnson, superintendent.
18 - The Holley Water Works of Binghamton, located in the east part of the city, on the north bank of the Susquehanna, were established by special act of the Legislature in 1868. They are owned by the city and controlled by a board of five commissioners, who elect their own officers, and are elected at special elections for a term of five years. The first five commissioners were appointed by the Governor, and were as follows: Wm. P. Pope, Frederick Lewis, Jno. S. Wells, Sabin McKinney and Wm. E. Taylor. Am. P. Pope was elected president, and Frederick Lewis, treasurer. One commissioner is retired from the board each year, by a vote of the commissioners themselves, and vacancies thus caused are filled by election. Three, viz: Jno. S. Wells, Wm. E. Taylor and Frederick Lewis, have been thus retired and elected to the offices to which they were assigned by the Governor. The building is built substantially and tastily of brick, the main part being 40 by 60 feet on the ground, and the boiler room, 40 by 24 feet. The main part is two stories high. The wells are two in number and each is 20 feet deep and 24 in diameter. The water is of a very pure quality and is forced into the pipes by a double engine of 150 horse power, and a pressure of thirty pounds to the inch constantly maintained. Nineteen miles of pipe are laid, by which about seven-eighths of the populated city is supplied with water. Extensions are constantly being made as the requirements of the city demand. Three miles of pipes are to be laid the present summer (1872.) $205,000 have been appropriated by the city, and $180,000 of that sum have been expended. The remainder will probably be expended during the summer. Over 2,000 water permits are granted, including railroads and manufacturing establishments, from which the receipts are about $16,000 per annum, or from $3,000 to $4,000 in excess of the expenses. The officers consist of five commissioners, a superintendent and clerk. Three engineers, who are on duty eight hours each, and two firemen, who are on duty twelve hours each, are employed. The quantity of water supplied is ample for fire purposes. The services of the fire engines, in case of fire, are generally unnecessary. Water can be thrown 125 feet high from each of six hydrants at the same time and this pressure maintained. Six streams can with ease be brought to bear upon any fire in the thickly settled part of the city. The protection afforded by the water works has reduced the insurance rates 33 per cent.
19 - Below we give the result of an analysis of the water from the spring by W. Stratford, M. D., Professor of Chemistry in the College of the city of New York.

    " In an Imperial gallon of 70,000 grains:

                     Sodium Chloride					10.82 grains.
                     Potassium  "					trace.
		   Iron Carbonate					53.12 grains.
		   Lime Sulphate					 6.22   "
		     "  Carbonate					32.95   "
		   Magnesia Carbonate				29.80   "
	 	   Silica						 3.32   "		"

    In his letter accompanying the report of the analysis, Prof. Stratford says: "The very large amount of organic matter is unusual and must, I think, have gained access either from leakage of some of the barrels in the vault, from substances left in the jug, or, and it is scarcely possible, from the shale rock itself. However this may be, the chalybeate properties of the water render it very valuable for medicinal purposes." The spring, it is proper to state, was discovered in an excavation made in the side of the hill for a beer vault. The water, it appears, was used in the manufacture of beer, and the peculiar taste it imparted to the latter first led to an examination of its properties.
20 - History of Binghamton, by Rev. Dr. Z. Paddock.
21 - An act, incorporating the Binghamton & Port Dickinson R. R. (horse) was passed May 1, 1868. The route is thus described in the act: "commencing at the town line between the towns of Kirkwood and Binghamton, on the north bank of the Susquehanna, near the New York and Erie railroad, in the public highway, and running westerly along said highway, to the corporation line of the city of Binghamton; thence along and through Court street to Main street; thence through and along Main street to the westerly bound of said city; thence along the public highway to the town line of the town of Union, with a branch connecting with said road in Court street at Chenango street, and running thence through and along Chenango street to the northerly bounds of said city, and thence along the public highway leading north up to the Chenango river to Port Dickinson together with all the necessary connections, turnouts and switches for the proper working and accommodation of the tracks on the said route or routes." The act provided that the building of the road should be commenced within one year from the date of its passage, and finished within five years from the date of its commencement. An act was passed April 30, 1869, allowing two additional years in which to commence the building of the road.
22 - Daniel S. Dickinson was born in Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., Sept. 11, 1800; he removed with his father to Chenango Co., N. Y., in 1806; received a common school education; and in 1821 he entered upon the duties of a school teacher, and, without the aid of an instructor, mastered the Latin language, and became versed in the higher branches of mathematics and other sciences. He studied law, came to the bar in 1830, and settled in Binghamton, where he long practiced his profession with success. In 1836 he was elected to the State Senate, serving from 1837 to 1840; was Judge of the Court of Errors from 1836 to 1841; from 1842 to 1844 he was President of said Court, Lieutenant Governor, and also President of the Senate; was a Regent of the University of New York in 1843; was a member of the Convention which nominated James K. Polk for President, and a Presidential Elector in 1844; and he was a Senator in Congress from New York from 1844 to 1851, serving on important committees, and originating and ably supporting several important measures. In 1861 he was elected Attorney-General of the State of New York; was a Delegate to the 'Baltimore Convention' of 1864; and in 1865 he was appointed by President Lincoln, United States District Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He died suddenly in that city, April 12, 1866. Before accepting his last public position he declined several appointments tendered him by the President of the United States and the Governor of New York. His 'Life and Works' were published in 1867, in two volumes."
23 - Prof. House was born in Vermont, in 1815. He moved to Susquehanna Co., Penn., from there to New York, and to Binghamton, in 1853. He erected a fine residence about one mile south of the city. It stands upon a hill 530 feet above the Susquehanna.
24 - The Port Dickinson hotel was burned March 23, 1872, and the grist and paper mills formerly at this place, March 29, 1872. Joseph Carman, who built these mills and owned them about ten years, moved to the site of Port Dickinson when nine years old. He worked for Abram Bevier until he was 21 years old, when he purchased the farm he now owns. He was for some time a merchant at this place; had contracts for work on the Erie R. R. amounting to $2,000,000; and has dealt largely in lumber and stock.
25 - See page 73.
26 - The bridge was rebuilt in 1825, by Col. H. Lewis, as master builder, under the direction of Joshua Whitney, at a cost of over $3,000. On each side of the river, at the ends of this bridge, stood a fine elm tree, and the two were long known as the "twin elms." That on the west side is still standing. The one on the east side fell into the river through the continual wearing away of the bank during a period of fifty years.
27 - To those who desire a more minute portraiture of the early history of Binghamton, and in fact of the country within a circuit of thirty to fifty miles from it, we would commend them to the Annals of Binghamton, a work from which we have made liberal extracts, and in which the early settlements are detailed with greater particularity than is consistent with the scope of this work.
28 - The Presbyterian Church of Castle Creek, and the Congregational Church of Binghamton were formed from this. The former, consisting of 23 members, was organized in 1833; the latter, in 1836.
29 - Rev. Dr. Paddock, of Binghamton, in his History of Binghamton, says this church was organized in May, 1829, with sixteen members--five males and eleven females--and that Elder Michael Frederick was called to preside over the church in 1830. The data from which our statement is compiled was furnished by the present pastor.
30 - The Convent of St. Joseph, under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph, has 35 boarders and 400 day scholars.
    The St. James School for boys, numbers 125. D. J. Donaldson is the principal.
31 - The "Henry Street M. E. Church" was organized by Rev. Ebenezer Doolittle, in 1817, from which time the place was more or less regularly visited by circuit preachers. In 1822 the society provided itself with a house in which to hold meetings by purchasing the one discarded by the Episcopalians, as stated in the history of that Church. The "Court Street M. E. Church" was organized in 1851, under the legal title of The Second Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Binghamton, and was an offshoot from the "Henry Street Church." The means by which this society acquired its house of worship are stated in the history of the First Free Methodist Church of Binghamton.

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