A New Year in Scipio

It seems hard to believe. I blinked, and December was gone! My son reminds me that the older I get the faster time passes. I hate to say he's right, but...
So here we are in a brand new year - 2009. Scipio has been Scipio for over 200 years, imagine that.
I took a look back and about 100 years ago, electricity first arrived. Empire Gas & Electric was started in 1911 by Edward H. Palmer of Geneva, according to the NYSEG/RGE Credit and Collections Department. Twenty-five years later, Empire served over 31,000 customers between the four counties of Ontario, Seneca, Cayuga and Yates.
Another hundred years in the wayback machine finds us in Scipio in 1809. It is a bustling little town. Earlier settlers had stayed and begun to carve a living out of the wilderness between Owasco and Cayuga Lakes. By 1809, families were arriving and setting up in the mercantile business; we had several farms and small business enterprises such as blacksmiths, harness making, a distillery, wagon makers and so on. In a few short years, schools and churches were built and incorporated and the area thrived.
In 1819, Jethro Wood's plow was patented, as filed and witnessed by Samuel L. Mitchell and I. G. Bogert on August 14 of 1819. Through the NYS Library, I was able to print a copy of the patent. Jethro explains in minute detail why he claimed an exclusive privilege in the invention and improvement of the plowshare or cutting edge.