Comstock's History Page Five

SOME OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SCIPIO

CAYUGA COUNTY NEW YORK  by Austin B. Comstock

I will be posting each page of this history separately. The index, posted on June 24, 2014 in 4 parts, provides the page numbers; you can also search the blog for a particular name appearing anywhere within it. I hope you find something new!

 Page Five

and a beautiful fowling piece. Evidently they were honest and felt that they had paid for the blankets. Inquiry disclosed that two Indians were seen wearing blankets like Tracy lost. I was told this story by Capt. Tracy’s son Calvin, who showed me the two guns.

John Baker, a former slave, occupied a log cabin on lands then owned by Col. Lyon, now by Patrick Donovan. This was on the southeast corner of Donovan’s wood lot. The Edmund Tracy farm has been owned in succession by Marvin Warner, John Mallory, Wm. F. Bancroft, Wheeler Powell, Oliver Wood, Slocum Howland, Zacheus Powell, Charles Weaver and later by James A. Gould, now by his widow Carrie King Gould.

The place now owned by Edwin Bishop has been owned at various times by Merriby Cogswell, Deacon Ward, Zalmon Cogswell, Chauncy Linn, Thomas Heffron, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Wilson M. Gould and now the present owner.

The D.C. Gould farm was owned in rotation by the following parties: Gilbert Tracy, Henry and George Bolt, Lewis Robinson, Moses T. Fell, Edward Akin and then by D.C Gould.

Dr. Sanford Smith came previous to 1800 and bought the place where G.F. Slocum (Adolph Krueger) home is, and practiced his profession until 1815 when his son-in-law, Dr. John Thompson, took his place and Smith retired. Smith and Thompson came from Washington County, NY.

Dr. Pearley Kinney came in from Connecticut about 1800, married Judge Sherwood’s daughter, settled on the S.G. Otis farm, and built the old house that still remains as a shop. He lived in this until 1815 when he built the new house, and died in 1821, aged 54. Dr. John Thompson owned the farm now owned by Mr. H.G. Robinson southwest of Sherwood. This farm passed through several owners. George Merritt owned it for a time and built the present house about he time of the Civil War. The house stands in the center of 100 acres.  Merritt sold the farm to Nathan Cook and Cook sold it to James B. Chase. Chase sold to Charles Otis and his widow to the present owner.

Immediately after settling on this land, Seth Sherwood had sold the west part of his land to Samuel Phelps, who put up a house and began selling building lots, as did Sherwood, and the place assumed the name of Sherwood Corners.

In the summer of 1796, Sherwood built the first hotel about where the Howland block now stands or rather the north end of it. At that time the country was fast filling up with a hardy race of people. Sherwood moved into his hotel and did a large business for some 14 years. He then leased it to Samuel Phelps, Jr., who ran it for two years. At the expiration of this lease he sold the tavern and 25 acres on the

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