1999--These pages are part of the Schuyler co., NY Genweb page.  Not for commercial use.

The History of Schuyler County, NY -- (pub. abt. 1885)

Hector Township

[p.240-241]

"Hector was organized as a part of Cayuga county, at Session No. 25, March 30, 1802--taken from Ovid--embraced in Tompkins county by act of the Legislature, April 7, 1817, and in Schuyler county in the year 1854.  It is situated on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake and approaches within six miles of the western shore of Cayuga Lake.  The surface gradually ascends from the shores of Seneca Lake until it reaches an altitude of about six hundred feet, and then descends toward Cayuga Lake.  It is the largest town in Schuyler county. It was within its limits that the Indians of the Six Nations had corn fields and orchards which were destroyed by General Sullivan  hitherto referred to in his campaign in 1779.  The history of the township affords material for a very large volume. It is bounded on the north by Seneca county on the east by the towns of Ulysses and Enfield in Tompkins county, on the south by Catharine and Montour in Schuyler county, and west by Seneca Lake.  It is rich in agricultural and orchard products.
Early settlers: William Wickham, John Livingston, Stephen  Pratt, Reuben Smith, Henry Smith, Jabez Smith, Daniel Everts, Grover Smith, Samuel Hanley, Richard Ely, Elisha Trobridge, Caleb Trobridge, Nathaniel Pritchard, Herman Trobridge, Amasa Mathews, Daniel Mathews, Sylvanus Mathews, Stephen Mathews, Capt. Jonathan Owen, William Bodie, Henry Sayler, Daniel Larrison, Capt. Joseph Hager, Joseph Gillespie, Joseph McIntyre, William McIntyre, John Mears, George Howell, Robert Durland, William Spalding, Cornelius Humphrey, William Carman, Charles Carman, Morris Carman, Richard Carman, Joshua Makeel, Jesse Makeel, James Stillwell, Isaac Stillwell, Richard Sutfin, Robert Curry, Benjamin Gilmore, James Gilmore, Garrett Clawson, Benjamin Coddington, John M. Coddington, John M. Coddington, Gen. Wiliam Himrod, Joel Reynolds, Timothy Schofield, Augustus Ely, John Kinan, Daniel P. Budd, Joseph Potter, Sullivan D. Hubbell, John Proper, Peter Woodward, William Martin, Thomas Sears, David Sears, Christopher Smith, John Smith, Joseph Jewell, Zera Carter, Abiel Gardiner, Ebenezer Jewell, Elias Jewell, Jonathan Slocum, William McCann, Robert Armstrong, A. Dee, D. (Dea?) German, Jacob Hager,  Jabez Smith, Brickley Monell/Morell, Wilcox Buckbee, Mowbry Owen, Zalmon Barber, Abner Tremain, John Mears, James Bowley, Ashbel Tremain, William Jaycox, Robert Swartout, Reuben Wood, Samuel Seeley, George Wood, Thomas Coon, Thomas Searles, Henry Jeffreys, Jomes Thompson, John Mackey, Daniel Thompson, John K. Mathews, William Barber,  Phineas Bennett, Martin Keep, Jacob Banker, M.H. Jackquish, Dr. Henry Fish, Thomas Edgerly, Samuel Seaton, Dr. Edmund Brown, Daniel Jacksoson, Uzel Barker.

--The first town tax colllected was $300.
--Richard Ely was the first tanner in the town.
--Wm. Wickham kept the first hotel in the town.
--John Livingston taught the first school in the town.
--Hector was named by the land commissioners in 1790.
--A violent tornado occurred at Hector in the year 1876.
--Burdette Grange, No. 263, was organized in Nov. 1874.
--Samuel A. Seeley erected a woolen mill in the year 1801.
--Hector Ely was the first white child born, Jan. 21, 1796.
--The first store was opened at Hector Falls by John B. Seeley.
--The first death in the town was William Wickham, Nov. 2, 1800.
--In the year 1816 the frost destroyed nearly all the crops in Hector.
--The first church organization was the Presbyterian, Sept. 10, 1809.
--Reuben Smith built the first saw mill in town, in the year 1795.
--William Wickham settled on the Sullivan road, cut thru in 1779.
--Mecklenburg Union Cemetery Assoc. incorporated March, 1853.
--Mrs. William Wickham built the first framed house in the  year 1802.
--Wm. Wickham was drowned at the head of Seneca Lake, Nov. 2, 1800.
--Stephen Pratt and Elizabeth Livingston were the first couple married in Hector.
--The first religious services were held at McIntyre Settlement, in the year 1805.
--The first Presbyterian Church was erected at Peach Orchard in the year 1818.
--The first permanent settler in Hector was William Wickham in the year 1791.
--Hector post office established in the year 1803.  Grover Smith was the first post master.
--The first town meeting in Hector was held at the house of Grover Smith in the year 1802.
--Dr. Henry Fish was the first member of assembly for Schuyler county.
--Burdette post office was established March 6, 1819, Joseph Carson, post master.
--Mecklenburg Lodge, No. 609, Sons of Temperence, organized Aug. 18, 1877.
--The bell in the church spire at Burdette was cast in Spain in the year 1788.
--M.E. Church Class formed at McIntyre Settlement in 1804.  Church erected in 1822.
--Samuel Hanley was a Captain in the revolutionary war. He was an early settler of Hector .
--M.E.Class formed in 1824 at Mecklenburg, Uzel Baker, leader.
--Perry City post office, Hector township, was established July 31, 1815, Thomas Edgerly post master.
--Hector has been in Montgomery, Herkimer, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkins and Schuyler counties.
--The Logan Methodist Church organized as a class in 1815.  Chauncey Smith ,leader.  Church erected in 1832.
--Burdette was originally known as Hamburg, then Tadpole, and finally christened Burdette by Richard Woodward.
--Christian Church organized at Searsburg in the year 1817.  Rev. Mr.Chase the first minister.  Church erected in 1839.
--Baptist Church, Peach Orchard, constituted April 11, 1820.  Rev. O.C. Comstock, the first minister. Church erected in 1833.
--The Baptist Church of Bennetsburg was organized in the year 1809, James Reynolds was its first minister. Church erected in 1826??
--The Baptist church of Burdette was organized in the year 1836.  Rev. James Reynolds was the first minister.  Church erected in 1836.
--M.E. Church , North Hector, class organized at Steamburg in the year 1856. First minister in charge, Rev. William Potter.  Church erected in 1857.
--The Baptist Church of Mecklenburg was organized July 5, 1825, at the house of Jeremiah Ayers.  First minister, Rev. John Sturdevant.  Church erected in 1835.
--Mecklenburg, Reynoldsville, Bennetsburg, Burdette, Peach Orchard, North Hector, Logan, Steamburg, Perry City, Cayutaville, are villages and hamlets in Hector.
--M.E. Church, North Hector, Class organized in 1852, by Rev. John Robinson.  Elias Byram first class leader.  Church organized in 1857 and church edifice erected.
--Seneca post office in Hector township established July 1, 1814.  D. Burroughs, postmaster.  Disccontinued Oct. 30, 1830, and again established in 1846, with Hiram Milliman post master.
--North Hector Baptist Church organized Nov. 28, 1821, at the house of John Goltry, and was incorporated Nov. 1830.  The first minister was Rev. J.P. Woodworth.  Church erected in 1831.
--The Peach Orchard church was raised without the use of ardent spirits. Believed to be the first edifice of any kind raised in the country adjacent without that article to stimulate the people engaged in erecting them.
--The Presbyterian Church of  Mecklenburg was organized by the Rev. Henry Ford, June 10, 1833.  Elders: James Bodle, John W. Mathews, James Woodford, Sullivan D. Hubbell, Wakeman Lyon.  Church erected in 1842.
--Samuel Hanley, Richard Ely, Nathaniel Pritchard, Amasa Mathews, Captain Jonathan Owen, Henry Sayler, Joseph Gillespie, Cornelius Humphreys, Benjamin Coddington, Peter Woodward, were pioneer settlers and soldiers in the revolutionary war.
--Methodist E. Church , Burdette, was organized as a class in 1833, Wm. Himrod, leader. Church organized Feb. 16, 1839.  Church erected in 1845. Trustees: Elijah Baker, George V. Minard, Harlow Hubbell, Benjamin Benson, William T. Allen, William Himrod, John Dickinson.
--The Presbyterian Church of Burdette was  organized Feb. 14, 1826. Nathan Smith, Robert McCrary, George Owen, elders.  Church was erected in 1827, Rev. Jabez Chadwick the first minister.  Building committee in 1827 was David Kimble, Dr. Edmund Brown, Daniel  Jackson.
--The Episcopal Church organized at Peach Orchard in the year 1827. The members consisted principally of the Woodward family , who were English and erected a church.  They were the ancestors of Judge Woodward, of Schuyler county, and Dr. William Woodward, of Chemung county.
--Society of Friends was organized in 1813.  First members were: Eber Crandall, Charles Carman, Mary Carman, Caleb Carman, Anna Carman, Thomas Frost, Mary Frost, Jesse McKeel, Amy McKeel, Joshua McKeel, Hester McKeel, William Carman, Phebe Carman, Philadelpia Ammock. Church erected in 1826.
--The Presbyterian Church at Peach Orchard was constituted Sept. 15, 1809, by Revs. Charles Mosher and William Clark.  Original members were Anna Seaton, Thomas Morton, Judah Brewer, Samuel Seaton, Anna Gillespie, John Messler, Chloe Scovill. Elders:  William Himrod, Jabez Havens, Thomas Morton, Samuel Seaton.  Deacons:  Samuel Seaton, Jabez Havens.  Rev. William Chark, first minister.  Church erected in 1818.
--The first temperence society organized in Hector; its preliminary meeting was held in a bar room, March 18, 1828. April 9, 1828, it was fully organized at the Ely school house; William Smith, president; S.H.L. Warner, secretary.  First members: William Smith, S.H.L. Warner, Ephraim Birge, Richard Smith, Caleb Smith, Chauncey W. Smith, Joseph Jewell, Henry German, A.M. Comstock. Augustus Ely, John Lambert, Charles Everetts."