CHAPTER I.

ALFRED IN EARLY TIMES.

J

BIRTH OF JONATHAN ALLEN.

ONATHAN ALLEN, the eldest son of Abram and
Dorcas Burdick Allen, was born in the town of Alfred,

January 26, 1823. He was the true son of this mountain region, "this eagle's nest," as he was wont to call this lovely valley. The record of some of his ancestors could be traced back to the mountains of Scotland, and to the uplands of all the countries from whence they came, even to the sacred hills of Palestine. Thus in this wilderness they naturally sought a home

among the hills.

The New England States, with their rocky soil and fast increasing population, became, early in the country's history, a difficult place for a poor man to procure a home and competence, Before and soon after the Revolution a few bold spirits sought and made homes in the Western wilds, as most of this part of New York was then known, but they had kept close to the lakes and the valleys of the Susquehanna and Genesee, with their tributaries. A few of the early settlers, however, had penetrated as far as the foothills of the Alleghanies, but it was not till after the year 1812 that safety from Indian raids, and the construction of State and military roads, made the country desirable for the general settler. Between the years 1815 and 1820 hosts of families from Rhode Island and other States came to make new homes in the part of the country where land was cheap, soil fertile, and there was an abundance of fuel for the long, cold winters. Deep into the unbroken forests, through roads often only underbrushed, up the winding valleys of the Chemung and Can

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acadea, came oxen and horses drawing the old Dutch wagons covered with coarse cloth that could be made into useful articles for the family. On this one vehicle was often loaded all the household goods, among which would be disposed father, mother, and children.

REMOVAL OF ANCESTORS FROM RHODE ISLAND.

Most of those that came to Alfred were from Rhode Island and were descendants of the Independent Thinkers, who, with Roger Williams, were driven out from the Plymouth Colony. They claimed the right to worship God according to the Bible and the dictates of their own consciences, but not according to the rules of the church. Such men have always made the pioneers in all advance work or thought.

In 1817 came John Allen, and his wife, Amy McCumber Allen, with three sons and four daughters, the eldest son remaining in the East, while the married daughter and her husband accompanied the parents in their removal. Katie, then a wee girl, often told us how the neighbors and friends came weeping to bid them good-by, never expecting to see their faces again this side of heaven. This little girl was the "Aunt Katie" of our memory, who, living nearly eighty years, welcomed often to her home not only many of these friends, but numbers of their grandchildren.

A yoke of oxen and a span of horses brought all the household goods of both families. Among these came the woolen and flax wheels, with the cards for combing and preparing both wool and flax, indispensable to the thrifty housewife of those days. She it was who must spin, weave, and make by hand most of the material used for clothing the family and furnishing the home.

SIX WEEKS' JOURNEY.

They brought with them little bags of seeds, especially of apple and pear, together with peach, plum, and cherry stones, in order to make a nursery as soon as possible. It took them six weeks to make the journey of five hundred miles-much of the way being through unbroken forest. Often the road was almost

impassable and the streams were without bridges. The ablebodied members of the family walked much of the distance, and all were often obliged to camp and sleep under the trees or in the wagons. Wolves and other wild animals sometimes made these nights a terror by their shrieks and howls, though someone always remained as a sentinel, to keep up a blaze for safety to themselves and their teams, as wild animals never approach a bright fire.

Judge Clark Crandall, who, with a few other families, had come into this wilderness as early as 1808, was the pioneer father of the new settlement. It was he, with a few others, who gave a hearty welcome to our travelers and made them feel at once well repaid for the dangers and hardships they had endured in coming to their new home.

THE NEW HOME.

Grandfather Allen was very fortunate in the selection of his farm, one hundred and fifty acres of woodland, sloping to the south and east. The most distinctive feature of these sturdy Western settlers was their immediate preparation for intellectual and spiritual culture; consequently a building was erected for worship and schools almost as soon as their dwelling houses. These were of log, and rude, but answered the full purpose for which they were intended. While waiting for their new house, the family lived in a log schoolhouse, it being vacation. From here every morning at six o'clock grandfather and the three boys, John, of fourteen, George, of sixteen, and Abram,of eighteen years went a mile over the hill through the dense forest to cut down the trees and hew them into shape for building.

One morning when the noonday lunch was prepared for the builders, there was nothing left for the hungry little ones at home. Not a word had been said, but after they had gone, this brave Scotch mother saddled her horse and rode eight or ten miles to where a few families with means had come into the country. some years before and now had an abundance of food. The Lockharts and Karrs of Karr Valley were among these. She