Person:Uriah Balcom (2)

BURLINGTON OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK

Image and text from Otsego County New York Geographical and Historical by Edwin F Bacon, Ph B. 1902 Oneonta NY.

Page 17. BURLINGTON. Area 27,217 Acres. Population 1,263. Burlington was formed from the township of Otsego in 1792 and was then much larger than at present, Pittsfield and Edmeston having since been set off from it. The surface consists chiefly of hilly uplands and ridges extending north and south, which at various points, attain an elevation of 400 feet above the valleys. The principal streams are Butternuts and Wharton creeks.The early settlers of the township came mostly from Vermont, but some from Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1787 came the five Angel brothers, Jonathan, William, Joseph, James and Thomas, and in 1789 Captain Gad Chapin, and Perez Briggs. In 1790 came Alexander Parker, Deacon Benjamin Herrington with his four brothers, Elijah, Francis, Richard and Elisha; the four Johnson brothers, Elisha, Harris, Ira and John; and the three Church brothers, Amasa, Willard and Cady. About this time came Jedediah Peck, a leading citizen who represented the county in the state legislature from 1799 to 1804. He is honorably remembered as the author of the bill establishing the public school system of the state. Other honored names in the early days were Jeremiah and Elisha Pratt, Samuel Gardner, Lemuel Hubble, Uriah Balcom and Zacheus Flint. Other respected families of the olden time, whose names have been perpetuated, are those of Deacon Albert Bolton, and his son Daniel, Colonel David Gardner, Dan Mather and his son Andrew A. Mather, Lemuel Bolton and his family of ten children, Capt. Elisha Parker, a soldier of the Revolution, and Roswell Kelsey. Caleb Clark, formerly president of the First National Bank of Edmeston,approaches his ninth year at his home in West Burlington, or with his grandchildren in Oneonta, with a cheerfulness that is an explanation of his long life.Burlington is a prosperous agricultural town. The leading industry is dairying, the milk being mostly sent to the local cheese factories, or to the Borden condensery at Edmeston. VILLAGES: There are three villages in the township, viz.: Burlington(population 111), Burlington Flats (population 212) and West Burlington (population 110). Wharton and Patent are rural post offices. SCHOOLS: Number of districts 13. Teachers 14. Children of school age 214. CHURCHES: There are six churches in the township, viz.: At Burlington, Baptist and United Presbyterian; at West Burlington, Episcopal and Methodist; at Burlington Flats, Baptist and Methodist. Transcribed by Karen Flanders