Herkimer County NyArchives History .....Town Of Columbia 1869
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  COLUMBIA was formed from Warren, June 8, 1812. It lies on the south border of
the County, west of the center. Its surface is rolling and moderately hilly,
with an average elevation of 500 to 600 feet above the Mohawk. The town is
drained by small brooks, some of which flow north into the Mohawk, and others
south into the Unadilla. The soil is a clayey loam and generally fertile,
producing all the fruits and grains common to the County.

  Columbia Center, (Columbia p. o.) in the central part of the town, contains a
hotel, a store, a cheese factory, a shoe shop, a wagon shop, a carriage shop,
two blacksmith shops and about 80 inhabitants.

  Miller's Mills, in the south-west part, contains a church, a cheese box
factory, a grist mill, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop and ten dwellings.

  South Columbia, in the south-west part, is a post office.

  The first settlement of this town was commenced before the Revolution by
several German families, among whom were Conrad Orendorff, Conrad Frank, Conrad
Fulmer, Frederick Christman, Timothy Frank, Nicholas Lighthall, Joseph Moyer and
Henry Frink. The place where these families settled was called "Coonradstown,"
previous to the organization of Columbia in 1812. The improvements made previous
to the war were abandoned during the struggle for Independence.

  In 1791 Asahel Alfred settled in the town. He was a native of Connecticut and
a soldier of the Eevolution, having entered the service in his fifteenth year.
He remained in the service more than three years, participating in the battle of
Monmouth, the capture of Burgoyne and other engagements. He was taken prisoner
at the Cedars, in Canada, by a party of the enemy, composed of whites and
Indians, stripped of all his clothing except his shirt and pants, and marched
off. He died in 1853 on the farm upon which he first located.

  Philip Ausman taught the first school in the town, in 1795. It was in the
German language. The next year Joel Phelps taught the first English school. The
first store was kept by David W. Golden and Benjamin Mix, in 1796. The first
grist mill was built in 1791-2, by Andrew Miller and George Bell, at Miller's
Mills. The first religious services were held at an early period by the Reformed
Protestant Dutch. Abram Rosegrantz was the first preacher.

  The population of the town in 1865 was 1,732; its area is 21,375 acres.


Additional Comments:
GAZETTEER AND BUSINESS DIRECTORY
OF
HERKIMER COUNTY, N Y., FOR 1869-70.

COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY
HAMILTON CHILD

AUTHOR OF WAYNE, ONTARIO, SENECA, CAYUGA, TOMPKINS, ONONDAGA, MADISON, CORTLAND,
CHEMUNG, SCHUYLER, ONEIDA, STEUBEN, ORLEANS, NIAGARA, GENESEE, CHENANGO, MONROE,
MONTGOMERY, FULTON, RENSSELAER, WYOMING, AND OTHER COUNTY DIRECTORIES.

Permanent Office, 23 & 24 E. Washington St, Syracuse, N. Y.

  "He that has much to do, will do something wrong, and of that wrong must
suffer the consequences; and if it were possible that he should always act
rightly, yet when such numbers are to judge of his conduct, the bad will censure
and obstruct him by malevolence, and the good sometimes by mistake."—SAMUEL
JOHNSON.

HANG UP THIS BOOK FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

SYRACUSE:
PRINTED AT THE JOURNAL OFFICE, 23 & 24 E. WASHINGTON STREET.
1869.


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