Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, Sr.

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Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, Sr. was a Revolutionary War Officer. There is a town named after him, Lindley, NY, however there was a spelling error which accounts for the missing "s". He is burried in Lindley Cemetery, also known as Colonel Lindsley Burying Ground.

Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, a Revolutionary War veteran, held commissions in Spencer's Regiment, the Jersey Blues, and the Continental Army. He was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army. When the American colonies revolted, Eleazer quickly sided with the patriots and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in Colonel Oliver Spencer's 3rd Regiment of New Jersey Continental Troops, it is often referred to as the "Fifth Battalion, Jersey Line." Upon his resignation, William Smith was appointed. Lindsley also served in the New Jersey Militia Morris County "Eastern Battalion" as a Second Major, January 13th, 1776, and as Lieutenant Colonel. He, along with other family members, fought at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. ["Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey" and "History of Morris County New Jersey"].

On Thursday, 26 Oct 1780, Esqs. Eleazer Lindsley, William Winds, and John Carle, returned (elected to serve one year) as a members of the New Jersey General Assembly for the county of Morris. In 1783, Eleazer Lindsley was appointed Justice of the Peace for Morris Township, where he owned one hundred seven acres of farmland from 1785 until August, 1790. This tract was among the properties that he sold to finance his ventures in New York state.

In 1788 and 1789, Colonel Lindsley traveled through the frontier areas of south central New York State to find land on which to settle. After rejecting the area around the Finger Lakes as unhealthy, he purchased a "rugged and uncompromising tract", approximately 30 square miles, from Gorham and Phelps in Township No. 1 of the second range. The following spring, Lindsley and his party of about forty traveled overland from Roxbury, Morris County, NJ, to Wilkes Barre, Pa. There they transferred their belongings onto seven ton boats and poled up the Susquehanna River to the Cowanesque, arriving at their property on 7 June 1790.

The party included Lindsley and his wife, Mary Wallace Miller (1738-1806), and many of the Lindsley children and their families: Elizabeth (1764-1852) and Capt. John Seelye (1757-1813); Sarah "Sally" (1776-1859) and Ebenezer Backus (d. 1831); Anna "Nancy" (1767-1813) and Dr. Ezekiel Mulford (1764-1813); Samuel Lindsley (1760-1805) and his wife, Lois Bradley (d. 1814); Phebe (1780-1814) and David Paine (d. 1851); and Eleazer Lindsley, Jr. (1769-1825) and his wife, Eunice Halsey (d. 1857). Lindsley's sons-in-law Dr. Mulford (New Jersey Militia) and Capt. Seelye (Pennsylvania Militia) were, like Lindsley, Revolutionary War veterans and loyal members of the Masonic Brotherhood. A daughter and son-in-law, Jemima and Dr. Stephen Hopkins, migrated with the Lindsley party, but due an illness, settled in nearby Luzerne County, Pa.

The Lindsleys were among the wealthiest and most politically influential families in the Painted Post district. Colonel Lindsley was enumerated in 1790 as having six slaves.

Colonel Lindsley's prominence in local affairs led to his election as representative from Ontario County to the New York state assembly. "In 1791, Colonel Eleazer Lindley of a small settlement on the Tioga River, near the Pennsylvania border, is elected to the state legislature as representative from the sparsely settled Ontario County. Although new counties have no official representation he is accepted to serve (two sessions, 1791 and 1792)." [Members of the New York State Assembly, 1790-99].

The New York State Legislature was pressured to subdivide Ontario and form new counties. Established in 1789, Ontario County was created from Montgomery. It encompassed all of western New York State from the Pre-emption Line to Lake Erie and from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border. By 1879, fourteen separate counties, the early history of this vast area is retained in the records of the parent County.

Thus Steuben was taken off in 1796, and Colonel Lindsley's original tract, purchased from Phelps and Gorham, was redistricted and became a part of the newly created Steuben. On the 12th of May 1843, his original tract was set away from Erwin and renamed Lind(s)ley Town in his honor.

According to one historical work, Eleazer was elected a member of the New York state Legislature in 1793, and while attending that session died in New York. But another analogy gives his date of death as June 1794 at his Ontario Co. NY residence.

From the "History of the First Presbyterian Church, Morristown NJ" Part 2, Combined Registers 1742-1899, pp. 136-137, we find the following:

Colonel Eleazer Lindsley was born was 7 Dec 1737; renewed covenant with church 25 Jan 1761, became communicant 3 May 1765; died 1 Jun 1791; in 1789 bought a township in Steuben Co., NY, later called by his name, and settled there with his family in 1790. His wife Mary Miller, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Wallace) Miller, was born 23 Aug 1738; renewed covenant with church 25 Jan 1761, became communicant 27 Apr 1766; died 20 Nov 1806. Eleazer and Mary had ten children, all born at Morristown, NJ and baptized at the First Presbyterian Church at Morristown.

History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N Y, pub. 1853. "Col. Eleazer Lindsley, a native of New Jersey, and an active officer of the Jersey Blues during the Revolutionary War, rode through the Genesee country previous to the year 1790, to find a tract of land which he might establish himself, and gather his children around him.

The sickliness of the regions around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes deterred him from locating his township in the rich northern plains, and he purchased township number one of the second range, a rugged and most unpromising tract for agricultural purpose, but intersected by the fine valley of the Tioga. The healthy hills, the pure springs, and the clear beautiful river, descending from the ravines of the Allegany's, promised, If not wealth, at least freedom from those fevers, agues, cramps and distempers, which prostrated the frames and wrenched the joints of the unfortunate settlers in the northern marches.

In the spring of 1790, Col. Lindsley started from Morristown New Jersey with a colony of about forty persons, who with their goods, were transported in wagons to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre the family and baggage was transferred to seven-ton boats and poled up the river, according to the practice of emigrants penetrating Ontario county by the valley; while the horse and cattle, of which there were thirty or forty, were driven along the trails, or rude roads on the bank. On the 7th day of June, 1790, the colony reached the place of destination.

Two sons of Col. Lindsley, Samuel and Eleazer, and five sons-in-law, Dr. (Ezekial) Mulford, Ebenezer Backus, Capt. John Seelye, Dr. (Stephen) Hopkins and David Payne, started with the colony from New Jersey. Dr. Hopkins remained at Tioga Point (now Athens) to (recover from an illness and there remained to) practice his profession. The others settled near Col. Lindley.

The river-flats were open and overgrown with strong wild grass and bushes. Ploughs were made by the settlers after their arrival, and as soon as these were finished, the flats were immediately broken, as on the Canisteo, with four oxen to each plough. The season was so far advanced, that the crop of corn was destroyed by frost, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. With buckwheat, milk and games, life was stayed during the first winter. History, looking sharply into the dim vale of ancient Tioga, smiles to see the image of "Old Pomp," negro pounding buckwheat in a samp-mortar, for the first ice in November till the breaking up of the rivers in March, when canoes can find a passage to Shepard's Mill, on the Susquehanna. History also, in this connection will embrace the opportunity to rescue Old Pomp from oblivion for the notable exploit of killing four bucks at a shot, and has the pleasure, therefore, of handing the said Pompey down to future generations as a fit subject for as much admiration as an intelligent and progressive race may think due to the man who laid low, with a musket at one shot, four fine bucks, as they were standing in the water.

Colonel and Mrs. Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church, at Morristown, in New Jersey. In his settlement the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were always welcomed, and when none such were present, the settlers were collected to hear a sermon read by Col. Lindsley himself. In 1793, Col. Lindsley was elected a member of the Legislature, and while attending the session of that body died in New York. Numerous descendants of Col. L. live in the neighborhood settled by him. His son, Hon. Eleazer Lindsley, jr. was, for several years, a Judge of the County Court; died in 1825." ["History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N Y", pub. 1853, (Chap 3: History of the Settlement of the Tioga Valley).pp. 53-54].

History of Steuben County, New York, pub. 1879. L I N D L E Y. The town of Lindley was formed from Erwin, May 12, 1837. It lies upon the southern border of the county, east of the centre, and is bounded by Erwin on the north, Caton on the east, the Pennsylvania line on the south, and Tuscarora on the west. The east and west parts of Lindley are elevated and hilly uplands, divided by the deep valley of the Tioga River, which is about one mile wide, and bounded by steep hill-sides from 400 to 600 feet high. The soil on the hills is a heavy, shaly loam, and in the valleys a rich alluvium. A large portion of the surface of the hills is still covered with forests, from which lumbering has been extensively carried on.

The first settlement in this town was made upon the Tioga Flats, by Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, in the year 1790. Mr. Lindsley was a native of New Jersey, and had been an active officer of the "Jersey Blues" during the Revolutionary war. Previous to 1790 he had ridden through the Genesee country to find a tract of land where he might establish himself and gather his children around him. The unhealthiness of the region around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes prevented his settling in that region, and he chose a tract less promising for agricultural purposes, but one that promised freedom from the diseases to which the more fertile northern plains were subject.

His colony consisted of about forty persons, who, with their goods, were transported to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre these were transferred to boats and poled up the river, while the horses and cattle were driven along the trails or rude roads upon the banks. They arrived at their place of destination June 7, 1790. Plows were made, and the river-flats were immediately broken. These flats were covered with rank grass, bordered by higher land covered with Indian corn-hills, which had been hilled up year after year, until so prominent as to be yet seen where undisturbed. It was on these corn-lands the first crop of the pioneers was raised. The season was too far advanced for corn, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. Buckwheat, corn, milk, and game constituted their food the first winter.

"Old Pomp," a negro belonging to Col. Lindsley, made himself useful by pounding buckwheat in the dug-out top of a stump, with pestle hung from an old-fashioned well-sweep, from the time the ice closed the river in autumn until spring removed the impediment, and allowed the transportation of train in canoes to Shepard's mill at Tioga Point, fifty-two miles down the river. Old Pomp seems to have been something of a hunter as wel as a miller, killing three bucks at one shot as they were feeding upon the moss in the river, and being kicked over a log and into the brush and nearly killed himself, from the recoil of the gun, which he always loaded with a handful of powder, and the entire contents of the old-fashioned brass moulds,-an ounce ball and nineteen buckshot of various sizes.

Colonel and Mrs. Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church ar Morristown, N.J., and in this new settlement the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were cordially welcomed, and when none of these were present to conduct the religious services, Col. Lindsley himself would read a sermon.

In 1793 he was elected a member of the Legislature (he was a member of New York state assembly from Ontario County, 1791-92). He died at home soon after, and his remains were the first to be placed in the plat he had himself selected for the cemetery of the colony, his death taking place in June, 1794 (church register reflects 1 Jun 1791). This cemetery is situated on the left bank of the river, and contains the remains of many of the early pioneers. It is known as the Lindsley Burying-ground. His was the first death in the new colony, which lost in him an energetic and worthy founder.

Col. Lindsley was accompanied to his new home in the Tioga Valley by his two sons, Samuel and Eleazer, and by his sons-in-law, Dr. Ezekial Mulford, Ebenezer Bachus, and Capt. John Seelye. David Cook and David Payne, who, in company with Mr. Bachus, built the first mill at Lindley Station, also accompanied the colony. Eliza Mulford, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Mulford, was the first child born in Lindley, and first while female child born in the county of Steuben, her birth occurring Aug. 10, 1792.

David Cook and Elizabeth Cady were the first couple united in marriage. Col. Lindsley, before his death, had erected a saw-mill, the irons for which he had brought with him from New Jersey, and which was in operation in 1790, being one of the first mills on the Phelps and gorham purchase, and the first in the Tioga Valley. This mill was located at a fall, a short distance up Watson Creek. The first grist-mill was built soon after, between this and the river. Mrs. Lindsley, after the death of her husband, kept the first public-house between Williamsport and Bath, and entertained Col. Williamson and his crew on their early journey through the wilderness. She died in Lindleytown, Nov. 20, 1806.

Many of the descendants of the Lindsley, Mulford, and Seelye families still live in Tioga and adjoining valleys. The principal descendant of the Lindsley family is Bradley Lindsley, who occupies the original home of his grandfather, much improved and beautified, but still exhibiting the old style of liberal hospitality and welcome. Charles Ford, only son of the first merchant in the valley, and grandson of Col. Lindsley, married the daughter of Gen. Cruger, of Bath, and still lives in sight of the little cemetery where sleep the colonists and many of their children. A visit to his home is a rare treat to the antiquarian, the house being filled with many mementos of early public men, as well as of the early settlers of Steuben County.

Dr. Ezekial Mulford, the physician of the colony, was a direct descendant of John Mulford, of Maidstone, Sussex, England, who was one of the first thirty-five english settlers in the State of New York, he settling on Long Island in 1639. Dr. Mulford and his wife both died within a few hours of each other during the fever of 1812, leaving a family of fifteen children. Lindsley Mulford, who was the oldest of the family, became known throughout the country as a woodsman and hunter, living a life of adventure with a young Indian for some years; finally settling down as a prosperous farmer, and dying at the age of eight-seven years.

Jeremiah and Eleazer were intimately connected with the early development of Lindleytown, which was built upon their farms, and were highly respected by the community in which they lived. Eleazer Mulford, the last survivor of the Lindsley colony, who came in 1809, died in 1871, at the age of eighty-four years. In 1811 he was married to Miss Betsey Lillibridge, who had come to the settlement to teach school.

John C. and E. P. Mulford are the leading members of the family in the town, and prominent citizens. Lee and Uri Mulford, well-known journalists and writers in Steuben County, are of this family. Castilla was the father of gen. John E. Mulford, who acquired a national reputation by his connection with the exchange of prisoners during the late war. Eliza, the first child born in the colony, was the mother of rodney Bachus, the inventor.

Joseph Miller, the school-teacher of the colony, grandfather of Horace Vastbinder, informs us, in the school commissioner's report for 1826, that "the school-books used in the four districts of the town are Webster's Spelling-book, Murray's English Reader, Murray's Grammar, Walker's Dictionary, Daboll's Arithmetic, Flint's Surveying, and Moar's Geography."

Charles Seelye, who occupies the old homestead of his grandfather, Capt. John Seelye, near the Lawrenceville depot, is a son of William Seelye, long a leading citizen of Lindley, and the only one left to bear the name. Col. Gabriel T. Harrower, grandson of Rev. David Harrower, and for many years one of the leading lumbermen of Tioga Valley, served as colonel of the 161st New York Volunteers in the late Rebellion, and represented this district in the State Senate in 1871.

Of the seven slaves brought by the colony from New Jersey some of their descendants are still living in various parts of the country. "Old Pomp" fell a victim to the epidemic fever after tending the sick during the terrible winter of 1813.

William More, one of the most extensive farmers in the southern part of the county, Col. G. T. Harrower, Hiram Middlebrook, S. M. Morgan, and Rev. W. H. Hill have been leading business men of Lindleytown for many years. T. J. Presho and S. Hammond are leading business men at Erwin Centre.

Joseph Miller, one of the colony, who was in later years for a long time school commissioner, taught the first school, near the Pennsylvania line, in 1793, which shows that the first settlers of this wilderness did not remain long without the means of education for their children. Dr. Mulford located himself near the State line, and devoted himself to his profession. Col. Lindsley sold to John P. Ryerss a portion of the northeast corner of the town, and in 1804, James Ford came from the East as his clerk, bringing a stock of goods and opening the first store in the valley, near the Orr place, below Cooks Creek. Amos Halsey came after the colony, and was accidentally killed in 1802.

The first post-office was at Judge (Eleaser, Jr.) Lindsley's house, and afterwards, in 1830, at the store of Lyan & Morgan, Albert Morgan being postmaster. Rev. David Harrower, a Scotch Presbyterian preacher, resided in Lindley, and preached in the surrounding country at that date. Joshua Russell came to Lindley in 1823, settling on the Calder farm, at the mouth of Mulford Creek. Lime was burned at this point from marl, in the hills, in 1846. Coal has been found also, on the surface among the hills on this creek, in small quantities. This was one of the heaviest timbered towns in the county, no less than fourteen miles having been located along the river within the present town limits.

Robert, a brother of Ben Patterson the scout and hunter, who participated in the engagement at Freeling's Fort and, other scenes of the early Indian wars, was one of the early settlers, removing from the old tavern at Knoxville, and locating at the mouth of the creek which bears his name, in 1804. Among the later arrivals previous to 1830 are found the names of E. F. Tremans, A. F. Lyon, A. C. and Julius Morgan, John P. Ryerss, Abner Thurber, Frederick Heckart, and Eber Scofield. Elam Watson has been justice of the peace almost continuously from 1830.

The Lindsley colony brought with them several slaves, who remained with their masters until years after the legislation abolishing slavery in New York. Death emancipated them from a not burdensome servitude. The line of road past the Patterson place was in earlier days a well-known racing-ground, and the scene of many a rural frolic among the hardy pioneers and their children.

The river, which is now confined to its narrow bed, covered much of the flat with its shallow waters, and fords were convenient at each settlement. Oak timber in the flats furnished acorns to fatten the half-wild hogs, and butternuts covered the ground in their season. Every family had its dug-out, and deer were shot at will in the woods or while feeding on the rich mosses in the dark shadows of the river.

Col. Lindsley portioned his lands to his children and followers in long strips across the town, the old partition surveys still annoying their possessors by their inconvenient angles. The now rich river-flats were in many cases abandoned by their owners for hill farms, which, when developed, were vastly inferior in value to those they left… [Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Steuben County, New York: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers,: Philadelphia: Lewis, Peck & Co., 1879, pp. 350-355].

History of Steuben County, New York, pub. 1879 The Township of Lind(s)ley was set-off from Erwin, May 12, 1837, and was named in honor of Col. Eleazer Lindsley, the original proprietor. It lies upon the southern border of the county, east of the centre, and was "Township No. 1, of the Second Range." It is bounded north by Erwin, east by Caton, south by Pennsylvania state line, and west by the town of Tuscarora. The east and west parts are hilly uplands, divided by the valley of the Tioga river, which is bounded by steep hillsides from four to six hundred feet high. The course of the Tioga is from south to north through the town, a little east of the centre. The soil upon the hills is a heavy, shaly loam, and in the valley, which is about a mile in width, a rich alluvium. The population of the town, according to the census enumeration of 1890, was 1,527."

The first settlement in this township, Lindsley Town, was made upon the Tioga Flats, by Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, in the year 1790. Mr. Lindsley was a native of New Jersey, and had been an active officer of the "Jersey Blues" during the Revolutionary war. Previous to 1790 he had ridden through the Genesee country to find a tract of land where he might establish himself and gather his children around him. The unhealthiness of the region around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes prevented his settling in that region, and he chose a tract less promising for agricultural purposes, but one that promised freedom from the diseases to which the more fertile northern plains were subject.

His colony consisted of about forty persons, who, with their goods, were transported to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre these were transferred to boats and poled up the river, while the horses and cattle were driven along the trails or rude roads upon the banks. They arrived at their place of destination June 7, 1790. Plows were made, and the river-flats were immediately broken. These flats were covered with rank grass, bordered by higher land covered with Indian corn-hills, which had been hilled up year after year, until so prominent as to be yet seen where undisturbed. It was on these corn-lands the first crop of the pioneers was raised. The season was too far advanced for corn, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. Buckwheat, corn, milk, and game constituted their food the first winter.

"Old Pomp," a negro belonging to Col. Lindsley, made himself useful by pounding buckwheat in the dug-out top of a stump, with pestle hung from an old-fashioned well-sweep, from the time the ice closed the river in autumn until spring removed the impediment, and allowed the transportation of train in canoes to Shepard's mill at Tioga Point, fifty-two miles down the river. Old Pomp seems to have been something of a hunter as well as a miller, killing three bucks at one shot as they were feeding upon the moss in the river, and being kicked over a log and into the brush and nearly killed himself, from the recoil of the gun, which he always loaded with a handful of powder, and the entire contents of the old-fashioned brass moulds, an ounce ball and nineteen buckshot of various sizes.

Colonel and Mrs. (Mary Miller) Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church at Morristown, NJ, and in this new settlement, the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were cordially welcomed, and when none of these were present to conduct the religious services, Col. Lindsley himself would read a sermon. In 1793, he was elected a member of the Legislature. He died at home soon after, and his remains were the first to be placed in the plat he had himself selected for the cemetery of the colony, his death taking place in June, 1794. This cemetery is situated on the left bank of the river, and contains the remains of many of the early pioneers. It is known as the Lindsley Burying-ground. His was the first death in the new colony, which lost in him an energetic and worthy founder.

Col. Lindsley was accompanied to his new home in the Tioga Valley by his two sons, Samuel and Eleazer, and by his (five) sons-in-law, Dr. Ezekial Mulford, Ebenezer Bachus, Capt. John Seelye, and (Dr. Stephen Hopkins, who traveled as far as Tioga Point (now Athens) before halting to recover from an illness and there remained to practice his profession). David Cook and David Payne, who in company with Mr. Bachus, built the first mill at Lindley Station, also accompanied the colony. Eliza Mulford, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Mulford, was the first child born in Lindley, and first while female child born in the county of Steuben, her birth occurring Aug. 10, 1792. David Cook and Elizabeth Cady were the first couple united in marriage.

Col. Lindsley, before his death, had erected a saw-mill, the irons for which he had brought with him from New Jersey, and which was in operation in 1790, being one of the first mills on the Phelps and Gorham purchase, and the first in the Tioga Valley. This mill was located at a fall, a short distance up Watson Creek. The first grist-mill was built soon after, between this and the river. Mrs. Lindsley, after the death of her husband, kept the first public-house between Williamsport and Bath, and entertained Col. Williamson and his crew on their early journey through the wilderness. She died in Lindleytown, Nov. 20, 1806. [Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Steuben County, NY: with illus & biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Philadelphia: Lewis, Peck & Co., 1879, pp. 350-355].

A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania, pub. 1908. The summer of 1790, an unusually large party of colonists for New York State arrived, headed by Colonel Arthur Erwin's friend and rival, in the Phelps & Gorham tract, Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, of Col. Oliver Spencer's 5th Regiment, New Jersey, who was in the Sullivan expedition. He had made a purchase next to that of Erwin, called Lindleytown, now in Steuben County. He brought with him a colony of sixty, including his own large family and several sons-in-law.

The arrival of this party made a great stir at Tioga Point (now Athens), the more so because one of Lindley's son-in-laws was taken sick here, and had to be left behind. A most fortunate illness for Tioga Point, for it gave the settlement its first regular physician, Doctor Stephen Hopkins. Moreover, it made a link between the towns, and brought later one or more wives to other pioneers. Ebenezer Backus, one of the sons-in-law, (husband of Sarah "Sally" Lindsley), came with this party, and became actively connected with Athens.

"Two sons of Col. Lindley, Samuel and Eleazer, and four sons-in-law, Dr. Mulford, Ebenezer Backus, Capt. John Seely, and Dr. Hopkins, started with the colony from New Jersey. Dr. Hopkins remained at Tioga Point to practice his profession."

Col. Lindsley had a number of slaves, and one or more was given to each married daughter. Old Cato, long the faithful servant of Francis Tyler, was the son of one; also Black Nellie and Aunt Betsey, well remembered by the older people, who though freed in time by law, continued to live in Athens. In 1896, there died near Rome, New York, a colored man over 100 years old, who called himself "Edward Hopkins" and told of Tioga Point families. Doubtless he or his kin had belonged to Mrs. Ebenezer Backus or her sister. Mr. Backus' active connection with Tioga Point at a later date is to be found in a subsequent chapter.

The Lindsley Family. "After the foregoing chapter was in type we learned of a manuscript concerning this family in the possession of Mrs. S. W. Badger, a resident of Athens today (1908). This is a copy of the gleanings of Mrs. E. B. Beaumont (deceased), a descendant of Col. Eleazer Lindsley.

The records say that this name, both in England and America, has always had as many spellings as it has letters, father and son often using different ones. It was originally derived from the numerous linden trees with which the family lands abounded in Linddeseya, later Lindsaye and now Lincolnshire. The original emigrant John Lindsley came from England (near London) and settled in Guilford, Conn., where he died in 1630. The family were all strong Presbyterians, therefore persecuted; Frances, son of John, was a friend and staunch adherent of Cromwell, after whose death he decided to follow his family to America, about 1659.

A few years later, during the troubles between different Connecticut Colonies, the brothers, John and Frances, joined a band of the disaffected, and purchased a large tract of land in New Jersey, and laid out the city of Newark. John, son of Frances, was the first boy born in the new settlement, and the proprietors gave him a tract of land where Orange now stands. Later, Frances bought a tract covering the present site of Morristown, where he died at the age of 104.

Colonel Eleazer Lindsley was a great grandson of Frances, being a son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son of Frances, as found in Connecticut and New Jersey State records. Eleazer married Mary Miller, granddaughter of Thomas Miller and Margaret Wallace, and had two sons and six daughters. Mrs. Hopkins, Mrs. Backus and Mrs. Paine have already been mentioned. One of the sons was also a temporary resident of Athens. Anna m. Dr. Ezekiel Mulford and had thirteen children. According to notes of Edward Herrick, Jr., the Mulfords also lived at Athens, and died there of the "cold fever." They were the great-great grandparents of Mrs. Badger.

Eleazer Lindsley was in active service all through the Revolution, attaining to the rank of (Lt) Colonel; was aide-de-camp to Washington, and finally on the staff of General Lafayette, who became a personal friend and visited at the Lindsley home some weeks. On his departure, he bestowed upon his host a ring from his finger and a court vest, which was preserved by the family by being cut up into pincushion covers.

This manuscript also contained extracts from a rare old book, published in Scotland, entitled "The Lives of the Lindsays," by Alexander William, 24th Earl of Crawford. The only copy known in America belongs to Mrs. Mary Lindsley Porter. It contains the history of the family, autographs, crests, armorial bearings and a genealogical table. The family of Eleazer claim descent from Sir John Lindsay of Craigi Castle. All the Scotch and English families were celebrated for their literary talents, as well as for their staunch adherence to the Presbyterian faith. Lack of space precludes further mention of this interesting family." [Louise Welles Murray, "A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania", Closson Press, 1908, pp. 320-321, 350]. Endnote: Mrs. S. W. Badger (Alice Gertrude Middaugh), b. Oct 1856 in Lawrenceville, PA; m. Samuel W. Badger b. Jan 1849 in NY state. Alice was a daughter of Chester Middaugh and Anna Repass, a d/o William Repass and Nancy L. Mulford, who was a d/o Anna Vanire and Jeremiah Mulford, a son of Ezekial Mulford and Anna "Nancy" Lindsley, who was a daughter of Mary Miller and Lt Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, a son of Jonathan Jr., who was a son of Jonathan Sr., a son of Francis, who was a son of John Lindsley.

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LIEUTENANT COLONEL ELEAZER LINDSLEY Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, a Revolutionary War veteran, held commissions in Spencer's Regiment, the Jersey Blues, and the Continental Army. He was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army. When the American colonies revolted, Eleazer quickly sided with the patriots and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in Colonel Oliver Spencer's 3rd Regiment of New Jersey Continental Troops, it is often referred to as the "Fifth Battalion, Jersey Line." Upon his resignation, William Smith was appointed. Lindsley also served in the New Jersey Militia Morris County "Eastern Battalion" as a Second Major, January 13th, 1776, and as Lieutenant Colonel. He, along with other family members, fought at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. ["Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey" and "History of Morris County New Jersey"].

On Thursday, 26 Oct 1780, Esqs. Eleazer Lindsley, William Winds, and John Carle, returned (elected to serve one year) as a members of the New Jersey General Assembly for the county of Morris. In 1783, Eleazer Lindsley was appointed Justice of the Peace for Morris Township, where he owned one hundred seven acres of farmland from 1785 until August, 1790. This tract was among the properties that he sold to finance his ventures in New York state.

In 1788 and 1789, Colonel Lindsley traveled through the frontier areas of south central New York State to find land on which to settle. After rejecting the area around the Finger Lakes as unhealthy, he purchased a "rugged and uncompromising tract", approximately 30 square miles, from Gorham and Phelps in Township No. 1 of the second range. The following spring, Lindsley and his party of about forty traveled overland from Roxbury, Morris County, NJ, to Wilkes Barre, Pa. There they transferred their belongings onto seven ton boats and poled up the Susquehanna River to the Cowanesque, arriving at their property on 7 June 1790.

The party included Lindsley and his wife, Mary Wallace Miller (1738-1806), and many of the Lindsley children and their families: Elizabeth (1764-1852) and Capt. John Seelye (1757-1813); Sarah "Sally" (1776-1859) and Ebenezer Backus (d. 1831); Anna "Nancy" (1767-1813) and Dr. Ezekiel Mulford (1764-1813); Samuel Lindsley (1760-1805) and his wife, Lois Bradley (d. 1814); Phebe (1780-1814) and David Paine (d. 1851); and Eleazer Lindsley, Jr. (1769-1825) and his wife, Eunice Halsey (d. 1857). Lindsley's sons-in-law Dr. Mulford (New Jersey Militia) and Capt. Seelye (Pennsylvania Militia) were, like Lindsley, Revolutionary War veterans and loyal members of the Masonic Brotherhood. A daughter and son-in-law, Jemima and Dr. Stephen Hopkins, migrated with the Lindsley party, but due an illness, settled in nearby Luzerne County, Pa.

The Lindsleys were among the wealthiest and most politically influential families in the Painted Post district. Colonel Lindsley was enumerated in 1790 as having six slaves.

Colonel Lindsley's prominence in local affairs led to his election as representative from Ontario County to the New York state assembly. "In 1791, Colonel Eleazer Lindley of a small settlement on the Tioga River, near the Pennsylvania border, is elected to the state legislature as representative from the sparsely settled Ontario County. Although new counties have no official representation he is accepted to serve (two sessions, 1791 and 1792)." [Members of the New York State Assembly, 1790-99].

The New York State Legislature was pressured to subdivide Ontario and form new counties. Established in 1789, Ontario County was created from Montgomery. It encompassed all of western New York State from the Pre-emption Line to Lake Erie and from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border. By 1879, fourteen separate counties, the early history of this vast area is retained in the records of the parent County.

Thus Steuben was taken off in 1796, and Colonel Lindsley's original tract, purchased from Phelps and Gorham, was redistricted and became a part of the newly created Steuben. On the 12th of May 1843, his original tract was set away from Erwin and renamed Lind(s)ley Town in his honor.

According to one historical work, Eleazer was elected a member of the New York state Legislature in 1793, and while attending that session died in New York. But another analogy gives his date of death as June 1794 at his Ontario Co. NY residence.

From the "History of the First Presbyterian Church, Morristown NJ" Part 2, Combined Registers 1742-1899, pp. 136-137, we find the following:

Colonel Eleazer Lindsley was born was 7 Dec 1737; renewed covenant with church 25 Jan 1761, became communicant 3 May 1765; died 1 Jun 1791; in 1789 bought a township in Steuben Co., NY, later called by his name, and settled there with his family in 1790. His wife Mary Miller, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Wallace) Miller, was born 23 Aug 1738; renewed covenant with church 25 Jan 1761, became communicant 27 Apr 1766; died 20 Nov 1806. Eleazer and Mary had ten children, all born at Morristown, NJ and baptized at the First Presbyterian Church at Morristown.

..~*¨*·.·´.·*¨*~... ... THEIR CHILDREN ... ..~*¨*·.·´.·*¨*~...

i. Samuel born 6 Sep 1760; baptized 25 Jan 1761; died 1 May 1805; m. Lois Bradley, who died 18 Jun 1814.

ii. Anne born 24 Jul 1762; baptized 22 Aug 1762; d. 10 Mar 1764.

iii. Elizabeth, a twin, born 17 Jul 1764; baptized 26 Aug 1764; m. Capt. John Seelye.

iv. Mary, a twin, born 17 Jul 1764; baptized 26 Aug 1764; d. 29 Jul 1784, unmarried.

v. Nancy Anne (Anna) born 3 Jul 1767; baptized 2 Jul 1767; m. Dr. Ezekiel Mulford; both died in Jan 1813.

vi. Eleazer, Jr. born 4 Jul 1769; baptized 6 Aug 1769; died 11 May 1825; m. 23 Apr 1787, Eunice Halsey, who died 21 Jun 1857.

vii. Jemima born 28 Jan 1772; baptized 26 Apr 1772; died 16 Aug 1830; m. at Roxbury 3 Apr 1788, Dr. Stephen Hopkins, who d. 29 Mar 1841. Removed to Tioga Point (now Athens), Branford Co., PA.

viii. Micajah born 23 Jun 1774; baptized 26 Jun 1774; died young.

ix. Sarah born 8 Jun 1776; baptized 1 Jun 1777; died 1859; m. Enbenzer Backus, who died 16 Jun 1831. Removed to Tioga Point (now Athens), Branford Co., PA.

x. Phebe born 16 Aug 1780; died 21 Jan 1814; m. David Paine, who died 7 Sep 1851. Removed to Tioga Point (now Athens), Branford Co., PA.

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ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF COLONEL ELEAZER LINDSLEY AND HIS FAMILY.

History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N Y, pub. 1853. "Col. Eleazer Lindsley, a native of New Jersey, and an active officer of the Jersey Blues during the Revolutionary War, rode through the Genesee country previous to the year 1790, to find a tract of land which he might establish himself, and gather his children around him.

The sickliness of the regions around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes deterred him from locating his township in the rich northern plains, and he purchased township number one of the second range, a rugged and most unpromising tract for agricultural purpose, but intersected by the fine valley of the Tioga. The healthy hills, the pure springs, and the clear beautiful river, descending from the ravines of the Allegany's, promised, If not wealth, at least freedom from those fevers, agues, cramps and distempers, which prostrated the frames and wrenched the joints of the unfortunate settlers in the northern marches.

In the spring of 1790, Col. Lindsley started from Morristown New Jersey with a colony of about forty persons, who with their goods, were transported in wagons to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre the family and baggage was transferred to seven-ton boats and poled up the river, according to the practice of emigrants penetrating Ontario county by the valley; while the horse and cattle, of which there were thirty or forty, were driven along the trails, or rude roads on the bank. On the 7th day of June, 1790, the colony reached the place of destination.

Two sons of Col. Lindsley, Samuel and Eleazer, and five sons-in-law, Dr. (Ezekial) Mulford, Ebenezer Backus, Capt. John Seelye, Dr. (Stephen) Hopkins and David Payne, started with the colony from New Jersey. Dr. Hopkins remained at Tioga Point (now Athens) to (recover from an illness and there remained to) practice his profession. The others settled near Col. Lindley.

The river-flats were open and overgrown with strong wild grass and bushes. Ploughs were made by the settlers after their arrival, and as soon as these were finished, the flats were immediately broken, as on the Canisteo, with four oxen to each plough. The season was so far advanced, that the crop of corn was destroyed by frost, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. With buckwheat, milk and games, life was stayed during the first winter. History, looking sharply into the dim vale of ancient Tioga, smiles to see the image of "Old Pomp," negro pounding buckwheat in a samp-mortar, for the first ice in November till the breaking up of the rivers in March, when canoes can find a passage to Shepard's Mill, on the Susquehanna. History also, in this connection will embrace the opportunity to rescue Old Pomp from oblivion for the notable exploit of killing four bucks at a shot, and has the pleasure, therefore, of handing the said Pompey down to future generations as a fit subject for as much admiration as an intelligent and progressive race may think due to the man who laid low, with a musket at one shot, four fine bucks, as they were standing in the water.

Colonel and Mrs. Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church, at Morristown, in New Jersey. In his settlement the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were always welcomed, and when none such were present, the settlers were collected to hear a sermon read by Col. Lindsley himself. In 1793, Col. Lindsley was elected a member of the Legislature, and while attending the session of that body died in New York. Numerous descendants of Col. L. live in the neighborhood settled by him. His son, Hon. Eleazer Lindsley, jr. was, for several years, a Judge of the County Court; died in 1825." ["History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N Y", pub. 1853, (Chap 3: History of the Settlement of the Tioga Valley).pp. 53-54].

History of Steuben County, New York, pub. 1879. L I N D L E Y. The town of Lindley was formed from Erwin, May 12, 1837. It lies upon the southern border of the county, east of the centre, and is bounded by Erwin on the north, Caton on the east, the Pennsylvania line on the south, and Tuscarora on the west. The east and west parts of Lindley are elevated and hilly uplands, divided by the deep valley of the Tioga River, which is about one mile wide, and bounded by steep hill-sides from 400 to 600 feet high. The soil on the hills is a heavy, shaly loam, and in the valleys a rich alluvium. A large portion of the surface of the hills is still covered with forests, from which lumbering has been extensively carried on.

The first settlement in this town was made upon the Tioga Flats, by Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, in the year 1790. Mr. Lindsley was a native of New Jersey, and had been an active officer of the "Jersey Blues" during the Revolutionary war. Previous to 1790 he had ridden through the Genesee country to find a tract of land where he might establish himself and gather his children around him. The unhealthiness of the region around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes prevented his settling in that region, and he chose a tract less promising for agricultural purposes, but one that promised freedom from the diseases to which the more fertile northern plains were subject.

His colony consisted of about forty persons, who, with their goods, were transported to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre these were transferred to boats and poled up the river, while the horses and cattle were driven along the trails or rude roads upon the banks. They arrived at their place of destination June 7, 1790. Plows were made, and the river-flats were immediately broken. These flats were covered with rank grass, bordered by higher land covered with Indian corn-hills, which had been hilled up year after year, until so prominent as to be yet seen where undisturbed. It was on these corn-lands the first crop of the pioneers was raised. The season was too far advanced for corn, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. Buckwheat, corn, milk, and game constituted their food the first winter.

"Old Pomp," a negro belonging to Col. Lindsley, made himself useful by pounding buckwheat in the dug-out top of a stump, with pestle hung from an old-fashioned well-sweep, from the time the ice closed the river in autumn until spring removed the impediment, and allowed the transportation of train in canoes to Shepard's mill at Tioga Point, fifty-two miles down the river. Old Pomp seems to have been something of a hunter as wel as a miller, killing three bucks at one shot as they were feeding upon the moss in the river, and being kicked over a log and into the brush and nearly killed himself, from the recoil of the gun, which he always loaded with a handful of powder, and the entire contents of the old-fashioned brass moulds,-an ounce ball and nineteen buckshot of various sizes.

Colonel and Mrs. Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church ar Morristown, N.J., and in this new settlement the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were cordially welcomed, and when none of these were present to conduct the religious services, Col. Lindsley himself would read a sermon.

In 1793 he was elected a member of the Legislature (he was a member of New York state assembly from Ontario County, 1791-92). He died at home soon after, and his remains were the first to be placed in the plat he had himself selected for the cemetery of the colony, his death taking place in June, 1794 (church register reflects 1 Jun 1791). This cemetery is situated on the left bank of the river, and contains the remains of many of the early pioneers. It is known as the Lindsley Burying-ground. His was the first death in the new colony, which lost in him an energetic and worthy founder.

Col. Lindsley was accompanied to his new home in the Tioga Valley by his two sons, Samuel and Eleazer, and by his sons-in-law, Dr. Ezekial Mulford, Ebenezer Bachus, and Capt. John Seelye. David Cook and David Payne, who, in company with Mr. Bachus, built the first mill at Lindley Station, also accompanied the colony. Eliza Mulford, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Mulford, was the first child born in Lindley, and first while female child born in the county of Steuben, her birth occurring Aug. 10, 1792.

David Cook and Elizabeth Cady were the first couple united in marriage. Col. Lindsley, before his death, had erected a saw-mill, the irons for which he had brought with him from New Jersey, and which was in operation in 1790, being one of the first mills on the Phelps and gorham purchase, and the first in the Tioga Valley. This mill was located at a fall, a short distance up Watson Creek. The first grist-mill was built soon after, between this and the river. Mrs. Lindsley, after the death of her husband, kept the first public-house between Williamsport and Bath, and entertained Col. Williamson and his crew on their early journey through the wilderness. She died in Lindleytown, Nov. 20, 1806.

Many of the descendants of the Lindsley, Mulford, and Seelye families still live in Tioga and adjoining valleys. The principal descendant of the Lindsley family is Bradley Lindsley, who occupies the original home of his grandfather, much improved and beautified, but still exhibiting the old style of liberal hospitality and welcome. Charles Ford, only son of the first merchant in the valley, and grandson of Col. Lindsley, married the daughter of Gen. Cruger, of Bath, and still lives in sight of the little cemetery where sleep the colonists and many of their children. A visit to his home is a rare treat to the antiquarian, the house being filled with many mementos of early public men, as well as of the early settlers of Steuben County.

Dr. Ezekial Mulford, the physician of the colony, was a direct descendant of John Mulford, of Maidstone, Sussex, England, who was one of the first thirty-five english settlers in the State of New York, he settling on Long Island in 1639. Dr. Mulford and his wife both died within a few hours of each other during the fever of 1812, leaving a family of fifteen children. Lindsley Mulford, who was the oldest of the family, became known throughout the country as a woodsman and hunter, living a life of adventure with a young Indian for some years; finally settling down as a prosperous farmer, and dying at the age of eight-seven years.

Jeremiah and Eleazer were intimately connected with the early development of Lindleytown, which was built upon their farms, and were highly respected by the community in which they lived. Eleazer Mulford, the last survivor of the Lindsley colony, who came in 1809, died in 1871, at the age of eighty-four years. In 1811 he was married to Miss Betsey Lillibridge, who had come to the settlement to teach school.

John C. and E. P. Mulford are the leading members of the family in the town, and prominent citizens. Lee and Uri Mulford, well-known journalists and writers in Steuben County, are of this family. Castilla was the father of gen. John E. Mulford, who acquired a national reputation by his connection with the exchange of prisoners during the late war. Eliza, the first child born in the colony, was the mother of rodney Bachus, the inventor.

Joseph Miller, the school-teacher of the colony, grandfather of Horace Vastbinder, informs us, in the school commissioner's report for 1826, that "the school-books used in the four districts of the town are Webster's Spelling-book, Murray's English Reader, Murray's Grammar, Walker's Dictionary, Daboll's Arithmetic, Flint's Surveying, and Moar's Geography."

Charles Seelye, who occupies the old homestead of his grandfather, Capt. John Seelye, near the Lawrenceville depot, is a son of William Seelye, long a leading citizen of Lindley, and the only one left to bear the name. Col. Gabriel T. Harrower, grandson of Rev. David Harrower, and for many years one of the leading lumbermen of Tioga Valley, served as colonel of the 161st New York Volunteers in the late Rebellion, and represented this district in the State Senate in 1871.

Of the seven slaves brought by the colony from New Jersey some of their descendants are still living in various parts of the country. "Old Pomp" fell a victim to the epidemic fever after tending the sick during the terrible winter of 1813.

William More, one of the most extensive farmers in the southern part of the county, Col. G. T. Harrower, Hiram Middlebrook, S. M. Morgan, and Rev. W. H. Hill have been leading business men of Lindleytown for many years. T. J. Presho and S. Hammond are leading business men at Erwin Centre.

Joseph Miller, one of the colony, who was in later years for a long time school commissioner, taught the first school, near the Pennsylvania line, in 1793, which shows that the first settlers of this wilderness did not remain long without the means of education for their children. Dr. Mulford located himself near the State line, and devoted himself to his profession. Col. Lindsley sold to John P. Ryerss a portion of the northeast corner of the town, and in 1804, James Ford came from the East as his clerk, bringing a stock of goods and opening the first store in the valley, near the Orr place, below Cooks Creek. Amos Halsey came after the colony, and was accidentally killed in 1802.

The first post-office was at Judge (Eleaser, Jr.) Lindsley's house, and afterwards, in 1830, at the store of Lyan & Morgan, Albert Morgan being postmaster. Rev. David Harrower, a Scotch Presbyterian preacher, resided in Lindley, and preached in the surrounding country at that date. Joshua Russell came to Lindley in 1823, settling on the Calder farm, at the mouth of Mulford Creek. Lime was burned at this point from marl, in the hills, in 1846. Coal has been found also, on the surface among the hills on this creek, in small quantities. This was one of the heaviest timbered towns in the county, no less than fourteen miles having been located along the river within the present town limits.

Robert, a brother of Ben Patterson the scout and hunter, who participated in the engagement at Freeling's Fort and, other scenes of the early Indian wars, was one of the early settlers, removing from the old tavern at Knoxville, and locating at the mouth of the creek which bears his name, in 1804. Among the later arrivals previous to 1830 are found the names of E. F. Tremans, A. F. Lyon, A. C. and Julius Morgan, John P. Ryerss, Abner Thurber, Frederick Heckart, and Eber Scofield. Elam Watson has been justice of the peace almost continuously from 1830.

The Lindsley colony brought with them several slaves, who remained with their masters until years after the legislation abolishing slavery in New York. Death emancipated them from a not burdensome servitude. The line of road past the Patterson place was in earlier days a well-known racing-ground, and the scene of many a rural frolic among the hardy pioneers and their children.

The river, which is now confined to its narrow bed, covered much of the flat with its shallow waters, and fords were convenient at each settlement. Oak timber in the flats furnished acorns to fatten the half-wild hogs, and butternuts covered the ground in their season. Every family had its dug-out, and deer were shot at will in the woods or while feeding on the rich mosses in the dark shadows of the river.

Col. Lindsley portioned his lands to his children and followers in long strips across the town, the old partition surveys still annoying their possessors by their inconvenient angles. The now rich river-flats were in many cases abandoned by their owners for hill farms, which, when developed, were vastly inferior in value to those they left… [Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Steuben County, New York: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers,: Philadelphia: Lewis, Peck & Co., 1879, pp. 350-355].

History of Steuben County, New York, pub. 1879 The Township of Lind(s)ley was set-off from Erwin, May 12, 1837, and was named in honor of Col. Eleazer Lindsley, the original proprietor. It lies upon the southern border of the county, east of the centre, and was "Township No. 1, of the Second Range." It is bounded north by Erwin, east by Caton, south by Pennsylvania state line, and west by the town of Tuscarora. The east and west parts are hilly uplands, divided by the valley of the Tioga river, which is bounded by steep hillsides from four to six hundred feet high. The course of the Tioga is from south to north through the town, a little east of the centre. The soil upon the hills is a heavy, shaly loam, and in the valley, which is about a mile in width, a rich alluvium. The population of the town, according to the census enumeration of 1890, was 1,527."

The first settlement in this township, Lindsley Town, was made upon the Tioga Flats, by Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, in the year 1790. Mr. Lindsley was a native of New Jersey, and had been an active officer of the "Jersey Blues" during the Revolutionary war. Previous to 1790 he had ridden through the Genesee country to find a tract of land where he might establish himself and gather his children around him. The unhealthiness of the region around Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes prevented his settling in that region, and he chose a tract less promising for agricultural purposes, but one that promised freedom from the diseases to which the more fertile northern plains were subject.

His colony consisted of about forty persons, who, with their goods, were transported to the Susquehanna. At Wilkesbarre these were transferred to boats and poled up the river, while the horses and cattle were driven along the trails or rude roads upon the banks. They arrived at their place of destination June 7, 1790. Plows were made, and the river-flats were immediately broken. These flats were covered with rank grass, bordered by higher land covered with Indian corn-hills, which had been hilled up year after year, until so prominent as to be yet seen where undisturbed. It was on these corn-lands the first crop of the pioneers was raised. The season was too far advanced for corn, but a great harvest of buckwheat was secured. Buckwheat, corn, milk, and game constituted their food the first winter.

"Old Pomp," a negro belonging to Col. Lindsley, made himself useful by pounding buckwheat in the dug-out top of a stump, with pestle hung from an old-fashioned well-sweep, from the time the ice closed the river in autumn until spring removed the impediment, and allowed the transportation of train in canoes to Shepard's mill at Tioga Point, fifty-two miles down the river. Old Pomp seems to have been something of a hunter as well as a miller, killing three bucks at one shot as they were feeding upon the moss in the river, and being kicked over a log and into the brush and nearly killed himself, from the recoil of the gun, which he always loaded with a handful of powder, and the entire contents of the old-fashioned brass moulds, an ounce ball and nineteen buckshot of various sizes.

Colonel and Mrs. (Mary Miller) Lindsley were members of the Presbyterian Church at Morristown, NJ, and in this new settlement, the Sabbath was strictly observed. Traveling missionaries were cordially welcomed, and when none of these were present to conduct the religious services, Col. Lindsley himself would read a sermon. In 1793, he was elected a member of the Legislature. He died at home soon after, and his remains were the first to be placed in the plat he had himself selected for the cemetery of the colony, his death taking place in June, 1794. This cemetery is situated on the left bank of the river, and contains the remains of many of the early pioneers. It is known as the Lindsley Burying-ground. His was the first death in the new colony, which lost in him an energetic and worthy founder.

Col. Lindsley was accompanied to his new home in the Tioga Valley by his two sons, Samuel and Eleazer, and by his (five) sons-in-law, Dr. Ezekial Mulford, Ebenezer Bachus, Capt. John Seelye, and (Dr. Stephen Hopkins, who traveled as far as Tioga Point (now Athens) before halting to recover from an illness and there remained to practice his profession). David Cook and David Payne, who in company with Mr. Bachus, built the first mill at Lindley Station, also accompanied the colony. Eliza Mulford, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Mulford, was the first child born in Lindley, and first while female child born in the county of Steuben, her birth occurring Aug. 10, 1792. David Cook and Elizabeth Cady were the first couple united in marriage.

Col. Lindsley, before his death, had erected a saw-mill, the irons for which he had brought with him from New Jersey, and which was in operation in 1790, being one of the first mills on the Phelps and Gorham purchase, and the first in the Tioga Valley. This mill was located at a fall, a short distance up Watson Creek. The first grist-mill was built soon after, between this and the river. Mrs. Lindsley, after the death of her husband, kept the first public-house between Williamsport and Bath, and entertained Col. Williamson and his crew on their early journey through the wilderness. She died in Lindleytown, Nov. 20, 1806. [Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Steuben County, NY: with illus & biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Philadelphia: Lewis, Peck & Co., 1879, pp. 350-355].

A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania, pub. 1908. The summer of 1790, an unusually large party of colonists for New York State arrived, headed by Colonel Arthur Erwin's friend and rival, in the Phelps & Gorham tract, Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, of Col. Oliver Spencer's 5th Regiment, New Jersey, who was in the Sullivan expedition. He had made a purchase next to that of Erwin, called Lindleytown, now in Steuben County. He brought with him a colony of sixty, including his own large family and several sons-in-law.

The arrival of this party made a great stir at Tioga Point (now Athens), the more so because one of Lindley's son-in-laws was taken sick here, and had to be left behind. A most fortunate illness for Tioga Point, for it gave the settlement its first regular physician, Doctor Stephen Hopkins. Moreover, it made a link between the towns, and brought later one or more wives to other pioneers. Ebenezer Backus, one of the sons-in-law, (husband of Sarah "Sally" Lindsley), came with this party, and became actively connected with Athens.

"Two sons of Col. Lindley, Samuel and Eleazer, and four sons-in-law, Dr. Mulford, Ebenezer Backus, Capt. John Seely, and Dr. Hopkins, started with the colony from New Jersey. Dr. Hopkins remained at Tioga Point to practice his profession."

Col. Lindsley had a number of slaves, and one or more was given to each married daughter. Old Cato, long the faithful servant of Francis Tyler, was the son of one; also Black Nellie and Aunt Betsey, well remembered by the older people, who though freed in time by law, continued to live in Athens. In 1896, there died near Rome, New York, a colored man over 100 years old, who called himself "Edward Hopkins" and told of Tioga Point families. Doubtless he or his kin had belonged to Mrs. Ebenezer Backus or her sister. Mr. Backus' active connection with Tioga Point at a later date is to be found in a subsequent chapter.

The Lindsley Family. "After the foregoing chapter was in type we learned of a manuscript concerning this family in the possession of Mrs. S. W. Badger, a resident of Athens today (1908). This is a copy of the gleanings of Mrs. E. B. Beaumont (deceased), a descendant of Col. Eleazer Lindsley.

The records say that this name, both in England and America, has always had as many spellings as it has letters, father and son often using different ones. It was originally derived from the numerous linden trees with which the family lands abounded in Linddeseya, later Lindsaye and now Lincolnshire. The original emigrant John Lindsley came from England (near London) and settled in Guilford, Conn., where he died in 1630. The family were all strong Presbyterians, therefore persecuted; Frances, son of John, was a friend and staunch adherent of Cromwell, after whose death he decided to follow his family to America, about 1659.

A few years later, during the troubles between different Connecticut Colonies, the brothers, John and Frances, joined a band of the disaffected, and purchased a large tract of land in New Jersey, and laid out the city of Newark. John, son of Frances, was the first boy born in the new settlement, and the proprietors gave him a tract of land where Orange now stands. Later, Frances bought a tract covering the present site of Morristown, where he died at the age of 104.

Colonel Eleazer Lindsley was a great grandson of Frances, being a son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son of Frances, as found in Connecticut and New Jersey State records. Eleazer married Mary Miller, granddaughter of Thomas Miller and Margaret Wallace, and had two sons and six daughters. Mrs. Hopkins, Mrs. Backus and Mrs. Paine have already been mentioned. One of the sons was also a temporary resident of Athens. Anna m. Dr. Ezekiel Mulford and had thirteen children. According to notes of Edward Herrick, Jr., the Mulfords also lived at Athens, and died there of the "cold fever." They were the great-great grandparents of Mrs. Badger.

Eleazer Lindsley was in active service all through the Revolution, attaining to the rank of (Lt) Colonel; was aide-de-camp to Washington, and finally on the staff of General Lafayette, who became a personal friend and visited at the Lindsley home some weeks. On his departure, he bestowed upon his host a ring from his finger and a court vest, which was preserved by the family by being cut up into pincushion covers.

This manuscript also contained extracts from a rare old book, published in Scotland, entitled "The Lives of the Lindsays," by Alexander William, 24th Earl of Crawford. The only copy known in America belongs to Mrs. Mary Lindsley Porter. It contains the history of the family, autographs, crests, armorial bearings and a genealogical table. The family of Eleazer claim descent from Sir John Lindsay of Craigi Castle. All the Scotch and English families were celebrated for their literary talents, as well as for their staunch adherence to the Presbyterian faith. Lack of space precludes further mention of this interesting family." [Louise Welles Murray, "A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania", Closson Press, 1908, pp. 320-321, 350]. Endnote: Mrs. S. W. Badger (Alice Gertrude Middaugh), b. Oct 1856 in Lawrenceville, PA; m. Samuel W. Badger b. Jan 1849 in NY state. Alice was a daughter of Chester Middaugh and Anna Repass, a d/o William Repass and Nancy L. Mulford, who was a d/o Anna Vanire and Jeremiah Mulford, a son of Ezekial Mulford and Anna "Nancy" Lindsley, who was a daughter of Mary Miller and Lt Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, a son of Jonathan Jr., who was a son of Jonathan Sr., a son of Francis, who was a son of John Lindsley.

....~*¨*·.·´.·*¨*~..... ..... MEMORIAL DAY ..... .....~*¨*·.·´.·*¨*~.....

The finest tribute we can pay Unto our hero dead today, Is not a rose wreath, white and red, In memory of the blood they shed;

It is to stand beside each mound, Each couch of consecrated ground, And pledge ourselves as warriors true Unto the work they died to do.

Into God's valleys where they lie At rest, beneath the open sky, Triumphant now o'er every foe, As living tributes let us go.

No wreath of rose or immortelles Or spoken word or tolling bells Will do today, unless we give Our pledge that liberty shall live.

Our hearts must be the roses red We place above our hero dead; Today beside their graves we must Renew allegiance to their trust;

Must bare our heads and humbly say We hold the Flag as dear as they, And stand, as once they stood, to die To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.

The finest tribute we can pay Unto our hero dead today Is not of speech or roses red, But living, throbbing hearts instead,

That shall renew the pledge they sealed With death upon the battlefield: That freedom's flag shall bear no stain And free men wear no tyrant's chain. -- "Memorial Day" by -- Edgar A. Guest* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 29 2021, 18:48:48 UTC