Lindley Presho Genealogy and History Blog

Today December 15th is celebrated as Bill of Rights Day Below is some of the information found in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia . A google search will give other sites with additional information. Sometimes it is good to review some of the fundementals associated with our Democracy and the freedoms we enjoy -- thanks to our forefathers efforts. Kitty Read now United States Bill of RightsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search United States Bill of Rights United States Bill of Rights Created September 25, 1789 Ratified December 15, 1791 Location National Archives Author(s) James Madison Purpose To set limits on what the government can and cannot do in regard to personal liberties. The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government'...

Pearl Harbor  December 7th,1941- World War II  A grim reminder on today's Corning Leader front page " I am the only one left"-  the story of  a local WWII veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7,1941. He states that" there were 22 known survivors in this area following the end of the war." At the age of 90, he shares his thoughts on  the war and why it occurred.  With the large number of WWII Veterans declining on a daily basis, it is important for us to take time to thank them for their sacrifices to preserve our freedoms and to reflect on the causes of that war.  Lindley honors veterans of all wars with a monument in front of the Lindley Town Hall  on U.S. Rt.15 and displays photos of local veterans in the Town Hall Meeting Room.  Thank you everyone  - military or civilian who work to preserve our freedoms. Kitty

Terri & Rick Bower, residence of Lindley, had a visitor over the summer......  

From the Historian Files Everything is relative, but imagine having a telephone bill this small. Click on bill to enlarge .

From Members of the Lindley-Presho Historical Society

The Mayflower dropp ed anchor at Provincetown, MA 21 November, 1620 Did you know these facts? 102 passengers 65 day journey The English ship "The Mayflower" was built to transport wine. 37 from Leiden Congregation William Bradford referred to the Leiden Separatists as "Pilgrims" 2 people died on the trip Oceanus Hopkins was born at sea Peregrine White was born when they were off Cape Cod John Carver was elected First Governor by the pilgrims Stephen Hopkins was elected Assistant Governor (Pilgrims reached Plymouth, MA 26 December, 1620) Mayflower Compact  "plantation covenant" formed after Separatist Church convenant. (Signed on board the Mayflower) This agreement was written because the English Separatists, Puritan Pilgrims believed that some of the non-Separatists, or "Strangers," would defy them if they landed in a place other than the land grant they had received from the London Company....

When I posted the photos of the Railroad depots in Lindley/Presho, I asked if anyone had information on the depot that was located by the Lindley bridge . Thanks to Larry Gorges, I think the mystery has been solved. THANKS LARRY Larry forwarded a copy of an article from The Corning Journal - Wednesday January 18,1904 pg 5. Below is a copy of the attachment that he sent. " New Station At Lindley " The New York Central Railroad Company has built a new passenger station at Lindley, about a half mile north of the old station which latter has been abandoned .The giving up of the old station was opposed by some of the most influential ciitizens of the village on the ground that the change of the site would not be so convenient to the people. The matter was taken before the State Railroad Commission ,which decided in favor of the Company ". The new station was located in back of the "Station" or River Road School at the west end of the Church Creek Road. The depot is...

Please join members of the Lindley -Presho Historical Society on Thursday November 17th for this interesting program . . Leon Golder will be presenting a program on the Patterson Inn Blacksmith Shop on November 17th ,7 P.M. at the Lindley Town Hall for members of the Lindley-Presho Historical Society. His program will tell the history of the shop that was moved from Beaver Dams,N.Y. to the Corning location. Mr.Golder is ,also, researching the names of blacksmiths and the location of their shops in the Lindley. Anyone with information pertaining to former blacksmith shops in Lindley is invited to come and share the history of these shops. The meeting is free ,and open to the public The photo was taken at Lindley Old Home Day 9-2010 . Left to right are Larry Orr observing John Fee, Henry Offerman ( Blacksmiths)

Veteran's Day Lights - Park Avenue Corning Taken 11/11/11 at 1 am

Lindley Election Results: Gerald Simcoe, Republican, won the town supervisor position with 232 votes. Megan Thistle, Republican, won the town clerk position with 251 votes. Patrick Clark, Republican with 209 votes, and Linda Salyerds, Republican with 168 votes, won the councilman positions. Harry Pierce, Republican with 225 votes, and a write-in candidate with 22 votes took the assessor positions for the town. A write-in candidate took the superintendent of highways position with 117 votes, unopposed. *Write in names will be released on November 21, 2011.

Reminder -Attend a Veteran's Ceremony tomorrow November 11th, 2011 There will be various activities held at local American Legion and Veteran's of Foreign Wars Posts , the Veteran's facility in Bath and other locations. The Corning American Legion and Veteran's of Foreign Wars Posts are hosting a ceremony at the Civil War Monument on Park Avenue in Corning at 10:40 and 11:00 AM . (see article Corning Leader 11/10/2011 ). This monument was dedicated 100 years ago - and the two organizations are planning the ceremony to celebrate this anniversary.

This is a clearer photo of the Lawrenceville RR Station and information about the depot in back of the River Road (Station School) . This depot was moved by Warren Stuart and serves as the Living Room of the home on the north side of Church Creek Road and River Road. Recycling is not new ! Did you know trains from Elmira backed into the Lawrenceville.Pa from Tioga Junction (Williamson School area ) ? From an old RR Schedule -there was a depot on the East end of the Lindley bridge. However, I do not have a good photo of this. Does anyone have information on that depot? Wonder who the men were on the platform of the Presho Station ? PS. Until 1888, Presho was called Erwin Centre. According to the 1990 Lindley History, Thomas J. Presho became the first RR Station agent there. The area became known as Presho to honor it's public spirited citizen for his efforts.

This is from Dick Riffle -age 93 who grew up in Lindley . He now resides in the State of Washington, is still very active and a wonderful source of information about Lindley during the time that he lived here. Many of today's residents will recall his brother- Henry Riffle. In one of the frequent E-mails that we exchange,I made a comment about how long the trains that run through Lindley have become due to the recent increase in gas drilling business in Tioga/BradfordCounties ,Penna. I think you will enjoy the reply that he wrote . You sparked a "memory" when you mentioned the railroad passenger trains. I have a photo of the old Lindley railroad station. Did I ever send that to you ? My Mother used to take me to Corning once in a while on the passenger train. They were coal-burning engines.. Passenger cars were hot inside. No air conditioning except to open a window. I remember a cinder came in the open window one time and got into my eye. It was fortunate that it had coo...

On Thursday evening October 27th,2011, The Lindley -Presho Historical Society hosted a program where Town of Lindley voters were invited to meet the men and women seeking election in the town on November 8th,2011. All 9 of those seeking office were present. Each candidate spoke for a brief time and the audience asked questions after all candidates had had a chance to speak. Unfortunately,the weather did not co-operate-sending the first snow storm of the Fall season. However, attendance was great-considering!!! All in all, it was an interesting and informative evening. For those who didn't venture out -above are some photos taken that evening . Opps - the computer always reverses the way I hope to print the pictures-so Looking at the pictures from bottom to top and left to right -the candidates and offices were : Photo #3 on bottom William Peoples,Jr - Steuben County Legislature , Raymond Walch -Steuben County Legislature, Gerald Simcoe- Town of Lindley Supervisor, Megan Thistle ...

With all the publicity about banks and Wall Street, thought this Penny Postcard was worth a chuckle or two. Note the label. What is life without a little humor? Enjoy Hard to read the postmark but has a 1 cent stamp -Looks like 1911

Hope Lindley residents will brave the snow showers tomorrow evening - Thursday October 27th 7 P.M. Lindley Town Hall and come out to meet the folks who are running for the Lindley Town offices on November 8th. This not a debate but a chance to actually see the people who are running. Without a school, grocery store or - -even the old Grange as in the "Good Old Days ", our days of knowing the candidates who are running for office have disappeared. Therefore, the L/P Historical Society invites the residents to meet and greet the 9 people who have agreed to introduce themselves to the local voters. Their talks will be brief and the audience will have a chance to ask a few questions after all the candidates have said their few words. Please join us and meet the people who wish to be your local government representatives. Hope to see many of you there . Some tasty goodies might even be served. Kitty PS - In a few years, this will the view of the Lindley Hamlet from I99. How it wil...

Found this picture on Facebook Thank You Rich Martin

With Deepest Sympathy to The Hill Family and The Smith Family Neal J. Hill Neal J. Hill, age 84, of Lindley, NY, passed away peacefully on October 10, 2011, surrounded by his family. He was born on June 17, 1927 to Guy C. and Betsy Finch Hill at the family farmhouse on River Road in Lindley. He married Marguerite VanEtten on June 23, 1950 in Ithaca, NY. They just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Neal attended Lindley Area School and graduated from Northisde High School. He owned and operated the family’s dairy farm, Hill Farm for a lifetime. He drove a school bus for Harris Bus Lines for over 30 years. Neal was a charter member of the Lindley Presho Volunteer Fire Dept. He enjoyed bowling, hunting and attending East Lindley Baptist Church. Neal cherished his family and visiting friends and neighbors on his Gator while delivering cookies. He is survived by his wife: Marguerite; a sister: Alta Drake; children: Terry (Brenda) Hill, Bonnie Schroeder, and Randy (Dee) Hill; grandc...

For a short time in 1939 and 1940 ,a young man named Rutty Passmore who lived on Morgan Creek Road in the cinder block home published a local newspaper. Most of the items were about the comings and goings of Lindley-Presho and Lawrenceville,Penna residents. Occasionally,he wrote about events occurring in the area. The following is one of these articles. At another time, I will copy his article on the 1940 flood. (Kitty ) Vol. III No.9 Thursday April 4th 1940 100 Years Ago A weekly feature by W.Rutty Passmore " I believe that a little over One Hundred Years ago pertaining to past floods would be timely considering last weeks high water. In the Autumn of 1817, the Tioga Valley had what is known as the Great Pumpkin Flood . At this time , the valley was scarcely populated and the settlements did not extend out of the rivers flats and when the water overflowed the banks ,it took away nearly all the late crops and produce. The pumpkins which were unusually large and brightly colored th...

Meetings for the Lindley-Presho Historical Society for the months of October and November 2011 are : MEET THE CANDIDATES THURSDAY October 27th 7 P.M. Lindley Town Hall Candidates running for office in the Town Of Lindley have been invited to give a short talk Free-Public Invited -Especially Town of Lindley Voters . PATTERSON INN BLACKSMITH SHOP LEON GOLDER PRESENTING Thursday November 17,2011 7 P.M. Lindley Town Hall Powerpoint program on the relocating of the Blacksmith Shop at the Patterson Inn Looking for locations and owners of Blacksmith Shops in Lindley Free-open to the public Barn south of old Lindley Town Hall/Post Office/Grange was a Blacksmith Shop in 1920's.

"Celebrate Constitution Day! " Yesterday Saturday, September 17th was Constitution Day! The U. S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 . Constitution Day! Federal law requires public schools to observe that day, but studies show that up to 90 percent of schools ignore the law. This year as we celebrate the 224th anniversary of the Constitution , take time to read this document, study it with your children, and discuss its great principles. And by the way, despite the claims of many secularist writers today, the Constitution is not a Godless document. Many of its clauses directly incorporate religious principles, and Founders who wrote and ratified it specifically acknowledged God in its creation: It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution. James Madison For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a sy...

Pictures from today's 911 Rememberance service at the Presho Methodist Church. The Lindley-Presho Fire Department and First Responders were recognized today for their dedicated services (-whatever or whenever they are needed ) to the Lindley-Presho Community . In the group photo are several of the 115 Charter Members of the Fire Department organized in 1963- - almost 50 years ago. Unfortunately, only about 30 of the original membership are still living. It was nice to see a few of them present today. The rest of the group are members of the 2011 Fire Department. The young man -BenjaminToby is a third generation fire fighter. Congratulations again for the time and efforts that you spend serving the Town of Lindley residents. Thank you - members of the Presho Church for the memorial service remembering the victims and families of September 11,2001 and for the hearty brunch that followed.

The Lindley Presho Historical Society wishes to extend our Deepest Sympathy to the Family and Friends of Ellen A. Fee --- The Lord is My Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: thou annoinest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. --- Psalm 23: 1-6 --- www.the-leader.com/deathnotices/x1069113390/Ellen-A-Fee

You are cordially invited to the 75th Anniversary Celebration of Lindley Community Church --- Come out and see old friends and have some fellowship, fun, and food with us. --- Activities will begin: Saturday, September 10th at 3:00 p.m. with Special Music, a Barbeque, followed by a Concert by Soloist Bob Koffel ---- Activities will conclude on: Sunday, September 11th at 10:00 a.m. Join us for a Concert with the M & M Praise Team - Martha and Mark Walker, an Inspirational Sermon By Rev. Ron Head, and a Fellowship Dinner to follow. --- It is not necessary to make reservations, but a phone call to 570-827-2513 would be helpful to give us a better idea of how much food to prepare. --- If you have any pictures or memories you would like to share for our Memory Book, please send them to Mrs. Nancy King at 10186 Tannery Creek Road, include your name and address on pictures if you would like them returned. --- We Hope To See You There! --- In His Love, Anniversary Celebration Pl...

From the Addison Post 9-3-2011 9/11 Anniversary Memorial & Remembrance Service The Presho United Methodist Church Invites you to attend a very Special 9/11 Anniversary Memorial & Remembrance Service at 9:00am, Sunday, September 11, 2011. We will come together to remember the 9/11 victims, survivors, and the many that rose in Service in Response to the 9/11 tragedy, including First Responders. We will honor the members of the Town of Lindley's Fire Department for their Service as our own First Responders. Catherine Pierce, Town Historian assisted by Sally Orr will share the history of our Fire Department with photos and stories of their dedicated service. A special Brunch will be served immediately following the service. All Brunch donations will be presented to our Fire Department. Hope to see you! Contact Sandy Hall (523-7236) or Brenda Criss (523-8083) for further information.

WVIN 98.3 FM is recognizing active duty service members from our area each Wednesday at 11:45am. They have asked if I could continue to help the station gather names and information. The requested information is: Rank: Name: High School and year of graduation: Branch of service: Current assignment: Spouse and children's names (if applicable): Parent’s names and where they live: You can drop this form off at the Steuben County Veterans Service Agency, 20 E. Morris St. in Bath or e-mail the information to deniso@co.steuben.ny.us . He will make sure that it gets to WVIN.Thank you,

If the readers are keeping abreast of Town of Lindley news on the Lindley Town Blog (see link on this site), they are aware of the issue of electing a town official vs one being appointed by the Town Board . In response to a question that I was asked about voting, I went to the present day form of the Encyclopedia - GOOGLE - for some information. Hopefully, I can copy an interesting fact sheet posted by a Chenango County,NY site. http://www.Co.Chenago.N.Y.USelections/interestingfacts.pdf Some I remember from high school American History class -(we won't say how many eons ago-)and some was startingly new to me-especially the one vote numbers. Since this is a local election year in New York State , I hope to pass the facts along so you can impress your friends and relatives with some new facts. AMERICANS FOUGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE Over the years, U.S. citizens have worked hard to extend voting rights to everyone. 1787 - When the Constitution was written, only white men age...

Larry Gorges found more information on the Mc Coulloch family and the Ford home that was located where the present Brackley/Preston Store in Lawrenceville,Pa. is now located. The wife's name was Emily (Tharp) McCulloch. Several of the McCulloch family are buried in the Lindsley Burying Ground in Lindley. (See Painted Hills.org ) for a listing . The contents (which contained many historical documents and items) were bought by the Will's family when the home was sold and the house demolished to make way for the store. I understand that one of the items was Colonel Lindsley's desk which is now in Texas with a member of the Wills family. I hope this copies so you can read it.

Many thanks to Larry Gorges for finding this article and sharing. Apologies for the bits and pieces but my scanner and computer wouldn't co-operate in scanning the entire article at one time. You will need to click on the article to enlarge and on back to go from one paragraph to the next. A computer wizard I am not. At my age- consider myself lucky to do this much!!! Enjoy and note it would appear the original Williamson Road was on the East side of the Tioga River. Lots of interesting 'stuff" here. Thanks again, Larry Kitty 1888 Corning Journal

Hiram Middlebrook ,aged 84 years,died October 5,1880 at his home in Lindley . He had lived in Lindley for about 35 years,was a member of the lumber manufacturing firm of Morgan,More(Moore)& Middlebrook ,a farmer, kept a general store and was for many years the Postmaster and was ever zealous in religious work. Sixteen inches of snow fell March 3d and 4 th ,1881. Fires in the forests of southeastern portion of the town of Lindley and the adjacent part of the town of Caton caused the destruction of a large amount of timber on the stump ,and in logs, comsumed stump,brush and rail fences and set a number of houses andd barns on fire-causing their loss.Wood fires also caused heavy losses near Curtis.

While answering a genealogical query,I found the following items in Uri's book. Chapters 35-64 are labeled . Events in Corning,Marriages from 1855-1921. One chapter is a list of local Civil War Veterans. Page 436 August 9th,1910 "William C. Campbell,aged 73 years ,died August 10,1910 at his home on East Erie Avenue.He served in the Civil War as a member of Company I 141st New York Volunteer Infantry. He was the great grandson of Col.Eleazer Lindsley,founder of the Lindley colony." "August 15,1910 James Orr aged 84 years died.He was for many years prominent as a lumberman and farmer of the Town of Lindley,later engaging in business in Painted Post." Page 441 April 7th,1913 " while assisting to run a portable saw-mill ,on the former Methodist campground at Presho ,Fred Weaver ,age 50 ,fell against a circular saw and his body sawn so he soon died." (WHERE WAS THE METHODIST CAMPGROUND IN PRESHO LOCATED???_KITTY Page 473 " At Northside High School ,Tue...

Condolences to the Divens, Naylor, Wagner, and Herrick Families. The angels are always near those that are grieving. To whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God. ~~Little Angels Instruction Book E.E. Freeman Brenda Divens Naylor www.the-leader.com/obituaries/x898081878/Brenda-Divens-Naylor Elizabeth S. Wagner www.the-leader.com/obituaries/x327790175/Elizabeth-S-Wagner

Above is a sampling of photos of some of the Veteran's graves in Lindley's Fairview Cemetery. While Tom Loughridge and Dick Pierce located the graves and placed flags by the gravestones, I took photos of the gravestones for the Town Historian's files. Fortunately, Tom who had undertaken the task of placing the flags in recent years had made a map of known Veteran's graves. This made the task somewhat easier,but the writing on many of the older stones is becoming more difficult to read each year. Some of the known Civil War Veteran's graves were not located. Hopefully,by cross referencing the Fairview Cemetery records with the the list of Lindley men who served in the Civil War, some graves will be located. Others are known to be buried in Presho Cemetery, Powers Cemetery in Lawrenceville- perhaps other nearby cemeteries . Undoubtedly, many moved away. Tom deserves a lot of credit for the time and effort that he has put into honoring the Veteran's by placing flag...

For the past several years, I have been posting stories as told by Dick Riffle. Dick who lives in the State of Washington was 93 in May and is writing his memoirs . Not sure, but he may be the oldest living member of the local Riffle family. He still writes interesting E-mails and loves to share stories about growing up in Lindley. Sometime during the month of July, the Riffle family holds a reunion. The following is one of Dick's stories as he wrote about the families living on Morgan Creek and the present River Road . If the Riffle family members haven't heard this story, I hope they get a chuckle or two from it. - (Kitty) Next was the home of Jerome and Alace (Romane) Riffle ,my Grandparents. After their decease in the 1920's , the home belonged to their daughter Grace and husband Judd Kennedy. They had several children, Jud,Jr. ,Geraldine, Kathryn and twin girls-Madeline and Margaret who were a couple years younger than me. Aunt Grace was a very hospitable lady and many...

The photos are in reverse order of what I had planned- Oh well !! A little history -- During the past several years the Town of Lindley has been in the process of assuming the responsibility of the Fairview Cemetery for a variety of reasons -#1 being the lack of funds by the Cemetery Association to maintain the cemetery and #2 health problems for some of the long time volunteers. A productive discussion was held at the June Town Board meeting to discuss ways to assist the Town in maintaining the appearance of the Cemetery that would appease some of the lot owners. As of today -the cemetery has been mowed for the 4th of July -I am assuming by Rudy Jaubik and his landscaping crew who held the mowing contract. The old flags left as guides last fall to assist the volunteers who would put them out in 2011 have been replaced by Tom Loughridge and Dick Pierce. The cemetery looks great as you can tell from the photos. Many thanks to the mowers for a great job and to Dick and Tom for their hour...

Twila O'Dell Steuben County Historian to present a program pertaining to her office Lindley-Presho Historical Society Thursday June 23,2011 7 P.M. Lindley Town Hall Twilia O’Dell Steuben County Historian "What’s Found in the Steuben County Historian’s Office" Hope to see all

These were changes made in 1953 when the highway was moved from present " Lindley Road" along the Tioga River to where it is now in 2011 . One of the reasons given in 1953 -- was to prevent the frequent flooding of the highway. Wouldn't it be interesting to compare the amount of traffic then as compared to June ,2011????