Lindley Presho Genealogy and History Blog

  John Mersereau -  moved from Lindley to Portsville ,NY where he established this saw mill. John was the son of Joshua Mersereau( -a Revolutionary War soldier and who served as a spy under Gen.George Washington. )      The Mersereau/Harrower families were early settlers in Lindley with large property holdings and several sawmills.       John became associated with the Fox -Weston Lumber Company and became an officer in the company.    Joshua had relocated from Guilford,NY to Lindley-Presho to be near his children in his later years. He is buried in the Presho,N.Y. cemetery. 

 I think print will enlarge using zoom on your computer screen. Kitty

Hopefully this will enlarge when you click on it.     If it doesn't - I was able to enlarge by changing the zoom level on my laptop screen. ( On file in County Clerk's Office )

   I forgot to mention an interesting structure on the 1873 map- a floating bridge across the Tioga River from Stowell Hill (West side) to Tannery Creek-(East side).  The tanneries were on East side and the Harrowers had a large sawmill on West side.      Glenn Bronson and the Stowell family indicate that the house at end of Stowell Road was once a store located across the highway; then moved to present location. The millrace of the sawmill is still visible from the highway ( Rt.15 to become Co. Rt.115).             ( I can only speculate as to the purpose of the floating bridge and someday- I would like to look for traces of it.   (sigh!!)          There is very little information about the Lindley Tanneries in  the Historian's file. I always appreciate any input-photos, etc. from readers about...

Note the changes in 16 years. Several families had arrived following the Civil War.  The lumber industry was a big business for another 10 years and 2 tanneries had started business here. .