Gazetteer of
the State of New York: Embracing a Comprehensive View of the Geography, Geology,
And General History of the State, and a Complete History and Description of
Every County, City, Town, Village, and Locality. With Full Tables Of Statistics.
By J. H. French. Syracuse, N.Y.: Published By R. Pearsall Smith
1860.
Pages 626-627.
LINDLEY 13-- was formed from Erwin, May 12, 1837. It lies upon
the S. border of the co., E. of the center. Its surface is a hilly upland,
broken by the deep valley of Tioga River, which extends centrally through
the town. The summits of the hills are 400 to 600 feet above the valley, and
most of them are covered with forests. The valley is about 1 mi. wide and is
bordered by steep hillsides. The soil upon the hills is a heavy, shaly loam, and
in the valleys a rich alluvium. Three-fourths of the surface is still covered
with forests. Lumbering is extensively
pursued. Lindleytown, (p. v.,) on Tioga River,
is a station on the B. & C. R. R. and contains 15 dwellings. Erwin
Center is a R. R. station and hamlet upon the river, near the N. border
of the town. The first settlement was made in 1790, by Col. Eleazur Lindley,
from N.J., the original proprietor of the town, who located upon the Tioga
Flats. 1
13 Named in honor of Col. Eleazur
Lindley. 1 Col. Lindley served with the
Jersey Blues during the Revolutionary War. In his migration to his new home he
was accompanied by his two sons Saml. and Eleazur, his son-in-law Ezekiel
Mulford and John Seeley, and a man named David Cook. The first child born
was Eliza Mulford, Aug. 10, 1792; the first marriage that of David Cook, jr. and
Elizabeth Cady; and the first death, that of Col. Eleazur Lindley, in June,
1794. Joseph Miller taught the first school, near the Penn. line, in 1793; the
widow of Col. Lindley kept the first inn, on the W. bank of the river; and John
P. Ryers, the first store. The first sawmill was erected by Col. Lindley. There
is no church, no hotel, nor place where liquor is sold in the town.
