History of Afton, Chenango County, NY
Rev. E.T. Jacobs
Afton Enterprise, March 26, 1886
You will think me some like other old ministers and a long time coming to my subject. Well, our river is long and rambling, delighting to wander among the glens of Otsego, its tributaries playing hide and seek among the Catskills. No wonder it was called Sus-que-hanna. It was a thoroughfare for the red men,--a race that made but little change and no improvements, hunting, fishing and war their chief occupation. They built no bridges. If a tree by chance happen to fall across the stream it was used when they wished to change their trail from one side to the other. Canoes were used for crossing and fishing when needed. These were made of pine trees dug out and shaped with the rude instruments in use. This river was unquestionably much used by them as furnishing convenient trailing ground from point to point, when they built their council fires and held their annual gatherings. Otsego signifies "gathering place," and Tioga means "gate way," as the plain south of Waverly was the great camping ground, as the tribes came from the south to meet the six nations that came down the Susquehanna.
A son of one of the old settlers remembers when 500 Indians camped near his father's house for the night on their way down to Tioga. The first settlers at Tioga found the flats covered with an enormous growth of corn, planted by the Indians who had removed enough of the timber to admit of rude cultivation.
When the white people came into this town they followed the course of the river from the north. They found little clearings where corn had been raised and apple trees were growing. Their only means of crossing the river was in canoes. Two ferries were early established and became somewhat celebrated, "Harper's Ferry," about opposite Nineveh Junction and "Wattel's Ferry," one mile above Unadilla. The latter was crossed by my mother with her large family, coming from Dutchess county in 1811. Between thirty and forty years the inhabitants crossed on the ice in winter, and forded and ferried in summer.
A company was chartered in 1825, for the purpose of building the first bridge in this town. Not having access to the old town records, I cannot name the officers of that company, but the bridge was built by Lord & Battom at a cost of $2,400. It was a rude structure according to present ideas of architecture; but the hills, covered with pine and oak, furnished abundant material for the heavy timbers. The mud sills remain as sound as when they were first laid. An incident is related by the old inhabitants as occurring when this bridge was being built, that shows some daring on the part of a young "school marm." A Miss Hamlin was teaching on the west side of the river, while her home was on the east side. She was in the habit of crossing in a boat, but one night when she was ready to return home she found the boat was on the opposite side of the river, and like most of her age she did not care to wait. The piers of the bridge were up and the chords laid, covering the three spans--nearly 400 feet. The timbers were 14 inches broad and she proposed to walk on them. The three spans with the rise and fall of the chords made it much more perilous than a level surface. As she attempted it the workmen all stopped. Not a blow was struck, not a word was uttered, as she passed one span after another till the shore was reached. Turning, she waved her handkerchief in triumph as the men sent up cheer after cheer for the brave little girl. The workmen had agreed among themselves that the first lady that crossed the bridge should have a silk dress, and Miss Hannah Hamlin got it. We wish we had a remnant of it.
This bridge stood many years, subject to damage by ice and decay by time, till in 1848 it became impassable and a new one had to be built. In 1849 Jacob Cass was engaged to build the second bridge. It was a find wooden structure, substantially built and well covered, and promised many years of service. The cost of this bridge was $3,400. In May, 1868, it was swept from the piers and dashed to pieces by a tornado. A ferry was soon provided and teams passed over during the summer. The bridge company was again rallied and by duplicating their stock were enabled to rebuild, but an inferior structure was the result. A Mr. Skinner was the architect and the company got badly Skinned. It was a magnificent failure, and after standing about 18 months, a terror to the people and a cost to the company, it passed away in company with an ice flow, unwept and unhonored. A majority of the Bridge Company were now in favor of surrendering their charter to the town if it would build a good substantial bridge and make it free to the public for all time.
A meeting was called and commissioners were appointed to procure a bill from the legislature to enable the town to purchase the franchise and raise a tax sufficient to build the bridge. The town consented to raise by tax the sum of $12,000 for the object, with the understanding that the same might be increased by subscription. The commissioners, Messrs. A.C. Hyde, Thomas Landers, and H.R. Caswell, took measures to swell the amount to $14,000 and advertised to receive proposals and examine plans. After visiting different structures and gaining all the knowledge within their reach, they decided upon a suspension bridge, and accepted the plan presented by G.W. Fishler of Wellsburg, N.Y. The Fishler Bros. built a bridge for the town alike honorable to the contractors, the commissioners, and the people who had so liberally taxed themselves to accommodate the traveling public.
The following is a description of the bridge, but it gives an imperfect view: Main span 382 feet; extension span 64 feet, supported by six wire cables 5-1/4 inches in circumference. The roadway is sixteen feet wide suspended by the wire ropes by rods four feet apart secured to cables by clasps and to the needle beams by burrs and washers; the plank three inches thick, laid diagonally, and guarded by railing four feet eight inches high. The towers stand upon solid masonry thirty-six feet above the track. The abutments are 24 feet above low water mark. The towers are white oak, finished in three sections, and surmounted by a tasty cornice and deck roof, with an arch spanning the roadway and reaching the towers near the top.
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