Memories of Bainbridge NY - 1899

From Seneca O. Cushing

Former Citizen, Memories Revived, Time Changes, Bridge Notes

Bainbridge Republican, June 14, 1899

Below will be found extracts from a recent letter received from a former townsman of Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], Seneca O. Cushing, who is living now in Michigan City, Ind.  The reminiscences are so quaint and timely that they will prove interesting to Bainbridge readers and to those who remember William Cushing, the father of the writer, and the family of brothers and sisters.

Editor of Republican:

Dear Sir

Bainbridge is my native town where I was born and lived twenty years on a farm down the river about a mile on the east side. The last time I was in Bainbridge was in March, '64 right at the height of the war of the rebellion.

There has been a great change in Bainbridge since then; there was no paper published there then, no railroad, no water works, nor telephones.  I never saw any one skipping about with two wheels under them there either.  The town itself must have improved a great deal since I saw it; the business firms are nearly all new names to me, Henry A. Clark, Gaylord S. Gaves and Don. A. Gilbert are all the old names I see in the paper.

The building of a new bridge at Bainbridge has revived a great many old memories and carried me back to my boyhood days.  The building of the bridge preceding the present old one, was an event in my life (I was seven years old).  My father was one of the stockholders, I think one of three; he built two of the main piers and furnished a large amount of timber; he had a large force of men employed all through the summer quarrying and hauling stone and getting out or hauling timber. Everything was hurry and bustle and it kept me pretty busy to take it all in; and then it was barely daylight one morning the next March I saw it floating away in sections down the Susquehanna.  I can remember I felt I had not been used just right in not having an opportunity of crossing it more times. Well, the roof came down whole, was floating crosswise and struck the head of the island (by our house) and made quite a halt, then swung lengthwise with the river and went on; as it passed us we saw there was a lot of Deacon Bartlett's chickens strung along on the ridge of the roof. The chickens were roosting in the bridge, but how they got ont he roof I never knew, but there they were; a badly astonished lot they were too; did not appear ot be enjoying the situation worth a cent.

Yours,

Seneca O. Cushing,

Michigan City, Ind.