Historic Sketch - Settlement of the Town of New Berlin, Chenango Co. NY

 Historic Sketch - Settlement of the Town of New Berlin, Chenango County, NY

By John Hyde

New Berlin Gazette, July 22, 1876

Daniel Schribner was one of the first emigrants who settled in the 16th township.  He came with his family into the town in 1790 and settled on a lot on the -?- side of the Unadilla River and opposite the place called Indian Fields, and near the celebrated sheet of water called Shacktown Pond, and  a Jew who had a tract of land called the Jew's Patent, had laid out a city in embryo adjoining the pond which project had it been carried into execution would have made Mr. Scribner's location an important situation in process of time, being on the opposite bank of the river.  But the Jew died and the city advanced no farther in the process of civilization than to become a cow pasture.

Mr. Scribner built a large and commodious log house on a high piece of ground, a short distance from the river, commanding a fine view of the valley up and down the river, and the scenery on the other side.  He kept a tavern several years.  The 16th township at that time was part of Norwich [Chenango Co. NY] and town meetings and elections were held at his house part of the time and at Amasa Meads or Hascal Ransfords taverns on the Chenango River at other times.  Mr. Scribner was an industrious, prudent farmer and with the help of his two sons, Samuel [Schribner] and Gamaliel [Schribner], who were nearly grown up, he soon cleared up his farm.

Neighbors were "few and far between" in those days but were kind and friendly.  Among the many inconveniences attendant upon and fully realized by the first settlers was the difficulty of procuring their corn ground into meal, the nearest grist mill being at a far-off distance up the Susquehanna River, and no road but water communication to the mill. To lessen the burden of this domestic grain grinding necessity the neighbors united together and brought their bags of grain to Mr. Scribner's house.  A canoe, dug out of an immense pine tree was duly launched into the Unadilla River and the grists put on board.

Two men, though sometimes only one, took charge of the cargo and away they sped down the crooked Unadilla River into the Susquehanna, and up that river to the grist mill, situated on Oake's creek about two miles from its mouth, where it empties into the Susquehanna River. This creek is the outlet of Schuyler's Lake, and this mill was erected in 1790.  The voyage to and back from the grist grinding expedition took about a week and sometimes longer. In fair weather the voyage was pleasant sailing along the river current under the branches of the overhanging forest trees and, when could be seen on the distant hill side, the antlered deer sporting in their native wilds with their young fawns, or the white lake gulls floating in the air winging their flight from one lake to another, and cheering on their peculiar sounding voices, flocks of wild ducks might be seen in the coves swimming about heedless of the passing canoe, for as yet they had not learned the danger and inhumanity of man. But sometimes adverse weather met the inland mariners and compelled them to take shelter on the shore during the dark and tempestuous night.  Then might be heard the mutter growling of the wolf, and other wild beasts sounded discordant notes on the unwilling ear and too near to permit quiet sleep to the weary travelers.  But escaping "the perils of flood and field" the inhabitants were made glad by the safe arrival of provisions to revive their half-famished families when the voyage was of a protracted length of two weeks duration, as sometimes happened.

Incidents sometimes occurred among the early settlers partaking of the ludicrous in the development as well as difficult and dangerous in the performance.  An instance of the kind took place on Doctor Dan Foote's farm, about two miles as the river runs below Mr. Scribner's.  Doctor Dan Foote was one of the first settlers, an amiable man, a good neighbor and skillful in his profession, and was possessed of a strong and determined resolution, well calculated to meet and surmount the difficulties and dangers of a frontier and any jeopardy come how it might.

At considerable expense and trouble, he had become the owner of a valuable porker, an animal detested by the Jews but liked by Christians, as well as certain savage roamers of the forest.  This porker was installed in a tenement with a nice litter of pigs almost full grown.  A dense swamp was on one side of the pen and a high steep hill on the other.  This pig family, on one eventful summer's day, gave the alarm that a savage foe had broken in upon them by boisterous loud squealing signs of distress.  It was a favorable opportunity for the pilferer.  The Doctor and his men, Esquire Marvin and Elisha Marvin were absent in a distant hayfield to work and none but women left to guard the premises. The women on hearing the commotion went out to discover the cause and soon found that a huge black bear, the monarch of the forest, who in right of his forest law, had seized and taken possession of one of the best members of the hog family and was in the very act of pulling the unwilling member out of the pen.  The signal horn was immediately blown but before the expected aid arrived the ravenous prowler had dragged his bleeding victim away up the mountain path and into the sheltering woods where undisturbed he could feed on swine flesh, his favorite food, at his leisure. but the avengers were on his track and found him in his lair before he had finished his dinner.

The doctor came armed with a shotgun and immediately discharged it at the bear. As the gun was fired, the doctor's dog rushed in, and the bear pulled him in under. Doctor Foote then struck the bear with his unloaded gun to save the dog. The bear, good at gymnastic exercises, warded off the blow and hauled under Doctor Foote.

Elisha Marvin came to the rescue and was put under, Esquire Marvin followed in to help and shared like fate with the rest.  All under by the supreme strength of the bear.  So far, the "wager of battle" between civilized man and brute force in regard to the question of title to the hog appeared to be in favor of the captor and the bear be allowed to finish his dinner without further interruption. The dog in the confusion had extricated himself and ingloriously fled howling home, covered with blood.  In the meanwhile, the bear had his three assailants down and apparently at his mercy, but Dr. Foote managed to get his pocketknife out, and with one hand and teeth to open it, his other hand being confined, and with a direct and straight edge of a practical surgeon, struck one vigorous blow aimed at the heart.  

The blow was fatal.  The old bear arose off his wounded assailants, left them, staggered down the hill a few rods and fell dead.  Civilized arts of war were victorious over brute force. When the dog arrived home covered with wounds and blood, the women, anxious for the fate of their friends, sent a young man by the  name of Franklin to ascertain, who met the bear in the midst of its last struggle in the agonies of death, and as the bear fell and began to roll downhill, the messenger turned and fled back, supposing the bear to be in pursuit of him and told the women that the men were all dead. He was then sent to ask Elder Camp, who lived on the other side of the river to come over and help them. The young man, when he came to the bank of the river, the canoe being on the other side, yelled to the Elder and told his errand, and said that there were four men dead, Dr. Foote, Esquire Marvin, Elisha Marvin and myself all killed by a bear. Stronger minds than this boy had, have conceived more irrational things by illusion of the imagination than this boy did when he included himself among the number killed because he was chased by a dead bear.

Soon after Elder Camp came over to assist in performing the sad duty the livng owe to the dead, the supposed dead men arrived home from the battlefield somewhat disfigured by the casualties of war, blood stained by wounds, limbs torn and scratched, clothes rent, fingers bitten but all safe from serious danger.

They received the congratulations of friends for the narrow escape and much rejoicing was had over the carcass of the grim, old dead bear, who, while living, had been the pest and terror to the whole neighborhood, as much as was the wolf killed by "old Pat" of Revolutionary memory.  And for this noble, hazardous and perilous undertaking of Dr. Dan Foote, he deserves to go down to posterity with as much credit for killing the ferocious bear as did Gen. Putnam for killing the wolf.  Let their names be associated in the narration and the stories of the wolf and the bear be told on the same page in the future schoolbook editions.