Page images
PDF
EPUB

OF THE

STATE OF NEW-YORK;

CAREFULLY WRITTEN FROM ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC MATERIALS,
ARRANGED ON A NEW PLAN,

IN THREE PARTS:

COMPRISING,

FIRST-A COMPREHENSIVE GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL VIEW OF THE WHOLE STATE,
CONVENIENTLY DISPOSED UNDER SEPARATE HEADS:

SECOND-AN AMPLE GENERAL VIEW OF EACH COUNTY, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, WITH
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL TABLES, SHOWING THE CIVIL AND POLITICAL DIVI-
SIONS, POPULATION, POST-OFFICES, &c.:

THIRD-A VERY FULL AND MINUTE TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF EACH TOWN On
TOWNSHIP, CITY, BOROUGH, VILLAGE, &c. &c., IN THE WHOLE STATE, ALPHABETICALLY
ARRANGED; AS ALSO ITS LAKES, RIVERS, CREEKS, WITH EVERY OTHER SUBJECT OF TO-
FOGRAPHICAL DETAIL: FORMING A COMPLETE GAZETTEER OR GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.

WITH AN ACCURATE MAP OF THE STATE.

BY HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD, A. M.

Author of a Geography of the United States,

A Member of the New-York Historical Society, and a Corresponding Secretary of
the Society of Arts.

ALBANY :

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY H. C. SOUTHWICK,

No. 94, State-Street.

1813.

1

DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, 35.

BE IT BEMEMBERED, that on the twelfth day of August, in the thirty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Horatio Gates Spafford, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right where. of he claims as author, in the words following, to wit:

[ocr errors]

"A GAZETTEER OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK; carefully written from original and authentic materials, arranged on a new plan-in three parts Comprising First. A comprehensive Geographical and Statistical View of the whole State, conveniently disposed under separate heads. Second. An ample general view of each County, in alphabetical order, with topographical and statistical tables, showing the civil and political divisions, population, post-offices, &c.Third. A very full and minute Topographical description of each Town or Township, City, Borough, Village, &c., &c., in the whole State, alphabetically arranged; as also its Lakes, Rivers, Creeks, with every other subject of Topographical detail: forming a complete Gazetteer or Geographical Dictionary of the State of New-York: With an accurate Map of the State. By HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD, A. M. Author of a Geography of the United States, a Member of the New-York Histori-' cal Society, and a Corresponding Secretary of the Siety of Arts."

In conformity to the act of Congress of the Iited States, entitled "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time herein mentioned." And also to an act, entitled “An act supplementary to an act, entitled "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints.” --

THERON RUDD,

Clerk of the District of New-York.

The New York

ibrary

3117/84

WHEN I undertook to write a Gazetteer of the State of New-York, I was per fectly aware that it must be a work of very considerable labor; and I made my arrangements accordingly. In feeble health, however, and in the hope to receive some benefit from travelling, I prepared to visit the most populous parts, and most of the principal Towns, for the purpose of collecting the necessary information, and the proper materials for my Work. In this way I visited a large proportion of the several Counties, arranging my Correspondence with men of the best intelligence, and adopting such measures as appeared necessary to my purpose. After some months, and having collected a mass of matter, I began to write the Topographical Descriptions, and had made very considerable progress, before I discovered that, to satisfy my own mind, I must radically alter the plan of my Work.

A mere collection of Counties and Towns, with the usual topics in a work of this kind, in dry detail, forms, to my mind, but an uninteresting and unsatisfactory skeleton of knowledge;—of little dignity, and far less utility than the subject would seem to demand. To devise a plan that should obviate these objections, at least so far as was consistent with the original design, however desirable, would necessarily subject me to a great increase of labor, and that too at a time when my health and ability were rapidly declining, and left me very little of hope to encourage any exertion. My original materials were every day accumulating, and now formed a mass far greater than I had ever expected to collect. The public attention was aroused; letters poured in from all quarters of the State, bringing me important information for my Work, and already was public impatience calling for the Book!

At that moment I resolved to reject all I had written, to adopt the plan in which the Gazetteer now appears, and to write the whole anew. The result is, at length, before the public;—and although I have made my best efforts, under such circumstances, to render it worthy its high public patronage, am still constrained to apologize for its many defects, and to solicit the indulgence of the public.

The method I adopted to collect authentic materials, was to address Letters to men of the best information in every Township, and, generally, in every little Village also in the State. In these Letters were enumerated the kinds of information that I desired, in the form of questions, to be answered by Correspondents: and the very general and prompt attention which they received, demands my warmest thanks. The initial letters, subjoined to the Topographical Descriptions, will serve to indicate the liberality of my Correspondents, and the authorities on which the descriptions are founded; and they will, I hope, be regarded as a proper acknowledgment on the part of the Author, for so much generous zeal. For, independent of my own verbal collections, and those made by my immediate Agents,* the matter for this Work has been extracted from more than one thousand original Letters, written by attentive Correspondents, of the best information, residing in every County, Town, Village and Settlement, the subject of Description. Nor must I, while noticing the liberal aid and patronage of individuals, fail to acknowledge that of the State, which I shall long cherish in most respectful remembrance. As a pecuniary enterprize, the history of my undertaking is very short ;—it has employed near three years of my time, consumed more than all of my pecuniary means, and has, as yet, produced nothing. I have expended upon it more than seven thousand dollars, and am impatient, as I shall soon know, whether the public sentiment will adjudge me a remuneration.

ALBANY, 8mo. 12, 1813.

HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD.

The Author sent one Agent, at his own expense, into every Town of three remote Counties, to make the necessary collections of materials.

« PreviousContinue »