History of Cortland, (Cortland County) New York United States of America

CORTLAND, a county near the centre of New York, has an area of about 480 square miles. It is drained by Tioughnioga and Orselic rivers, and other smaller streams, which afford valuable water-power. The surface is moderately uneven, and the soil is principally a gravelly loam, well adapted to both grazing and tillage. Indian corn, oats, and grass are the staples. In 1850 this county produced 201,988 bushels of corn; 425,180 of oats; 73,871 tons of hay; 1,989,208 pounds of butter, and 1,071,690 of cheese. There were 21 flour and grist mills, 33 saw mills, 5 iron foundries, 12 tanneries, 2 woollen factories, 2 linseed-oil factories, and 1 paper mill. It contained 44 churches, 5 newspaper offices; 9213 pupils attending public schools, and 340 attending academies or other schools. Iron ore, sulphur springs, and salt springs have been found. Organized in 1802, having been formed from part of Onondaga county, and named in honor of the Van Cortlandt family, early and distinguished emigrants from Holland. Capital, Cortland village. Population, 25,140.

Biographies:

George Lincoln Burr, educator, was born at Oramel-on-the-Genesee, N. Y., Jan. 30, 1857; son of Dr. William Josiah and Jane (Lincoln) Burr. He prepared for college at Homer, N. Y., and in 1873, to gain means for his further education, he taught school, then learned the printer's trade at Cortland, N. Y., and in 1877 entered Cornell university, where he had charge of the president's library, and, at his graduation in 1881, President White made him his secretary. In 1884 to 1886 he studied abroad, and was for two years engaged with Mr. White in historical research on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1888 he became an instructor in history at Cornell, and later was raised to a professorship, still retaining his charge of the White historical library, afterwards transferred to the university. The commission appointed by President Cleveland in 1896 to investigate and report upon the true divisional line between Venezuela and British Guiana made Professor Burr its historical expert, and sent him abroad to search in European archives for further light upon the disputed boundaries. His reports and maps, together with the transcripts brought by him from Europe, were published by the commission. Besides portions of a catalogue of the White historical library, he published several studies of the witch-persecution.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Gideon Curtis Moody, senator, was born in Cortland, N.Y., Oct. 16, 1832; son of Stephen and Charlotte (Curtis) Moody, and grandson of Gideon Curtis. He attended the public schools and academy at Cortland, and studied law at Syracuse, N.Y. He removed to Indiana in 1852, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was appointed prosecuting attorney for Floyd county, Ind., in 1854, and was a representative in the state legislature, 1860-61, from Jasper county. He enlisted in the volunteer army as captain in the 9th Indiana infantry in April, 1861, was promoted lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and subsequently commissioned captain in the 19th U.S. infantry. He resigned his commission in 1864, and removed to Dakota in May, 1864. He was a representative in the territorial legislature, 1867-69 and 1874; was speaker of the house, 1868-69 and in 1874, and was associate justice of the supreme court of Dakota Territory, 1878-83. He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1868, 1888 and 1892; was a member of the South Dakota constitutional conventions of 1883 and 1885; was chairman of the judiciary committee in both conventions, and was chairman of the committee that drafted and presented a memorial to congress, asking for the admission of South Dakota as a state, which was consummated, Nov. 3, 1889. On Oct. 16, 1889, he was elected U.S. senator for the short term expiring March 3, 1891. He was appointed in 1891 a member of the commission to revise and codify the statutes of South Dakota.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Alton Brooks Parker, jurist, was born in Cortland, N.Y., May 14, 1852; son of John Brooks and Harriet F. (Straton) Parker; grandson of John and Elizabeth (Brooks) Parker, and great-grandson of John and Olive (Temple) Parker, of Massachusetts. He was educated in the academy at Cortland, and at the Cortland Normal school; studied law in the office of Schoonmaker & Hardenburgh, at Kingston, N.Y., and taught school in Ulster county. He was graduated at the Albany Law school in 1872. He was married Oct. 16, 1873, to Mary L., daughter of M. I. and Phebe (Decker) Schoonmaker, of Rochester, Ulster county, N.Y. He practiced law in Kingston, N.Y., in partnership with W. S. Kenyon, 1872-78, and afterward alone until November, 1885. He was surrogate of Ulster county, 1877-85, a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1884, and declined the office of first assistant postmaster-general, in 1885. He was chairman of the Democratic state executive committee in 1885; was appointed a justice of the supreme court of New York in 1885, and the year following was elected to that office without opposition, serving, 1886-98. He was a member of the court of appeals, 2d division, 1889-92, and on the dissolution of the court in 1892, became a member of the general term of the supreme court of New York, serving 1893-96, and of the appellate division of the supreme court, 1896-97, and on Jan. 1, 1898, became chief judge of the court of appeals of New York.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Cortland, (Cortland County) New York

Local History Notes:

Biographies: