vation of the surface is from 1400 to 1600 feet above tide water, and the valleys are depressed from 300 to 400 feet below this level. In the eastern part the Randolph, Binghamton and Oquaga mountains rise above the general level. The Susquehanna sweeps around the base of the latter, making a very extensive bend.

RIVERS. The Susquehanna, Chenango, Otselic, Tioughnioga and west branch of the Delaware, are the principal rivers of the county.

CANAL. The Chenango canal enters the county with the Chenango river, and terminates at Binghamton.

RAILROAD. The route of the New York and Erie railroad has been laid out through the county.

CLIMATE. The climate is salubrious, but from the great elevation of the county, necessarily cool. Large bodies of snow fall during the winter, and continue late in the spring.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The eastern and southern parts of the county belong to the Catskill group, and are composed principally of the old red sandstone and conglomerate-the western is comprised in the Chemung group, and consists mostly of grey sandstone and slate.

Specimens of garnet, tourmaline, agate, porphyry, jasper, &c., have been collected from the pebbles on the banks of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers. There are several sulphur and one or two brine springs.

SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The broken character of the soil renders the county generally better adapted to grazing than to the culture of grain. In the valleys of the streams, oats and corn thrive well, and wheat is raised to some extent. The principal timber trees are the white and pitch pine, oak, beech, maple and hickory. Much of the surface of the county is yet covered with wood.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. Much attention is paid to the products of the dairy. Some grain is also raised, and summer crops thrive well.

Manufactures. The water power of its many streams furnishes abundant facilities for manufacturing purposes, which the people of this county are beginning to improve. The New York and Erie railroad will, when opened, give a new impetus to its manufacturing interests, by affording increased facilities for transportation.

Lumber and flour, fulled cloths and leather, constitute the chief articles of manufacture.

STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Butter, oats, corn and potatoes.

SCHOOLS. There are in the county 170 district schools, which in 1846, averaged seven months instruction each. $8676 was

paid for tuition; and the school libraries contained 13,800 volThe number of children taught was 8285.

umes.

There are sixteen select schools, attended by 166 pupils; and one academy, with 212 students.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Universalists and Roman Catholics. There are forty-six churches, and sixty-one ministers, of all denominations, in the county.

HISTORY. During Sullivan's campaign, in 1779, he encamped at or near the present site of Binghamton, in this county, for several days, awaiting the arrival of the detachment under the command of General James Clinton. No settlement was made in the county, however, till 1787, when Captain Joseph Leonard removed here from Wyoming, Pennsylvania. He was soon followed by Colonel William Rowe, who emigrated from Connecticut.

The land in the southern part of the county had been granted a few years previously, to Mr. Bingham, an eminent banker of Philadelphia, associated with whom was a Mr. Cox; and that now composing the northern towns of the county, was purchased in 1786, or perhaps earlier, by a company from Massachusetts. The amount of land belonging to this company was 230,000 acres. Having obtained a grant from the Massachusetts legislature, (this being a portion of the ten townships ceded to Massachusetts by New York,) they purchased the title from the Indians, by a treaty, concluded at the Forks of the Chenango.

By the enterprise and good management of General Whitney, the agent of Mr. Bingham, the settlements flourished and increased rapidly in population. In 1806, Broome county was set off from Tioga, as a separate county, and named in honor of John Broome, at that time Lieutenant Governor of the state.

A large proportion of the emigrants were from New England, and probably a majority from Connecticut.

VILLAGES. BINGHAMTON, formerly Chenango Point, is the shire town of the county. It is rapidly increasing in business, and has become already an important inland town. It is much engaged in manufactures, and furnishes a ready market for the produce of the surrounding country, which is mostly shipped by canal to the Hudson, and by the Susquehanna to Philadelphia. The New York and Erie railroad will soon be opened to this place, and contribute still farther to its prosperity. Toll bridges constructed of wood, cross the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, from this village. Population, nearly 4000.

Chenango Forks, Windsor and Harpersville are villages of some importance.

Rivers, &c. CC. Chenango river. II. Unadilla. k. Oriskany Creek. a. Cowasalon. b. Canaseraga. d. Chittenango. j. Oneida. Lakes. Z. Oneida. e. Cazenovia, or Linklaen.

Marshes. f. Great Swamp.

Universities. Madison University.

Villages. MORRISVILLE. Hamilton. Cazenovia. Canastota. Chittenango.

BOUNDARIES. North by Oneida Lake; East by Oneida and Otsego counties; South by Chenango county, and West by Onondaga and Cortland counties.

SURFACE. Diversified, and generally hilly, except where the great swamp extends for a distance of eight or ten miles, along the borders of Oneida Lake.

The elevated ridge or watershed, which divides the waters of the Susquehanna from those flowing north, crosses this county near its centre. The hills are, however, generally rounded, and susceptible of cultivation. This ridge is about 1500 feet above tide water.

RIVERS. On the south, the county is drained by the Chenango, Otselic and Unadilla rivers. On the north by the Oriskany, Oneida, Cowasalon, Chittenango, and Canaseraga creeks. The Erie and Chenango canals pass through the county.

LAKES. Oneida Lake forms the northern boundary of the county; Cazenovia, or Linklaen lake, called by the natives Haugena, is a beautiful sheet of water, four miles long by one broad, surrounded by a fine waving country. There are several small ponds on the dividing ridge.

CLIMATE. Healthful, but cool, and very subject to untimely frosts.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. Slate is the basis rock of the county. It is, however, overlaid for the most part with limestone, of that formation denominated the Onondaga salt group. Along the Oneida Lake, sandstone appears, and is found in boulders throughout the county. Fresh water limestone, containing fresh water shells, is found near the great swamp.

Argillaceous iron ore occurs in large quantities, in Lenox, and is used for castings; water lime and gypsum are abundant in Sullivan and Lenox; sulphur and brine springs are found in the same towns, and in the former is a magnesian spring, and several others so highly charged with carbonate of lime as to form incrustations on whatever is cast into them. Marl exists in large quantities, in the northern part of the county.

Soil and Vegetable ProductIONS. The soil is generally fertile; in the valleys highly so: adapted to grain in the north, and to grazing in the south.

The timber is similar to that of the adjacent counties, consisting principally of hemlock, maple and beech. The sugar maple is abundant, and yields large quantities of sugar. In the great swamp, cedar, tamarack, &c. are the principal trees.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the principal pursuit of the inhabitants, whose attention is divided between the culture of grain and the rearing of stock.

Hops, oats, corn and barley, are more largely cultivated than wheat.

Manufactures are considerably extensive, for which the fine water power of the Chittenango and other streams, furnishes ample facilities. Flour, lumber, woollen goods, distilled liquors, leather, iron and potash, are the principal articles manufactured. The commerce of the county is confined to the transportation

of its produce and manufactures, upon the Erie and Chenango canals.

STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Hops, cheese, butter, wool, oats, sugar and potash.

SCHOOLS. There are in the county 234 district school- houses. The schools were taught in 1846 an average period of eight months; 13,523 children received instruction at an expense of $15,721. There were 26,456 volumes in the district libraries.

There were, also, in the county, forty-three private schools, with 1072 pupils, and four academies, with 198 pupils. There is one University in the county, chartered in 1846, and called Madison University. It has in all its departments 209 students.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Universalists, Friends, Dutch Reformed, and Episcopalians.

There are eighty-one churches, and ninety-four clergymen, of all denominations, in the county.

HISTORY. Madison county originally formed a part of Chenango county, from which it was taken in 1806. The first settlement in the county was made at the village of Eaton, in the town of the same name, by Mr. Joseph Morse, in 1790.

In 1793, Colonel John Linklaen, agent for a company in Holland, settled in Cazenovia. This Holland Company owned a large portion of the county, and their agent sold most of it to New England settlers. The growth of the county was not rapid until the completion of the Erie and Chenango canals by which a market was opened for its produce.

VILLAGES. MORRISVILLE, in the town of Eaton, is the seat of justice for the county. It is situated on the Cherry Valley turnpike. It was settled principally by emigrants from Connecticut, and has some manufactories. Population, about 800.

Eaton, another village in the same town, has a number of manufactories. Population, about 700.

Cazenovia village, in the town of the same name, is pleasantly situated on the south-eastern margin of Linklaen lake. It is well laid out, and has some manufactures and considerable trade. The Oneida Conference Seminary, located here, is under the direction of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a flourishing and well conducted institution. Here is also a high school and a seminary for young ladies. The village contains nearly 2000 inhabitants.

Hamilton village, in the town of the same name, is principally noted as the seat of Madison University, formerly the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution. This institution was incorporated in 1819, and commenced operations in 1820. It received a charter as an University in 1846. It is well endow