Formation and Geography of the town. --- History of the Clinton Purchase of Chenango Twenty Towns. --- Incident. --- The Carr farm of Edmeston. --- Operations of Joseph Brant in this section in the days of the Revolution. --- Stephen Hoxie and Daniel Brown, the Pioneers. --- Incidents. --- Company of Settlers in 1792. --- First mills. --- Purchase of Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger and John I. Morgan. --- Anecdote of Encounter with a Bear. --- Button's Hill Creek. --- The Falls. --- Romantic Scenery. --- Old Family Burial Grounds. --- First Improvements. --- Early Hamlets in the hill districts. --- Home Farm of John I. Morgan. --- Babcock's mills. --- Unadilla Forks. --- Humorous anecdote. --- Obituaries. --- Sketches of Pioneers. --- Leonardsville; its enterprises --- Clarkville --- North Brookfield.
This town was formed from Paris, Oneida County, March 5th, 1795. It originally embraced townships 17, 18 and 19, of Chenango Twenty Towns, and from the date of its formation till 1798 was a part of Herkimer County. From the latter date to 1806, it was a part of Chenango County. The 17th Township was taken off from Brookfield in 1805, to form Columbus, Chenango County.
The town lies in the south-east corner of the county; is bounded north by Sangerfield and Bridgewater, Oneida County, east by the Unadilla river, south by the Unadilla river and Columbus, Chenango County, and west by the towns of Hamilton and Madison. Its surface is hilly and broken; it is traversed longitudinally by a succession of ridges almost mountainous in some sections. The high hills and deep valleys are crossed and re-crosse[d by] [???] the old Skaneateles turnpike passing directly t[hrough the] town from east to west. Aiming at mathemat[ical straight]ness, this broad highway may be seen from hill-t[op to hill-]top, evading none of the steep passes along its [???] [It] need be no matter of wonder to any one, that Broo[kfield's] hills should have gained a notoriety almost worldwide, after having traveled this turnpike. Near the western line of the town, on the north side of this road, towers one of the loftiest summits of the hills, appropriately named "Round Top," from which one of the most extensive views can be obtained, the hills of seven counties rising to the vision. On a clear autumn day, when the keen wind had chased away the obscuring haze, we could distinctly trace w[it]h the naked eye the outlines of woodland and meadow which draped the hills of nearly all Madison County, as it lay like a panorama spread out before us. Far to the westward r[ose] some of the lofty peaks of Onondaga, and blue hills of Co[rt]land; southward lay the long range of Chenango's high[???]; at the eastward the summits of Otsego and Herkimer, [wh]ich, bordering the Unadilla, seemed strangely near; while a[t t]he northward, some of the villages in Oneida County we[re,] as if unconsciously, contributing brilliant settings to [th]e gem-covered landscape.
The Unadilla River is a beautiful str[eam], meandering through a rich and handsome valley. [Fr]om the Forks southward, this water was once navi[gab]le for canoes. Beaver creek passing nearly through [th]e center of the town, has a considerable fall, and is la[rge]ly occupied by mill-seats along its whole length. Thro[ug]h the northwest corner of the town passes the most ea[ste]rn branch of the Chenango. Several smaller streams, [trib]utaries to these, traverse various sections of the town. [T]he deep "Terrytown Swamp," so called, in which th[e] Chenango branch has its rise, covers a portion of t[he] northwest corner, which in the past has afforded an ab[und]ance of cedar tim[bers. The pr]evailing soil of the town is a gravelly loam, [???]and other rock formations, cropping out here [and there am]ong the hills, change its nature locally in some [???], alluvial deposits enrich the valleys.
[The Una]dilla river from the earliest dates was a favorite [???]team for the Aborigines, and lay within the [Oneida Nation]. The "Oneida Path" which led to the river, came [i]nto Brookfield from the southeast corner of Sangerfield, passing the northeast corner of Terrytown Swamp, (cal[le]d by the Indians Ska-na-wis, or Great Swamp,) and led thro[u]gh this town to the Unadilla Forks.