A View of Owego in 1847

The following letter was written by Dunham Cortright, a resident of Tioga County in 1847. It was addressed to Sidney Humphrey Hayden of Towanda, Pennsylvania. Dunham was one of many pilots of the Susquehanna River who took arks laden with various commodities to ports downriver.

Owego [New York]
August 2, 1847

Mr. [Sidney] Hayden,

Sir. I came over to the village early this morning to run your ark according to our talk last week & found Eben Allen already to start it. Consequently, I am disappointed in the running of this one. I expect to have the running of the rest when they are ready. I had made calculation to run them all & will be ready at a moment’s notice to start at any time hereafter. With regard to my ability to run on low water, if you are not already satisfied with that, I can give as good recommend as any man in this town. I do not think Mr. Allen has done the fair thing with me although he has done as he has heretofore not only by me but by many other pilots here. If you say I shall have the rest to run, I will deliver them as soon as any man can after they are ready and as cheap. I don’t care who the next man may be.

Yours &c. -- Dunham Cortright

Dunham Cortright is believed to be the same gentleman who appears in the 1860 US Census with a residence in Wharton Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania. This Dunham Cortright was born about 1816 in New York, and married someone named Louisa, also a native of New York. This couple's first three children were born in New York, and at least three more were born in Pennsylvania after 1850. Daniel's occupation in 1860 was that of a lumberman. This same Dunham Cortright appears to have served in Company H, 46th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War and may have died during the war. His wife, Louisa Cortright, filed as widow for veteran's benefits in June 1868.

Sidney Humphrey Hayden was born 1 March 1813 in Colebrook, Winsted County, Connecticut. His parents were Luke Hayden and Ruth Humphrey. Sidney married Florella E. Miller of Torrington, Connecticut on 23 March 1836 and came to Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1840 after a brief residency in Candor, Tioga County, New York. The following is an excerpt from a history of Bradford County: "...Sidney Hayden was to discover the brick-making properties of the clay beds in the old glacial pits on the plains (now known as the Sayre Ponds), build the fine red brick mansion still standing near them in its grove of pines, and inaugurate the Age of Brick in the valley."

The identity of Eben Allen is unconfirmed. There was an Eben Allen living in Tioga County, New York in 1860 but he was born about 1793 and his occupation at that time was shoemaker. Another Eben Allen resided in nearby Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1850. He was born about 1808 and his occupation is given as farmer.