ks,
broadcloths, groceries, plows, and schoolbooks. On either side of
Main-st. was a hard-beaten path, which served for a sidewalk. On the
south side of the street stood a number of dingy rookeries, in a half
tumble-down condition. Pigs and cows roamed at large, and were only
known to be home at supper-time, when old brindle, in more instances
than one, might have been seen peering through the front window with a
covetous look upon the family group around the table.

Marked improvements are now to be observed in every direction. With
the multiplication of industries, and the introduction of new ones,
calling for the outlay of more capital and the employment of more
labor, the growth of the village, in population and wealth, bids fair
to continue. A comparison of figures is, at least, encouraging. In
1860, Oneonta was a thriftless hamlet with only about six hundred
inhabitants. It is now a thriving village with a population of over
four thousand.

_CHAPTER IV._

Calvin Eaton, one of the first settlers about West Oneonta, settled on
the farm now owned by Isaac Holmes. He came from Wyoming, Pa., date
uncertain. He was a famous story-teller. Many of his stories have been
preserved by tradition, and are now told in the neighborhood with
great zest. His wife, familiarly known as Aunt Olive Eaton, died about
1844 or 1845, at a very advanced age, he having died many years
before. They brought up several of their nephews and nieces, having no
children of their own, William Holmes, father of Isaac Holmes, being
one of them.

Elder Emanuel Northrup, a Baptist minister, settled on the farm now
owned by his grandson, Isaac Northrup, about 1794. He came originally,
it is believed, from Rhode Island. He had lived in Connecticut, but
came last from Stephentown, Rensselaer-co. His son, Josiah Northrup,
who was afterwards a justice of the peace for many years, having been
elected at the first town meeting, a prominent man in town affairs and
a leading member of the Baptist church, was, at the time of his
father's coming, about fourteen years of age; he died in 1844.

The farm now occupied by the Niles family was settled by Abner Mack, a
Rhode Island man. He sold a part of his possession, what is now the
Niles farm, in 1797, to Nathaniel Niles; there were two of the name,
father and son, the father being the purchaser. He was at that time
about seventy years of age; he brought with him some apple seeds,
planted a nursery, r