In April of the year of 1789 three in number, related to each other by marriage, Jacob Yaple, Isaac Dumond, and Peter Hinepaw, revisited the district previously explored and selected four hundred acres on lot No. 94, then in the county of Montgomery, of which the west line of Tioga Street in the village of Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY.
Upon that part which was in the valley were several "Indian clearings," being small patches from which the hazel and thorn bushes had been removed, and which had been cultivated after the manner of the Indians.
It appears that for many years after the first settlement it was the custom for the whole neighborhood, extending serval miles around, to avail themselves of these clearings on the Flat. Here they planted corn principally, thinking that it could not be raised upon the higher ground. "Each would build a crib upon the hill-side, into which, after it had matured, the crop was gathered. There were as many as twenty-five of these cribs standing here at the same time."
The settlers having planted their corn in these places, left it in the care of John Yaple, a younger brother of Jacob Yaple, and returned to bring their families, with whom they came back in September. They brought also a few articles of household furniture, farming utensils, and a number of hogs, sheep, cattle, and horses.
The three families numbered twenty persons; Jacob Yaple, his wife and three children (Philip, Mary, and Peter, and John Yaple, the brother, who was then twenty-four years of age); Isaac Dumond, his wife and three children (Peter, Abram, and Jenny), and John Dumond, his wife, then lately married; Peter Hinepaw, his wife and five children (whose names are unknown - the eldest of whom was about twelve years of age).
A month was consumed in their Journey to Owego, where there was a small settlement, and nineteen days from thence to Ithaca. The route pursued and the difficulties necessary to be overcome account for their slow progress. Between Owego and the head of Cayuga Lake was but a well-beaten Indian trail, along which they way had to be cleared through the forest.
They arrived at their new home, and at once set to work to provide appropriate shelters for the several families. Three log cabins were soon erected; the first on the north side of the Cascadillia Creek, near where later stood the flouring mill of Howard C. Williams and was occupied by the family of Mr. Hinepaw. The country about was to a considerable extent infested with rattlesnakes; and the story is told that some thirty were killed on the spot occupied by this cabin on the day of its completion. On entering it at night, several were found on the floor, which were also killed. A large fire was then made, and one person was detailed to watch during the night. In the morning the den was discovered near by, which was then broken up, and a vast number of the dangerous reptiles killed.
The cabins for the Yaple and Dumond families were put up near the spot later the residence of Adam S. Cowdry, on East State Street. No trace of any of these three cabins now remain (1879).Isaac Dumond, married a Miss Burrows, sister of the wife of his brother John. Isaac died in the winter of 1803, and was buried in King's Cemetery, Ithaca, NY. His family consisted of the following; Note: his wife was Sarah Burrows, also known as spelling of Berro.
Peter Dumond, the eldest, married Keziah Johnson, a daughter of Abram Johnson, and had Amanda, Isaac, Jane (who died), another Jane, and Charlotte. He lived to be an old man, and died in Danby, Tompkins Co., NY. (Peter was born Sept. 11, 1785)Abram Dumond, married Mary Johnson, the widow of Abram Davenport (also a daughter of Abram Johnson), and had Cynthia, Caroline, and Ebenezer. He lived nearly all his days in Danby, NY., and died there at an advanced age. (Abram was born May 29, 1787) [note; believe their daughter Caroline married Albert Oatman]
Jenny Dumond, born at Kingston in 1789, married Zera Whitney, and inheriting the pioneer spirit and courage, moved West about 1859. Had children, Peter, Oscar, Ruth Ann, and others unknown.
(Birth name is believed to be Jeanette was born July 19, 1789)Polly Dumond, was born at Ithaca, NY., in April, 1791. She was twice married. Her first husband was Ebenezer Sanders, by whom they had four children; her second husband was William Davis, by whom she had two children. Mrs. Davis died in the West. ( Polly's real name was "Mary")
Catherine Dumond, the fifth and youngest, was born at Ithaca, NY in October, 1793. She married Amasa Woodruff, and resided in Danby, NY until her death. They had one child.
John Dumond, one of the original settlers and a brother to Isaac Dumond, married Jane Barrows - July, 1789, at Kingston, Ulster Co., NY, - when he joined the band of pioneers who finally settled at the head of Cayuga Lake.
March 10, 1791, Mrs. Dumond "presented to the world the first child born within the limits of Tompkins County," then Montgomery County.
This child,Sarah " Sally" Dumond, in time became the wife of Benjamin Skeels, who, with his family, removed from Danby to the State of Indiana in May, 1846. At the last accounts Mrs. Skeels was living in Lodi, Sandusky Co., Ohio, having outlived her husband. (Note: Sarah was born March 10, 1791)John Dumond the father, died in Danby, May 22, 1839, aged seventy-two. Jane, the mother, died at the home of her son Isaac, in Danby, Tompkins Co., NY, on December 9, 1845, her eighty-fourth birthday.Mary Dumond, the second child, was born September 2, 1793, in Ithaca, NY. She married Daniel H. Jopp, and also removed to the West, she died about 1877 died at Green Spring, Ohio, having borne ten children.
Isaac Dumond, the third child, born in what is now Danby, Tompkins Co., NY, August 12, 1795, has always resided near the old homestead. Until the spring of the around 1879 for many years he had lived with his son John, his only living child. John, following the lead of many of his kith and kin, emigrated to Kansas, since which time Isaac had lived in West Danby, Tompkins Co., NY with his grandson, Marcus Dumond. 1865 Danby Census has Isaac Dumond age 69 b. Tompkins Co., NY, with wife Catharine born in Orange Co., NY, mother of 3 children. John A. Dumond living with them age 44 b. Tompkins Co., wife to John A. Dumond , Sarah age 32, born in Tompkins Co., NY, mother of 6 children, Marcus A., age 12, Fred age 10, Harry age 9, Elizabeth C. age 4, Harriet K., age 1 6/12 years, all chilren born in Tompkins Co., NY.
John Dumond, the fourth child, was born at the old Danby homestead, September 23, 1799, and resided now on the farm where he had passed nearly all his days. An only son, Sylvester, lived with him.
Betsey Dumond, the youngest child, died at the age of twelve years; was born in Danby, in 1803.
Believe this is the John Dumond buried in King's Cemetery, Ithaca, NY. Note: record is found of another child Jane Dumond born about 1810. Isaac Dumond, b. 1758 in Hurley, NY., and John Dumond born abt. 1764/65 with their sister Maria Dumond Yaple were the children of Petrus Dumond and Marie VanWagenen.Maria Dumond, a sister of Isaac and John Dumond, married Jacob Yaple – born March 7, 1760, brought three children, Philip, Mary, and Peter, with them when they moved to Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY. Subsequently were born here six others, - Henry, Catharine, David, Betsey, Rachel, and Sarah. For more information on the family of Jacob & Maria (Dumond) Yaple, see The Yaple Family
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