Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Those Places Thursday - Bath, New York


While researching the George Hardenbrook line I took a virtual visit to Bath, New York where Richard Hardenbrook settled and raised his family.  Richard was born 26 May 1809; died 6 April 1882. Richard married Catherine Smith of Queen Anne County, Maryland.  They had five children: Edward (1833); George (1837); Emory (1838); Elizabeth (1839), and Clinton (1847).

Bath is located in Steuben County in New York’s beautiful Southern Tier.  The town sits just south of Keuka Lake’s fertile hillsides that now hosts a number of Finger Lakes wineries.

Bath history states that Colonel Charles Williamson, a land agent for the Pulteney Estate arrived in the area of Steuben County in 1792 then populated by wild animals and a few Seneca Indians.  Controversy surrounds the origin of the town’s name. Some historians say it was because of the similar geography to Bath, England; others say the town was named for Lady Bath, the heiress of Sir William Pulteney of London.  The town was formed on March 18, 1796; the village incorporated on April 12, 1816.

Richard Hardenbrook moved his family from Ovid, NY to Bath where he did some farming and then served as superintendent of the Whiting and McCass Foundry before becoming proprietor of Steuben Furnace Company. 

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