TOWN HISTORIAN
  Charles D. Young
  2123 Candlewood Rd.
  Oswego, NY 13126

3.  Named in honor of George Scriba, the original proprietor of this and several of the adjoining towns.

4.  Asahel Bush and Samuel Tiffany settled in town in 1801
     William Burt and Hiel Stone in 1804
     Dr. Deodatus Clark in 1807.

The first birth was that of Henry Everts, jr.

The first marriage, that of John Masters and Eliza Baldwin, in 1806

The first death, that of a child of Hiram Warner.

The first inn was kept by Hiel Stone, in 1806

The first store, by Orrin Stone and Aaron Parkhurst, in 1819

Benj. Robinson, from Manilius, taught the first school, in 1804.

5.  Bap., M.E., and a Bethel Free and Union

SCRIBA----, named after George Scriba, was formed April 6, 1811, from Fredericksburg (now Volney), which was then a part of Oneida county, and lies upon Lake Ontario and the east bank of the Oswego River.  It is crossed in the north by the Rome, Ogdensburgh and Watertown railroad station of North Scriba, while its western part, parallel to the river, runs the Oswego canal.

   The early settlers were mostly from Herkimer county in this state, with a sprinkling of the Puritan element of New England, representing that restless, industrious class which can best draw out the hidden resources of a virgin country. A people prosperous and intelligent, they are justly noted for hospitality and the social virtues, while their broad charity and public spirit find them foremost in every enterprise conducive to the general welfare.

  The first pioneers who penetrated the wilds of Scriba, found an interminable forest of hemlock, beech, and maple, interspersed with cedar, beneath which was a dense undergrowth, the home of the deer, the wolf, and the deadly rattlesnake. To add to the unpleasantness of pioneer life in this section, the settlers were subject to the intrusions of the Indians, who often frequented the area, while on their hunting and fishing excursions.

  Small cabins were made up of logs and covered with bark; the floors from basswood, hewed on one side.  The windows and doors were small openings, generally covered with blankets, skins, or boards, though it is said of the more aristocratic that instead of glass ?they sometimes used greased paper.?  The only substitute for a stove was the old-fashioned stone fireplace, taking in logs of wood eight feet long, with an opening in the roof for the passage of the smoke. Imagine furniture in accordance with such a house, and we have a fair picture of the forest homes of 1800.

   The soil is a gravelly and sandy loam, moderately fertile, well supplied with stone, and best adapted to the raising of fruit, apples being the staple product.  Grain and potatoes are raised also, and there is a growing interest in the dairying business, both butter and cheese being produced, with three cheese factories in operation. The land is well adapted to agriculture, and is sufficiently well watered for all farming purposes, as springs are abundant, and there are numerous streams with their small tributaries flowing both north and south. Some of these, Black Creek in particular, afford valuable mill privileges.

  To encourage immigration and development of the country, land was sold to the settlers for two dollars per acre, and on indefinite time, by paying the cost of executing the contract, keeping up improvements, and paying for the annual interest.  Lots were also given for church buildings to religious societies that wished to build, and in some instances, mill-sites were given for private mills.

  One of the first settlers to the area was Henry Everts, who came here with his family in 1798, the first birth here, being his child, Henry Jr. In 1801, Asahel Bush and Samuel Tiffany, with their families, migrated from the east, and took up land in the vicinity of Everts.  The families of William Burt and Hiel Stone, each consisting of husband and wife, six sons and four daughters, arrived in the spring of 1804, later joined by, Joseph Worden; Ludwick Madison, originally from Otsego county, later moved to Volney; Silas Bacon; Merritt and Justin Hall, from Connecticut; Joseph Myers, remained but a short time and returned to the east; Daniel Hall, a native of Herkimer; George Cyrenius; Hiram Warner; Ephraim Parkhurst and his brother Daniel.

  Also, in the spring of 1806, Paul Shelden, accompanied by his son, Paul, Jr., then sixteen years of age, came in on foot from Herkimer county, making the journey in three days, and commenced improvements on one hundred acres of land, situated on the State road, within the present city limits, which he had purchased for three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre the year previous. The father and son, during the summer, cleared two acres and forty rods of ground, which was planted to corn and potatoes.  After harvesting a splendid crop in the fall, they returned to Herkimer.  The winter following, the family, consisting of himself, his wife, and eleven children, came back, bringing with them a cow, a hog, and a pair of steers, where he lived till his death.  Paul Jr. resides there now, being the only survivng member of his family.

Other early settlers were Eliphalet Parkhurst; Holden and Daniel Corp; Henry Potter; Harvey and Abel Butler; Chapman Morgan; James Farley; Reuben Seely; Samuel Frazier; Daniel Burt, son of William; Aaron Parkhurst; William Woolson; Erastus Stone; son of Hiel.  Also, included on the roll of pioneers:  Rev. Samuel Baldwin; T. S. Morgan; Daniel Du Bois; Alfred Sabins; Joshua Miner; Hezekiah Lathrop; John Shapley; Orlo Steele; Joseph F. Sweet; Philo Fowler; J. Meacham; Peter D. Hugunin; Amasa Newton; Mr. Pickett and Mr. Whitney.

The first Inn was owned by Mr. Hiel Stone, who made an addition to his house in 1806.  Mr. Stone was a Major in the War of 1812.

In 1807, Dr. Deodatus Clark, from Onondaga county, the first physician.

The first school-house was erected in 1807, a short distance west of Scriba Corners. The first teacher was a Mr. Edgecomb, who lived there with his wife and two children.

The first post-office was established at a very early day, and Hiel Stone became the first postmaster.  The old mail-route was between Oswego and Utica, and its only carrier for many years was Joseph Worden, who made the journey on horseback.

The first marriage was that of John Masters and Elsie Baldwin in 1806, and believed to have been performed by the bride?s father, Rev. Samuel Baldwin.  The second marriage was that of Walter Reed and Susan Morrow in 1807, by Wm. Burt, the first justice of the peace in Scriba.

The first cemetery was known as the Burt burying-ground, at Scriba Corners, and the first interment was the son of Hiram Warner in 1807.  Others to follow were Phoebe Pickett, George Potter, Fannie Shelden, Mrs. Joseph Sweet, and several members of the Whitney and Lathrop families.

The first store was opened by Orrin Stone and Aaron Parkhurst in 1819, situated near the tavern, and was the only store in town for at least twenty-five years.

Scriba Corners (Scriba post-office) is a small village with a population of about three hundred, and is located near the centre of the town, on the plank-road, four miles east of the city of Oswego.  It contains two stores, two physicians, __Drs. A. C. Taylor and G. W. Snyder, __one church (Methodist Episcopal), a school, a cooper, a blacksmith-shop, and other minor interests.

This place commenced with Stone's tavern.  W. Woolson kept a shoe-shop and Amos Grafton a blacksmith-shop here at an early day.

North Scriba is a hamlet and station on the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburgh railroad, and is situated northeast of the centre of the town.  It contains a post-office, two stores, a harness-shop, a blacksmith-shop, a school, and two churches (Methodist and Baptist).  The population is about two hundred.