Town of Milford
Annual Minutes
1823
Copied by : Jayne Davis Szaz




Comments on My Transcription of the Town of Milford Annual Town Meeting Minutes

In the early 1990s Marion Brophy made photocopies for me of the Town of Milford Annual Town Meeting Minutes at the New York State Library in Cooperstown, Otsego County, New York, in reply to my request for information about my great great great grandfather, Christopher ELLI.S. As far as I know, the Minutes I have transcribed are all that remain of the Town of Milford's Annual Town Meeting Minutes, but I may be wrong about that; there may be Minutes for years before 1811 and after 1840. For anyone who wants to inquire of the library, its address is New York State Historical Association/The Farmers' Museum, Research Library, P.O. Box 800, Cooperstown, New York 13326, its telephone number is 607-547-1400, and its website is http://www.nysha.org/about/index.htm. The call number for the Town of Milford Annual Town Meeting Minutes is N593.82(2). However, the Minutes for 1812 and 1813 are probably lost; if not, Marion would have sent copies of them to me also.

I have transcribed the information from The Town of Milford Annual Town Meeting Minutes for 1811 and 1814-1840 and have entered the information into separate documents by year. My comments are in brackets [ ].

You may notice that some pages are missing and, I presume, lost, and that some of the page numbers within the documents are out of sequence. That apparently happened because the responsible town clerk did not enter the information about an event until some time after the event. For instance, information from page 256 appears in the years 1827, 1828, and 1829 because information for those years appears on that one page. Also, some page numbers appear in two consecutive years because the town clerk continued writing minutes for the current year on the sheet used for the previous year rather than taking a new sheet of paper.

The page numbers are as they appear in the original document. Where [New page, unnumbered] appears at the top of the page, the photocopying must have cut off the page number. These missing page numbers seem to be the odd-numbered pages.

I have copied the text as it appears in the original document, which means I have retained the spelling of the original document. . Where I could not read letters or words, I have substituted underlining of the same length as the missing letters or words. There is little punctuation; the first, a comma, shows up in the late 1820s.

Where the town clerk left a space blank that should have been filled with a name or a word or words, I have typed (blank).

The researcher should look through all of the years to find her/his ancestor(s) because some of the names were spelled one way on one page and another way on another page or pages. Some of the names appear over the entire span of years while others appear only once or twice.


Town of Milford Annual Town Meeting Minutes
1823

Page 218

At the annual town Meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants at the town of 
Milford held at the house of Peter Collier in said town on the 4th day of March 
1823 the following persons were elected to office Viz
Peter Collier…………………}Supervisor
Ezra Adams…………………}Town Clerk
Daniel Lee…………………..}Constable and Collector
Richard Swartwant………….}
Simeon Walling…………….} Overseers of Poor
John Low……………………}
Walter Fitch…………….. …}Comrs of highways
Jacob Young………………..}
David Mackey……………...}
Leman Stewart……………..}Constables
Zichri Ward………………...}
Ezra Adams………………..}
Levi Stewart………………..}Comrs of Schools
Jacob Dietz…………………}
Joseph Rice…………………}
Samuel Rufsell……………..}Inspectors of Schools
Joseph Lindsey……………..}
Samuel Rufsell…………….}
John Quackenbofs…………}Afsefsors
Oliver Crocker…………….}



[New page, unnumbered]

David L Sayre……………..}
Levi Adams……………….}
William White……………}Pound Masters
David Fairchild…………..}
Beers Peete………………..}
Peter Collier………………}
Stephen Baker……………}
John Moore………………}
Amos Waters…………….}Fence Viewers
Eli Rose………………….}
William Angel…………...}
Path Masters
Ward No. 1	Amos Sweet
2	Levi Stewart
3	Andrew Shute
4	Charles Morris
5	Peter Collier
6	Levi Hungerford
7	Jacob Young
8	Thomas W Morenius
9	Nicholas Whitmarsh
10	Joseph Allen
11	Frederick Brown
12	Peter Miller
13	Jacob Ferrington
15	William Humphrey	     
16	Barnabas Bates
17	Eli Rose



Page 220	No of Wards

	     18th  George Schermerhorn
19	Henry Smith
20	Thomas Hoag
21	Andrew Shute Jun
22	Ebenezer Wilcox
23	William Whitford
24	Albert Scott
25	William Stevens
26	Samuel Rufsell
27	Horace Bifsell
28	John Quackenbofs
29	Thomas Mantor
30	John Allen
31	John Low
32	Reuben Beales
33	Amos Waters
34	Leman Stewart
35	Parker Wilson
36	Beers Peete
37	Samuel Carpenter
38	Asher Barnard
39	Elisha Lyon
40	Joseph Varrs
41	Henry Miller
42	Jonathan Morel
43	Benoni Adams
44	Elias Rogers
45	A W Wickham
46	Isaac Hungerford
47	William Richardson
48	Aaron Lane
49	Caleb Sweet
50	Alonzo Bridgefs
52	Cornelius Lane
53	Thomas Sweet
54	Daniel Price


[New page, unnumbered]
Voted That the Said town exonerate James Washington from the payment of the Sum of 
twenty three dollars and fourty seven cents which Money was due to said town by a 
contract by the overseers of the poor.
Voted by the said town that Harry Bifsell be exonerated from paying a sum of $25.00 
which was obtained against him by the overseers of the poor of said town for 
selling Spirituous liquors without Lycence.
Revision of bye Laws for the town of Milford 
Resolved That hogs in the town of Milford be confined and not suffered to run at 
large in any part of the town from the first of April in any year to the last day 
of November in the same year under the penalty of twelve and an half cents upon the 
owner or owners thereof for each and every hog Suffered to run at large during any 
part of the year aforesaid to be recovered in the Manner as is by law directed and 
also that all hogs found running at large at any time between the last day of Novm 
in any year and the first day of April then Next within one half Mile of any Store 
Tavern or Gristmill in the Said town of Milford Shall Subject the owner or owners 
to the penalty of twelve and one half cents for each and every hog so running at 
large to be recovered as hereinabove have directed


Page 222

Resolved That no rams be Suffered to run at large in the town of Milford between 
the tenth day of September and the fifteenth day of November in any year under the 
penalty of five dollars upon the owner or owners thereof to be recovered in Manner 
above directed
Resolved That no Stud horse over two years old be suffered to run at large during 
any part of the year in the town of Milford under the penalty of five dollars upon 
the owner or owners thereof to be recovered in the Manner above directed.

Resolved That no Neat Cattle or horses be sufered to run at large within one half 
Mile of any Tavern Store or Gristmill in the said town of Milford between the first 
day of November and the first day of April then next under the penalty of one 
dollar upon the owner or owners thereof for each and every Such beast so running at 
large to be recovered in manner aforesaid
Voted That the town raise as Much School Money as what they draw from the State

Voted That the next annual Town Meeting be held at the house of Peter Collier
							Ezra Adams } Town Clk


[New page, unnumbered]

Survey or an alteration of a road beginning Near to Smith Humphreys in Milford say 
40 links west from a white burch tree Marked H a few rods North from Said Humphreys 
Barn and runs from thence North 28º West 56 Chains thence North 32º West 8 Chains 
thence North 54 West 7 Chains 30 links thence North 5 West 4 Chains thence North 
25º E 3 Chains thence North 5º West 29 chains 30 links thence North 22 East 7 
chains until it intersects the old road that formerly leades from William Humphreys
 in Milford to David Wilcox containing a distance of one Mile and a quarter and 
forty eight rods Milford 21 April 1823
David L Sayre						Walter Fitch }Comrs of
Surveyor						John Low     }Highways
Survey of a Road Beginning at the corner of Rufus Houghtons garden fence South east 
of his house and running thence North 23º East along a line fence and Marked trees
 47 Chains until it intersects the Otego Road at the Road leading to Asher Barnards

Milford Nov 5th 1823					John Low    }Comrs of
John Broderick					Walter Fitch}Highways
Surveyor

Page 224

A Survey of an Alteration of the Road leading from Colliers to Cooperstown 
Beginning at the Center of the Above Mentioned road 30 links from a crevice in a 
ledge of Rocks nearly Opposite David Culley’s house Running thence North 33º East 4
 Chains thence North 8º 30 _ E 8 Chains and 5 links thence North 17º West 10 Chains
 5 links to the Center of the Above Mentioned Road The whole length 22 Chains

Milford Nov 5th 1823					Walter Fitch }Comrs of
John S Broderick					John Low     }Highways
Surveyor












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