CHAPTER I.

VINNQUITVO

ALFRED IN EARLY TIMES.

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BIRTH OF JONATHAN ALLEN.

ONATHAN ALLEN, the eldest son of Abram and Dorcas Burdick Allen, was born in the town of Alfred, January 26, 1823. He was the true son of this mountain region, "this eagle's nest," as he was wont to call this lovely valley. The record of some of his ancestors could be traced back to the mountains of Scotland, and to the uplands of all the countries from whence they came, even to the sacred hills of Palestine. Thus in this wilderness they naturally sought a home among the hills.

The New England States, with their rocky soil and fast. increasing population, became, early in the country's history, a difficult place for a poor man to procure a home and competence. Before and soon after the Revolution a few bold spirits sought and made homes in the Western wilds, as most of this part of New York was then known, but they had kept close to the lakes and the valleys of the Susquehanna and Genesee, with their tributaries. A few of the early settlers, however, had penetrated as far as the foothills of the Alleghanies, but it was not till after the year 1812 that safety from Indian raids, and the construction of State and military roads, made the country desirable for the general settler. Between the years 1815 and 1820 hosts of families from Rhode Island and other States came to make new homes in the part of the country where land was cheap, soil fertile, and there was an abundance of fuel for the long, cold winters. Deep into the unbroken forests, through roads often only underbrushed, up the winding valleys of the Chemung and Can

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