State of New York
County of Chemung
TOWN OF CATLIN
1448 CHAMBERS ROAD
BEAVER DAMS, NEW YORK 14812
607-739-5598
2014 ANNUAL HISTORIAN’S REPORT
TOWN OF CATLIN, CHEMUNG COUNTY, NEW YORK
Prepared by Mark Claypool, Catlin Town Historian on 1/11/2015
Activities for 2014:
Records Organization:
In 2014, I continued to sort through newly obtained files and records, and I catalogued them within the file system I
created during the prior year. There is still much left to be catalogued.
I also received a large box of photographs from the highway department. The photos document various equipment and
the improvements made to town roads over the years. With the help of retired Highway Supervisor Alvin Janowski, we
were able to identify most of the roads in the photos, and I sorted and created a file organized by road name to store
this historical information for future reference.
Cemetery Records:
In 2014, I visited the original site of the Carter's Hill Cemetery, thought to be the first burial ground in the town. There
were no visible traces of the cemetery remaining, and the current landowner tells me he has never seen any signs of
such there. Perhaps it was moved at some point? My research continues.
Also during this year, we were lucky to have an Eagle Scout project which undertook the cleanup and repair of the Carr
Cemetery located on Barnes Hill Road in Catlin. This cemetery was overgrown in brush, its pipe railing was broken and in
disrepair, and all grave stones but one were lying on the ground. Boy Scout Ryan Hallstrom enlisted a group of
volunteers to come in and remove the brush, roots and rocks from the plot. During the process of removing the roots
and turning the top soil, we discovered an additional grave site and the buried broken edges of all the fallen grave
markers. As a result, it was possible to reset all grave markers upright in their exact original locations. The brush was
hauled away, pipe railing repaired and repainted, grass seed planted and cemetery sign repainted. The cemetery will
now be maintained on a regular basis. In addition, I researched the history of the site and those interred there, and
created a historic marker placed at the cemetery telling their story. Finally, the Carr Cemetery has always been listed in
an incorrect location over the border in the neighboring Town of Big Flats. I found the original deed including the
creation of the cemetery, and I contacted the County Real Property Office and had the site's location corrected on the
tax maps. There are a number of informational resources that still list this cemetery incorrectly as being in Big Flats, and
these will have to be corrected over time.
Inquiries & Research:
During 2014, I received several inquiries for local historical information which I researched & responded to. Surnames
investigated include Johnson, Riley, Decker, Appleton, Smith, Backer & Carr.
Current Events:
During the year, I documented several events occurring within our town which may have historic value into the future.
These include:
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Following the progress of the Beaver Valley Water District improvement project.
Following and documenting the proposed commercial wind farm activity in the town including community
opposition to this project and attempts by the town to create zoning ordinances to regulate it.
Town Maps:
I am still working on creating a cadastral map for 1938 of the Town of Catlin. The searchable database for this map was
completed in 2013. This year, with the help of the Chemung County Highway Department, I created a digital map of the
entire County in a modifiable CAD format. This map has many layers including roads, municipal bounderies, streams,
railroads, and points of interest. All layers are geo-coordinated, and this map can be used as an overlay of geocoordinated aerial photos, topograghs, etc. For Catlin, I will first use this map system to complete the 1938 Catlin
cadastral map. However, this map could serve many other purposes for all towns in Chemung County, and I will make it
available at some point going forward.
I have scanned two maps that I now have available in a digital format. The first is the 1938 Compass map for Chemung
County. The second is the 1912 Post Office Map for Chemung County.
Catlin History Project:
I continue to work on a consolidated history for Catlin, combining information from several historical reference books &
articles into one organized and up to date electronic resource. This will be a living document, and I will augment it with
foot-noted information from old news articles, notes and diaries as I discover more historic tidbits into the future.
Grants Received:
None for 2014.
Activities Planned for 2015:
Records Organization:
I will continue to merge documents into my file system as I acquire them. I have received another box full of documents
over this past year.
As always, I am still looking to obtain & scan old photos from around the town, as we currently have very few. If anyone
has anything to share, I would be happy to look at them!
While cleaning out the town vault, the Town Clerk discovered the existence of a book of marriage records recorded
between 1908 and 1984. This is a fantastic resource, and has already been used to help others find genealogical
information. Because some of the information in this book is less than 50 years old, this reference book must remain in
the vault.
Cemeteries:
I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the Carter Hill Cemetery. We'll see what 2015 reveals ...
Town Maps:
Complete the 1938 cadastral map of Catlin that I started in 2013.
Consolidated Town History:
I will continue to build and organize the consolidated town history throughout 2014. What I have to date has already
proven very useful.
Eva Kimble's Documents:
I have begun reading and absorbing The Funeral Book, a series of handwritten articles compiled by past historian Eva
Kimble. Her notes document in great detail many prominent funerals that she attended over the years within our town.
The stories are interesting and very descriptive. As I get through it, I will determine if it might be worth transcribing and
perhaps even publishing.
After going through some of the Kimble diaries, correspondence and articles, it seems there is a wealth of historical and
genealogical information here. It is a hodgepodge of information, with lots of redundancy and jumping around. I'm
going to make an effort to dig into it and try to put some organization to what is there. Hopefully, I can add some more
personal elements to my consolidated town history.