The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879 page 260
Early Settlements / Town of Sterling

Jehiel Parks in the same locality, in 1807. Wilmot and his wife died in the town at an early day. Nathan, his son, removed west soon after his father's death. Parks bought fifty acres on lot 26, about 1820, and lived there for many years. He afterwards went west, with his family, which was quite numerous, and there died.

Jacob Wilsey, from Saratoga county, settled in the north-west corner of the town, in 1808.

John Cooper, John Dusenberry, Curtis Stoddard and John McFarland and his sons, William, Robert, James and Thomas, came in from Washington county, in 1810. Cooper settled at the Valley, which was for many years known as Cooper's Mills, from the saw and grist-mills built there by him. It is not certain in what year these mills were erected, as authorities differ, but there is no doubt that these were the first mills of their kind built in the town. Both were burned. Cooper built the house now occupied by James Hunter & Co. as a store. It stands near the site of the first log hut, in which, the same year, he opened a tavern, which was the first in the town. This old cabin contained but one room, which answered the purpose of kitchen, bar-room, dining-room and family sitting-room, sleeping-room and parlor; but many of the early settlers enjoyed its rude accommodations while their own homes were being built. William and George Cooper, brothers of John, settled, the former on the farm now owned by Mr. Fry, and the latter, from Saratoga county, in 1812, on the opposite side of the road, a little west of him, on the farm now occupied by Frank Duel. The Coopers have numerous descendants living in the town. Dusenberry settled at what is known as Galey's corners, and died in the town. Stoddard, who was an Englishman, settled in the east part, where Thomas Manning now lives. He removed long since to Ohio. The McFarlands settled on lot 27. John died in the town, about 1813, of typhoid fever. William is living in Illinois. Robert, who served in the militia in the war of 1812, was drowned in Nine Mile Creek, a little west of Oswego, while returning home with his company. The water in the Creek was high and the current strong. Thomas Vaughn, also a resident of this town, was drowned while trying to rescue him. James removed to Illinois, where he died in the winter of 1876. Thomas is living about half a mile south of Sterling Center. Of McFarland's daughters, who came with him, Margaret, afterwards Mrs. Alexander Beattie; Nellie, afterwards Mrs. Samuel Stevenson; Isabel, afterwards Mrs. Charles Crawford and later Mrs. Charles Williams; and Jane, afterwards Mrs. John Daniels; all are dead.

John and Matthew Harsha also came from Washington county in 1810, and settled at Martville. John died in Oswego, to which place his children removed; and Matthew removed to Michigan, where he died. The marriage of Matthew Harsha to Charity Turner, was the first marriage celebrated in the town.

Joseph Bunnell and John Turner, from Long Island, settled in 1811, the former a little west of Peter Dumas, and the latter at Fair Haven. Turner traded his possessions in L. I. for a farm of 140 acres in Sterling, in 1804, and induced his son, Isaac, who was then becoming of age to accompany the family in making the settlement. They came on in February, on the ice from a point one and one-half miles west of Sterling Valley, where the road terminated, and where they stopped several days with an acquaintance who had preceded them. The family found shelter from the bleak winds in a shanty with bark roof and split floor which had been erected on the premises by squatters. At this time a family named Ramsdell resided at the head of the Bay; and Peter Simmons' family and two others named Myers and Wiltsey, on the shore of the lake in the vicinity. All were squatters, and subsisted mostly on fish and wild game, both of which were abundant.

The nearest grist-mill was at Oswego, and the most convenient route by water, as there were no public highways, nothing but paths through the woods along lines of blazed trees. Ofttimes the settlers would get out of provisions, the rough waters of the lake making it too perilous to attempt to reach Oswego in their white-wood canoes. While returning from one of these journeys to Oswego, Isaac Turner was overtaken by a storm, which compelled him to pull his canoe and grist to the shore and make his way home on foot. When he reached home he was taken sick, and the next day his father and younger brother set out to recover the cargo. When they reached the locality where it was stored they observed several deer, which, taking alarm, plunged into the lake, were pursued and four captured. They

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