From "The History of Cortland County" Chapter XXX, edited by H. P. Smith, D. Mason & Co. publishers, Syracuse NY 1885
Amos Todd and Joseph Beebe, whose advent into the old town of Homer has been already alluded to, migrated from New Haven, Conn., and located at Windsor, Broome county, NY, during the year 1789. They explored the valley of the Tioughnioga in the summer of 1790 and in 1791 left Windsor to become the first settlers in Cortland county and probably, in the town of Homer. They were accompanied by Mr. Beebe's wife, Rhoda, who was Todd's sister. The current narrative of the early experiences of these pioneers, as it has often been told and written, is as follows: - Coming up the valley from the southward they selected the site for their primitive home, just north of the present village of Homer, within a few rods of the bridge across the Tioughnioga, and nearly opposite the residence occupied in later years by Erastus Goodell. Their rude dwellling was composed mainly of poles and was, perhaps, twelve by fifteen feet in its dimensions. Before this temporary abode was finished their team strayed away into the forest. Leaving Mrs. Beebe alone, the two men set out in pursuit of the animals. Without any protection other than the four walls of her unsubstantial cabin, which was yet without roof or floor, and with no door save simply a blanket hung upon the poles to cover the opening, the brave woman remained alone three days and nights. During these long, lonely hours she is said to have retained a tranquil mind and and received no annoyance save such as was caused by the howling wolves and occasional screaming panther, which at that time often made the nights hideous. She received but one call during the time the men were abesent, and that was by a wolf which, being rather timid, only displaced the blanket door sufficiently to introduce his nose and take a survey of the apartment and the shrinking woman. A severer trial, however, awaited this pioneer woman, During the following winter her brother and husband were compelled to return to Windsor for their household effects, etc. At the end of their journey they were snow bound for a period of six weeks, during which time Mrs. Beebe remained in her lonely wilderness home, the sole occupant of the forest and "palace of poles." She must have been blessed with far more than ordinary courage and fortitude or she could never have lain calmly down in a dense forest, night after night, many miles distant from any human habitation, to rest by the lullabys of the wolves and panthers. Mrs. Beebe is said to have been thus situated, and it was not until the middle of the winter that her husband and brother pushed their frail craft to Binghamton, where they were joined by John Miller, father of the afterward well known deacon Daniel Miller. The little canoe was again pushed from shore and on their way homeward up the river "the men took turns in directing its course and removing obstacles, or following on foot and driving the cattle." Sometimes the stream was found too shallow and boat was drawn across the rift by oxen and then again set afloat. Time, which is the author of all changes in human affairs, at last brought the pioneers near to their wilderness home. The imagination of the reader can best depict the meeting of the two men with the brave and lonely wife and sister. So runs, in substance, the narrative of the first settlement of this town. Unfortunately for the authors and circulators of this interesting story, there is a somewhat different version of it given upon undoubted authority (that of Mr. Charles Kingsbury, of Homer) which it is our duty to reproduce. Mr. Kingsbury has written and published many reminiscences of early times, and of the account of the winter journey of the three men from Broome county, says: "Now, it strikes me as being singular that those first settlers should pull from shore in midwinter and be able to propel their frail craft, not only against the current of the stream; but the winter must have been of a much milder type than modern winters, or the stream would have been filled with heavy ice which, of course, would have seriously obstructed the navigation. It appears that this story lacks confirmation." These are Mr. Kingbury's own words, and the narrative as best substantiated to him is to the effect that " Mr. and Mrs. Beebe and Mr. Todd, a brother-in-law of Beebe, and at that time, unmarried, came up the river in a boat from Windsor and landed on the west bank about midway between the present Port Watson bridge and the point where the two branches of the river unite. (Footnote: This would locate their first settlement within the present boundaries of Cortlandville.) There they constructed a temporary cabin of a few logs, but mostly of poles, and the men returned to Windsor for provisions and such articles as they could bring back, and which their circumstances imperatively demanded. It has been asserted almost times without number, that Mrs. Beebe remained alone during their absence; but it now appears upon good authority that she had a daughter named Clara, who remained with her. For some cause, at present unknown, the men were detained much longer than they expected to be; even more than twice the length of time they had marked out had already passed. Mrs. Beebe's small stock of provisions was exhausted, and she was reduced to the necessity of resorting to roots and the barks of trees to appease their hunger and sustain life. At length she came to the conclusion that some serious misfortune had befallen her husband and brother, and that some decided effort was necesary on her part; the only alternative which presented itself, which appeared at all feasible, was to make the journey down the river through the forest on foot This bold resolution she finally adopted, although well aware that the woods were inhabited by wild animals, many of which were fierce and dangerous. She hoped by keeping near to the stream, to avoid the danger of being lost in the woods, and thus by patient and persevering effort, she would at length succeed in emerging from the forest and discovering a settlement. The day for beginning the journey was fixed, the small means she possessed were in readiness, when, sometime in the night preceding her start, upon looking out of her cabin, she discovered a light some distance down the river. This was something so unusual that it created much interest in her mind, and watching it closely, she saw it was approaching. In a little time it drew near and with it her husband and brother, with a stock of provisions and other goods which they so much needed." This cabin was their temporary residence during the time the men were engaged in building a log house, on the farm upon which Mr. Beebe located, west of Homer village, on lot 43, on the south side of the road formerly known as "the turnpike." Here the Beebes spent the remainder of their lives, Mrs. Beebe dying in 1830 and her husband in 1802. An old-fashioned headstone marks their graves, in what is now Glenwood Cemetery. Like a majority of the early settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Beebe were very worthy people. We find their names among the earliest members of the first Baptist Church society of Homer. Mr. Todd subsequently settled on the farm adjoining Mr. Beebe's on the east, where himself and his wife passed their lives. They were also worthy and respected members of the community. Both of these families reared a number of children, all of whom removed from the town. Harry S. Beebe, son of Joseph, succeeded his father on the farm, but subsequently removed to the State of Pennsylvania, where he died several years ago. This last account of the first settlement in this county is undoubtedly reliable and correct, in the main, as we have it directly from one who is, probably, the oldest native citizen now living in the old town of Homer, to whom Mrs. Beebe herself related the circumstances, going with him to the spot upon which their first cabin was built, which she was enabled to recognize by a spring of water issuing from the ground near to and in a certain direction from the location of the cabin. The land on which the dwelling was built was owned and occupied in later years by Samuel Hotchkiss. This last account of the first settlement in the county by white persons becomes of considerable importance when we consider its authenticity, its bearing upon the most prominent of the early experiences of the pioneers, and the fact that it removes the first settlement from the town of Homer to a point within the present boundaries of the town of Cortlandville. As we have before stated, John Miller accompanied Todd and Beebe on their second journey up the Tioughnioga river and in the spring of the year, 1792, brought to the town of Homer his wife and two sons; they came from the State of New Jersey and constituted the third family in the town; although John House, James Mathews and James Moore accompanied him on his return from his former home in the spring of the year last named. It appears by an old record that the Miller family formerly resided in the State of Maryland, about fifty miles west of Baltimore; but at what time is not known; nor is the place in New Jersey, from which he is said to have migrated to this county, known at this time, as far as we have been able to learn. He settled on lot 56, now embraced in the town of Cortlandville, and further reference to the family will be found in the history of that town.