In 1791, Asel Marvin came from Vermont and first settled at Oneonta
Plains. Shortly afterwards he removed on a large tract of wild land,
about two miles from the village, upon the Oneonta Creek. He was a
well-known builder and lumberman. For twenty-two consecutive years he
rafted lumber to Baltimore. He built the first school house on the
Oneonta Creek road, and when the first church edifice was built in
town, he was one of the trustees of the church society. When Mr.
Marvin moved into the valley of the Oneonta Creek, the country across
the hill from Oneonta to Laurens, was almost an unbroken wilderness.

Some years later than the last named date, Peter Dinninny opened the
first store kept in Oneonta. The store then stood where the opera
block now stands. The first school-house was built soon after 1790,
and stood on the rise of ground near the house of Horace Sessions, on
the south side of the river.

Previous to 1816, when the Presbyterian church was built, church
services were generally held in Frederick Brown's barn. The first
clergyman who regularly preached here was the Rev. Alfred Conkey, who
was settled at Milford. Mr. Conkey is yet remembered by some of the
older citizens as a very earnest and zealous man, besides being a
person of liberal culture.

The first white child born in this town, or the first known to have
been born in town, was Abram Houghtaling. He was born in 1786.

John and Nicholas Beams were early settlers to the east of the
village. Elisha Shepherd came from New England at an early day and
settled at Oneonta Plains. His sons, in after years, became actively