pressman--often beset with discouragements, always feebly supported in
his efforts, but still hopeful and plucky. He could hardly, in 1860,
have dreamed that within twenty years, steam presses would be brought
into the same village to follow in the wake of the clumsy press whose
only motive power was his own strong arm. But few of our citizens can
now justly appreciate the obligation the community is under to Mr.
Carpenter for the large part of his life-work which he here so
unostentatiously performed.

In 1860 there was no bank here, and merchants were compelled to adopt
a round-about way of making exchanges with their creditors. Money was
sent miles away, by the stage-driver, or by special messenger, to a
bank where at a round premium a draft was bought. The stores of the
village had each a general assortment of merchandise, including silks,
broadcloths, groceries, plows, and schoolbooks. On either side of
Main-st. was a hard-beaten path, which served for a sidewalk. On the
south side of the street stood a number of dingy rookeries, in a half
tumble-down condition. Pigs and cows roamed at large, and were only
known to be home at supper-time, when old brindle, in more instances
than one, might have been seen peering through the front window with a
covetous look upon the family group around the table.

Marked improvements are now to be observed in every direction. With
the multiplication of industries, and the introduction of new ones,
calling for the outlay of more capital and the employment of more
labor, the growth of the village, in population and wealth, bids fair
to continue. A comparison of figures is, at least, encouraging. In
1860, Oneonta was a thriftless hamlet with only about six hundred
inhabitants. It is now a thriving village with a population of over
four thousand.