The Town of Hamilton
Hamilton is one of the five townships in the southern tier of Madison County in Central New York. Its surface is rolling
upland broken by pleasant valleys. The most important are the Chenango River running north-south on the west side and the
Chenango's subsidiary, the Sangerfield River, running northeast to southwest.The region is generally well adapted to
agriculture - especially dairying. It had been a favorite with the Oneida tribe of the Iriquois Indian nation, some of whom camped
along the Chenango even after the settlers arrived. Colonel William S. Smith in 1794 purchased the area which was set off from
the Town of Paris in Oneida County in 1795 and named for Alexander Hamilton, the American patriot. Originally Hamilton
embraced four townships but in 1807 Eaton, Lebanon and Madison were taken off and Hamilton was reduced to its present
borders.
Colonel Smith sold a considerable portion of his holdings to the English land speculator, Sir William Pultney, who, in turn,
disposed of it to Dominick Lynch, a New York City land speculator. The latter advertised and sold lots to individual settlers. The
first to arrive were John Wells and Abner Nash who in 1792 explored and selected plots along the Sangerfield River a short
distance east of where the village of Earlville now stands. Settlement was made the next year.
The first pioneers of what was to become the village of Hamilton were Samuel Payne and his wife, Betsey, who came
down from Whitestown in Oneida County to which they had migrated from Amenia, Dutchess County, a few years before. The
next year they were joined by Elisha Payne, Samuel's brother, and a group of friends, mostly from Dutchess County or
Connecticut. Because of Elisha's encouragement of settlers the community was called Payne's Settlement or Payne's Corners.
It was incorporated as Hamilton in 1816.
Earlville, situated at the point where the Chenango and Sangerfiled Rivers meet, was first known as "The Forks". Four
towns - Hamilton, Lebanon, Sherburne and Smyrna - join here and two counties - Madison and Chenango. In 1834 with the
construction of the Chenango Canal, which went through the village, its name became Earlville in honor of Jonas Earl, a state
Canal Commissioner.
Poolville is roughly three miles northeast of Earlville on the Sangerfield River. It takes its name from the Pool family who
came to the area from Plainfield, Massachusetts, about 1810.
Hubbardsville, aslo on the Sangerfield River, is about four miles beyond Poolville. It commemorates Calvin Hubbard, a
native of Northampton, Massachusetts. He removed to this location in 1813 from Sherburne and soon became one of its
leading residents.
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