The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879 page 275
TOWN OF IRA / EARLY SETTLEMENTS

sisting of his wife Zeruah and five children, all of whom are dead. Three children subsequently born are living, Abel, at Meridian, where he has been engaged in mercantile pursuits since 1837; Charles, at Watertown, N. Y., where he is engaged in the sash and blind business; and Hannah, widow of Wm. Locklin, at Potsdam, N. Y. About this time, or perhaps a little earlier, Abram Sturge came in with his family and settled about a mile north-west of Ira, where his sons Abram and Samuel died. John, another son, lived a little farther north, where he also died. Parmenus Sprague came in about the same time and settled on a farm adjoining Sturge's.

John Hooker, a boon companion of Dr. John Jakway, who came in from Vermont, about 1809 and settled at Cato, came in about a year before the latter, from the same locality, where they had been associates of Ethan Allen, and settled at Cato, on the Ira side of the line. He lived there about thirty yeats, till his death. His son John is living near Victory. Hooker built the first grist-mill in the town of Ira, in 1818. A portion of the old mill still stands just east of and adjoining the buildings of the Cato Milling Company, near the depot in Cato, a portion of it having been torn away to accommodate the latter buildings. That which remains is used as a store-room by the present company, except in the east end of the upper part, in which a cabinet shop was recently started by Joseph Girard.

William DeForest, a German, came in from Albany county, at an early day, soon after Daniel Parker's settlement, and located about a mile east of Cato, on the farm now owned by Harriet Bartlett, widow of Rev. Gamaliel S. Bartlett, where he died about 1843. None of his children are living, but several of his grandchildren are. His sons were John, Martin and Jacob. Three of John's sons are living, viz.: Jacob and William, on the farm adjoining on the north of that on which their grandfather settled, and Martin, in Oswego. Three of Martin's sons are living, viz.: William, at Meacham's Corners, one mile east of Meridian, David, near Ira Station, and Martin, in Michigan. Jacob's children are William I. and Henry, who live on adjoining farms in Victory.

Jarius Palmer, from Galway, settled about 1810, about a mile south-west of Ira, adjoining the farm of Dwight Phelps, where he lived till his death about four years ago, and where his wife Sally still lives, hale and active, though ninety-two years old.

The first town meeting was held at the house of Israel Phelps, April 3d, 1821, and the following named officers were then elected: Thatcher I. Ferris, Supervisor; Allen Benton, Clerk; Chauncey Smith, Henry Perine and Luther Barnes, Assessors; Ezekiel O. Cogswell, Jonathan Hurd and Wm. Townsend, Commissioners of Highways; Abraham Willey and Wm. T. Shearman, Poor Masters; Ezekiel O. Cogswell, Collector; Lemuel Austin, Oliver Stone, Erastus Strong and Benj. Conger, Constables; Chauncey Smith, Israel Phelps and Henry Perine, Commissioners of Schools; Ebenezer Wilcox, Erastus Strong and Wm. H. Noble, Inspectors of Schools; Augustus F. Ferris and Wm. H. Noble, Commissioners of Gospel and School Lands; Augustus F. Ferris, Pound Keeper.

The present town officers are:

Supervisor--Daniel H. Taber.
Clerk--George Terpening.
Justices--Robert W. Cole, Frank Terpening, Henry VanDusen, George B. Andrews.
Assessors--Ezra Baker, E. F. Jaynes, O. A. Foote.
Commissioner of Highways--E. D. Crowninshield.
Overseers of the Poor--Henry S. Hunt, William Bradt
Inspectors of Election--Wilson E. Palmer, Elber C. Phelps, Wm. A. Wormuth.
Collector--Charles Ferris.
Constables--Emory J. Sweet, John Harris, A. O. Thayer, A. L. Thayer, Luman C. Goodrich.
Commissioners of Excise--James Terpening, Jacob Deforest, E. R. Foxon.

The population of the town in 1875 was 2,064; of whom 1,889 were native; 175 foreign; 2,060 white; and 4 colored. Its area is 21,156 acres; of which 17,134 are improved; 3,026 woodland; and 996 unimproved.

CATO

Cato, on the south line, lies partly in this town and partly in Cato, in connection with which town it is noted. Here and at Meridian, in the north edge of Cato, the principal business of the town centers.

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