Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/164

 140 HISTORY OF The location of the town of Sidney is in the north-west corner of the county, and its boundaries are thus enumerated : on the north by the Susquehanna, which separates it from Otsego } on the east by Franklin ; on the south by Masonville, and on the west by the town of Bainbridge, Chenango county. It was first organized in 1801, and derived its name from Sir Sidney Smith, a British admiral, who had gained much noto- riety for his victories at that period. The author of this name was a school teacher, John Mandeville, who was an English- man by birth, and who at the time resided at Sidney Plains. Masonville was formerly comprised in Sidney, and was not set off into a separate township until 1811. Sidney comprises an excellent township of well watered and fertile land ; on the north it has the winding and beautiful Susquehanna, which, in the Indian dialect signifies "Crooked JRiver on the east, with its fine mill seats and water privi- leges, is the Ouleout, which name is also of Indian origin, and said to signify "rapid waters;'' on the south-east runs Carr's creek, so called in memory of Johnny Carr, a tory, who built a saw-mill upon it at an early period. It has one flourishing village, with a number of fine dwellings, two stores, a hotel, and two churches. The population, according to the census of 1850, was 1,807. The original land-owners were Alexander Wallace Golds- bury, Banyard, John Mason Livingston, and Lawston. The town has sent six representatives to the State legislature, viz : Sluman Wattles, (1799,) Wm. Dewey, Samuel Bexford, James Hugston, J. M. Betts, Beuben Lewis, and Charles S. Bogers. The following valuable historical information was first pub- ' lished in a series of articles in the " Weekly Visitor — It may be proper to premise for the information of many of the present generation, that this region was included within the territory of the Five Nations — sometimes called Six Na-