INTERVIEW with Court Bellis - 222 South Cayuga Street.
"Mr. Bellis remembers an old plank road that used to exist out Cayuga Street, on out the Spencer Road and out into the valley. As nearly as he can remember this was built in 1850. On this road were several hotels. The first was the Stringer Hotel, and Mr. Bellis
recalls his father often talking about it. It was torn down when Joseph Allen built a house on the site. This house is now occupied by Ray Laughlin. People who are now eighty years old say it was torn down early. The next hotel was the John Fisher Hotel and that is now the Pearson place; then, not more than a half mile further out, the next was the Jackson Hotel. This is now the Millard Place at Inlet.
This plank road was a toll road and the toll gate was near the Jackson Hotel. The man who kept the toll gate was named Jack Mowers.
The next hotel was a place near Strattons. Here later there was a railroad station. This was run by a man named Dan O'Dell. On towards West Danby, two miles further, there was a man by the name of John Crane ran a hotel. Just beyond West Danby a short distance was another hotel, the name of which Mr. Bellis could not recall. It was on the present site of Ralph Thatcher’s place - Mr. Thatcher is eighty-two years old. That was the last hotel in the county. It was torn down to build the Thatcher place.
The first man hung in this county was Clark, a shoemaker, who killed his wife. He was hung in public down at Fall Creek near the sand bank. He was marched from the jail down there in orderly fashion and Mr. Bellis’ father marched close behind the prisoner. Or course excitement ran high, and Mr. Bellis remembers hearing his father tell about it many times.
Fifty or sixty years ago there were many wild pigeons here, beautiful birds, which are now extinct. They had long rails and colorful breasts. People used to make a business of catching and selling them. Ralph Thatcher, mentioned above, clerked for James Quigg a long time. James Quigg had all of his father's old books and ledgers (his father was David Quigg, merchant). One item he always remembered was - a shipment of two barrels of pigeons to New York - and they were shipped by horses.
Another thing - it is well known - about 1865 or 1860 there was no such thing as the cotton tail rabbit here, but lots of rabbits that were brown in summer and white in winter. They were called 'white rats'. Some time between '60 and '65, Thad Fisher, son of John Fisher of Fisher’s Hotel, went to Michigan or Ohio and caught quite a number of cotton tail rabbits, brought them here and let them out south of Buttermilk Falls against the side of the hill. As these rabbits commenced to increase, the white rabbits began to fall back - they fought them and drove them out entirely. The white rabbits were not much good for food. At the same time Fisher brought back wild turkey, but they did not thrive.
Mr. Bellis has the pigeon net that belonged to his father - over a hundred years old - which he will give to the DeWitt Historical Society. These nets would trap as many as 500 pigeons decoyed to them."
WPA Oral History Biographies, V16-1-7, courtesy The History Center in Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.