. The mails
were conveyed from one settlement to another by the postman, who
traveled over the hills and through the valleys on horseback, and made
known his approach to each post-village by the winding of a huge horn,
which was always carried by his saddle-bows ready for use.

During the war of 1812-14, the winding of the postman's horn caused
the settlers both in the village and without to assemble rapidly and
in full force, men, women and children, to learn the news from the
"Canada border." Early in that war a number of men entered the army
from Oneonta. Some of them were stationed at Sackett's Harbor and
Oswego, while others did good service at Lundy's Lane and the Heights
of Queenstown. But few of those veterans yet remain to tell

"Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea."

At the time of its first settlement, Oneonta was in the old county of
Tryon, which was formed from Albany county in 1772. Tryon county then
embraced the whole western portion of the state, from a line extending
north and south through the centre of the present county of Schoharie,
to Lake Erie. In 1784 the name was changed from Tryon to Montgomery.
Oneonta was then in the old town of Suffrage.

During the period of which we have written, Oneonta as a distinct town
had no existence. The village of Oneonta was then in the town of
Milford, and was known as Milfordville. Through the brawl of two old
bruisers, it was sometimes vulgarly called "Klipknocky."[A] This
nickname lasted a long while, and was known at a long distance from
home.

[Footnote A: On the banks of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania, there
is a thriving little hamlet known as "Klipknocky Jr." It was first
settled by an emigrant from Oneonta. While the river was the highway
the most easily traveled, fugitives from the older settlement found a
landing-place for their canoes and a safe retreat for themselves at
"Klipknocky Jr."]

In 1830 the town of Oneonta was formed from the adjoining towns of
Milford and Otego. It is said that it received the name Oneonta at the
suggestion of Gen. Erastus Root.

Among the early inhabitants of Oneonta, whose enterprise contributed
to the development of the resources of the town, was William Angell,
who soon after his settlement here became the most prominent
inhabitant of the village. He built the Oneonta House, where he acted
as host for a number of years. He was also one of the proprietors of
the Charlotte turnpike, which upon