or...
The Oxen-Powered Railroad
It was a record-setting flood. Elmira, New York was a real mess in that fateful year of 1865. And the surrounding countryside was awash as far as the eye could see. The mighty Susquehanna River had risen and risen, until there wasn't any way to keep your feet dry. All the folks were stuck were they were, because all the roads were completely under water.
All the folks were stuck except William Henry Snedeker, that is.
He wasn't going to wait around and lose his golden opportunity, no sir. He had his oxen all set up, his wagons loaded, and there was no way he was going to have all that work and money go to waste. While everyone else was prepared to wait weeks, maybe months for the roads to reappear in passable condition, William was determined to be on his way. He saw the flood as a clear-cut opportunity to really find out where the good, flood-proof land was located. And when he found this good land, he would snap it up and set up his lumber mill.
Leading directly south out of Elmira, the Northern Central Railroad tracks stretched off, paralleling the river. But William noticed that the tracks were 'way up on a berm... out of the water. And while the trains might not be running during this time, William figured he could make a train of his own.
So with a lot of hollerin' and straining, the oxen were brought up to the top of the berm. There was no way the wagons could fit up there, but that didn't deter our William. He laid down a sort of corduroy road of boards across the tracks. The wagons were rolled up onto the boards, hooked up to the oxen teams, and off they went. Every few yards, William would stop the oxen, go back to the end of the train, collect up the boards, and re-lay them down ahead.
With this method, the plucky lumberman inched his laborious but VICtorious way down the tracks.
When he got to the New York - Pennsylvania border, the only land visible was still just the railroad berm. So he continued on... for seventeen more miles!
The land was getting sort of rolling-hilly, and the water was becoming more well-behaved. Finally, William reached a place that really looked ideal for his operation. It was in the narrow valley of the north branch of Sugar Creek, near its headwaters. Down came the oxen from the tracks, the wagons were unhitched, and William settled down to the serious business of lumbering.
The operation was successful enough that a small town complete with a general store grew up around the mill. By 1866, the train started making regular stops at the town, and the Northern Central Railroad installed a switching track for the mill business. And the next thing you know, a Post Office was put in, formally giving the new settlement the name, "SNEDEKERVILLE"!
A postcard from 1900 is on the home page, showing the town and "our" house.
And now you know... the rest of the story!
