Some years later than the last named date, Peter Dinninny opened the
first store kept in Oneonta. The store then stood where the opera
block now stands. The first school-house was built soon after 1790,
and stood on the rise of ground near the house of Horace Sessions, on
the south side of the river.
Previous to 1816, when the Presbyterian church was built, church
services were generally held in Frederick Brown's barn. The first
clergyman who regularly preached here was the Rev. Alfred Conkey, who
was settled at Milford. Mr. Conkey is yet remembered by some of the
older citizens as a very earnest and zealous man, besides being a
person of liberal culture.
The first white child born in this town, or the first known to have
been born in town, was Abram Houghtaling. He was born in 1786.
John and Nicholas Beams were early settlers to the east of the
village. Elisha Shepherd came from New England at an early day and
settled at Oneonta Plains. His sons, in after years, became actively
engaged in different branches of industry, and the Plains at one time
bid fair to become the most prominent village in town. It contained a
hotel, a store, two churches and a distillery.
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