These Fruitful Hills: Chemung County in the 1860s

Blessed with rich soil and forested hills, Chemung County’s economy in the 1860s was based on farming and lumber. The military rendezvous in Elmira needed a constant supply of lumber for construction and firewood, feed for horses and meat for hungry soldiers, all of which Chemung County lumbermen and farmers were able to supply. With many of the able-bodied men off fighting, however, the cost of farm labor skyrocketed. At the same time, non-farming families in Elmira and the villages of Horseheads and Millport found themselves in competition with the army for increasingly expensive food and grain.