Town of Fremont - History pg3

I had assumed that Benjamin Misner was the earliest settler to come into the Long Pond section where he built a saw mill at the outlet of the pond in 1831. Quinlan states, however, that Zachariah Ferdon located at Round Pond in 1824. If Ferdon preceded Misner, it was Misner and his brother Jacobus Misner who first bought land. The two bought a tract in 1811 of Herman M. Hardenburg, a son of Gerard Hardenburg, who had been murdered in the town of Fallsburg, where the Misners lived. Ben. Misner is credited with stocking Long Pond with brook trout - some of which were later caught weighing five pounds.

Sixteen in Misner Family

The Misner family left its impression on this section of Fremont. One reason was the number in the family. The original Misner had sixteen children - fifteen boys and one girl. G.L.M. Hardenburg came from Fallsburg to settle near the Rockland border and a considerable settlement sprung up here. While yet a part of the town of Callicoon, a school district was organized in this section, making the third in the town of Callicoon. There is a record showing that a Hardenburg daughter taught this school and received a salary in the munificent sum of two dollars a week and boarded herself. Another early settler in this section was named Thomas Secord, who became nationally known as a prize fighter. His match was a fighter named Yankee Sullivan ended in injuries to Secord from which he died.
In the Basket and Long Eddy section, several early gazetteers give Joseph Green as the first settler. Quinlan contends that the name is Joseph Geer. Judge William Deckelman, who has searched the land records in that section, finds that the name is Geer and not Green. Abner Lane and a man named Dusinberry were here before 1800. A half-breed Indian named John Johnson lived in this section long after the tribe had departed.
The settlers at Long Pond came to the lands of Fremont through Rockland township. All contact with the outside world was over that route. The road built in 1833 from Liberty to the Delaware River opened up that portion near North Branch. A road known as the Cannon road, was build over the hill to reach the Hankins settlement. This was followed by another road to Fremont Center. This, I assume, passed through Obernburg past the Smith home mentioned early in this article.

Erie Brings Real Estate Boom

When the Erie Railroad seemed a sure thing, there was big business in real estate in the town. When the railroad began to operate, it was Hankins that became the station that served the town of Rockland. An old hotel register kept at Rockland, now in possession of Kenneth A. Sprague of Roscoe, contains the names of many a celebrity who came to the Beaverkill to fish for trout. They got off the Erie at Hankins and walked overland through