So many of the most influential citizens of Cortland County relocated here after starting lives elsewhere, and Giles Chittenden, Jr. is one of them. Chittenden was born in New Milford, Connecticut to Giles Chittenden, Sr. and Lavinia Todd Baldwin. Before young Giles was even born on November 21, 1800, his father died, leaving his mother in a quandary. It was quite rare for a woman to keep her children with her if her husband died because she might not be able to care for them financially. If a woman did not immediately remarry, she might have to move in with one of her siblings, and there might not be room for her children. Similarly, if she remarried, there was no guarantee that her children would be welcomed by her new husband. Death of a father could mean being adopted into another family or being bound out, whereby even young children would work in return for a bed and a place at the table in a household not their own. This experience was not always a good one. For Lavinia Chittenden, there was no question about her infant son—he would stay with her. Resources do not tell us how Lavinia managed to keep Giles with her, but it is likely that she moved in with a sibling or other family member because she moved to Chatham, New York and took her baby with her.
When Giles was ten, his mother took him to Hudson, New York, where she placed him in the care of a Quaker family so he could study at the nearby academy. At this time, his mother moved to Greene, New York, to live with Israel Baldwin, her son from a previous marriage. Giles remained in Hudson for four years before moving to Greene and beginning to clerk in his half brother’s store. He did this for two years and was asked to manage a new store in Lisle. He was just sixteen years old, but his work ethic was already evident. At the end of the year, he was offered a teller position at the Chenango Bank in Norwich, and he took the job. He stayed with it for three years, until he decided to pursue a career in mercantile business.
At twenty, he used his savings and borrowed money to start a general merchandise store in Norwich. He was responsible, frugal, and honest, and he quickly paid off his debt and built up the biggest mercantile in Norwich. By 1824, Chittenden had spent the last seven years in Norwich, and when he received a good offer for his store and goods, he took the opportunity to sell. He took his profits from the sale, and he and his mother moved to Homer where he started a new store. They settled into life in Homer, and in 1836, Giles married Samantha McWhorter, daughter of Dr. John McWhorter of Cincinnatus. Dr. McWhorter was one of the first settlers to Cincinnatus in 1795, and his marriage to Catherine Young was the first in the town.
Giles and Samantha were likely ecstatic to welcome their daughter, Lavinia S. Chittenden into the world in 1837, but their joy would be short lived. Samantha died in 1838, leaving behind an infant daughter. As was common at the time, Giles married Samantha’s sister, Mary, as his second wife. Giles and Mary had two children, their daughter Catherine was born in 1842, and an infant son who was born and died in 1846. In 1843, Giles lost his mother, the woman who did everything she could to create opportunities for him that would shape him into a man of integrity, and yet another blow was still to come. Mary McWhorter Chittenden died in 1846, and since their son also died in 1846, it is quite likely that both were lost due to complications of childbirth.
Giles must have been devastated by this heartbreaking string of losses, but he had two young daughters who needed him, and as fate would have it, there was a widow with four sons who needed him, too. Olivia Penny Munson became Mrs. Giles Chittenden in April of 1848. Their home at the corner of Albany and South Main Streets must have been a busy one if Olivia’s children accompanied her to Homer. There is little information in our files at CCHS to piece together the story of Giles and his three wives. Even his two daughters, who both lived into their seventies and remained at the family homestead, left little information behind. Neither Lavinia nor Catherine ever married, but they kept busy with travel, church activities, and charity work. Their father was “liberal but modest,” and no one ever knew the extent of his good works.
Giles Chittenden was a public servant, and he filled the roles of justice of the peace and town supervisor for the town of Homer and was a trustee at the Cortland Academy from 1853-1873. Chittenden was so good at counseling peaceful settlements as the justice of the peace that a lawyer of the day was heard to remark that “he would be glad when Squire Chittenden was out of office, for the lawyers were starving to death.” Chittenden was known for his honesty and decency, and those attributes made him well liked and respected in the community.
It does not take long for a lifetime of good works, commitment to family and community, and a sterling reputation to fade from memory when there is no one left to remember the individual. When an individual dies, and any evidence of that life is swept away into the dumpster like it is of no importance, it does affect the community. A community that does not know its history and does not understand the sacrifices, heartaches, and contributions made by those who came before us is destined to lose its way. When a community doesn’t value or understand the past, it is difficult to shape its future. Take some time to learn about the people who lived in your house, who built the churches, who founded the institutions of our community, it will give you a new appreciation for history. In the spring, walk through Glenwood Cemetery and find the beautiful monument for Giles Chittenden and his family. Take a minute to reflect on the ripples this family made in the community of Homer which may still be felt in unseen ways today. We all leave ripples behind if nothing else. ~Tabitha Scoville, CCHS Director
2025-01-26