Many of us at one time have probably known someone who did such a good job at something, they got criticized or received some flak for doing the job too well, or efficiently. Normally the critics are people who don’t like to be shown up by a co-worker, or who may not be as efficient.

Some early Oneonta residents acted like this once before, sometime in 1810, when a carpenter came to the area and did such good work on building a barn, he was told to leave. Many thought the carpenter was "in league with the devil" because of his excellent skills.

Harvey Baker was a much earlier historian in Oneonta, and in "Harvey Baker’s Notes," Baker said the incident was said to have occurred within the limits of the village of Oneonta. Baker’s writings were made in the later part of the 19th century, and the village limits were substantially smaller than today’s city limits.

Back in 1810, the settlement was called Milfordville, as it was part of the town of Milford. It wasn’t until 1830 that the town of Oneonta was formed, and the village of Oneonta was named in 1848.

The area was almost entirely agricultural. Baker said a farmer wanted a barn built, but did not give the name.

"Just at the time," Baker wrote, "a young man by the name of Keech came along, making inquiry for work as a carpenter. He was directed by Simeon Walling, with whom he stopped, to this farmer who wanted a barn. A bargain was soon made with Keech to hew the timber and frame and raise the barn."

Walling was one of Oneonta’s earliest settlers, and operated a tavern once found on the site of today’s United Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Main Street and Walling Avenue.

Keech went into the woods and hewed the timber for the barn, bringing it to the site very quickly.

The farmer was surprised by the speed, and was even more surprised when Keech told him he didn’t need several men on hand to help raise the barn. Needless to say, the farmer was thrilled and went about his tasks of farming.

As we know, people love to talk. The fact that a man was framing a building alone by some new plan "was soon noised around among the people who by this date were becoming quite numerous in this vicinity," Baker wrote.[an error occurred while processing this directive]