USA > New York > Tompkins County > Groton > Historical sketch of the town of Groton, Tompkins County, New York : being a lecture delivered before the Groton Literary Association, April 10, 1868 > Part 1
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Gc 974.702 G91b 1552965
M.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 1588
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https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00bald_0
Historical Sketch
OF THE
TOWN OF GROTON,
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TOMPKINS COUNTY, N. Y.,
BEING A
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
LECTURE
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
GROTON LITERARY ASSOCIATION, .
BY
Prof. M. M. BALDWIN, M. A., PRINCIPAL OF GROTON ACADEMY,
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1868.
PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATION.
GROTON, N. Y .: H. C. MARSH, PRINTER, GROTON JOURNAL OFFICE, 1868.
1552965
CORRESPONDENCE.
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PROF. M. M. BALDWIN-
DEAR SIR: Having learned that you are in pos- session of a large number of facts on the early settlement and history of the Town of Groton, and feeling that it will be highly interesting to the commu- nity generally, we would be much gratified if you would prepare a Lecture therefrom, to be delivered before our Association, at such time as may suit your convenience. Yours, &c.,
Groton, Jan. 22, 1868.
C. H. SPAULDING, S. U. JONES. Lecture Committee .. H. K. CLARK,
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· GENTLEMEN :-
GROTON ACADEMY, Jan. 23, 1868.
As intimated in your note of invitation, I have, for some time, been collecting information concerning the history of the Village and of the Town of Groton, and shall take pleasure in presenting the same, in Lec- ture form, to our citizens, at the earliest day I can do so conveniently.
Yours, with respect, M. M. BALDWIN.
To Messrs. C. H. SPAULDING, S. U. JONES, and H. K. CLARK, Lecture Committee of the Groton Literary Association.
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LECTURE.
FELLOW CITIZENS :-
History has been called Wisdom's most pleasant school. By it, Heaven is constantly teaching mankind important lessons. Among these, traced in unmistakable lines, we find that God would have men, by painful toil, change the barren wilderness into fruitful gar- dens; and also, that the race is destined to pass from the low state of the wild-man gradually to higher and higher types of excellence. It was never intended that these hills and valleys should remain mere hunting-grounds for savages, or haunts of wild beasts. They were designed to be peopled by enlightened, yea, Christianized hu- manity. And I am to speak to you on this occasion, of those who first began to fell those tall old forest-trees which once towered Lere heaven-ward, who first constructed the abodes of civilized man, who introduced domestic animals and first turned the soil with the use- ful plow, and, who laid the firm foundations of those humanizing institutions in the midst of which we now dwell. Would that they were alive to-day, and moving in our midst, to tell the story of those early days! With what eagerness would we not listen. But, alas ! those pioneers have all passed to their reward, and also, by far the greater portion of their immediate successors. Of the latter, a few remain to delight us with their pleasant society, and to instruct us with their vivid descriptions of the pioneers themselves and their. many trials. Thus we can realize, in part, the fact that the chan- ges which have taken place in this vicinity within the present centu- ry, have been brought about only by very great toil, sacrifices, and sufferings.
As introductory, permit me to quote all that I have been able to find, which has been printed upon this subject. French's Gazetteer, compiled in 1860, says : " Among the first settlers of the town were Samuel Hogg, at West Groton; Ichabod Bowen, [Brown ?], John · Guthrie, and - Perrin, at Groton; and J. Williams, J. Hough-
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taling, and W. S. Clark, at East Groton." The New Topographi- cal Atlas of Tompkins Co., published in 1866, says: "?Among the first settlers were Samuel Hogg at West Groton; Ichabod Brown and John Guthrie at Groton, and J. Willoughby, J. Houghtaling and W. S. Clark at East Groton." This information is probably as correct as strangers passing through the town and inquiring on the road, would be likely to obtain. But who the first settlers tru- ly were, can be determined only on an actual comparison of well authenticated dates.
This part of the State of New York was known, at first, as "The Military District," which title was bestowed upon it soon after the close of the American Revolution. After having driven the Brit- ish invaders from our soil, and having secured the liberties of our nation for all-coming time, our noble army was disbanded. Each soldier, though rich in glory and crowned with imperishable laurels, returned to the bosom of that society he had contributed to save, in most cases in a very destitute and impoverished condition. But they went not alone, for the hearts of the entire nation went with them. As a slight token of gratitude, a law was passed bestowing upon them, pensions and bounty-lands. This region, then a howl- . ing wilderness, was surveyed into townships ten miles square; and these were divided into lots a mile square, under the superintend- ence of Hon. Simeon De Witt, then Surveyor General of the State. The lots of twenty of these townships were bestowed by the State of New York, upon survivors of the New York line in that heroic army. In process of time, they were to be settled; and, as it hap- pened, it was undertaken at a very auspicious period. The terrible storm of the Revolution had passed away. The "garments dyed in blood" had disappeared, and no foe by his presence alarmed the weak and the fearful. Even the fierce Aborigines had been swept from this entire region by that wonderfully successful campaign of Gen. Sullivan. Though Napoleon Bonaparte, that mighty chieftain, " the lowly born," was shaking the thrones of the mightiest mon- archs of Europe with the thunders of his artillery, yet those dread sounds died far away from our shores; and, if known at all, they were little heeded by those who were then making feeble settle- ments here and there amid the hills and valleys of Tompkins County.
At the close of the last century, settlements were made nearly simultaneously in various portions of the town. But the honor of first settling this beautiful valley in the center of the town, is not undisputed. Many-tongued tradition brings to us at least two some- wimt different stories. One is, that Ephraim Spaulding and Michael
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Grummon, from Battleborough, Vt., came to this place in June, 1795, cleared six acres of ground where the Academy now stands, and sowed it to winter wheat, and built two log houses: one for Spaulding, near where Wm. Hicks now lives, and one for Grum- mon north of the. Sulphur Spring. That they were here before 1804 is undisputed. The other story is, that Major Benjamin Hicks, who had served with distinction in the Revolution, under Col. Willet at Fort Stanwix, (now Rome,) against the British and Indians, in the many bloody battles fought in that vicinity, and to whom Lot No. 75, in the town of Locke, now Groton, had fallen, then living near Canajoharie, N. Y., had in his employ during the summer of 1797, John Perrin, formerly of Berkshire Co. Mass. During said time, Hicks made an arrangement with Perrin to move upon said lot, commence clearing it off, cause it to be surveyed, and to offer such portions of it to actual settlers as he should be able. In October of that year, two teams with lumber wagons loaded with provisions, household furniture and other necessaries were fitted out ; Perrin and his wife, with Ebenezer Williams, from Charlemont, Mass., going with the first load, and Ezra Carpenter, from Savoy, Mass., with the second. On and on they traveled day after day, over roads well nigh impassable. During the latter part of their journey, when they had left all beaten paths behind them, Williams acted as guide to the teams, going forward on foot and selecting the track. For the last few miles he was directed by the " blazed trees," along the lines which had been left by the original surveyor, It seems that on the last day of their lonely journey, he had gone far ahead of the teams and had actually arrived at the bounds of " the promised land." Here lay lot 75 in all its primeval loveli- ness, but silent and solitary. At one time, he saw, in the distance, beautiful wild deer as they swiftly fled away ; and, at another, a huge black bear, which slowly and reluctantly retreated before him, yielding his sceptre to one mightier and more intelligent than he. Having hastily observed the "lay of the land," he returned to meet his companions, whom he found in the vicinity of James Maclach- lan's. When some ten rods south of Benj. Hatch's, they found a tree turned up from the roots. Here they halted; and beside this tree, they built a sort of shelter from the elements, which they oc- cupied, for nearly a month, while they constructed a permanent dwelling. On the first or second day in the dusk of the evening, they were surprised In hearing this question pronounced in a clear, and manly voice, " What are you doing here ?" Looking around they beheld a hunter in full dress; and they soon learned that he was John Bowker, (father of Clinton Bowker), one of the first set-
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tlers of Lansing, then on his way to visit friends in Dryden. Of course he camped with them. Their house was of log, and was lo- cated in the hollow south of Roland White's, and some four rods west of the road. It is said that the ground was then so marshy, that it took them all day to cross with their teams, for the first time, the valley from their brush shanty to their log "palace." This is claimed to be the first house in this part of the town. Then Wil- liams, who was a surveyor, went on foot to Cortland, and borrowed a compass and chain of Samuel Crittenden, grandfather of our G. D. Crittenden ; and, with these they surveyed the lot, and sub-divi- ded it into portions suitable for farms, preparatory to offering them for sale, in accordance with Major Hicks' plan. Before winter set in, Williams and Carpenter returned to Canajoharie, and thence to Mass. Now whether Spaulding and Grummon, or John Perrin and wife were the first settlers in this vicinity, let others decide. The latter, it seems to me, is much the most probable.
In 1804, Dea. Benjamin Williams, now eighty-four years of age, a brother of Ebenezer Williams, and also of Mrs. John Perrin, came to Groton to reside. From him I learn that Perrin and wife pass- ed the winter of 1797-S alone in the wilderness. The next spring, his father, Lemuel Perrin, and family came and settled on the thir- ty-nine acres, where B. Hatch's dwelling now is. It cost him three dollars per acre, and he afterwards sold it to Amzi Clark for $18. per acre. Also S. Jenks Carpenter, father of our Ruel B. Carpenter, came from Savoy. He worked for J. Perrin that summer, and claimed to help clear off the first piece of land in the vicinity In 1803, he bought fifty acres where Mr. A. Page resides, and paid for it one hundred and fourteen dollars " in gold." Ephraim Spaulding built a house a little east of Wm. Hicks', which he sold to Ezra Loomis, who occupied it in 1804. Samuel Ingalls and Silas Stu- art came about this time; also Michael Grummon who built a house near F. A. Sherman's. May 7, 1802, Jonas Williams pur- chased one hundred and six acres for $320.25 and built upon it the first grist-mill in Groton. This was one story and a half high, and it had one small run of stone which was used in grinding both wheat and corn. To show the scarcity of musical instruments and the es- timation of music among the people of that day, it is related that one of the customers of the mill would sometimes bring along his violin as well as his grist, and that in return for the entertainment afforded the miller and his customers, his grist went toll-free. Then, he built the first saw-mill, known to us as " the old saw-mill," and which has lately been torn down to " clear the track" for the South- ern Central R. R. He also erected the first framed dwelling in the
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place where the Union Block now stands. Before 1804, Ezra Car- penter had married John Perrin's sister and moved upon the farm where Alfred Underwood now lives. Admatha Blodgett from Ho- mer bought the samo farm three or four years after. Dr. Nathan Branch occupied a house near John Vantine's. Jonathan Bennett lived in a house near Roland White's. Peleg Hathaway lived on the farm now owned by Henry Allen. Abiatha Hathaway dwelt nearly opposite to Virgil Hatch's, and John Perrin had moved and built a house near Aaron Woodbury's residence.
No doubt, a large number of interesting incidents could be col- lected, if one had the time to spare, which would give some idea of the trials and difficulties encountered by the early settlers, and which would also throw some light upon the manners and customs of that period. For instance, it is said that in April 1798, Ephraim Spaulding killed, where Henry Allen's barn now stands, the largest and fattest bear ever seen in this region. The summer after, a bear came and took a hog belonging to Spaulding, and having carried her across the Inlet on a log near where Ashley & Co.'s steam saw-mill recently stood, killed and ate her. They were com- pelled to feed the six little motherless pigs with a spoon. The same year, Silas Stuart was attacked by a pack of wolves; and in order to save his life, he was compelled to take refuge in the top of a tree, and remain there much of the night. Alarmed by his absence, the neighbors with torches in hand, went in search of him. The wolves, being frightened by these, retreated leaving the frightened man in the hands of his friends. But we cannot take leave of Stu- art yet. He had built a house on the East Hill, near where John Adams now resides. A bear visited his hog-pen one night to carry away his hog, being one of the aforesaid "spoon-fed-pigs." The night was very dark, and the bear determined in his purpose. Stu- art, remembering well his former experience when "treed" by the wolves, was suddenly taken very sick, just at the time the tumult at the pen was the greatest. Under these trying circumstances, his wife became desperate, and, seizing some fire-brands, rushed out of the house, taking care to close the door so firmly behind her that the bear could not get in to hurt her poor, sich husband. Then by shouting and brandishing the fire-brands, she kept the bear from the hog until assistance came from the valley.
Jonathan Bennett was appointed the first Justice-of-the-Peace in 1805 or 6, which office he held for many years. Once it is said after having officiated at a wedding, the bridegroom asked him what he would receive for his fees, as he had little money. Bennett who was a kind, jovial man, replied that he was not particular, most any
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thing would answer. Upon this, the young man gave him two very fine sap-buckets, which Bennett took, and, placing one under each arm, trudged along home on foot through the woods, whistling.
In 1806, David Hicks, a half-brother of old Major Hicks; also, Wm. Hicks and his son James, came and settled here. In 1807 or S, Benjamin Williams and his brother William bought five acres of land for $51.56, and erected the second frame dwelling in the village near the site of H. K. Clark's dwelling. Soon after, they began to use one part of this for a store. They purchased their goods, consisting mainly of calico, coarse broad-cloth, muslin, gro- ceries, nails, tobacco, etc., at Waterford, ten miles north of Albany, and had them transported the entire distance by two-horse teams, the drivers generally carrying their provisions with them and occu- pying some twelve days in the journey. They then sold the goods for ashes, manufactured these into potash, sent the potash to Water- ford by teams to pay for the goods, and bought more goods with which the teams were loaded on their return. They put up the first ashery in 1808 or 9, near C. P. Atwood's. Prior to that, potash was made in the open air. They also carried on a distillery near the store. August 15, 1811, Wm. Williams, senior, purchased the grist-mill and forty acres of land for $1,225, tore down the mill, and erected a new one on the same site.
The year 1817 was a very important one to this locality. The Legislature, on the 17th, of April, formed the new county of Tomp- kins, so named in honor of Gov. Tompkins, by taking from Seneca County, the towns of Hector and Ulysses, and from Cayuga County, Dryden and parts of the towns of Locke and Milton. At first, the part of Locke thus set off was called Division; but the next year, it was changed to Groton, on the petition of the inhabitants of the town, some of whom had moved from Groton, Mass., and some from Gro- ton, Ct., though a few desired the name of York. The town, therefore, lies in the N. E. corner of Tompkins Co., is ten miles long and five wide, containing fifty square miles, or 32,000 square acres. In the same month, the Annual Town Meeting was held at the log barn of Samuel Love, near A. Woodbury's. Hon. Samuel Critten- den was elected Supervisor, and Admatha Blodget, Town Clerk. The town being thus set off, business received a new impetus, im- provements were rapidly effected, and the number of inhabitants was rapidly increased by the arrival of new settlers.
Robert C. Reynolds, born in Richmond, R. I. in, 1792, came to Groton this year. The village then contained, as he informs me, seven framed buildings, viz : a house then occupied by Wm. Wil- liams, sen., and his son Benjamin, where the Union Block now
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stands; a house near the residence of the late Orrin Clark, which Reynolds purchased and in which he opened a store; the old red house north of Edward Thomas', then occupied by S. Jenks Car- penter; a house where John Vantine's now is, occupied by James Austin as a tavern; Pliny Sikes' dwelling; a small house near Conant's where Dr. Daniel Mead lived; and a school house near Wm. Perrigo's dwelling. There was about the same number of log houses. Soon after, Pliny Sikes built the houses now owned by C. W. Conger and D. V. Linderman ; Ebenezer Williams returned as a permanent settler and erected a carriage shop and also a dwell- ing on Main street, known then as the Mansion House; Azariah Dodge built a part of the present Groton Hotel, to which R. C. Rey- nolds made additions in '33, and Harrison Bowker in 1854-5. In 1818, Wm. Williams, sen., erected the S. DeLano house, and Lu- ther Trumble, a fulling-mill down at "the Willows." At this mill a large amount of carding and cloth-dressing was done for several years, particularly by Dexter & Demmon, until finally the building burned down. James Gibbs with his family moved from Windsor, Ct., purchased an acre of ground, and built on it the Bresee house. The next year, he built a shop back of the apple-tree in front of Wm. Perrigo & Co.'s machine shop, in which he carried on the saddle and harness business, it being the first, and for many years, the only shop of the kind in the town. Some twenty years ago, he became a Baptist Minister, and was pastor of several different church- os. Luther Trumble seems to have been quite a builder, for about this time, we find that he erected the dwelling now used by Levi Thomas as a grocery-store. In 1820, he built the store now owned by Adams Brothers, and also the house south of Goodyear's Hall. Leaving "the corners" in 1825, he built A. Woodbury's present dwelling for a tavern, and Mrs. James Gibbs' dwelling for a store, which was filled with goods by him and Major Eliphalet Clark. In the fall of 1824, Zimri Marsh came to this village and engaged in mercantile trade upon the ground now occupied by L. H. Marsh as a store. Born and married in Amherst, Mass., he removed to Schenectady, thence to Moravia, and afterwards to Groton City. In 1827, he purchased the store now owned by Adams Brothers, for . $450. He owned the first gig in these parts, and it attracted much attention. In that gig, he was accustomed to travel to Albany, and thence on the river to New York for goods. He was esteemed a good business man, and a man of fine abilities ; and was for a time a member of our State Legislature.
I have thus, my friends, presented all the facts concerning the early settlement of this vicinity, that the space allowed me will per-
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mit. I now proceed to give a brief account of the rise and progress of the public institutions and principal kinds of business in our midst. The first settlers were generally young men, moral, indus- trious and public spirited. They came expecting to be called up- on to endure the usual wants and privations of pioneers, and to la- bor unremittingly to introduce all the institutions usually found in civilized, christian lands. They had been reared under the sound of the gospel, and were ready to welcome "the preached word," here in their wilderness homes. Preachers from the surrounding settlements occasionally passed through this valley, and they were invited to stop, and to preach and conduct prayer-meetings at pri- vate houses. The first sermon I have heard mentioned, was at the first funeral, by a Presbyterian minister, who happened here at the time. The first child born here, the little daughter of John Perrin, some two or three years old, was accidentally scalded to death. Her grave, the first in the old burying-ground, is now to be found on the top of the hill, extending north and south. It was dug by E. Spaulding. Dea. B. Williams remembers the first sermon he heard here was by Jabez Chadwick of Genoa.
THE OLD EAST CHURCH.
The " East Cong. Church in Locke," was organized June 19th, 1805. A log meeting-house was erected soon after, two miles east of Groton village. Rev. Joshua Lane was installed minister, as re- corded in neat and scholarly style with his own hand; a copy of which I here insert, as it is the only specimen of "ye olden style" I have discovered in the town :
" Wednesday, July 12th, 1809, Joshua Lane of Stratham, Stato of New Hampshire, licensed by the Piscataqua Association, was sol- emnly ordained to ye work of the gospel ministry by ye Middle As- sociation, of which this church is a member, and installed to take the pastoral charge and oversight of this church and congregation as their first minister."
In 1818 or '19, they raised a large framed meeting-house, which was dedicated in the winter of 1821. It was erected mainly by contributions of labor, grain, and neat cattle. This church became large and influential, the greatest number of communicants in any one year (1838) being 295. After the Congregational Church was established, in the village, many withdrew and joined here. At length their large edifice was purchased by our enterprising towns- man, Dr. John Goodyear, and moved to the village in 1864, and converted into an excellent Town-Hall, stores, &c.
In earlier days easy carriages were unknown here, and to show how the abler classes frequently went to "meeting," as it was called,
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it may not be improper to state that Deacon B. was often seen on his way on horseback, with his wife riding behind and a couple of children before him. Also that J. C. took his wife behind him on horseback, and leaving her at the Baptist church in the village, of which she was a member, he would gallop furiously up the hill to the " East Church," two miles distant, to attend his meeting,
THE FIRST BAPTIST SOCIETY
Was incorporated Feb. 10th, 181S. They soon agreed to build & church edifice 32 by 40 feet with a porch, on the ground directly south of our district school house, and let the job to Ebenezer Wil- liams for $450. To defray the expenses, they voted to sell the pews, " payments for the same to be made in three equal annual payments in salcable neat stock or grain." For their minister, Benjamin An- drews, they hired a farm, which he, truly believing in the nobility of labor, continued very cheerfully to cultivate for years. In 1834 they built an addition having on it a steeple. To this society is due the credit of purchasing the first church bell in the town. Early in 1843, they voted to build a new meeting-house, 45 by 60 feet, on land bought of Jeremiah Pratt. The same was completed Janua- ry 1st, 1844.
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
Incorporated July 18, 1836, L. K. Redington minister, and Jus- tus P. Pennoyer official member. In January 1842, they resolved to build a meeting-house, entered at once upon the work like ear- nest men, and had it dedicated on the 20th of December following. In 1853 they voted "to sell the old parsonage and buy new of Geo. Watson." Thus it will be seen that at an early day, they had the enterprise and judgment to provide "a home" for their minister ; and they have not given him an opportunity on his first coming among them, as too many abler societies have, to say in the words of our Saviour: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head."
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Incorporated March 12, 1849. They at once resolved to employ Rev. H. A. Sackett as minister, at a salary of $400, and to build a house of worship, 40 by 55 feet. This was dedicated January 29th, 1851. This society has the credit of securing for use in public wor- ship the first church-organ in the village. This was accomplished mainly through the exertions and assistance of the Rev. Augustus Pomeroy, who for more than ten years served them very accepta- bly as pastor.
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