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OF
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1
HISTORY
OF
HERKIMER COUNTY
NEW YORK
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS OF MANY OF ITS FIZANS
EDITED BY GEORGE A. HARDIN ASSISTED BY FRANK H. WILLARD
.
1
SYRACUSE, N. Y .: D. MASON & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1893.
1
7055 109
YRABBUI 3HT
To the Citizens of Herkimer County :
When the publishers, in 1892, declared their intention to publish another history of Herkimer County, they made inquiry as to the unbound volumes of the history prepared by Judge Benton, and issued in 1856. Such information as they desired was furnished them on that subject, and then they asked if consent would be given to aid and assist in supervising their proposed publication.
As a century had passed since the organization of the County, and thirty- six years had elapsed since the publication of " Benton's His- tory," it was believed that many events not noticed in that work could be collected, and that, with the multitude of events transpiring since that time, the proposed work would be welcomed. Therefore consent was given to aid in gathering material; in advising as to events known; in suggesting sources from which facts could be obtained worthy of being recorded.
After such consent was given, it was found necessary to have an immediate assistant to look after details, and to prepare descriptions and outlines of events worthy of notice. For such purpose Mr. Frank H. Willard was mentioned and engaged by the publishers, and he has with fidelity performed the work assigned to him.
It was known that the late Samuel Earl had collected much valuable information concerning early events and written many articles record- ing them. An application was suggested and made to his son, Robert Earl 2d, and to his brother, Judge Earl, who promptly and cheerfully gave access to all the articles written and information gathered by Mr. S. Earl, and the same have been valuable aids in preparing the following pages.
PREFACE.
Valuable information has also been furnished by W. T. Loomis, Esq., by Mr William G Miligan and many others, to whom grateful ac knowledgments are due, and therefore given.
The County bears a patriot's name, and it is hoped that the reader may find in these pages evidences that its citizens have in times past and passing, honored the hero of the battle of Oriskany.
The bench and bar, as well as many distinguished members of the legal and other professions who have had their origin in this County, have been given extended notice.
The manufacturing industries developed in the County have received, as they justly merit, considerable attention.
The portraits found in the work, with biographical sketches accom- panying them, serve to illustrate the character of citizens who have had their homes within the bounds of the County, and it is believed they will furnish interesting features of the work.
The publishers have given painstaking attention to every detail in the mechanical preparation of this volume. The engravings have been carefully executed by artists of well-known ability, and the letter-press, binding and gilding are in excellent style.
Vigilant efforts have been made to trace authoritatively the events narrated, and give reliable information as to the scenes and deeds which have given the County a worthy position in the Empire State.
To its citizens the work is submitted, in the hope that it will meet with their approbation.
Respectfully, GEORGE A. HARDIN.
Inte LAbrs. N. Y., May. 1893
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY,. 17
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS, 27
CHAPTER III.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, . . .. 40
CHAPTER IV.
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD,
.... 47
CHAPTER V.
GROWTH AND PROGRESS,
86
CHAPTER VI.
THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD,
94
CHAPTER VII.
HISTORY OF CHEESE DAIRYING IN HERKIMER COUNTY . . . . . . II
CHAPTER VIII.
THE COURTS, THE BENCH AND THE BAR OF HERKIMER COUNTY, . ... 131
14
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
THE HERKIMER COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY, .155
CHAPTER X.
1 THE TOWN OF GERMAN FLATS 175
CHAPTER XI.
THE TOWN OF HERKIMER. . 213
CHAPTER XIL.
THE TOWN OF LITTLE FALLS, 242
CHAPTER XIII.
THE TOWN OF FAIRFIELD,. 30]
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TOWN OF SALISBURY 315
CHAPTER XV.
THE TOWN OF MANIIEIM. 328
CHAPTER XVI.
THE TOWN OF DANUBE,.
.. 343
CHAPTER XVII.
THE TOWN OF STARK 348
CIIAPTER XVIII.
THE TOWN OF WARREN ... - 354
15
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE TOWN OF COLUMBIA .361
CHAPTER XX.
THE TOWN OF WINFIELD. . . 368
CHAPTER XXI.
THE TOWN OF LITCHFIELD ......
. ...... 382
CHAPTER XXII.
THE TOWN OF FRANKFORT.
. .... 387
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE TOWN OF SCHUYLER.
.. .
- .397
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE TOWN OF NEWPORT
.......... 405
CHAPTER XXV.
THE TOWN OF NORWAY. . . . . .412
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE TOWN OF RUSSIA.
434
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE TOWN OF OHIO.
... .445
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE TOWN OF WILMURT
... 449
16
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BIOGRAPHICAL
453
PART II.
FAMILY SKETCHES ... 1 INDEX 25-
INDEX TO FAMILY SKETCHES .267
HISTORY
OF
HERKIMER COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY.
N EARLY three-quarters of a century had passed after the first ad- vent of permanent white settlers into the valley of the upper Mo- hawk river-a period made historically memorable by the occurrence of many important events and the enactment of deeds of valor and heroism-before Herkimer county existed as a subdivision of the State of New York. The original ten counties of the colony were created November 1, 1683, and named Albany, New York, Dutchess, Kings, Orange, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester On March 11, 1772, Montgomery county was created, under the name of Tryon (changed in 1784), and embraced nearly the whole of the cen - tral and western part of the State. Herkimer county was erected from Montgomery February 16, 1791, and received its name in honor of the distinguished general, Nicholas Herkimer. As first formed the county embraced a vast extent of territory, extending from its eastern boundary westward to the eastern boundary of Ontario county, exclusive of the territory of Otsego and Tioga counties, which were erected at the same date with Herkimer. The boundaries of the county as originally given were as follows; All the territory bounded north by Lake Ontario, the
3
18
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
river St. Lawrence, and the north bounds of the State ; easterly by the counties of Clinton, Washington and Saratoga, as they then were ; south erly by the counties of Montgomery, Otsego and Tioga. From this large tract of country Onondaga county was set off in 1794; Oneida in 1798 ; Chenango, from Herkimer and Tioga, in 1798 ; and these counties have been variously subdivided at later dates. In 1816 parts of the towns of Richfield and Plainfield, in Otsego county, were taken, with a part of Litchfield, Ilerkimer county, to form the present town of Winfield. (See chapter 5 of the Laws of 1817, and chapter 228 of Laws of 1816.) In 1817 the towns of Salisbury and Manheim, and all that part of Min- den (Montgomery county) now comprised in Danube and Stark, were annexed to Herkimer county. (See chapter 184 of Laws of 1817.) This county as it now exists covers an area of 1,370 square miles, and is bounded on the north by St. Lawrence county ; on the east by Ham- ilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties ; on the south by Otsego coun- ty ; and on the west by Oneida and Lewis counties.
The present county comprises within its limits the following tracts and parts of tracts of land granted by the crown before the Revolution, and by the State since the treaty of 1783 :
NAMES UE PATENISOR FACTS.
DATE.
NO, OF
ACRES.
Adgate's Tract,
1799
43,907
Mathew Adgate.
Bayard's Patent,
1771
50,000
William Bayard, Alexander Ellis, and fifty-three others.
Brown's (John) Tract,
1792
A part of 1,920,000 acres granted to Alexander Ma- comb.
Burnetsfield's Pate t,_
1725
9,400
Johan Joost Petri, and ninety-three others.
Colden's (C ) Patent, ._
1738
3,000
Cadwallader Colden, the younger, and Coenradt Ryghtmeyer.
Cosby's Manor,
1734
22,000
Joseph Worrell, William Cosby, and nine others.
Colden's (A. Patent
1761
4,000
Alexander Colden, and three others.
Frank (Conradi & Co's Patent,
1765
5,000
Fall-Hill Patent,
1752
2,524
Glen's Purchase.
1734
25,076
Hommedieu's (L') Patent,
1786
4,000
Ezra L'Hommedieu and Nathaniel Platt.
Henderson's Patent,'
1710
James Henderson, and two others
Hasenclever's Patent,
1760
18,000
Peter Hasenclever, and seventeen others.
Johnson's (Guy) Patent,
1765
Guy Johnson. Forfeited by attainder of G. J.
Jerseyfield Patent,
177
04,000
Kass's Patent,
17' 4
1,1 00
Johan Jurgh Kass, and his children.
Lindsay's Patent,.
173
3,000
John Lindsay and Philip Livingston.
Livingston's Patent,
1762
20,000
Lispenar I's Patent,
1770
9,200
Leonard Lispenard, and thirteen others.
Lansing's Patent,
1753
6,000
McComb's Purchase.
1702
McNeil's Patent, .
4,000
Matchin's Patent,"
178
1,600
Thomas Matchin.
Nobleborough Tract,
1787
40,960
Arthur Noble.
Moose River Tract,'
Owned by the State, exeept 13,080 granted in 1847 10 Anson Blake.
Petrie's Purchase
1-40
John Jost Petrie, and two others.
Koya Grant,
Sir William Johnson.
NAMES OF ORIGINAL PATENTEES.
Coenradt Frank, and five others.
Johan Joost and Hendrik Herchkeimer.
Henry Glen, Alexander Ellis, and ninety-two others
Philip Livingston, and nineteen others.
Jacob and Abraham Lansing, and Jacob Glen. Alexander Macomb.
John McNeil, and three others.
19
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY.
NAMES OF PATENTS OR TRACTS. !
DATE.
NO. OF
ACRES.
NAMES OF ORIGINAL PATENTEES.
Remsenburgh Patent,*
1787
48,000
Henry Remsen and three others.
Snell and Timmerman's Patent
1755
3,600
Jacob Timberman and Johan Joost Schnell.
Staley's Ist and zd Tract,
1755
34,000
Nicholas Herchkeimer, and fifteen others.
Schuyler's Patent,
1755
43,000
Abraham Lynsen, and twenty-one others.
Totten and Crossfield Patent
1790
9,760
Isaac Vrooman.
Vrooman's Patent, do
1786
4,000
Isaac Vrooman.
do
1790
433
Isaac Vrooman
Van Driesen, Peter,
1737
1,000
Petrus Van Driessen.
Van Driesen, John,
1786
428
Johan Van Driessen.
Van Horne's Patent, "
1731
8,000
Abraham Van Horne, and three others.
Vaughn's Patent,.
1770
8,000
John Vaughn, and seven others.
Watson's James Tract,*
1792
A part of Macomb's purchase.
Winne's Patent.
1741
2,000
Peter Winne.
Walton's Patent,
1768
12,000
William Walton, jr., and eleven others.
Young's Patent,
1752
14,000
Theobald Young, and ten others.
This mark (*) denotes that the lands indicated are partly in Herkimer, and partly in other counties.
The foregoing table indicates that the title to most of the lands in the county was granted by the crown before the beginning of the Revolution, and those grants were recognized as valid by the constitution of 1777; but at the same time the State was left free to protect itself against treason or hostility by any person holding under the grants, as hereafter shown.
In explanation of the table the following details are of interest :
The original evidence of ownership of the Burnetsfield lots were certificates given the grantees in the winter and spring of 1723. The next transaction in land in the county was the purchase of the Kast patent in 1724 by the family of that name, who were among the Burnetsfield patentees. John Jurgh Kast and his son of the same name had each received a thirty-acre lowland and a seventy-acre npland lot, and the family now bought a tract of 1,100 acres on the river in Schuyler, half way between East and West Schuyler villages. Next came Lindsey's purchase, covering 3,000 acres in oblong form, beginning on the south bank of the Mohawk, a mile and a half below Little Falls, taken by John Lindsey and Philip Livingston in 1730 ; then Van Horne's, made in the following year by Abraham Van Horne and three others, the tract consisting of 8,000 acres about the Canajoharie castle.
The next tract taken up was the famous Cosby's Manor, granted in 1734. The part of this tract within Herkimer county formed a block about seven miles square, beginning just west of Frankfort village (abont two-thirds lying south of the river), and surround- ing Kast's patent. The chief patentee was Governor William Cosby. The property passed into the hands of Lady Grace Cosby, and was the subject of a correspondence between herself, her agent, Sir William Johnson, and Oliver De Lancey, the latter of whom in the summer of 1762 bought the tract for himself and James Jauncey, Peter Remsen and Goldsbrow Banyar, paying £6,000 currency.
Next to Cosby's Manor in date of granting was the tract of 1,000 acres on the north bank of the river, just east of Little Falls, purchased by Rev. Peter Van Driesen
Rudolph Staley, Johan Joost Herchkeimer, Jr.,
20
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
in 1737. In the next year Cadwallader Colden took 3,000 acres in a strip a mile and a quarter wide running south from Van Horne's patent to Otsquago Creek.
One of the most important of the earliest patents was Glen's purchase, so called from Jacob Glen, the patentee. The tract of land involved consisted of 25,076 acres, occupy- ing, in general terms, the eastern part of the town of Herkimer, the southern half of Fairfield, Little Falls north of the river, and the western part of Manheim. The Indian title was extinguished in 1734.
In 1738 five of the lots were granted to Patrick McClanghry and Andrew McDowell, and eight to James De Lancey, John Lindsay, and Abraham Glen. In 1739 three were granted to Lendert IIelmer, two to Jacob Glen, three to Archibald Kennedy, three to John Schuyler, jr., three to Arent Brant, and three to Philip Schuyler. In 1761 three were granted to Samuel Auchmuty, three to William Mitchell, and three to William Ogilvie.
Henderson's patent of 6,000 acres was granted to James Henderson, his son of the same name, and John Kelly, 1739. Most of it is embraced in the town of Warren. In 1741 Peter Winne bought 2,000 acres on both sides of West Canada Creek; except where bounded by the Burnetsfield patent on the south, this tract was surrounded by the Hasenclever patent. The southern part of the town of Warren is embraced in Young's patent, granted in 1752 to Theobald, Adam, Frederick, and Andries Young, and seven others. In the same year Johan Joost and Hendrick Herkemer bought 2,324 acres on the south bank of the river, extending from Lindsay's purchase to the eastern- most Burnetstield lots. Lansingh's patent was granted in the following year to Jacob and Abraham Lansingh and Jacob Glen. The part of it in Herkimer county lay in the south of Dannbe and the northwestern part of Stark.
A strip along the southeastern side of Winfield was part of a tract of 43,000 acres granted in 1755 to Daniel Schuyler and twenty-one others and called Schuyler's patent. Snell and Timmerman's tract, 3,600 acres, in the southern part of Manheim, was granted in the same year. In 1755 were also granted Staley's first and second tracts, so called, containing 34,000 acres. The patentees were Rudolph Staley, Johan Joost Herkimer, jr., Nicholas Herkuner and fifteen others. The first tract, together with the river, sur- rounded all the Burnetshield lots south of the Mohawk, except the easterninost five, and extended sonth far enough to take in most of the present town of German Flats. The second tract included almost all of the town of Columbia. Between the two, in narrow form, lay Staley's third tract, also called Frank's patent, from Conrad and Frederick Frank, who were interested in it.
In 1761 John McNeil and three others bought what has been called McNeil's patent, in the southern part of Stark. In this year, too, Alexander Colden, William Willett, Stephen De Lancey and Christopher Blundell procured the patent called by the name of the first of these gentlemen, It consisted of 4,000 acres, mostly on the north side of the river, filling the space between Burnetsfield and Cosby's Manor; eight small lots sonth of the river embraced the site of Frankfort village.
Livingston's patent, part of which occupied the southeastern corner of Stark, was granted in 1762. Iu 1765 Guy Johnson bought 2,000 acres, now about equally divided between the southeastero corner of German Flats and the adjoining portion of Little
21
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY.
Falls. Walton's patent ran along the western county line from Cosby's Manor to West Canada Creek, with a breadth of two and a half miles; it was granted in 1768. In the following year Peter Hasenclever and seventeen others bought what has since been called Hasenclever's patent. It consisted of 18,000 acres, all but a small portion of which was bounded by Cosby's Manor, Walton's and Alexander Colden patents and West Canada Creek.
The Royal Grant (so called) comprised a large tract of land lying between the Can- ada Creeks which was acquired by Sir William Jolinson from his lodian friends in 1760, and for which he received a patent from the government in 1769. The tract embraced about 66,000 acres and lay back of the lands previously granted.
In 1770 8,000 acres, comprising most of Little Falls south of the river and the west- ern corner of Danube, were granted to John Vaughn and seven others, forming the Vaughn patent. In the same year the Jerseyfield patent was made to ninety-four per- sons, 1,000 acres to each, bounded by the Royal Grant, West Canada Creek, the line which forms the northern boundary of Salisbury, and the eastern county line. Bayard's patent, purchased by two brothers of that name and fifty-three others in 1774, embraced most of the towns of Litchfield and Winfield. In 1786 Isaac Vrooman bought 4,000 acres, and in 1790, 10,193 acres in a narrow strip extending across Danube and parts of Manheim and Stark. The other 428 acres of Manheim were taken in 1786 by John Van Driesen. In the same year Thomas Matchin bought 1,600 acres on the north side of West Canada Creek in the town of Russia. The Totten and Crossfield purchase was made in that year, and included 25,200 acres, part of which was in the northeast- ern corner of the county. In the same year Ezra L'Hommedien and Nathaniel Platt bought the 4,000 acres remaining in the northwest part of Stark and the southern part of Little Falls. In 1787 the Nobleborough tract was patented to Arthur Noble and comprised 41,000 acres, lying at the angle in the southeastern line of Wilmurt; and in the same year 48,000 acres southwest of the above, bounded on the south by West Canada Creek, were purchased by Henry Remsen and three others. In 1792 the State granted to Alexander Macomb an immense tract of land in the great northern wilder- ness at a nominal price, of which the John Brown and the Watson tracts are parts. The Guy Johnson tract was conveyed by Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Jacob G. Klock, and Henry Oathoudt, commissioners of forfeitures of the western district of New York to Benjamin Tallmadge, major in the army of the United States, June 7, 1784, and by Tallmadge to Caleb Brewster, July 9, 1794. Matthew Adgate in 1798 patented 43,907 acres now in the southern part of Wilmurt. The latest patent in the county was for 13,080 acres of the Moose River tract granted to Anson Blake in 1847.
The titles of the Indians to lands in the Mohawk valley, as well as those of the white settlers who adhered to the crown in the Revolution, were destroyed by that event, through the Attainder Act of 1779.
The Attainder Act of 1779 embraced fifty-nine persons, three of whom were married females, and they were also declared convicted and at- tainted with their husbands of offenses against the act. This manner of procedure was warranted by the fact that many women were in posses-
121
122
125
124
123
126
127
128
William 1000 deces
1
112
113
119
117
116 $55
Bränderout takes
109
011
101
109 310
103 310
1104
105 100
106 1000
6ÇI
- 19,00
99
-
230
220
230
158 @
Susan 3000 fries
157
00 .9%
Abary 2000 deres
153
PestBianca Green
154
George 3000
of part of the Land in the TopelikSirant Devised by Sur Bhifftam Doğuson to some of hits matin AndianChiteren merged by Lameuse l'imman 1.9!
153
Visu Lathe Street
Nº52
00 58$
de 1.09/2
Scale. 20 Chains to an Inch
Front . Hope iBu
: you9 , 4:3. 984 885 .4886
. 4.087
-86-
94
-- - 92
01
Reach The
$500
00 41
1Pro
Margaret 2000
107
23
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE COUNTY.
sionin their own right of large tracts of land. The Legislature passed an act on the 12th of May, 1784, directing the prompt sale of confiscated and forfeited estates, requiring the proceeds to be applied to the sinking and discharging of public securities created for prosecuting the war. This was the first step taken to dispose of these estates, and the functions of the commissioners ceased in 1788. The act of 1784 designated the kind of money and certificates or bills of credit issued by the State, which might be received in payment for lands sold. In the course of the trans- actions thus effected there ensued a heavy depreciation of public securi- ties, which was severely felt by the people who were forced to accept them from the government. The purchasers of the public domain, how- ever, were in no respect losers by their operations. Having purchased these securities at the current specie market price, or at the sum fixed by the continental scale of depreciation, they exchanged them in most in- stances for some of the best lands in the State, at a price per acre a little more than nominal, and thus accumulated large fortunes for themselves and their descendants. The titles were, moreover, guaranteed in all re- spects by the State.
The commissioners of forfeiture of the western district of the State sold and deeded between September, 1784, and September, 1788, ninety- three lots in the first allotment of the Royal Grant; ninety-one in the second allotment ; 130 in the third allotment; and 137 in the fourth allotment. This proceeding on the part of the State was founded on the attainder of Sir John Johnson, by the act of 1779.
The map made by Lawrence Vrooman in 1797, and reproduced here- with, shows that Sir William Johnson gave by his will to six of his natural children by Molly Brant (or Brandt), 15,000 acres of this grant as follows : To Margaret, 2,000 acres ; George, 3,000; Mary, 2,000 ; Susan, 3,000 ; Ann, 3,000 ; Brandt, 1,000 ; and to William 1,000. The portion of this tract thus devised adjoins the East Canada Creek, and is in the present towns of Manheim and Salisbury. The lots as numbered on the map are: 166 in the first allotment ; 102 in the second ; 136 in the third ; and 143 in the fourth. These are the highest numbers, but in several instances intervening numbers below are not found. I
The late Samuel Earl left among his historical memoranda the following : " As Mary Brant and her eight children, Peter, Elizabeth, Magdalene, Margaret, George, Mary, Susanna, and Anne, and young Brant Kaghnectayo of Canajoharie, and William Tagawinente of Canajoharie, were inca-
24
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
A specific half of eighteen lots in Jerseyfield patent was also sold and deeded by the commissioners of forfeitures, within the periods above mentioned. The original patentees of this large tract were mostly of the Dutch extraction, not German, and residents in Albany, Schenecta- dy and the lower Mohawk valley. None of these names appears in the Attainder Act of 1779. Some party, known to be obnoxious to the pen- alties of the act, must have been proceeded against by indictment for treason against the State, and the lands declared forfeited on inquisition found. The whole of five lots and a specified half of four others in Liv- ingston's patent were also sold and conveyed by the commissioners. Peter De Bois, who was attainted by the act of October 22, 1779, was one of the patentees of this grant, and the sales probably covered his interest, or what remained of it, in the whole patent.
A part of Glen's purchase seems to have been owned by some one ob- noxious to the law of attainder. James De Lancey was one of the three joint patentees of several lots in this purchase. He was attainted by the act of 1779. (See chapter 25, of the Laws of 1779). Six small lots in that tract were sold and deeded for £1,095, New York currency, on the 27th of August, 1788, to replenish an exhausted treasury. James Caldwell purchased five of the lots and Michael Myers one of them. Johan Jurgh Kast's little patent of 1, 100 acres in Schuyler contributed $500 to pay war expenses. One lot in that patent seems to have been sold to make compensation for treason against the State. "Surely none of the de- scendants of that sturdy old Palatine could have been recreant to his country and a traitor to humanity." 2
A portion of the Bayard patent is held under title from the commission- ers of forfeitures, two of the Bayards having been attainted by the act of of 1779. In regard to the Johan Joost Herkimer property, Judge Ben- ton wrote as follows :
Diligent search and examination has been made in the proper quarter to find some evidence of grants inder the authority of the State, of the Johan Joost Herkimer prop-
pable of taking and holding lands by reason of their being Indians, the several devises in the will of Sir William Johnson to them were inoperative and void, and the lands and estate devised to them respective y upon the death of Sir William, descended to and became vested in Sir John Johnson as heir at law, and by h's attainder became vested in the State as a portion of his inherit- ance No tribunal cotopete ut to determine the law as it was at the death of Sir William or the attainder of Sir John has de "led anything contrary to or in conflict with the foregoing prop- osition."
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