USA > New York > Oneida County > Steuben > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 3
USA > New York > Oneida County > Remsen > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 3
USA > New York > Oneida County > Trenton > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
Steuben Corners, Sixty Acres, Fairchild and Bard- well were settlements of some character when Remsen village could boast of but three log dwellings, one at either end and the other near the center of the present corporate limits. Each stood in a small clearing, and were separated along the wilderness road by intervals of at least a quarter of a mile. There was also a primi- tive saw-mill at the falls that produced principally heavy planks for flooring, also used for siding for buildings after framed structures began to be erected.
21
HISTORY OF REMSEN
The first settler within the confines of the present vil- lage was Peter A. Becker, who took up one hundred and ten acres of land and built a log inn or tavern at the south line of the present village limits. As but few deeds for lots on the Service Patent were given before the survey made by Calvin Guiteau, in 1795, title to this property was not passed to Becker until July 18, 1796, though he had settled upon it some time prior to that date. On November 1 of that year he transferred the same to Deacon William Platt. The inn soon after was set on fire and destroyed.
There was a house, built partly of logs and partly of planks, on the site of the Zalmon D. Root house, after- ward known as the James Mitchell place, latterly owned by Edward E. Samuel. This house was built in 1795 by James Smith, brother of the late Bohan Smith, and as early as 1797 was conducted as a public house by Smith and his son Joab. The latter died at Sacket Harbor, during the war of 1812.
About midway between the north and south limits of the village, Joseph Brownell bought a hundred-acre lot and began a clearing. He soon after sold to Oliver Smith, who built an inn on the site of the Colonel Beech- er residence. Brownell removed to Steuben township, locating on the road leading from Trenton to Steuben Corners.
After the death of Baron Steuben, several settlers on his patent removed to the location of the village, in every instance intelligent, capable men and good citi- zens. William Platt was among these, a man of activity and enterprise, who within a few years after coming here remodeled the saw-mill, built a grist-mill, and also a blacksmith shop on the turnpike opposite his dwelling. In 1803 there came from the same locality Broughton White and Lemuel Hough, who built an ashery that
22
HISTORY OF REMSEN
year, while Broughton White opened a store, where he kept a few articles to exchange for ashes, gradually in- creasing his stock until he had a fair assortment of gen- eral merchandise. In the course of a few years he was succeeded in the store by Jacob Betticher, better known as "Jake," who, following the custom of the times, sold grog as well as groceries over his counter, and with some of the farmers of the surrounding country it became a popular stopping-place when they came to the mill.
The settlement was small, consisting of little beside the Platt grist-mill and saw-mill, the gambrel-roof house now owned by John Humphreys, which Platt built in 1804, a small framed house also built by him, standing south of his home and about opposite that long owned by Rowland Anthony, and the blacksmith shop before mentioned. On the road leading to Prospect at this point, about twenty-five rods east of the J. G. Jones stone house, Morris Jones, father of the late Robert M. Jones and father-in-law of the late John G. Jones, made a small clearing and built a log house; and Robert Jones, father of the late Moses Jones, had made a slashing in the woods and put up a log house north of the road, on the brow of the hill overlooking the settlement. These men came here with their families in 1801, from Wales. This highway had not then been put through to Pros- pect, and was but a rough forest road leading only to the two clearings we have mentioned. The store of Betticher was on the north corner of the main road and that leading to Steuben, where afterwards was the resi- dence of Isaac W. Roberts, and now the site of the Dynes Hotel. White & Hough's ashery was on the Steuben road, not far from Betticher's store; and one or two other rude houses, used as tenements by the mill- men, the blacksmith, and the potash boiler, were south of the Steuben road corner.
23
HISTORY OF REMSEN
This group was not large enough nor of sufficient im- portance at that time, it seems, to be honored with a name; so to the patrons of the settlement for miles around it was known simply as "Jake's," and long after it had been officially endowed with a name by the estab- lishment of a postoffice, "Jake's" and "Remsen" were interchangeable terms. The Welsh settlers gave to "a" in the name "Jake" the shorter sound, which made their pronunciation of it not unlike the English diminutive "Jack." Since in their language there is no special ter- mination of words to denote the possessive case, such as is given in the English by adding "s" to possessive nouns not ending with that letter, it commonly followed that in their construction of English sentences this ter- mination was dropped. If they used the phrase: "I am going to Jake's," in their vernacular tongue it was "Yr wyf yn mynd i Jack." And in making use of the same sentence in English, they never added the "s" nor broad- ened the "a", so to them "Jake's" was "Jack" in both languages; and Remsen continued to be "Jack" with many of the Welsh people on the surrounding hills long years after Jacob Betticher had passed away and was by them forgotten.
In those days the Cincinnati was a far more preten- tious stream than at the present time. Nearly the whole area drained by it was forest, wherein the springs and swamps never dried. A heavy woodland under- growth fringed its dark banks, between which it lazily flowed until it reached the south end of the village, where to a natural fall of about twenty feet, was added a log dam, built to provide power for the first saw-mill constructed. Here the heavy volume of water, with roar and splash tumbled violently into the channel be- low, sending cloud-wreaths of mist to the surrounding tree-tops; and was about the only disturber of the forest
. 24
HISTORY OF REMSEN
solitude, for, as may be supposed, there was little of human din and clamor to break upon the ear.
Respecting the naming of this stream, on the occasion of a centennial celebration in Trenton village, in 1876, we find in some historical notes furnished by Mr. War- ren Rowley, of South Trenton, the following: "Thomas Hicks built and kept a hotel in Trenton about where Dr. Guiteau's office now stands. Being an admirer of Cin- cinnatus, he named it the 'Cincinnatus House,' and had a large sign made on which was painted a portrait of this Roman patriot. It is said the Cincinnati creek re- ceived its name in this manner."
Now it seems hardly credible that the stream known as "Cincinnati" could have taken its name from so in- considerable a circumstance as this, though it has so gone into history. In an historical sketch of Trenton given in Durant's "History of Oneida County," pub- lished in 1878, Mr. Rowley's notes are printed verbatim. But it seems to us far more probable that the "Cincin- natus House" took its name from the stream. We have never seen any account other than that given by Mr. Rowley, nor heard any other tradition as to the naming of the creek, though we believe it to have been named for the Society of the Cincinnati, and probably by Baron Steuben, in whose grant it has its source and through which it flows for some distance. The Baron was a de- voted member of this society, which was organized at his headquarters on the Hudson, on which occasion he presided. The principal streams on the Steuben Grant are Steuben and Cincinnati creeks. When this was surveyed and a map of the territory made, these streams must of- necessity have been named. What more reas- onable to suppose than that one should be named in honor of the distinguished proprietor, and the other for the society of which he was the senior officer for many
25
HISTORY OF REMSEN
years? The City of Cincinnati, Ohio, was named by another revolutionary officer and member of the society, General St. Clair.
Stephen Hutchinson, who occupied what was later known as the "Price Farm," where the road to Fair- child turns east from the turnpike, was here in 1796. He was elected overseer of the poor at the first town- meeting, and was also the first postmaster of Remsen, receiving his appointment October 1, 1809. Previous to that mail for Remsen had come to Trenton, where a post-office was established in 1805. Theodore Smith, Enoch Rogers, James Townsend, and John Stebbins, a revolutionary soldier and pensioner, were early residents of this settlement.
Silas Fowler, who lived in Steuben, occupying Baron Steuben's house after the latter's death, removed to Remsen where he had bought a farm north of the village. He was a justice of the peace, and one of the deacons of the first church organization in the village, the English Congregational Society.
Among the early settlers in the northern part of Trenton township was a man named Sprague, who set- tled very early near the Horace Powell place, a mile or more south of the village. In addition to burning lime, which was his chief occupation, he worked at bottoming chairs; that is, putting into chairs bottoms made of in- terwoven strips of split elm, hence they were called "splint-bottoin" chairs. Mr. Sprague had been an offi- cer in the revolution, had been seriously wounded, and was a pensioner. For many years he was the only man in the community to take a newspaper.
Jacob C. Nash, father of Andrew, lived a little south of the Sprague place, on the west side of the turnpike, on the farm now owned by J. G. Jones. He sold this property to Filkins Beadle, another early settler.
26
HISTORY OF REMSEN
John Mac Donald lived west of the H. L. Davis farm, at the crest of the hill; and William Frazier, father of the late Alexander Frazier, of Trenton, settled the John Jones (Farm) place in 1799. Still farther along on this road, in what was afterward called the Dr. Maurice neighborhood, lived a Scotch-Irish family named McEl- roy. And a little later there settled in that vicinity Griffith Methuselah Jones, father of the late William Meth Jones. He bought a small farm, and, after hav- ing paid for it, discovered that he had bought of the (wrong patentee. He remained on the place, however, and paid for it a second time rather than lose his im- provements. A man named Edward Jones made the first clearing on the Pirnie stone-house farm, where he built a log house. It stood a little west of the present railroad, and north of the brook that flows under the tracks at this point and thence across the lime-kiln place to the creek. Robert M. Jones bought this farm from the original settler in 1811, and in 1818-19 built the stone house lately owned by Alexander Pirnie. David Williams, father of the late David H. Williams, made a clearing and built a log house on the place owned later by Rev. Richard Jones on the turnpike about one hun- dred rods north of the Pirnie house.
Another Edward Jones, a maltster and brewer from New York city, was an early settler, if not the first, on the Richard Owens (Llanbadarn) place. His son mar- ried Susan, daughter of 'Squire Broughton White. In 1806 Robert M. Jones made the first clearing and built a house on the Richard Lewis (Llanbadarn) farm, east of the John G. Jones farm, on the road to Prospect. In 1811 he removed to the turnpike, as we have stated.
Among those to locate on the "Corduroy road," which passed south of the John G. Jones house, was Hugh Owens, father of the late John J. and William H.
- - -
27
HISTORY OF REMSEN
Owens. He emigrated from Wales to Philadelphia about 1801, and shortly after settled here. He was an exhorter of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist denomina- tion, and one of the organizers of Pen-y-caerau church. His daughter became the wife of John Edmunds, who for many years was a highly respected business man of Remsen, and who removed to Utica about 1856 or '57.
Another resident on this road was Mrs. Jane Roberts, a widow, who followed the profession of mid-wife before Remsen was able to sustain a resident physician, and who even continued the vocation years after regular physicians' were located here. She thus officiated at the nativity of the first-born sons and daughters of Remsen and vicinity. In those times, while there was much need of activity in the line of her calling, the fees she received were small, barely providing for her com- fort. She lived to a great age, dying at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Richard M. Jones, who then occupied the Frank G. Jones farm, on the State road, near the Jerome Witherell place.
Evan George, father of Jeremiah, located on the R. R. Roberts place, which he subsequently sold to John L. Jones, Sr. On the Thomas Pritchard farm, south of him, lived Hugh Jones, whose daughter married John Parry. They were the parents of the late John Parry, for many years a contracting builder, and prominent citizen of Rome. William Worden was the first settler on the James Owen place, now owned by John L. Jones. At the junction of the State road and that leading past the Pen-y-caerau church to Fairchild, afterward known as the 'Squire Jenkins homestead and later owned by James Roberts, Matthew Hoyt kept a public house. About this time, also, there were located on the Pen-y- caerau road the Bronsons, the Wilkinsons, Andrew Cady, Sr., Stephen Buffington, Isaac Worden, Hull Tut-
28
HISTORY OF REMSEN
tle, and Juder Crosby, the last of whom "kept tavern" in a log house north of the church.
In 1804, John Platt, Jr., came to Remsen village from Steuben, and within the next few years, in company with his brother William, began work on the Platt mills. And about this time, Noble & Blue built a tannery here.
In 1810 the population of the township was four hun- dred and eighty-nine, with thirty-three senatorial elec- tors, and there was reported that year "two school- houses, used also for meetings of worship." These were the old "North school-house" in the Dayton District and one at Fairchild.
About 1811 Heman Ferry, from Steuben, succeeded Jacob Betticher in the first store established here; and on August 17, 1813, he was appointed postmaster, which office he continued to hold until June, 1831.
The year 1812 gave to Remsen one of the most kindly, beneficent and public spirited citizens it ever had, in the person of Col. Mather Beecher, who purchased the No- ble & Blue tannery and took up his residence here, where for more than fifty years he was one of the most prominent and highly respected in the community. During that year the turnpike from Utica to Sacket Harbor was completed. For a period of two or three years afterward, this highway was a most busy thor- oughfare, as many soldiers and sailors passed over it on their way to Sacket Harbor. The infantry marched, but the marines refused to do so, and conveyances had to be provided to transport them. Supplies and mili- tary stores for the army were hauled through by day and by night, and the rumble of heavy wagons with an accompaniment of curses by the drivers only too often disturbed the tranquil slumbers of the quiet burghers.
In 1816, or the "Year Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death," as the settlers long afterward were wont to
29
HISTORY OF REMSEN
speak of it, frost repeatedly destroyed vegetation, and ice formed on the Platt mill-pond every month during the year. This cold season increased many fold the hardships they had already been forced to endure.
It was this year also that the first settlements were made in that part of the township known as "Ninety Six"-so called from "Section 96" of the Remsenburgh Patent. Thomas and Garner Nichols, brothers, were among the first to locate here, and were soon followed by others, among whom were Samuel Roby, an exten- sive land owner and manufacturer of potash; Morey Nichols, Sr., who came from the Mohawk country; John Smith; a Mr. Howard, with his sons Stephen and Wil- liam; the Sanderson family; a man named Cole who was a potash boiler; Henry Whiteman; Jesse Smith; John Worden; Anthony, Jacob, and John Bronson, Jr .; John and Henry Ingersoll; and Asa Martin, Sr., with his sons Obadiah, John, and Asa, Jr. The last named married Betsy Wheeler, and reared a large family. He was a small, spare man, of a mild, kindly disposition, rather eccentric, going bare-foot from spring until fall, always moving about at a trotting pace, seemingly ever in a hurry, and with toothless gums industriously and con- tinually chewing the resinous product of his own spruce timber. He is well remembered by many who lived here forty years or more ago. Other settlers were Wil- liam Gay, Richard Perry, William N. Williams, Seth Smith, the Harrington brothers, Daniel and Joseph In- gersoll, brothers; the Hoover family, Stillman Smith, Esquire Fowler, Joseph Bickford and Waite Worden.
David Bellinger settled in the contiguous district of "Bellinger-town." Jenkin Morris, who settled first at Pen-y-caerau, removed to Ninety Six. Oliver and Car- los Smith also located here. They later removed to Wisconsin, about 1853. William H. and Charles Thomas
一
-- - - -----
30
HISTORY OF REMSEN
were prominent men in this section. It is said that the first framed building here was a barn built by "Uncle Tom" Nichols; though others claim that a house erected on the William H. Thomas place by Elder Cross, a min- ister of the Christian denomination who located here, was the first. There were several who bought farms in the vicinity, and after having partly or fully paid for them, found there was a question as to the validity of their titles; for the proprietor of whom they bought laid claim to a gore of five hundred acres against the claims of the Henry Remsen estate. The controversy of the rival claimants was taken into the courts, and after a wearisome litigation covering several years, was finally adjusted in favor of the Remsen heirs. Some of the set- tlers on this gore lost all that they had paid on their farms including improvements, and moved elsewhere to begin life over again.
By 1820 the population had increased to nine hun- dred and twelve; and a corresponding growth in the population of the neighboring townships brought a proportionate increase to the business of Remsen village. That year Heman Ferry built a stone store, which stood just north of the present Dynes Hotel. His former store, in a part of which had been his dwelling, was enlarged; and here he continued to live for nearly twenty years.
A descriptive view of the village at this time has been given by one of its earliest residents, as follows: Beginning at the south end of the present corporation, on the west side of the highway, was a dwelling; next to this was the Platt dwelling, conducted as a public house, and at present owned by John Humphreys; next north, on the south corner of Steuben road, was the hotel of Joseph Halstead, who had married a widow Potter, who formerly had conducted the hotel; and
31
HISTORY OF REMSEN
on the north corner of the road was the combined store and residence of Heman Ferry, and just north of that was his new store, then in course of building. From this on were open fields, until the site of the present Baptist church was reached, where stood the residence of Colonel Beecher, afterward occupied by Elisha Booth, and about twenty-five rods in the rear of this building was Beecher's tannery; next was a small shoe-shop, also owned by Colonel Beecher; then the hotel of Oliver Smith, later purchased by Colonel Beecher and remodeled by him for his resi- dence; next, just north of the present residence of Augustus Owens, was the home of John Stebbins; and there was also a house on the present Samuel place.
On the east side of the highway, nearly opposite the house last mentioned, was the large framed house still standing, built about this time by David Aldrich, a mill-wright and carpenter. On account of his quiet, dignified manner, Mr. Aldrich was called "Deacon," though he was not identified with any church. The next building south was the district schoolhouse, and on the south corner of the road leading to the depot was the "Upper Tavern," built by Tyler Mitchell, with the hotel barn and sheds on the north corner. Continuing south from the Mitchell hotel, the first building was the house of James Beaurhyte, which is still a landmark of the village, occupying a site on the north corner of the lane leading to the Steam Mill. South of this was the house of Barton Johnson, oc- cupied later by Gen. Zalmon Root, where he died; which also was owned and occupied for many years by the Rev. Morris Roberts. On the north corner of the road leading past the stone church, was the house of Broughton White, which he later moved to
a
32
HISTORY OF REMSEN
a site near the Steam Mill, where it still stands, facing the creek, and where lived latterly Huldah Booth. After removing this house to its present location, Mr. White built the store which now occupies this corner. Next was the present Gainsway House, built by Dr. Earl Bill in 1814, and conducted by him as a hotel for many years. Next, was the house of Owen S. Evans, built by John Platt, Jr., about 1811. When first built it was a story and a half structure, standing with its side to the street, having a door at either end, and was designed to accommodate two (families. For some distance immediately below this the water of the mill-pond came almost, or quite, up to the present east line of the street, which was thickly strewn with saw-logs to be converted into lumber at the saw-mill, while great forest trees and alders lined the bank of the stream. The next buildings were the saw-mill and grist-mill of William Platt, below the dam. South of these on the north corner of the road leading to Prospect, was a blacksmith shop. Of sidewalks there were none except well- trodden paths which served satisfactorily enough in dry seasons, but spring and fall and heavy sum- mer showers unfailingly revealed in them the depth and adhesive quality of the rich surface soil, a condi- tion that was unimproved until Colonel Beecher caused tan-bark to be hauled from his tannery and deposited upon them from time to time.
There was no building on Steuben street, except Heman Ferry's barn, which occupied the site of Miss Mary Evans' house; and none east of the creek within the present village limits, until 1823, when Calvin Allen built for his home the house owned and occu- pied for many years by the late Josiah Griffiths, a part of which is now the office of B. K. Brown & Son.
:
33
HISTORY OF REMSEN
The second house east of the stream was built in 1825, by Calvin Allen, for Dr. Earl Bill, which still stands, upon the southeast corner of Maple and Prospect streets; and was long the home of Robert R. Roberts, the merchant tailor. As soon as the frame of this building was raised and the bents pinned into posi- tion, it was formally voted by the men present-and it is supposed that nearly every man in the village was at the "raising"-to name the street leading up the hill "La Fayette street," in honor of the French nobleman who perilled his life and bestowed his means toward securing American independence. The Mar- quis at that time was on a visit to this country, making a tour of the states. As we already have a Steuben street, it seems that the name chosen on that occasion should be restored; thereby giving to the two principal thoroughfares diverging from the main street names in memory of both these distinguished foreigners, who sacrificed so much for the American cause.
About 1820, several Welsh families that had emigrat- ed here in 1818, settled on the French Road, about seven miles northwest of Remsen. Among them were Rich- ard W. Jones; William Edwards; Evan Evans, father of Mrs. Robert R. Roberts and Mrs. Thomas Morgan of Remsen; Owen Richards; and Evan Perry. Other early settlers in that locality were Evan George, father of Thomas; Robert Davies; and Walter James.
In 1830 the population of the township had in- creased to 1,400. Between 1825 and 1830, Major Andrew Billings, who was destined to take an im- portant part in affairs of this section, came to the settlement and opened a store on the corner of Steu- ben street, in the building where Joseph Halstead formerly kept hotel, which is still standing. On June 4, 1831, he was appointed postmaster. In
34
HISTORY OF REMSEN
1828, as highway commissioner, he issued a "warning" to the free-holders on the road between Fairchild and Bardwell, whence we find the following were located there: Jehiel Rockwood; Richard Morgan; Jesse Mor- gan; William Allen; William Roberts; Elisha Larabee; William Rockwood; Whitman Morgan; Luther Allen; Nathaniel Rockwood; and David Perry.
In a letter to the writer, Broughton W. Green says: "I can remember back to 1830-31, and the men who were considered the best men in Remsen in those days, · from 1831 to 1848, were Gen. Zalmon Root, and his son ‘ Zalmon D., Maj. Andrew Billings, Col. Mather Beecher, Heman Ferry, Isaac W. Roberts, Morgan Owen, Jabez . Burchard, Chester G., Silas, and Ezekiel Kent; the last three successful farmers, as was also Milo Mitchell, who was likewise a Methodist exhorter. Heman Ferry was the most successful in the mercantile business of any man who ever did business in Remsen. There have very many good men gone out of Remsen to fight the battles of life-very many who have proved themselves a benefit to the world, an honor to those who bore them, and a blessing to all."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.