USA > New York > Oneida County > Annals and recollections of Oneida County > Part 12
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the first town meeting, Asa Jenkins was elected Supervisor, and David Young, Town Clerk. Mr. Jenkins held the office for six successive years. Then Benoni Barlow was elected at nine succeeding town meetings. It seems at the close of Mr. Barlow's services there was a vacancy, whether from his resignation or removal, does not appear by the records. Samuel Stanford was elected at a special town meeting to fill the vacancy, and served that and the succeeding year. Then Calvin Dawley held the office for five years, Amos Wood- worth (Junior) six years, Simon Davis two years, Charles Curtiss two years, Safford S. Delano two years, Nathan Thompson one year, Varnum Dunton one year, Anthony Empey two years, Daniel G. Dorrenee two years, Watson Sammons one year, Aaron H. Thompson three years, and John Downes, Jun., was elected in 1851, who is the present incumbent.
The town owns the basement of the Baptist Church in the village, and use it for all town purposes, such as elections, town meetings, etc.
Florence village is & small but thriving village, centrally located in the town. It contains between fifty and sixty dwelling houses, and about 300 inhabitants. It has two physicians, and a Catholic clergyman, three dry goods stores, one drug store, one clothing store attached to a tailor's shop, two blacksmith shops, two wagon and sleigh makers' shops. four boot and shoe shops, one harness and saddler's shop, and one cabinet shop. There are also in the limits of the village one grist and three saw mills.
Its largest source of prosperity is its tanneries, the most extensive of which was formerly known as Stranahan's, but for the last three years owned and worked by the Hon. Lewis Rider, the present member of Assembly from the third district in this county. He has nearly or quite doubled the
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amount of business since he commenced, three years since. He employs from fifteen to twenty-five hands through the year. The present year he will tan from 26.000 to 28,000 sides of sole leather. This is done on commission. He has on hand at the close of the winter of 1851, over 3,000 cords of hemlock bark. This cost two dollars per cord delivered. He uses also from 1,000 to 1,200 cords of wood'in a year. The water power is insufficient to grind the large amount of bark needed in the establishment, so that recourse is had to a steam power for the remainder.
Mr. John Sliter has a smaller tannery in which he man- ufactures both upper and sole leather. He tans 1,200 sides of sole, and 400 sides of upper and harness leather. 400 skins. and uses 150 cords of bark the present year.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
The first church organization in the town of Florence was a Congregational Church on Florence Hill. December 16, 1816. At the time of its formation, it consisted of ten members. three males and seven females. When constituted, it was on the congregational plan of government, but early joined the Presbytery on the accommodation system. It had so increased, that it reported to the Presbytery, January 1, 1829, sixty- eight communicants, in 1832 and in 1834. seventy-two in each year. From this time it declined in numbers until 1845, when it reported but forty members. From the time of its formation up to 1825, the church had no pastor, but was supplied with preaching quite a portion of the time by clergymen employed for different lengths of time. October 7, 1825, they gave the Rev. Samuel Sweezy a call to settle with them. A society in connection with the church was
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formed January 26, 1826, and forthwith became incorporated under the statute. Mr. Sweezy, having accepted the call was installed March 8, 1826. At a society meeting, held February 6, 1826, a vote of thanks to Gerrit Smith was passed, " for furnishing part of the glass, a site for the meet- ing house, a liberal lot for a burying place, thirty acres of land for the benefit of the society, fifty acres to the Rev. Samuel Sweezy, and a subscription of ten dollars a year for the support of the Gospel."
In 1825, the meeting house on the hill was commenced, but was not completed under two or three years. The Rev. Mr. Sweezy now resides in Camden, and the church has lost its visibility.
Methodist Episcopal .- There are no records of this deno- mination to be found earlier than 1832, still it had organiza- tions in the town of a much earlier date.
The first elass formed was on the Hill, and about thirty- five years since. For a time it flourished, and then for quite a space it languished, but of late has revived. In the village there is a class of about thirty years' standing. They have a small, yet neat and convenient, chapel for worship, which was erected in 1833. There is another class in the town, of about thirty years' standing, on Mad River. which meets about three miles below the village. For a time it has been in a low state. Although not large, all of these classes are now active, flourishing, and prosperous.
Baptists. - There was a church of this denomination formed in this town previous to 1828, but the precise time of its organization can not be ascertained. In that year it belonged to the Oneida Baptist Association, and reported to that body twenty-four members, and that Roger Maddock, a
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licentiate, was preaching to them. Mr. Maddock labored with this church until 1831, when he was returned as an ordained preacher. In 1835 it reported sixty-four members. and James B. Olcott as preacher. This was the largest number to which it arrived.
In 1836. Denison Aleott, a licentiate, as preacher, and fifty-three members. In 1837, Benjamin Fuller as preacher, and fifty-five members. Mr. Fuller continued his labors to this people for a number of years. The last time this body reported to the Association was in 1841, when it had become reduced to thirty-four members. For a number of years it has lost its visibility. In its palmy days it erected a very respectable house for worship in the village.
In 1833, the denomination started a school for the edu- cation of young men, combining somewhat of the manual labor system.
In 1834, they erected a large three story stone building for the school. The school. however. prospered for but at few years, and at length was discontinued for want of patron- age. Some few years since, the Catholics purchased this building for a church. and it is now surmounted with a cross At this time a majority of the inhabitants of Florence are Catholics, and the clergyman of that denomination in Florence village is the only one sustained in the town.
REMINISCENCES. - The name of Nathan Thompson, one of the carly settlers of Florence, who moved into the town in the spring of 1802, has been mentioned. He was a native of New London, Ct., but had lived the most of his life time until his removal, in Sandisfield, Mass. When he arrived, there was but one house between that of John W. Bloom-
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field, Esq., at what is now Taberg, and the house of John Spinning, two miles easterly from Florence village, a dis- tance, by the route then travelled, of about twenty-two miles. The name of this settler was John Rogers. Mr. Thompson says he had to depend entirely upon wild game for his supply of animal food. With his gun he selected with care the fattest and sleekest from the numerous herd of deer that then abounded in the forest.
The 11th of July, 1809, was an eventful day to our settler. Indeed, the preservation of his life would seem almost mira- culous. He was engaged in drawing wood to his door. with a single horse, by draughts. When about to hitch the chain to one, the horse started, and the hook of the chain caught through the flesh, and taking up the tendons under his left knee. Thus fastened, the beast drew him at full speed along a crooked path, over knolls, and through the mire, a distance of twenty-five rods, when it was brought to a pause by a fence that crossed the track, but was evidently preparing to leap it, when Mr. Thompson, whose presence of mind had not forsaken him, disengaged the hook before the plunge, and thus escaped almost certain death.
He was taken into the house, and was confined to his bed four months. The wound was a most frightful one, of full ten inches in length, while the tendons were loosened from their ligaments from the knee to the heel. His back and arms were terribly lacerated. The celerity of the ride was such, that some persons who soon examined the route, found that in a number of instances he cleared by actual measure- ment ten feet at a bound. The hideous scar attests in full the truth of the statement.
The sterility of the soil has been noticed. The following ludicrous description of the failure of a portion of the first settlers, it is presumed, will not be entirely uninteresting to.
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the reader. The author travelled through this town in June, 1813, and called at Thompson's tavern to refresh himself and beasts. Our landlord was busy in attending to the out-door duties of the establishment, while his good lady assumed occasionally some of the duties in the bar. Between Fish Creek and our stopping place, we had observed that about one half of the log domieils had been abandoned, and were tenant- less. The landlady was appealed to for the reasons for so general a desertion. With much sang-froid she replied, " that some were too lazy to work and had to clear out to keep from starving, others of this class, rather than starve, would steal a yoke of oxen, and they had to be sent to State's Prison. but the greater part failed, in not knowing how to farm it on such land, for they did not know that sorrel seed was worth more to them by the bushel than elover seed, because more natural to the soil."
In 1845 there were two grist mills, ten saw mills. and three asheries in the town.
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CHAPTER XI.
FLOYD.
THIS town was named in honor of General William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a sketch of whose biography is given in the history of the town of Western, Chap. XXVII. Gen. Floyd was the owner by purchase of considerable land in this town in Fonda's Patent, and among which were a 500 acre lot, upon which "Floyd Corners" is located; also another 500 acre lot, and quite a number of other lots; but how much in the aggregate, has not been ascertained.
After making the most careful and diligent inquiry, the author has been unable to ascertain the year in which the . first settler moved into the town, or the name of the pioneer who led in advance the "forlorn hope" into its forests. However, from the best information obtained, it is probable that Capt. Benjamin Pike was the first settler, and that he removed into the town in the year 1790. Not much later, however, Stephen Moulton, the younger, settled in the town. Shortly after, but in what year could not be ascertained, William Allen, Nathaniel Allen, and James Chase, arrived in the town together. Mrs. Allen, the reliet of William Allen, is yet living. She says that when they arrived, Capt. Benjamin Pike, Elisha Lake, and'a man named Howard, resided below the present residence of Linus Moulton. At a very early period, two brothers of the name of Howard
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resided about half a mile east of the Corners. Not much later, Hope Smith settled in the town. He was the father of Stephen R. Smith, one of the earliest and most popular Universalist preachers in the county.
David Byam, James Bartlett, and a Mr. Putney, were the earliest settlers in the north part of the town. Jarvis Pike, a son of Capt. Benjamin Pike, if he did not move into the town with his father, very soon followed him .*
As early as February, 1795, the different members of the Moulton family from Stafford, Connecticut, had settled in this town. As before mentioned, Stephen Moulton the younger was among the earliest settlers. Within five years after his arrival, his father, Stephen Moulton, and four other sons, Salmon, Joseph, Benjamin, and Ebenezer, had moved into the town. Stephen, Sen., and Stephen, Jun .. and Joseph and Benjamin (twins), are dead. The obituary of Stephen the younger is given at the close of this chapter. Salmon, now ninety-three years of age, and Ebenezer, aged eighty-one years, yet reside in the town. Salmon (May. 1851) enjoys good health, but is so far deprived of hearing. that the author, after repeated efforts, gave up in despair of gleaning from the fund of important reminiscences he pos- sessed of the carly settlement of Floyd. The Moulton family were among the staunchest Whigs of the Revolution in the land of " steady habits," and sacrificed much in the cause of their country. Salmon was taken prisoner on Long Island, and suffered all the horrors of a confinement in the " Sugar House," a place more noted for the suffering of its inmates than the "Black Hole" of Calcutta, because more protracted. A more particular notice of the sufferings of the
*. A lease was shown the author, executed by William Floyd to Jarvis Pike, of a lot northerly from the " Corners," dated at Whites_ town, Herkimer County, October 26, 1793.
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American prisoners in the "Sugar House," is given in the history of Westmoreland, in speaking of Capt. Phineas Bell. Mr. Moulton was kept so short of provisions, that he and his compatriots used to chew pieces of the oak staves of the sugar casks left in their prison, for the little nutriment they contained. His father, Col. Stephen Moulton, was after- wards taken prisoner at (as is understood) Fort Washington, and there confined. After a tedious confinement in the "Sugar House," Salmon was paroled to leave for Fort Wash- ington, and soon after both father and son were paroled to go to their homes.
William Allen, Esq., whose name has been introduced as one of the earliest settlers of this town, died about seven years since. His former acquaintances assured the writer, that if he had been applied to while living, a much more perfect carly history of Floyd could have been obtained than from any source now left, as his retentive memory was well stored with much that was useful and entertaining.
Samuel Dyer, Esq., was one of the early settlers of this town. After a number of years' residence, he sold his farm, and removed to what is now the town of Marcy. He was a man of great good sense, yet it seems that neither Philomela nor Orpheus had very nicely attuned his ear to the harmony of "sweet sounds." Upon one occasion, Esquire Dyer was at the office of the late Thomas R. Gold, in Whitesboro. Mr. Gold had just purchased for his daughters a piano, which was among the first, if not the first, brought into the county. Mr. Gold gave Esquire Dyer an invitation to go to his house, to listen to the music of the instrument. The invitation was accepted, although it is probable no very rich treat was anticipated. Awhile the "many strings" of the instrument were made to vibrate the richest music, from the delicate touches of the daughter. Mr. Gold, in raptures,
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asks his guest if he had ever heard such charming music before. "Yes, yes," was the prompt reply. What could it have been ? was now asked, and the response given, "That of half a dozen men whetting their scythes in my meadow before breakfast."
Captain Nathan Townsend moved into Floyd in 1801, and settled upon the farm now owned and occupied by his son, William Townsend, in the south-easterly part of the town. This farm was purchased of Governor George Clinton, who had previously purchased the whole of Sumner's Patent. which was located between Holland Patent and Fonda's Patent. Gen. Floyd's purchases were made from the last- named Patent, which was located in the central and westerly parts of the town. Previous to Capt. Townsend's purchase of this lot, one Turner Ellis had been in possession of it, as a squatter.
Capt. Townsend is yet living at Holland Patent village. aged eighty-six. He has had seven sons, viz .:- Gardner. who resides near Holland Patent ; William, who resides on the homestead in Floyd; Halsey, who died at the South ; Palmer, an extensive importing hard-ware merchant in New York; Ingham, a large farmer, who resides upon the road from Floyd Corners to Holland Patent; Nathaniel, at resident of New Orleans ; and Nathan, a resident of Cam- den. in this county.
Thomas Bacon was an early settler in that part of the town known as Floyd Hill. For a time this locality was known as Bacon's Hill, from this carly inhabitant. Samuel Cummings was also a very carly settler upon the Hill.
GEOLOGY. - There is nothing peculiar in the geological formation of this town, there being neither ores, minerals, or
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stone quarries within its limite. The extensive quarries of stone at Stittville, and other parts of Trenton, in the im- mediate vicinity of Floyd, together with the liberal supply of bowlders upon the Hill, in a good degree remedy the lack of building stones.
If ever the lake existed, from the Little Falls uniting with the Oneida Lake, its northern shore must have been a little north of the site of the road running from Floyd Corners to Holland Patent. The indications are here strongly in favor of the speculation.
There are no better or more beautiful farms in Oneida County than those upon this road. Judging from their high state of cultivation, the symmetry, and good condition of the farms, the elegance and convenience of their buildings, their owners are not only thriving, but wealthy. From this sec- tion to the summit of the Hill, the land is better for pastur- age and dairying than for grain, and the agriculturalists are adapting their farming to their soil, and thrift is manifest in their progress.
The first death in the limits of the town, was that of a Mr. Foster, who died from disease. The second was that of Nathan Thompson, who was killed while falling a tree. In the latter part of the summer of 1796, the dysentery pre- vailed among the few inhabitants of the town. Col. Stephen Moulton, Sen., lost his wife, and his son Benjamin lost three children, with this disease. The four died within the same week.
The town of Floyd was taken from Steuben, and organized by an act of the Legislature, passed March 4, 1796, its first town meeting to be held at the house of Samuel J. Curtiss, The first town meeting was held the same spring, and Stephen Moulton, Sen., was elected Supervisor, and Moses Coffeen Town Clerk.
The town records for 1797 are lost.
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In 1798 and 1799, Abel French held the office of Super- visor.
In 1800. Jarvis Pike was elected Supervisor, and held the office for eleven successive years. Since that period, the following persons have held the office for the terms specified:
In 1812, Nathan Townsend, Sen. In 1813, Ephraim Robbins was elected, and held the office until 1819 inclusive. In 1820 and 1821, Nathan Townsend again. In 1822, 1823, and 1824, Ephraim Robbins again. From 1825 to 1832 inclusive, Salmon Pelton, and from 1833 to 1837 in- clusive, David Moulton were elected. In 1838 and 1839. Samuel C. Breoker. In 1840, 1841, and 1842. David Moul- ton again. In 1843 and 1844, Hosea Clark. In 1×45. David Moulton was again elected, and has been re-elected in each year to the present time (1851), making fifteen years that the present incumbent has held the office.
The first tavern in the town was kept at the Corners. by Capt. Benjamin Pike. He kept it, however, but for a short time, and was succeeded by Moses Coffeen, who continued in the business at that place for several years. .
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES, AND HOUSES FOR PUBLIC WORSINII.
At the Corners there is a very respectable " Union" house for public worship. The articles of agreement under which this house was erected, are quite peculiar. Each slip in the house has an appraised and relative value, and is trans- ferable by purchase. On the first Monday in January in each year, the proprietors meet, and each has a right to de- signate the denomination he wishes to occupy the house during the year. After a list is thus completed, it is ascer- tained. in proportion to the value of the slips owned. what
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proportion cach denomination shall occupy for the ensuing year. Some years, the Presbyterians, Baptists. Methodists, and Universalists, have each put in their claims, and had the house in proportion. The present year (1851), the Meth- odists have the house three-fourths, and the Baptists one- fourth, of the time. As far as ascertained, the action of the proprietors has been quite harmonious, however unique their model.
The Baptists have a small meeting house upon the Hill, where they maintain worship when they do not occupy the house at the Corners. This Church was organized in 1807, under the care of Elder Simcon Jacobs, and in 1816 num- bered eighty-three members, of whom twenty-two had been baptized the preceding year. From that time, for many years, no materials for its history have been found. Elder R. Z. Williams was pastor in 1841 and 1842, Elder Isaiah Matteson in 1843, Elder V. D. Waters in 1844, Elder Josiah Hatt in 1846, and Elder Thomas Applegate in 1847. In 1850 61 members were reported.
The Welsh Methodists and the Welsh Presbyterians have each a small house for worship on the Hill. And here, as in other sections of the county where the Welsh have settled, they maintain their national character, in sustaining the public worship of the God of their fathers.
The common schools in Floyd have been well sustained and flourishing, until that unequal law, termed the " Free School Law," was passed in 1849. Since then, they have but shared the calamity with all the towns in the State, of having the cause of popular education rapidly retrograde.
There are nine school districts, and parts of districts, in the town.
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Floyd Corners is the only place in the town which aspires to the dignity of being termed a village. Here are a small collection of dwelling houses and mechanic shops, a church. school house, store, and tavern. The Floyd post office is kept here; it is the only office in the town.
The Nine Mile Creek forms a portion of the southern boundary, and passes through a small section of the south- west part of the town. The first mill erected in Floyd was upon this stream, at a location known as the Punch Bowl. According to the census of 1845, there were, at that time. one grist mill and three saw mills in the town.
The following obituaries of early settlers in Floyd were published at the time they bear date in the Rome Sentinel. and are copied with the belief they will be interesting to the reader.
" DIED, in Floyd, on the 12th of December, 1849, Mr. Samuel Denison, aged 76 years.
"Mr. Denison was one of the early settlers of this county, having resided, we think, on the same farm for almost half a century. Al- though not the first, the town of Floyd was one of the earliest settled towns in the county ; but its pioneers, many of whom have lived to a good old age, are dropping away, and a few years more will have removed all of them from the scenes of their early adventures, and the home of their manhood and old age. Mr. Denison located in Floyd in the year 1800, or forty-nine years ago. Several others came about the same time, a few prior to his arrival, and others soon after ; but we regret that we have not the information necessary to a correct account of the men and the occurrences of that early period.
" Among the first settlers were Nathan Townsend, James Chase, Nathaniel and William Allen, Latham and Samuel Denison, Salmon Moulton, and, we believe, also the grandfather of Col. David Moul- ton, whose first name we do not now remember. There are doubtless several others, whose names will occur to those longer and better acquainted with the early history of the town. These settlements were made in different parts of the town, while it was yet a wilder- ness, and while the whole county was nearly in the same condition. There were settlements of several years' standing in Whitestown, (by which name all the county north and west of Utiea was then called,).
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Fort Stanwix, (now Rome,) Western, Westmoreland, etc .; but the population was sparse, and neighbors few and far between. It was at that day not unusual for the citizens of Floyd to go with ox teams to Western, Lee, and other distant towns, to meeting, a task which our present inhabitants would hardly feel willing to accomplish.
" Of the pioneer settlers named above, only two now remain, Mr. Salmon Moulton and Capt. Townsend, the former still residing in Floyd, and the latter at Holland Patent, having retired from his farm several years ago. Mr. Chase died many years ago, the two Mr. Allens about six years since, at an advanced age, and Mr. Latham Denison some four or five years ago. Mr. Samuel Denison, whose recent death has led to this brief and imperfeet narrative, had con- tinued to reside on the farm where he first located, and to enjoy the esteem and respect of his townsmen and acquaintance, until his death on Tuesday last. His health had for the past three or four years been seriously impaired, although such as to admit of the superin- tendence of his farm and business affairs. He was celebrated for the skill and intelligence with which he conducted his farm, and for many years has been a constant subseriber to agricultural papers. which he has perused with much interest, while those younger and less experienced have steadily rejected all such aids.
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