USA > New York > Oneida County > Annals and recollections of Oneida County > Part 22
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repeated admonitions that the way of the transgressor is hard, and after his father, who was an able farmer, had ex- pended his all, in the defence of his son, justice, though tardy, was sure. He went to Schenectady, passed counter- feit money, was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to the State's Prison. It was well remarked at the close of that June term, that Oneida County never in one year sent four better looking, better dressed, or more talented men to the Legislature, than it now sent to the State's Prison.
Some important civil causes that were tried soon after. one of which was to some extent connected with a portion of the criminal prosecutions, caused a most deplorable state of things. Few, however fair their characters had previously been, were found who could not be impeached; such power- ful litigants seemed to manufacture testimony for the occa- sion. Neighbor was arrayed against neighbor, and most. fortunate did the counsellor consider himself who could get one witness on to the stand who was not impeached by a lozen before the trial closed. This state of things has since subsided, and now society moves as quietly as in most other sections of the county. The lesson taught, that however successful, for a while, combinations in crime may prove. "justice will surely overtake the wicked," has been most salutary. It is but justice to close this lamentable chapter of crime with the remark, that many of the parents and relatives of the young men were not at all implicated. Un- pleasant as has been the duty of penning the foregoing, still the hopes that it might be a beacon-light to the young men of Oneida, has been the only incentive.
The oldest monument in the burying ground is that of Harriet, daughter of Henry and Margaret McNiel, who lied April 28, 1796, aged one year and nine months. The next oldest is that of Ebenezer Ketchum, who died July &.
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1796, in the fifth year of his age. That there were earlier deaths at this place is probable, but the author has been un- able to procure any earlier data.
In looking through this cemetery, a number of things strike the eye of the observer as singular. Deacon Nathan- iel Tompkins had erected four monuments to as many wives he had buried side by side. The first, Elizabeth, died March 22, 1805, aged 27; the second, Mehitabel, who died Sep- tember 10, 1810, aged 29; the third, Lucretia, died October 10, 1827, aged 43; and the fourth, Clarissa, who died May 20, 1839, aged 50. Deacon Tompkins himself died January 18, 1848, in the seventy-third year of his age. He left a widow, who still survives.
In another part of the yard, is a stone erected to the memory of seven children of Patrick and Martha Camp- bell, aged four, sixteen, twenty-five, twenty, sixteen, twenty- five, sixteen.
On another stone is this inscription :-
" In Remembrance of GEORGE STANTON, Who was burned in his house, Feb. 11, 1827, aged 67 years."
On inquiry, the author learned that he was a brother of Deacon Daniel Stanton, and that he resided about one and a half miles from the village, within the present limits of the town of Marshall. The house was burned in the night time, during one of the coldest and most severe snow storms for many years; and it was supposed that Mr. Stan- ton succeeded in saving some articles of furniture, and went back for others, when, mistaking a door, he fell into the cellar, where his remains were found. He left a wife and three daughters, who escaped with nothing but their night clothes, and before they could get to a neighbor's, their
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limbs were all more or less frozen, some so severely that it was with difficulty they were saved from amputation.
As an historical reminiscence, it should be mentioned that, early in the settlement of this place, it was visited by Bush- rod Washington, to see the lands that had fallen to him, as legatee of his illustrious relative, " the father of his country."
St. Paul's Church, Paris Hill- Episcopalian. - This is one of the oldest societies of this denomination in the county. The Rev. William Baker is rector at this time. By the parochial report to the diocese of Western New York, for 1850, there were fifty families belonging to the congregation, thirty-six communicants, five of whom had been admitted within the year. The rector reports that " the parish of St. Paul's is in a very prosperous state." " The time to favor Zion, the set time, is come." and brethren dwell together in unity. Funds have been raised to enclose the church and lot with a neat fence, which is in progress. The vestry pro- pose to plant shade trees around the church. which will be a great improvement.
SAUQUOIT. - The name of this village is taken from that of the creek on which it stands, and is a corruption of the original Indian name, Se-dau-quate.
This village (or more properly two villages) stands on two parallel streets, about half a mile from each other, on oppo- site sides of the creek, and united by a eross street. On the west side is a tavern and store, the Presbyterian Church, post office, with quite a number of private dwellings. On the east side is the Methodist Church. the Academy, a store.
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a tavern, as also a number of private dwellings, mechanics, etc. On the cross street there are various kinds of machinery turned with water power.
The settlement of this section of Paris was commenced soon after that on the Hill. In the fall of the same year, (1789.) Phineas Kellogg came and built a log honse about 100 rods north of where Savage's tavern is now located. In March. 1790, Mr. Kellogg, John Butler, Sylvester Butler, Asa Shepard, and Mrs. Plumb and two children (the wife and children of Joseph Plumb), removed from New Eng- land. and arrived at the house built by Kellogg the preced- ing fall. When they arrived, they found the roof broken in by the snow, a heavy bank of which yet remained in the house ; this was shoveled out, and the room made as com- fortable as circumstances would permit, for the accommodation of the new comers. Mr. Plumb followed the same spring. In the course of the season, probably there were some ar- rivals, for in the fall William Swan, a lad of about fourteen years of age, died, which was the first death within the present limits of Paris, of which there is at this time any knowledge. The winter after Swan died. there were two or three deaths in the vicinity from the small pox.
In the year 1791, Kirkland Griffin, Capt. Abner Bacon, Deacon Simcon Coe, Spencer Briggs, Baxter Gage, Josiah Hull, Nathan Robinson, Enos Pratt, and a Mr. Root, settled in the vicinity of Sauquoit. Mr. Butler is yet living on a farm about a mile west of the village, and Enos Pratt lives in Westmoreland. These two, it is believed, are all that sur- vive of the heads of families who came to this part of Paris in the two years named.
Kirkland Griffin, Esq., whose name has been mentioned as one of the early settlers of the Sauquoit valley, resided on the east side of the creek. During our revolutionary con-
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test, his life was an eventful one. He shipped on board of one of the earliest privateers that were fitted out in that contest, to annoy and cripple the commerce of Britain The cruise was a short and unfortunate one, for their craft was soon captured by superior force, and taken to England. and himself and comrades were confined in that den of misery, the Mill Prison. Here the sufferings of the prison- ers were most intense. So stinted was their supply of food. that if fortunately a rat could be caught, it was roasted and deemed a luxury. Suffice it to say, that their sufferings were only equalled by the prisoners on board the Jersey prison ship, and the sugar house in New York. After thus suffering for two years and five months, they were exchanged. and sent in a cartel to the minister of the United States int France. Aceessions of captured sailors had from time to time been made to their numbers, so that, when exchanged. there were over two hundred. They were shipped for the United States on board the Alliance, the consort of the Bonhomme Richard, under the command of Com. Paul Jones. That daring officer, instead of sailing direct to the United States, must needs "beard the lion in his den," by cruising around the Island of Britain. On this cruise he fell in with and engaged the Serapis frigate. The battle that followed was one of the most obstinate and bloody recorded in naval warfare. The stars and stripes were vic- torious, and St. George's cross humbled before them. After the British captain had come on board Com. Jones' vessel, he in some way learned that the Mill Prison sailors were on board the American vessel, and he then exclaimed, " Now I know why I am conquered; without those prisoners you never could have obtained the victory." And well he might thus form an opinion, for he knew that men who had suffered as these men, would take victory or death as a watchword.
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vastly preferring the latter in fighting their country's battles, to another term in the Mill Prison.
Confirmatory of this incident in the life of Esquire Griffin, the following is extracted from Cooper's Life of Paul Jones: -"About this time (1779) a cartel arrived at Nantes, bring- ing in more than a hundred exchanged American seamen from Mill Prison. A short time before this exchange, Mr. Richard Dale, late a master's mate of the U. S. brig Lexing- ton, had made his escape from the same prison, and had joined Jones in his old capacity. This gentleman, a native of Virginia, and subsequently the well known naval captain of this name, was now made first lieutenant of the Richard, by Jones, who had blank commissions by him. The men of the cartel were applied to, and many of them entered, thus giving the Richard a respectable body of Americans to sus- tain the honor of the flag she wore."
Esquire Griffin ever afterwards observed the anniversary of his release from the Mill Prison, as a day of thanksgiv- ing. In true primeval New England style, on that day, his children and children's children were invited guests to share the bounty of the patriarch's table.
When he left the Serapis, he took from her armament a plain cutlass, which he afterwards carefully retained. It is still preserved in his family, as a memento of the " times that tried men's souls."
He was truly an excellent man. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number of years, and was the officer for this section of the town without distinction of party.
Benjamin Merrills was an early settler in this vicinity. He was a soldier in the old French war, and was one of a detachment of 500 Connecticut troops sent to Havanna, on the Island of Cuba, in that contest. It is recorded in its
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history, that such was the unhealthiness of the climate, and the fatality of sickness. that but seventeen of their number lived to return ; and of this number was Mr. Merrills.
In 1802 Judge James Orton kept a store and tavern in a part of the building now known as " Savage's Tavern Stand." Previous to Judge Orton's keeping a public house, Capt. Abner Bacon had kept a tavern on the site of the present residence of Col. Chauncey Butler.
The Methodist Episcopal Church is a neat brick struc- ture. erected in 1842. The congregation is respectable, and the society flourishing.
The Union Presbyterian Church of Sauquoit was organ- ized January 29, 1810, pursuant to a vote of the Norwich Church on the 13th of December, 1800, dismissing a number of their members for that purpose. The services of organ- ization were performed in the house of Capt. Abner Bacon. the Rev. Messrs. E. Woodworth, J. Eastman, and J. South- worth officiating. It consisted of twenty-six members, the most of whom were dismissed from the Norwich Church ; the remainder were received by letters from other churches, and some by profession. For almost a year the church and society met in the school house, known as the " Centre School House," when their first house for public worship was dedi- vated. The first deacons were Joseph Howard, Timothy L. Bacon, and David Curtis, and its first minister was the Rev. Ezra Woodworth, who was dismissed in 1813. He was suc- reeded by the Rev. Publius V. Bogue, who was subsequently installed pastor, March 15, 1815. Mr. Bogue was dismissed February 7, 1826. From Mr. Bogue's dismission until the spring of 1829, the Rev. Orin Catlin supplied the pulpit ; from that time until the fall of 1830. the Rev. Oren Hyde ;
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from the fall of 1830 Tentius D. Southworth became stated supply, and continued as such until the Rev. Beriah Hotch- kin was installed pastor, April 30, 1833. The pastorate of Mr. Hotchkin continued until August 11, 1836. He was succeeded by the Rev. Francis Jones, who was installed December 5, 1838, and dismissed July, 1841. The present pastor, the Rev. John Waugh, immediately succeeded him as stated supply, and was subsequently installed, December 27, 1843, the same day on which their new house of worship was dedicated, which is a beautiful and commodious house, sixty feet by forty.
. The ecclesiastical relations of this church have been twice changed. It was organized as Congregationalist, and re- mained connected with the Oneida Association until, by an unanimous vote, it became attached to Oneida Presbytery, on the accommodating plan. On the 26th of April, 1832, the church resolved to become wholly Presbyterian.
This church at several times has been visited by powerful revivals of religion, particularly in 1820, 1829, 1839, and 1843. At present it numbers nearly 150 resident communi- cants. The valley of the Sauquoit is rapidly filling with inhabitants, and the congregation constantly increasing.
CASSVILLE. - This is a small village in the south part of Paris, and on the Sauquoit Creek. At this point the main branch comes from the west, and after uniting with a small stream that heads in a large spring a short distance south- westerly from the village, the creek turns abruptly to the north, which course it keeps until it empties into the Mo- hawk, below Whitesboro.
The first settlers at this place were Elias Hopkins, Mark Hopkins, and Eleazar Kellogg. The precise date of their settlement has not been ascertained, but it was quite early,
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as Elias Hopkins built a saw mill, the first mill of any kind erected above the Paris Furnace. It stood on the site of the grist mill owned by Benjamin Rhodes, of Bridgewater. There are now two saw mills on the west branch of the ereek. above Cassville. There is a fork factory at this place, on the stream formed from the spring. There is another saw mill a short distance below the village. There was a grist mill built very early. by John Budlong, (now John- son's.) three-fourths of a mile above the Paris Furnace. It was reached by a road that came down the hill from the west. the road up the valley of the creck then reaching no higher than the furnace; indeed it was for a number of years supposed by the first settlers that it would be im- possible to make and maintain a road from the furnace up to Cassville ; but modern enterprise has, however, completed an excellent plank road between these two places. Bud- long's mill is now known as Johnson's.
There are two houses for public worship in Cassville.
The Baptists have a very neat and well finished house, with a tower and bell, and the society is flourishing. Al- though requested, the author has been unable to obtain the early history of this church. By the minutes of the Oncida Baptist Association, in the years 1847 and 1848 this church reported 120 members in each year. In the year 1849 it reported an addition of forty-one members, twenty-eight by baptism, and thirteen by letter, seven dismissed, and three died, present number 161.
Worship is not now sustained in the Presbyterian house.
From the mill built by Budlong, (now Johnson's.) the valley of the Sauquoit is a continuous succession of villages, and water power applied to almost every manufacturing pur-
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pose. For its size and length, the world can hardly furnish an equal to the Sauquoit. Its length is but about twelve miles, and in that distance there is 860 feet fall, not by cataracts, but quite even in its whole course. Next below Johnson's mill are the two scythe factories, the upper owned by S. A. and the lower by David J. Millard. These fac- tories turn out about 4,000 dozen scythes and 3,000 dozen forks annually. Next is Miller's machine shop, connected with Petty's cupola furnace. Below these are the Clayville woolen factories, which manufacture about 800 yards of broad cloths daily, and pay about $80,000 annually for labor. This village contains, as near as can be ascertained, 1,000 inhabitants. In the years 1848 and 1849, there has been an elegant Episcopal Church erected and completed in this place.
Next below Clayville is a saw mill owned by D. J. Millard ; then the Farmer's Factory, now owned by Hungerford & Ruger, who manufacture 9,000 yards of cotton goods per week ; and next the paper mill of Savage and Moore, doing a very extensive business. The next in order is the Frank- lin Factory, owned by Brownell & Son, who manufacture from 15,000 to 20,000 yards of cotton goods per week. The next is the Bacon saw and grist mill, now owned by Henry Gilbert ; then a saw mill and clothing works, owned by Abner Bacon ; next Brownell's new factory ; and last in the town of Paris is the saw mill of J. B. Bacon.
A reminiscence of some interest is related showing how mistaken were the views of at least one of the early settlers. Judge Sanger sent a millwright, by the name of Spofford, to explore the Sauquoit from New Hartford upward, to ascer- tain its capacity for water power. After carefully examin- ing the stream, he reported that no site for a mill could be obtained above New Hartford until a little below where the
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Paris Furnace stood, and opposite the residenee of the late Col. Avery. a distance of nearly six miles, and in which it is now ascertained the creek falls 384 feet. A son of Mr Spofford afterwards erected a saw mill at the place selected by his father, and what renders it still more peculiar is. that the site thus designated is now considered one of the least feasible in the vicinity, and since the demolition of the saw mill. no structure has been there creeted to use the water.
The Paris Furnace, which did an extensive business for many years, was commenced in 1800, and went into opera- tion in 1801 ; it stood a little below the Clayville factories Eliphalet Sweeting was the first founder.
A man by the name of Hill kept the first boarding house, in a log building, and as late as 1802 it was the only build- ing within one mile of the furnace.
On the hill west of the furnace, both above and below. the settlement was commenced earlier than at the furnace Among these settlers were Col. Bentley. Deacon Charles Allen. and David Budlong. North of the furnace. in 1802. there was a log house. in which Thomas Spoford. the son of the millwright, resided, directly in front of the mansion of the late Col. Avery. The next was three-fourths of a mile further north. which was a log house occupied by Theodore Gilbert, and stood near the present Spring House.
Col. Gardner Avery. who removed to the vicinity of the furnace in 1802. was for many years a large stockholder. and one of the leading managers of the concern. He was a man of strict integrity. and great business habits. The following is his obituary :-
" DIED. at Saratoga, on the 11th of August, 1843, Col. GARDNER AVERY. aged 75 years. Col. Avery was one of the carly settlers of Oneida and through a long and active life maintained a character
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for intelligence and integrity, such as few possess. As a professor of the Christian religion, he was conspicuous for his benevolence, for his zeal for promoting the interests of the cause he had espoused. the faithful and conscientious discharge of life's duties, and for a deportment generally in harmony with his profession."
The following appeared in the Utica Observer, some time in 1844 :-
' DIRD. at Paris Hill, the 7th inst., after a distressing illness of four days, EDWARD SCOVILL, Esq., aged 54. He was the youngest son of the late Darius Scovill, who removed with his family from Watertown. «'t .. to this place, in 1803, then almost a wilderness. The deceased having been a resident of Paris for forty-one years, had cultivated an extensive acquaintance in this section of our country, with its social. political, and religions history ; and in his social relation thereto. he was remarkable for his diffidence in adopting hasty decisions on the apparent merits or demerits of principles and topics affecting any of these subjects ; and also for his firm adherence to them when adopted In the relations of husband, parent, neighbor, and friend, he was kind affectionate, obliging, firm, and enduring ; a zealous supporter of good order and gospel institutions."
By the census of 1845, this town had 3,097 inhabitants, six grist mills. and seven saw mills.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
REMSEN.
THIS town forms the north-east corner of Oneida County, this angle extending further north than any other portion of the county. It is located on the summit between Lake Ontario and the valley of the Mohawk at Utica. The Black River passes through it near its centre, in a north- west course towards Lake Ontario at Sacketts Harbor. The north bounds of the town eross Moose River, an important branch of the Black River. West Canada Creek, the larg- est tributary of the Mohawk, forms the eastern boundary of the town, where it is the dividing line between Oneida and Herkimer Counties. The smaller streams that rise in the town flow into both the Black River and Canada Creek. The numerous falls and rapids in these two streams show that the altitude of Remsen is very great. Like all high sections of country, its soil is better adapted to pasturage than tillage. With the exception of oats, which produce quite well, there is but little grain raised, yet small quanti- ties of corn, barley, and buckwheat, are cultivated.
GEOLOGY .- The geology of the town differs but little from the other high sections of the county. The southern part of the town rests on a bed of limestone, excellent for cement when burnt, and for cutting for building and other purposes. In the section north of the Black River, primitive
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rock bowlders, a species of granite, abound. Some speci- mens of iron ore have been discovered in its north-east part, and it is believed by many that future research will show that it abounds in that quarter of the town.
This town was named from Henry Reisen, late of the city of New York, one of the original patentees of Remsen- burgh Patent, which was located mostly within the present limits of Remsen. Considerable portions of a number of the old patents were embraced in it, viz. :- Adgate's eastern tract, Woodhull's (being about eight miles square), Remsen- burgh, and a small part of Service's. In territory it is a very large town, and although Verona by some is claimed to be the largest, still future surveys may give the precedence to Remsen.
Until recently the northern half of the town was little known, and with but very few permanent settlers ; but since the commencement of the Black River Canal and feeder, this part of the town has risen in importance. The canal feeder dam, nine miles. above Boonville, is in this town, and as the canal is now completed to Boonville. a market is opened for the vast amount of lumber standing on these lands. Capitalists can not fail of investing the necessary amount to render it available, by bringing into use the ahnost unlimited water power with which the country abounds. Another reason why this section of the country has remained dormant is, that much of the land has been kept out of market. A better state of things in this respect now prevails ; the land is put for sale, and this will soon add so materially to its population, that it probably will soon be divided, so as to make a new town in the north part. including the Woodhull Traet.
The settlement of this town was commenced in 1792. Barnabas Mitchell. from Meriden, Connecticut, was the only
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settler in that year. The whole region was then a howling wilderness, and we can hardly conceive at the present day of the amount of moral courage necessary to induce a settler to thus locate himself and family so far from the dwellings of his fellow men. Hardships. they experienced, but hope bnoyed them up. He located about five miles north-east of the present village. In 1793 our pioneer was cheered with quite a reinforcement to the settlement. In this year John Bonner. Nathaniel Rockwood, Bettis Leclerc, Perez Farr. and Jonah Dayton moved into the present limits of Rem- sen. These first settlers are now all dead, and their hard- ships, privations, and trials are unwritten. Indeed, nearly all the early settlers have paid the debt of nature, and their posterity, some of whom are now on the down hill of life. in many instances occupy their places. Milo Mitchell, Esq .. a son of the first settler, seems to have inherited at least a portion of his father's enterprise, industry, and perseverance. for he is the largest farmer in Remsen.
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