USA > New York > Oneida County > Annals and recollections of Oneida County > Part 23
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The first death in the town was that of Capt. Peck, but the date of his decease is not known. The first birth was that of Polly Mitchell, daughter of the first cmigrant.
The carly settlers of this town were from the Easteru States ; but, about the year 1808, David Mound. John James, Griffith J. Jones, John Owens, and Hugh Hughes, fresh from the mountains of Wales, located in Remsen. This commenced a new era in its population. The reports of these early foreign emigrants to their friends in Wales. of the cheapness and fitness for dairying of the lands in this section has induced these Ancient Britons to emigrate in such numbers, that competent residents of the town believe that at least three-fourths of its population are Welsh It is said that Remsen, Steuben. Trenton. and por- tions of Deerfield, Marey, and Boonville, are almost as, well
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known in Wales as in Oneida County. These descendants of the ancient Cambrians form a hardy, industrious, frugal. and of course thriving population. Their butter dairies, for which they are far famed, are carried on to great. perfee- tion, producing an article rivalling the products of old Dutchess. They are a moral and religious people. The statistics of crime in Great Britain show that, in an equal population, but one Welshman to ten Englishmen and fifteen Irishmen are convicted, and it is confidently believed that the records of Oneida show that here this people have not degenerated. The author's probity as an historian, and the portions of English and Irish blood that course in his veins. he believes to be sufficient to incite to impartiality, still he hopes to be pardoned if he speaks a little enthusiastically of a people from whom he is in a direct line deseended.
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RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES ..
These are all Welsh, and divided into four denominations. viz .:- Episcopal Methodists, Whitfield Methodists, Presby- terians, and Baptists. The Whitfield Methodists are the most numerous. There are ten houses for public worship in the town. Although the Welsh are somewhat noted for dividing into small societies, still as they are remarkable for their strict attendance at. church, these several houses are well filled, and preaching well supported. They are exact as regards their religious discipline, and as a people they are Calvinistic in their doctrines. A Welsh Catholic would be an anomaly, and they are peculiar in their hatred of all that appertains to Popery. It is quite well ascertained that this people have furnished but one Catholic in Oneida
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County. They are almost a nation of singers, and in this part of public worship nearly the entire congregation join. In general their voices are harsh, but probably this is more from want of cultivation than any native defect, as some who have cultivated their voices are superior. They excel in harmony, discords rarely occurring.
SCHOOLS. - The schools in this town have heretofore been well attended and flourishing. The effects of the free school law of the last year (1849) have been most deleterious ; schools are on the decline, and in some districts there are now no schools. This is but common with all the agricul- tural and rural districts in the county. This state of things should be a warning to future legislatures, never to assume. unasked and unexpectedly, to legislate on important ques- tions, where the great body of the people are interested.
Remsen Village .- This is the only village in the town. and was incorporated in 1845. It is situated in the south- west corner of the town, including a small piece of Trenton within the bounds of the corporation. The Cincinnatus Creek passes directly through it, and towards the lower part of the village the creek falls about twenty-five feet nearly perpen- dicularly, which vastly adds to its capacity for turning mach- inery.
The settlement of the village was commeneed in 1795, by James Smith, deceased, who opened a public house in the place. The building he prepared for the accommodation of travellers, was composed in part of boards and part of logs. This public house thus constructed was continued for several years. Broughton White, Esq., now one of the oldest citizens of the town, opened the first store, in 1803, and a store has been continued on the same spot to the present time. Esq.
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White was a surveyor, and for some years was a member of Baron Steuben's family, while the Baron was engaged in settling his patent in Steuben.
There are at this time in the village two taverns, five stores, an extensive tannery, for many years conducted by Mather Beecher, Esq., and now by Hale & Colback, three saw mills, and most of the mechanic shops found in country villages. There are three commodious houses for public worship within the village, one Baptist, one Congregation- alist, and one Whitfield Methodist; and there is an Aca- demy. in which, on the first of January, 1850, there were fifty-six students in attendance; also a common and infant school. The plank road from Utica to Boonville passes through the village.
This place was formerly conspicuous for its intemperance. and the means it furnished to its own and the neighboring inhabitants. A respectable merchant, who has now banished alcoholic drinks from his store, informed the author that at one time he retailed 3,500 gallons of whisky in five months. He said .- " Such was the press that we did not stop to measure, for when a customer brought a keg, we inquired its capacity, placed it under the tap, and filled it, rolled it away. and under with another." " Yes," said a partner, who was sitting by, " and we did not make one penny by all this liquor traffic, for at the same time we were retailing goods on credit. and with our strong drink we sent out among our customers such a flood of bankruptcy, ruin, and death, that in the end we lost more than we made by it." The ten- perance reform has performed wonders for Remsen. Her inhabitants in this have developed one of their true Welsh traits,-perseverance. They less rarely break their pledge than any other people. Comparatively very little alcohol is now used as a beverage.
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There is a Rechabite Tent in the place, numbering over 100 members, and they are making sober men of the inten- perate. The innkeepers are not licensed to sell strong drink.
The village numbers about five hundred inhabitants, and there are few in the county of its size where more business is transacted.
There are in the town twelve saw mills, two grist mills (one worked by steam), seven mercantile houses, besides groceries, three physicians, and three lawyers.
The first town meeting was held in 1798, and the follow- ing is a list of the Supervisors elected, and the number of years each has served : -
Ephraim Hollister -
1 year.
Gershom Hinckley
10
Broughton White
11
James Sheldon -
Zalmon Root -
2
Luther Conkling
1
Lemuel Hough
3
Henry R. Sheldon
6
Mather Beecher
4
Evan Owens 5
Thomas R. White
1
Obadiah J. Owens
1
Griffith O. Griffiths
1
Andrew Billings
1
William H. Thomas
2
Evan Jones
1
..
The following obituary is from the Utica Daily Gazette of June 9, 1851 :-
DIED, at Remsen, on the first inst., Mr. JOHN G. JONES, aged 68 years.
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Mr. Jones was one of the oldest and most respectable inhabitants of his town, and was very highly esteemed by a large circle of ac- quaintances. He resided in this vicinity about fifty years, and accu- mulated great wealth. He was followed to his resting-place by about 500 of his old friends, and no less than 110 carriages and wag- gons being in the procession.
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CHAPTER XIX
ROME.
Tis town presents a richer field for the historian than any other town in the county. At a point within its limits. the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, while of sufficient size for batteau navigation, approach within a mile and a half of each other. The intervening ground is low, and covered with a deep alluvial deposit, from which it may be inferred that far back in the history of our globe, during freshets. their waters commingled, and still farther back, when the barrier of Fall Hill was unbroken, the valleys of the Mo- hawk and Wood Creek were covered with a lake, extending westward from that barrier some sixty or seventy miles, and including the Oneida Lake. The cobble stone on the dry plain upon which the village of Rome is built, give evidence of having been rounded and smoothed by the action of water.
The importance of this "carrying place," or, as called by the good Dutch inhabitants lower down in the Mohawk valley, " Trow Plat,", was carly appreciated. The Indian name for this portage was De-o-wain-sta; i. c., the place where canoes are carried across from one stream to another.
The first mention of it that has been found in any written document, was in a petition of the New York city mer- chants to the assembly in 1724. At this time France and Britain were at peace, and the French Indian traders had
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taken advantage of the times, by making their purchases-for the trade in that city. Of this our provincial Indian traders complained to the assembly, stating that it gave the French traders the advantage, by enabling the latter to undersell them on account of their easier water communication by way of Lake Champlain, and the passage of a law was procured. forbidding the New York merchants to sell goods for the Indian trade to the French. Against this law the New York merchants in turn complained, and in their memorial to the Assembly set forth, that "from Albany the English traders commonly carry their goods sixteen miles overland to the Mohawk at Schenectady, the charge of which is nine shillings (New York money) each waggon load. From Schenectady they carry them in canoes up the Mohawk River, to the carrying place between the Mohawk and the river that runs into the Oneida Lake, which carrying place between is only three miles, except in very dry weather. when they are obliged to carry them two miles further. From thence they go down with the current the Onondaga River to Catarcui. [Ontario] Lake."
In 1726, the English sent a party of 100 men to take possession of Oswego, for the purpose of securing it as a place of trade, and the next year the fortifying that post commenced, under the direction of the Colonial Governor Burnet.
At what time the first fortification was erected at the " carrying place," is uncertain. The necessity for a fort at this point was first set forth in the petition of a number of Indian traders to the Assembly, in October, 1736, in which they asked the erection of a fort at the " carrying place, at the upper end of the Mohawk River."
There is a tradition that two forts had been destroyed at this place previously to the erection of Fort Stanwix .- the
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first by flood, the second by fire. If this be true, the first must have been a very slight affair, and probably built nearer the Mohawk than Fort Stanwix. Still there are ac- counts which locate a fort (not finished) at that period upon the portage 'between Forts Williams and Bull, and at this day it is impossible to clear up the matter, unless light shall be thrown upon the subject from the archives of some of the European Governments. Indications of a work located near the Mohawk were observed by the carly inhabitants. The second fort was undoubtedly Fort Williams, which was de- stroyed by Gen. Webb in 1756, as hereafter stated. The author has been unable to ascertain when this second fort was built. Its location was doubtless on the same ground afterwards covered by Fort :Stanwix, for when that work was levelled a few years since, ruins were discovered which had the appearance of having belonged to an anterior work.
Two and a half miles west from Fort Stanwix stood Fort Bull, and which was probably erected a short time previous to the French war of 1756, as, when taken by the French, it bore the name of its commandant. It was customary at that period for officers who had superintended the erection of forts upon the frontiers, to be honored by having them named after themselves, and from this fact the inference is drawn, that the same officer who built Fort Bull commanded it when taken, as hereafter related. The fort stood on the north bank of Wood . Creek, where the ground was so low, that a dam across the creek just below, threw the water into, and filled the ditch quite around it, thus easily forming a moat which rondered the fort difficult of access.
The following is copied from the Documentary History of the State of New York, and is the first authentic ac- count of Forts Bull and Williams :-
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ROME. 315
"CAPTURE OF FORT BULL. - By M. De Lery.
" PARIS DOCUMENT, XII.
"On the 27th of March, 1756, at four o'clock in the morning, the detachments commanded by M. De Lery, lieutenant of the colonial troops, commenced their march, very much weakened by the fatigue they experienced during fifteen days since they left Montreal, for they were two days entirely out of provisions. At half past five they arrived at the road to the carrying place, and the scouts in advance brought in two Englishmen, who were coming from the fort nearest to Chouagnin [Oswego], whom M. De Lery caused to be informed that he should have their brains knocked out by the Indians if he perceived that they endeavored to con- ceal the truth, and if they communicated it to him, he should ase all his efforts to extricate them from their hands.
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" These prisoners stated that the fort this side Chouaguin was called Bull, having a garrison of sixty soldiers, com- manded by a lieutenant ; that there was in this fort a con- siderable quantity of munitions of war and provisions; that the fort was constructed of heavy pickets, fifteen to eighteen feet above ground, doubled inside to a man's height, and was nearly of the shape of a star ; that it had no cannon, but a number of grenades, which Colonel Johnson had sent on intelligence being communicated to him by the Indians of our march ; that the commandant of the fort was called Bull; that fifteen batteaux were to leave in the evening for Chouaguin ; that at the moment sleighs were arriving with nine batteau loads ; that the fort on the Corlear [Mohawk] side, at the head of the carrying place, was of much larger piekets, and well planked, having four pieces of cannon, and
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a garrison of 150 men, commanded by Captain Williams. whose name the fort bore; and that they did not know if there were any provisions in the fort, not having been in it
"At 10 o'clock the savages captured ten men, who were conducting the sleighs, loaded with provisions. These con- firmed what the prisoners had stated, and added that 100 men had arrived at 8 o'clock on the preceding evening, who were said to be followed by a large force.
" Monsieur De Lery, whilst occupying himself in distri- buting among the detachment the provisions found in the sleighs. was informed that a negro, who had accompanied the loads, had escaped, taking the road to Fort Williams; where- upon, not doubting but they would have intimation of him at that fort, he acquainted M. De Montigny, his second. of his determination to attack Fort Bull, the prisoners having assured him that the greater part of the provisions and stores were there. Each officer received immediate orders to form his brigade; and M. De Lery told the savages that he was about to attack the Bull, but they represented to him that now they had provisions to carry the detachment to La Presentation [Ogdensburg] .- English meat that the Mas- ter of life had bestowed on them, without costing a man .- to risk another affair would be to go contrary to His will : if he desired absolutely to perish, he was master of his Frenchmen. The commander replied that he did not wish to expose them, and asked them only for two Indians to guide his expedition, which they with difficulty granted. Some twenty determined afterwards to follow him, being encouraged by some drams of brandy. The Algonquins. Nipissings, and those Iroquois who were unwilling to follow him. accepted the proposition made by M. De Lery, to guard the road and the twelve prisoners. They assured the commander that he may make the attack ; they would take
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possession of the road, and watch the movements of the English at Fort Williams.
" The detachment having commenced their march along the high road, the soldiers having their bayonets fixed, M. De Lery gave orders, when within fifteen acres of the fort, to move straight forward without firing a shot, and seize the guard on entering the fort. He was still five acres off when he heard the whoop of the savages, notwithstanding the prohibition he had issued. He instantly ordered an advance double quick, in order to carry the gate of the fort, but the enemy had time to close it. Six Indians only followed the French, the others pursued six Englishmen, who, unable to reach the fort, threw themselves into the bush. M. De Lery set some to cut down the gate, and caused the commandant, to be summoned to surrender, promising quarter to him and all his garrison, to which he only answered by a fire of mus- ketry, and by throwing a quantity of grenades. Our soldiers and Canadians, who ran full speed the moment the Indians whooped, got possession of the port holes ; through these they fired on such of the English as they could get a sight of. Great efforts were made to batter down the gate, which was finally cut in pieces in about an hour. Then the whole detachment, with a cry of Vive le Roi, rushed into the fort, and put every one to the sword they could lay hands on. One woman and a few soldiers were fortunate enough to escape the fury of our troops. Some pretend that only one prisoner was made during this action .*
* "Except five persons, they put every soul they found to the sword." - A Faithful Narrative of the Dangers, Sufferings, and De- liverance of Robert Eastburn, and his Captivity among the Indians of North America. Annual Register, Vol. I. Anno 1758.
This Eastburn was taken prisoner by the French on this occasion, and removed to a town called Oswegatchy.
:
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". The commandant and officers repaired to the stores, and caused their men to use diligence in throwing the barrels of powder into the river, but one of the magazines. having caught fire, and M. De Lery considering that he could not extinguish it without incurring the risk of having the people biown up who would be employed there, gave orders to retire as quick as possible. There was hardly time to do this. when the fire communicated to the powder, which blew up at three points. The explosion was so violent, that a soldier of Guyenne, and an Iroquois of the Sault, were wounded by the debris of the fort, though they were already at a distance. The Indian especially is in danger of losing his life by the wound.
.. A detachment was, however, sent to look after the bag- gage that remained on the road, and shortly after an Indian came to notify M. De Lery that the English were making a sortie. This caused him to rally his- forces, and placing him- self on the bank of the creek, he had the bombs, grenades. bullets. and all the ammunition that could be found, thrown notwithstanding into the water. He had the fifteen batteaux staved in, and then set out to meet the sortie of which he had been informed; but he learned on the road that the Indians had repulsed it, after having killed seventeen men. This sortie was from Fort Williams, on the intelligence . carried thither by the negro. The Indians who, unwilling to attack Fort Bull, took charge of the road, acquitted them- selves so well, that this detachment quickly retreated, with a loss of seventeen men. The Indians, coming some hours after to congratulate M. De Lery on his fortunate success. failed not to make the most of their advantage. A chief asked him if he proposed attacking the other fort ; which was nothing more than a boast on his part. M. De Lery replied he would proceed forthwith if the Indians would
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follow him. This reply drove this chief off, and all those of his party prepared to follow. Our troops did the same, and encamped in the wood, three quarters of a league from the fort. The Fort Bull prisoners were examined, and we learned that Col. Johnson, having been informed of our march, had sent notice to all the posts, regarding it, how- ever, as impossible, in consequence of the rigor of the season. Fort Bull is situate near a small creek that falls into that of Chouaguin, about four miles from the fort. Fort Williams is near the river Mohawk, which falls into that of Corlear. The carrying place from one fort to the other is about four miles long, over a pretty level country, though swampy in some places.
. M. De Lery's detachment was, 15 officers, 2 cadets. and 10 soldiers of the Queen's Regiment, 17 of Guyenne's, 22 of Bearn's. 27 of the Colony, in all 93 soldiers ; 166 Canadians, 33 Iroquois from the lake of Two Mountains, 33 from La Presentation, 18 from Sault St. Louis, 3 from St. Bigin, 3 Abenakies of Missiskoui, 2 Algonquins, and 11 Nipissings. Total, 362 men, 265 of whom attacked the Fort. A soldier from the Colony, and an Indian from La Presentation, were killed. A soldier of the Queen's, two Canadians, and two Iroquois, were wounded. It is estimated that more than 40,000 weight of powder was burned or thrown into the creek. with a number of bombs, grenades, and balls of differ- ent calibre. A great deal of salted provisions, bread, butter. chocolate, sugar, and other provisions, were likewise thrown into the water. The stores were filled with clothes and other effects, which were pillaged ; the remainder burnt, This day has cost the English ninety men, of whom thirty are prisoners. Our detachment killed or captured thirty horses."
Thus far has the writer followed verbatim the French
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ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
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account. On the retreat of the party, they fell on their knees, and returned thanks to God for their victory. After the second night, they made a very hasty retreat for fear of General Johnson (Sir William) who they learned was in pursuit, and they suffered almost as much from famine on their return as on their advance, by reason of their not being able to carry on their backs a sufficiency to last them to their stores at Lake Ontario.
It might have been hoped, for the honor of human nature. and the French in particular, that the account of this mas- sacre,-for by no other name can it be called .- was ex- aggerated : but it is so well authenticated by the English accounts published at the time in the New York Mercury. that it can not be doubted, although the numbers probably are over-estimated. Of the slain, fifteen resided in and near Albany.
On the 11th of August, 1756, Count Frontinac com- menced the siege of Oswego, with an army of 3,000 regulars. Canadians, and Indians. On the 14th of the same month. the commander, Col. Mercer, having been killed, Lieut .- Col. Littlehales, who as senior officer had taken the command. surrendered the place to the French.
In a note to the foregoing article in relation to the taking of Fort Bull, is the following: - " The latter [Fort Wil- liams] stood until 1756, when it was destroyed by General Webb, on his famous flight from Wood Creek, immediately after the fall of Oswego."
Smith, in his Colonial History of New York, says that, after the loss of Oswego, " Gen Webb, who was then posted at the Oneida carrying place, was in such consternation that he ordered trees to be felled in Wood Creek, to obstruct the progress of the enemy if they should attempt to penetrate that way, and the Earl (of Loudon), in equal terror at
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Albany pushed on Sir Wmn. Johnson with the militia to sustain Webb, and ordered large drafts to follow from Albany and Ulster, and importuned even the southern colonies for recruits." Subsequently the same author says :- " The dis- asters of the campaigns of 1756-7 were followed by a quarrel between several of the army officers, in which mutual reeri- minations took place, one party charging that the loss of German Flats" (destroyed by a force of French and Indians, Nov. 12, 1757) "was a consequence of the destruction of Fort Williams by Gen. Webb, while that officer, to lighten the burden of imputations under which he rested, averred that he destroyed the fort in pursuance of positive orders from Earl Loudon."
The worst consequences were anticipated from the aban- donment of the territory adjacent and the destruction of Fort Williams, and one of these is mentioned in a commu- nication of Sir William Johnson to the Board of Trade at London, dated June 18, 1757, in which he says :- " "T'is probable our destroying the works at, and abandoning the Oneida carrying place last summer," (Sir William at the time of its destruction was at the German Flats, with a force of militia and Indians.) " may produce a neutrality from the Oncidas and Tuscaroras."
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