USA > New York > Oneida County > Annals and recollections of Oneida County > Part 6
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 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
" Said tract to form two townships: that lying north-west of the Oriskany Creek to be Coxeborough, that to the soutli- cast of said creek to be Carolana. Each of said townships to have two Assessors, one Treasurer, two Overseers of Highways, two Overseers of Poor, one Collector, and four Constables, to be elected on the first Tuesday of May in cach year, by a majority of the freeholders.
"Signed by Cadwallader Colden, at our Fort, in the City of New York, on the 30th day of May, A. D. 1770."
61
ANNNSVILLE.
CHAPTER III.
ANNSVILLE.
GEOLOGY .- The geology of this town presents features peculiarly interesting, perhaps as much so as in any town in the county. The indications are quite distinct, that por- tions of this town were at some former period covered with the waters of three small lakes.
The first, or lower one, was situated in the south-east corner of the town, and covered all that portion known as the Forks. This lake must have been about three miles in length from east to west, and two in width from north to south, covering an area of about six square miles. Its form was irregular, something in the shape of the human foot and leg, the toes to the north and the leg to the west. Its inlets were the east and west branches of Fish Creek, or perhaps more properly Fish Creck and Mad River; for the author finds that the names Mad River and West Branch are indiscriminately applied, by the inhabitants in the vicinity; to that branch of the stream. The outlet was at or near where Fish Creek now escapes from the valley. The barrier -feeble, to be sure-which confined this lake in the neigh- borhood of the outlet, was composed mainly of sand, inter- mixed here and there with small portions of clay and gravel. If conjecture be allowable, this barrier was forced by the accumulation of water thrown against it by the giving away of the banks which confined the upper lakes, and then this
62
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
[CHAP.
increased body of water forcing its way to the Oneida Lake. On the south, east, and west sides, the shores seem to have been composed of the same material as the barrier, as no rocks and very few stones were found; but on the north side the rock formation commences. which extends north, cast, and west, beyond the limits of the town. What was once the bottom of this lake, is now one of the finest agricul- tural sections of the town or county. This alluvial bottom in some parts contains many small pebbles, mostly of the same kind as those in the north part. of the town, brought down and worn smooth by the floods of centuries. Occa- sionally granite bowlders are found, out of place to be sure, for there is no granite formation in the town. or nearer than the north-east part of Jefferson and the eastern part of Her- kimer Counties. The water in this lake in many places was probably one hundred feet in depth.
The second lake of this chain was situated about three- fourths of a mile northerly from the first. In size it was smaller, and in form more regular, being semicircular, pro- bably covering two square miles. What were its shores are entirely different in character from the first, the surface being composed of stone, gravel, and loam, while the lower stratum consisted of friable slate, alternated with a harder kind. The slate is divided, by perpendicular and parallel seams, into small sections or blocks. Its inlet was the cast branel: of Fish Creek, and its outlet where the creek now runs, at its south-west corner. The channel here cut through the stone, gravel, and slate, is from fifteen to twenty rods in width, and in some places sixty fect in depth. Its bottom rested on the rock formation which underlays this section of the town. The alluvial soil now covering it, is rendered nearly untillable by the quantity of stone brought from above by the water. Near the south-west corner there was
63
ANNSVILLE.
mi.]
a bay, running three-fourths of a mile north-west. The point formed by the bay and lake is composed mostly of con- , glomerate or pudding-stone, overlaid with sand. In one place sand-stone is in the process of formation. The cement of the sand-stone and conglomerate is probably lime, although lime is found nowhere else in the vicinity. In the basin of this lake and bay is now situated Taberg Village. Its sur- face must have been at least fifty feet higher than the first.
The third and last lake was situated about one mile nearly due north from the second. In size and character it nearly resembled the second. with the exception that the creek, in the long course of ages. has worn for itself a chan- nel of fifty or sixty feet lower than the bottom of the lake. Its elevation above the second lake must have been at least. one hundred feet. The water at its lower end might have been sixty feet in depth, but in the upper part quite shallow. An island arose nearly sixty fect from its surface. It was known to the early settlers as Walnut Hill, from the grove of white walnuts which covered a portion of its surface. An outlet, where at least a portion of its waters were discharged. can be traced from its north end into the valley of West Creek in the town of Lee. This stream, by a circuitous route of some ten miles, empties into Fish Creek one mile below the lower lake.
The channel of the creek above this last lake, assumes the picturesque and sublime, beyond the power of deserip- tion; and for three miles there are few places where its banks can be ascended or descended in safety. The sides of this chasm are walled up with rock, from eighty to three hundred feet in height, and the spectator from the giddy height looks down into the tops of tall trees which have for centuries braved the ragings of the stream and storms. To him. full grown persous at the bottom apparently dwindle
64
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
[CHAT.
to mere pigmics. His sensations become allied to fear, but he soon learns to look from his perilous position with com- posure. To the spectator in the chasm, the forest trees at the top dwindle into mere shrubs. He looks with awe and wonder at the hoary crags and overhanging rocks above him, and his imagination is carried far back as he beholds the effects of mighty causes which have been in operation for ages. Here the waters from the melting snows of a thou- sand winters, and the rains of as many summers, falling in this extensive valley, have found a passage to the Oneida Lake, in their way overcoming every obstacle, removing every barrier. Around him the visitor sees, in wild confu- sion, the fragments left by this war of the elements, broken, worn, and rounded by the action of the hurried waters, and their violent contacts with each other. From the head of this branch of Fish Creek to the Forks, a distance of nearly forty miles, the current is very rapid, falling from thirty to seventy-five feet per mile.
Within the town of Annsville, and above the upper lake, the creek receives but two tributaries of any importance.
Miller's Creek empties into it near the head of the upper lake. It received its name from the first settler on its banks. It flows from the west, and its main features are the same as those of Fish Creek, its channel being worn equally deep in the rock.
Fall Brook empties into Fish Creek about three miles above Miller's Creek, and it also flows from the west. It takes its name from the falls where it empties into the creek. Unlike Miller's Creek, it has its channel upon the first layer of rocks until it falls into the main stream.
This fall is divided into three separate falls : the upper of fourteen feet, the middle of twenty feet, and the lower of sixty feet. The channel of Fish Creek where it receives
ANNSVILLE. 65
this stream, is about one hundred and fifty feet in depth, and the rocks have been worn back by the falls twenty-five rods. The bottom of this chasm has an area of about an acre in a triangular form, the base on Fish Creek and the apex at the falls. This is covered with the fragments of rocks, which once helped to fill up the chasm. Approaching from below, the visitor hears the roar, and meets a current of wind and spray some time before the falls are visible. A small stream is seen dashing and foaming at his feet, sometimes beneath the fragments of rocks, sometimes overleaping them. It seems, after so troublous a course, gladly to lose its identity in Fish Creek. As the visitant approaches nearer the falls, the almost perpendicular walls of rock, at least one hundred feet in height on cither hand, become visible. The roar and spray increase, when, after passing a few more fragments covered with foliage and wet with spray, the falls are at once in view. Here a scene of sublimity and grandeur, little an- ticipated, is before him. Directly in front, is the fall of sixty feet, and about twenty-five in width, falling into a deep foaming pool below.
A current of air is created by the falling water sufficient to keep the leaves and tendrils of the trees that overhang the chasm in constant motion. Above, he sees the two upper falls plunging from one ledge of rocks to another, as if pre- paring for their final leap. When the stream is low, much of the water is dissipated in spray, but when swollen by rain or melting snow, it forms a scene of grandeur and sublimity beyond the powers of description. Trenton Falls excepted, probably no place in the county possesses equal attractions to the lover of nature's wild magnificence. Standing, as the spectator does, in this frightful chasm, where the light and heat of summer but partially ever comes, amid the fragments of rocks and the ruins of towering cliffs, he feels the vanity
5
-
66
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
[CHAP.
of all that is human, and is thus led from nature up to nature's God, and he can hardly leave without becoming a better and wiser man.
The rock mentioned as underlaying this town, is a bluish- grey sand-stone. It is in layers of from six inches to two feet in thickness, and is cut into square and angular blocks by seams. Good building stone to any amount can be quarried on the banks of the creek, but it is too hard to be cut. It is not known that any other rock of this kind is found in this part of the State. It grows harder after being quarried and exposed to the air. The rock is underlaid and overlaid with dark-colored friable slate. The strata are from three inches to five feet in thickness. It soon falls to pieces on being exposed to the action of the sun, rains, and frost. It is evidently what our State geologists term Pulaski shale. The conglomerate or pudding-stone found near Taberg, has been already mentioned, as also the few bowlders of granite at the Forks. Beside these, it is not known that there is but one other kind of stone in the town, and that is com- posed of organic and vegetable remains. Of this stone, a portion is found in bowlders, and in some places it is found in strata among the slate and sand-stonc. Some of the shells in this rock are two and even four inches in diameter. There is a slight dip in all the rocks in this town to the south and west. There has, as yet, bcen no minerals or ores discovered in this town, excepting bog iron, which is found in many places, but in small quantities. In most places the water has drained off, and left it to oxidize to an extent that ren- ders it nearly worthless.
WATER POWER.
Probably no town in the county possesses as good and extensive water power as the town of Annsville. The prin-
1
67
ANNSVILLE.
III.]
cipal streams have been already mentioned, with the excep- tion of the small one which empties into Fish Creek at Taberg, the water of which is sufficient for a blast furnace in the driest season. All the streams are very rapid. Fish Creek has a course of ten miles in this town, with a fall of from thirty to one hundred feet per mile. Indeed, so far as fall is concerned, it is believed its whole waters can be used every hundred rods in that distance. Its tributaries furnish almost as much power as the main stream. Although there is hardly onc-twentieth of the water power oceupied yet, there are now in operation two grist and flouring mills, twenty-one saw mills, twelve shingle mills, four lath mills, four turning lathes, two stave machines, one wool-carding, eloth-dressing, and manufacturing establishment, one blast furnace, two cupola furnaces, and two tanneries. Besides these, there is other machinery in the process of erection.
The blast furnace at Taberg requires more than a passing notice. In 1809 the Oneida Iron and Glass Manufacturing Company commenced operations where the furnace now stands. They gave it the name Taberg from that of cele- brated iron works in Europe. In 1811 it commenced its first blast, and has continued its operations from that time to the present with but occasional stoppages. For some years it was extensively engaged in the manufacture of hollow ware, and similar articles. For a few years past, under a change of owners and direction, it has been exclusively used for the manufacture of pig iron. The castings of this fur- nace have ever sustained the highest reputation for strength and durability. Even now, the pig iron from this furnace suffers but little in comparison with the best Scotch pig, and for many uses it is even its superior. In the south-west part of the town there is an elevation known as Pond Hill, which receives its name from the pond situated upon it. It covers
63
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
[CHAP.
an area of about six acres, and its altitude is about seventy- five feet higher than the country around it, and its depth is unknown. It has no visible inlet or outlet, and it must be kept up by springs below its surface.
GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION.
The town of Annsville is bounded on the east by the town of Lee, south by Rome and Vienna, west by Camden and Florence, and on the north by the line between Oneida and Lewis Counties. The general surface of the town is some- what broken and uneven. Its general declination is to the south and cast. Large swells, or ridges, running cast and west, commence in the south, and rise higher and higher to the north line of the town. Between these rise and flow larger and smaller tributaries of Fish Creek. On the west- ern side there is a small section which sends its waters into the West Branch, or Mad River.
SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.
This town contains every variety of soil. The south- eastern section is to a considerable extent clayey, with occa- sional small sections of sand and gravel. The soil of this part is quite productive in all the grains and grasses of the county. The south-western section is more elevated, drier, more sandy, and stoney in some places, and is the best see- tion for grain, but probably not for grass. The north-east scetion is stoney and somewhat broken. The soil is strong. adapted to grain better than grass. The north-west section is better adapted to meadow and pasturage than the others. but is not as good for grain, excepting the kinds termed English grain.
69
ANNSVILLE.
III. ]
By the census of 1845, the following list of the products, agricultural and other, is obtained :
Barley -
41
acres
225 bushels.
Peas
20
494
Beans -
24
66
124
Buckwheat
399
66
5,975
Turnips
46
2,574
Potatoes
306
15,733
Flax
11%%
1,530 pounds.
Wheat
170
1,447 bushels.
Corn
811
15,138
Ryc
109
=
926
Oats
1,290
32,880
Butter
105,458 pounds.
Cheese
7,440
66
Wool
5,879
Fulled Cloth
1,482
yards.
Flannel -
3,598
Linen and Cotton
2,257
Two Flonring Mills using -
$14,000
raw material, manufactured article.
Turned out -
15,000
Eighteen Saw Mills using
- $ 13,605
raw material,
Turned out
30,959
manufactured article.
C'arding Machine using
$ 4,200
raw material,
Turned out
5,680
manufactured article.
Iron Works using -
$ 9,449
raw material,
Turned out
14,400
manufactured article.
Asheries using
$ 550
raw material,
Turned out
725
manufactured article.
Two Tanneries using
$2,889
raw material,
Turned out
3,983
manufactured article.
No of Horses
626
Sheep -
2,868
Hogs
1,522
=
Cows -
1,059
Other Neat Cattle -
- 1,112
Some of these sources of prosperity have largely increased since the last census, particularly that of lumber. It will
70
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY. [CHAP
be perceived there are now three more saw mills than in 1845.
The construction of plank roads has become so exten- sive, that the lumber business is now far more extensive. A large amount of plank suitable for that purpose, has been furnished from the forests and mills of this town ; and more shingles have also recently been manufactured and sent to the eastern market. Large quantities of hemlock, pine, spruce, curled and pinned maple, cherry ash, and bass- wood lumber, are annually sent from this town to the Erie Canal to be shipped for market.
It will be perceived that the persons taking the census were not required to furnish the statisties of a number of branches of the lumber business, to wit: the manufacturing of shingles, laths, staves, and the various articles from turn- ing laths.
To all these should be added great improvements in buildings, and those of farms in fencing and ditching.
A few years since, the Legislature passed a law allowing the towns of Rome, Annsville, and Florence, to vote at their annual town meeting $2,000 cach for the improvement of the State road from Rome to Sacketts Harbor. They all passed the requisite votes, and are now fully realizing the wisdom of the measure in their improved facility in getting their products to market, and in the increased travel through their towns. There are three taverns in this town with sufficient accommodations to meet this increase of business. A company has been formed, the stock taken, and a plank road constructed from Taberg to Rome, on the route of the State road. There are also two stores and one grocery in the town.
71
ANNSVILLE.
INDIANS.
The branch of the Oneida Tribe which formerly resided at the meadows in this town, have been mentioned in the general account of the tribe. During or about the time of the old French war, a party of Canadian Indians, about twenty in number, came and settled at the Forks. They came for the purpose of enjoying the fishery. This exceed- ingly annoyed the Oneidas, whose territory and rights were thus invaded. They however succeeded, after a brief time, in driving off the intruders. How much force had to be used in their ejectment, can not now be ascertained.
HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, ANECDOTES, ETC.
John W. Bloomfield, Esq., was the first white settler of this town. He moved from Burlington, New Jersey, and made his first improvement near where Doct. Beech now resides. He purchased a large tract of land, and soon built a saw mill and grist mill. Mr. Bloomfield stayed the night before he arrived within the present limits of Oneida County, eight miles below Utica, then Fort Schuyler. This was in April, 1793. In the morning he started before breakfast, intending to make that necessary meal at Fort Schuyler. When he arrived there, such was the dearth of " creature comforts," that the hostess told him she had nothing with which she could refresh either himself or horse. As the only alternative, he was obliged to mount poor " dobbin," who was as hungry as himself, and travel another four miles over a dreary road to Whitesboro. It must be recollected that this was not in these railroad times, but in the days
.
72
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
[CHIAP.
when from one to two miles per hour over the corduroy and mud, was doing very well. Suffice it to say, that he arrived at Judge White's just in time not to miss the dinner hour. breakfasting and dining at the same time. He remained with Judge White about two weeks, and then went to Rome, then Fort Stanwix. The same day upon which he arrived at Fort Stanwix, the late George Huntington arrived with a small assortment of goods, as noticed in the history of Rome. After staying a short time, he went on to his purchase at Taberg. The next year after Esquire Bloomfield arrived at Taberg, he employed a man by the name of Gere to dig a well. Gere resided in the present town of Lec. After he had progressed to a considerable depth, the sand caved in and caught his feet and legs, and Mr. Bloomfield went down to extricate him. When he had landed at the bottom, he looked up, and saw that the sides of the well were cracking and heaving, ready to fall in upon them. He sprang and caught hold of the rope used for drawing up the earth, and by powerful exertion, succeeded in extricating himself, while poor Gere was covered to a great depth, and with him all the shovels on or near the premises. A messenger was imme- diately dispatched to Lee, and another to Rome, to get help and shovels. This was about the middle of the afternoon. Gere could talk with those on the surface, said that the tub which was suspended by the rope over him had prevented the sand from falling upon his head, and that he was not hurt, and only suffered for the want of fresh air. How intense were the feelings of the few by-standers ! Minutes seemed ages before help arrived ; but very soon, in propor- tion to the distance, men came scattering in with shovels. Each went to work as if the preservation of the life of a human being depended on his individual exertions. Such however was the vast amount of earth which had caved in,
73
ANNSVILLE.
111. ]
and the constant running in, like water, of the sand from the sides, that the work proceeded very slowly. All night they toiled on without succeeding in reaching the sufferer. Each succeeding hour his voice grew more feeble, until some time in the night it ceased for ever. In the morning the force was increased, but it was nearly noon before all that re- mained of the poor well-digger was exhumed. The body was taken to Lce to be buried. He left a wife and children, and two of his sons afterwards lived with Mr. Bloomfield.
Previous to the breaking up the settlement of the Oneida Indians at the Forks, they used to bring salmon to Mr. Bloomfield at Taberg, for which he paid them a certain price per pound. The Indians were not slow in learning that the heavier the fish the more money they received. One day an Indian brought him a back load of fish, and they were, as usual, weighed and paid for. On dressing them, it was found that cach fish had been heavily charged with gravel stones ; but before the discovery was made, the poor Indian was far on his way to the Forks with his ill-gotten gains. A few days afterwards, Mr. Bloomfield saw Powlis, their chief, and complained of the fraud practised upon him. Powlis was very indignant, and said that Mr. Bloomfield had ever paid a fair price for every article he had purchased of them, and that he should not again be so illy treated ; and in all his purchases afterwards, Mr. B. never found a fish with so indigestible a dressing.
One day, while Mr. Bloomfield was out upon his farm, an Indian came to his house, and requested Mrs. Bloomfield to let him have some liquor. This she resolutely refused, and he still as resolutely demanded it, saying that he knew they had it in the house. Finding that words did not terrify her, he drew his knife, and by threatening gestures drove her into a corner of the room, thinking thus to terrify her,
74
ANNALS OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
ICHr.
so that the liquor would be forthcoming. In this he was mistaken, for she then, in a determined voice, directed some member of the family to go out and call Mr. Bloomfield, who was not far distant. By this time he had learned the spirit of the woman, and thought he had better beat a hasty retreat, while he could with a sound skin, which he at once effected. The next day, to make peace with her, and to convince her that he highly appreciated her firmness, he brought a fine saddle of venison, and presented it to her. She was ever afterwards well treated by the Indians.
Another of the early settlers of Annsville, was Mr. Elias Brewster. Originally from Connecticut, and a descendant of the pilgrims, he emigrated to this county in 1789 or 1790. He commenced upon a farm in the town of Western, near where is now the village of Delta. In 1806 he bought a lot in the town of Annsville, and commenced clearing it in March of that year; and on the 1st of April, 1807, he removed his family to his new home. He had the curiosity to measure the snow on his premises, and found it five feet in depth ; and it was not all gone on the 1st of May. (The writer well remembers measuring the snow in the forest, and found it four and a half feet deep on the 7th of April of that year ; and this was in a location where it was not drifted, and in the town of Westmoreland.) The cabin into which he moved was of the rudest kind. Crotches were set in the ground, from which poles were placed to support the roof. The roof and siding were of rough boards and slabs. These had to be hauled three miles, at great labor, upon a route where no road or bridge had been constructed. A fire in a primitive fireplace at one end, over which an opening had been left for the escape of the smoke, warmed its inmates. A rough door, hung with strips of raw hide, and a window the paper panes of which were made transparent with oil, completed the
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.