USA > New York > Chenango County > Oxford > Annals of Oxford, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and early pioneers > Part 23
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& Co., when E. P. Willcox became a partner and the firm name was changed to Franklin, Willcox & Co., who oper- ated it three years. Messrs. Franklin and Miller then withdrew, and the remaining partners continued under the name of Chubbuck & Willcox. On the 28th of August, 1846, the foundry, then owned and occupied by E. P. Will- cox, took fire and, with the plow shop and wareroom at- tached, was entirely consumed. Only a portion of the plows, stoves, etc., were saved. The loss was several thou- sand dollars. The shop was rebuilt and Mr. Willcox con- tinued the business in connection with a hardware store till March, 1859, when he sold to George Rector and Eli Willcox, who, on the 29th of October, 1860, dissolved part- nership, Mr. Rector purchasing the entire interest of Mr. Willcox. In January, 1868, Mr. Rector disposed of the foundry to James M. Edwards, and the hardware store to Messrs. Raymond & Miller. Mr. Edwards did a general machine and foundry business till November 23, 1883, when early on that morning the foundry, together with all the machinery, patterns, etc., was again destroyed by fire, nothing being saved. Loss about $5000, with an insurance of $2500. The wood shop was saved. The foundry has never been rebuilt. The building was constructed of stone and was about 40 by 62 feet, two stories high, and stood upon the same foundation as the one burned in 1846, which was only one story high.
T HE ONEIDA ANNUAL CONFERENCE of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church was held in this village in August, 1842, and nearly 200 ministers were in attendance. Bishop Hedding was present and presided with ease, dig- nity, and dispatch. On Sunday, during the conference, ten elders and seventeen deacons were ordained.
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In life there are meetings which seem Like a fate. -OWEN MEREDITH.
Jacobs Family.
Cornelius Jacobs, born in 1720 in Holland, came to America at a very early age with his parents. In the same vessel that brought them over was a family from France, whose name is now lost to history. This French family had a daughter nearly the age of Cornelius. On landing in New York the two families traveled together to a point in Dutchess county, N. Y. The infants were placed in baskets, slung over the back of a horse and thus made the journey to their new home in America. In later years they again met, renewed their acquaintance and married. Mr. Jacobs died January 22, 1805, in Dutchess county. Their children were: LEWIS, who went to Vermont at an early day and became lost to the family. ISRAEL, born in 1744, lived most of his life in Westchester county; at an ad- vanced age he came to Oxford to reside with his nephew, who was his namesake, and died July 23, 1832, unmarried. CORNELIUS, JR., born May 19, 1754, in Westchester county ; died April 18, 1811, in Durham, Greene county, N. Y .; fur- ther mention of Cornelius, Jr., is made below.
One incident is related in regard to Cornelius, Sr. He was accustomed to say grace at the table in the most reverent manner. One day during the ceremony the family cat took a notion to sharpen her claws upon his leg. Dressed in his knee breeches and long thin stockings, it proved a very severe experience, and the well-known formu- lary could scarcely be finished, when he shouted in great wrath, " Rabbit the cat! "
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Cornelius Jacobs, Jr., married about 1784 Elizabeth Lyon at North Castle, Westchester county, N. Y., born July 8, 1764; died September 27, 1848, in Oxford. She was a girl of twelve years when General Howe gained possession of New York. Cornelius was in the Revolu- tionary war, having enlisted at its commencement and serving to the end. He was one of the body guard of General Washington, and as he was a light man and a bold rider, was employed in carrying dispatches. The service required skill in horsemanship, tact, daring, in- tegrity, and great power of endurance. During the entire war he held this position, a perilous and arduous one that took him much of the time from camp, and during the seven years was never in a battle. At the close of the war he was paid in Continental money, nearly worthless, and went back to begin life in empty handed poverty at 35 years of age. In April, 1811, Mr. Jacobs found himself with a large family struggling with poverty and anxious for the future. Finally it was decided that they leave Dutchess county, where they were residing, and start for the west and locate in the " Chenango country." Accordingly he started on horseback, leaving his wife to pack the house- hold goods and stow them away so that an incoming tenant could have the house. The Catskill turnpike had been opened a few years previous, a thoroughfare of great in- terest to the people of the Hudson valley. Over this Mr. Jacobs traveled and in the course of a few days arrived at the home of his brother-in-law, David Lyon, who had located above Oxford in 1792, on the brook now known by his name. The only place he could find for his family was a part of a log cabin in the woods a few rods east of what was so long known as the VanDerLyn farm in South Ox- ford. After a few days he started on the return trip for his family, who were waiting in suspense, and when in the
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town of Durham, about thirty-five miles from home, he became seriously ill. After lingering between hope and fear, striving in the meantime to get word to his wife, he died before she could reach him. Here began the struggle of a heroic woman and mother, whose strong character appears in bold relief, shining out from the early history of the town. She had nothing to do but return and face the rayless night that had settled upon her surroundings. The widow of one week with the assistance of two sons, aged 17 and 15, turned her face toward Oxford. The chil- dren and goods were put into two wagons and the journey commenced in the last week of April, 1811. Six days were consumed in their pilgrimage, that is now compassed in about as many hours. Reaching Oxford, the children and goods were placed in the rude cabin, which soon became home with all its sacred attachments. After a struggle of two years they were forced to move into another log house in the vicinity of the river bridge at South Oxford, work- ing the land on shares for a year. The family then moved on to the Roswell Enos farm, one mile above the village, where toil and economy brought more of the comforts of home and more experience to the boys. Their father had at the close of the war drawn a " soldier's right " of 160 acres, situated near Auburn, N. Y., but thought it of very little value and sold it for a horse, saddle, and bridle. Thus throwing away a golden opportunity.
In a short time his sons were old enough to go into the woods in " the Deserts," and then and there commenced a struggle for a home, clearing the land, purchasing the title and living at the same time. But few can realize the hard times experienced by the pioneers following the war of 1812. The year 1816 was called the year without a sum- iner. The year following was nearly as bad. Mrs. Jacobs and her family were near the famine state and at the same
- -
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time endeavoring to pay for land at $5.50 per acre. But perseverance and sturdy hearts won the battle and homes for the children, some of whom had grown into rugged men and women.
Children of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Lyon) Jacobs :
MARY, born June 25, 1786; died April 10, 1879; married May 25, 1811, Stephen Lake, born June 20, 1786; died No- vember 12, 1857.
SUSAN, born November 22, 1788; died March 1, 1852; married Eber Isbell.
ISRAEL, born April 26, 1791; died July 29, 1857 ; married (1) in 1810 Jane Anderson, born February 3, 1787; died April 19, 1848; married (2) June 11, 1849, Mrs. Julia Kinney, born January 5, 1813; died February 1, 1881.
THOMAS, born October 13, 1793; died February 18, 1875; married October 6, 1816, Phebe A. Stratton, born July 17, 1798; died February 15, 1883. Children : Alfred S., born December 8, 1817; married Laura Holladay; (children, Amanda, died in infancy; Luancy H., married John H. Gifford; Alvine, married Alice H. Sweet; Alice, married T. G. Stanton; Charles H., married Lucina E. Sweet; Agnes A., married Thomas J. Root). Susan Ann, born April 1, 1820, married George Davidson. Thomas H., born July 21, 1822; married Nancy Holladay; (children, Francis H., married DeEtta Rathbone; John P., married Louisa Rathbone). Alvin, died in infancy. Harriet C., born December 25, 1825; married Laman Pearsall. Peter G., born June 22, 1828; married Caroline Ferris; (chil- dren, Carrie L., married William T. Kelsey; William K., married Mrs. Ella Graves Edwards; Mary F., married Asa P. Hyde. Harriet C.). Austin, died in childhood. Darwin, born September 19, 1833; married Tamer E. Wes- sels; (child, Albert J.). James A., born November 13, 1835; died November 24, 1856; unmarried.
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CORNELIUS, born February 28, 1796; died December 21, 1872; married November 13, 1824, Ann Baldwin, born December 21, 1801; died November 26, 1867. Children : John, born August 16, 1825; married Catherine Healy. Daniel B., born October 28, 1827; married Jerusha A. Hin- man. Israel, born September 22, 1831; married Sarah E. Hull. James E., born August 5, 1836; married Catherine Norris.
WILLIAM G., born May 28, 1798; died in infancy.
ELIZA ANN, born January 28, 1800; died July 24, 1885; married January 1, 1817, William Stratton, born August 13, 1795; died January 7, 1879.
WILLIAM LYON, born July 21, 1802; died April 6, 1876; married Phila Gifford, born November 17, 1807; died Octo- ber 13, 1886. Children: Jane E., married Henry Race. Three children died in infancy.
GEORGE ALVIN, born January 22, 1805; died May 27, 1848; married January 31, 1830, Elnora Adams, died July 18, 1880. Children : Susan, Jane A., Vashti, George.
JAMES H., born May 1, 1807; died June 23, 1884 ; mar- ried November, 1833, Sarah Miller, born July 31, 1813; died February 27, 1905. Children: Zeruah E., born August 2, 1834. Mary J., born November 18, 1836. Israel P., born May 25, 1839; married (1) Lisetna DeF. Brazee; married (2) Emma Hayward. S. Elexey, born May 30, 1841; married N. D. Bartle. James, born May 21, 1843; married Sarah J. Bunnel. Ann B., born May 22, 1847; married Wheaton Race.
EDWIN T., born January 16, 1809; died August 1, 1889, at Pitcher, N. Y .; married (1) September 23, 1832, Mary Ann Noble, born November 23, 1811; died June 19, 1881; married (2) March 28, 1888, Mrs. Martha L. Darrance. Children by first wife: Infant son; Ira D., in Civil war
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and died September 19, 1863, at Folly Island, S. C .; Ed- win T, Jr.
Edwin T. Jacobs was for many years a prominent Bap- tist minister and well known in this section of the State. In an article prepared for the writer in 1888 he stated :
From the Indian trail to the iron rail; from the pine knot blaze to the electric light; from the trammel and crane to the kitchen range; from the saddle to the Pulman car; from the power of muscle to the power of steam. These are notches on the tall stick of time. Measured by epochs of by-gone ages they seem but the brief steps of childhood, but taking the vast changes and wonderful progress in human events, they seem like the tread of a giant. The hardy woodman and his family found that suffering and progress were inseparable, that self- denial is the price of everything valuable in human attainment, and that labor is the force that wins.
How well I remember the old round table turned up against the wall. We looked forward very impatiently to the time when it was drawn out, turned down and a pin inserted to keep it in place. Then the tin basins were placed in a circle to the number corresponding with the hungry mouths, and filled with milk if there was enough, if not the balance was supplied with water. Mother was a very practical woman with a vast amount of inventive genius. Young ladies and gentlemen, these are the days of fine arts, but the coarser arts were studied then in the hard school of necessity.
At that time there were no schools as at present and no church privileges, nor a church edifice in the county. A road was cut through the woods east from Coventry station, and it was a saying that Sunday only went up as far on that road as a certain rock, all beyond was no Sunday. But
The groves were God's first temples. Ere men learned To hew the shaft, and lay the archtrave, And spread the roof above them.
The writer has often attended services in a barn and sat "up gal- lery " on the scaffold or on the hay mow, the only cushioned seats, and watched the old white-haired minister as he waded through his sermon of an hour and a half, pausing when half through to take a pinch of snuff. Conventional rules were dispensed with, and so was his coat in very warm weather. But the question of bread could not be dis- pensed with, though broadcloth and brass buttons might. There is nothing like a boy's appetite except it is a girl's. After bread came clothing. Richard Arckwright had taught the world the art of spin- ning by machinery, but in the backwoods of America every yard of cloth needed for clothing was the product of home manufacture. The little wheel, the big wheel, the distaff and reel, and the old loom in the corner were always called into requisition. No power loom had then been invented, but behind these rude implements of domestic art was the power of a mother's love. The hands that held the distaff, turned the wheel and pressed the lathe never struck for wages. I wish some artist could reconstruct that old kitchen with the trammel and lug-pole, the bake-kettle on the hearth, the frying pan held by its long handle over the blazing fire, and a lot of hungry boys and girls waiting for
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the Indian loaf or flapjacks. The artist must not omit the " old wooden rocker." Then in that relie of the by-gone days, clasped in the loving arms and pressed to the warm heart of that best of mothers, my childish tears have often been dried and the rough passages of life made smooth.
The only question about clothing was where to find the wool and flax. Sheep are not found in the wilderness, though wolves may be, and it was sought among the older farmers on the river. then worked up "at the halves," making the labor double. How well I remember my first jacket and trousers. They were made of green flannel, and how anxiously the process of making was watched. At last they were finished and submitted to the inspection of the household. The next Sunday morning was bright and beautiful. Invested in the suit I was a boy enlarged, elongated, bifurcated ! Life and the nineteenth cen- tury were opening grandly. But a change came over the spirit of my dreams and the first great downfall of my life awaited me-I fell into the slop pail. And now to see that new suit, the pride of the house- hold, and the triumph of a mother's skill, drawn out of the ruins with the remains of a boy in it. Do you wonder that after almost 80 years it is called to mind. It was the first thing I do remember, and the last thing to be forgotten.
He stands erect : his slouch becomes a walk. He steps right onward, martial is his air, His form and movement.
-COWPER.
Bliss Willoughby.
Bliss Willoughby, son of Joseph and Bridget ( Wiek- wier) Willoughby, was born in New London county, Conn., February 22, 1767. When sixteen years of age he enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and served the last six months of the war. While in service he marched three days with- out food, and the last night, coming to a place where cattle had been slaughtered, found a paunch, which he emptied and washed in a nearby creek, and with five companions ate it with a keen relish. When he laid down to rest he slept soundly through the night, and awoke in the morn- ing to find himself half under water, a heavy rain having
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set in. Mr. Willoughby was not in any general battle, but while on a march came to a place where the British were burning buildings, who hastily took to their boats, but before they could get out of gun shot distance he saw many of them fall into the water. After being discharged and paid off he started for home, finding that it took $30 of Continental money to buy a meal of victuals. He had but little schooling, only three months in two winters. He lived on a farm in Westchester county for a short time, when he moved to the farm now owned by Griffin Bros., in Preston, February 23, 1800, where he had bought 600 acres of land. He was on the road eighteen days, finding the snow four feet deep in the forests. Here he remained till after the war of 1812, when he was forced to leave, being unable to make payments. He then lived a few years on the farm now owned by Lazarus Gallagher, and then bought the place, now known as the Willoughby farm, on the road from Oxford to Guilford, where he lived until his death, which occurred May 31, 1849. He married April 20, 1791, Fanny Patton, born January 10, 1768; died Feb- ruary 7, 1815. Children :
NANCY, born April 25, 1792; married in Preston James Ashcraft of Connecticut.
DAVID P., born in Mottville, Conn., April 20, 1794; died February 21, 1883; married in 1818 Charlotte MeNeil of Oxford, who died December 29, 1891, aged 93. Soon after their marriage they moved into the south part of the town, settling upon a farm which they cleared and lived upon over forty years. In 1862 they removed to the west side of the river in South Oxford to reside with their son. They united with the Oxford and Greene Baptist church in 1837, and for a period of sixty-five years enjoyed married life. Children : John Bliss, married Mary Ann Race; (children, Marcia, married David Bartle; Rector, married
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Rosalia Stratton; Chester, married Emma Stratton). Sarah Maria, died April 29, 1906, in Binghamton ; married Albert Jewell.
LEVI C., born March 9, 1796; married Nancy Black ; lived and died in Ohio.
MARGARET P., born February 4, 1799; died January 13, 1815.
JOHN B., born January 16, 1802; died May 23, 1885; married May 3, 1829, Nancy Shapley, born in 1806; died October 19, 1897. They resided on the homestead farm during the remainder of their lives. Children: Francis E., married Janette E. Root; residence, Rockford, Ill. William D., born February 10, 1833; married September 18, 1861, Lucy E. Willcox of Preston; until 1889 he re- sided on the homestead, when he moved in the village. John H., born in 1842; died in 1891; married L. Louise Woodruff.
ELIZA P., born August 17, 1804; married Samuel Eddy.
LUCETTA, born June 24, 1807, in Preston, N. Y .; mar- ried February 21, 1836, George N. Havens of Oxford.
WILLIAM D., born January 2, 1811; died April 11, 1832, in Oxford; unmarried.
I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through the ashes of my chance. -SHAKESPEARE.
Ira Willcox.
Ira Willcox was born in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., August 22, 1788. He commenced business in the county of his birth, where he resided till 1812, when he removed to Norwich, and soon after made his home in Oxford, where he lived, until his death, thirty-nine years. On coming to this village he opened a store in the vicinity of Washington
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park. In 1833 he built the brick block on Fort Hill, con- tinuing the mercantile business until 1840, when he retired. Mr. Willcox was a member of Assembly from this county in 1831, and in 1830 was elected president of the Bank of Chenango in Norwich, which place he continued to fill while he lived. He was a large, fine looking man, weigh- ing 200 or more pounds; of strong mind, great energy of character and of persevering industry. These qualities soon enabled their possessor to acquire a fortune. Mr. Willcox, while on a southern trip, died at Jacksonville, Florida, November 29, 1852, aged 64. He married Rachel Austin September 22, 1813, who was born at Durham, N. Y., Sep- tember 22, 1793, and died at Oxford July 31, 1817. On February 20, 1819, he married Lucy Willcox, who was born at Chatham, Conn., October 28, 1793, and died at Oxford January 22, 1873, aged 79, after suffering from consump- tion for a quarter of a century. His children were:
CHAUNCEY A., who died at Oxford September 14, 1817. MARY ELIZABETH, a gifted and cultured young lady, who only reached the age of 19, dying on July 31, 1838.
ANN AUGUSTA, for many years prominent in religious and social life, of a most friendly and generous spirit. Her last years were fraught with disease and suffering; she died at Philadelphia November 8, 1885, aged 70 years. She married Nathan B. Willcox February 10, 1842, who died at Whitesboro, N. Y., February 7, 1854. Two daugh- ters survive: Mrs. Theresa B., Zueliz, and Mrs. Charlotte Combs of Philadelphia.
Ira Willcox's store on Fort Hill was the principal one in the town, and he had an ashery on one of the streets lead- ing to the Lackawanna station. At that day Chenango county was new and cleared lands scarce, except along the river. He purchased large quantities of ashes gathered from the fallows at six cents per bushel, put them into
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leaches, made lye and boiled it down to black salts, trans- porting them to Catskill, from there by sloops to New York, where they were sold and the proceeds returned in goods to his store. After a time he built ovens and pearled the salts into pearl ash, which lessened the weight and in- creased the value. Farmers from around the country would drive wagons loaded with salts, pearl ash, etc., to Catskill, taking a week to make the round trip. They re- turned with all kinds of merchandise. For two years Mr. Willcox purchased large quantities of oats at fifteen to eighteen cents a bushel, potatoes at twelve cents a bushel, and butter at six cents a pound, loaded them in arks, con- structed of rough planks put together tightly, made on the bank of the river near the store, and when the spring freshets came floated down the perilous tide to a southern market. The first year he had the good luck to pass safely down the rapid stream, but the second year he stove up in endeavoring to pass a bridge near Harrisburg and lost heavily, everything being washed down the river. This was the last of the ark business on the Chenango.
Our human laws are but the copies, more or less imperfect, of the eternal laws, so far as we can read them. -FROUDE.
1
Village By-Laws in 1810.
The following extracts from the village by-laws are copied from the Chenango Patriot of September 11, 1810 :
AT A MEETING
Of the Trustees of the Village of OXFORD, convened at the dwelling house of Erastus Perkins, innholder, in said Village, on the 6th day of September, 1810, the following BYE-LAWS and RESOLVES were ordained and established.
Sec. I. B E IT RESOLVED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE VIL- LAGE OF OXFORD, IN LEGAL MEETING CON- VENED, That in addition to the officers particularly defignated by
LAFAYETTE SQUARE-Before trees were set out in the Park in 1905
FORT HILL MILL-Remodeled from structure erected shortly after 1800
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the act of incorporation, there fhall be elected by the Truftees, when it fhall by them be thought expedient, a Vice-Prefident, a Secretary, and not lefs than two nor more than four officers, to be defignated by the name of Ediles. * * * The duty of the Ediles fhall be to execute all laws relating to the improvement of the ftreets, allies and fquares, all laws relating to nuifances, all laws relating to delinquen- cies under the fifth and fixth fections of the bye-laws, and fhall alfo be pound keepers.
Sec. II. BE IT ALSO RESOLVED, That all meetings of the Truf- tees hereafter to be had shall be warned by the Prefident, giving four hours perfonal notice, or three days public notice in writing, fet up on one of the pofts of the central arch of the bridge; and that all ex- traordinary meetings of the free-holders and inhabitants of faid village fhall be warnned by the Prefident, giving eight days like notice, or publifhing the fame in fome newfpaper printed within the village, giving not lefs than five nor more than eight days notice. * *
Sec. IV. AND WHEREAS it is at all times convenient that the village location be marked with accuracy and diftinctnefs, to prevent ambiguity in reference to be made in any bye-law or refolve of the Board of Truftees touching the fame, BE IT THEREFORE OR- DAINED, That that part of the village fub-allotted and plotted by Doctor Jofiah Stephens, lying on the fouth-eaft fide of Chenango-river, a plan of which is appended to his truft deed executed to the Prefident and Directors of the Chenango Turnpike Road Company, fhall in the
number of lots, the names of fquares and ftreets, be and the fame is hereby eftablifhed. That the ftreet running parallel with the Chenango river on the weft fide thereof, fhall for ever hereafter be known by the name of Water-ftreet; that the Public Square on the north-weft fide of the river, and between Water-ftreet and the river fhall forever hereafter be known by the name of Market-Square; that the ftreet running from Market-Square weft-north-wefterly, commonly known by the name of the State Road, be for ever hereafter called and dif- tinguifhed by the name of Cayuga ftreet.
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