USA > New York > Seneca County > Fayette > Centennial historical sketch of the town of Fayette, Seneca County, New York > Part 2
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An ancient Indian burying ground was also found located nearly a mile southeast of this fortification, where human skeletons of unusually large size were found in mounds of earth. These were regarded by many persons, as the bones of a pre- historic race of human beings.
A similar earthwork or fortification was found in the Town of Ovid, and visited by Governor DeWitt Clinton.
His theory thereof was "that it was one of a number of similar works of defense, found occupying the most commanding positions in Western New York, and in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, erected by a race more civilized than the Indians, and that they preceded the latter in the occupation of this country. Their origin and end are alike a mystery : their annals defy the ken of human research, and their history will remain a sealed book perhaps forever."
The Indians seen by white men were, it is said, unable to give any satisfactory account of these fortifications, and the same seemed to be older than their traditions. No attempt will be
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made here to solve the mystery, as to this ancient fortification.
With the close of the Revolutionary war, and the return of peace, Congress and some of the States made a tardy attempt to mete out justice to the patriot soldiers, who had served in that war. The State of New York, having acquired a large area of land by treaty with the Cayuga and Onondaga Indian tribes, laid out the same in 1790 and succeeding years, into twenty-eight townships, containing each 100 lots of 600 acres, which were allotted to certain Revolutionary officers and soldiers, who resided in this State, at the time of their service, in fulfillment of promises made in the most trying period of the war. Three of these military townships, Romulus, Ovid and Junius, were located in the bounds of the present County of Seneca, and lands therein were allotted to officers and soldiers, com- mencing in July 1790. Many of the veteran soldiers however, wearied with delay, had already sold their claims for a very small sum, and only a few of those receiving allotment of lands became actual settlers thereon. The military tract was organ- ized into the County of Onondaga, March 5, 1794, by Chapter 18 of the Laws of that year, and the three military townships already mentioned, became a part of that county.
The military township of Romulus, of which the present Town of Fayette formed a part, contained 100 lots of 600 acres each, beginning at the northeast corner of Seneca Lake and bounded north by the Seneca outlet, (now known as the Seneca River), west by the county line on the west shore of Seneca Lake, south by the township of Ovid, and east by the West Cayuga Reservation, and at the south end of such reserva- tion, by the present county line in the middle of Cayuga Lake. Lots Nos. I to 5 inclusive, and Lots 10 to 42 inclusive, or 38 entire lots of the military township of Romulus, are included in, and now form a part of the Town of Fayette.
Questions affecting the west boundary line of the county and the Town of Fayette, on the west shore of Seneca Lake, adjoin- ing the east front of the village (now city) of Geneva, were passed upon by the Supreme Court of this State, in the year 1888 in an Action or Proceeding entitled "The People of the State of New York, on the relation of the United States Lumber
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54, ld of 33 in h g y e
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
Cutting Company, Limited, against Joseph H. Menges, and Wm. W. Riegel, surviving assessors of the Town of Fayette," and several other like actions. The assessors of Fayette having assessed certain real property in Geneva, formed by filling in Seneca Lake at several points in said village, this proceeding was instituted, to test the right of the assessors to make such assessment, etc.
Judge William Rumsey, decided against the validity of the assessment and his decision followed the doctrine laid down in "Luke against the City of Brooklyn"-reported in 43 Barbour's Supreme Court Reports Page 54-and in 3 Keyes N. Y. Court of Appeals Reports 444-also 36 N. Y. Reports 664. The Court held in substance-that the line of low water, after land has been reclaimed from the lake, or by the erection of wharves and piers and the filling in from the shore, for that purpose, is to be deemed the dividing line between the two towns and counties. The jurisdiction of Geneva must follow the shore as it advances into the lake, whether the accretion proceeds from alluvion or artificial deposits and erections. The boundary of territorial jurisdiction between the two counties, is the actual and not the original low water line, on the west shore of Seneca Lake.
The order and decision of Judge Rumsey in 1888, however, in no wise changed or altered the territorial boundary of Fayette, as being the west shore of Seneca Lake, but only decided as mentioned-that when any filling in is done and land made thereby, on said west shore, the land so filled in, becomes attached to the shore upland, and forms a part of Geneva.
The Charter of the City of Geneva, Chapter 360, Laws of 1897, also recognizes the old west shore boundary line of Fayette, by expressly including in its territorial limits, a portion of Seneca County. The south line of the city, runs into Seneca Lake so far, until it strikes the new Pre-Emption line, if extended, and thence runs north through the lake, until it strikes the upland, at the north end of the lake, at a point where the new Pre-Emption line continues on to the north line of the city. All of the lands under the waters of Seneca Lake, between the new Pre-Emption line extended south to the south line of the city, in the lake, and the west shore of the lake, are
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within the territorial jurisdiction of the Town of Fayette, County of Seneca-which boundary also continues, on said new Pre-Emption line, extended south of the city limits, the full width of the Town of Fayette, southward and still farther.
The Town of Romulus, organized as one of the towns of Onondaga County in 1794, as stated, comprised a much larger area than the township and was bounded as follows :
" All that part of said County-comprehending the Townships of Romulus, Junius and Galen, together with the lands lying west of the Townships of Hannibal and Cato, north of the said Township of Galen and south of Lake Ontario, as also all that part of the lands reserved to the Cayuga Nation of Indians, lying on the west side of Cayuga Lake-shall be and is erected into a town, by the name of Romulus."
The Centennial of the organization of the Town of Romulus was duly celebrated at Romulus Village in 1894, and the pro- ceedings thereat, published by an Executive Committee, of which Rev. Dr. J. Wilford Jacks was chairman, in a pamphlet, entitled " Centennial Celebration of the Official Organization of the Town of Romulus."
The area of the Town of Romulus, it will be seen, extended in length, north between the two lakes from the Town of Ovid more than forty miles to Lake Ontario, by land, and to the north boundary line of this State with Canada in that lake, and in width between Seneca Lake and the new Pre-Emption line extended to Lake Ontario, at the west, and by Cayuga Lake and an irreg- ular line at the east, extending north from Cayuga Lake to Lake Ontario-in width from ten to fifteen miles, with an area of about 275,000 acres, exclusive of water.
The Town of Romulus, continued to hold this extensive area and jurisdiction until March 14, 1800, when the Town of Wash- ington (Fayette) was organized by the Legislature, by Chapter 24, Laws of that year.
The south line of Fayette was by that act constituted by the south bounds of Military Lots No. 37, 38, 39, 40 and 42 of the Township of Romulus, and by the south bounds of Cayuga Reservation Lots No. 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57. It will be seen therefore, that the original Town of Fayette, included from t'
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date of its erection to the date of the erection of the Town of Junius in 1803, all that part of the original Town of Romulus situate north of the present Town of Varick, as shown more fully by the general act for dividing the counties of the State into towns (passed in 1801) and containing about 240,000 acres. By the erection of the Town of Junius, Feb. 12, 1803, Chapter 7 of the Laws of that year, the Town of Fayette was shorn of its extensive area and jurisdiction, and its boundaries as then defined, have remained unchanged until this time.
The Town of Junius was declared to include " All that part of the Town of Washington, in the County of Cayuga, lying north of the Seneca River, and north of the south bounds of Lots No. 6, 7, 8 and 9, in the Military Township of Romulus, and north of the south bounds of Lots No. 18, 19, 20 and 21 in the late West Cayuga Reservation."
In other words, the Town of Junius included all of the exten- sive portion of the territory of Fayette, lying north of Seneca River, together with Military Lots 6, 7, 8 and 9, Township of Romulus, south of Seneca River, now in the Town of Seneca Falls, and the first 21 lots of the West Cayuga Reservation, south of Seneca River, numbered from No. I to 21 inclusive, now in Seneca Falls.
The area of Fayette, since the erection of the Town of Junius, comprises the following lands, to wit :
38 Lots of the Military Township of Romulus .22,800 acres
36 Lots of the West Cayuga Reservation 8,673
4 Lots of the Canoga Reservation. 640
Total 32,113
By the records of the Board of Supervisors in the year 1817, the taxable area of Fayette is for the first time given as 32,400 acres, which statement of area has been increased from time to time, probably on account of the resurvey and subdivision of lands, until at the present time the acreage is given as 34,014.
The civil jurisdiction of the territory of Fayette, under the State government, was included first in Montgomery County, then Herkimer (1791), then Onondaga (1794), and Cayuga (1799), until the erection of Seneca County, March 29, 1804.
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In town territorial jurisdiction, it was included first in Whites- town, then in Peru and in Romulus, 1794 to 1800.
When the question of the proposed division of the Town of Fayette, under its original area, was submitted to vote at the town meeting in 1802, it was
"Resolved, That James McClung, David Southwick, Josiah Crane, Wil- helmus Mynderse and Amasa Sherman be, and they are hereby appointed a Committee to petition the Honorable Legislature of the State for a division of said Town by the waters of the Seneca Outlet."
The Legislature, in making the division in 1803, however, dis- regarded the wishes of the people of Fayette, as expressed in town meeting, by including a considerable tract of land south of the Seneca Outlet, or River, in the new town of Junius.
What causes led to this action are not now clearly known, but the fact appears, that a majority of thecommittee above named, resided north of the Seneca River, and doubtless favored including in the new town the part south of the river (now in the Town of Seneca Falls).
Had the river boundary been adopted throughout, the town line would have run through the present Village of Seneca Falls, dividing the same by the river, as is now the case with Waterloo Village. Efforts were made from time to time as late as 1825, to obtain a change of boundary line as originally desired, but unsuc- cessfully.
The outlet of Seneca Lake, now known as the Seneca River, was, however, made the north boundary line of Fayette so far only as the present boundary between Fayette and Waterloo extends, and the whole of Military Lot No. 10 was included in Fayette.
About the year 1819, as Hon. Geo. S. Conover, of Geneva, N. Y., has stated, the Seneca Lock Navigation Company opened a new boat channel (at the point where the present Seneca Outlet emerges from the lake) which reduced the flow of water in the natural outlet of the lake, and in process of time this was entirely filled up. This boat channel of the Navigation Com- pany was a few years afterwards acquired by the State, and per- manently recognized in the construction of the Cayuga and Seneca Canal-whereby the outlet of the lake was removed
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
about half a mile southeasterly from the original natural outlet, to the place at present located-leaving in Fayette a narrow pen- insular strip of land north of the new outlet, between Seneca Lake and the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, extending to the old original outlet.
The jurisdiction and area of Fayette, at this point, as above stated, still extends as fixed in 1803, when the Town of Junius was erected, to the place where the original outlet flowed from the lake, and formed a curve or bend southeastwardly for a short distance, before running northeast and east on the north line of Fayette. (See map No. III of the Military Township of Romulus in State Engineer's office, Albany, N. Y., also map of the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, filed in Comptroller's office, Albany.)
When the question of dividing the County of Cayuga was agitated, citizens of Fayette differed in opinion, as to the pro- posed manner of division.
A Petition dated Dec. 29, 1802, to the Legislature of 1803, signed by Benajah Boardman and forty other persons-of which a copy has been obtained-opposed a division unless the same be made by an east and west line across the county, instead of the north and south line, as ultimately determined upon in 1804, when Seneca County was erected.
By act of April 6, 1808 (Chapter 127), to change the name of certain towns, the name of the Town of Washington, was changed to Fayette. The causes which led to the change of name from that of General George Washington, the Commander- in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army, to that of General Gilbert Motier de LaFayette, his beloved companion-in-arms, has not been ascertained One reason for the change no doubt, was that the Town of Washington, County of Dutchess, had been organized by the Legislature as early as March 13, 1786, and some confusion doubtless arose from having two towns in this State of the same name. When General LaFayette visited Seneca County, June 8, 1825, it is said that he entered the Town of Fayette, which town was also in full view, during a part of his overland trip from Geneva, eastward, to Waterloo.
Much of the early history of Fayette is included in that of
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the Town of Romulus (1794-1800). This period or still earlier, back to the very first settlements in town, would furnish mate- rial for an interesting chapter of local history.
A second period of Fayette might be chosen as embraced from its organization March 14, 1800, with its immense territorial area to the organization of the Town of Junius, Feb. 12, 1803, while the period extending down from the last named date, cov- ering the Town of Fayette as then and now constituted as to area, would form an appropriate third period.
A great deal has been written about "Historical Fallacies," but the student of early local history must expect in his researches to encounter many historical fallacies or errors, which have been so long adhered to, that they have been accepted as the truth.
It is difficult at this time to determine with certainty the name of the person, to whom should be accorded the honor of being recognized as the first settler, within the boundaries of the present Town of Fayette, with the time and locality of such settlement.
It is believed, that the first permanent settlements in point of time, were made along and near Seneca Lake, nearly opposite Geneva and along the Seneca River.
There were also some early settlements in the interior near the center of the town, and a few along Cayuga Lake. Several local historians claim, that the first settlement in town was made on Cayuga Lake (although the West Cayuga Indian Reservation was not ceded until 1795), while the person given this honor, it is believed settled more than a mile north of the present Fayette line, in the bounds of the Town of Seneca Falls, at the Western terminus of the first Cayuga Lake Ferry, on the line of travel from the east to the Genesee Country.
In the opening up of every new country, enterprising or adventurous spirits generally form the advance corps of pioneers in the way of making temporary improvements and settlement. These persons are known as "Squatters " or "Croppers," who locate upon lands before legal title can be obtained. One of the first improvements in town, is understood to have been made by
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
a Squatter of the name VanSickle, on Military Lot No. 23, prior to 1790.
Among early Croppers near Seneca Lake were Daniel Earl, who had made some improvements and sowed a crop of wheat upon Military Lot No. 11 (part of the Rose Hill Farm), in the fall of 1791, and which doubtless was the first wheat sowed in the town.
In Turners' History of the Holland Purchase, page 378, it is mentioned, that in February, 1790, a pioneer on his way to Ontario County, staid over night with Daniel Earl near the foot of Seneca Lake, where he had erected a log cabin without a floor. On the following day the outlet of Seneca Lake was crossed in a scow, by the pioneer, on his westward trip.
Other Squatters mentioned in the Journal of Dr. Alexander Coventry, as living in his neighborhood along and near Seneca Lake in 1792, were Mr. Budd, a son-in-law of Mr. Earl, and Mr. Tubbs. Without deciding priority in location and residence, Dr. Alexander Coventry and John Rumsey, as land owners, became the first actual settlers along Seneca Lake, in Fayette, prior to 1793.
Dr. Alexander Coventry, son of Maj. George and Jean Coventry ( a British officer of forty years' service, and who served in the French and Indian war in America, 1756 to 1760), was probably the first actual land owning settler and the first physician to locate within the boundaries of Fayette (as well as the first one of his profession to settle in this County). Dr. Coventry was born at Fair Hill Park, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, in Scotland, Aug. 27, 1766. He received his medical education of three years at Glasgow and Edinburgh, from eminent medical professors.
In July, 1785, he left his native land and sailed for the United States, landing in New York City Sept. 11, 1785. He located at first, for several years, near Hudson in this State ( where his father had bought lands in 1760), and where he engaged in the practice of his profession in connection with farming.
On the 23d day of May, 1791, he set out with a companion, for an overland tripto the Military Tract in Western New York, mak- ing a leisurely tour across the State on horseback, to the south-
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TOWN OF FAYETTE
ern tier and thence via Ithaca and Aurora to Geneva, arriving at the Seneca Outlet in the northwest corner of Fayette, July 6, 1791, and thence proceeded on to Geneva. After a brief stay there, he returned the next day to Hudson, arriving there July 16, of the same year.
As a result of his visit, he concluded to locate upon the Mili- tary Tract, and having purchased, Feb. 23, 1792, of Col. Nicholas Fish, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war, Military Lot No. 11, of six hundred acres in the Township of Romulus, 01 Seneca Lake, near its northeast end (to which he subsequently added 300 acres, being the north half of Lot No. 17 adjoining), he started with horses and sleigh loaded with implements and supplies, for his new home, in midwinter, Feb. 28, 1792, with a cousin, and reached his destination on March II, following.
A small improvement had already been made and a log cabin built upon his farm, by a man of the name Daniel Earl, for which the Doctor paid and obtained full possession, on the 22d of March, I792.
There was also an Indian clearing of 50 or 60 acres upon the farm. After fitting up his log house and making provision for care of animals, sowing some spring crops, and planting garden vegetables, the Doctor left his farm April 25, in charge of his cousin, and made a trip on foot to Hudson.
His return trip with his wife, two daughters, hired men (one of them named Philip Purchase), and servants (of whom several were negro slaves) was made in Batteaux, by the slow route up the Mohawk River from Schenectady, passing the several port- ages on the route and arriving at his farm and wilderness home,* June 6, 1792 (the trip having occupied 111/2 days from Schenec- tady and 14 days from Hudson), his family having located in this county a year in advance of any other physician's family.
Here the Doctor was busily engaged for four years, in the improvement of his farm, which he named " Fair Hill" in honor of his birthplace, and in responding to medical calls, as occasion demanded, or dispensing medicine, to those who came long dis- tances to secure his medical advice and treatment. Among others who called upon him for medicine, were James Bennett, of
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HISTORICAL SKETCH
Cayuga Ferry, and Lawrence Van Cleef from the Falls of Seneca River.
In December, 1792, he was called professionally to Seneca Falls, to see the wife of Job Smith, the first settler there. In an address delivered before the State Medical Society, in after years, Doctor Coventry gave an interesting account of the privations of pioneer settlers, and described the prevalence and treatment of endemic fevers, during the several years of his residence at " Fair Hill."
On March 14, 1794, Alexander Coventry was appointed a jus- tice of the peace for Romulus, Onondaga County, and at the annual town meeting held in the Town of Romulus, April 7, 1795, he was elected overseer of the poor, and also one of the overseers of high ways-the Genesee or State road from the east, crossing Fayette and the road on the east side of Seneca Lake from Geneva crossing the Seneca outlet at the northeast corner of the lake, to Lancaster (Willard), hav- ing then already been laid out, and in February, 1796, a road was also recorded from Dr. Coventry's farm to James Bennett's Ferry on Cayuga Lake. As early as 1792, Dr. Coventry mentions in his journal, the Genesee road skirting the north end of his farm, commencing at Rome and extending via Cayuga Ferry, across Fayette to Geneva and west to the Genesee River. The Doctor's journal records, that during his residence at Fair Hill, he and his hired men trapped and shot bears, foxes and deer and speared or caught salmon and other fish. Strawberries, gooseberries and mulberries were plentiful in season.
The Doctor's family suffering much from sickness of a malarious type, he, in 1796, with evident reluctance, removed to Deerfield near Utica, then Fort Schuyler. He, however, continued to hold the title of his Fayette farm until Oct. 18, 1802, when he deeded the same to Hon. Robert S. Rose, and it is still known as the " Rose Hill " farm.
During his residence upon his farm on Seneca Lake, Dr. Cov- entry made much progress in clearing and putting the same under cultivation, planted apple trees and built a comfortable house and barns in the year 1793 and 1794 (no doubt the first frame farm buildings erected in the town). His farm was well stocked at
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this early date, with horses, oxen, cows, sheep, swine and fowls and a good assortment of farming implements, such as were in use at that time. He sowed and raised wheat and oats, flax and grass seeds, and planted corn, potatoes and garden vegetables.
The Doctor mentions, that in February, 1793, he laid out a sugar camp upon his farm in which he made maple sugar for family use.
His journal makes mention, that during the year 1793, he brought sheep to his farm, by driving them over land through the wilderness from Hudson, a distance of 250 miles. In short, his farm was well established and equipped, even at that very early day.
He was a man of indomitable energy, industry and persever- ance, as a trip through the wilderness on foot to Hudson in April, 1792, indicates. During the several years of his residence here, he frequently rode on horseback to Albany and Hudson, usually making the trip in five days' travel each way.
In his new home near Utica, the doctor combined the practice of medicine with agricultural and horticultural pursuits, residing for many years upon his farm in Deerfield near the city, and he assisted in the formation of the first Agricultural Society of Oneida County.
Dr. Coventry was repeatedly chosen President of the County Medical Society of that County, and in the years 1823 and 1824 was elected President of the State Medical Society, an honor con- ferred only upon the most distinguished physicians of the State. . His addresses before the State Medical Society for the two years of his presidency have been re-published in the Transactions of that Society for 1868.
He was also chosen a member of several medical, scientific and literary institutions and societies, and continued to take great interest in his profession and his farm, to the time of his death.
In November, 1828, Dr. Coventry visited Hon. Robert S. Rose, at his old farm in Fayette, and saw the improvements made there and in the vicinity, during the period of thirty-two years since he had left it.
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