USA > New York > Oneida County > Gazetteer and business directory of Oneida County, N.Y. for 1869 > Part 11
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The first foundry was erected in Camden in 1832 by H. MeIn tyre. In 1840 George Wood bought him out and made important additions. Mr. McIntyre then started the foundry where the firm of Tripp & Fifields are now located.
Several destructive fires have occurred in the village of Camden. On the 28th of June, 1856, a fire on the east side of Main street ex- ended from the store of Cook, Brother & Co., north, to the Park, It has since been rebuilt with brick and is an ornament to the place.
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June 22, 1859, a fire, on the same side of the street, extended from McCabe's store, north, to T. D. Penfield's, destroying both the Episcopal and the Congregational churches.
Among the curious relics of other days is a piece of rock in the possession of V. V. Becker, containing a small iron ball imbedded in it. The rock was taken from the quarries about a mile north- east of Camden village, the ball weighs about an ounce and is coated with rust about an eighth of an inch thick.
On the north-west corner lot, on the barks of Fish Creek, are two springs upon opposite sides of the stream; one is a strong sul- phur spring and the other is clear pure water. At high water both springs are overflowed. The flats along the stream are an alluvial deposit, but just at the point whence the springs issue the land is hard and stony.
Tradition says that during the French war a field piece was load- ed with specie and sunk at the junction of Fish and Wood Creeks. Search has been made by the lovers of " filthy luere," and though some have affirmed that they have found the cannon by reaching it with a pole, the precious contents have not been brought to light. It is probably destined, like many other precious treasures, to re- main beyond the reach of mortal hand.
April 25th, 1868, this town was the scene of one of the most atrocious and cold-blooded murders recorded in the annals of erimi- nal trials. The victim was Abbey Elizabeth Sanders, a girl aged eight years and six months, the murderer was William Henry Carswell, a young man residing in the neighborhood. The deed was committed in the day time and only a short distance from her father's house. Carswell was tried at Rome in November follow- ing, convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
The population of Camden in 1855 was 3,533, and its area 31,- 382 acres.
The number of school districts is thirteen, employing eighteen teachers. The number of scholars is 1,284; the average attend- ance, 427; and the amount expended for schools the past year, $4,- 826.88.
DEERFIELD was formed from Schuyler (Herkimer Co.), March 15, 1798. Marcy was taken off in 1832. It is situated near the center of the east border of the County. Its surface is mostly a high plateau, from 600 to 1,000 feet above the Mohawk, forming the north continuation of the Hassenclever Mountains of Herkimer County. A broad intervale, partly overflowed in high water, ex- tends along the Mohawk, opposite Utica; and on the north-east the surface descends abruptly to West Canada Creek. The Mo- hawk flows along the south-west border of the town. The soil upon the flats is a deep, rich alluvial loam, and on the hills a slaty and gravelly loam.
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Deerfield Corners (Deerfield p. o.) is in the south part and con- tains two churches, a hotel, several mechanic shops and about one hundred houses. A thickly settled suburb of Utica extends to- wards the village. Several hotels, saloons and other business places are located on this street.
North Gage, (p. o.) in the north part, is a hamlet and contains one church.
The first settlement in this town was made in 1773, by George J. Weaver, Captain Mark Damoth and Christian Reall. They built log houses and remained until 1776, when being informed by a friendly Indian of an intended raid upon their settlement by Tories and Indians, they secreted their furniture in the woods and fled to " Little Stone Arabia," a small fort in the present town of Schuy- ler. Mr. Damoth received a Captain's commission in a company of rangers, and at an attack upon Herkimer received a wound in the arm from which he never entirely recovered. Mr. Weaver was taken prisoner, carried to Quebec where he was kept in close confinement for nine months, "seeing neither sun, moon or stars during all that time." From Quebec he was taken to England, and after two years was exchanged and returned to his native valley. In the summer of 1784, after all the casualties of war, these three first settlers returned to their farms, to cultivate the land they had cleared years before. About the same time, Peter, Nicholas and George Weaver, George Damoth, Nicholas and Philip Harter, set- tled in the town. The early settlement of Deerfield was confined to the Mohawk Valley and the adjacent hillsides. Warren Forbes and John Blue were the first settlers at North Gage. George Sheaf, Jacob Coffin, Maleom Johnson and Alexander Walker, set- tled in the north part of the town about the same time. About the year 1790, Mr. Solomon Wells settled in the south-west part of the town, on land now owned by his son William Wells.
The first school house erected at North Gage, in 1807, was of logs; Aaron Read was the first teacher. The first bridge across the Mohawk, between Utica and Deerfield, was erected in 1792. As the settlers were few and widely dispersed, it was raised on Sunday to insure more help. The first religious society (Baptist) was organized in 1798; Rev. Oded Eddy was the first pastor. Doctor Francis Guiteau was the first Supervisor of the town, and Isaac Brayton was the first Town Clerk.
Ex-Governor HORATIO SEYMOUR resides in this town. Having twice filled the Executive Chair of the Empire State, he retired from the cares and labors of public life to enjoy the more congenial pur- suits of agriculture. In July, 1868, at the National Democratic Convention, he was " caught up by the whelming tide " of party favor, and, contrary to his repeatedly expressed wishes, was made the candidate of his party for the office of President of the United
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States. On the fifth of November the American people made choice of General Ulysses S. Grant for that office, and Mr. Sey- mour again retired to his delightful residence to enjoy in his rural retreat that true happiness to which, as an office-holder, he would be a stranger.
The population of the town in 1865 was 2,071, and its area 22,- 523 acres.
There are eleven school districts, employing eleven teachers. The whole number of pupils is 745; the average attendance, 208; and the amount expended for school purposes for the year ending September 30th, 1868, was $2,693.89.
FLORENCE was formed from Camden, February 16, 1805. A part of Annsville was taken off in 1823. It is the north-west cor- ner town in the County. The surface is rolling and from 250 to 300 feet above the Rome level of the canal. Mad River flows south- east through the town. The soil is stony and underlaid by the Hudson River shales. A portion of the town is still covered with forests. The soil is better adapted to grazing than to grain. There is a quarry of good building stone on Little River, about half a mile below Florence village.
Florence, (p. v.) situated a little north of the center, contains three churches, viz., Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopal, a ho- tel, four stores, a grist mill, two saw and shingle mills, two tan- neries and about 400 inhabitants.
East Florence, (p. v.) in the south-east part, contains a church, two stores, a grist mill, two saw and shingle mills, two wagon shops, a school house and about 150 inhabitants.
Empeyville, in the east part, contains a church and about twenty houses.
Florence Hill is a hamlet, a little south-west of the center of the town.
The first settlements were commenced in 1801, by Amos Wood- worth, John Spinning and a Mr. Turner, each of whom received fifty acres of land from William Henderson, the proprietor of the fourth township of Scriba's Patent, as a bonus for commencing a settlement. Charles Crawford, from Massachusetts, settled on lot 147, and Norman Waugh on lot 149. Elijah Blake, the first sur- veyor, settled on lot 133. Abel Smith, from Connecticut, on lot 119, Nathan Thompson, from Massachusetts, on lot 115, and Oliver Foster, from Connecticut, on lot 114. Other early settlers were Benoni and Ebenezer Barlow, Ambrose Curtis, Ephraim Wright, Joseph Olcott, Benjamin Young, Hiram Fellows, John Cropper and Anthony Empey.
The first town meeting was held at the house of John Spinning ; Asa Jenkins was chosen Supervisor, and David Young, Town
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Clerk. The first marriage was that of Benjamin Wilcox and Betsey Waugh, in 1803. The first birth was that of a child of Charles Crawford. The first saw mill was erected in 1803, by Hiram Fel- lows, and the first grist mill, by John Cropper, in 1807. The first religious society (Congregational) was organized December 16, 1816, consisting of ten members. William Dooling owns the first settled farm in the town.
The population in 1865 was 2,467, and its area 32.612 acres.
There are seventeen school districts, employing the same number of teachers. The whole number of scholars is 848; the average at- tendance, 273 ; and the amount expended for school purposes dur- ing the last year was 83,224.42.
FLOYD, named in honor of Gen. Wm. Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was formed from Steu- ben, March 4, 1796. It lies in the interior of the County, east of the center. Its surface is rolling, rising gradually towards the north border, where it attains an elevation of 200 to 300 feet above the valley of the Mohawk. Nine Mile Creek flows through the south-east part. This creek was called by the Indians Te-ya-nun- sak, meaning "a beech tree standing." The soil is good and well adapted to grain and grass.
Floyd Corners, (Floyd p. o.) in the southern part of the town, contains a church, a school, a hotel, two stores, a pump manufac- tory and about twenty houses.
The first settlement was made about the year 1790, by Capt. Benjamin Pike. Soon after, Stephen Moulton, Jr., William and Nathaniel Allen, and James Chase arrived. Other early settlers were Elisha Lake, Mr. Howard, Hope Smith, David Bryan, Samuel Denison, James Bartlett, Jarvis Pike, Capt. Nathan Townsend, Thomas Bacon and Mr. Putnam; most of them were from Con- necticut. Stephen Moulton, Sen., and four other sons moved into the town within a few years after its first settlement. They were from Stafford, Conn., and among the staunchest Whigs during the Revolution, and sacrificed much in the cause of the country. Sal- mon Moulton was taken prisoner on Long Island and confined in the "Sugar House," where he suffered all the horrors of that noto- rious prison, only equaled by the sufferings of our brave boys at "Libby," Salisbury and other rebel prisons.
At the first town meeting Stephen Moulton, Sen., was chosen Supervisor, and Moses Coffeen, Town Clerk. The first death in the town was that of Mr. Foster, the second that of Nathan Thomp- son, who was killed by the fall of a tree. Captain Benjamin Pike kept the first inn, and was succeeded by Moses Coffeen. The first mill in Floyd was erected on Nine Mile Creek at a place called the " Punch Bowl."
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Rev. John Taylor. a Missionary. sent out by the Hampshire County Massachusetts Missionary Society, in 1802. made a tour through the country from Albany to the Black River country. From his Journal we copy the following respecting Floyd : " August 2nd. Started for Floyd. rode 11 miles to a Capt. Rice's. Preached in the evening. I know not what remarks to make upon the inhabitants of this town: a half a dozen excepted, they seem to be the fag-end of man in disorder and confusion of all kinds. The Baptists have some regularity, but the Methodists are producing the scenes which are transpiring in Kentucky. Women here, Meth- odists, pray in their families instead of ye men, and with such strength of lungs as to be distinctly heard by their neighbors. I had almost as many nations, sects and religions present to hear me preach as Peter had on the day of Pentecost. In this town there is an excellent character. Esq. Dier; he tells me that Clinton has given commissions to five men for Justices, in this place, one of' whom is a renegade Irishman, without character and without prayer, and another has no bible in his house. In fact, this is a most miserable place, as to inhabitants. The land is good, too good for such inhabitants." Mr. Taylor saw everything through the glasses of a Massachusetts Congregationalist.
The population in 1865 was 1,227, and its area 20,549 acres.
The town contains nine school districts, employing the same number of teachers. The whole number of pupils is 353, the average attendance, 111, and the amount expended for school pur- pose during the year ending September 30th, 1868, was $1,554.16.
KIRKLAND, named in honor of Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who came here as a missionary to the Oneida Indians, in 1792, was formed from Paris, April 13, 1827. Marshall was taken off in 1829; a part was annexed to New Hartford in 1834, and a part of Paris was annexed in 1839. It lies in the interior of the County, south of the center. Its surface is a hilly upland, divided into two general ridges by the valley of Oriskany Creek. The hills are from two hundred to five hundred feet high, and the declivities are generally steep. Oriskany Creek flows north-east through the town near the center. The soil is a rich calcareous loam. Near Clinton village are quarries of good building stone. Iron ore is found and a large amount is shipped by the Chenango Canal to va- rious parts of the country. Great attention is paid to fruit grow- ing, and more is raised in this town than in any other in the County. The greatest interest in the town is derived from its extensive ed- ucational institutions, which have given it the appellation of the " Literary Emporium of Oneida County."
Clinton, (p. v.) named in honor of Governor George Clinton, was incorporated April 12, 1843. It is a station on the Utica,
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Clinton and Binghamton Railroad, and contains six churches, viz., Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, Universalist and Ro- man Catholic; Hamilton College, Houghton Seminary, Cottage Seminary, Clinton Liberal Institute, Rural High School, a news- paper office, two hotels and about 1.800 inhabitants.
Hamilton College is located in a beautiful park of fifteen acres, laid out in the modern English method, with trees and shrubs scat- tered over it, singly and in groups, and with carriage-ways and foot-paths winding through its different parts, giving the visitor a view of the entire surface. The principal college buildings, con- taining the dormitories of the students, are of stone, three in num- ber and four stories high. They are designated as Dexter Hall or North College, Kirkland Hall or Middle College, Hamilton Hall or South College. They are ninety-eight feet long and forty-nine feet wide. The Chapel is of stone, three stories high, eighty-one feet long and fifty-one feet wide, and contains the Lecture Room and Library. The Observatory consists of a central building with two wings on the east and west side. The central building is twenty-seven feet square, two stories high, and surmounted by a revolving tower twenty feet in diameter. The great Equatorial in the tower, constructed by Spencer & Eaton, is one of the finest instruments in the country. Charles A. Spencer, Esq., of Canas- tota, who still continues the manufacture of optical instruments, has no superior as an optician. The Observatory is furnished with clock, transit instrument and other apparatus necessary for a first- class establishment. Eight of the Asteroids discovered during the last eight years were discovered at the Hamilton College Observa- tory. A new building for the Library has recently been erected called the " Perry H. Smith Library Hall," in honor of the princi- pal contributor. The building is two stories high above the base- ment; seventy-five feet long and fifty wide. The alcoves in the Library Room are arranged in three tiers, one above another, and, with the adjacent walls and the Librarian's rooms, will furnish a place for over 60,000 volumes. Over the entrance hall and Li- brarian's rooms there is an apartment for a Memorial Hall and Art Gallery, to contain tablets and portraits of the Alumni and other students of the College who have served their country ; also portraits and other memorials of the founders of the College, its officers and benefactors. The College and Society Libraries at present amount to 12,000 volumes. They have recently received an accession of the valuable library of the late Edward Robinson, D. D., LL. D., which consists of 1,420 volumes and about 100 valuable maps. The law library of the late William Curtis Noyes, numbering about 5,000 volumes, was also bequeathed to the College. The cost of the Library Hall was about 830,000. Besides the buildings already mentioned, there are a Gymnasium,
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a Chemical Laboratory and Hall of Collections in Natural History, which are large and valuable. The movable property of the Col- lege, including Library, Apparatus, &c., is valued at $100,000; the real estate at $150,000, and the productive funds at 8153,000. From the report to the Regents we learn that the income of the College for 1847 was $14,451.94, and the expenses for the same time $15,202.98. The Catalogue for 1868 shows eleven Professors and 171 students. The course of study embraces a collegiate and a law department. The course of instruction in law includes the thorough and careful study of the most approved text books, which are furnished by the Institution and loaned to the student without charge. At the completion of the course the student is entitled to the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and is admitted to practice as an Attorney and Counselor without further examination.
The germ of Hamilton College was Hamilton Oneida Academy, incorporated by the Regents, January 31, 1793, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland. The next year a commo- dious building was erected, the corner stone of which was laid with appropriate ceremonies by Baron Steuben; and in the latter part of the same year a school was opened under the charge of Rev. John Niles. Rev. James Murdock was associated with him a part of the time. The Academy was highly successful, and the rapid development of Central New York suggested to its friends the im- portance of more ample facilities for instruction and an extension of the course of study. After mature deliberation a subscription was opened to endow it as a college, and Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patroon of Albany, headed the subscription with $1,000, and Gov- ervor Tompkins followed with 8500. Others contributed liberally and " Hamilton College " was chartered May 26, 1812, and went into operation soon after under the Presidency of Rev. Azel Bockus. The College was highly prosperous under his administration, but his career of usefulness was brought to a close by death, December 9, 1816. Rev. Henry Davis, D. D., was elected his successor, and for five years prosperity attended his administration. At length dissensions arose between the President and the Trustees, and in- subordination among the students which continued for several years, and came near ruining the Institution. So near the verge of dissolution did it come, that in 1829 and 1830 no class graduated. Better counsels at last prevailed, and the Institution gradually grew in favor until now it occupies an honorable position among the colleges of the State and of the Nation.
The Clinton Liberal Institute was founded in 1832; it is under the patronage of the Universalist denomination and has a male and a female department. The building for the former is of stone, ninety- six by fifty-two feet, and four stories above the basement, and has
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accommodations for 100 students. The female department is an elegant structure, 144 by 60 feet, two stories high above the base- ment.
Home Cottage Seminary is a private institution, established in 1854 as a Ladies' Seminary.
Kirkland (p. v.) is a small village in the northern part, contain- ing a church and about twenty houses.
Clark's Mills, (p. v.) in the extreme north part, contains an Episcopal Church, a cotton factory, a grist mill and about forty houses.
Franklin Iron Works, (p. v.) near the center, contains extensive iron works, a hotel, a store, and between 200 and 300 inhabitants.
The first settlement of this town was commenced in March, 1787, by eight families; Moses Foote and his three sons, Bronson, Luther and Ira, and his son-in-law, Barnabas Pond, were of the number. Levi Shearman, Solomon Hovey, Ludin Blodget, Timothy Tuttle, Samuel Hubbard, Randall Lewis, Cordial Storrs, John Bullen and Captain Cassety, were among the early settlers. The first habitations were constructed with crotches and poles, sided and roofed with bark. They were without floors, doors or windows. Mrs. Solomon Hovey was the first woman who moved into the town, and something extra had to be provided for her ac- commodation. Her husband felled a large hollow tree, and cutting off a piece of suitable length, split and hewed off one side, raised it upon the end, fitted several shelves into it and placed it in his shanty for pantry, cupboard and wardrobe. This settlement was made on the site of the present village of Clinton. Gen. Washing- ton was joint owner with Gov. Clinton of quite a tract of land in this County, now embracing valuable farms. The nearest niill was at Whitestown, seven miles from Clinton, and no road, not even an Indian trail, through a part of the distance. Going to mill was a tedious business as there was only one horse in the settlement and that was soon stolen by the Indians. In June, 1787, the set- tlers cleared a road sufficient for the passage of an ox cart, and the next day Samuel Hubbard drove the first team to Whitestown and returned with six bushels of corn. Capt. Cassety built a grist mill the same season. In September it was so far completed as to be ready to commence business. Sam'l Hubbard, Ludin Blodget, Jesse Catlin and Salmon Butler, each shelled a peck of corn and then cast lots to see who should carry the grist to mill. The lot fell upon Mr. Hubbard, who took it upon his shoulders to the mill, where it was ground free of toll, it being the first grist ground. A saw mill was erected the next year.
The first child born in the town was Clinton Foote; the first marriage that of Roger Leveret and Elizabeth Cheseborough, and the first death that of Miss Merah Tuttle, a young lady of 17,
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drowned in Oriskany Creek. Skenandoah, ar. Oneida Chief, died in March, IS16, aged 110 years. On Sunday, the 8th of April, 1787, the first religious services were held in the cabin of Capt. Foote. The exercises consisted of prayer by Capt. Foote, singing, and the reading of a sermon by Caleb Merrills.
In the summer of 1787 the settlement suffered greatly for want of food. At length a supply was procured of Isaac Paris, of Fort Plain, causing great rejoicing in the community; they agreed to pay for this with ginseng the next fall. For many years a stone pillar stood at the corner of the Village Green and College street, Clinton, with the following inscription : " Moses Foote, Esqr., in company with seven other families, commenced the settlement of this Village, March 3d, 1787." On the other side were the words, " Nine miles to Utica." This stone was subsequently taken down and accidentally broken. A new one has recently been erected to commemorate the same event, containing, in addition to the in- scription upon the former stone, the names of the seven families. Some of the early settlers of this town were from Brimfield, Mass. Among them were Judah Stebbins, Cutting Earl, Samuel Ellin- wood, John Carpenter, Hananniah Ellinwood and Nathan Marsh, with their families. Several of these started from Brimfield in March, 1790, with ox teams, and on the fourteenth day at evening arrived at Farwell's Tavern, the house opposite the residence of Mr. Crosby, on the Utica road. The late Mr. Reuben Ellinwood, then a lad eleven years of age, walked the whole distance and drove a lot of swine. The snow was two feet deep and there was no track except that made by the cows which were driven ahead. Though advised to remain over night the pioneers decided to go forward. So laborious was the journey that they had only reached the mill stone lodge at midnight. The women and children were suffering intensely with the cold, and the teams being nearly ex- hausted, it was decided to return on foot to the tavern. The next day they proceeded to their new home. Mr. Ellinwood had pre- viously made arrangements to have his house in readiness, but for some reason it was not done. Only one-half of the roof was on and both gable ends well open, and no door, floor or chimney had been constructed, leaving the snow as deep inside as out. The snow was shoveled out and a fire made as near the wall as safety would permit; a floor of split logs and hemlock boughs took the place of bedsteads and there they passed the first night in their new home. Many others were prominent during the early settlement of this town, and by their energy and enterprise aided in making the town what it has since become.
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