USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 57
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298
TOWN OF MONTEZUMA.
third pastor was Milton Shepard, who preached about four years and died in Ira. He was suc- ceeded by - Robinson, who remained one year, when John Bartlett served them a second term of two years. The next pastor was Web- ster O. Moon, who remained two years. Dr. Allen Benton, though not ordained, supplied the pulpit about four years. G. S. Bartlett, son of John Bartlett, succeeded Benton and remained one year. A. B. Chamberlain, the present pas- tor, entered upon his duties in 1876. Their church was built at the time of their organization. A session room and baptistry were added in 1874, and the church was frescoed, newly cushioned and painted. The present membership is about one hundred ; the attendance at Sabbath school, about fifty. Among the first members were Bradford Cook, Allen Benton, Silas Kellogg, Joseph Spoor, Amos Bartlett, Jno. Barnes, Allen Green, Kingsley Stevens, Caleb Everts, Zaccheus Barnes, Othniel Clapp and Abijah Daratt.
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, (R. C.,) at Cato, was organized about 1863. Martin Cusick, Cornelius and Patrick Mehan, James Murphy, John Meri- gar., Michael Clune and Thomas Fitzgerald were among the first members. Father Donahue is the present pastor. Their house of worship was built in 1874. The number of members is about sixty.
THE M. E. CHURCH, four miles south of Cato, was organized about 1820. Amos Cowell, John Mills, Frank Hunting, and James Rhodes were among the first members. Their church edifice, which is a brick structure, was erected about 1828. Some six or seven years ago it underwent extensive repairs. A steeple was added and the whole exterior remodeled. It is a neat, sub- stantial building. Rev. Mr. Kinney is the pas- tor. The membership is about fifty. Its pros- perity is mainly due to the interest taken in it by Mr. Cowell.
SOCIETIES.
CATO LODGE NO. 141, F. AND A. M., at Cato, was organized June 11th, 1849. The charter officers were George H. Carr, Master ; Pier Teller, Sr. Warden ; Ansel Kimball, Jr. Warden. The present officers are Frank Rich, M. ; Wm. S. Pearson, S. W. ; Shepard Knowl- ton, J. W. ; J. W. Hapeman, Secretary ; A. W. Palmer, S. D .; I. L. Van Dorn, J. D. ; Nelson
B. Knowlton, Tiler ; Wm. Sidney, S. M. C .; W. B. Priddy, J. M. C. ; S. J. Chase, Treasurer. Meetings are held the first and third Thursdays of each month, in their own hall, over the Cen- tral Hotel. The number of members is 112.
MANUFACTURES .- In the south-east corner of the town, at the iron bridge, is a saw-mill owned by John Busby and built by him in 1868. Con- nected with it is a cider-mill and jelly factory.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
TOWN OF MONTEZUMA.
M ONTEZUMA* is situated about the cen- ter of the west border of the county, and lies wholly within the angle formed by the great easterly bend of the Seneca River,; which forms its northern and western boundary. The town of Aurelius borders it on the south, and Mentz and Throop, on the east.
The surface is moderately uneven, the hills consisting chiefly of rounded eminences or low ridges, which generally terminate abruptly to- ward the north and lose themselves in the sur- rounding highlands towards the south. The steepest declivities are in the south part. Broad intervals of low, flat alluvial lands, many of which are subject to annual inundations during the spring freshets, exist in the northern and central parts. An extensive .swamp, known as the Montezuma marshest and " the paradise of mus- quitoes,"§ extends along the river. Immense quantities of flag, which grow from eight to twelve feet in length, are annually cut from these marshes and shipped to the eastern mar- kets, where they are used for bottoming chairs and other purposes. This and the fisheries here during the season give employment to a consid- erable number of the inhabitants. Cattle are pastured upon these marshes, and we are told that so little exertion is required here to get such
*Named probably from the Aztec Emperors of that name, the last of whom reigned at the time of the Spanish conquest.
+The aboriginal name of this river was Tiohero, or river of rushes. J suit map published in 1864. ¿Aboriginal name, Squagonna.
SGeographical History of New York, 1850, J. H. Mather and L. P. Brockett, M. D.
209
GEOLOGICAL FORMATION.
a subsistence as the poorer classes usually have to be content with, as to leave very few to be sup- ported as paupers, a less number than in any other town in the County. Cayuga Brook, which flows in a north-westerly direction through the town a little north of the center, is the only considerable stream.
The underlying rocks are those of the Onon- daga Salt Group, the red shale of which makes its appearance along the canal, about two and one-half miles west of Port Byron, where it is as- sociated with the yellow and green varieties. It is also met with in the borings made for brine. This group contains all the gypsum masses of western New York, and furnishes all the salt water of the salines of the counties of Onondaga and Cayuga. The gypseous is the valuable de- posit of Central New York, and the most import- ant, not only on account of its plaster beds, but because it is only in this deposit that we have positive evidence that salt has existed in this group in a solid state.
" The great mass of the deposit consists of rather soft yellowish or drab and brownish color- ed shale and slate, both argillaceous and calcare- ous, and of argillaceous and calcareous slaty and more compact masses which are hard, a brownish color predominating. The whole is usually de- nominated gypseous marl ; being earthy and in - durated, slaty and compact. Some of the in- durated and more solid kinds, when weathered, present a peculiar appearance like that of having been hacked by a cutting instrument, and with some regularity, owing to cracks or joints in two directions, giving a rhombic surface ; which, by solution and wear taking place at the cracks, and those not being continuous and regular as to dis- tance, the appearance mentioned is produced. The stone rezsily breaks in the direction of the furrows 07 nacks, and the fracture shows stains or marks of infiltration.
" When an acid is applied to the different as .. sociates of the gypsum, they do not effervesce in the free manner of purer limestone, but the ef- fect is produced when in powder. It is highly probable that the greater number contain mag- nesia, which may cause the difference.
" The dark color of the gypsum and the brown- ish color of many of its associates, appear to be owing to carbonaceous matter, and not to metal- lic oxides, becoming lighter by long exposure. The greenish colored shale, so abundant usually in gypseous deposits, appear to be but an incon- siderable portion in the district ; owing to the dark color of its gypsum, and but few parts of the mass having recently been uncovered, and its
ready change of color by the action of the weather."*
Several brine springs exist in and near the vil- lage of Montezuma. Their geological situation is in marly clay, 380 feet above tide. They have a temperature of fifty degrees, and evolve carbonic acid gas.
"The springs were discovered at a very early period by the Indians, and were shown by them to the first white settlers. The brine was origin- ally obtained by digging small holes in the ground a foot or two in depth, in the maish at the foot of the ridge upon which the village of Montezu- ma is situated. Subsequently wells were sunk by the whites to the depth of forty or fifty feet, from which brine was obtained in sufficient quan- tity for the manufacture of salt.
" In 1807, salt water was discovered in a branch of the Seneca River, since called Salt Creek, at the depth of eight or ten feet from the surface. The brine thus obtained was similar in quality to that in the wells already noticed. In 1810, under the direction of the Cayuga Manufacturing Compa- ny, a well was sunk about one hundred feet deep, on the west side of the ridge upon which the village now stands. In sinking this well three separate springs of water were discovered. The first was about ten feet from the surface, and was like that which had been previously used. Then succeeded a stratum of fine blue clay, five or six feet in depth. Below this was a stratum of hard pan, with occasionally some gravel, about thirty- five feet in depth. A third stratum of quick- sand succeeded, in which was found some weak brine, yielding about ten ounces of saline matter to the gallon. Lastly, there were strata of sand and clay, with some water, to the depth of one hundred feet, where was found the great fountain of brine, which came in through a body of quick- sand. This brine, when unmixed with that of the upper veins, is said to have produced twenty ounces of saline matter to the gallon. t
" The brine from this well was analyzed by Mr. G. Chilton,# of New York, and found to contain in each 1,000 grains,
Chloride of calcium 1.53
Chloride of magnesium
0.30
Sulphate of lime 4.31
Carbonate of lime 0.02
Chloride of sodium 73.72
Water, &c 920.12
" A year or two afterwards, another well was sunk on the east side of the ridge, and the great fountain of brine was found at a depth of eighty
* Lardner Vanuxem. Natural History of New York, Geology, 3d Dist,
+ " See a letter of Comfort Tyler, Esq., published in the Appen- dix to Dr. Van Rensselaer's Essay on Salt."
+ Silliman's Journal, VII., p. 344.
51-2
300
TOWN OF MONTEZUMA.
feet. The strata passed through were similar to those in the preceding well. The new well, more recently opened, (I believe in 1824,) was one hundred and twenty feet deep. At one hundred and fifteen feet, the brine was said to have been of sufficient strength to yield eighteen ounces of saline matter to the gallon. On reaching the quicksand, however, the brine rose rapidly, and in two or three days overflowed the top of the well.
" In 1823, the salt made at the Montezuma springs amounted to between 16,000 and 20,000 bushels, of which about 1,000 were produced by solar evaporation. From that time the annual produce gradually decreased, until it scarcely amounted to more than a few hundred bushels. " This great depression of the manufacture may be ascribed to several causes. One of these undoubtedly is the rudeness of the pump works. The brine is raised by hand or horse power, and the tubs are so imperfectly constructed that fresh water is continually flowing in and reducing its strength. The soil is moreover owned by indi- viduals, and the manufacturer is obliged to pur- chase or lease it, as well as to erect his works. At the Onondaga springs, on the contrary, grounds are furnished by the State without charge.
"Again, the inferior strength of the Monte- zuma brine has operated unfavorably upon the manufacture at this place. On the other hand, the advantages possessed here, are an abundant supply of wood and eligible sites for the erection of works on a side-cut from the Erie Canal.
" The brine obtained from one of the borings made here previously to 1840, had a specific gravity of 1.07543. 1,000 parts of the brine yield 101. 20 dry solid matter. The composition of the whole is as follows :
Carbonate of lime.
0.18
Sulphate of lime. 5.25
Chloride of calcium
Chloride of magnesium 1.40
1.00
Chloride of sodium, or common salt. 93.35
Oxide of iron, with a minute portion of silica and carbonate of lime. 0.02 Carbonic acid, holding in solution the car- bonate of lime and oxide of iron. 0.08
Water, with a trace of organic matter
898.72
" This brine, therefore, contains 700 grains of dry chloride of sodium in a wine pint; 5,600 grains, or 0.80 pound in a gallon, and it requires nearly seventy gallons for a bushel of salt. The strength of the Geddes brine, when compared to this, is about as ten to seven ; of the Liverpool brine, as ten to six and a half.
"By an act of the Legislature passed in 1840, an appropriation was made for the purpose of procuring, if possible, a supply of brine of suffi- cient strength to be advantageously used in the manufacture of salt. A shaft was sunk to the
depth of 200 feet, which opened into a vein of brine much stronger than any heretofore pro- cured in this vicinity. The specific gravity of this brine is 1.09767 ; and 1,000 parts of it con- tain 129.33 parts of dry, solid matter, or 12.93 in 100 parts of brine. This is within one per cent. of the quantity contained in some of the brines which have been worked in Onondaga county ; a fact which would seem to warrant fur- ther expenditures, and to strengthent he expec- tations which have been entertained in regard to the establishment of the manufacture of salt at Montezuma.
" I have analyzed brine from a boring of up- wards of 500 feet, at the village of Montezuma, and which is remarkable for the large proportion of saline matter which it contains. The specific gravity of this brine is 1.18959, water being 1.00000. 1,000 grains of the brine contained 230.30 grains of perfectly dry saline matter. The strength of the specimen may be judged of by the fact, that 1,000 grains of water saturated with common salt, contain from 260 to 270 grains of that salt ; so that if there were nothing in this brine but common salt, it would be within three or four per cent. of complete saturation ; but this is far from being the case.
" The following are the constituents in 1,000 grains of this brine :
Sulphate of lime, with minute portions of carbonate of lime and oxide of iron. 0.69
Chloride of calcium. 90.24
Chloride of magnesium 8.05
Common salt, (pure and dry,)
131.32
Water, with traces of organic matter 769.70
It will require from 43 to 45 gallons of this brine to furnish a bushel of salt in the ordinary state of dryness.
"The following statement will exhibit the value of this brine, as compared with the best specimens heretofore obtained from Syracuse and Montezuma :
Grains.
Proportion of common salt in 100 grains of this brine_ 13.13
Proportion of common salt in 100 grains of best Syracuse brine 17.35 Proportion of common salt in 100 grains of best Montezuma brine 9.33
" But in regard to the troublesome impurities, viz : the chlorides of calcium and magnesium, the proportion in the brine just described is much larger, as will appear from the following state- ment :
Grains.
Earthy chlorides in 100 grains of this brine __ 9.82 Earthy chlorides in 100 grains of best Syra- cuse brine. 1.50 Earthy chlorides in 100 grains of best Mon- tezuma brine. 2.40
301
VILLAGE OF MONTEZUMA.
" The manufacture of salt from this brine, therefore, will require more than ordinary care ; as the earthy chlorides, even in small proportions, render it moist and unfit for certain uses."*
The well here referred to is doubtless the one sunk in 1839, by Solomon P. Jacobs, then State Superintendent of Salt Works, back of the pres- ent grist-mill in the village of Montezuma. It was carried to a depth of 650 feet.
About 1858 the State appropriated $7,000 to develop the Montezuma salt springs. Col. John S. Clark and William H. Carpenter, of Auburn, were appointed commissioners to superintend operations. A boring was made east of the vil- lage, near Buckland's bridge, on the farm owned by C. W. Clapp, and another near the river, on land owned by J. J. McLoud ; but the brine at neither place was sufficiently strong to warrant the erection of works. A third boring was made at a place locally known as "Charleston," one and one-half miles south-west of this village, and brine obtained, which, it is said, was equal to that at Syracuse. Two long blocks were built and the manufacture of salt begun about 1860. In 1862 Messrs. Truesdale & Loomis began to make salt of a superior quality, and bade fair to realize their fondest hopes. Salt was manufac- tured about three years, till 1863, when a bar of iron or steel, an attachment to the pump, fell to the bottom of the well, which was thus effectu- ally sealed and remains so to this day. The bar exactly fitted the tube and could not be removed. The business was consequently abandoned.
This circumstance gave rise to the suspicion of foul play and induced the belief that this ac- cident was concerted in the interest of the salt works at Syracuse ; but it is probable that the business here, like that at Syracuse, suffered from the competition incident to the development of the salt interests in Michigan and Canada, and that this accounts for the final abandonment.
A few years previous to this Frank Torrey, L. D. Fenelon and David Gaston manufactured a good article of salt from brine drawn from the old well near the grist-mill, in the village ; but they soon discontinued it. In 1872 a stock com- pany was formed, the capital being furnished by weekly contributions, for the manufacture of salt by solar evaporation. Seven long vats were erected ; but after a short trial some lost faith in the enterprise and withheld their contributions,
* James C. Beck, Natural History of New York Mineralogy.
and the project was soon abandoned. The in- ferior brine and deliquescent character of the salt made from it, owing to the presence of earthy chlorides, made it impossible to compete with the works at Syracuse.
About this time another appropriation of $3,000 was obtained through the efforts of Hon. Ira D. Brown, member of the Legislature in 1871. Wm. Thorn, J. M. Jones and B. Ross were appointed commissioners. They were of the opinion that by cleaning out and extending the tube of the well near the grist-mill a stronger brine would be obtained, but they sunk the well to a depth of 1,000 feet without realizing their expectations. The derrick still stands, a monument to their en- terprise and the State's improvidence.
The soil upon the hills is a clay loam, mixed in places with gravel ; in the valleys and on the flats it is a rich alluvion.
The area of the town is 9,550 acres ; of which 7,528 are improved ; 844, woodland ; and 1,178, otherwise unimproved.
The population in 1875 was 1,395 ; of whom 1,222 were native ; 173, foreign ; 1,385, white ; 10, colored ; and 215, owners of land .*
The direct line of the New York Central Rail- road crosses the north border of the town, but there is no station within the town. The Erie Canal crosses the town from east to west a little north of the center and crosses the river upon an aqueduct. The Cayuga & Seneca Lake Canal connects with the Erie Canal at Montezuma vil- lage, and extends south along the west border.
MONTEZUMA.
Montezuma (p. o.) was incorporated in 1866 .; It is situated near the center of the west border, adjacent to the river, and at the junction of the Erie and Cayuga and Seneca Lake Canals. It is connected by stage with Auburn, whence it receives its mail. It contains four churches, (M. E., Free Methodist, Baptist and Catholic,) a district school, one dry goods store, one hard- ware store, one drug store, four groceries, two
* Census of 1875.
t Following is a list of the presidents of the village since its incor - poration, with the years in which each served ; Wm. Thorn, 1866 and '7 ; Alanson White, 1868; Frank Torrey, 1869-'70 and '71 ; Alonzo D. Drake, 1872,-'3 and 's; Col. Wm. Bell, 1874; Henry Stokes, 1876 ; C. E. Chase, 1877 ; and Garrett Forshee, 1878.
The village officers in 1878 were Garrett Forshee, president ; Dr. Emerick Crispell, clerk ; Jerome Warrick, treasurer; Frank Torrey, John Ross and John Malloy, trustees.
302
TOWN OF MONTEZUMA.
hotels and a grist-mill. It has a population of 550.
The grist-mill owned by Messrs. Babcock & Drake, came into their possession some twelve years since. It was originally built as a steam mill in 1853, by L. A. Hopkins, of Auburn, and was changed to a water power mill in 1861. The motive power is furnished by the surplus water from the canal, there being no natural water power in the village. The mill has three run of stones.
The Northern Hotel, located in what is called the old village, is conducted by H. R. Shockey, who leases of Mrs. Elcy Forbes. This hotel occu- pies the site of the first hotel kept in the town, which was built about seventy years ago by a man named Stephens, and was burned July 16th, 1874.
The Exchange Hotel, located in the new vil- lage, has been kept by Garrett Forshee some five or six years.
Montezuma Lodge F. & A. M. No. 176, was organized July 15th, 1850, with seven members, and meets the first and third Saturday evenings of each month. Simeon Mott was the first mas- ter. The present officers are, Jerome L. Ful- ler, M .; Chas. W. Ball, S. W .; John Ross, f. W .; H. Mack, Treas .; Ed Ross, Sec. The present membership is 48.
Rechabite Tent No. 43, was organized in Sep- tember, 1874, with Russel S. Chappel as C. R .; B. F. David, D. R .; and Geo. W. Bell, Shepherd. The present officers are, B. I. C. Bucklin, C. R .; Chas. Davenport, D. R .; and Dr. E. W. Cris- pell, Shepherd. It is reputed to be a useful tem- perance organization. There are 60 members. Meetings are held every Saturday night.
Logan Grange No. 107, at the old Mentz Church in Montezuma, was organized about 1873, with thirty members. It consists of twenty-nine members. The first officers were, Jno. S. Pratt, Master ; Wm. Buckingham, Overseer ; and Jas. H. Baldwin, Lecturer. The present officers are Chas. C. Weston, Master ; J. D. Nye, Overseer ; and Abram Rowe, Lecturer.
In the south-east part of the town is a cheese factory, which receives the milk of about 100 cows. It was built in 1872, by a stock company, of which Wallace Weston is President ; S. R. Glasgow, Secretary; and Alonzo J. Weston, Treasurer.
The first settlements were made in 1798, at what is now called the old village of Montezuma, by Dr. Peter Clarke, Comfort Tyler and Abram Morgan, who were attracted to the locality by . the salt springs there ; though it is pretty cer- tain that neither Clarke nor Tyler settled there permanently till several years later, about 1810 or'II. About the beginning of the present cen- tury they commenced the manufacture of salt, " and did a good business long. before Syracuse had lain the foundations of its present prosperity and wealth."
COLONEL COMFORT TYLER was born in the town of Ashford, Conn., February 22d, 1764. At the age of fourteen he evinced that dis- position to mingle in public affairs which so con- spicuously characterized his after life, for at that age we find him a soldier in the war of the Revo- lution, though his duties were light, being mostly confined to service in and about the fortress of West Point. In 1783 he was engaged in sur- veying and in teaching school in the Mohawk country, and while there he was engaged by Gen. James Clinton and spent one season with the ex- pedition to establish the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1788, in company with Major Asa Danforth, he began the settlement in Onondaga county, where he " felled the first tree, and constructed the first piece of turnpike road in the State west of Fort Stanwix," and assisted in the first manufacture of salt. When the Military Tract was surveyed he was selected to assist. He surveyed one of the townships, and subsequently the Cayuga reser- vation. He filled various offices of responsibility and trust in Onondaga county, and in 1798 and'9, represented that county in the Legislature. He was foremost among the agitators for public im- provements, and was conspicuously active in the construction of roads, bridges and all other works calculated to promote the general welfare. His efforts to bring capital and influence in aid of these undertakings led to his acquaintance with Aaron Burr, and his subsequent connection with the celebrated southern expedition projected by that gentleman, which resulted so disastrously. The disease which ultimately resulted in Col. Tyler's death is ascribed to his effort to evade capture at this time. This affair greatly impaired his private fortune, and, such was the popular prejudice against those who participated in it,
303
VILLAGE OF MONTEZUMA.
that it destroyed forever his prospects as a public man. It also engendered a controversy between Burr and Tyler, which resulted in their total es- trangement.
In 1811, Col. Tyler removed with his family to Montezuma, and took a deep interest in the Cayuga Manufacturing Company, who were en- gaged in making salt. With a view to increasing their business by rendering Montezuma more ac- cessible, and very much by the advice and per- sonal exertions of Col. Tyler, the company built two long bridges across the Seneca and Clyde rivers, and constructed a turnpike, more than three miles in length, over the Cayuga marshes, where the earth was so soft that with one hand a man might with ease thrust a pole into it ten or twelve feet.
Col. Tyler resided two or three years in Ho- boken, and superintended the draining of the salt meadows in that vicinity. During the war of 1812 he entered the army and served in the capacity of Assistant Commissary General to the northern army, with the rank of Colonel, till the close of the war. .
After the close of the war the canal policy en- gaged his earnest attention. From the begin- ning, he was among the foremost of the advocates of that work, and he was early in the field, side by side with Judge Geddes and Judge Forman in advocating the feasibility and policy of the plan. He lived to rejoice with those who rejoiced at its completion.
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