History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 59

Author: Storke, Elliot G., 1811-1879. cn
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 762

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 59

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The vermicular lime-rock is essentially calcare- ous, and was first made known by Prof. Eaton. It is a porous or cellular rock, strongly resem- bling porous or cellular lava. Its name is due to there having been observed in it several holes, lined with a kind of tubular calcareous shell or crust, in some measure resembling the tubular covering of the Scrpula, which is so often seen perforating coral rocks. In color it is a dark- gray or blue rock, perforated everywhere with curvilinear holes ; but very compact between the holes. The holes or cells vary from microscopic to half an inch in diameter. The cells generally are very irregular, and communicate in most in- stances with one another. Some are spherical, and contain spherical crusts. The resemblance of no small part of the rock to a porous lava is perfect ; but if the cells in lava are caused by gaseous matter, as is commonly supposed, then these had a different origin. In Bull's plaster quarry in the town of Lenox, the structure of

300

GEOLOGICAL FORMATION.

the cells leaves no doubt as to their mineral ori- gin. The cells show that parts of the rock were disposed to separate into very thin layers which project into the cells, an effect wholly at variance with aëriform cavities, but evidently the result of the simultaneous forming of the rock,and of a solu- ble mineral, whose removal caused the cells in question. This view appears to be fully con- firmed by the discovery in this rock of those forms which are due to common salt, showing that a soluble saline material had existed and acquired shape in it, and been subsequently dissolved, having a cavity or cavities.

There are two masses of the vermicular rock, an upper and a lower one. The former extends from Port Byron east to the ridge west of Oneida Creek. It is about four feet thick ; and its pores or cavities are usually large. The lower mass is limited. Its pores are small, and its greatest thickness is about twenty feet .*

An extensive deposit of gravel and fine build- ing sand has been opened in the hill in the south part of Port Byron, and large quantities of the for- mer have been used in improving the roads in the town. The sand is shipped to other localities by canal. A vertical section of some one hundred feet is exposed, and gives a fine illustration of the dip and strata of the rocks.

Vast deposits of marl exist in this town in common with many other localities in the County.t

Only recently its development as a fertilizer was begun, and should the enterprise meet with that success which it now seems reasonable to antici- pate, this interest is destined to be an important industry in this locality. It will open up an al- most inexhaustible mine of the richest manure.

" This substance is a carbonate of lime, which has separated from its solvent, in water ; the lat- ter preventing its particles from cohering to- gether, and allowing them to subside in the state of a calcareous mud. It is in many places con- stantly depositing from waters holding limestone in solution."#

The soil is a clay loam on the hills, mixed in localities with sand and gravel. In the valleys

* Lardner Vanuxem, Natural History of New York, Geology, 3d District.

+ According to James Hall, the Cayuga marshes, which em- brace an area of 40,000 acres, are in many, and probably in all places, underlaid by marl to the depth of several feet. New York Geological Reports, 1839.

# Lardner Vanuxem, Natural History of New York, 3d District.

it is a rich alluvion. It is generally well adapted to wheat and the other cereals, which rarely fail on clay bottoms, upon which the surface never heaves. This property of clay, that of holding the roots when the surface is frozen, is highly important.

The following is an analysis of two specimens of soil taken from the farm of the late Mr. Ira Hopkins in Mentz. The salt group lies below and the surrounding region contains much drift. The first specimen was taken from a dry ridge which has been under cultivation many years, and has produced forty bushels of spring wheat to the acre ; the second is a clay loam, resting upon plaster shales :

First.

Second.

Water of absorption

3.84

5. 10

Organic matter

10.44

5.94

Silicates.

77.78

80.40

Peroxide of iron and alumina

4.98

5.00

Carbonate of lime

1.30

2.36

Magnesia*

1.48

1.08

99.82

99.88

The town covers an area of 10,081 acres ; of which 7,246, are improved ; 991, woodland ; and 1,844, otherwise unimproved.

The population in 1875 was 2,300; of whom 2,091, were natives ; 209, foreigners ; 2,271, white ; 29, colored ; and 435, owners of land. }

The direct line of the New York Central Rail- road extends through the town from east to west a little north of the center ; and the Erie Canal, in the same direction, a little south of the center.

PORT BYRON.

Port Byron is beautifully situated in the valley of the Owasco, surrounded by rounded emi- nences, which, with their alternating verdure and cultivated soil, make a pleasing landscape. Its principal streets, with their many fine residences and tastily ornamented lawns, evince the æsthetic culture of its citizens.

It is on the line of the Erie Canal, one mile south of the station by the same name on the New York Central Railroad, and distant seven miles north of Auburn, with which it is connect- ed by stage. It contains six churches (M. E., Presbyterian, Baptist, Free Methodist, Episcopal and Roman Catholic,) an academy, a newspaper

* E. Emmons, Natural History of New York, Agriculture. + Census of 1875.

310

TOWN OF MENTZ.

office, a private bank, two good hotels, (the How- ard House, owned by John R. & Rush M. How- ard, and the National, kept by Wm. G. Gallt,) several stores of various kinds, two flouring-mills, a foundry, a planing-mill, sash and blind factory, woolen factory, a small cheese factory, and about 1,200 inhabitants.

THE PORT BYRON FREE SCHOOL AND ACADEMY was chartered in 1857, and the following year a lot containing one and one-half acres, centrally lo- cated, was purchased and the present brick structure erected. The building is three stories high, sixty feet long and fifty feet wide, and is capable of accommodating 400 pupils. The cost of the lot and building was $10,850. The school is divided into academic, senior, sub- senior, junior and primary departments. It is free to all residents of the district, except for Latin and Greek, for which $2 each is charged. To non-residents the tuition fee is $6, and $2 each for the languages. The course of instruc- tion is left discretionary with the principal. It is managed by a board of nine trustees. The first board was composed of J. D. Button, M. D., W. A. Halsey, who is the present president, Alfred Mead, Amasa K. King, F. M. King, D. B. Smith, Geo. Randall, J. D. Schoonmaker and Wm. D. Osborne. It has a library containing 1,050 volumes, valued at $1,062.50, and philo- sophical and chemical apparatus valued at $250. The present attendance is from 250 to 300. The present Principal is A. W. Morehouse.

THE PORT BYRON CHRONICLE is published weekly by Chas. E. Johnson, who commenced its publication in company with Geo. F. Marsh, un- der the name of Marsh & Johnson, November Ist, 1873. John L. Ransom became interested in its publication in May, 1874, and continued his interest till September, 1877, when he sold to the present proprietor, who is also its editor. The paper was established here in 1851, by Oliver T. Beard, as the Port Byron Gazette. In 1860 it passed into the hands of Benj. Thomp- son, who sold to Wm. Hosford in 1861. In 1862 it was bought by Cyrus Marsh, and its name changed to The North Cayuga Times. H. P. Winsor succeeded Cyrus Marsh, but in what year we could not learn. Several changes in proprietors took place from this period to 1873, and at intervals its publication has ceased en- tirely.

THE PRIVATE BANKING HOUSE OF H. B. BAX- TER & Co. commenced business March Ist, 1877, with Henry B. Baxter, formerly of Sherman, Chautauqua county, as senior partner, and G. W. Latham, of Port Byron, as junior partner.

JOHN C. DIXON, proprietor of the flouring and grist-mill at Port Byron, commenced business in the fall of 1865, in company with J. V. White, the present Supervisor (1879) of Mentz, under the firm name of Dixon & White. February 17th, 1875, the mill, which was a wooden structure, erected in 1845, was burned, and in that year Mr. Dixon bought Mr. White's interest and re- built on the same site. The present mill, which is also built of wood, is forty by sixty feet, three and one-half stories high, and supplied with all the modern improvements. It is reputed to be the finest mill in this section of the country. It con- tains four run of stones and is capable of grind- ing 100 barrels of flour per day in addition to cus- tom work, which averages from 25,000 to 30,000 bushels of grain annually. The motive power is furnished by water from the creek, over a fall of eight feet. The first mill on this site was built about 1814 or '15, by Aaron Knapp, the site and ten acres of land being donated for that purpose by Elijah and Aholiab Buck. The pres- ent mill is the fourth one on this site, three hav- ing been destroyed by fire. A saw-mill built on this site by Knapp about the same time stood until it decayed. These were the first mills in the town.

The cheese factory located in the village, near the upper dam, is owned by a stock company, which was incorporated in 1867, with a capital of $3,800, and of which David H. Mills is Presi- dent, W. A. Jacobs, Secretary, and W. D. Os- borne, O. A. Paddock and Jonathan Myers, Trustees.

The foundry and machine shop owned by Henry Leonard and George Anable is located on the dam south of the canal.

On the dam north of the canal is a planing- mill owned by Lewis Peck, and a flouring and grist-mill, with three run of stones, owned by Henry Traphagen. The sash and blind factory and planing-mill, owned by Samuel M. Wells and Charles J. Stiles, are operated by steam. .

* Statement of Daniel Drake Buck, to whom, and to Mr. W. A. Halsey, we are largely indebted for information in regard to this town.

RESIDENCE OF ELIZABATH NICHOLSON, MENTZ, CAYUGA CO. N. Y.

311

PORT BYRON.

Port Byron has suffered from several disas- trous fires. May 30th, 1870, the dry goods store of J. T. & William S. Smith was burned. This fire aroused the citizens to a realization of the importance of providing adequate means of pro- tection, and the excellent water works which the village now has were established. The reservoir is 150 feet long, 50 feet wide and 12 feet deep, located on the hill west of the village, on grounds donated for the purpose by Mr. William A. Hal- sey, and has an altitude of 175 feet above the main street in the village. Water is pumped into the reservoir from the outlet.

Port Byron was incorporated March 2d, 1837, and reincorporated in 1855. The first officers un- der the charter were: Walter H. Smith, Presi- dent, who was elected by the board of trustees ; Reuben Saxon, Samuel Harnden, Dennison Rob- inson and Abraham Teachout, Trustees ; Camp- bell W. Haynes, Clerk ; James D. Button, Jo- seph Hadger and Elijah Rice, Assessors ; David B. Smith, Treasurer ; and Jesse Vanderhoven, Constable. The successive presidents are El- more P. Ross, 1838 ; Samuel Harnden, 1839, '42 and '43 ; Cyrus C. Peas, 1840 and'41; James Cutler, 1844, '45 and'47-'51 ; L. Goodsole, 1846; Thomas W. Smith, 1852 and '55; George Ran- dall, 1853 ; James D. Button, 1854; Richard H. Hoff, 1856, '59, '66; Richard Dyer, 1857; Abram Gutchess, 1858 and '67; William S. Hoffman, 1860 and '62; Arthur White, 1861; Daniel Graves, 1863 and '64; Augustus Kelley, 1865, '70 and '71; Stephen H. Close, 1868; Thomas B. Dickey, 1869; William A. Halsey, 1872 ; Edward B. Somers, 1873; Horace V. Howland, 1874; William Hosford, 1875 ; Horace C. Badg- ley, 1876 ; James V. White, 1877. The present officers (1879,) are : T. Fayette Dixon, Presi- dent; Rush M. Howard, Charles M. Storms, Oliver B. Tanner and Charles F. Stiles, Trustees; Samuel N. Dougherty, Clerk ; Charles Kelly, Treasurer ; George Somers, O. W. Seymour and George W. Latham, Assessors; Samuel N. Dougherty, Police Justice.

PORT BYRON LODGE NO. 130, F. & A. M., was organized as Freedom Lodge, about 1820, and the name and charter changed June 8th, 1845. The present officers are, Geo. W. Dickinson, W. M .; Oscar Gutchess, S. W .; Chas. M. Storms, J. W .; R. M. Howard, Treas. ; Egbert Homel, Secy. ; D. M. Kellogg, S. D .; F. F. Sears, J. D. ; Geo. 53-2

Anable, Tiler ; Augustus Kelly, H. B. Baxter, and Thos. B. Dickey, Trustees. Meetings are held the first and third Wednesdays of cach month, in Masonic Hall. The present number of members is 75.

MORRIS CHAPTER NO. 156, R. A. M. has a membership of about 45, and meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, in Ma- sonic Hall. The officers are Abram Gutchess, H. P. ; Chas. Kelly, E. K .; Wm. Cooper, Jr., E. S .; C. R. Berry, Secy. ; E. B. Erity, Treas. ; C. M. Stone, C. H .; E. M. Slayton, P. S. ; A. Houghtaling, R. A. C .; Geo. W. Dickinson, M. Ist V. ; O. Gutchess, M. 2d V. ; Jehiel Wes- ton, M. 3d V. ; Geo. Anable, Tiler.

CENTENNIAL TENT N. O. I. R. No. 41, was organized in January, 1876. Meetings are held every Friday evening. The membership is 35. The officers are, H. W. Leonard, C. R. ; George Anable, D. R. ; T. Fayette Dixon, Secy. ; C. P. Yates, Jr., Treas. ; John M. Coon, F. S. ; Geo. Newkirk, S. ; Thos. Porter, I. G .; H. B. Dodge, O. G .; W. D. Osborne, P. C. R.

Port Byron was for many years, known as Bucksville, which name it derived from the Buck family, who were early settlers here and con- tributed largely to its growth and prosperity. The present name was assumed in 1832.

One and one-half miles south of Port Byron, near the line of Throop, in a pleasant romantic valley, at the terminus of a deep gorge in the Owasco Outlet, is the factory of Ezra B. Hayden, who is engaged in the manufacture of woolen cloths, yarns, cassimeres and flannels.

The first settlement in this locality was made about 1810, and the first dam was built in 1816, by George Casey and Daniel Clark of Auburn, the former of whom was one of the commissioners for the erection of the State Prison at Auburn, and expected to secure a State contract for tim- ber to be used in its construction. They pur- chased one hundred acres of the adjoining land, which was covered with a dense growth of hem- lock and other timber, paying therefor, four dol- lars per acre. The next season they erected a saw-mill about fifteen rods south of the present woolen factory. The following year A. B. Til- man erected a building and commenced the business of tanning, which was abandoned in a few years.

The business of wool-carding and cloth-dress-

312

TOWN OF MENTZ.

ing was begun in 1820, by Harry Rice, who settled here at that time and erected a building for that purpose, taking water from the saw-mill flume. Mr. Rice carried on the business till his death a few years after, when, in the spring of 1824, the property was rented by Wm. Hayden, a native of Conway, Massachusetts,who came into the town of Sennett about 1801, where his father commenced the business of wool-carding and cloth-dressing. William Hayden removed to Auburn about 1820 and connected himself with the late Levi Lewis in the cloth-dressing busi- ness ; and two years later, having separated from Lewis, he commenced the manufacture of cloth at Clarksville, now a suburb of Auburn. He was the first person in this County to manufac- ture cloth by machinery. About 1824 he re- moved to the locality above described, in this town, for the purpose of carrying on the business of wool-carding and cloth-dressing, which he con- tinned ten or twelve years, when, having then purchased the property previously rented, he added the manufacture of cloth. Since his death, in 1866, the business has been conducted by his sons, Ezra B., William, Martin, John, George, Charles and Samuel. Ezra B. Hayden has had the entire management of the business since 1875, in which year he became the sole proprie- tor. The building erected by Rice went to de- cay, and in 1828 the present one, which is 90 by 26 feet, and has four floors, was built and used about three years as a tub and pail factory, by Charles and Amos Parks, of Auburn. William Hayden bought it soon after the death of the senior Parks, in 1831, and converted it into a woolen-mill in 1835. It is provided with two sets of woolen machinery, capable of turning out 60,000 yards of cloth per annum, and gives employment to about twenty men and women. The motive power is furnished by the Owasco Outlet, which has a fall of ten feet at this point. The Haydens have acquired some notoriety for the excellence of the cloths manufactured by them .*

* Samnel Hayden, one of the brothers referred to in this sketch, died March 14th, 1878. He studied law till failing health com- pelled him to desist, after which he was associated with his brothers in the woolen-mill. He subsequently devoted his time and atten- tion to agriculture and contributed many articles on that and other subjects to the agricultural and other papers. It is worthy of note that his remains were carried to their final resting place by his six broth- ers, all of whom were older than he, and all of whom, except Mar- tin, who lives in Sandusky, Cattaraugus county, and William, who resides in Auburn, live in Mentz,

David Clark, of Clarksville, built a saw-mill on the creek here about 1816.

A fruit drying establishment was started in this locality in the summer of 1877, by John Hayden.

The late Brigham Young, the noted Mormon and polygamist, resided in this locality about one year, in 1832, on lands now owned by the Hay- dens. He was in the employ of David Smith, a merchant of Port Byron at that time. The house in which he lived was sold in May, 1878, by Mrs. Lucy T. Hayden to James Palmer, of Throop, who removed it to his place in that town, to be used as a summer kitchen. The price paid was $10.

The first settlements in the town were made in 1797, near Port Byron, which occupies parts of lots 61, 62, 72 and 73, River street, in that village, being the dividing line between lots 72 and 73. In that year Philip King, Seth Higly, Josiah Partridge and Chas. Annes had located there. Messrs. King and Higly were from Sara- toga county, and settled on lot 72, the latter on a State's hundred, in the south-west corner.

Mr. King took up the remainder of the lot and remained there till his death. He raised a large family, all of whom are now dead. His son, Ezekiel, who was born in 1799, was probably the first white child born in the town. Mr. King kept the first tavern, about a mile west of the village, prior to 1815. It was a frame house. It is related of Mr. King, that at one time he de- sired to cross Seneca River with a potash kettle to a sap bush on the north side of the river. The owner of the skiff refused to carry the kettle, when Mr. King, with characteristic energy, launched the kettle and safely ferried himself across in it. Josiah Partridge was from Massa- chusetts, and settled on lot 73. Chas. Annes came in from Chemung county in the fall and and settled in the south-west corner of lot 73, on fifty acres donated by Elijah Buck to induce a set- tlement, on the place now owned by Francis M. Groom. Mr. Annes sold to a Mr. Beebe.

In the spring of 1798, Aholiab Buck, a native of Pennsylvania, moved in from Big Flats, Che- mung county, and located on River street, op- posite the residence of Samuel N. Dougherty, in the village of Port Byron. He was the first settler in the corporate limits of the village. He built a log cabin that season and cleared a

313

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

little land, when he went home and married An- nis Drake, a native of Goshen, N. Y., with whom he returned the same fall, in company with his brother, Elijah Buck, and the latter's wife and daughter Sarah. Elijah had previously bought lot 73 of a soldier who served in the Revolution- ary war. Both families lived in the log house till its destruction by fire the same fall, (a calami- ty by which they lost everything but the clothes on their backs,) when they removed to the house of Philip King, about three-fourths of a mile dis- tant, where they remained till other houses were built. Mr. King's family at this time consisted of his wife, three sons, (Richard, Jeremiah and Daniel,) and a daughter, the latter of whom was subsequently united in wedlock to Elder John Jeffries, one of the earliest ministers in this sec- tion of the country, with whom she removed to Throopsville.

The Messrs. Buck built separate houses that fall. Aholiab's stood on the site of the one de- stroyed by fire ; and Elijah's near the house now occupied by Mr. Henry Vosburgh.

The town was then heavily timbered, princi- pally with beech and maple, with some bass- wood, oak, whitewood and hemlock. Game and fish were plentiful, yet breadstuffs and other edibles were scarce. Bears and wolves were numerous and a source of much annoyance. Daniel Drake Buck relates that on one occasion when his uncle Aholiab was away from home his aunt shot and killed a bear which was disturbing the pig pen in the night. This was about 1805 or'6. The Messrs. Buck had two guns, one of which they left loaded, to be used in case of emergency. The heroine of this story was a resolute woman, a good sample of the women who undertook pioneer life. Aholiab Buck re- moved to Illinois in 1832.

Mr. Buck recollects seeing seven or eight deer browsing with his father's cattle from maple trees felled for that purpose when fodder was scarce.

He says his father had his first grinding donc at Tyler's Spring, about one mile north of Au- burn, where a mortar and pestle, so common in those days, had been constructed. The mortar consisted of a hard-wood stump, and the pestle was attached to a spring pole. Later his father and uncle were accustomed to go with their grists and those of their neighbors to Seneca Falls,

after a mill had been built at that place. The journey was made with a canoc of large size, which they had established on the Outlet, the route being by way of the Outlet to Seneca River, thence to Seneca Falls. The canoe was constructed from a large white-wood trec. The journey usually occupied three days.

On the farm settled by Elijah Buck was a well, known as the Indian well, from the supposition that the Indians dug it. It was about ten feet deep and furnished a constant supply of water, which is now used to water the cattle on the farm. Evidences of Indian occupancy, for brief periods at least, probably while on hunting and fishing excursions, exist in the numerous flint arrow-heads and stone tomahawks which have been brought to the surface in various localities by the plow. Portions of clay vessels, evidently used for culinary purposes, have also been sound.

On the lot bought by Elijah Buck was a splen- did water privilege, with a natural fall of ten to fifteen feet. This privilege, with ten acres, was soon after given by the Messrs. Buck to Aaron Knapp for the purpose of erecting a mill there- on ; and the mill then erected by him was the first one built in the town. The precise year in which it was built cannot now be ascertained. The property soon after passed into the hands of a Mr. Aiken. The erection of this mill gave an impetus to the settlements.

Daniel Loveland, originally from Vermont, moved in from the southern part of the County, with his family, consisting of his wife and four children, one son, and three daughters, in 1799, and settled near where the depot now stands. Peter Ransier and Moses Lent, from Owego, settled on lot 62 in 1800.

Upto this time Mentz was a part of the town of Aurelius, from which it was erected, as Feffersou, March 30th, 1802, and its name changed April 6th, 1806. It then embraced the present town of Montezuma and a part of Throop, which portions were set off April 8th, 1859.

Following is a list of the first officers of Feffer- son, now Mentz, who were elected March 6th, 1804: Isaac Smith, Supervisor ; Lewis Kitchel, Clerk ; Caleb Ward, Israel Clapp and James Leonard, Assessors; Joseph Farrand, Collector ; Caleb Ward and Isaac Barnum, Overseers of the Poor; Philip King, Israel Smith and Prentice

314

TOWN OF MENTZ.

Palmer, Commissioners of Highways ; Joseph Farrand, Constable.

The officers elected, (1879) are :

Supervisor-James V. White. Town Clerk-Charles Kelly.

Fustice of the Peace-Howell B. Converse. Assessor-Theodore Stevenson.

Commissioner of Highways-David Sadler. Overseer of the Poor -- John H. Eldridge.

Collector- Hiram A. Randall.

Constables-O. W. Seymour, Charles Hayden, L. C. Fargo, Charles Halsted, Peter Waggoner. Inspectors of Election-Thomas B. Dickey, John M. Devore.

Game Constable-George Bettenhausen.

James Dixon and Major Eli Wilson, from He- bron, Washington county, the latter with his wife, Margaret, and daughter, Amy, came into the town near the beginning of the present century, and settled on a soldier's grant of 600 acres, on the east line of the town, which they took up jointly, and which is now largely occupied by the children and heirs of the former, who died there some seven years since, aged 92 years. John I., David, George and Eli Wilson, sons of Eli Wil- son, settled on the same tract a little later. John and Eli Wilson and Elizabeth (now Mrs. Wm. A. Jacobs,) all of whom are living in 'the town, are the only living descendants of Maj. Wilson.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 59

Author: Storke, Elliot G., 1811-1879. cn Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 762

Author: Storke, Elliot G., 1811-1879. cn
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 762