History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 64

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 64

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The Southern Central Railroad crosses the north-east and south-east corners of the town.

The population in 1875 was 1,213 ; of whom 1,009 were native ; 204, foreign ; and all, white.

The town covers an area of 11,463 acres ; of which 10,002 are improved ; 821, woodlands ; and 640, otherwise unimproved.

It is well known that this section of country was the favorite hunting ground of the Cayugas, who, at the completion of the federation of the Five Nations, were designated as a "people whose habitation is the ' Dark Forest,' and whose home is everywhere," and were denominated the fourth nation, " because of superior cunning in hunt- ing."* But there is evidence that the territory embraced in this town was vested with more im- portance than attaches to their temporary en- campments while on fishing and hunting excur- sions. When the first settlers came in there was a fort, round in shape, and inclosing about two acres, on the farm of Michael Madden, near the center of the town. In 1814, after having been plowed for successive years, the embankment was too high to be driven over. Adjacent to the fort human bones have been exhumed, evidently those of Indians.

Settlement was commenced in 1790, by Eze- kiel Crane and his son Shadrach, from New Jer- sey. They located on lot 2, in the north-west part of the town, a little south-east of the locality

*Clark's Onondaga, Vol I, p. 28.

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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

early known as the Ward Settlement. The fact of Crane's being the first settler is noted on the tombstone erected over his remains, on the farm on which he settled. The Cranes sold the farm to St. Clair Smith, and removed to Michi- gan about 1823. It is now owned by William Fowler. Shadrach Crane and Hannah Palmer contracted the first marriage, and Ezekiel Crane was the first child born in the town.

In 1796, Isaac Barnum, Othniel Palmer and son, from Connecticut, and Israel Clapp, from Massachusetts, settled on lot 16; Wm. Duvall and James Leonard, from New Jersey, the former on lot 2 and the latter on lot 4 ; and Jonas Ward and his son Caleb, from the same State, on lot 92. Barnum came in with his family, and located about three-fourths of a mile west of Throops- ville, where Morton Hosford now lives. He lived in the town many years. Palmer moved with his family to Wayne county. Prentice, his son, built the first saw and grist-mill, in 1798. Clapp settled a little east of Barnum, where Wyatt A. Benham lives. He was a farmer and weaver, and had a large and respectable family. He was also an inn-keeper. He built and kept the first inn in 1800. He died some twenty years ago on the old homestead, where his wife also died. His daughter, Mrs. Cook Tyler, is living in Port Byron. Duvall came in with the surveyors and settled with his family on the Mur- dock farm, in the north-west part of the town. He removed to Port Byron, and subsequently to Campbell's Island, in Seneca River, which he bought some forty years ago, and where he died and is buried. James and Manasseh Leonard, Giles and Wm. Meads, brothers, and Joseph Far- rand, settled near Duvall very early. Farrand moved in with his family from New Jersey, and settled in the north-west part, on lot 13, on the farm now owned by Wm. Fowler. The family removed to Michigan about the same time the Cranes did. The Wards settled on the farm now owned by Chauncey Carrier and gave the name to the locality known as the Ward Settle- ment. Stephen Ward, a son of Jonas, is now liv- ing in Mentz.

Christopher and Rev. John Jeffries, from Sara- toga Springs, settled in 1799, at Throopsville, where the former kept a hotel for many years, and where he died and is buried. John Jeffries was one of the first ministers in the county. He

ministered to the spiritual wants of the people in all this section of the country. Settlements were made the same year by Ephraim Wethey and Manonah Clark. Wethey located near the center, on lot 4, his land bordering on the creek. He was from Dutchess county, and kept a hotel a good many years in the house now occupied by Jeremiah B. Clark, where he died some thirty- five or forty years ago. Chauncey and Erastus Wethey are his grandsons. The former is the present (1879)Supervisor and is living in the north part of the town. The latter lives in the south part of Mentz. Manonah Clark was from Oneida county. He settled a little west of the center, on lot 4. He was the maternal grandfather of General John S. Clark, a civil engineer of Au- burn, and the first Supervisor of Throop.

Dr. Joseph Clary settled at Throopsville about 1800. He was the first physician there, and practiced' in the village till his death in 1863. David and Amos Codner settled the following year a little west of Barnum, on lot 14. Some of their descendants are still living there.

In 1802, Younglove Manrow moved in with his family from Sharon, Conn., and settled on lot 6, on a tract of 400 acres, which he took up and cleared. He built a cloth-dressing establishment at a very early day on Cold Spring Brook, on the site of the saw mill owned by Martin Van Aken, and pursued that business for several years. He subsequently erected a saw-mill on the same site, which has long since gone to decay. He died about 1831, and is buried on the old homestead. Myron C. Manrow, his youngest child, who is living in the northeast part of the town, near the old homestead, is the only one of his children liv- ing in the town ; though numerous descendants of the Manrow family are living in the same lo- cality. Younglove Manrow, Jr., who was born in Sharon, Conn., and was ten years old when his father moved in, lived in this locality till his death, August 17th, 1865, aged 73 years.

Mr. Myron C. Manrow relates that there was a deer-run across the hill in this vicinity, and that one winter, soon after his father settled here, sixteen deer were driven into the latter's barn in one drove, the sharp crust upon the snow mak- ing it difficult and painful for them to proceed.

Benjamin and David Horton, Ira Hopkins, Moses Treat, and his son, Chester, settled in this locality soon after the Manrows. John and Ben-

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TOWN OF THROOP.

jamin Waits, brothers, also settled in the north- east part, on the farm owned by Otis Ingalls. John kept a store in the village at an early day, in the house now owned by the Raymond family and occupied as a dwelling. It is a double house. He kept store in one end and lived in the other.

John and Samuel Gilmore, brothers, and Jo- siah Andrews, their brother-in-law, moved in from Utica, March 24th, 1809, and settled a lit- tle south of the Ward Settlement. Jane, Rob- ert and Samuel Gilmore, children of John, came in with their father. All occupied the same house. William Gilmore, a son of John, is now living in the town of Montezuma.

Joseph Hadden came in with his family from Greene county, in February, 1813, and took up one hundred acres on lot 95, where his son Jo- seph now lives, and where he died in 1824. He bought of a family named Belden, who came in about the beginning of the present century, and had erected a log house. John and Lemuel Bel- den, says Joseph Hadden, were then engaged in cloth-dressing in Throopsville. Elizabeth, daugh- ter of the elder Hadden, (late Mrs. Robert Grif- fin,) lived on the same lot, just north of her brother, and died there at an advanced age, Feb- ruary 28th, 1879, and was buried from the house in which she had resided over seventy years.

William Bell came in from Herkimer county, May 31st, 1814, and settled in the north-west part, on lot 3. He brought with him his wife, Mary, and four sons, Thomas, who is now living in Sen- nett, Samuel, living in Sacramento, California, Wil- liam, living in Montezuma, to which town he re- moved in 1860, and John, who lives on the old homestead in Throop.

Amos Cowell came in from Bern, Albany county, in the fall of 1814, and settled on lot 96, in the north-east part of the town, on the farm now owned by the widow of John Sittser. In 1817 he removed to the town of Cato, locating on lot 20, on the farm now owned by John Smith, where he died in 1860, over eighty-seven years old. He came with his family, consisting of nine children, six of whom are living, viz : Samuel, in Weedsport, aged seventy-nine, to which village he removed from Cato in the Spring of 1864; Deborah, now Mrs. Augustus R. Brooks, in Weedsport ; Elizabeth, widow of William Au- mock, in Cato ; Abigail, widow of Samuel String- ham, in Lisbon, Michigan ; Joseph, in Weeds-

port ; John, in Conquest ; and Amos, in Orleans county.

The first school was taught in 1800, by Ed- ward Carpenter.

The officers elected at the organization of the town were : John S. Clark, Supervisor ; Milan McCarthy, Clerk ; Orin McCarthy, Collector ; John H. O'Hara, Henry S. Macy, Peter Sittser and Morton Hosford, Fustices ; Alex Knox, Chester Treat and Don C. Wiggins, Assessors ; Irvin D. Remington, Abram Mead and Thomas J. Manro, Commissioners of Highways ; Philip A. Manro and Joseph H. Hadden, Overseers of the Poor; Orin McCarthy, Franklin Schuyler and John Worden, Constables ; Francis A. Hopping, Benjamin H. Barber and Burton B. Tyler, In- spectors of Election.

The present town officers (1879,) are: Chaun- cey J. Wethey, Supervisor ; William B. Smith, Clerk; David M. Horton, John Bell, Philo Sweet and John S. Manro, Fustices ; John S. Eckert, Commissioner of Highways ; Michael Madden, Overseer of the Poor; Frank Chase, Ethan Bell and Amos B. Wiggins, Town Audi- tors; James H. Webster, Frank R. Schuyler and Israel Petty, Inspectors of Election ; William D. Hilliard, Collector ; Allen Hutchinson, Joseph Dolan and Wallace Worden, Constables ; Ira Hopkins, Assessor ; Martin Van Aken, Excise Commissioner.

THROOPSVILLE.

THROOPSVILLE (p. o.) is pleasantly situated on Owasco Outlet, a little south-east of the center of the town. It is distant three miles north of Auburn and about five miles south of Port Byron, with both of which places it is connected by daily stage, thus bringing it within easy com- munication with the direct line of the New York Central Railroad at the latter place, and with the old branch of that road and with the Southern Central at the former. It is surrounded by rich and productive farming lands, which are settled by a class of people whose surroundings evince a fair degree of thrift and culture. The Outlet furnishes abundant water power and ample facilities for manufacturing, but being off the line of both railroads and canals, those facilities are but partially utilized.

Settlement was commenced on the site of the village in 1799, by Christopher and Rev. John

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THROOPSVILLE.

Jeffries, as previously detailed. Dr. Joseph Clary settled here the following year. William Ran- ney and a family named Winchell were early set- tlers near Throopsville.

The village contains two churches, (Baptist and Disciples,) a union school, two stores, three grist-mills, a creamery, two blacksmith shops, (of which Warren House and Isaac M. Slater are the proprietors,) one carriage shop, (of which Wm. B. Smith is proprietor,) and a population of about 200.

MERCHANTS .- The first merchant was Luther Harden, who opened a store in 1804. John Waits and a man named Madison were early mer- chants at Throopsville.

T. J. Manro, one of the present merchants, commenced business four or five years ago, hav- ing previously lived in the town some thirty years.

The other merchant is E. C. Lathrop, who commenced business in Throopsville October Ist, 1876.

MANUFACTURES .- The manufacturing inter- ests of Throopsville are of considerable import- ance, though one of its chief industries was lost by the suspension of operations in the spring fac- tory in the summer of 1877. Messrs. Lewis & Co. were engaged several years in the manufac- ture of springs, in a building which stands close to the upper bridge crossing the Outlet, and which was erected some twelve years since, on the site of one used as a fork manufactory, which was burned two years previously.

The present manufacturing establishments consist of three grist and flouring-mills and a creamery, which latter, until the present year, was occupied as a cheese factory.

Daniel and Frederick L. Neyhart, under the firm name of D. Neyhart & Co., are proprietors of the mill on the lower dam, which was built in 1853, (on the site of one erected some sixty years since,) by Daniel and Joseph Neyhart, from Auburn, where the latter has always lived. It is a wooden structure, sixty-five by forty feet, with three stories, besides basement and attic. It contains four run of stones, and has a capacity for merchant work of one hundred barrels of flour per day. The motive power is furnished by water from the outlet, which has here a fall of twelve feet. Joseph Neyhart maintained his connection with the firm, which then consisted

besides himself of Daniel Neyhart, about four or five years, when he withdrew, and Frederick, the latter's son, was admitted to partnership.

Llewellyn Smith and John Priest, under the firm name of Smith & Priest, commenced busi- ness May Ist, 1878, in the mill at the middle dam, which affords a fall of ten feet. The mill was built in 1822. It is constructed of wood ; is three stories high ; and contains four run of stones.

Wyatt A. Benham is proprietor of the grist and flouring-mill at the upper dam. The mill, which is built of wood, was erected on the site of a cider-mill and distillery built by Geo. Hines, and taken away in 1875. It is three stories high, and contains four run of stones. There is a small saw-mill attached to it which was built by a man named Dodge. The motive power is supplied by water from the Outlet, with a fall of ten and one-half feet. Enoch Van Aken is the miller.

THE THROOPSVILLE CHEESE MANUFACTURING COMPANY was incorporated January 16th, 1864, with Erasmus Atwater, Ulysses A. Wright, Jas. M. Clark, Morton Hosford, Thos. J. Manro, Don C. Wiggins and Milan McCarthy as Trustecs, and Ulysses A. Wright as President ; Milan McCarthy, Secretary ; and Don C. Wiggins, Treasurer.

The present officers are, Morton Hosford, President ; Milan Mc Carthy, Secretary and Treasurer ; who, together with John H. Corwith, Lansing Hopkins and Chas. A. Clary, are the Trustees.

January 18th, 1878, the factory was rented to Wm. W. Gustin and John J. Brown, who con- verted it into a creamery. It receives the milk of about one hundred cows, and is supplied with pure spring water, which is conducted to it from some distance by means of a pipe.

PHYSICIANS .-- The first physician at Throops- ville was Dr. Joseph Clary, who located there in 1800, and practiced there till his death in May, 1863. Lewis McCarter was another early phy- sician.

The present physicians are Byron E. Osborn, allopath, and Wm. M. Guinn, homeopath. Dr. Osborn came here from Missouri, in 1867, im- mediately from the army of the south-west, un- der General Scofield, having served as surgeon since near the beginning of the war. The doc- tor, though comparatively young, came to this

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place, the home of his wife's relatives, purposing to retire from practice ; but severe losses by fire soon after his settlement here, made it necessary for him to resume practice.

THROOPSVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH. - Among the first settlers of the town were numbers of staunch Baptists, who came, with warm hearts and willing hands, to labor or sacrifice for Christ. In 1803, the interests of the cause and the in- crease in population seemed to demand a new and separate organization, and accordingly forty members were dismissed from the Third Church in Aurelius, and on the 20th of October in the same year were constituted the Baptist Church in Fefferson. Their first meeting as a Church is supposed to have been held at the house of Asa Palmer, October 27th, 1803, at which time they fixed the time and place for their Church and covenant meetings, and adopted measures to se- cure the labors of Elder Silas Barnes as a tem- porary supply. At the next meeting, held at the house of John Jeffries, November 27th, 1803, they elected their first officers, Israel Clapp and Wm. Montgomery being chosen deacons. The latter was also made clerk. At this meeting they " voted to raise six dollars to defray expenses," this being the first sum raised for this purpose.

During the first few months they were unable to establish regular preaching, but depended mainly on occasional visits from Elders Irish, Barnes and French. In 1804, one of their num- ber, John Jeffries, was licensed to preach and elected pastor. He was ordained by a council convened for that purpose October 24th, 1805, at the house of Philip King, in King's Settlement, now Port Byron.

The relation thus happily formed, continued twenty-seven years.

In 1806, they enjoyed their first revival, which resulted in the addition of thirty-one to their number. In 1808, the Legislature having changed the name of their town from Jefferson to Mentz, the name of the church was changed to The Baptist Church in Mentz.

January 19th, 1809, the church sustained a se- vere loss in the death of Deacon William Mont- gomery.

In 1810 another revival was experienced, which resulted in the addition of ninety-eight members.

In 1812 and 1813, similar revivals were expe- rienced, which resulted in the addition of thirty-

three the former year, and thirty-nine the latter. In 1818, another marked revival occurred, by which 125 were added to the church by baptism, forty-four of whom were heads of families, and twenty-four by letter and restoration, making a total gain of 149, and a total membership of 337.

Up to this time their meetings had been held in school-houses, private houses and barns, which, with the large accessions to their numbers, were too circumscribed for their further use. They, therefore, determined to erect a suitable place of worship, and for this purpose a lot was purchased near the village, upon which was erected a com- modious house, covering an area of 61 by 44 feet.

From this period until 1827 the church en- · joyed continued prosperity, experiencing in 1826 another revival and an addition of forty-two to their membership.

About 1830 Elder Jeffries, together with thir- ty-nine brethren and sisters, were dismissed from this church to constitute the Second Church in Mentz (now Port Byron,). The remaining fif- teen years of Elder Jeffries' labors were spent mostly with the churches in Port Byron and Mon- tezuma, both of which were formed from men- bers dismissed for that purpose from the church in Throopsville.

By the loss of Elder Jeffries and the division in the church, caused by the propagation of " Campbellism," the church was exceedingly dis- heartened, and for a time serious thoughts were entertained of a disbandment of the society ; but good friends came to the rescue and another pastor was secured.

In August, 1830, Elder Noah Barrell visited this people, and was happily settled as pastor of the church. A revival was now commenced in which forty-eight were received by baptism and letter, and the church began to regain that strength, influence and ability for usefulness, which had seemed forever lost. Elder Barrell continued his labors four years. He was suc- ceeded in 1855, by Elder N. Card, as a tempo- rary supply, and in 1836, by Elder H. B. Fuller, as pastor.

During the second year of Elder Fuller's pas- torate a revival occurred, which resulted in the addition of twenty-seven to their numbers ; and a valuable addition was made to the church prop- erty by the purchase of a parsonage, including

ARD CASTNER

RICHARD CASTNERIS

RESIDENCE OF RICHARD CASTNER. TOWN OF THROOP, CAYUGA Co. N.Y.

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CHURCHES- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

ten acres of land, at an expense of $1,400. Hav- ing continued his labors about two and a half years, Elder Fuller resigned and was succeeded by Noah Barrell, the former pastor, during whose three years' labors ninety-two were added by baptism and letter. The next pastor was Elder E. Miner, who commenced his labors in the spring of 1843, and continued two years, during which forty-nine were added by baptism and twenty- one by letter. Elder Miner was succeeded by Elder O. Montague, in the spring of 1845. He remained till the spring of 1847, and during the two years of his ministry fourteen were added by baptism and seven by letter.

Elder A. Russell Belden entered upon his labors as pastor the third Sabbath of April, 1847. Under his ministry, up to 1850, seventy-three were received to membership. He was suc- ceeded by Elders Crandall, H. C. Hazen, Wil- liam Phillips, William P. Decker and Thomas Goodwin, the latter of whom became the pastor in 1863. During his pastorate some twenty were added to the membership by baptism. He was succeeded in 1866 by Elder B. Morley, who remained till September Ist, 1867, and was suc- ceeded by Elder Edgar E. Smith, during whose pastorate the church was in a prosperous condi- tion and received as members by baptism six- teen at one time and two at another. The next pastor was Elder G. B. Downey, who com- menced his labors in 1876 and left the same year. Elder Edward T. Fox, the present pastor, en- tered upon the duties of his office in 1877. The church edifice was repaired in 1877, at a cost of about $600. It will seat 1,000 people. *

THE CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST was organized in 1836, with sixty-five members, who withdrew from the Baptist church in Throop by reason of a difference of opinion upon doc- trinal questions and questions of church polity. Prominent among the original members were Jo- siah Sherwood, Thomas D. Foster, Israel Clapp, Simeon Mott, William Allen, D. C. Goodrich, G. McCarty and Hiram McCarty. They held meetings in a select school-house on the farm of Israel Clapp, in this town.

In 1841 the church divided by unanimous consent, and those living in Auburn held their meetings there. The remainder reorganized and

in 1851 built a house of worship, at a cost of $1,800. The present number of members is fifty ; the attendance at Sabbath School, sixty.

SOCIETIES .- Union Grange of Throop, No. 70, was organized in 1873, with Wilber F. Treat, as Master; Egbert Hadden, Overseer ; Morton Hosford, Chaplain ; H. H. Treat, Secretary ; and John Corwith, Treasurer. The presiding officers are : - - Townsend, Master; Milton Manro, Secretary ; John Corwith, Treasurer; Morton Hosford, Chaplain ; - - Ford, Overseer. The present number of members is seventy.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

RICHARD CASTNER.

RICHARD CASTNER was born in Seneca coun- ty, N. Y., December 15th, 1815. His parents settled in the town of Brutus, Cayuga County, his father being a pioneer farmer with a family of thirteen children. It will be reasonable to im- agine that Richard had many hardships to con- tend with. He was the fourth child, and at an early age hired out by the month to work on a farm, his father always receiving his wages, . scarcely allowing him enough to properly clothe himself. Richard finally declined further part- nership on this basis, and accordingly purchased the balance of his minority and started out in the world for himself. He has devoted himself strict- ly to agricultural pursuits, and has been very suc- cessful, accumulating a large fortune. Only in one instance has he been indebted to man for anything, except in the purchase of land.

Mr. Castner is a man of warm, generous im- pulses, and truly can he be called one of nature's noblemen, doing numerous kind acts in a quiet, unassuming manner, never seeking publicity in any way. In politics he is a Republican.

February 19th, 1837, he married Miss Achsah Treat, who was born in Cayuga County, August 22d, 1818. She was the daughter of Mr. Ches- ter Treat, who was born in Litchfield county, Conn., in 1792, and with his father, Mr. Moses Treat, emigrated to Cayuga County about 1800, and settled in the town of Throop, and was one of the early prominent citizens of the County. He died in 1843. Mr. Chester Treat was well- known as an active, enterprising farmer. He died September 15th, 1869.

* We are largely indebted for information regarding this Church to the History of the Cayuga Baptist Association, by Rev. A, Russell Belden, its former pastor, published in 1851.

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TOWN OF SENNETT.

CHAPTER XL. TOWN OF SENNETT.

S ENNETT lies about the center of the east border, and is bounded on the north by Brutus, east by Onondaga county, south by Owasco, and west by Throop and Auburn. It was formed from Brutus, March 19th, 1827, and named from Judge Daniel Sennett, a pioneer set- tler. A part of Throop was taken off in 1859, and a portion annexed to Auburn in 1871.

The surface is level or gently undulating, the ridges rising in long, gradual slopes, fifty to one hundred feet above the valleys. The only streams are the headwaters of Bread Creek and Cold Spring Brook, both of which rise in the south part and flow north to the Seneca River. It is finely watered by numerous springs, and it is said that there is scarcely a farm of a hundred acres in the town which has not a living stream running through it. On the farm of Joseph Price, about two and one-half miles south-west of Sennett, are three springs of clear, cold water, which issue from the limestone rock in sufficient- volume to propel three run of stones. These springs propelled a grist-mill at an early day, which is said to have been the first grist mill in the County. It rotted down about fifty years ago.

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History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 64

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