History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 89

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 89

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Limestone extends in a generally east and west direction through the central part of the town, and is quarried principally at Montville, both for building purposes and the manufacture of lime. A quarry is worked near the falls at Montville; another at John Cully's brickyard, near that village ; and a third on the farm of Corydon Jennings, a little south west of Mora- via. A highly inflammable carbureted hydrogen gas issues from the flats adjacent to the lake. A sulphur spring which is attracting some atten- tion exists on the place of Newell Selover, on the grist-mill property at Moravia. The soil upon the hills is a gravelly loam, mixed with clay ; in the valleys it is a rich and highly productive alluvium, composed largely of disintegrated slate and limestone.

The Southern Central R. R. extends through the west part of the town, along the valley of the Inlet, and crosses that stream twice within the limits of the town. The town has paid the bonds given to aid its construction ; and the road has had a vast and beneficial influence upon its growth and prosperity.

The population of the town in 1875 was 2,347 ;

of whom 2,218 were native; 129 foreign ; 2, 330 white ; and 17 colored. Its area was 16,982 acres, of which 12,424 were improved ; 2,722 woodland ; and 1,836 otherwise unimproved. Its agriculture is largely devoted to dairying, though it is not as exclusively a dairy town as Sempro- nius or Summer Hill. The number of cows whose milk was sent to factories in 1875 was 458. The number of pounds of butter made in fami- lies was 195,195; the number of pounds of cheese made in families, 525. The number of gallons of milk sold was 7,014. The number of milch cows was 1,519.

The first settlements were made upon the flats, which had been cleared and brought under culti- vation by the Indians, and when first visited by the whites, in 1789, were a rich meadow. In 1789 and '90, they were visited by settlers from other localities for the purpose of obtaining a supply of hay. Among those who came in for that purpose were Jonathan Richmond, Gilbert and Jonathan Brownell of Ledyard, and Gideon Pitts and John Guthrie of Genoa, who, the latter year, planted about eight acres of corn. *

The first permanent settler was John Stoyell, who came in from Connecticut, and at Aurora,

* Gilbert Brownell, in a conversation with Dr. Cyrus Powers, of Moravia, some thirty years ago, stated that he was the first white man who ever passed a night in the town of Moravia. He was directed to the locality by a neighbor who had been on a long chase after a deer and discovered what seemed to be a recently abandoned Indian village, where were the remains of Indian wigwams, some large apple trees, full of small " natural growth " fruit, and thirty or forty acres heavily covered with rank grass. He and a few of his neighbors had brought in with them a few cattle, which they huped to subsist the first winter by browsing on the terminal huds of the trees, which were felled for that purpose, and some of which, espe- cially basswood, yielded a good supply of this food, of which the cat- tle became very fond. About mid-summer he set out for this local- ity, equipped with scythe, ax, blanket and gun. He built a small but of boughs, cut the grass, spread it, and when cured carried it to- gether with a wooden pitchfork cut from a sapling. He subsisted, meanwhile, on small game and fish, the latter caught from the In- let. In about a week he had cut, cured and stacked about three tons of hay. to which the following winter he drove his own and neigh- bors' cattle. That winter he spent about three weeks here fodder- ing cattle. He brought with him plenty of blankets and some pork, bread, flour, etc. He cut down some evergreens and soon had a warm, comfortable hut, the roof and sides of which were wind and snow proof, and the floor covered to the depth of two feet with the smaller branches of the hemlocks and pines.

Cornplanter, a very aged Indian Chief, who lived on the Catta- raugus Reservation and died there about 1830 to '40, well remem- bered an Indian village on the site of Moravia, and said that a few years before the first white settlers came there the inhabitants left suddenly for the west.

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bargained with the agent of Mr. TenEyck, a a wealthy land owner, for one hundred acres of land on lot 83 in Moravia, at one shilling per acre, on which he settled, on the site of the vil- lage of Moravia, in 1790, being piloted thither by John Guthrie. He built his house just in rear of the Masonic Hall. It was a frame structure, but unbraced and was afterward braced by means of planks placed diagonally across the building.

After putting up his house and planting some corn and potatoes, he returned to Aurora, where he saw Mr. TenEyck, who having been informed that Stoyell was a Yankee, a class toward which he had a strong antipathy, ordered the latter to surrender his claim, avowing that no Yankee should settle near his land. But Stoyell, who had made a fair purchase and paid twenty shil- lings to bind the bargain, could not respect so unreasonable a demand ; and TenEyck, on being further informed that Stoyell was just the kind of man who would, by his industry and thrift, en- hance the value of his lands in that locality, sub- ordinated his scruples to the hope of prospective gain, and actually gave him the hundred acres he had bargained for, under promise of using his in- fluence to start a settlement there.

After a year or two Stoyell built a more pre- tentious frame house on the site of the present brick block on the corner of Main and Church streets. This, and three acres of land he traded in 1808 with his brother Amos, for 100 acres near Locke Pond in Summer Hill and $125. He then occupied a little log-house near the store now occupied by Everson and Tuthill ; and after a year or two he built the house now occupied by Thompson Keeler, which stands in rear of the brick house occupied by Wm. E. Keeler, son of the latter. There he died October 23d, 1842, aged 82 years.

Stoyell was an enterprising, business man, and subsequently became owner of the whole of lot 83, half of lot 84, and a portion of lot 93, a part of which cost him from $12 to $20 per acre, includ- ing the valuable mill privilege at Montville. He possessed excellent social qualities, and was re- garded by every one as a friend, and the Indians, of whom a few yet remained in the vicinity, re- spected him. It is related that shortly after his house was built he set out an orchard along what is now known as Mill street. The Indians, wishing to injure a certain person whom they

supposed owned the orchard, maliciously pulled up the trees in the night and hid them under some flood-wood ; but on learning that they be- longed to Stoyell, returned and reset them a night or two after, though but one survived the rough treatment and exposure. He and Jacob T. De- Witt were the first two justices in the old town of Sempronius, both of whom held the office con- tinuously from 1798 to 1803, and the latter till 1805. He was also the first supervisor of that town in 1798.

Mr. Stoyell built the first grist-mill in 1799, at Montville, having previously erected the first saw- mill on the site of the present one at Montville in 1798. It stood a good many years, but was not very accessible, having to be reached by steps down a descent of some ten feet. It was soon after improved in this respect by the addition of a second story, so that a plank was laid from the wagon or sleigh to the upper door of the mill, and the grists carried upon the bridge thus improv- ised. Zadoc Cady dressed the arms and shaft of the water-wheel and helped to put in the run- ning gear to the grist-mill. Stephen Ellis was the first miller. The mill stood a year or more simply inclosed with boards, without a frame, and the bolt was turned at first by hand. Previous to this there was no mill nearer than Paines Creek, about two miles above Aurora, and the device common to new settlements was in vogue, viz : the mortar and pestle, the former consisting of a stump hollowed out by burning, and the latter of a spring-pole. One of these devices was got in operation by Stoyell as early as 1791 or '92, near the Dry Creek bridge ; and a second, a little later, by Moses Little, the latter being made from a white oak stump, and the former from maple. They were used by the settlers ad libitum.

Upon the slab which marks John Stoyell's grave, in the beautiful Indian Mound Cemetery, is this inscription, " The first settler in Moravia 1790." His two children were deacon John Stoy- ~ ell, Jr., and Lois, afterwards wife of Artemas Ca- dy, both of whom are dead. . The former, who was born in Moravia, possessed in no small degree the energy and ambition which characterized his father. In 1831, he espoused the temperance cause ; organized a temperance society, which labored faithfully and successfully for many years; and from that time till his death he was the leader of the temperance party in Southern Cayuga.

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He was a member of the First Congregational Church of Moravia and held the office of deacon therein from 1834 till his death.

His enlistment as a private in Company F., 160th N. Y. Vol. Infantry, and his subsequent death at New Orleans, July 5th, 1863, at the age of 61 years, from disease contracted in the army, were but the sequel to his strong and openly avowed anti-slavery proclivities, which made him an abolitionist when the very name was a re- proach, and led him, at his own personal risk, to feed, clothe and shelter, and often to forward in his own conveyance, the fugitive slave. His children who are living are William and Frances, wife of Joseph Alley, in Moravia ; Mahala, wife of Morris K. Alley, in Locke ; John, in the west- ern States ; and Smith, of the firm of Walley & Stoyell, druggists, in Auburn.

Threeyears after Stoyell's settlement, in March, 1793, he was followed by his brother Amos, Winslow Perry and Jabez Long Bottom. Amos Stoyell was from Voluntown, Connecticut. He disliked the locality and soon after went to Big Tree, near Rochester, where he was sick with fever and agne. He returned here the same year and settled on 185 acres bought of his brother, John Stoyell. His house stood on the site of the residence of Willian Day, in Moravia village. He died there December 24th, 1839. The eldest two of his children are living, viz : Loyal, who was born in Moravia, where he now resides, March 3d, 1803, and Grover S., in Sum- mer Hill. Winslow Perry came in from Spring- field, Massachusetts, and settled at the spring, a little north-west of the depot, on 100 acres given him by a man named DePuy, to induce settle- ment. He was worth $1,500, and was then con- sidered very wealthy. He soon after bought, in connection with John Stoyell, lots 82, 83 and 93, which extended from Grove street east to and including the water power at Montville. To his family belongs the honor of the first birth and marriage in the town. Seth, son of Winslow and Rachel Perry, born in the summer of 1794, was the first child born; and their daughter Sally contracted the first marriage, with Jonathan El- dridge, in 1795. The first death was that of Cynthia A., daughter of Gideon and Hannah Wright, April 5th, 1796. She was buried near the residence of John G. Caldwell. Jabez Long Bottom, who was accustomed to omit the "Long"

prefix, settled on 100 acres on lot 93, on the south line of the town, for which he paid in work to John Stoyell. His house stood a little east of the toll-gate on the Moravia and Milan turnpike, and there he died. He lived to quite an old age as a bachelor, and married the widow Knapp, who had a large family of children, all of whom removed to the Western States a good many years ago. He had no children of his own. He was the song singer of the settlement.

Gershom Morse moved in from the New Eng- land States in 1794, having previously visited the flats and satisfied himself of their desirability as a locality for settlement. He bargained with Jabez L. Bottom for the tract of land just south of the village, including the fair-grounds, with their half-mile track, now occupied by his young- est son, Gershom. There he erected his house, first a log-cabin, then the stately frame now in use. His cabin had but one door, which was upon the south side. He sawed some logs for seats, hung a board to the wall for a table, and turned a hard wood stump into a grist-mill. He became a justice in 1805 and held that office a good many years. His dockets show that he did a thriving business, both civil and criminal.

Mr. Morse died on the old homestead Septem- ber 27th, 1843, aged 75 years. His children were Solomon, Abishai, Rachel Achsah, Orpha, Lucy, Iza Oma, Nc, Gershom P. and Laura; of whom Abishai, a bachelor, and Gershom P. are living on the homestead, Achsah, in the western states, Nc, wife of Seymour Clark, in this County, and Laura, wife of Amaziah Taber, in Sempronius.

Moses Little and Cotton Skinner also came . in from the New England States in 1795. Little bought 190 acres of land on lot 93 of John Stoyell and Winslow Perry. His farm adjoined Morse's on the south; and his house, which was a large one, stood a little east of the house now owned and occupied by Levi Van Etten, near Dry Creek. He died there in March, 1839, aged 82 years. Skinner arrived here on the 8th of March, and built a log house about twenty rods south of the stone grist-mill, very near the site of Curtis Hinman's house on Factory street. He was a shoemaker by trade, but it appears that he did not long pursue that occupation after settling here, for he early engaged in mercantile pursuits. Physically, he was very feeble, being

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consumptive. His capital, too, was limited ; but, although strictly exact in his dealings, by frugality and perseverance, he acquired a large property. May 21st, 1812, he moved into the frame building he had occupied as a store, having lived precisely seventeen years in a log house. He died July 19th, 1824, aged 54 years. In his will he bequeathed a large portion of his prop- erty to the Auburn Theological Seminary. Upon the slab which marks his grave in Indian Mound Cemetery is the inscription, "Erected to the mem- ory of a distinguished benefactor, by the Trustees of the Theological Seminary of Auburn."

In 1796, Samuel Wright came in with his family and built a log house a little north of the farm owned by L. O. Aiken.

The following year the settlements were in- creased by several families. Among these were David and Luther Wright, brothers, from Otsego county, who married sisters, daughters of Justus and Hannah Gibbs, who were early settlers, and the former of whom, in 1806, at the age of eighty years, was making splint bottom chairs in Mont- ville. He used a primitive lathe, with foot-power and spring pole attached. He died April 10th, 1810, aged 83 years. His wife lived to the ad- vanced age of 93 years. She lived to see the fifth generation of her own descendants-the daughter of her daughter's daughter's daughter. The Wrights were masons. David settled first near the meeting-house erected by the Quakers soon after Walter Wood's settlement at Mont- ville, and which is now used as a free meeting- house, there being neither society nor regular pastor. He cultivated a tract of land for several years, and built a house upon it ; but his title proved defective, and he lost the farm with all improvements, together with the money paid therefor. He afterwards removed to the locality of the village. The journey from Otsego county was made with ox teams and occupied thirteen days. He was obliged to ford the lake at Skan- eateles, and carried across in his arms, through two feet of water, one at a time, his mother, wife and child. The latter was Chauncey Wright, father of James A. Wright,* now a prom-

*James A. Wright is the author of Historical Sketches of the Town of Moravia, published in 1874, which, through the kindness of the author, we have laid under contribution in the preparation of this work. In this connection we would also acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. C. O. Roondy, principal of the Union School, at Moravia ; Rev. Chas. Ray, Editor and Proprietor of the Moravia Citizen ; and Mr. Benj. Allee, for information furnished. 77-2

inent lawyer in Moravia. David was well edu- cated, and in his early days spent some time in teaching. He died Angust 17th, 1869, aged 95 years. Luther squatted on a 600 acre tract on lot 71, which was drawn by Peter Havens for Revolutionary services, who settled on it at an early day, and sold it for a nominal sum. The Monroes of Camillus acquired the title to it and ejected the occupants after some twenty years' residence. The Wrights were poor, but respect- able ; and Wm. Alley, who was also a mason, used to say of Luther, who was remarkably happy and contented, that if he died in the winter he died rich, but if in the spring, he died poor, because he would then have consumed the win- ter's stores. Sophia, widow of Isaac Cady, is the only one of David's large family living. Two of Luther's children are living, viz : Levi, in Groton, and Laura, wife of Increase Allen. David Wright kept the first store in town. He opened it in 1800, in a log house, near the Quaker meeting house, on what is known as the Cortwright farm. Chauncey Wright was but seven months old when his father moved into Moravia. He died Jan. 15th, 1872, aged 75 years.

Zadoc Cady, a Revolutionary soldier, came in from the New England States as early as 1795, and settled first near the "pinnacle," in Locke, on the farm owned by the Doan family. He remained there but a short time ; for in 1798 he formed a cöpartnership with Moses Cole and opened a tavern at Montville, in the double frame house erected that or the preceding year by John Bennett. It was the first frame house in Mont- ville, and stood in the yard attached to the present saw mill.

In 1801, Cady removed to Moravia and bought a small tract of land, where the old Cady tavern now stands. There he built a log house, in the front part of which he kept tavern. A few years after he erected the frame building known as " Cady's Tavern," on the same site, which is now and has been for some years occupied as a dwell- ing by the widow of Isaac Cady and her daugh- ter. " This tavern was a general rendezvous, not only for the town's people, but for those of the surrounding country. It was the head- quarters of a militia regiment, which held a 'gen- eral training' on the 'Flats,' which lasted two or three days and as many nights. 'Aunt Cady,' as she was familiarly called, (the wife of Zadoc,) had

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wide-spread notoriety as a cook, and the traveler at any hour of the day or night was sure of a sub- stantial and digestible meal." "Upon the sign used to inform the public of the name of the tavern was painted the figures 1801, the first three `of which were nearly obliterated, so that it was often jocosely remarked that 'Aunt Cady' had kept tavern there ever since the year one." Zadoc died March 6th, 1846, aged 82 years ; and Lucy, his wife, January 21st, 1854, aged eighty-five. None of their children are living. Artemas and Isaac Cady were sons of theirs. The former was a Member of Assembly in 1840; the latter is par- ticularly well remembered for his zeal in the cause of human freedom, religion and temper- ance. He died August 26th, 1864, aged sixty- nine years.

Newman and Noah Cole came in about 1797. The latter lived near the residence of C. S. Jen- nings, where he owned a still. He died March 20th, 1870, aged sixty-nine years. William Everson came in with his father from New Jersey in 1797, and settled on the farm where he lived till 1864, when he removed to Moravia. In 1818, he married Miss Kate Thompson, by whom he raised a highly esteemed and worthy family. He died at the age of eighty. John Summerton, from Stillwater, settled about 1797, on lot 46, in the north-east corner of the town, which lot he bought. He died in 1803, while on the way to Albany with a load of wheat. His children were Phineas, Thomas, Phebe, afterwards wife of Henry Persoll, Jr., and Katurah, afterwards wife of Samuel Royce, all of whom are dead. Their children have left the country.

A man named Bucklin came in as early as 1798, in which year he had a small tan yard near the cold spring on the Morse farm. His princi- pal business was tanning deer skins. In the fall of 1798 the first school-house was built near the residence of Dr. Alley, in Moravia, and a school was taught therein the following year by Levi Goodrich, and the second year by David Wright. David Royce, who was born in New Haven, Conn., November 27th, 1798, came to Moravia with his father in 1800. Thomas and Timothy West, brothers, came in from Saratoga county in 1800, and each bought two adjoining survey fifties. They were Quakers. Thomas settled on the farm now owned and occupied by his son- in-law, Elondo Greenfield, and died there March

9th, 1868, aged eighty-eight. His children were, Clarissa J., afterwards wife of William Titus, and Mary Minerva, afterwards wife of Elondo Greenfield, both of whom are dead. Timothy sold his land to Calvin Curtis, whose son, D. N. Curtis, now occupies it, and removed to Ohio.

Jeremiah Sabin settled at Montville in 1801. He was noted for his large stature and great strength. He and his son Jeremiah and Zadoc Rhodes, Sr., each with his family, occupied that year the Bennett house at Montville, previously occupied by Zadoc Cady as a tavern. Rhodes soon after removed to the brick yard and com- menced the manufacture of brick. The senior Sabin put up the distillery east of the grist-mill. A portion of the walls of the lower story was formed of the natural rock, the rest consisting of laid stone. The upper part was of wood, and was framed. He died August 6th, 1847, aged seventy-five years.

In 1802, Oliver Dake built the red house now standing at the head of the gulf. It is the oldest building in the town of Moravia. In this year, too, James Powers, Sr., and Thomas Hunt were engaged in the tanning business, near the ceme- tery gate ; and Joseph Pierce built the saw-mill at the upper falls of Pierce Creek. It was burned in 1816 or '17. Saturday night, April 25th, 1818, James Powers' two children were drowned.

In 1803, Stoyell deeded to Lemuel Spooner the carding works and turning lathe on the north side of the creek and west of the bridge, at Mont- ville. These were then the only carding works in the south part of the County. Spooner soon after sold them to John Demmon and Benjamin Dexter, by whom they were run as late as 1815. It was in these works that Millard Fillmore learned the trade of wool carding and cloth dress- ing. They were afterwards owned and run by Slocum Smith, who enlarged them and added the manufacture of cloth ; and still later by Christopher Kenyon, - Smith, Joseph Tinker, and lastly by - Simpkins. They were then dismantled, and the building has been used for a lath-mill, planing-mill, and, at the present time, as a barrel factory.

William Alley, a mason, came in from Sullivan county in 1805, and settled two miles north of Moravia, on the farm now occupied by Joseph McClintock. He died in Moravia in 1850, aged

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87 years. Six of his children are living, viz : Dr. Wm. W. Alley, Henry and Phebe, widow of Alanson Barber, in Moravia, and Elias, James and George in Michigan. Daniel Goodrich came in the same year, (1805.) He was an excellent mechanic, and built the Congregational church and several houses in the village. He was father of Daniel, Lyman and James, all men of genius in their way, the latter still living, and grandfather of Franklin Goodrich. He died April 29th, 1855, aged 89 years. His son Daniel died March 28th, 1869, aged 78.

In 1806, Abel Meach built a distillery at the head of the gulf road leading to Montville ; Capt. David Winnie worked at blacksmithing a short time at Montville ; and Edmund Potter kept tavern in the red house in that village. In 1807 or '8, Winnie worked in company with Geo. Taylor in a shop north of the bridge and east of Main street. He had a trip hammer and did general blacksmithing. Taylor was engaged in making steel-yards.

Other early settlers in this town were John Locke, the historian and genius, and one of the first six members of the Episcopal church, who partook of the first communion administered by a minister of that church in this neighborhood, June 24th, 1822, who died many years ago ; Jo- seph S. Fox, whose name is carved on the corner stone of St. Matthew's church as its builder in 1823, and who died long since; Capt. Orrin Standish, who was born in 1801, settled in the north part of the town, where he has since lived, and who, though a cabinet maker by trade, has followed farming to some extent ; Lyman Card, who was born here in 1809, and has been a car- penter for more than thirty years ; Rowland Day, who was the first merchant in the old yellow store in 1810, postmaster for thirty years, super- visor fifteen years, Member of Assembly in 1816 and '17, and a Representative in Congress from 1823-'25 and 1833-'35; Ebenezer Shove, who commenced the tanning business at Montville in 1812, and continued till his death in 1836, in company, a part of the time, with Silas Jones ; and Deacon Josiah Jewett, who came in from Durham, Conn., in 1812, and settled in the vil- lage, where he carried on the business of harness making for several years. He afterwards bought a farm about a a mile west of the village, where C. S. Jennings now lives, and died there Feb-

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History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 89

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