USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 19
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The following interesting and comprehensive account of the place was written by William Hibbard Page in 1874 :
On the 1st day of January, in the year 1828, Eliphalet Remington purchased one hundred acres of land of John A. Clapsaddle, in part the site of the present village of Ilion, being that portion bounded on the west by Otsego street. The canal had been in operation about three years, but the settlement could only boast of seven dwellings, two storehouses and a school-house. The river road (Main street.) came down from Frankfort as it does now, but near the residence of Mr. Albert Baker it crossed the canal on a bridge, which was torn away when the canal was enlarged ; passing down on the north side, it recrossed to the south side of the canal a short distance below the gas works. One of the principal dwellings was the old Clapsaddle farm house, which stood on the premises now occupied by the bank block and the adjacent armory build- ings. Here Mr. Clapsaddle had lived many years, and we are reliably informed that he was born and brought up in this vicinity. Where Small's Hotel now is there stood a building, in the front part of which was the "corner grocery," kept by a man named Cary. Here all the business of the Corners was transacted, temporally and spiritually. Groceries, dry goods, etc., and intoxicating liquors made up the stock in trade. Daniel Dygert, father of our townsman, J. M. Dygert, occupied a portion of the same build- ing as a dwelling. Just west of this, and where the last named gentleman now lives, was the residence of his uncle, Dennis Dygert. This gentleman owned a storehouse, which stood where Hotaling's block now is. On the site of Long's Hotel (now occu- pied by the Coleman carriage and wagon factory) was the farm house of Selden Mor-
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gan, who also owned a storehouse near where the steam mill now stands. Still farther west and near the creek, was the residence of Adam Steele. The school-house was lo- cated on the site of Long's barn, near the old feeder, but was afterward moved to about half way between Dennis Dygert's storehouse and the bridge first mentioned. Opposite this bridge, and close to the towpath, was the "Seth Curtis House," occupied by Mr. Lawrence Helmer, which is still standing, and is distinguished as the old brown tenement, third building east of the Agricultural Works; farther to the east was the residence of Esquire Helmer. This property was afterwards bought of Mr. Harter by William Jinks, inventor of the Jinks carbine, who erected a new dwelling in the place of the old one ; and later it passed into the hands of Esquire Rasbach, by whose family it is now occupied. Such was Ilion in 1831; and these eight families consisted of less than forty persons. From 1830 to 1843 the settlement was called Remington's Cor- ners by the residents, and generally known as snch by the inhabitants of the surround- ing country. On the canal hst, however, it was designated as Steele's Creek, probably after the stream of water which now flows through the center of the village, and which took its name from the fact that Mr. Steele had lived for many years where the creek passes under the canal. During all this time there was no post-office at this point, and the villagers received their mail through the office at Mohawk and others in the im- mediate vicinity. This was a source of great annoyance to them, as it was very incon- venient to go or send from two to ten miles to get letters and papers which might be brought almost to their very doors. In 1843 the place had materially increased in size and population, and had become a point of considerable interest. The manufacture of fire-arms was then in its infancy ; indeed, Mr. Remington's principal business was the manufacture of gun barrels, which were sold to gunsmiths and to large manufacturing houses in distant cities. At this time the necessity for a post-office had correspond- ingly increased with the prosperity of the Corners, and became the principal topic of conversation in the stores, shops, and firesides as well. But to get an office there must be a name by which to call it. As many as thirty different names were proposed. This was at a time when villages were being named after the most prominent states- men of the nation, and as there cannot be two post-offices of the same name in any single State, nearly all the propositions were dropped and the people of the Corners settled upon two names, Vulcan and Fountain, under one of which they resolved an office should be established. Finally a general meeting of the citizens was called to express their views, and to decide by vote which of the two it should be. This meet- ing was held in one of the stores. The result of the vote as announced was that the friends of Fountain outnumbered the Vulcanites nine to one. These were the days of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too !" On the death of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler succeeded to the presidency. and under his administration A. G. Wicliffe was post- master-general. From 1840 to 1844 llon. L. L. Merry was postmaster at Mohawk, and he used to send the mail to the Corners tied up in a handkerchief; frequently there being no more of it than he could hold in one hand. Mr. Benton, of Mohawk, familiarly known as Charley Benton, was member of Congress from this district, and the petition for the new office was placed in his hands. Another petition, from Mr. Merry and the postmasters at llerkimer and Frankfort, was also handed to MIr. Beu-
Eliphalet Remington.
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ton, but was not presented to the department, as Mr. Wicliffe readily granted the office on the petition of the citizens. The friends of Fountain were not entirely satisfied with their choice, although they consented to adopt the name for the want of something better. It had been suggested that the place be named after Mr. Remington, but that gentleman modestly declined the honor. Mr. Benton, however, was so much in favor of the suggestion that after consulting with General Spinner, then cashier of the Mo- hawk Valley Bank, and Humphrey G. Root, by their advice he concluded to change the name, on presenting the petition, which he did accordingly. So this village was called Remington by authority of the government, and one of its most highly esteemed citizens, David D. Devoe, was appointed to be postmaster. As might be supposed, the people were greatly surprised when the papers were received informing them of the change, but they were apparently satisfied. Mr. Remington was displeased. In due time the department sent on a contract for a weekly mail from Mohawk at twelve dol- lars a year ; a mail but once a week was hardly better than under the old system, and a contract at twelve dollars a year nobody would take. For the sake of form, how- ever, and to comply with the requirements of the department, David Harrington was induced to accept it, and the contract was accordingly returned to Washington. This arrangement not being satisfactory to the postmaster or the citizens, Mr. Devoe made a private contract with a Mr. Roarbach to let his (Roarbach's) boy get a daily mail from Mohawk; and it was agreed that in time of unpleasant and stormy weather the official should go after the mail himself. The price of the contract was fifty-six dollars. This sum was the amount allowed by the department, less forty-four dollars, which Mr. Devoe paid out of his own pocket. The office was opened in the store where O. B. Rudd's jewelry store is now located, and it was fitted up with a case of boxes and other fixtures necessary to make it convenient by Mr. Devoe. These cir- cumstances are mentioned simply to show how much interest was felt by our first post- master in the success of his administration, as well as personal expenses incurred by him in supplying Remington with a daily mail, facts not generally known to our citi- zens. So great was Mr. Remington's displeasure at the name of the new post-office that he refused to date his letters at Remington, but dated them at German Flats; con- sequently answers to his correspondence were sent to German Flats post-office, nine miles away up in Paine's Hollow. As a further inconvenience, letters addressed to this place would be sent to Bennington, Vt., Perrinton, N. J., Bennington, N. Y., and another place of similar name in Pennsylvania ; so also would letters intended for those places reach this office, occasioned, of course, by illegible superscription. These cir- cumstances finally became a source of such great annoyance that the people inurmured. About a year after the establishment of the office Messrs. Remington and Devoe be- came satisfied that a change was very much needed. Considerable time was spent by them in searching for an Indian name for some point in close proximity to Remington, but without effect. Failing to find a name which he would be willing to forward on his own responsibility to the department for confirmation, Mr. Remington asked his friend to suggest one, and Mr. Devoe named Ilion, which he had proposed at the be- ginning. At that time there was one other office of this name in the United States, located in l'ipton county, Tenn., but it has since been discontinued. On that account,
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but chiefly because he had been favorably impressed with it in reading Homer's Iliad, did Postmaster Devoe urge the name of Ilion. Mr. Remington was pleased with it, but there was one objection ; he thought that there was somewhat of vanity in taking the name of so important a city as ancient Troy to bestow on such a small and unpre- tending place as was proposed. Concluding that none could be found that would give better satisfaction, these gentlemen sent their petition to Washington, and the name of Ilion was substituted for Remington, without consulting the citizens, which would doubtless have caused delay, and perhaps defeated the object in view. So the stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.
The village was incorporated in 1852, and the first officers were as follow : Trustees, John A. Rasbach, John Harrington, Conrad Folts, Phineas Gates, and Samuel Underwood ; assessors, Jacob Getman, Lawrence Helmer, William J. Lewis; clerk, Eliphalet Remington, jr. ; treasurer, William O. Barnes ; collector, William Breadon ; pound- master, Abraham Fish. In 1866 by legislative act the charter was changed in important matters, making the term of office of the trustees five years, and providing for the election of one only each year. In 1870 the population had reached 2,876, and in 1875 it was a little more than 4,000 ; it is now nearly 5,000.
The fire department was organized in 1863. R. R. Bennet was the first chief engineer, and Alfred E. Brooks and William Kitzmiller, first and second assistants. The present chief engineer is M. M. Kane. The Armory Hose Company was organized in 1863 and was composed wholly of employees in the Remington factories, and chiefly for the protection of those works, the water being taken from pumps. This organization continued until 1870, when the corporation purchased for it a hand engine. The company was then divided, a part retaining the former name and the others assuming the name of Excelsior Fire Com. pany No. 2, and persons outside of the Remington works were admitted to membership. A. H. Sumner was the first foreman of Excelsior Company, and John Irlam and Smith C. Harter, first and second as- sistants.
Ilion Steamer and Hose No. I was organized in 1863, soon after the formation of the Armory Hose Company. It consisted of fifty men, and the first foreman was D. J. Randall. The steamer purchased at about this time and for this company, cost $4,500 ; it was a Silsby rotary. In the spring of 1876 the village purchased two new steamers
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of the Silsby make, at a cost of $4,000 each. The village has always been fortunate in escaping disastrous fires, and the department is now thoroughly equipped after modern ideas.
In 1852 the Ilion Bank began operations under the State banking laws, with a capital of $100,000. The first directors were Eliphalet Remington, Benjamin Carver, Benjamin P. Markham, John P. Sill, George Tuckerman, Vose Palmer, John Ingersoll, Alonzo Wood, Henry L. Green, Peter H. Warren, and Jolin A. Rasbach. Eliphalet Remington was elected the first president ; John Ingersoll, vice- presi- dent; Robert H. Pomeroy, cashier. Mr. Remington held the office of president until his death, and was succeeded by George Tuckerman. The successive cashiers were Frank Carver succeeding Mr. Pomeroy, Le Roy Tuttle, John A. Rasbach, H. H. Devendorf, and Floyd C. Shepard. The bank suspended business in 1866, paying all of its lia- bilities in full.
The Ilion National bank was organized March 14, 1867, with a cap- ital of $100,000. The first president was Jacob J. Folts, and the first cashier, Charles Harter, who was succeeded in the office by F. C. Shepard, and he by David Lewis, the present cashier. The first board of directors was as follows : Varnum S. Kenyon, Alfred E. Varney, William Getman, George Tuckerman, Floyd C. Shepard, Jacob J. Folts, John Hoefler, Henry L Green, Peter Countryman. Philo Rem- ington succeeded Mr. Folts as president of the bank, and Charles Harter, the present president, succeeded Mr. Remington. The excel- lent management of this institution is shown in its condition. Its de- posits now amount to $355,582.62, while it has surplus and profits of over $40,000.
The first attempt to secure for Ilion better educational facilities than were supplied by the common and free schools, was the formation of an association about 1881-2, comprising twenty progressive citizens, who pledged themselves to the payment of $200 each for the establish- ment of an academy. The institution was started, but it did not meet with expected success, and in 1864 it was given up and a graded school established.
In addition to the district school-house then in existence, a com- modious brick building was erected in 1865, at a cost of $23,000. It
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has since been enlarged by an extension of the stone building in the rear, which is used for a primary department. The bounds of the dis- trict coincide with those of the village. This school has been under the care of the Regents of the University for about fifteen years, and the academic class sent out its first graduates in 1873. There are about 1,200 children of school age in the district, and twenty-two teachers are employed, with Judson I. Wood as principal.
Through the inauguration in Ilion of large manufactories, noticed a little further on, the village has grown rapidly and is now a thriving business center. Extensive water works are about to be constructed, for which bonds have been issued and sold to the amount of $95,000. Connection is conveniently made with Mohawk by the street railroad, already described, and with Frankfort by another line which was opened in 1871 ; and a station on the Central road at a distance of half a mile and one on the West Shore still nearer, give the place additional im- portance.
The writer who attempts to make a history of Ilion must give very much of his attention to the founding and growth of the great Reming- ton arms works, which have in recent years passed to other hands. The farm which Eliphalet Remington (senior) purchased in 1816 lay upon the banks of a small stream (Steele's Creek) in the then wilds of Herkimer county, the waters of which have now almost disappeared. Young Remington early showed remarkable mechanical genius, and tradition tells of how he constructed a gun for his own use before he reached manhood, an appeal for one to his father having resulted in refusal. The gunsmith at Utica, to whom the boy's gun barrel was taken for rifling, saw that it was made in an unusually excellent manner and greatly encouraged its maker by his praise. It should be stated that there was a forge of some kind on the Remington farm, which served the boy's purpose in making the gun barrel. When the fame of that first production began to spread, as it soon did, young Reming- ton was called on at first by a few and soon by many others to make guns for them. At first he made only the barrels, but gradually ex- tended his operations to the finishing of the complete guns. Down to about 1831 the work was prosecuted at the home place, and the demand for the Remington barrels and guns far exceeded the capacity of the insignificant works.
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Phlymington
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In 1828 the canal had recently been opened and Mr. Remington in searching for a proper and convenient site for the extension of his works, saw with prophetic eye the possibilities offered at Ilion. He accordingly purchased a large tract of land here and erected his first shop, a low one-story building. Here he carried on his business, which showed a healthy growth. In 1835 he purchased of Ames & Co of Springfield, Mass, their plant of gun-finishing machinery, with a part of an unfinished contract with the United States for some thou- sands of carbines. The works were increased, and before the comple- tion of this contract, the rising establishment was given another for 5,000 Harper's Ferry Rifles ; and still another followed in quick suc- cession. About the year 1840, while the capacity of the works was still insignificant compared to their later magnitude, Mr Remington's sons, Samuel, Philo and Eliphalet, reached manhood and took an active part in the growing business, with the best of results.
In 1847 the firm began making pistols, and so simply and efficiently were they constructed that a large market was opened for them at once. This branch of the business grew to enormous proportions be- fore they took up the manufacture of their well-known army and navy revolver, which was afterwards adopted by the United States govern- ment. For some time previous to 1865 the firm had perfected systemis particularly designed for the conversion of muzzle loaders to breech loaders, in rifles. A carbine embodying the results of their prior ex- periments in this direction was tested among about sixty others by a board of government officers at Springfield in 1865, and attracted con- siderable attention. During the succeeding year valuable improve- ments were made in the system, after which for many years the Rem- ington was the leading breech-loading arm of the world. Many governments in the old world adopted it, while large contracts were filled for the United States, and the gross number manufactured reached much more than half a million. In all of the severe tests made by expert boards for the several governments, including our own, this arm maintained its foremost reputation. So great was the capacity of the new works that in 1870-71, during a period of about seven months, the enormous number of 155,000 rifles was shipped to the French govern- ment -a result altogether unprecedented in the history of similar enterprises.
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In January, 1865, the Remington works were incorporated, with Philo Remington as president; Samuel Remington, vice-president ; Eliphalet Remington, secretary. In 1871 Col. W. C. Squire was elected secretary ; he was a member of the Remington family by mar- riage, and is now United States Senator for the State of Washington. The nominal capital was $1,000,000, while the value of the plant was then placed at $1,500,000. This latter estimate was subsequently in- creased to about $3,000,000.
In 1856 the manufacture of agricultural implements was begun at the armory, commencing with a cultivator tooth, which soon found a large and profitable market. To this was afterwards added plows, mowing machines, wheel rakes, horse hoes, and a large variety of smaller tools. For this department three large buildings were erected, and they em- ployed at one time about 400 men.
In 1870 the firm added to their line of products the manufacture of sewing machines, a branch of the business that soon became as suc- cessful as those preceding it. This step was taken partly because of the fluctuation in the manufacture of arms, much of the machinery be- ing necessarily idle at times. An excellent sewing machine was turned out and it found such favor that the sale reached about 35,000 in a single year.
In 1874 still another important industry was added to these works in the manufacture of typewriters, which have since become almost a household necessity. While this branch of the business was being de- veloped and improved, the firm became embarrassed through causes which we need not enter into here. In 1878, to relieve the financial embarrassment of the corporation, its bonds for over $500,000 having five years to run, were issued to its creditors. In 1882, in order to pro- vide relief and get quicker returns for a part of the vast product of the factories, an arrangement was made whereby the sewing machine out- put was disposed of by the Remington Sewing Machine Agency, a company formed for the purpose of marketing all the machines made at the works. In August of the same year further arrangements to this end were made by which the typewriters were sold direct to the firm of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict, who continued to handle the product of that department until March, 1886, at which time they pur-
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chased the business and machinery and have ever since handled with great success both manufacture and sale of these machines, giving em- ployment at the factory to about 400 men. In 1883 a further arrange- ment was made with Lamberson, Furman & Co., of New York, to handle all the sporting arms. All this served as a relief for a period ; but unfortunately it was not permanent. In March, 1886, the entire typrewriter interest was sold, as above stated, and a part of the works leased in which to continue manufacture. This action preceded the failure of the company only a few weeks, and in April A. N. Russell and Addison Brill, both prominent business men of Ilion, were appoint- ed receivers of the company. They immediately assumed charge of the works and took an inventory as soon as practicable. Their re- port was ready in June. Under order of the court they operated the works until 1888. In October, 1887, they were given an order to sell the works at auction, and the first sale was made in February, 1888, the gun department being sold to Hartley & Graham, of New York, for $152,000. This sale included the armory plant and all the goods in process of completion. The sale was not approved by the court, and a second took place in March, 1888, under which the same firm paid $200,000 for the same property. This firm organized the Rem- ington Arms Company, with Marcellus Hartley as president ; Thomas G. Bennett, vice-president ; W. W. Reynolds, secretary ; Wilfred Hart- ley, treasurer. About 500 hands are now employed in these works, and new lines of manufacture have been added which have greatly in- creased the magnitude of the establishment, particularly the Reming- ton bicycle, which is now occupying a prominent place among the vari- ous styles of popular wheels.
The agricultural works were formerly a co-partnership carried on by Philo and Eliphalet Remington. Charles Harter was made assignee of this establishment and it was sold at auction in the summer of 1887, passing afterwards by lease to the typewriter firm, which has recently become incorporated and purchased the property, while one depart- ment of the original agricultural works is now carried on by A. M. Ross & Co., who make a variety of implements and employ about 80 hands. In the typewriter works about 600 hands are employed and nearly 20,000 machines are made annually. These large industries are of great benefit to the village.
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The Ilion Manufacturing Company was organized in 1886, for the manufacture of knit goods. The building and machinery have recently been leased to the Ilion Knitting Company. About 80 hands are employed, and the product comprises ladies' and men's underwear.
The business now conducted by A. N. Russell & Sons was established by Brill & Russell in 1871, on the site of the present plant. S. T. Rus- sell joined the firm in 1880, the style being changed to Brill, Russell & Co. In 1882 George Russell became a member of the firm and the name was changed to A. N. Russell & Sons. A very large lumber trade is carried on, and also the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, gen- eral interior finishing and boxes. About 40 hands are employed.
Frederick Coleman has been connected with carriage manufacturing in llion since 1875, when he began in a small way. In 1889 the Cole- man Carriage and Wagon Company was organized as a corporation, since which time large factories have been built. Carriages and sleighs of high grade are made, and 75 hands employed. Thomas Richard- son, president; Charles Harter, vice-president ; A. N. Russell, secre- tary; Frederick Coleman, treasurer and general manager.
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