USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 42
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445
TOWN OF OHIO.
but was discontinued in 1888. There is no manufactory in the village at present.
A Baptist church was organized here in July, 1799, under the free will form. It remained thus until May 23, 1850, when it was merged into the close communion form. Elder Benajah Corp was the first preacher. Rev. J. F. Stilwell is the present pastor of the church.
A Union church was built here a number of years ago, and is now used by the Methodist Society, with Rev. Harvey Casler as the pastor.
Following is a list of supervisors of the town of Russia from its or- ganization to the present time :
Amos Reed, 1807-10, 1812 ; Truman Walker, 1811, 1813; Nathan Millington, 1814- 16, 1821; John Graves, 1817-20, 1822-26, 1828, 1834, 1835; Roland Spars, 1827; Edmund Varney, 1829-33 ; Selah Lockwood, 1836-38, 1843-44, 1846, 1848, 1852; Walter Booth, 1839-40, 1842, 1850, 1853; Orson Moore, 1841, 1854, 1859-60 ; Palmer Root, 1845 ; Ambrose Nicholson, 1847; Timothy A. Ferris, 1849; Wilham Robbins, 1851; Isaac Beecher, 1855-56, 1861; Solomon Graves, 1857-58, 1863 65; P. A. Coonradt, 1862; James M. Walters, 1866-68; Clinton A. Moon, 1870-72; Ephraim Wheeler, 1873; Peter Smith, 1874; Wallace W. Moon, 1875-79; Milo Moore, 1880, 1881, 1892; Henry A. France. 1882, 1883; James O. Carpenter, 1884, 1887-1891 ; E. Robbins Reed, 1885, 1886, 1888, 1889; W. C. Benedict, 1890.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE TOWN OF OHIO.
O HIO is one of the comparatively recently formed towns of Herki- mer county, and was taken from Norway on the 11th of April, 1823, when it was given the name of West Brunswick. It retained this name until May 3, 1836, when it was changed to its present title. In the same year a portion of the town was taken off and annexed to Wilmurt. The town is all within the Jerseyfield patent, excepting the triangular portion lying northwest of the West Canada Creek, which is in the Remsenburg patent. The surface of the town is elevated from 700 to 900 feet above the Mohawk River, and is moderately hilly. In the eastern and southern portions the soil is loam and gravelly, and
446
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
good for tillage, while the remainder is sandy and light. The principal streams are West Canada Creek, flowing across the northwest part ; Mount's Creek, crossing near the center of the town in a southwesterly direction ; Black Creek in the southern part, which flows into West Canada Creek five miles above Trenton Falls; Fox Creek in the western part, and other smaller streams. There are several small lakes in the town, among them Mount's, Curtis, Crooked and Round Lakes. A small part of the northeast and northwest sections is still heavily wooded.
This town was settled previous to the Revolution, when it formed a part of the Kingsland district, and was the theater of one of the cold blooded atrocities that marked that period. The first settler was named Mount, but his first name is not now known. He located on pleasantly- situated land on the east side of the stream that has always borne his name, near the center of the town; the property is now owned by George R. Turner. There he had erected comfortable buildings, a saw- mill, fences, etc , gathered stock and planted an orchard. The dwellers in this pleasant home were doomed to suffering at the hands of a re- lentless foe. The father and mother went one day to Little Falls, twenty miles distant, with grain to be ground, returned home and found their two sons dead in the barn, their scalps taken, and a little negro boy, who lived with them, alive and anxiously waiting his master's re- turn. " Mr. Mount came from New Jersey. His secluded position rendered it quite certain, being about twenty miles from the German settlements on the river, that neither he nor his sons participated in the conflict going on between the crown and the colonies, by any aggressive acts against the former, and if he had at any time previously been visited by any of the strolling actors in the bloody drama then being performed, he did not indulge in offensive language, as he seems not to have been molested." 1 Mount's buildings were not destroyed at the time his boys were killed, but later they were burned by some one. A mill, however, that was situated on Mill Creek, a few miles north of Grayville, was burned at that time.2
1 Benton's History of Herkimer County, p. 455.
2 Another version has been given me of this Indian murder by a gentleman who was em- ployed as a surveyor on the tract in 180', and had gathered his information from persons then living near the Mount farm. From this relation the family consisted of Mr. Mount, his wife,
447
TOWN OF OHIO.
It is quite certain, but not now susceptible of proof, that other set- tlers were located in this town previous to the Revolution. The Mount tragedy is supposed to have occurred in the summer of 1782 .- David Thorp moved upon the Mount farm soon after the Revolution and lived there many years; he was father of David, jr., who was member of Assembly in 1832.
In 1790 John Miller settled in this town, and was soon followed by a Mr. Warner, Aaron Thorp, Harmanus Van Epps, and others. The first tavern in the town was kept on the Mount farm by David Thorp.
What is now known as Grayville (or Gray) was first settled on the north bank of the creek in this town by Philo McDonald in 1818. He built a saw mill on the site of the present mill owned by C. B. Gray. He owned the land on that side of the creek, and in 1820 Latham Gray purchased 300 acres on the south side and began improvements. From him the settlement took its name. In 1828 he brought his family to the place and under his energetic labors and the efforts of others who were attracted thither, the hamlet became an active center of business. In 1837 Mr. Gray made for Perry & Swezey, who were then engaged in business at Newport, the first boxes in which cheese was ever sent to the New York market. Mr. Gray opened the first store in the place, where Ira Williams is now doing business. He also gave S. Bullock a lot on which was erected the first blacksmith shop in the vil- lage. W. W. Bullock still carries on business there. The first tavern in the village was built by George Benchley in 1844, on the site of the present hotel kept by Charles Wallace. In 1843 Jeremiah Petrie opened a boot and shoe shop, and in 1853 the present tannery was built by Oliver Harvey and William Ladue. Douglas Bennett was employed in this tannery for a time. The tannery was closed up a few years ago. The first postmaster was William L. Gray, and the present one is Dr. E. Kelly. The mail, which is now received daily, formerly came once a week.
daughter, two sons and a negro boy. Two Indians had been lurking about the place several days, but had not made any hostile demonstrations, as the young men had taken their loaded rifles with them when they left the house, but on the day they were killed and scalped in the barn, they had neglected this precaution. When the report of firearms was heard in the house, the rest of the family fled to the woods and made their way to Little Falls as fast as they could. Mr. Mount did not see his wife and daughter, after leaving the house, until they met at Little Falls. The Indians, my informant says. burned Mount's buildings when they found that the family had left the place. -Benton's Herkimer County, pp. 455-6.
448
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Many other mills have been built in the town at various times. Will- iam Hemstreet, father of John and Samuel Hemstreet, built a saw- mill that is still running between Ohio City and Grayville, on Mount's Creek. Just beyond that is the mill known as the Jacob A. Radley mill, now owned and operated by William Summers ; and between these is the steam mill of Augustus Christman & Son. Their father was John Christman, an early settler in that vicinity. Another saw- mill was built by John Dagenkolb, a mile and a half west of Ohio some fifteen years ago. The saw- mill at Grayville is now run by C. B. Gray.
Ohio City is a hamlet a little west of the center of the town. There is no manufacturing carried on here. Albert Abeel came early to this section and kept a store at Ohio many years ; he died recently and is succeeded by his son J. W. Abeel. Gilbert J Johnson has kept a pub- lic house in a building erected by Albert Abeel in 1840. Abecl was a bright man and an active Republican politician. The father of Gil- bert J. Johnson was Henry I. Johnson, who came here in 1850 and settled two miles east of Ohio, adjoining Cornelius Turner, who was an early settler in that neighborhood. Michael Sweetman was also an early settler in the Turner ne'ghborhood, and died in 1829, leaving de- scendants. Other settlers who should be mentioned are the father of the late Samuel Gibson, who located near the Hemstreet mill; Asa Vickery ; William Coppernoll, whose father, G. A. Coppernoll, was an early farmer of the town; the Willoughby family and others, sketches of whom appear a little further on.
At the present time John Sullivan and Ira Williams are merchants at Graysville, and S. A. Nellis has a grocery at Ohio City. The present postmaster at the latter place is Gilbert J. Johnson.
There are now eight school districts in the town. There was form- erly a German Lutheran church in which services were held a number of years, but they have been discontinued. The Methodist church at Ohio City was organized in 1847, in which movement Jeremiah E. Phillips was prominent. The first trustees were James M. Coppernoll, Reuben 11. Wood, Jeremiah Phillips, Rowland Emery, Gilbert Allen. It was then known as the Union Presbyterian and Methodist church. The Presbyterians do not have services now, although their society is still in existence. Richard Knight was the first Presbyterian pastor, and Al-
449
TOWN OF WILMURT.
vin Robbins the first Methodist, in 1843. The present trustees of the church are George Turner, John Cummings, Lewis Wagner. Rev. H. L. Hastings is the present pastor.
Considerable lumber business is still carried on in the town, mostly in the northern parts. But the chief industry is dairying, one factory being situated near Ohio City, and one just over the line in Norway ; the latter receives patronage from this town.
Following is a list of supervisors of the town of Ohio from its organ- ization to the present time :
J. D. Hemstreet, 1824-25, 1832, 1834; WV. S. Fox, jr., 1826; David Thorp, jr., 1827- 30, 1833; John Paull, 1831; Samuel Reese, 1835; Asa Vickery, 1836, 1839, 1840; 1844 ; Philo F. McDonald, 1837-38; Henry S. Conklin, 1841-42; William Coppernoll, 1843, 1845, 1850, 1853-54, 1859; Albert Abeel, 1846-49, 1851-52, 1855-58; R. H. Wood, 1860-61, 1865; M. L. Wood, 1862 ; Samuel Gibson, 1863-64, 1871-73 ; John Emery, 1866-67 ; William S. Burt, 1868-70 ; H. O. Willoughby, 1874-75; John H. Fisher, 1876-77 ; James M. Brown, 1878-1880; Lewis Lawton, 1881-1884; Thorne E. Curtis, 1885 ; Christopher Wallace, 1886; James Abeel, 1887-1889 ; Firman Ouder- kirk, 1890-1892.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE TOWN OF WILMURT.
T HIS is the largest town in the State of New York and includes the whole north part of Herkimer county. It extends a distance of nearly fifty miles in length north and south, and about sixteen in width. Its boundaries are as follow : Beginning at the southwest cor- ner of the town of Morehouse (Hamilton county), and running westerly on the north line of the Jerseyfield patent until it strikes the West Can- ada Creek ; thence continuing the same course of the Jerseyfield line until it strikes the west line of Herkimer county ; thence northerly on said line until it strikes the north boundary line ; thence easterly along the north bounds of the county until it strikes the northwest corner of the town of Morehouse; thence southerly on said line to the place of beginning. Within these boundaries are all those parts of Remsenburgh and Vrooman's patents, Adgate's Brown's, Nobleborough, Moose River,
57
450
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
and Watson's tracts, and Totten and Crossfield purchase which lie in Herkimer county.
The surface of Wilmurt is rocky and mountainous and a large part of it is unfit for cultivation. In the deep valleys among the mountains are numerous beautiful and picturesque lakes, often connected by streams of pure cold water. The soil is a sandy loam. Numbers one to four of the Fulton chain of lakes are in the town and sources of the Moose River; while Transparent, Woodhull, Bisby and other lakes flow into Black River. These lakes, streams and forests are favorite resorts for the fisherman and huntsman. Trout abound in the pure waters, and deer are numerous in the remote wilderness of the northern parts.
Wilmurt was formed from Russia and West Brunswick (now Ohio) May 3, 1836, when William Baker was chosen supervisor ; he was suc- ceeded in 1839 by David Thorp. There has been only a little public improvement in the town, confined chiefly to the opening of necessary roads and the construction of bridges.
In the year 1790 Arthur Noble, of Scotland, settled on the Noble- borough tract of 40,960 acres in the southeast part of Wilmurt. There he built a saw- mill, and attempted to colonize his land ; but he failed. In 1792 Alexander Macomb, of New York, purchased of the State 1,920,000 acres of land, at nine pence per acre, in the northern part of the State, and in the same year John Brown, of Rhode Island, acquired the title to about 200,000 acres of that purchase, which tract was divided into eight townships, numbered from one to eight. This has always been known as Brown's tract, and it extended into the northern part of Herki- mer county. Mr. Brown visited his lands near the close of the last centu- ry, made some limited improvements by opening roads, building houses and mills, in the hope of finding sale for them. He died before realiz- ing his expectations. A few years after Mr. Brown's death, his son-in- law, Charles F. Herreshoff, visited the tract and made a determined effort to settle and improve it. He cleared about 2,000 acres, repaired the mill formerly built by Brown, erected new mills, including an iron forge, and finally gathered about him thirty or forty families. These improvements were chiefly situated near what has ever since been known as " The Old Forge " in the town of Wilmurt. A little iron was actual- ly manufactured ; but Herreshoff's means became exhausted and his courage failed. He therefore " resorted to the experiment of drawing on his friends in Providence for the needful means to consummate his
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TOWN OF WILMURT.
dearly cherished project. The draft was returned to him protested ; he felt dishonor keenly, and deliberately shot himself through the head." It is probable that Herreshoff was visionary and had poor judgment of business matters. The town as a whole was at that time, and is still to a considerable extent, a rugged wilderness, into which he should have seen the difficulty of building roads, upon which must have depended his success. Nothing but the most ambitious dreams could have kept him at his fruitless and herculean task so long.
After Herreshoff's death the people he had brought to his settlement gradually dispersed, and all the buildings and improvements that had been made went to decay. A large portion of the tract eventually passed to the State for unpaid taxes.
A second attempt was made to settle and improve the Nobleborough tract in 1793, but this also failed. Mr. Benton wrote of this as follows : " The remains of a grist and saw-mill were seen at this settlement about the year 1811 by William Bensley, of Newport. Mr. Noble must have been influenced by a monomania like that of John Brown when he caused a carriage road to be cut and cleared to his lands, over which he passed in his coach. Mr. Noble sojourned for a time at Little Falls while his experiments in the woods were going on, but finally returned to Scotland."
Great hopes have at various times been inspired by the large iron deposits existing in the northern part of this town; but it is now gen- erally admitted that the ore, situated as it is and with a character such as it possesses, will not pay for working. Almost the entire town was formerly a dense wilderness of valuable timber, and much of it still re- mains. The practicability of turning this to valuable account in lumber business long ago attracted the attention of men of means In order that the West Canada Creek might be used for floating logs successfully, the State Legislature appropriated $5,000 many years ago to remove obstructions from its channel, and a heavy lumber business was founded, Gardner Hinckley being foremost in the work. Through this work a large tract of territory in the eastern and southern parts of the town has been cleared of the forest and considerable farming is carried on.
There is a post-office at what is called East Wilmurt, at which J. Edward Spencer Wilkinson is postmaster, and keeps a store. A large mill is operated on the West Canada Creek by the Richard Brothers, and there is a steam mill on the Twin Lake stream.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
There are a number of popular summer resorts within the limits of the town. Mr. Wilkinson, before mentioned, has kept a public house for many years, which is well known over a wide field, and there are others on the lakes in the far northern part of the town. The opening of the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad through Wilmurt in 1892 will doubtless lead to the more active development of this town.
Gang Mills post-office is in the southwestern part of the town and takes its name from the large mills built there many years ago by Hinckley & Ballou (the latter, Theodore P. Ballou, a prominent business man of Utica). The business part of Gang Mills is in the town of Wil- murt, and the remainder in Oneida county. Robert Hall is postmaster there and keeps a store. The opening of the branch of the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad to this point was effected in 1892. The ex- tensive mills are now owned by the Trenton Falls Lumber Company, and are operated for the company by Edward C. Hargraves. The company also keep a store on the east side of the creek. The Metho- dist church here was dedicated in 1873.
Gardner Hinckley came into town early and became conspicuous in the lumber business and was associated with Theodore P. Ballou, of Utica, in the establishment of large sawmills. (See biography in later pages of this work.) Francis Wilkinson was supervisor of the town in 1852, and father of J. E. S Wilkinson, now postmaster and merchant at East Wilmurt. The elder Wilkinson settled in Wilmurt in 1824, on the Noble tract. Edward Fallen settled in the town in 1840 and be- came a prominent lumberman and mill owner, where the Richards Brothers' mill now is. John C. Richards was father of the Richards Brothers (John and William), and settled in Wilmurt in 1865 ; he was a farmer and lumberman, and now lives in Herkimer.
Following is a list of supervisors of the town of Wilmurt from its organization to the present time :
William Baker, 1836-38; David Thorp, 1839; Caleb Walkins, 1840-42-43; Richard Fisk, 1841 ; Gardner Hinckley, 1844-47, 1849-51. 1853 ; William Becker, 1848; Fran- cis Wilkinson, 1852; John M. Lane, 1854-57; Charles Crippen, 1858; George W. Dawson, 1850-61, 1867; Robert Bil'sboro, 1862 63; J. E. S. Wilkinson, 1864-66, 1870-72. 1877; Andrew J. Fonda. 1868-69; John C. Richards, 1873, 1879-80; Grif- fith Evans, 1874, 1881, 1885; Jerry Flansborg, 1875; J. Francis Flansburg, 1878-82- 1891; John M. Richards, 1883 84, 1886 89, 1892; Peter Clancy, 1888; George S. Watkins, 1889; Henry Conklin, 1890.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HON. EZRA GRAVES
Was of early New England ancestry. He was born at Russia in this county December 1, 1803, and was the son of Hon. John Graves, who came to that town in 1795, clear- ing a farm in the " wild woods " and encountering all the hardships of frontier life, till he rose in position to be member of Assembly and then Sheriff, and living to the age of seventy-six. His son Ezra at an early age worked at the trade of tanner and currier, having been employed as such by Abel Munson and Colonel Amos Griswold in Salis- bury, and by other residents of that and the neighboring towns. At twenty-three years of age he was married at Newport to Miss Maria Card. In the year 1827 he with others founded the village of Florence; but soon afterwards he determined to commence the study of the law. He pursued his studies in the law office of General Charles Gray from 1832 to 1835, when he was admitted to the bar and immediately be- gan practice. His first office was that of under sheriff, while his father was sheriff; his second was that of commissioner of deeds; his third that of supervisor of Herki- mer, to which position he was elected in 1840 and re-elected in 1841.
He was then thirty-eight years of age; but so earnest and determined that he soon won a proud position, and in 1845 he was appointed first judge and surrogate. Two years later he was elected to the position, and was repeatedly re-elected until 1856, when Robert Earl was chosen for one term. In 1859 Judge Graves was again elected and served till the expiration of his term, January 1, 1864. In 1866 he was elected member of the Constitutional Convention of this State. In 1872 he was elected on the Republican State ticket as inspector of state prisons. Judge Graves took consid- erable interest in military affairs, and held the office of captain in the Sixty-eighth Reg- iment of Light Infantry in 1827 under Governor De Witt Clinton. In 1843 he was commissioned judge advocate in the Fourth Brigade of Riflemen by Governor Silas Wright, and two years later received a commission for the same office in the Fourth Division of Rifles from Governor William C. Bouck. As a lawyer he was a good speaker, a conscientious adviser and an upright practitioner. During all the years of his judicial life he was honored alike for his ability, his fairness and his good judgment. As a member of the Constitutional Convention he was useful, industrious and devoted to needed reformatory measures. His term as inspector of prisons was filled with in- defatigable efforts for the improvement of discipline, for the reformation of prisoners and for the prevention of abuses; and among the proudest mementoes of his official life
58
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
were the resolutions adopted by the convicts of one of the prisons thanking him for the efforts he had made for their improvement and reform while in confinement.
Judge Graves was a strong man and a good man-strong in his determined will to achieve what he set out to do-good in all that goes to make up true manhood.
He had the courage of his convictions and he dared to act what he believed. When in early life lie recognized the evils of intemperance he stopped absolutely and forever the use of liquors in any form. When in later life he realized the injurious effect of tobacco, he renounced the weed absolutely and forever. We allude to these circum- stances only as illustrative of his great self-control and determination. He believed in these reforms, and always afterwards impressed his sincerity upon his associates, His heart beat for humanity. 1Je was the friend of the oppressed, of the besotted, of the criminal, of his brethren everywhere.
In his home he was loved as only such a man can be. In the village where his man- hood was spent he was public-spirited, generous, abounding in all neighborly kind- nesses, and in all sympathy for sickness and distress.
For many years he was a trustee of Fairfield Academy and of Clinton Liberal Insti- tute. He early united with the Universalist church and became one of its pillars and strongest promoters. He was a member of the building committee of the new church of that denomination in Herkimer and was greatly interested in the success of the en- terprise. His early education was mainly obtained at. Fairfield Seminary, and he al- ways referred to his school days with great pleasure. He was a prominent Mason, being one of the charter members of Herkimer Lodge, No. 423, F. & A. M., and one of its first masters. He died at Ilerkimer on the 8th day of January, 1883, in his eight- ieth year. ITis widow, Maria Graves, died on the 23d day of Angust, 1884.
Of his father's family there is but one survivor, Hon. Solomon Graves, of Russia. Of his own family there remain his sons, General John Card Graves, of Buffalo, and Dr. George Graves, of Herkimer, and his daughter, Mrs. William H. Mayton, who was of late years a member of her father's household.
JUDGE ROBERT EARL
Is a native of Herkimer, in Herkimer county, where he was born September 10, 1824. He was educated in the Herkimer Academy and Union College, graduating in 1845. HIe read law in the office of Hon. Charles Gray, and also in the office of his brother, the late Samuel Earl, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. In 1846 he was elected school superintendent, and in 1849 supervisor of his town. In 1860 he was again elected supervisor, and he has heen president and trustee of the village of Herkimer. In 1855 he was elected county judge of the county, and served as county judge and surrogate for one term of four years. In 1869 he was elected judge of the Court of Appeals, and served as chief judge until July 1, 1870, when the new Court of Appeals by an amendment to the constitution came into existence, and he then became a com- missioner of appeals, and he served as such until July, 1875. In November, 1875, he
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