USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 6
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After the close of the Revolution a New England element was rapidly introduced into the Mohawk valley, bringing with it the characteristic thrift and enterprise and push of that people. It was mainly through their influence that the separation of Herkimer from Montgomery county was effected on the 16th of February, 1791. The petition in opposition to the measure was dated December 29, 1790, and was drawn by Dr. William Petry. Among the 400 signatures are found nearly all the old Palatine names.
The first reduction of the originally vast territory of Herkimer county occurred in the formation of Onondaga from it, March 5, 1794. Ham
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HISTORY OF HIERKIMER COUNTY.
ilton was taken off March 31, 1797. The formation of Chenango and Oneida, March 15, 1798 (the latter including Lewis), consumed most of the original territory of Herkimer county till then remaining outside of its present limits, and gave the county its present western boundary. Its north line was established by the creation of St. Lawrence, March 3, 1802; and the present outline of Herkimer county was completed by moving the original eastern line eastward to its present position, April 7, 1817. The county is the longest in the State, the northernmost point of Wilmurt being a little over ninety miles from the southern- most point of Warren.
The court-house and jail for Montgomery county were located at Whitesboro, now in Oneida county, and thus remained until the erec- tion of Herkimer county.
Smarting under the inflictions of the enemy in the Revolutionary war the colonists took prompt steps after the close of the war to organize their militia for protection against future aggression, which proved to be a wise course. In 1786 the local militia of the German Flats and Kingsland districts was reorganized and officered as follows :
Field and Reg mental Staff-Henry Staring, lientenant-colonel; Peter Weaver, major Ist battalion ; Patrick Campbell, major 2d battalion ; John Frank, adjutant ; Melchert Folts, pay master ; William Petry, surgeon.
1st company-Jacob Petrie, captain ; Dederick Petrie, lieutenant ; William Feeter,1 ensign.
2d company -John Meyer, captain ; William Clapsaddle, lieutenant; Henry Frank, ensign.
3d company-Adam Staring, captain ; Ludwick Campbell, lieutenant ; Lawrence Harter, ensign.
4th company-Peter P. Bellinger captain: Jost Herkimer. lieutenant ; Peter Fox, ensign.
5th company- Michael Meyer, captain; Peter F. Bellinger, lieutenant; George Weaver, ensign.
6th company-William Colbreath, captain; Daniel C. White, lieutenant; George J. Weaver, ensign.
Besides the above a company of cavalry was organized, under com- mand of Captain Hudson, of what is now the town of Danube, and after-
"This Witham Fecter was afterwards, in March, 1791, appointed captain in the militia, being Commissioned in two companies, and in April, 1706, was commissioned second major in Jacob Pe- trie's regiment In the following year he was commissioned first major, and in 1798 was commis- sioned 'seutenant-colonel, all these offices being in the Herkimer county militia. He died at Little Fa 011 1844
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wards under command of Peter Young, of Fort Plain, who was suc- ceeded by Captain Wemple, and he by Jacob Eacker, of Palatine. On the 10th of April, 1812, Congress authorized the drafting of one hun- dred thousand men from the militia of the country, 13,500 being the New York quota. A few days later the State militia was formed into two divisions and eight brigades. The Fourth Brigade comprised the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Regiments in the Mohawk valley, and was under command of General Richard Dodge, of Johns- town.
The causes that led to the outbreak of the war need not be cata- logued here. To abolish the repeated violations of the Embargo Act on the Canadian frontier, a regiment of the militia under Colonel Christo- pher Bellinger was stationed, in May, 1812, at Sackett's Harbor and other northern points. Upon the declaration of war in the following month, this body of troops was reinforced from the militia not yet called into service. During the war the militia and volunteers from the Mo- hawk valley were on duty along the frontier, the regiments and com- panies, when their terms of service expired, being replaced by others. Records are not accessible from which to obtain a list of those who served in this struggle from Herkimer county, but previous to 1859 records in the adjutant-general's office at Albany show that about 230 men from the county had presented claims to the State for various equipments furnished by themselves.
With the close of the war the militia returned to their homes and the peaceful arts were taken up. The militia then comprised all able- bodied citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years with certain exemptions. This organization, with minor changes, was substantially continued down to near the outbreak of the Civil War, 1861-5.
With the development of the valley and especially of the rich territory farther west, the necessity of better and more rapid means of transpor- tation of freight and passengers became paramount, and soon led to the construction of the Erie Canal. This great undertaking had been dis- cussed since 1807, and in the following year a preliminary survey was made by James Geddes, of Onondaga. His report was favorable for a canal on substantially the line which it finally followed, and the Legisla- ture thereupon appropriated $3,000 for additional explorations and sur-
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
veys, which were carried out in 1810. The war with Great Britain de- layed the beginning of the work, but it was revived as soon as peace was declared, and in 1817 De Witt Clinton, who was a staunch friend to the enterprise, procured the passage of an act creating a commission to take up the work, and construction was actually begun in the spring of that year. It was more then two years before any part of the canal was ready for use. On the 22d of October, 1819, the first boat, called the Chief Engineer, was launched at Rome, to run between that place and Utica. On the 2Ist of July, 1820, tolls were first levied. In the previous autumn the canal was filled with water from the west to with- in two miles of Frankfort, where a dam was constructed to retain the water while the excavation was progressing eastward. The canal was used between Utica and Little Falls in the fall of 1821, the contractor at the latter point availing himself of the works of the Inland Lock Navigation Company, and that portion east to the Hudson was under contract. In the spring of 1823 the canal was open throughout from Spraker's to the western part of the State, and on the 26th of October, 1825, the great waterway was open from Black Rock at Lake Erie to the Hudson River. On the morning of that day a flotilla of boats started from Lake Erie for New York, in celebration of the event, car- rying the governor, commissioners and others. Cannon had been sta- tioned at intervals along the canal, to be fired when the boats passed, thus notifying the next station that all was going well. One of the guns was planted at Little Falls, one at Herkimer lock, and one on the hill in the present Frankfort cemetery. The flotilla proceeded to Albany, after a passage marked with public demonstrations of enthusiasm along the whole line.
The completion of the canal revolutionized travel and traffic through the Mohawk valley, as it did throughout the State. The Mohawk River and the Navigation Company's canals were abandoned, and an active competition between the old-time stages and the new thor- oughfare sprang up. Travel greatly increased and the eastern mar- kets were made easily and cheaply accessible for the agricultural products of the State, thus aiding in the development of the country. As an evidence of the rapidity with which the canal was brought into use, particularly as regards freight, it may be stated that the num-
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ber of canal boats which arrived in Albany during the season of 1823, was 1,329; during that of 1824, 2,687; during that of 1825 it was 3,336, and in 1826 it was about 7,000. The rate of transportation on the turnpike in 1826 was one and one-half cents per mile ; the rate by the canal was five mills. But it must not, therefore, be inferred that all passengers deserted the stage coaches for the packet boats. The canal passage was still tedious compared with that by land and was chosen by those who desired to lessen the fatigue of a journey ; it was avoided where time was of special account. Merchants, bank- ers and tradesmen, bound to and from the metropolis, lawyers in their journeys to courts, and all who were fulfilling engagements or intent only on business, made use of the stages until after railroads were built.
But a spirit of enterprise was abroad. If the canal had proved itself of such immense importance, still more rapid and extensive transpor- tation facilities would, the progressive people argued, give the rich fields of the Mohawk valley precedence over any other part of the State. When the canal was opened to the public there was not a railroad in America. That was only sixty-five years ago. But the steam locomo- tive was already attracting attention on both sides of the Atlantic. In April, 1826, when the canal was just coming into full operation, a char- ter was granted to the " Mohawk and Hudson River Railroad Compa- ny," to construct a railroad between Albany and Schenectady. It was more than four years before the work was begun under this charter, and in the mean time railroads in other States had been completed, and the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad, chartered in May, 1834, was opened and first operated by steam in 1839. In August, 1830, work was begun on the Albany and Schenectady road, and it was so energetically ad- vanced that in October, 1831, it was finished and carrying about four hundred passengers daily on the average. The road, although crude in its construction, and running so slow that the packet canal boats were strong rivals, was successful, and in 1833 a charter was granted for the Utica and Schenectady Railroad. The line was to run on the north bank of the Mohawk River and the road to be finished within ten years from the date of the charter. Work was begun in the fall of 1834, and in the summer of 1836 the road was completed, and regular traffic was
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
begun on the 2d of August of that year. The event was celebrated by public demonstrations all along the line These railroad lincs, with those running west from Utica, were consolidated into the New York Central in 1853.
While all these added transportation facilities were of great benefit to the State and country at large, it cannot be said that the Mohawk valley shared in it for a number of years after their construction. The lumber interest, perhaps, was extended directly by the canal and rail- roads until a large portion of the county was cleared of valuable timber ; even in recent years the northern parts of the county have found in this industry their greatest source of wealth. But the opening to eastern markets of the rich fields of the so-called " Genesee country " in com- petition with the products of Herkimer and adjoining counties, worked seriously to the disadvantage of the latter, imposing conditions that con - tinued to be felt until the later wonderful growth of the dairy industry.
Meanwhile the county rapidly advanced in all the various institu- tions that constitute the progressive American community. Further town divisions were made, as necessity seemed to demand, Manheim be- ing formed from Palatine in 1817 ; Winfield from Litchfield, Richfield (Otsego county) and Plainfield (Otsego county) in 1816; Ohio from Norway in 1823 ; Stark from Danube in 1828; Little Falls from Fair- field, Herkimer and German Flats in 1829; and Wilmurt from Russia and Ohio in 1836. Schools were established, newspapers published (the first in 1802, followed by three or four others by 1810), churches multiplied, all of which will receive proper treatment in the later town histories.
A reorganization of the Herkimer County Agricultural Society was effected under the act of May 6, 1841. The original society dated back to 1819, and was established under the act of that year which pro- vided among other things the distribution of an appropriation among the counties of the State for the promotion of agriculture through county societies. As far as Herkimer county was concerned, the society was short-lived. Under the reorganization, however, new life was infused into the society ; annual fairs were held, and have continued to the present time, and the interest felt is general and the benefits freely acknowledged. During the early years of the society the grounds used
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were situated on the north side of the road between Mohawk and Her- kimer, on the premises of A. M. Gray ; but in 1874 grounds that were more commodious and convenient were leased from Philip Harter, on the south side of the road and nearer to Herkimer.
In estimating the services of the settlers in the Mohawk valley in the War of the Revolution, it is no more than just to give them, as a whole, a high degree of commendation. Beset on the one hand by emissaries to induce them to give their allegiance to the king, and on the other knowing that almost certainly their homes would be ravaged and their lives endangered if they were true to their adopted country, it is not a marvel that some of their numbers were found among the tories ; it is even a wonder that so few embraced the royal cause It is believed by the best authority that not more than one in twenty deserted the colonists in the struggle.
After the close of the war a large portion of the territory of the pres- ent Herkimer county was forfeited and confiscated, as before related, largely on account of the fact that the Royal Grant and other lands were in possession of the Johnson family. Most of this grant was thus forfeited and vested in the State. The tract of 2,000 acres, also, granted to Guy Johnson in 1765, situated in the present towns of Ger- man Flats and Little Falls, was forfeited. The Herkimer estates for- feited lay in the present limits of German Flats and Herkimer. These various confiscations of lands have been characterized and complained of as wanton, unnecessary and cruel ; but the general concensus of opinion upholds the proceeding as fully justified by the extreme prov- ocation given by those against whom the act was operative.
PERSONAL NOTES OF PALATINE FAMILIES.1
Descendants of a considerable number of the Palatine families are still resident in Herkimer county, as will be seen in these notes. Among such may be mentioned the following: Bowman, Dacksteder (now Dockstader), Felmore (now Fulmer), Herter, Lant (now Landt), Mayor (now Moyer), Orendros and Orendorf (now Ohrendorff), Pears (now Barse), Pell (now Bell), Reckert and Spohn. The families
1 These brief notes are condensed from sketches prepared by the late Judge Benton, and are given space in these pages that they may be preserved to future generations.
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
who became extinct before the Revolution, their lands passing into other hands, were the Beermans, Fellers, Hosses, Korsings, Pouradts, Spies and Veldelents.
Frederick and Anna Mary Pell (Bell) each took one hundred acres of land on the north side of the river in the Burnetsfield grant, near the site of Herkimer village. The family was never very numerous in the county. One member with his son was killed by Brant and his Indians in July, 1778. George Henry Bell married General Herkimer's sister Catherine, and was a man of considerable note during the Revo- lution, commanded a company in the battle of Oriskany and was placed on the pension roll. He had two sons, Joseph and Nicholas, in that battle, the former of whom was killed. Nicholas escaped and was subsequently killed and scalped about a mile from his father's house on the road over Fall Hill. Captain Bell had charge of the escort which carried the wounded General Herkimer from the battlefield and more than thirty miles on a litter. Captain Bell lived on Fall Hill within the limits of the patent granted to his wife's father. He was commis- sioned justice of the peace of Tryon county February 2, 1778, and again in Montgomery county July 8, 1784, and reappointed March 27, 1790. He had two sons and two daughters. One of the daughters married Henry I. Walrad and the other Peter Waggoner. The late Col. Joost Bell was a son of Nicholas.
The Bellinger (or Pellinger) Family .- There were five persons of this name who were grantees under the Burnetsfield patent, two of whom were married women. The name is found among those who volunteered under Colonel Nicholson in the expedition against Montreal in 1711, and down to the close of the first quarter of the present cent- ury the name was a conspicuous one for numbers in the county, as well as the high regard in which some of them were held. In the Revolu- tion they were unyielding in their adherence to the patriot cause. Col. Peter Bellinger, whose regiment was composed of the militia of Ger- man Flats and Kingsland districts, and Lieut .- Col. Frederick Bellinger, of the same regiment, participated in the bloody battle of Oriskany, and the latter was taken prisoner and carried to Canada. Col. John Bellinger was also in the battle as a private. Gen. Christopher P. Bellinger was born in the town of German Flats, and became an exten-
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sive farmer. His homestead was set off into the town of Little Falls when it was erected in 1828. He was many times chosen for the office of supervisor and justice of the peace; was four times elected member of Assembly within fourteen years. In 1821 he was again a candidate for the Assembly and received the certificate of election, but was un- seated soon after the organization of the house upon a technical con- struction of the returns. In the fall of 1823 he was elected to the Assembly, and it devolved upon that body to choose the electors of president and vice-president of the United States, or provide by law for some other method of appointment. General Bellinger was appointed on the committee of nine to which was referred the subject of altering the law prescribing the mode of choosing electors. The resulting bill to that end was, as is well known, defeated in the Senate. This was the last time General Bellinger represented the county in the Legislature. When the war of 1812-15 was inaugurated the general had attained the rank of colonel in one of the county militia regiments, and he was detached by Governor Tompkins to take command of one of the regiments for the defense of the northern frontier and repaired with his command to Sackett's Harbor in May, 1812, where he rendered efficient service. The term of service was three months and at its expiration the regiment was discharged. In the campaign of 1814, Colonel Bellinger made a military tour on the frontier with the patriotic militia of the county. While he had no opportunity of especially distinguishing himself, he was noted as a diligent and prudent officer. Some years after the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He died at Little Falls, without male descendants, and leaving four daughters.
Major Frederick Bellinger was a native of the county. He repre- sented the county in the Assembly in 1836, and was otherwise shown the confidence of the community. He died at Mohawk, leaving de- scendants. The Bellinger family suffered severely during the raids in the valley in the Revolution.
The Keslacr or Casler Family .- This family was, and perhaps now is, one of the most numerous of the Palatine families in the town of Little Falls. The name is derived from the two original patentees, Johannes and Nicholas Keslaer, who each drew one hundred acres ; no
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
other lands were drawn by persons of that name. Richard Casler, who died at a venerable age, was with Colonel Willett's party when Walter N. Butler was killed. Before his death he told Judge Benton that he remembered his grandfather, Johannes, the patentee. His father, Jacob, and his uncle, John, were both in the Oriskany battle. A small grist-mill was built on the Casler Creek before the war, which, being stockaded, protected it from being destroyed by the enemy. The Petri and Casler families were connected by marriage. Johan Marks Petri owned lot No. 12, at Little Falls, before the Revolution, and built a small grist-mill in the first place on Furnace Creek. The mill that was burned by the enemy, a relation of which has been given in another place, was on the river, and supplied with water from it.
Frederick Casler, a descendant of one of the patentees, died in Octo- ber, 1849, and his father, Jacob, died in 1822; John Jacob, the grand- father of Frederick, died in January, 1811. Jacob and George Keslaer were two of the seventeen patentees of Staley's first and second tracts, granted in 1755. Richard Casler, before mentioned, died on the 18th of September, 1855, at the great age of ninety-five years.
The Editch Family .- This name is variously written and printed as Edigh, Edich, Itigh, Ittigh and Ittich. Michael Ittich was one of the volunteers in Colonel Nicholson's expedition in 1711. There were four persons of the name among the patentees, but it is not known which one was the head of the family or how they were related. Michael Itigh was one of the patentees of Cornradt Frank's patent, granted in 1765, and Hans Michael Ittig, jr., and Jacob Ittigh were patentees of Staley's first and second tracts, granted in 1755. The name is still extant in the county.
The Fols (or Folts) Family. - Jacob Fols, a patentee, took lot 3 on the south side of the river and a short distance east of Frankfort village, and Melgert (now Melchert) took lots 2, high and low land, on the north side. Their descendants still live near the original seat. Two of this name (spelled Volts) were first lieutenants in the fourth battalion of the county militia in 1775. Mich. Folts's name is on the roll of vol- unteers with Colonel Nicholson. Warner Folts was a descendant of Jacob Fols, the patentee ; was a member of Assembly in 1824, and a worthy citizen and fariner. Melchert Folts, a son of one of the patent-
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ees, was paymaster of the militia regiment commanded by Col. Henri Staring, 1786; was elected the first town clerk of Herkimer in March, 1789; was also a justice of the peace. He was born May 5, 1746, and died May 2, 1829
The Fox Family .- Christopher Fox was a patentee who took a lot in the vicinity of the stone church, German Flats, and his descendants still live in the county. Frederick was a son of Christopher ; was a first lieutenant in Captain George Herkheimer's company, Fourth battalion of county militia. In 1786 Peter Fox was commissioned ensign in Cap- tain Peter P. Bellinger's company of Colonel Staring's regiment.
The Helmer Family .- The name of Helmer is still found in Herki- mer and adjoining counties. Of the six patentees of the name in the grant of 1725, two were married women whose husbands were then liv- ing. Philip and Frederick were probably children of the other grantees. Lendert Helmer, one of the original patentees of Burnetsfield, was also grantee of lots 13, 21 and 38, in the grant of 1739, called Glen's pur- chase. John Adam Helmer, with two others, was sent to Fort Schuy- ler on the day before the Oriskany battle to warn Colonel Gansevoort of General Herkimer's approach. Captain Frederick Helmer, of Col- onel Peter Bellinger's regiment, was killed at Oriskany. John Helmer has already been mentioned as one of the four men sent out to watch Brant's movements at Unadilla, and was the only one of the four to re- turn, the others having been killed. The family of Burnetsfield patent- ees were Palatine immigrants, but whether of the party of 1710 or of I7II, is not known.
The Erghemar (or Herkimer) Family. - This family early exhibited evidence of wealth and thrift far ahead of any other of the Palatine set- tlers in the erection of fine stone dwellings and the possession of broad domains purchased after the Burnet grant. Jurgh, Johan Jost, Mada- lana and Catharine Erghemar were each patentees under the Burnets- field grant. One hundred acres on the south side of the Mohawk was allotted to each of them. Judge Benton could obtain no reliable in- formation as to Jurgh, or George, Herkimer, and moreover asks the question : " Was the Catharina named in the patent and who drew lot No. 5, on or near which the former county poor- house was erected, the wife of Johan Jost ?" adding, " If Jurgh and Johan Jost were not
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HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
brothers, the conclusion seems to be that Johan Jost, subsequently known as Hanyost Herkimer, the elder, was the son of Jurgh. If Johan Jost was married in 1725, the date of the patent, he probably had no children to whom lands could be granted according to its terms. The fact is well known that lands were granted to children whose fathers and mothers are named as patentees. Madalana and Catharina are not described as married women, and may have been sisters of Hanyost the elder ; if this be the true solution of this matter, they probably died unmarried, or sold their interest in the lands allotted to them, for we find some of the same lands in the possession of Hanyost the elder, in April, 1771. This Hanyost left a grandson, born in October, 1751, who was the issue of his second son, Henry."
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