USA > New York > Madison County > History of Madison County, state of New York > Part 12
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1867
Alfred D. Kennedy, Lenox,
1870
County Treasurers.
Since 1848. [The author has been unable to get this further back.]
Clark Tillinghast, Morrisville,
elected Nov. 1848
Lyman M. Kingman,
1851
Henry F. Williams,
«
1860
David F. Payson, Eaton,
1866
Charles T. Bicknell, Morrisville,
1869
District Attorneys.
Daniel Kellogg, Sullivan,
appointed Feb. 30, 1809
Thomas H. Hubbard, Hamilton,
26, 1816
William K. Fuller, Chittenango,
Philo Gridley, Hamilton,
1829
Justin Dwinnell, Cazenovia,
1837
Charles Mason, Hamilton,
1845
Henry C. Goodwin, Hamilton,
elected Nov. 1847
William E. Lansing, Chittenango,
1850
David J. Mitchell, Hamilton,
1853
Asahel C. Stone, Smithfield,
1856
Albert N. Sheldon, Hamilton,
1859
Delos W. Cameron, Cazenovia,
66
I 862
Lambert B. Kern, DeRuyter,
1865
Alexander Cramphin, Morrisville,
1868
State Senators from Madison County.
Sylvanus Smalley, Lenox, Western Dist., 1809-10-II-12
Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville, 1815-16-17-18
Thomas Greenly, Hamilton, 5th Dist. 1823-4-5
Charles Stebbins, Cazenovia, 1826-7-8-9
1854
Alexander M. Holmes, Morrisville,
June 11, 1818
March 26, 1821
15I
MADISON COUNTY.
John G. Stower, Hamilton, 5th Dist.
1833-4-5
Joseph Clark, Brookfield, 1839-40-1-2
Thomas Barlow, Canastota,
1844-5-6-7 1850
Asahel C. Stone, Peterboro, 23d Dist. "
1854-5
John J. Foote, Hamilton,
1858-9
James Barnett, Smithfield,
1 866-7
Members of Congress from Madison County.
William S. Smith, Lebanon, 17th Dist. 1813-15
1815-17
Thomas H. Hubbard, Hamilton,
1817-19
Justin Dwinnell, Cazenovia, 22d Dist.
1823-25
John G. Stower, Hamilton, 1827-29
Thomas Beekman, Peterboro,
1829-31
William K. Fuller, Chittenango, 23d Dist.
1833-35
Bennett Bicknell, Morrisville,
1837-39
Edward Rogers, Madison,
1839-41
Lawrence A. Foster, Morrisville,
1841-43
* Gerrit Smith, Peterboro,
22d Dist. 1853-54
Henry C. Goodwin, Hamilton, fill vacancy, “
1854-55
William E. Lansing, Chittenango,
1861-63
Sidney T. Holmes, Morrisville,
1865-67
Members of Assembly from Madison County.
TOWN OF BROOKFIELD .- Stephen Hoxie, [for Chenango County,] 1803 ; Stephen Hoxie, 1804; Oliver Brown, 1808-9, and in 1816; Henry Clark, 1811 and 1822 ; Den- nison Palmer, 1819; Joseph Clark, 1824 and in 1828 ; John Davis, 1833; Joseph Clark, again in 1835; Wait Clark, 1837 ; Thomas Keith, 1844; John T. G. Bailey, 1848; Dennis Hardin, 1853 ; William H. Brand, 1862 and 1863 ; David L. Fisk, 1870.
CAZENOVIA .- Jonathan Foreman, [for Chenango Co.,] 1801 ; James Green, [for Chenango Co.,] 1803; Luther Waterman, [for Chenango Co.,] 1804 and 1805; Justin Dwinnell, 1820-21, and in 1822 ; Jacob Ten Eyck, 1826; Lemuel White, 1827; John Williams, 1829; Jesse Kil-
* Resigned.
1
William J. Hough, Cazenovia,
66
1845-47
1857-59
Simon C. Hitchcock, Cazenovia,
1821-23
1835-37
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MADISON COUNTY.
bourn, 1833 ; William J. Hough, 1835 and 1836; Simeon C. Hitchcock, 1842 ; Stephen M. Potter, 1846; Thomas O. Bishop, 1850; Thomas P. Bishop, 1857; Lester M. Case, 1858 ; George L. Rouse, 1863.
DERUYTER .- James Nye, 1818 ; Elias P. Benjamin, 1825 ; James Nye, 1825 ; Benjamin Enos, 1834, also in 1839 and 1840 ; Stephen G. Sears, 1845 ; David Maine, 1849 ; Simeon Rider, 1859; Joseph W. Merchant, 1869.
EATON .- Bennett Bicknell, 1812 ; John D. Henry, 1812 and 1813 ; Windsor Coman, 1814 and 1815; Robert Henry, 1831 ; Uriah Leland, 1839; Calvin Morse, 1842 ; Albert G. Purdy, 1857 ; Gardiner Morse, 1866.
FENNER .- Daniel M. Gillett, 1823 ; Herman Van Vleck, 1820 and 21 [for Smithfield]; Daniel M. Gillett, 1832; Sardis Dana, 1834; Ralph I. Gates, 1844; Francis A. Hyatt. 1861.
GEORGETOWN .- Stephen B. Hoffman, 1831 ; William F. Bostwick, 1838 ; Horace Hawks, 1846; John Clark, 1850; Alfred A. Brown, 1865.
HAMILTON .- Samuel Payne, [for Chenango Co.,] 1804; Samuel Payne, 1806; Jonathan Olmstead, 1812 and 1813; James B. Eldridge, 1816, 1817 ; Jonathan Olmstead, 1816 and 1817; Thomas Greenly, 1818 and 1819; Amos Crocker, 1820 ; Thomas Dibble, 1826; James B. Eldredge, 1827 and in 1829 ; William Lord, 1838 ; Seneca B. Burch- ard, 1841 ; Lorenzo Sherwood, 1843; Henry L. Webb, 1852; Gilbert Tompkins, 1855 ; Orrin B. Lord, 1861 ; D. Gerry Wellington, 1867.
LENOX .- Sylvanus Smalley, 1806 and 1807, also in 1808 ; Nathan Hall, jr., 1816; Pardon Barnard, 1822; Thomas Spencer, 1824; Sylvester Beecher, 1827; John Whitman, 1831; Nehemiah Batchelor, 1832 ; Jason W. Powers, 1835 ; Silas Sayles, 1837 ; Daniel Van Vleck, 1841 ; Venoni W. Mason, 1843 ; Thomas T. Loomis, 1846 ; George B. Rowe, 1852 ; Franklin M. Whitman, 1854; Aaron Brush, 1855; John Snow, 1856; Albert G. Purdy, 1862 ; Benjamin F. Bruce, 1867 ; Leonard C. Kilham, 1868 and 1869, and 1870.
LEBANON .- John W. Bulkley, 1808, 1809, 1810 and 1811 ; Curtis Hoppin, 1823 ; Ephriam Gray, 1836 ; Henry Palmer, 1843; Franklin B. Hoppin, 1851; David Clark, 1860 ; Bushrod E. Hoppin, 1867.
153
MADISON COUNTY.
MADISON .- Erastus Cleaveland, 1807 ; Amos B. Fuller, 1810; Stephen F. Blackstone, 1814; Moses Maynard, 1816 and 1817 ; David Woods, 1818; Levi Morton, 1820; Wm. Berry, jr., 1820 and 1821 ; Rutherford Barker, 1823 ; Wm. Manchester, 1830 ; John Head, 2d, 1832; Erastus Cleave- land, 1833 ; Isaac Coe, 1837 ; Daniel Barker, 1840; Geo. W. Taylor, 1847 ; Samuel White, 2d, 1854 and 1856 ; John · W. Lippett, 1864.
NELSON .- Eliphalet S. Jackson, 1816 and 1820; Eri Richardson, 1828 ; Onisemus Mead, 1838; Oliver Pool, 1841 ; Alfred Medbury, 1844; Wesley M. Carpenter, 1868.
SULLIVAN .- Daniel Van Horn, 1808, 1809 and 1810; Zebulon Douglass, 1811 ; Walter Beecher, 1812 and 1813 ; David Beecher, 1814 and 1815 ; Solomon Beebe, 1819 ; John Knowles, 1828; William K. Fuller, 1829 and 1830; John B. Yates, 1836; Friend Barnard, 1839 ; Job Wells, 1842; John I. Walrath, 1845 ; Peter Van Valkenburg, 1847 ; George Grant, 1848; Jerius French, 1851 ; Robert Stewart, 1858; Daniel F. Kellogg, 1864; Robert Stewart, 1867.
SMITHFIELD .- Elisha Carrington, 1814; Nehemiah Huntington, 1825 and 1826; John M. Messenger, 1830; Daniel Dickey, 1840; Robert G. Stewart, 1849; James Barnett, 1860 ; Caleb Calkins, 1866.
STOCKBRIDGE .- Henry T. Sumner, 1834; William Smith, - 1845 ; Marsena Temple, 1853; Noah M. Coburn, 1859; Alvin Strong, 1865.
DELEGATES TO CONVENTION TO REVISE CONSTITUTIONS. In 1822, Barak Beckwith, Cazenovia ; John Knowles, Chit- tenango ; Edward Rogers, Madison. In 1846, Benjamin F. Bruce, Lenox ; Federal Dana, Fenner. In 1867, Lester M. Case, Cazenovia ; Loring Fowler, Canastota.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS FROM MADISON COUNTY. President, James Madison, 1808 ; William Hallock. Presi- dent, James Madison, 1812; Thomas Hubbard, Hamilton. President, James Munroe, 1820 ; Elisha Farnham. President, Zachery Taylor, 1848; Oliver Pool, Nelson. President, Abraham Lincoln, 1860; John J. Foote, Hamil- ton. President, Abraham Lincoln, 1864; Robert Stewart, Chittenango.
154
MADISON COUNTY.
MADISON COUNTY COURTS.
The first Court of Record held in Madison County, was a Court of General Session, " holden at the School House near David Barnard's in Sullivan, on Tuesday the 3rd day of June, 1806. Present-The Honorable Sylvanus Smalley, Peter Smith, Edward Green, Elisha Payne and David Cook, Esquires and Judges.
Grand Furors :- Lemuel Kingsbury, gentleman, fore- man ; Samuel Thomas, Elisha Carey, Oreb Montague, Joshua Herrington, Rufus Pierson, John Needham, Wil- liam Whitman, Joel Doolittle, George Ballou, Ebenezer Johnson, Abner Badger, Aaron Putney, Samuel Griggs, Phineas Dodge, David Barnard, Jacob Patrick, Elisha Starr, David Woodworth.
"John Matteson and Daniel Barber, constables to wait on the Grand Jury."
" The Grand Jury, after retiring and finding no present- ments, returned and were discharged by the Court.
The Court adjourned without day. A. B. Sizer, Clerk."
The October term of this court, the same year, was held at the School House near the house of Elisha Payne in Hamilton. Present-The Honorable Peter Smith, Elisha Payne, Edward Green and David Cook, "Esquires and Justices of the Peace." William Hatch was appointed crier of the Court. "Ordered that this Court adjourn to the meeting house and convene forthwith."
Grand Furors :- Stephen F. Blackstone, foreman ; John Hoxie, Stephen Crumb, Daniel H. Coon, Paul Palmer, Seth Holmes, Thomas Leach, David Walters, Edward Newton, Samuel McClure, Levi Mantor, David Peebles, Ezra Fuller, Richard Butler, Oliver S. Wilcoxon, John Shapley, William McClenathan, Archibald Bates, Isaac Warren, Caleb Allen, Joseph Cooley, Ebenezer Corbin, Samuel Howard and David Barber.
It was-"Ordered, the seal procured by the Clerk, with the device of suspended scales, beneath which a sceptre lying horizontally, entwined by a serpent, a star in the center of the whole, and the whole encircled with ' Mad- ison County, incorporated in 1806,' be, and it is hereby the seal of this Court." No further business of any note was transacted at this term.
155
MADISON COUNTY.
CAPITAL TRIALS AND CONVICTIONS.
Madison County Oyer and Terminer, July 3rd, 1807. This was the first session of this court held in this county, and was held in the school-house near David Barnard's, in Sullivan. Present, Hon. William W. Van Ness, Judge of the Supreme Court, Peter Smith, Judge of Madison County, Elisha Payne and David Cook, Assistant Justices.
Grand Jurors present, Jonathan Morgan, foreman ; Tim- othy Gillett, jr., Isaac Ingersoll, Isaac Morse, Samuel Thomas, Jabez Abel, Elisha Starr, Timothy Brown, Elisha Farnham, Allen Dryer, jr., Elisha Severance, Dennison Palmer, Samuel Marsh, George Dalrymple, Erastus Cleave- land, Wright Brigham, Daniel Petrie, Abraham Mattoon, Ephriam Bliss, Robert Avery, Barry Carter, James D. Cooledge, John Marble.
It was ordered that this court adjourn to the barn of Sylvanus Smalley, and convene forthwith. The celebrated Hitchcock case was to be tried, hence this order. Griffin Watkins and John Leet, constables, were each fined two dollars for non-attendance ; Eli F. Hill, juror, was fined two dollars for non-attendance. The first indictment, the people against Daniel R. Baxter, for assault and battery, was speedily disposed of, but little action being taken in the case, and the prisoner discharged.
The following indictment was presented by the Grand Jury :
The People agt.
Indicted for
Alpheus Hitchcock.
Murder.
The prisoner plead not guilty. The court adjourned till six o'clock A.M., July 4th. The trial came on July the 4th. Thomas R. Gold was counsel for the prisoner. The petit jurors sworn this day, were :-- Jeremiah Gage, Ebenezer Caulkins, John Anguish, Jabez Crocker, Thomas Marvin, David Barrett, James Tucker, James Gault, Caleb Allen, Amos Hill, John Barber, Joseph Smith.
The charge against Hitchcock was, that he had on the 6th day of April, 1807, procured poison and administered it to his wife, with intent to kill, and which had produced her death in a few hours.
I56
MADISON COUNTY.
The witnesses sworn for the people were :- Prudence Stacy, Elijah Putnam, Samuel Barber, Betsey Barber, Levi Love, Asa B. Sizer, Jonathan Pratt, Ezra Woodworth, Su- sannah Woodworth, Francis Guitteau, Moses Maynard, Wm. P. Simmons, Abraham W. Sedgewick and Lucy Bailey. Witnesses for the prisoner, Isaac Goodsell, Eph- riam Clough, and Jacob Phelps.
The jury returned a verdict of "guilty," whereupon the court sentenced Alpheus Hitchcock to be hung on Friday the ensuing IIth of September, between the hours of one and three. This sentence was carried out, and he was hung in the village of Cazenovia, the gallows being erected at the east of the village, on the present farm of Mr. Parsons. This was the first execution in Madison County. It was made a public affair. Jeremiah Whipple was Sheriff.
[A few days previous to the murder, the great April snow storm of that year had prevailed. The 6th day of April (Sunday) the inhabitants turned out to clear the roads, the storm having ceased on Saturday. Hitchcock was one of the party, helping to clear the roads between where he lived (the Center) and the Corners (Madison Village). Having done their labor, the party dispersed to their several homes ; Hitchcock, however, before going to his, called on the phy- sician at the drug store at the "Corners," and purchased the arsenic with which he that evening poisoned his wife. At ten o'clock that night she lay a corpse in his house. Remembrance of the great storm, and this atrocious mur- der, was ever after associated, and the people called it the " Great Hitchcock Snow Storm." Hitchcock was a singing school teacher, and had fallen in love with one of his pupils, Lois Andrus, and took this diabolical course to rid himself of his wife. When Hitchcock stood upon the scaffold, await- ing the adjustment of the fatal noose, it is said he requested that the hymn, "Show pity, Lord ! O Lord forgive," be sung in his favorite tune, " Brookfield." His wish was granted, and he was launched into eternity.]
TRIAL OF MARY ANTONE.
The records in the County Clerk's Office in reference to this criminal case are very meagre. The name of the mur- deress is given, Mary Anthony instead of Mary Antone. The name of the girl murdered by her is not given. How-
157
MADISON COUNTY.
ever, Mary Antone was tried and hung for the murder of an Indian girl. The records are as follows :
" Madison Oyer and Terminer, convened at the Court House in Cazenovia, on the 27th day of June, 1814. Pres- ent, Hon. Jonas Platt, Justice of Supreme Court ; Peter Smith, First Judge of Madison County Common Pleas. Wm. Hopkins, ) Assistant
Jonas Fay, 1 Judges.
The Trial commenced June 28th.
The People VS. Mary Anthony alias
Polly Anthony.
Jurors Sworn : Reubin Bryan, Artemus Inman, Glover Short, Jesse Taylor, Samuel Chubbuck, Shaler Fyler, Isaac Morton, Eliab Perkins, Jason Leason, Nathan Smith, Ruggles Payne, Russell Barker, 2d.
Witnesses for the people: William Stone, John Myer ; one paper read in evidence [undoubtedly from John Jacobs,] John C. Payne, Joseph B. Peck, Samuel P. Pierce.
Witnesses for prisoner : Adam Jordon, interpreter, Peggy Abraham, Peter Smith.
June 29th, sentenced to be hung on the 30th of Septem- ber, at 10 o'clock, A. M.
Mary Antone was accordingly hung at Peterboro, the 30th day of September, 1814.
Madison County Oyer and Terminer, held at Morrisville, July 2nd, 1823, Judge Williams presiding.
The People VS
Abram Antone.
Judge Jonas Platt and General Joseph Kirkland were ap- pointed by the court, counsel for the prisoner.
Antone was first indicted before the Court of Sessions in 1815, for the murder of John Jacobs.
The following persons composed the jury : Matthew B. Brooks, Oliver Whipple, James Clarke, Stephen B. Hoff- man, Lewis Stanley, Luther Smith, Eben Ayer, Joseph Tucker, jr., Isaac Bumpus, Shubal F. Bunker, Timothy B. Chidsey, Daniel Warren.
158
MADISON COUNTY.
Witnesses for the people : Mary Doxtater, Nicholas Jor- don, Eunice Abrams, Jonathan Buna, Susannah Seth, Jno. Quincy. Witness sworn as interpreter, J. Dana.
Jno. Quincey and Allen Dryer were constables.
The prisoner plead "Not Guilty." The witnesses against him were principally uncultivated sons of the forest. But it was remarked that their testimony was given with a carefulness and precision scarcely to be expected. The testimony was clear and decisive. The counsel rested their defense altogether on this, " that the State of New York has no jurisdiction over the Indian tribes within her terri- tory." The court, however, overruled the objection. The prisoner had always objected to a trial except by his own people. He said he had paid $270 to the different tribes as a ransom, and thought it hard that he should die when he had made his peace with the Indians. Two or three tribes sent in petitions praying for his release, but the Oneidas, of which tribe he was said by some to have been a Chief, neglected it. This was said by some to be owing to the head Chief who was Antone's enemy. Without doubt, the Indians generally would have been glad of his release, though it is certainly a very singular circumstance that the same ones who volunteered in pursuit of him after the mur- der of John Jacobs, and to whom he was always an object of dread and fear, should turn and petition for him. The nations, however, did not generally assent to our jurisdic- tion over them, and they undoubtedly petitioned on thar principle. The murder and the circumstances connected with it, are given in a biographical sketch drawn from a pamphlet published after his execution, wherein is obtained a glimpse of the character of one who was once the terror of all Madison County. The intensity of feeling which this trial produced between the two races, white and red, showed that it involved principles reaching beyond the fact of his having indulged a barbarous nature in destroying a fellow creature. It was the culminating strife between the ele- ments of barbarism and civilization, and became the death struggle of barbarism in this region. (Note a.)
Madison Oyer and Terminer, March 27th, 1839."
Present: Hon. Robert Monell, Circuit Judge of the 6th Circuit ; E. Rogers, B. Beckwith, E. Holmes and H. G. Warner, Esqrs., Judges of the County Courts.
159
MADISON COUNTY.
The People VS Robert Barber on the 30th
Indicted for the murder of
Lewis Wilber. day of August, 1837.
Counsel for the Prosecution : J. Dwinnell (District Attor- ney), B. D. Noxon and T. Jenkins, Esqrs.
Counsel for the Prisoner : J. A. Spencer and A. L. Foster, Esqrs.
The following Jury were empanneled for the trial of the cause : Conradt H. Cooper, Joseph C. Spencer, Ichabod S. Francis, Dyer Saxton, John R. Burdwin, Charles D. Crut- tenden, Bradley Parlin, Thomas J. Whiting, Daison Has- kell, Ethan Bosworth, Benjamin C. Barton, Nathaniel C. Gregg.
Lewis Wilbur was executed at Morrisville, October 3rd, 1839.
Madison Oyer and Terminer.
October 21st, 1853.
The People VS Duane Brown, Att'y for prisoner. John Hadcock.
For the murder of Mrs. Mary Gregg.
Wm. E. Lansing, District Attorney.
Jurors : Wm. R. Spencer, David Irish, John L. Walrath, Silas T. Filer, John Hovey, Lucius Spencer, Frederic H. Way, Adolphus Blair, Hiram H. Merchant, John W. John- son, Jacob Foland, Lewis Hamblin.
Witnesses for the people : Susan S. Gregg, James Low, Ephriam K. Gregg, Julius Treat, Cornelius Antone, Tru- man Benedict, Anson Crane, Jonathan M. Wilson, Mc- Kenzie Sumner, Easton J. Hostler, Frederic Hodges, Ami- deus Hinman, Samuel Barr, W. B. Parmelee, Frederic Snell, Henry Newkirk, Sarah Green, Wm. Page.
John Hadcock was sentenced to be hung December 21st, 1853, between the hours of ten and twelve o'clock, A. M.
There was an effort made through a petition of many persons, including the court which sentenced him, to effect a commutation of punishment to imprisonment for life in the State prison. The opinion being entertained by some that Hadcock was laboring under a species of insanity, and consequently not a fit subject for the gallows, the matter was laid before His Excellency, Governor Seymour, who
160
MADISON COUNTY.
granted a month's stay of proceedings, and advised the summoning of a jury, inquiring into the facts before the Sheriff, to test the question. An order to that effect hav- ing been issued by District Judge Mason and concurred in by the County Judge, S. T. Holmes, the following jury were summoned and sworn, viz : Francis Parsons, Israel Ward, John H. Fuller, Oliver W. Webster, Cazenovia ; Levi P. Greenwood, Joseph G. Norton, Powers R. Mead, Nelson ; Albert G. Purdy, Simeon Graham, David H. Phipps, Eaton ; George Warren, Georgetown, and Henry G. Beardsley, Hamilton. The inquisition commenced its session on the 13th of February, 1854. S. M. Potter, Sheriff, Madison County, presiding. D. Brown, Esq., of Morrisville, and S. B. Garvin of Utica, were counsel for prisoner. D. J. Mitch- ell and H. C. Goodwin, Esqrs., for the people.
John Potter, Jeremiah Cooper, Jonathan M. Foreman, John Gregg, Daniel Gordon, Abraham Gregg, Jeduthan Green, John Green, John Hadcock, Francis F. Stevens, J. M. Wilson, [Charles L. Thompson, Dr. James Moore and Dr. Franklin T. Maybury, were witnesses sworn.
After the examination of these witnesses the case was submitted to the jury, who, after deliberating on it two hours, returned saying they could not agree, and were dis- charged. The jury stood seven for, and five against the in- sanity of the prisoner. The Governor offered a further re- spite, if the District Judge should order another jury. As no such order was issued, the Sheriff was obliged to proceed in his duty, in carrying out the sentence which the court had passed upon the criminal. Accord- ingly the execution took place at a few moments before I I o'clock, on Friday morning of the 24th day of February, 1854.
There has been other murders in Madison County, and some of them have greatly agitated the public mind, but in some cases the supposed murderer has not been convicted, the trial resulting in acquittal. Such was the case in the murder of John Buck of Nelson, the accused bein William Zecker a German.
Other cases, among them the shocking murder of
161
MADISON COUNTY.
Moses Johnson of Brookfield, in which no reliable clue to the murderer or murderers have been found.
Still other cases have resulted in trial, the verdicts being, conviction for the different degrees of manslaughter, punishable by imprisonment in the State Prison, or confine- ment in the Asylum for insanity. The recent case of John Maxwell, who was sentenced to be hung, being of that class. Before the time set for his execution arrived, a petition from the Court which tried him, to the Governor, had the effect to obtain commutation of his sentence to imprison- ment for life, in the Auburn State Prison.
K
162
MADISON COUNTY.
-
CHAPTER III.
BROOKFIELD.
Formation and Geography of the town .- History of the Clinton Purchase of Chenango Twenty Towns .- Incident .- The Carr farm of Edmeston .- Operations of Joseph Brant in this sec- tion in the days of the Revolution .- Stephen Hoxie and Dan- iel Brown, the Pioneers .- Incidents .- Company of Settlers in 1792 .- First mills .- Purchase of Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger and John I. Morgan .- Anecdote of Encounter with a Bear .- Button's Hill Creek .- The Falls .- Romantic Scenery. -Old Family Burial Grounds .- First Improvements .- Early Hamlets in the hill districts .- Home Farm of John I. Morgan. -Babcock's mills .- Unadilla Forks .- Humorous anecdote .- Obituaries .- Sketches of Pioneers .- Leonardsville ; its enter- prises-Clarkville-North Brookfield.
This town was formed from Paris, Oneida County, March 5th, 1795. It originally embraced townships 17, 18 and 19, of Chenango Twenty Towns, and from the date of its formation till 1798 was a part of Herkimer County. From the latter date to 1806, it was a part of Chenango County. The 17th Township was taken off from Brookfield in 1805, to form Columbus, Chenango County.
The town lies in the south-east corner of the county ; is bounded north by Sangerfield and Bridgewater, Oneida County, east by the Unadilla river, south by the Unadilla river and Columbus, Chenango County, and west by the towns of Hamilton and Madison. Its surface is hilly and broken ; it is traversed longitudinally by a succession of ridges almost mountainous in some sections. The high
163
BROOKFIELD.
hills and deep valleys are crossed and re-crossed by roads, the old Skaneateles turnpike passing directly through the town from east to west. Aiming at mathematical direct- ness, this broad highway may be seen from hill-top to hill- top, evading none of the steep passes along its way. It need be no matter of wonder to any one, that Brookfield hills should have gained a notoriety almost world-wide, after having traveled this turnpike. Near the western line of the town, on the north side of this road, towers one of the loftiest summits of the hills, appropriately named "Round Top," from which one of the most extensive views can be obtained, the hills of seven counties rising to the vision. On a clear autumn day, when the keen wind had chased away the obscuring haze, we could distinctly trace with the naked eye the outlines of woodland and meadow which draped the hills of nearly all Madison County, as it lay like a panorama spread out before us. Far to the westward rose some of the lofty peaks of Onondaga, and blue hills of Cortland ; south- ward lay the long range of Chenango's hights ; at the east- ward the summits of Otsego and Herkimer, which, bordering the Unadilla, seemed strangely near ; while at the northward, some of the villages in Oneida County were, as if uncon- sciously, contributing brilliant settings to the gem-covered landscape.
The Unadilla River is a beautiful stream, meandering through a rich and handsome valley. From the Forks southward, this water was once navigable for canoes. Beaver creek passing nearly through the center of the town, has a considerable fall, and is largely occupied by mill-seats along its whole length. Through the northwest corner of the town passes the most eastern branch of the Chenango. Several smaller streams, tributaries to these, traverse various sections of the town. The deep " Terry- town Swamp," so called, in which the Chenango branch has its rise, covers a portion of the northwest corner, which in the past has afforded an abundance of cedar tim-
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