USA > New York > Madison County > History of Madison County, state of New York > Part 16
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Mr. Clark picked up specimens of dark brown pottery. He adds that " every variety of Indian relic has been found there." One fact which has come to the knowledge of the author may be mentioned. Two cannon balls, of about three pounds each, were found in this vicinity, apparently long imbedded in the earth, indicating that light cannon may have been used, either for defence or in the reduction of this fortification, or both. Mr. Clark says further :
" There is a large rock in the ravine on the south, on which are inscribed the following characters-thus : IIIIIX, cut three- fourths of an inch broad, nine inches long, three-fourths of an inch deep, perfectly regular, lines straight. Whether this is a work of fancy, or of significance, is not known. * ** * * There is a singular coincidence in the location of these fortifica- tions. * They are nearly if not quite all situated on land rather elevated above that which is immediately contiguous, and surrounded, or partly so, by deep ravines, so that these form a part of the fortifications themselves. At one of these, on the farm of David Williams, in Pompey, the banks on either side are found to contain bullets of lead, as if shot across at opposing forces. The space between them may be three or four rods, and the natural cutting twenty or twenty-five feet deep."
However the facts may be, concerning these Indian set-
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tlements, the last of the race who were dwellers of these lo- calities had disappeared before the advent of the white set- tlers in 1792, and all outward marks of their presence have since gradually faded ; and did not the earth, as it is oc- casionally turned to the light by the furrow of the husband- man, yield a memento, oblivion would utterly cover every vestige of their past history.
By the time the Government of New York State had be- come possessed of the lands of the Iroquois, the fame of . their wonderful excellencies had winged its way to the crowded cities of Europe, and men of wealth and high stand- ing caught the spirit of emigration. As soon as they were offered for sale, companies were formed to invest in these lands. In Amsterdam, Holland, one was formed called the " Holland Land Company," its object being to make estab- lishments in the wilds of America. The names of the in- dividuals forming this company were: Peter Stadnitski, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Peter Van Eeghen, Hendrick Val- lenhoven, Aernout Van Beeftingh, Wolrave Van Heuke- lom, and who afterwards, with Jacob Van Staphorst, Christian Van Eeghen, Isaac Ten Cate, Christiana Coster, widow of Peter Stadnitski, and Jan Stadnitski, citizens of Netherlands, were the original Holland land owners. The- ophilus Cazenove was their first general agent to America. He took up his residence in Philadelphia, and through him the celebrated " Holland Purchase " of the Genesee country was obtained.
Under the patronage of Peter Stadnitski, who while liv- ing was the President of the Holland Company, John Lincklaen of Amsterdam, was sent into the United States to explore the new countries, and to make a purchase of a tract of land if he should find an advantageous situation. Accordingly he arrived in Philadelphia in the year 1790, bearing letters of instruction to Theophilus Cazenove. In- spired with zeal for his mission, Mr. Lincklaen, in the month of September, 1792, having completed his preparations
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for a tour in the wilderness, employed two hardy woodsmen to accompany him, and immediately set out, directing his course by the southern route through Scoharie to the Che- nango Twenty Towns; his object being to explore them and the Gore,-contemplating the purchase of the latter and some one of the Twenty Towns.
During his journey, Mr. Lincklaen kept a journal, which has been preserved by his family (having been translated from the French in which it was originally written), in which we trace his journeyings through the pathless forest, and note in his progress his stopping at Hovey's,* at Oxford, from whence the road was being opened to Cayuga Lake. He states that the " surveyors employed by Hovey are Na- thaniel Locke, of Westchester County, and Walter Sabin, who lives on the Susquehanna, near Mercereau's. Each surveyor has with him five men, viz: two chainmen, two markmen, and one to carry provisions. The surveyor, when running the outlines, has $2 per day, and when tell- ing out, $1.50. Each man that goes in the woods, carries provisions for a fortnight or twenty days. Sabin runs com- monly five or six miles a day, Locke eight or ten miles a day. Locke's hands have $10 a month, Sabin's only $8." Here Mr. Lincklaen employed one of Hovey's men, when the party of four started on their westerly route. During the few subsequent days, the party, by zigzag marches, trav- ersed several of the southern-most of the Twenty Town- ships, Mr. Lincklaen making his observations of the soil, its productions, and the climate as far as indications could aid him, with discrimination, noting particular locations with accuracy, entering in his journal the names of the orig- inal purchasers of tracts in the sections he passed through which were already sold, and adding thereto many state- ments which to the seeker after historical facts are regarded as especially interesting. On Monday, the 8th of October, the east line of the Gore was reached, from whence Mr.
*See N. Y. State Gazetteer, pages 229 and 655.
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Lincklaen's course was mainly directed to the northward, exploring thoroughly this, and the townships bordering on the east. With Road Township (the Gore), its handsome valleys and streams, its land of excellent quality, its noble timber, he pronounced himself well pleased.
Mr. Lincklaen's journal tells us that on the afternoon of Thursday, October 11, 1792, he arrived at the foot of the ยท beautiful lake in Cazenovia, where the party encamped for the night. As the result of a reconnoitre he wrote: "The situation is superb, and the lands are beautiful." The re- cord continues : "Friday the 12th .- We journeyed from the lake north and east to the Genesee road, through lands both good and bad, the timber chiefly oak and poplar. We came to Canaseraga Creek, where five German families are settled ; they are poor. On the other side of the creek is the Indian settlement. We went to the house of John Den- ny ; there was no bread, no meat."* John Denny was a tavern keeper among the Oneidas.
Directing his next course through the northern tier of the Twenty Towns, he passed through Sherburne, Che- nango County, where he found one Mr. Guthrie, who had been there three or four months ; thence passed through a corner of Otsego County, and there tarried a season with Louis DeVilliers,; on Aldrich Creek, town of Morris. From this place he set out upon his return journey to Philadelphia via New York, where he arrived after a month's absence, the object of his tour satisfactorily accomplished. Mr. Cazenove was well pleased with his report, and greatly admired the spirit of his enterprising young friend, and the perseverance which enabled one accustomed to the elegan- cies and luxuries of life to endure a protracted tour in the wilderness, with the tent for his lodging place, and bread and pork for his fare. As a result of Mr. Lincklaen's
*This was the year after the breaking up of the homes of the pioneers of Sulli- van, in the history of which town will be found the cause of their destitution.
1See N. Y. S. Gazetteer, page 535.
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explorations, the Holland Company purchased Road Town- ship and No. I of the Twenty towns, (Nelson) the latter containing 20,000 acres of land, which, added to the former, comprised a territory of 120,000 acres, and extended over the present towns of German, Pitcher and Lincklaen, in Chenango County, and DeRuyter, Nelson, and the southern part of Cazenovia in Madison County. Mr. Lincklaen was appointed agent, with an interest in the pur- chase, to settle these lands. The northern part of Cazeno- via was then a part of the Oneida Reservation, and subsequently a portion of Peter Smith's tract .*
During the winter of 1793, Mr. Samuel S. Foreman, to whose narrative we are indebted for much of the material for this portion of Cazenovia's history, became acquainted with Mr. Cazenove and Mr. Lincklaen in Philadelphia, and by them was appointed clerk to accompany the latter into the backwoods, to commence the new settlement. By appointment, Mr. Foreman met Mr. Lincklaen in New York, in April, 1793, where a large assortment of goods, comprising all articles necessary for a settlement, were pur- chased. From here the merchandize was taken up the North River and the Mohawk to Old Fort Schuyler (Utica), and left in the care of John Post, the only merchant then in that place ; Mr. Foreman forwarding only one load to Cazenovia on the first journey out. From here, with the three Jerseymen,-John Wilson, carpenter, Michael Day, mason, James Smith, teamster,-whom Mr. Lincklaen brought with him, having engaged their services for a year, and two waiters, Philip Jacob Swartz, and a large German whose name is forgotten, together with seven more employed for the expedition, whose names were : James Green, David Fay, Stephen F. Blackstone, Philemon Tuttle, David Freeborn, Gideon Freeborn and Asa C.
* About the time of the laying out of the village of Cazenovia, Mr. Lincklaen purchased large portions of the New Petersburgh tract in different sections of the four Allotments, to the amount of upwards of 10,000 acres, which added to the first purchase, constituted a tract of 130,000 acres at that time in his possession.
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Towns, all started to the westward on the newly opened Genesee Road. A few days' provisions were in each knap- sack, each axman with his ax on his shoulder, and a yoke of oxen and a cart loaded with provisions for both man and beast, together with all implements of husbandry and for domestic use which their primitive beginning would require, made up the cavalcade.
The first day they proceeded as far as Wemple's tavern, Oneida Castle ; the next day reached Canaseraga and put up at the tavern of John Denny, a half-breed Indian, who had been a Captain in the Revolution, and spoke good English. The third day the company continued on the Genesee Road as far as Chittenango, where they left it, turning to the south and following the Indian path up the crooked course of the creek, the axmen being obliged to widen the way for the passage of the cart. It was ascer- tained, through the difficulty of ascending the hills, that another yoke of oxen was needed, and forthwith a man was dispatched to Utica to obtain them. With perseverance, however, the next hill top was gained with the one pair by the time night set in, and preparations were speedily en- tered upon for an encampment. A huge fire was soon kin- dled, and the group of stalwart men, cheerful and respectful in the presence of their leader, though sadly wearied, pre- sented what would now seem in that place an unique spec- tacle, as they moved about in the wavering glow of the camp fire. Forth from the knapsacks now came the pork and beans ; and slicing away with their jack knives, a ma- jority of the men proceeded to make a meal. A few, ap- preciating the Indian mode of cooking meat for the more delicate appetite, placed their pork upon the nicely-sharp- ened end of a long stick, and stood patiently roasting it in the fire, while others ate heartily of raw pork and bread sandwiched ; all enjoyed their repast with zest. Tired and sleepy, at last the men arranged their blanket couch upon the earth, the fire at their feet, the trunk of a fallen
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tree at their head, and, it may be inferred, soon sank into profound sleep-dreamless, possibly, unless the bright eyes and rosy lips of some buxom German lass, seen during the journey, may have haunted the slumbers of some one of them ; or, quite as likely, the faint outlines of an unrolled panorama of the land they were just now entering to take possession, exhibiting the wondrous destiny of its future, to be consummated through the instrumentality of those un- conscious sleepers, may have lingered in the oblivious moments of that portion of them whose aspiring natures, when in full consciousness, were prone to part asunder the mists, and behold the possibilities of the far future. How- ever, with the night, fled dreams, if they had them, and all were soon wide awake for the yet-to-be-surmounted obstacles of the present. After a breakfast of bread and pork, Mr. Lincklaen and Mr. Foreman, anxious to complete the jour- ney, started on ahead, leaving the men to follow as soon as they were ready. They kept the Indian path with their one horse (the other being taken by the man who went for the extra pair of oxen), following the custom of "ride and tie,"-that is, one rides a distance, and when considerably in advance of his comrade, dismounts and fastens the horse to a sapling, leaving it for the other to mount when he reaches it, while the former walks on and is overtaken and passed by the latter, who in turn dismounts and walks on ; thus alternating to the end of a journey.
On arriving at the outlet of the lake, they discovered a bark cabin, and some signs of the proximity of white men. There was here a little prairie, called in those days an " In- dian opening," upon which Mr. Lincklaen turned loose his faithful horse, " Captain," placed his saddle, bridle, and port- manteau in the hut, and then with his companion strolled about to view the location. He was delighted with the pros- pect ; waking visions of a brilliant future he surely beheld now. " Here," he says, " I pitch my tent ; here I build my vil- lage." As night drew nigh, three strangers approached the
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cabin, who, after the usual salutations were passed, were found to be Joseph Atwell, Charles Roe and - - Barthol omew, from Pompey Hollow. They were here improving the advantages of a fishing weir, which the Indians had con- structed at the outlet of the lake. When these new com- ers displayed their supper, discovering that our pioneers could not follow suit, they kindly invited them to join in the repast, which consisted of the inevitable bread and pork, and most cordially was the offer accepted.
There were many misgivings as to the delay of the men with the supply cart, for whom they had been anxiously looking some hours ; but not arriving, the two prepared for a less auspicious repose than even that of the preced- ing night. In the weather-beaten hut, with one saddle between them for a pillow, and guarded by their watchful mastiff "Lion,"-" Captain" still feeding on the prairie near by,-John Lincklaen and Samuel S. Foreman slept that night in the future village of Cazenovia. When morning came, no tidings of the men had reached them, and Mr. Lincklaen started back early in quest of the party. About ten o'clock Mr. Foreman concluded to follow, and accordingly saddled the horse and placed the portmanteau thereon, which, though it contained $500 in silver, could not procure him the wherewith to satisfy his hunger. On his way he met Jedediah Jackson and Joseph Yaw, two commissioners sent by a Company in Vermont, to "spy out the land" in Township No. I. They had met Mr. Lincklaen, who referred them to Mr. Foreman to direct them to Nelson. This service rendered, he passed on, and at two o'clock he met Swartz with a budget of food, which greatly rejoiced his physical man. From Swartz he learned that the cart had broken down not far from where they had been left the morning before. Repairs had been made, and with slow progress the party were on their way. With care and painstaking they moved down the uneven slope to the lake; and on the afternoon of the 8th day of May, N
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1793, this little company stopped and pitched their tents a little west of a small ravine, nearly opposite the residence of the late Ledyard Lincklaen, at the south end of the lake.
One of the two tents was fitted up for the convenience of Messrs. Lincklaen and Foreman, the other appropriated to the use of the hired men ; and then plans were laid for the construction of houses. Two log structures were soon built ; one for a dwelling house and store, the other for the hired people. They stood on the south shore of the lake, in what was then the white oak grove, but now one no longer. The aged trees have fallen one by one, till only a single tree is standing, and that bears the marks of decay, sadly reminding us of the grandeur of its fellows. For their noble beauty and lofty bearing ; for their grateful shade in summer heat ; for the many memories clustering about them, these oaks were held in sacred reverence by the members of Mr. Lincklaen's household, and by them have their broken limbs and shattered trunks been fash- ioned into various artistically finished articles for use and adornment, which grace their long cherished home.
" During the two or three weeks subsequent to their arrival, the company managed admirably in household matters without feminine assistance, by having their washing and baking done at Jacob Schuyler's, a German living at Chittenango ; nevertheless, one evening about sunset, on being told that a woman on horse- back was approaching the settlement, all ran out with haste to witness the strange sight; and pleasanter indeed the rough cabins looked when afterwards graced by the presence of wo- man. This lady was a Mrs. Dumont, who with her husband came to view the place, and then passed on to Cayuga Lake.
Mr. Lincklaen had advertised extensively by hand-bills, that he opened these lands for sale on a credit of ten years, with only $10 down on each lot, and interest on the balance to be paid an- nually, with a further condition of clearing ten acres and building a log dwelling on each lot. Nathaniel Locke was employed to survey these lands, which were to be laid out in lots of one hundred acres each. Mr. Lincklaen also advertised that the first ten fam- ilies should have one hundred acres at $1 per acre. This pro- posal brought on that number quite unexpectedly, from between
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Utica and Cazenovia. Some enterprising young people it was said, abbreviated their courtship in order to avail themselves of this offer. The first families came without having first viewed the land or prepared a residence, and the workmen who occu- pied the large tent generously vacated it for their use in common, and went themselves to live in a log house partly finished. The names of the heads of some of these families were : Archibald Bates, Noah Taylor, Benjamin Pierson, Anson Deane, William Gillett and Isaac Nichols. Mrs. Noah Taylor was the first white woman who came to live in Cazenovia. The first birth was a child of Isaac Nichols,-his eldest daughter, Milison,- born at his house on the east bank of Cazenovia Lake, August 8th, 1793. The second child (born in 1794,) was a child of Noah Taylor.
As the settlers increased, many desiring large farms, repre- sented to Mr. Lincklaen that a hundred acres was not enough for a farm, and wished he would run out the land into one hundred and fifty acre lots. This was complied with after reserving two miles across the north end of Road Township. This reservation was afterwards run out into smaller lots of from ten to fifty or sixty acres, for the benefit of the future village."
Road Township was now divided, forming four towns, which Mr. Lincklaen named as follows : First, Road Town- ship, to perpetuate the original name. This town extended from the north line of the reservation (center of Seminary street), southward a distance, to include four tiers of lots in the present town of DeRuyter ; Second, Tromp Township; * after Admiral Von Tromp, renowned in the history of the Dutch Navy, for whom this loyal lover of noble men enter- tained a profound veneration. This Township embraced the remainder of the present town of DeRuyter and six and a half tiers of lots in Lincklaen ; Third, DeRuyter, named in honor of another famous Dutch Naval officer, Admiral De- Ruyter .* This township embraced the south six tiers of lots in Lincklaen, and the town of Pitcher minus the south three tiers of lots. Fourth, Brackel Township, named from Ad- miral Brackel,-also of the Dutch Navy,-which embraced the southern three tiers of lots in Pitcher and all of the present town of German. As an Act of the Legislature re-
*Admirals Von Tromp and DeRuyter were Generals of renown about the middle of the seventeenth century.
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quired a certain amount of population to organize a new town, Cazenovia required a wide territory, to embrace a sufficient number, when it was formed in 1795; conse- quently these first names, given by the proprietor, were dropped after a time, for the first town of Cazenovia in- cluded all their territory. In the subsequent division of towns, Cazenovia embraced Road Township; the name of DeRuyter was transferred to Tromp Township; Lincklaen to the original DeRuyter, and German was substituted for Brackel.
"After the first ten families had received their lands, the price was established at $1.50 per acre. So rapid were the sales, set- tlers even followed the surveyors. As soon as two sides of a lot were ascertained, they would take down the number and hasten to the office to have it booked ; and often a person had to name several lots before he could get one that had not been engaged a few moments before him. At last the press became so great, that it became necessary to suspend the sales for a few days, for fear of mistakes.
A road was opened the whole extent of the purchase, which passed through New Woodstock, Sheds Corners, DeRuyter and the southern towns, to facilitate the opening of the whole for set- tlement. A branch office was opened in connection with a store, twenty-six miles south of Cazenovia, under the care of Adonijah Schuyler, one of the Cazenovia clerks, and Mr. Lincklaen caused the first mills in that section to be built on the Otselic Creek.
A portion of the location for the future village lay, as we have seen, in the New Petersburgh tract. In negotiations with Peter Smith, the desired amount of land to complete the village site was obtained ; and at the north end of Road Township on the east side of the lake, on a point of land bounded on three sides by the lake and its outlet (which soon after its disemboguement takes a northerly direction and runs parallel with the east shore of the lake), the village of Cazenovia was laid out. This was in the summer of 1794. Calvin Guitteau was the person em- ployed to make the survey.
The first sales of village lots were at $5 per acre, with certain conditions to improve by building. The Company built a large, elegant frame house, about fifty feet square and two stories high, and covered the roof with sheet lead ; but after a few years this was taken off, probably because it could not be made tight. This house took fire twice. The second time it was destroyed,
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with a large quantity of elegant furniture. The site was after- wards purchased by Perry G. Childs, Esq., who built upon it. It is now the location of the residence of Sidney T. Fairchild.
The latter part of this summer, 1794, a number of Hollanders came to the settlement on their way to the Holland Purchase. They were Mr. Rossetta (a brother-in-law of Mr. Cazenove), Col. Mappa, Mr. Boon, Mr. Heudekooper, and perhaps some others, Mr. Lincklaen accompanied them on their journey. While they were absent Mr. William Morris came, on his return from the Holland Company's purchase in the western part of the State. While he was staying to rest himself at the Road Town- ship, he was taken sick with what was termed the 'lake fever,' and was for a few days very ill. The country did not afford very skillful physicians at that time, but by the aid of 'Buchan's Family Physician ' and good nursing, he recovered. While in a state of convalescence the subject of the name of the contem- plated village was canvassed ; Mr. Lincklaen had wished to call it Hamilton, as he was a great admirer of Gen. Alexander Ham- ilton's character ; but the settlers in one of the adjoining town- ships adopted that name for their settlement before a decision was arrived at, so it was dropped. On Mr. Lincklaen's return, Mr. Morris told him they had found a good name for the vil- lage ; that they called it Cazenovia, in honor of their respected mutual friend, Theophilus Cazenove. This was cordially ap- proved, and so it was established."
The lake also was named, and in honor of John Linck- laen. On all the early maps the lake bore no other name than "Lincklaen's Lake." In later years, when the village had grown into some importance, it gradually came to be known as "Cazenovia Lake," and more recently the aboriginal name, " Owahgena," has become quite generally adopted by use.
The first ten acre job, of clearing the heavy timbered land, was taken by James Green and David Fay, next to the Cazenove lot on the west side of the lake, on the original Tillotson farm, now owned by Mr. A. Blodgett. The price was $10 per acre with board, and six cents per bushel for ashes cribbed on the job. Wages were then $8 per month and board.
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