USA > New York > Madison County > History of Madison County, state of New York > Part 29
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25 do., potatoes one shilling, and butter eight and ten cents per pound, and eggs six cents per dozen, one dollar a week was equivalent to four times that amount now. At a meeting in 1827, where Nathaniel Hazelton was elected Supervisor, and Sardis Dana, Town Clerk, it was voted to "instruct the Supervisor to vote for the erection of a poor house in Madison County, and also to raise our proportion of the money for the erection of the same."
Appellations, familiar to the past, if not to the rising generation, were given some localities ; one of these, in District No. 15, bears the cognomen of "Mutton Hill." Hon. Gerrit Smith formerly owned farms in this district, where he kept large flocks of sheep. It was insinuated at the time, that some of his tenants, in their fondness for good mutton, poached (as had the illustrious Shakespeare before them,) upon their landlord's flocks ; hence the name of Mutton Hill. The "Poor Lot," a tract of land on the hill in the same district, was given by Judge Peter Smith to the town of Smithfield, for the benefit of her poor. On the division of the town, the lot was sold, and the proceeds reserved for the benefit of schools.
Up to 1830, the enterprise of the population was on the increase ; also, the ranks of the people furnished many men of worth and talent, who have achieved success and won honors in public life. The changes which have subse- quently transpired in contiguous parts of central New York, have, however, in a degree, affected enterprise here. The great thoroughfares have enticed the business men to the large towns, where the wealth of the country is concen- trated. By the opening of the Erie Canal, the Chenango Canal and the New York Central Railroad, the bone and sinew of the country were drawn to other avenues of labor, the result of which became evident in the decrease of pop- ulation, visible in every decade from those periods to the present time. In 1810, the population was undoubtedly greater than at the present day. In 1825, there were 1,933
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inhabitants ; in 1830, they had increased to 2,010; but the census of 1865 gives a population of only 1,387. The town of Fenner, we should remark, is not alone in presenting such a record, and it does not seem encouraging, as the ma- chinery of society goes on less spirited. Yet all may be quite as harmonious, and the mass of the people equally as happy. The large farms are growing more handsome in their perfected cultivation, and labor-saving machinery un- complainingly performs the work of the many. We are prone to reflect, however, that inside of the snug farm cot- tages of modern days, we do not hear the merry music, nor see the cheery faces of large families, such as filled the pa- triarchal mansion of fifty years ago. We pause in contem- plating this subject, since our business is to record and not to moralize, as we came very near doing just at this point.
Fenner Corners .- This point, near the center of the town, appears to have been at first designated as the location of the chief village ; here the first enterprises of a centralizing point began, and would have continued, had there been any natural advantages ; but central Fenner being thus ufortu- nate, and only adapted (but that pre-eminently) to farming, it gradually faded as a business center, when the manufac- turing facilities at Perryville began to be developed, and to furnish the nucleus of a village. So Perryville came to be the village of the town. In the days of the Oneida and Cazenovia Turnpike, however, the products of Fenner, transported over that once busy thoroughfare, were chiefly gathered in from the various avenues to the " Corners," which made it, for a time, a lively little village. It had its two taverns, a store, a post-office, various mechanics and a church.
Chittenango Falls is a hamlet situated on the line between this town and Cazenovia. It contains a post-office, store, hotel and church. It is not an early built place of business, the land where it stands having been formerly the farm of Mr. Asaph Hummiston.
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PERRYVILLE
Has derived its advantages from the water power of the Canaseraga. Although the stream here is not large, yet it has a fine fall, and affords several mill sites. As late as 1810, the site of the village was a hemlock wilderness. At about that date, a Mr. Card put up a small grist mill, with one run of stone ; it was situated on nearly the same site now occupied by the mill of Edwin Crosby. Enoch Dyke- man succeeded Card, and was for many years engaged in the business. About 1835, he built the present mill. In 1811, Abram Wendell built the saw mill now owned by Eli Ransom, situated a short distance above the falls. Tyre & Cole opened a store here about 1811; it was located near the bridge ; it has been converted into a dwelling-house, and is now owned by James Robie. Enoch Dykeman built the first tavern ; the same building has since been re-con- structed, and is now a pleasant dwelling-house, owned by Edwin Hamlin. The present tavern was built by Timothy Jenkins, from thirty-five to forty years ago. Alpheus Britt built up the clothing works ; this was for many years one of the prosperous concerns of the village. A Mr. Glass built a small tannery quite early. In 1817, Oren S. Avery, from Morrisville, purchased this tannery of Glass. Mr. Avery was an active business man ; everything in his hands flourished, and his prosperity increased. He built, in addi- tion, a larger tannery and a boot and shoe shop, in both of which many workmen were employed. About 1830, Eli Blakeslee erected a large wagon shop, and afterwards added several other shops, which were demanded by his increased business in the manufacture of vehicles. The Episcopal Church, the main religious society of the place, built a neat and somewhat expensive house of worship. Thrift and en- terprise were manifest on the farms about the village ; in the school, the church, the workshop, progress was the rule. Thus, the generations rising to fill the place of their fathers, enjoyed fair facilities to fit them for their several spheres of
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usefulness. But, in 1836, there was a change; Oren S. Avery died, and the manufactories, with which he had been connected, were closed; Eli Blakeslee, the next heaviest dealer, failed the same year, and then the controlling enter- prises of Perryville were prostrate ; the place had received a blow from which it was slow in recovering ; indeed, it has never regained its former business status.
Perryville has, at the present day, two churches, a flour- ing mill, two saw mills, one tavern, two stores and a num- ber of shops. The C. & C. Railroad has a depot here. One of the chief attractions of the vicinity is the falls, a descrip- tion of which has already been given.
The pleasant Perryville Cemetery is a place of solemn memories and tender interest, for here repose many repre- sentatives of Fenner's most prominent families of the days long past. It was laid out about 1818. Annis Blakeslee, wife of Asa Blakeslee, was the first one buried here ; all about her tomb are sleeping many of the once numerous Blakeslee family. Here, too, are the graves of the Ehles, the Storms, the Lansings, the Ransoms, the Colgroves and the Hamlin families, some of whose marble head-stones tell us that the sleepers were of the generation that popu- lated these hills and redeemed the broad farms from the wil- derness, and who toiled hard and patiently that the succeed. ing generations might " come up higher." Here is the nar- row home of Alpheus Britt and Nancy, his wife ; there repose the remains of Othniel Brainard; yonder rests the dust of Leverett Baldwin, Jacob Gillett, Czar Dykeman and others, whose influence ceased not when their voices were stilled in death ; and in a conspicuous place rises the noble monument, reared by the hands of affection to the memory of Oren S. Avery, who was born in 1794, and died August, 1836.
The first burial ground in this part of the town is situated about a mile west of Perryville, on the road to Cazenovia ; in this, many of the first settlers were interred, some of
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whose remains have been removed to the village Cem- etery.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Joel Downer came to New Petersburgh in 1801. He was a native of Pownell, Vermont, born in 1780. That he was of the old revolutionary stock, his geneological record proves, as we find that his father, John Downer, was one of the heroic command of Gen. Stark, who fought the battle of Bennington in 1777. He purchased his homestead in Fenner, at Mr. Smith's auction, in Utica, in 1802. It was located on Lot M, on the old Oneida Turnpike, about two miles west of Peterboro. Here he commenced his married life, for we find it recorded that he was married on the day of the great eclipse in 1806, to Miss Lovina Risley, daugh- ter of Stephen Risley, one of the early settlers of Smith- field. Here, with industry, they prospered ; the wilderness gradually disappeared and golden harvests waved in its stead ; the cumbrous log barn of the first few years was su- perseded by a good frame one, and the log cabin by a frame house of some pretentions. Mr. Downer was notably ahead of his neighbors in the matter of building, and as his school district (No. 9,) was an enterprising neighborhood, this get- ting up in the world was somewhat envied. Mrs. Downer has often mentioned a circumstance illustrating the ideas of that day. Soon after their house was built, one of her pious sisters in the church visited her for the purpose of giving her caution against undue pride, on account of great worldly prosperity ! Yet this house, so enviously regarded, is de- scribed as being very plain, boarded, clapboard fashion, with lumber a foot wide and an inch thick, doors and casings of the plainest style and manufacture, and at the time of this sisterly visit, was not even lathed and plastered ! In time, however, it was well ceiled. The first children born in school district No. 9, were twin children of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Downer ; these were Mr. Wm. B. Downer and his sister Mrs. Mary E. Johnson. Joel Downer spent the rest of his
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life in Fenner, dying in 1864, at the ripe age of eighty-four years. His wife, Lovina, survived him about two years, passing away September 17, 1866, in the eighty-first year of her age. We subjoin the following obituary notice from the Oneida Dispatch :
"DOWNER-In Oroville, March 23, 1867, Joel G. Downer, a na-
. tive of New York, aged 60 years.
Mr. D. was a pioneer citizen of Oroville. He emigrated from the State of New York, and, during a long residence in Butte county, filled various positions of public trust. He was for a long time the leading spirit of the party, and by his energy and perseverance contributed largely to its success .- Oroville ( Cal.) Ex.
The subject of the above notice was born at the residence of his father, the late Joel Downer, in Fenner, Feb. 8, 1807. Soon after attaining his majority he located at Bridgeport, in this county, and for many years engaged in legal and mercantile pursuits, besides filling various offices by the favor of his fellow- citizens. Some twenty years since he emigrated to California, where he has since resided. Trained in the school of Jefferson- ian Democracy, Mr. D. believed in the equal rights of all men, " To life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and evinced his faith by his works. His second son, Hiram K. Downer, was one of the victims of the slaveholders' rebellion, dying while a pris- oner to the rebels, of wounds received in the battle of the Wil- derness. A younger son is now in the army, in Arizona Terri- tory, ready to suffer, and if needs be, to die for his country. Mr. D. leaves a widow and five children to mourn his death."
Robert Stewart, one of the Scotch settlers, was a deacon of the Presbyterian Church in Peterboro. He was firm in the faith, as set forth by John Knox, his illustrious country- man, in the days of " auld lang syne." He was a man re- spected by all who knew him. When nearly four score years of age, a melancholy accident terminated his earthly pilgrimage.
Alexander F. Douglass, also a native of Scotland, came to this country with his parents at an early day. The fam- ily settled in Lenox where they cleared a farm. Mr. Doug- lass reared a large family in Lenox, and continued to reside there till all his children, but one, were married and settled in life, when he sold and .purchased in Fenner. An obit-
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uary before us, but without date, states that he was born in Scotland, December 5, 1807 ; that he was an active and valued member of the M. E Church, and a worthy citizen. He resided six years in Fenner and there died the death of a christian, aged sixty-three years.
James Cameron, another of the company of emigrants in whose veins flowed the pure blood of Scotland, settled in Fenner, and died there at an advanced age. Scottish intel- lect, engrafted upon American soil, loses none of its vigor in the latest descendants of these and other early Scotch settlers of the town of Fenner.
Eli Barber came to this town when it was included in the town of Cazenovia, in the year 1799, and located on Lot 23. He was born in Worcester County, Mass., in 1775.
"When a lad of fifteen or sixteen, a family in his neighbor- hood were preparing to emigrate to this State, and he engaged to come on with them, working for his board by driving the oxen. He came to Oneida Co., and lived in Paris, Sangerfield and vicinity, till 1799, clearing some of the land where the vil- lage of Waterville now stands. He was married March 14, 1799, to Lovina Thompson, a native of his own native town, whose parents had emigrated to and settled in Madison. They immediately came on to their wilderness home in Fenner, he having previously bought 142 acres on Lot 23, of Peter Smith, made a clearing, and built a log house. Here he lived fifty-two years, in the meantime clearing up and improving his farm, erecting fine buildings, &c. He resided ten years also in Cazenovia village, but at last returned to the old familiar ground to die. He passed away Nov. 30, 1869, at the great age of 95 years, three years after the decease of his wife. His son, Darlin Barber, succeeds to the old homestead."*
Mr. and Mrs. Eli Barber were converted in 1801, united with the Fenner Baptist Church, and lived the life of exemplary christians to the close of their sixty years of married life. They had a family of fourteen children, seven only of whom lived ; Mr. Darlin Barber and Mrs. Amanda Hamlin, are the only two of those living in town. Rev. Eli Barber, present pastor of the Baptist Church in
* From his obituary.
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Fenner, is, however, a grandson. In the early days Mr. Barber erected one of the first potasheries of this section which for many years proved a valuable institution to the settlers.
David Cook came from Rhode Island and settled one fourth of a mile north of Fenner Corners; here he kept the first tavern opened in town. He was an energetic, public spirited and influential man ; was a Justice of the Peace some years, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1806, which office he also held for a number of years. His two sons,-David jr. and Reuben Cook,-were sub- stantial farmers and respected citizens of Fenner, and were often honored with places of public trust ; the former was for many years postmaster; the latter lived on the homestead many years, then removed to Nelson, where he died.
Daniel M. Gillett, from Lime, Conn., was an early settler, locating a half mile east of the Corners. Although a farmer and prosperous as such, he built and operated a potashery and was for a time associated with his brother, Martin Gillett, in a store, in Dist. No. 5. He was noted for his activity, public spirit and business ability, and stood high in community for his integrity and strict moral character. He served as Justice of the Peace several years, was Supervisor repeatedly, and Member of Assembly two terms. His son, D. Miner Gillett, is a resident of this town. A daughter married Jarius Munger, Esq., a lawyer of Camden, Oneida County.
From 1820 to 1840, inclusive, the town of Fenner in- cluded many men of superior mind and marked character ; such were Dr. Sylvanus Guernsey, Oren S. Avery, Judge Czar Dykeman, Asa Dana, Esq., Judge Sardis Dana and Hon. Federal Dana.
Dr. Guernsey was a leading physician, a true scholar and ยท a christian gentleman. Several young men of the town, contemplating a scholastic education, took their preparatory X
.
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course with him ; by his high standard of honor and morals were their plastic minds moulded. Dr. Guernsey's strict fidelity to moral and christian principles is illustrated by the fact that he would never perform any work pertaining to his profession on the Sabbath, except to respond to calls in critical cases, and then made no charge therefor.
Oren S. Avery's name is intimately blended with the annals of those years, especially with the business interests and the general prosperity of Perryville ; his public spirit was most exemplary. Every worthy man, in his hour of need, knew that Oren S. Avery was his friend; his noble heart and generous hand aided all worthy objects. In his death, Perryville sustained a great loss ; and it is no marvel that his memory is honored and cherished to this day by the good people of that village.
, Judge Czar Dykeman was one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, which post he filled many years.
Mr. Asa Dana was an early settler, and one of those tal- ented and influential spirits who figured largely in all that pertained to the welfare of his section. His name appears often in the record of town officers. He was a man of high integrity, of clear judgment and practical wisdom. He purchased in the south part of Fenner (then Cazenovia,) in the year 1800. The hardships of a pioneer life had but the effect to call into activity the sterling virtues of patient en- durance and persevering effort for success in pursuit of the right. He had been a soldier in the revolutionary war, and received a pension until his death, which occurred in 1845, at the ripe age of ninety-one years. He uniformly merited and enjoyed the fullest confidence of the community as an upright, worthy citizen and sincere christian. Rev. Asa Mahan, who was the first President of Oberlin College, Ohio, and of late President of Adrian College, Mich., is a son of his oldest daughter. The sons of Mr. Dana were mostly farmers. The youngest, Lorenzo, was for many years a prominent and successful physician in Alleghany
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County, N. Y., and was two or three times elected to the Legislature, enjoying, from first to last, the confidence of his fellow citizens. He died in 1869, at the age of seventy- two, leaving Federal Dana as the sole survivor of the six sons and three daughters of Asa Dana, the pioneer.
Federal Dana was born in the year of the first meeting of Congress, under the Federal Constitution, and was named in honor of that instrument. For many years he was a practical surveyor, having for his motto, "impartiality and accuracy." The most of the time during the last twenty years of his residence in Fenner, he was one of the Justices of the Peace, and, for two or three terms, a Justice of Ses- sions. As a Justice, he rarely had a case come to trial, almost always persuading the parties to make an amicable settlement between themselves. His public spirit and good abilities were marked aids to the general progress around him. We learn that Hon. Federal Dana is still (1871,) liv- ing, an honored and respected citizen of East Avon, Liv- ingston County, N. Y. Sardis Dana, son of Asa Dana, was at one time one of the associate Judges of the County. He was a prominent business man, and always enjoyed the fullest confidence of his fellow citizens. During his life, nearly or quite all of the honors within the gift of his townsmen, were conferred upon him. He was also a member of the Legis- lature one term. For many years he was widely useful and popular as a surveyor. L. D. Dana, his son, is cashier of the National Bank at Morrisville.
Charles S. Hyatt was a successful farmer of this town. He was frequently honored with town offices, although he did not aspire to position. His large family are all of them prosperous farmers, and settled near the center of the town. George W. Hyatt, his youngest brother, residing west of Fenner Corners, is the owner of one of the handsomest farms in Fenner. Francis A. Hyatt, of Nelson Flatts, is nephew of Charles S. Hyatt. David Hess was a prominent agriculturist, Supervisor of the town, and for several terms
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Justice of the Peace. Col. Needham we note as another prominent man of the early days, popular as Supervisor and as the incumbent of various other town offices. Lewis Keeler was another useful and influential citizen, possessing excellent capacity for business. He was School Commis- sioner, and held other offices. Nathaniel Hazleton was also a prominent citizen some forty years ago ; was Super- visor and Justice of the Peace many years. D. Eralziman Haskell, now (1871,) a merchant of Cazenovia, also took an active part in town affairs for many years; he served the people as Justice of the Peace, and as town Superintendent of Common Schools, and was some years since Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. Enos Cushing settled in this town early and continued to be a resident about sixty years. For
more than fifty years he was a surveyor. He was widely known and as widely respected. Chauncey Munger was one of the earliest settlers, and one of the prominent men of the days long gone by. He was living in Fenner in 1871, at an advanced age. Col. Stafford was another early settler of Fenner, who attained to prominence and usefulness. He still resides in town.
DR. DANIEL PRATT
Was born in Belchertown, Mass., December 26, 1779. At the age of twenty-one he came west to New York State and remained three years. During this time he attended Clin- ton Academy and studied medicine with Dr. Greenly, at Hamilton, and with his brother, Dr. James Pratt, at Log City. On his return to Belchertown at the expiration of the three years, he took a somewhat novel way of starting himself in the world: His father furnished him with a quantity of iron rods, and he set himself to work and made 1,400 wrought nails, with which he bought his first stock of medicines valued at $34. He then went to the State of Maine, in 1804, being then twenty-four years of age, where he commenced the practice of medicine and remained ten years. In 1808, he married Mrs. Dolly Moody, widow of
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Dr. Moody of Vasselboro. This lady had two children by her first marriage ; Eliza, who married Aurelius Dykeman of Madison County, in 1817, and Mary Ann, who married in 1825, Col. Palmer Baldwin, an honored citizen of Nelson Flats. In the war of 1812, Dr. Pratt was appointed Sur- geon in the U. S. army and served for a time. In 1814, he removed to Fenner and purchased the farm of Dr. Sherman, two miles southeast of Perryville, and cultivated it in con- nection with his extensive practice. He was an excellent physician. He took a prominent part in politics during the Anti-Masonic excitement, and wrote much against secret societies, holding that their influence politically was danger- ous. He was familiar with statutory law, was for some years a Justice of the Peace, and School Commissioner a considerable time, always taking a lively interest in com- mon school education. In 1831, he joined the Baptist Church in Fenner, being baptized by Elder S. Gilbert. As the infirmities of age advanced, preventing the active duties of his profession, he turned his attention more than form- erly to farming. He died November 18, 1864, at the ripe age of eighty-four years, ten months and twenty-two days. The "Great Harvester" found him with every faculty fully matured and unimpaired. The many excellent qualities which distinguished him and his most worthy compan- ion, live in their children, reared on that thrifty Fenner farm. (Note k.)
CHURCHES.
Fenner Baptist Church, was organized August 23, 1801. Elder Nathan Baker was first pastor. The first Deacons were Ephraim Munger and Roswell Glass. Meetings were held in school houses and dwellings in different parts of the town. In 1817, a revival occurred in which IOI persons were baptized. In 1820, the meeting house at Fenner Corners was built. At different periods this church has borne the name successively of, " Third Baptist Church of Cazenovia," and " Baptist Church of Smithfield."
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The Protestant Episcopal Church of Perryville was founded in 1816. It was then a branch of Paris Hill Church. Re- ligious services were held from house to house at first. Lyman Blakeslee was licensed Lay Reader by Bishop Ho- bart, and in the absence of pastors conducted services. In 1832, while Rev. Solomon Northrup was pastor, the house of worship was built at a cost of $2,500.
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