USA > New York > Madison County > History of Madison County, state of New York > Part 50
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sapling, they ascended a tree near by and clasped in each other's arms, clinging in the same embrace to some of the lateral limbs, they spent all those long, anxious hours to daybreak. Their horse in the meantime got loose and found his own way home. After his departure, the girls distinctly heard the movements of some animal at the foot of their tree, which, after snuffing about awhile went away, evi- dently not very hungry. Morning at length relieved their vigils, and they found their home easily; but from that day till their death they vividly remembered that old fashioned quilting, and the old time forests without roads.
Sally Hascall married Mr. Amos White, an early settler of Nel. on, from Spencer, Worcester County, Mass. They were married June 24, 1804, when she was at the age of 18. Jonas and Cyrenus White, of Eaton, are their sons. These pioneers removed from here to Alleghany County, N. Y., and were long ago laid to rest.
Mr. Abijah Hyatt was first a settler in Nelson, where he reared a family of eleven children, who have nearly all lo- cated themselves in Madison County. His sons settled in Fenner as farmers, and were prominent in society. Mr. Hyatt was a leading man in the M. E. Church of Nelson Flats, and was beloved and respected. Francis A., son of Aaron Hyatt, is his grandson.
Dea. Palmer Baldwin was an early resident in Nelson Flats. He took a conspicuous part in the busy scenes of active life, was distinguished for his strict integrity, straight- forward, honorable dealing, and general usefulness. He en- joyed through his lifetime the confidence and esteem of community. Mrs. Baldwin was also extensively known, re- spected and beloved, and her influence in the society in which she moved, was of a tendency to elevate and purify.
Francis Norton came from Connecticut to Cazenovia in 1800, and about 1810 or '12, removed to the south part of Nelson, settling on the farm which is now owned by Daniel Moore. His large family are settled in this and adjacent
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towns. One of its members, Davis Norton, was well known for many years as Deputy Sheriff ; he also held other offices. Francis Norton, jr., has been for several terms a Justice of the Peace. Joseph Norton, another member of this family, is a lawyer of ability and influence. In the family burial ground, upon the old Norton farm, for many years could be seen the quaint head-stones so gener- ally in use fifty years and more ago.
Nelson early became most exemplary in her zeal to pro- mote the cause of religion, which is, no doubt, the founda- tion of all that sobriety and conservatism which has ever characterized this people. As early as the year 1800, many of these children of puritanical New England, felt the want of a leader to institute an organized band of the followers of Christ, to resist the insiduous approaches of sin and folly, which was making its way into the new settlement. In the absence of religious services, the Sabbath was fast de- generating into a day of visiting, amusement and recre- ation.
In the northeast " Quarter," which was earliest settled, this religious movement first began, and such men as Aaron Lindsley, Deacon Moses Smith, Josiah Booth, Luther Doolittle, Jedediah Jackson, Thomas Tuttle, and others, of this, then quite numerous settlement, set about the good work, and obtaining the services of Elder Calvin Keys, a reformation preacher of some note, from Massa- chusetts, they organized a society. Meetings were held for a season in their primitive log tenements, but in a short time their congregations became too large to be contained in these humble temples of worship. Then the forest, God's own beautiful temple, became the place of rendez- vous, whose heavenly arches and deep " sounding aisles" rang with the full chorus of male and female voices in their songs of praise.
Our ancestors had a most novel mode of conducting
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their singing, which arose from the emergencies of the time, there being a scarcity of hymn books-perhaps not more than one to the congregation. After the reading of the hymn, the chorister, or person who pitched the tune, " lined" the verses, i. e. read the two first lines, when they were sung by the congregation, then read the next two lines, and these were sung, and so on to the end of the hymn. In this manner the lengthy hymns were made lengthier still, and the cadences of their voices, though untrained in the operatic school, rose and fell harmoniously, and vibrated with the melody of the heart, attuned in har- mony with the overflowing music of the voices of the grand and free nature all about them. Shall we say that such praise was less acceptable to God than the more studied musical eloquence of to-day ?
These seasons of religious refreshment created the great- est harmony and good will among them.
Their congregations were made up from the inhabitants, at a distance of six or seven miles around, and were collect- ed in a manner evincing their zeal. The farmer who own- ed the best team, (oxen, of course,) of each street or neigh- borhood, attached them to his cart or sled, as the season might be, and commencing with his own neighborhood, took in all who wished-and these were usually all who could be spared from home-to go. As they journeyed on toward the place of meeting, every habitation on the road was hailed, for additions to their numbers. Should these increase beyond the capacity of conveyance, the men and boys gaily gave their places in the ox-cart for the accommo- dation of women and children, and, moving forward, a stur- dy group of men and lads, they soon out-distanced the lumbering movements of the patient oxen.
In this manner, from a wide section were assembled con- gregations, which for size would handsomely grace the churches of our largest villages.
Did the weather prohibit a meeting within the verdant
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carpeted and green roofed temple of the forest, then the spacious and commodious barns, which the settlers in their prosperity were beginning to erect, were dedicated, as it were, to the service of God. The first frame barn said to have been built in the town of Nelson, was situated on Cooledge street, now "Tog Hill," in which a series of meet- ings were held.
So earnestly did these people hunger and thirst for the " bread of life," that, in the absence of a minister to dis- pense religious services to them, some worthy member of the society was appointed to conduct them, and read a printed sermon which was sent them for that purpose, Mr. Daniel Butler, a most exemplary and worthy christian, was often required to perform this duty. His name stands most familiar, among others who equally performed their duties here, owing to his lamentable death from an accident which occurred immediately after one of these ministrations, and which caused a shadow of deep sorrow and gloom to pervade the community. The circumstances were as follows :- On this Sabbath the services had been held in Mr. Butler's barn and from his lips the sermon had been read to an attentive audience. Earnestly and devot- edly were the concluding services performed by him, who, though in a subdued frame of mind, yet little knew how short was the span of his usefulness,-how near he was to the verge of the river over which he must soon pass. Quietly withdrew the serious congregation, while Mr. Butler remained to perform a few temporal labors of the closing day. Mr. Butler, though laboring spiritually for the flock of Christ on the Sabbath, yet labored for his temporal needs, and cared for all of God's creatures under his pro- tection. For this purpose, immediately after the congrega- tion had dispersed, he ascended the scaffold of his barn, and threw down the hay with which to feed his herd for the night. By some fatal misstep in his attempt to jump from the scaffold, he was precipitated upon the tines of his pitch-
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fork, which entered his body. He was removed to his dwelling in the most excruciating agony, and after two days' suffering, death kindly released him.
Death in any form, was, if possible, something more terrible to the whole community in that day than now, owing to the warm social family interest the pioneers felt for each other ; but when the dread messenger came in an aggravated form, the whole people felt the shock. There- fore was Mr. Butler's loss deplored by everybody, and never was his last ministrations or his untimely death erased from the affectionate remembrance of his friends. This is said to have been the second death by accident which had occurred in the early settlement of the town.
The southern part of the town, in the district of Erie- ville, was only second in date in its church organizations, and, if possible, seemed to out-do her sister settlements in her religious growth. The first temple built and set apart for religious services, was erected there by the Bap- tist Society. This was the beginning of a permanent soci- ety, which should make its impress upon the rising destiny of Erieville. Had we space to record its progress, or to devote to the other religious organizations which have sprung up and become permanently incorporated into the history of Erieville, the record would prove this as a pre- eminently religious community.
Notwithstanding the even tenor of life which their relig- ious character was marking out for them, they did not omit the social amenities of life. Their neighborly "logging bees " came off regularly, when the men of the neighbor- hood turned out en masse, and took turns in helping each other to log up their clearings, and the women all visited his wife, making it a holiday. After the log piles were all completed, and tea had been served, how gaily flew the short hours spent together among those who had been old friends in the land of their nativity, and were now bound together by the ties which held them to their native country,
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and those of a common interest in the land of their adop- tion. How interestedly conversed the men of the number, quality and condition of their stock, the extent of their land clearings, the profit of their crops, (exceedingly small, it would seem to us,) their prospects for improvements in lands and in buildings, and finally for society organizations and government. All these unfoldings of the plans of each to the other, stimulated each one to a healthy spirit of emula- tion and final success.
While this was transpiring among the men, the women are chatting of their manufacture of linen and wool, while their clever hostess has perhaps taken them up the ladder into her low-roofed chamber, to display to them her stores for the coming winter.
These consist of maple sugar and dried pumpkin, the only luxuries they could eke from their forest home at that early day. The former is stored in a section of a white maple tree, which had originally been hollow, and had been nicely scooped out in the form of a cask. The latter are dried in great rings, and are bundled together and hung up. At one end of this one-roomed chamber, stands the lum- bering loom, which is looked upon as a specimen of good workmanship, having been constructed by the lady's clever husband ; and from a large chest she now proceeds to draw forth the trophies of her handiwork from that identical loom. My readers are no doubt familiar with the style of the linen and woolen fabrics woven by our grandmothers, which were also of the kind she now has produced. But there is in the till of this chest, which came with her from the far-off "down east," something which more than all else attracts the attention of all. The treasured mementoes of the dear old home are there ; the little trinkets, the locks of hair, a few choice books, lead their thoughts and conversa- tion into a different channel, and then tender reminiscences are discussed, mingled with desires that their children might have some of the advantages which it had been their
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privilege to enjoy in a land of learning and progress. The subject of schools is earnestly discussed by these mothers, and the advent of a teacher from the East is an event hailed with no small pleasure.
The dangers and anxieties incident to this life were not few, and not the least formidable of these dangers arose from the daring encroachments of wild beasts. Encount- ers with these savage animals were quite common, and there were instances where their ferocity proved too much for the agility and strength of the hunters. A circum- stance of this kind took place in the northern part of the town, in August, 1802, which produced much excitement in this and the adjacent towns.
The tracks of a very large bear had been seen in the vicinity of the house of Jesse and Abner Bump, in the northeast quarter. Abner Bump was a bachelor residing with his brother Jesse's family. It was on Saturday after- noon, the farm work for the week being done, and there was leisure for hunting ; they, therefore, resolved to follow up the trail of the animal, whose tracks they had seen quite fresh in the morning, and the fact that their flocks and corn fields were in danger of depredations from this bold desperado made its necessary to arrest its progress. Accordingly they started in pursuit, following the track in the direction of the Chittenango (Chittenning as it was called) Creek, and near the town line adjoining Fenner they overtook Mistress Bruin while following a tributary of the' Creek. She was a splendid animal, in a condition of flesh which betokened her familiarity with the farmers' flocks and crops-of magnificent proportions, and moved along with perfect ease and fearlessness after beholding her pursuers. The hunters lost no time to avail themselves of this oppor- tunity for attack. Jesse at once fired and wounded the bear, which so exasperated her that she turned, and exhib- ited signs of fighting. No time was now to be lost, as they
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were very near the enraged animal, and both men were conscious that their success or safety, depended upon the surety of Abner's shot. Instantly, Abner, though in a bad position to make a fatal shot, raised his piece and aimed directly at her side, hoping thereby to cripple her, and thus keep her at bay till his brother could reload. Un- fortunately, the gun missed fire, and the infuriated beast was upon him in a moment, hurling her massive body against him with such force that he was precipitated upon his face in the bed of the shallow stream, which was close by. Simultaneously the bear sprang upon him, and with her huge tusks commenced the fearful work of tearing him in pieces. All this had been acted in a very short space of time, and so quickly, that Jesse, instead of finishing reload- ing, had only time to grasp a club and make a leap upon the bear the next instant after she sprang upon her victim. His blows with the club fell heavily upon the unflinching animal's head and nose, while fiercely tugging at Abner's bleeding scalp, but the weapon was rotten and broke, and fell from his grasp. The sight of his brother's bared skull nerved him to greater energy, and as the monster's fury had so increased on tasting human blood, that she seemed oblivious to the assailant's attacks, he was enabled to thrust one hand suddenly between her jaws, as she opened them in her fiendish repast, and instantly closed his fingers with a vice-like grasp around her tongue, and drew it savagely forth from her mouth, while with the other hand he caught a stone from the creek, with which, heavy and well-directed blows were dealt on the nose of the now cowering brute A few ineffectual struggles and endeavors to get free, and the bear, overcome by pain and the extreme heat of the sultry day, fell back exhausted and motionless. Releasing his hold, Jesse turned to his brother, who lay insensible, his head in a fearfully mangled condition. As soon as the bear had recovered herself sufficiently, she crawled a few rods away and lay down a short time in the stream. Anxious
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for his brother's life, Jesse Bump made no attempt to arrest the animal's retreat, which she soon effected. His lusty shouts for assistance were soon answered by the arrival of some of the settlers, but by this time he found himself scarcely able to walk, and upon examination his leg was found to have been broken by a crushing wrench of the vicious beast's jaws. At what time this occurred during the exciting battle he could never tell. However, there was no disputing the fact, as the proofs were there in the marks of the teeth upon the limb. His wrist was also bad- ly mangled. He was placed upon horseback and carried to his family.
Abner was aroused to consciousness by stimulants, but before the means for removing one in so dangerous a con- dition could be got together, it was night, while the distance to any habitation was considerable, and the way through the forest very rough ; it was, therefore, decided to remain with Abner upon the ground, and make him as comfortable as possible through the night. The use of stimulants pre- vented relapses during the ensuing hours, and very early Sabbath morning, the news having spread like wildfire, the woods were thronging with people who had come from miles around, the anxious neighbors hastening to render all the assistance in their power, and the suffering, dis- figured victim was carried home on a "litter." The servi- ces of Dr. Jonas Fay, of Cazenovia, was immediately pro- cured, who removed the mud and debris from beneath the scalp, and sewed together the mangled remains. He then set Jesse's broken limb, and in due time both hunters re- covered from their injuries.
The destiny of Mistress Bruin was decided a few days after this encounter. She met her fate from a bullet, shot from a gun in the hands of an Indian hunter, a few miles down the creek. She was considered a mammoth prize, and a fair trophy of the hunter's superior prowess.
The first fatal accident which occurred in this town,
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happened as follows :- A new road was laid out in the northeast quarter, and a large number of men were at work cutting a heavy swath of timber through the forest where it was to go. At one point, three large trees had been cut, but had not yet fallen, being lodged one against the other, and all sustained by the spreading branches of a small tree. These trees had to be brought down in some manner, and the only way to do it, seemed to be to cut the small one. All saw it to be hazardous, but there were brave daring men in those days; if any hesitated to encounter the danger, two of them did not ; these were, Randall Grover and Ezra Booth. They voluntarily marched to the tree with their axes. Grover struck just one blow, when down came the heavy mass of trees crashing to the ground ! Booth barely escaped ; but Grover, probably bewildered, sprang two or three steps lengthwise with the trees, instead of to one side, and the massive body of one tree crushed one side of him into a flattened, shapeless mass ! Booth, cried out, "Grover is a dead man !" The men all rushed to the spot and saw that the man was indeed dead. The horror that thrilled Booth at that moment was vivid in his memory, when, at the advanced age of eighty-three, and more than a half century afterwards, he related the event to the author. It was but a short time after this relation by the aged pioneer that he passed away-on June 3, 1866.
Another death by accident, somewhat similar to the pre- ceding, it falls upon us to record. It happened at an early period in the history of the town, yet it is said to be the third fatality of the kind :- Wheadon Dutcher had taken a ten acre job of clearing, of Isaac Mason. It was in the spring of the year, and he had just entered upon the work of falling the timber. He went out early as usual, one morning to his work, which was within hearing distance from the house. Mr. Mason observed that after the first tree had fallen, he did not hear the sound of Dutcher's ax, which was unusual, and fearing something might be the
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matter, hastened over to the spot. To his great dismay he found him dead ! Dutcher had cut a basswood, which had lodged in a small tree ; it was seen that he had commenced cutting the small one, and the basswood had loosened from its lodgment, merely from the vibration produced by a few blows of the ax and came down, a limb striking him on the head, and crushing his skull fearfully ; also, in the shock bis ax was somehow hurled against his thigh, laying open a deep gash. It was a singular circumstance that in and about this ghastly wound of the ax, there was not a drop of blood till the body was moved, when it began to flow, and continued till every vein seemed to be drained. No signs of animation appeared at any time. The circumstances of this death created great sensation among the people ; especially the copious flowing of blood after death, was held to be then (and perhaps is still,) an unaccountable phenomenon.
On one portion of the range of hills, where the three Wells brothers settled, one of them, Garner Wells, stocked his farm with mules, which gave that particular hill quite a notoriety, it being the only place in the country around, where any considerable number of those animals were kept. The place then received the name of " Jackass Hill ;" but afterwards, when the mules were no more to be seen grazing on the hillsides, and the rough but comical jokes, as well as the long leathern mule whip of their master had ceased to crack, this insignificant cognomen was dropped. There is a story related of this locality, as follows : "Elder Tadham, "Six Principle" Baptist, had preached at Leeville (West Eaton) and was on his way to fill an appointment at Wood- stock. At this point he met with the singular accident of having his horse frightened by the sudden braying of a mule. His horse ran, his wagon broke, and the old man was thrown out and considerably bruised. Being from the eastern States, he had never before seen that species of do-
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mestic animal. As soon as he could, he rose to his feet, wiped the mud from his eyes, and after looking at the long eared beast with astonishment a full minute, he exclaimed, "I don't wonder Jesus Christ was despised, if he rode into Jerusalem on such a looking animal as that !"
In this neighborhood forty years ago, an aged couple by the name of Childs, long residents on the town line dividing Georgetown and Nelson, died, and were buried in a small enclosure in their neighborhood used as a grave yard by the early settlers. As that section became more populated and developed, other and more eligible places of burial were selected, and this one fell into disuse. Two or three years since (this ground being included in a farm, and the graves nearly obliterated,) the descendants of these aged people, living in another part of the country, had their remains dis- interred for removal. On being brought to view both bodies were found to be in perfect form, with the exception of a slightly shrunken appearance ; even the features were recog. nizable, though they were changed to that peculiar condition known as adipocere, sometimes called petrifaction. Those employed to do the work had only provided themselves with a common box as a receptacle for the remains, expecting to find only a few bones, after forty years' interment. The box proved far too short for the length of the whole person ; no conveniences to supply the want were at hand, time was pressing, and the limbs were therefore broken off and packed in above the heads and trunks! The location of this old time burial place is upon the farm now owned by Mrs. A. Holmes. It is supposed that spring water, impreg- nated with lime and some mineral, which makes out about the place and saturates the soil, furnished the preserving qualities which acted upon these human remains.
INCIDENTS.
About 1807, a tremendous snow storm occurred, in the month of April. The snow fell four feet on the level, and lay perfectly still ; an adamantine crust formed upon it, on
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which in early morning teams were safely driven. How- ever, a succeeding hot sun melted it away in a few days. No storm of equal magnitude had occurred at that season of the year since the country was settled, and it was remem- bered, and is still, by the survivors of that day, as the "Great April Snow." *
In 1813, the fearful epidemic which swept through many localities prevailed in this section, and many of the early settlers were removed by it from this scene of action. In some instances almost entire families were taken away. Dr. Heffron, the pioneer physician, rode night and day, and through his untiring energy and skillful treatment it is be- lieved very many were saved.
A Reminiscence .- Mrs. Tirzah Holmes, of DeRuyter, a daughter of John Chase, one of the pioneers of Nelson, re- members well that her parents started from Hoosick, Rens- . selaer Co., the day after the "great eclipse" in 1806. When they arrived in Nelson at the point now Erieville, Richard- son kept tavern and Tuckerman kept a store. The first school she attended here was about a mile northwest of Erieville, which was held in a barn on the farm of Job Wood. The barn is still in existence. Abner Badger was teacher. Polly Pool taught the next summer in the house of John Chase.
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