USA > New York > Madison County > History of Madison County, state of New York > Part 52
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* At this time a large part of the Tuscaroras resided at their village in Stock- bridge, known then as "Tuscarora."
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damage should be done, you are to make reparation, for which I shall stand accountable. From your zeal, activity and prudence, I trust every precaution will be taken to exe- cute these orders to the advantage and honor of the United States." Col. Gansevoort gives the following account of the manner in which he executed his mission, which is extract- ed from his report :- "Agreeable to my orders, I proceeded by the shortest route to the lower Mohawk Castle, passing through the Tuscarora and Oneida Castles, where every mark of hospitality and friendship was shown the party. I had the pleasure to find that not the least damage nor in- sult was offered any of the inhabitants."
This " shortest route" from the country of the Senecas and Onondagas to Fort Stanwix, was by way of the trail before mentioned, passing through south of Oneida Lake. It was already a thoroughfare when the first white inhabi- tants came to this town. Its course was direct from Onei- da Castle to Chittenango, keeping south of the highland above the plaster bed of Mr. Patrick, between Canaseraga and Chittenango, coming down the hill obliquely near where the excavation for the Chittenango railroad of 1836 was made, and crossed the creek on the body of a large sycamore tree, which was lying across the stream as late as 1804, a little above the turnpike bridge; then passed upon the high land above and south of the ravine through which the present road passes, to Col. Sage's, once the " Moyer," and now known as the "Osgood farm." At this point, was seen many years ago, the remains of a stockade inclosure and here was also a large Indian Orchard. From the last named point it passed on and out of the county at the noted " deep spring," the " eastern door" of the Ononda- gas. The route of the trail was followed, on the construc- tion of the old "State Road," the latter subsequently becoming the " Seneca Turpike."
In the summer of 1780, the year following Gen. Sulli- van's campaign, the Indians under Brant, fired up to the
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pitch of madness by the merited devastation of their coun- try, determined upon a campaign which should at least off- set the injury done themselves, if it did not result in exter- minating the inhabitants of Tryon County. For this pur- pose a force of Tories and Indians was collected which inva- ded the Mohawk country, carrying devastation through that beautiful valley, and destroying, in July, the village of Canajoharie. The terrible scenes of Cherry Valley and Wyoming were to be re-enactd if possible. In the month of October, Sir John Johnson and Brant, collected in great secrecy, at LaChien, an island of the St. Lawrence, a mot- ley band of about eight hundred men, mainly Canadians and Indians, which force, with batteaux well filled with stores and ammunition, passed up the St. Lawrence, through Lake Ontario, quickly ascended the Oswego river, thence forward on the Oneida branch, entered and crossed Oneida Lake, and soon reached its southern shore. They then passed about six miles up Chittenango Creek and landed upon its eastern bank, in the town of Sullivan. There was a palisade inclosure here, which had been constructed at some former period by the French ; this they immediately put in repair. This is, perhaps, a mile south of the junc- tion of the Black Creek, (the former Canaseraga,) with the Chittenango, at a bend in the latter, and a few rods east of its bank, on a sand hill, where the precise location of the palisades is marked at this day. The farm house and barn upon Lot No. 51 occupy the ground of the inclosure.
The heaviest boats were moored at the junction, while the lighter ones were near the palisades. A sufficient guard was left to protect the boats and stores, and to hold them in readiness for removal at any moment. The body then marched to the Scoharie country to join the tories in that region.
The forces now collected under Johnson, Butler and Brant, burned Schoharie the 17th of October, and on the 18th, burned Caghnewaga. From there they marched to
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Canada Creek at Klocksfield, where they halted for the night, after having a slight engagement with Gen. Van Rensselaer's forces. Early in the morning, Van Rensselaer discovered that the enemy had fled during the night, intend- ing to reach their boats at the Chittenango by the shortest route. Gen. Van Rensselaer pursued as far as Herkimer, and from here forwarded an express to Fort Stanwix, in- forming the commandant there where the enemy's boats were concealed, and ordering Capt. Walter Vrooman, with a strong detatchment, to hasten forward to Chittenango Creek, and destroy them and the stores. The latter officer with a force of fifty men hastened with all possible speed to that point, took the guard left there prisoners, destroyed the stores and sunk all the boats but two, in which he inten- ded to return with his party and prisoners. By some means Sir. John Johnson had been notified of this movement, and sent a detachment of Butler's rangers with a party of Indians to intercept Vrooman, who was by them surprised and captured with all his men, while they were at dinner preparatory to their embarkation ; they were made prison- ers without the opportunity of firing a single gun ! The Canadians and Indians were greatly exasperated on finding their boats sunk, their stores rifled and destroyed, and two pieces of cannon buried under the waters of the creek ; they however succeeded in raising some of the boats to assist their escape. While the regular troops of the force were hastening their arrangements for departure, the savages gave vent to their ferocious revenge by torturing the prisoners. Three men were massacred ; their blood moist- ened the earth where now stands the yeoman's home of peace. A large pine tree standing upon the brow of " Sand Hill" marked the spot of this barbarity, upon which the savages engraved the insignia of the tribe who committed the deed-the rude form of a turtle-and which, as a monu- ment, stood for half a century afterwards. A fourth prisoner was taken across the river into Onondaga, where he was bar-
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barously tortured for their fiendish amusement ; he was bound at the knees and ankles, and compelled in that con- dition to run the gauntlet of two parallel rows of Indians, all armed with clubs, whips and other weapons, each eager to get a blow at their victim. He was promised, that should he succeed in getting through the line without serious in- jury, his life would be spared. Impelled by the powerful instinct of self-preservation, and endowed with great muscu- lar force, the prisoner made nine extraordinary leaps along the line, while all withheld their upraised weapons in amazement. At the tenth leap he was struck down, beaten with clubs, then tied to a large pine tree and roasted alive ! This tree, also having the mark of the "Turtle Tribe," car- ved on it, was standing until a few years since, and was known as the "Turtle Tree." The miraculous efforts of the prisoner created much wonder among the Indians ; the impress of his feet in the earth at each leap, was marked and preserved; and every year, on the anniversary of this Indian summer day of blood and barbarity, that tribe made a sort of pilgrimage to the spot to examine the tree and re- new the carving, and to impress anew the foot-marks in the sand. At such times dances were held about the tree, the frightful memories of the event were rehearsed in all their minuteness, the horrible scene re-enacted in tragic farce ! The fleetest and most muscular Indians, in attempts to per- forms those leaps, unbound, could scarcely equal them. As late as 1815, these visits were annually made, being distin- guished to the last with such wild pow-wows and fiendish exultations as seemed sufficient to summon to the scene the ยท spirits of the foully murdered, whose blood and ashes min- gled with the soil upon which they held carnival ! Captain Vrooman, who was a fine specimen of the Mohawk Dutch, was made to carry a large pack on his shoulders, placed there by the Indian who claimed him as his prisoner. This pack was a striped "linsey woolsey" petticoat, stolen from some good "vrow" in "Stone Arabia," and was filled with plunder. Its
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weight was taxing his strength to the utmost, when he was recognized by Col. Johnson, who enquired why he carried it ? Capt. Vrooman informed him, when Johnson cut its fas- tenings with his sword and let it fall to the ground. In a short time the Indian keeper observed it and in great anger replaced the burden, threatening death if he refused to bear it. They had proceeded but a short distance when Sir John again observed the Captain toiling under his load, when he again immediately severed it from him and placed a guard around him to prevent further insult or injury from his captor. In a few minutes the latter re-appeared with uplifted tomahawk, threatening vengeance ; but meeting a guard of bristling bayonets he sullenly fell in the rear, be- ing obliged to shoulder his pack himself. Shortly after- wards, while crossing a stream upon a log, this Indian with his pack fell into the water and would have drowned but for the assistance of his comrades. He, however, held a grudge against Capt. Vrooman and watched all the way to Canada for a favorable opportunity to execute his threat. On ar- riving at Montreal, Vrooman was incarcerated in prison where he remained two years. Of his command, who were also imprisoned, a portion survived their long years of cap- tivity and returned, first, to their homes on the Mohawk ; but they remembered the rich and beautiful country south of Oneida Lake and to that inviting section they, with their families, soon directed their steps.
In March, 1790, nine families whose heads were of the Vrooman party, came to the flats of Canaseraga and erected their homes. Their names are given as follows :- Captain (afterwards General,) Jacob Seber, Garrett and George Van Slyke, John Polsley, John Freemeyer, James and Joseph Picard, Jacob, David, and Hon Yost Schuyler. Selecting farms adjoining each other, they opened clearings and planted and sowed crops. A most fruitful harvest rewarded their labors and they were becoming delighted with and attached to their new homes ; but, unfortunately, they had located
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upon the rightful possessions of the Oneida Indians, who naturally looked upon them with a jealous eye. At this time the opening of the Genesee country to immigration drew numbers of white explorers and settlers thitherward, who followed the long trodden Indian trail through this por- tion of the Oneida Reservation, and too many of them, re- membering Indian atrocities, forgot or disregarded the peaceful demeanor of the Oneidas and were guilty of many depredations, which irritated the natives far and near. Con- sequently, the little company at Canaseraga and their doings were watched with suspicion. Day by day the ill will of the Indians increased, when, the grievances of the Oneidas be- coming unbearable, they laid a statement of their case be- fore their long-time friend and counselor, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, Indian Missionary, whose influence prevented violence. By his advice they submitted their case to the Governor of the State, who ordered the settlers to remove. This the latter neglected to do ; and in 1791, the complaint being repeated, Col. Colbraith, the Sheriff of Montgomery County, (of which this county was then a part,) was sent with an armed party of sixty men to dislodge them. The steadfast, inflexible Dutch, who had endured the hardships of the revolution, were unmoved by entreaties and unawed by commands or threats, and refused to submit and remove. Col. Colbraith then ordered all the movable effects to be taken from their dwellings and placed at a safe distance from the scene, and then burned their houses and cabins to the ground. Says an eloquent writer* speaking of this scene :- "The dream of a permanent home vanished, the hardy pioneers, homeless and houseless, were yet indomita- ble. Sullenly they watched the smoke driving away from their tottering roofs ; the Indians gathered around in quiet groups with hearts more full of sorrow for the white man, than joy for justice secured them by righteous laws. They proved that the savage breast enshrined virtues and princi-
* Guerdon Evans, author of map of Madison County, 1853.
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ples not inferior to their white brothers. Their triumph was complete and tempered by acts worthy of record. They led the discomfited settlers to the grounds near which the pleasant village of Chittenango is rising into importance, and granted to them under proper arrangements abundant space for settlements. Cabins were soon erected-hunting and fishing supplied their early wants until the earth could yield its abundant stores."
We extract further from the same writer :- "The present Judge Seber, (1851) was then ten years old, when his father's house was destroyed ; this family with a few others removed afterwards to Clockville, in the town of Lenox. Judge Seber relates an incident connected with the early residence of his father's family in Madison County, confirm- ing portions of this narrative .* He states that while a bare- footed boy, passing through the woods with his father, he stepped upon some sharp substance, attracting their atten- tion, which upon examination proved to be a bayonet attached to a musket, covered by rubbish. Continuing their search, a stack of muskets which had fallen to the ground was discovered. These relics roused up the recollection of Vrooman's adventure, which the old man related to his son, seated on a log, with the fragments of that expedition then lying at their feet. Alluding to the sinking of the boats, he remarked, 'they were sunk in the creek near this place, let us look for them.' Then rambling along the shore of the creek, they found one boat near the bank, sunk, appearently filled with sand."
There was a rumor long prevalent in this section, that in the hurry and confusion of escape Sir John Johnson lost his military chest containing a large amount of specie, said to have fallen into the Canaseraga creek in an attempt to cross that stream. Be this as it may, we have the state- ment of Robert Carter, one of the old settlers, that at one time since he resided here, a party of Canadians came to
* Much of the account of Vrooman's adventure is drawn from Evan's sketch.
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this place ostensibly to raise the boats ; they kept their operations while engaged, as secret as possible, and were silent as to the object of raising them, they being then worthless. When they abandoned their project, they com- municated to Mr. Carter the fact that the object of their search was to obtain the money chest of Sir John Johnson, but they had failed to discover it. Seekers after the lost treasure have appeared at this place quite recently ; a large curb could be seen a few years ago at the Canaseraga outlet which had been sunk upon the supposed lucky spot, which was used in one of these vain researches. John Adams, one of the earliest surveyors on; the southern border of Oneida Lake, and the late Judge John Knowles, both of whom settled here in 1805, noticed the pickets erected at the landing place, and found near there portions of muskets, knives, hatchets and bullets ; fragments of the boats have long rested among the driftwood on the shores ; all of which we mention as interesting relics of the scenes of violence which preceded the planting of civilization in Sullivan.
Many Oneidas as well as Tuscaroras lived at Canaseraga, and as it was on the Oneida Reservation travelers called this also "Oneida Village." When the first white settlers came to Sullivan, there were many Indian houses here, and ten or more on the hill west of the creek, where Hiram Brown now lives-Lot No. 2. There is something, even to this day, about the hills in this vicinity which looks particularly romantic ; as if the spirit of untamed nature still revelled in her own-especially when autumnal dyes have flung their tints over tree, bush and fern, does it re- mind one that it was once a favorite abiding place of the Indian. All around the village were their cultivated patches of ground of two or three acres each, fenced and unfenced; their cattle roamed at will through the forest, and kindly enough, on his advent among them, did they grant the white man's herds the same privilege.
The most prominent Indian families at this point, at the
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time of its settlement, were the Dennies and Doxtators, who owned vast tracts of land in various sections. Lewis Dennie, (or Denny, also elsewhere mentioned) the head man, a patriarch among them, was of French parentage, born upon the Illinois about 1740, and when eighteen years old came up in the French war with a French officer to fight the Five Nations, and was taken prisoner by the Mohawks, among whom he married. He adopted the In- dian customs and became a power among them. By those who remember him, Dennie is said to have been a small man, not over 5 feet 8 inches in hight, with very light blue eyes, but with a voice of great depth and power.
The Dennys of St. Louis, Mo., are the same family to which Lewis Dennie belonged. The manner in which the name is spelled has become changed by one family or the other. Lewis Dennie had four sons and one daughter, John, Jonathan, Martinus, Lewis and Polly. John Den- nie kept the first tavern of Canaseraga, and built the first frame house there in 1800. His daughter Sally became the wife of a very fair and handsome Dutchman, by the name of John Garlock ; she was a good woman and very wealthy in her own right. One of John Dennie's sons was sent to New Hartford to School, but it is said there was too much native in him to confine his mind to books. John Dennie lost his life in 1807 or '08 by wrestling with a Dutchman named Hartman Picard ; it took place at Cana- seraga during "general training," an occasion in that day, when wrestlers congregated to try their strength, and both these men were famous for their prowess in that direction. Lewis Dennie's sons were large, finely built, good looking men, inheriting a good degree of the physical make-up of their mother, who was a large, noble looking woman. She was esteemed a very good woman by her white neighbors. Martinus Dennie is well remembered for his jest upon his race :- " Me no Indian, only French and squaw !"-which he used to repeat frequently. Polly Dennie, the only
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daughter of Lewis, was a fine looking girl, quite fair, pos- sessing amiable qualities of disposition. She married An- gel DeFerriere, a Frenchman, who came to this country during the French Revolution, and went first to Cazeno- via with Mr. Lincklaen. He was very wealthy, and Mr. Dennie was very proud of him, it was said, as a son-in- law.
The first emigrants came by way of the Indian trail, but the same year, 1790, in June, James Wadsworth came through on his way to the Genesee country, and cut a track through wide enough for a wagon ; and by laying causeways and bridging streams, made a passable wagon road. The State soon made appropriations for this route, by which the road was widened and improved, and was then called the "State Road," over which emigrant travel steadily increased. In a few years the State Road passed into the hands of the "Seneca Turnpike Company," and still greater appropriations for its improvement were made. The road then passed over the high hill called " Canasera- ga Hill," southwesterly from Chittenango ; the company improved the route by changing it, avoiding many of the steep and rough passes on the old road. The new route took a more northerly course, diverging from Chittenango, the course it follows at the present day. After this com- pany took it in hand, it became the famous " Seneca Turn- pike," over which a flood of travel poured for many years. It was indeed the chief of turnpikes, unrivaled, it was said, by any in the Empire State.
The State purchased the Oneida Reservation, piece by piece ; hence different tracts were surveyed by different persons and at various dates, so that great irregularity is seen on maps in regard to the numbers of lots. The seeker for facts among the map records, would become puzzled in the location of lots, were it not that the particular res- ervation or purchase is stated in initials with every lot mentioned, thus :- Lot No. 24 of G & S. T., (Gospel and
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School Tract,) which can be distinguished on reference to a map from Lot No. 24, 2 M. S., (Two Mile Strip.) The Oneida Reservation, (designated on records as O. R.,) orig- inally embraced the whole of this town, and was named in conveyances many years after its cession to the State, as the " northwest part of the Oneida Reservation." From the year 1797, to the date of its purchase by the State, the south boundary of the town was the south line of the Res- ervation. The "Two Mile Strip" was purchased of the Oneidas from this Reservation. It contains twenty-four lots, in four tiers, two tiers lying in the west part of Lenox, and two tiers in the east part of Sullivan ; its south border is a part of the south line of both towns. To the west of Two Mile Strip was a tract of six lots, commonly designa- ted as "West of 2 Mile Strip." At a very early date, part of this tract was conveyed to the following persons :- " Lot No. I to John Van Epps Wemple ; Lot No. 3 to Conrath Klock ; Lot No. 4 to John Klock; Lot No. 5 to Charles Kern ; Lot No. 6 to Arnold Ballou." North side of Two Mile Strip was a tract of eight lots. In a conveyance reg- istered in the Chenango County Clerk's office, date of May 18th, 1803, John Wollaber is named as the purchaser of Lot No. 1 ; also at the same date, John Klock of Lot No. 4. Each of the lots were 250 acres. Other purchasers of this tract were John Schuyler, Lot No 2 ; Sylvanus Seeber, Lot No. 6; Michael Day, Lot No. 7; Joseph Alcott, Jr., Lot No. 8. The "Bell Tract," lying each side of the Cen- tral railroad, extending from the Canaseraga to the Chitte- nango Creek, containing fourteen lots, was purchased by an Englishman named Bell. Citizens of Sullivan, desiring to purchase this land, sent Dr. Beebe to England for that pur- pose, who bought the whole tract, and it became the farms of different individuals. North of the Bell tract lay the " 40 Rod Strip," purchased of the State by Dr. Jonas Fay. Old maps point out several other tracts, one of them known as the "Varrick Location," purchased of the State by
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Richard Varrick,* of New York city, all of which are des- ignated on Evan's map of 1853, by the letters A B C &c.
But a few years after the pioneers proper had come in, the central part of Sullivan, which the State road had opened, was settled by the families of John G. Moyer, John Wal- rath, Capt. Timothy Brown, Solomon, David and Joseph Beebe, Peter Ehle, Timothy Freeman, David Burton, Wm. Miles, John Lower John Keller, Peter Dygart, Ovid Weldon, Nicholas Picard, Philip Dayharsh, John Matthews, Zebulon Douglass, and Martin Vrooman, of the family of Capt. Vrooman.
The first birth in town was Peggy Schuyler ; the first death, a child of David Freemayer. John G. Moyer built the first saw mill and grist mill about a half mile south of Chit- tenango village, near the old distillery. Jacob Schuyler kept the first tavern after John Dennie.
Incidents connected with the above named families and of their pioneer life have come to our knowledge, which well illustrate the state of the country and some of the experien- ces of the inhabitants at that day :-
Zebulon Douglass came from Columbia County in March, 1796. On his way he stopped at Utica at the house of Clark & Fellows, who were keeping store in a little hut. The Seneca Turnpike had not been worked all the way as yet, though the line had been laid to Oneida Castle. West of the Castle the State Road was exceedingly poor and in that month so bad as to be nearly impassable. Douglass had been advised to take up land, soon to be in market, which lay a mile and a half east of Dennie's ; but being dis- couraged on account of bad roads he retraced his steps to Westmoreland, stopping there at a friend's for the summer. A few months later he decided to again look at the lands of Sullivan. Going over the footpath of the Oneidas he found the country much dryer than in March, and decided to lo-
*Richard Varrick was mayor of New York in 1789 .- Probably the same.
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cate. Obtaining board at John Dennie's, he erected a house on land east of Canaseraga, and leaving it for a friend to finish, returned east for his family, returning with them in 1797. On reaching their abode they found a floorless and chimneyless tenement, Mr. Douglass' friend having neglect- ed to finish the dwelling as agreed on ; however, Mr. Doug- lass soon made it habitable, and in the clearing he made around it got in some early spring crops. His daughter, Appalona, was born here in 1799, and was the first white child born in this district. In the fall of '99 he opened tav- ern keeping here. He added to his farm also from time to time until it embraced 365 acres of valuable land. He kept the first post office at "Oak Hill." He was also chosen Captain of Militia and passed through several grades to Colonel of the regiment, by which title of distinction he was afterwards known. The Colonel was an energetic, ambi- tious man and devoted himself largely to the improvements of the country.
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