History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 170

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932

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COLEMAN'S MILLS

is the name of a hamlet on Oriskany Creek, near the centre of the town, where are located a grist-mill, a small shoddy- mill, and a number of dwellings.

WALESVILLE

is a village in the southwest part of the town, also on Oris- kany Creek, and is the seat of several manufacturing estab- lishments, none of which are at present (April, 1878) in operation. They consist of a eotton-mill, belonging to the Clark Mills Cotton Company, and a paper-mill, owned by Halsey Brothers. The cotton-mill is stripped of its ma- ehinery, and the paper-mill has been idle since the summer of 1877 ; at the latter wrapping-paper was the principal manufacture. The village contains a post-office (postmaster, Hawley Peck), a store (located in a building formerly used as a tavern), a blacksmith-shop, a. cheese-factory, and a Baptist Church. A wadding-mill which stood in the lower part of the village was destroyed by fire at a recent date.

We are under obligations to a large number of people in this township for courtesies extended and information fur- nished.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BENJAMIN S. WALCOTT

was born in Cumberland, R. I., in the year 1775. He died at his late residenee in the village of New York Mills, Oneida County, N. Y., at the age of seventy-six.

Mr. Walcott commenced the business of manufacturing cotton in this State, at the " Oneida Factory," in the year 1809, at which time the manufacturing interests of this country were in their infancy ; and the energy and ability which were requisite to conduct successfully an experiment of this kind (for such it really was) Mr. Waleott was found to possess in an eminent degree. He became connected in business relations with Mr. Benjamin Marshall, of Troy, in the erection of manufacturing establishments in the village of New York Mills, and from that period till the year 1856 he continued his active and responsible duties as its head and representative.

His early education was in New England, where he was reared under the strictest rules of morality; and these sterling principles, justice, truth, and integrity, never for- sook him. He never labored under the unavailing regret of having wasted in indolence, folly, and dissipation his carlier years. He was manly, ingenuous, and upright from the beginning. He scorned all double-dealing, looked with deep indignation on every fraud, on all that crafty duplicity which so often takes shelter under legal sanction ..

These principles, of course, soon inspired with confidence all persons with whom he transacted business, and all in his employ believed not only that he would do justly, but also that they would be remembered kindly in the day of adversity. And when the dark days of life came, they found in him a friend indeed.

He ever freely encouraged those who were honestly endeavoring to rise, and many are the individuals, in dif- ferent parts of our land, who, in early life, eame under his influence, that have risen to position and wealth, who have thanked him most cordially for his friendly counsels, and affirmed that they owed their success largely to his foster- ing eare. And to-day, though dead, he is speaking in the lives and examples of hundreds and thousands of true men and true women.

Mr. Walcott rightly appreciated the value of the Sab- bath in its influence on the cleanliness, the manners and morals, and religion of every people; and the village in which his influence and example were most directly felt stands forth as a beautiful illustration of what might be done more generally if men of influence would lay aside the cup and throw in their hearts to roll forward this heaven-born reformation. Mr Walcott has made his mark. No one, I am sure, will deny, who knows this place and its forming influences, that he was its father. He originated that system of things under which these villages have grown up from nothing to their present beauty, usefulness, and prosperity. His hand drew the plan and laid the foundation-stones ; his was the moulding, guiding mind ; the churches, the schools, the libraries, the peace, the purity, the integrity, the temperance, the industry, the regularity,-all, in fine, which make .these manufactories compare so favorably with others are due mainly to that truthful example and those worthy principles which were ever the ornaments of his character.

Mr. Walcott was constitutionally diffident ; a man of few words, but those full of meaning, his looks and words were unmistakable. He was never impulsive, always carefully canvassing the subject under consideration, and when his conclusions were formed he stood firm. He ever main- tained the bearing of an accomplished Amcriean gentle- man,-never haughty, rude, nor overbearing. His tastes were refined, his manners gentle, courteous, and winning. He adorned every social cirele in which he moved, for he was a careful observer of the proprieties of intelligent, refined, social life. His words were fitly chosen, and fell in at the proper place and time. No one ever more assidu- ously consulted the convenience and happiness of others.

Although not favored in early life with the advantages of a liberal education, he could appreciate the value and influence of educated minds, as his late munificent dona-

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tion to one of our best colleges will abundantly testify. Other schools of learning shared in his charity. He lived not unto himself; he not only gave freely into the great channels of publie benevolence, but as long as his hands could move or his feet walk he went about to cheer cvery neighbor he could reach with little kindnesses. His aim was to pour as many rills of happiness as possible through a suffering world.

He was eminently successful in business, possessing tal- ents equaled by few ; his talents were not of an inventive order, but ability to judge of men, intimate knowledge of human nature, comprehensive foresight, and close observa- tion. He could judge with great accuracy of those qualities in men which fitted them to fill any particular post of trust or to discharge any duty in the business with which he was connected, and to such he always gave the warmest and most cordial encouragement. He accumulated large wealth, but he escaped by his uniform liberality that contracting, covetous spirit which increasing prosperity so often engen- ders. He gave from principle, and giving became with him an ennobling habit. Says a friend, " He realized as much as any man I ever knew the luxury of doing good."

He was a true friend as well as a philanthropist. He loved his country, and in his extreme weakness he kept himself informed as to all her trials and dangers in the late civil war. He gave his thousands to preserve her constitu- tion, her liberty, and her life. His example as a citizen, a man, and a Christian is worthy of all imitation, and the excellences of his private and domestic character will long be remembered and cherished by those who knew him most intimately.

He was the first manufacturer in this county who re- duced the working hours of the day from fifteen to twelve. He was the first who introduced the custom of cash pay- ment, thus allowing those he employed to purchase their supplies where they could do it cheapest and best. In these and other ways he consulted the best interests of those he had gathered around him, and won their sym- pathy.

About five years prior to his deccase he retired from active business, his son, Wm. D. Walcott, and Samuel Campbell, who had for some years been associated with him, assuming the entire proprietorship of this immense establishment ; and it is but justice to add that these gen- tleinen, possessed of large views and admirable qualifica- tions for their position, have carried it on in the same noble spirit of its founder.

As significant of the estimate in which Mr. B. S. Wal- cott was held by those in his employ, the following prcam- ble and resolutions are copied from those passed by a gath- ering of employees after his decease :

" Whereus, It has pleased the great Disposer of all events to remove from our midst the late Benjamin S. Walcott, a gentleman widely known and respected, and especially endeared to us by his many private virtues, whose charities were manifold, unostentations, and wide-spread, wbo ever had at heart the best interests of those whom he employed, and who, as a gentleman alorning life in every sphere in which he moved, had few equals and no superiors.

" Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Walcott we lose a pattern of nn honorable, noble-minded, energetic business man, one who held justice, honesty, integrity, anl morality to be of more consequence than the mere acenmulation of property, and whose governing prin-

ciple has ever been to pursue a liberal, upright course in all his deal- ings with his fellow-men.

" Resolved, That in the character of the deceased were combined in an eminent degree the qualities of the true Christian and the prac- tical philanthropist.

" Resolred, That the prosperous villages, of which he may be pro- nounced the parent, will remain enduring monuments of his worth, and his life and example will ever be remembered and cherished by us."

SAMUEL CAMPBELL.

The village of New York Mills lies in the lovely valley of the Mohawk and Sauquoit. For two miles skirting cach side of the fine hard road are the mills, the grounds, and residences of the proprietors, the homes of the working- men, and the school-houses and churches of the village.

New York Mills is very attractive in summer; it is one of the places in Oneida County which strangers go to see. The houses of the operatives are neat, convenient, and healthy ; most of them standing back from the road, with yard in front, garden in rear, and half-hidden by foliage. The good standing of New York Mills is due to the char- acter of the employees, which has always been high, and to the regulations and example of the employers.

Samuel Campbell was born at Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scot- land, in 1809. He is of that land which, " considering the fewness of the folk," has scored the deepest mark, and of that family which has for centuries so largely influenced Scotland. In his boyhood he had the advantages of the schools for which Scotland is renowned, and which have been so useful to her sons wherever their wandering genius has carried them.

Mr. Campbell came to America in 1831, and pitched his tent at New York Mills. IIe began his new life in the employment of Marshall & Walcott, and his rise was rapid and steady. His hands and brain were ceaselessly at work, and with large results in many directions. When he began there was but one comparatively small mill. Its growth and extension, the addition of others, the development of the business, and the reputation of its products are largely due to his industry, skill, and forethought.

He had an iron frame, mechanical skill, great working- powers, ready adaptation of means to ends, quick perception of defects and remedies. IIe made many and valuable in ?- provements in machinery. Ifis employers saw his worth, sought his advice, and followed it. In 1847 he became a partner in the company, and from that time his business. career has been known to the county and the State.

Mr. Campbell not only enjoys a wide reputation as a successful manufacturer, but also as a practical agriculturist, having for many years devoted much attention to that business. Perhaps nothing in his career has brought him more prominently before the public than the great sale of his herd of blooded stock, which took place at New York Mills, on Sept. 10, 1873. Mr. Campbell had by purchase in this country, importation from England, and skillful breeding become possessed of a large and valuable herd of cattle, including many animals of the best strains of short- horn blood ; and while the breeding and raising of fine stock was begun by him as a pleasurable diversion from his more onerous business cares, and by him has been regarded simply as an episode in his long and busy life, yet on ac-

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

count of the number and great value of the animals, and the consequent eare and anxiety devolving upon him, it naturally passed from the domain of reereation to that of an exacting, burdensome business,-a severe tax upon his time and strength. Mr. Campbell inet with many diseour- agements: some of his finest eattle died ; no one of his friends believed in his success ; but his faith did not lessen, and the result proved the correctness of his judgment. At the sale, which was the largest, the most extraordinary of which there is any record, were men who came from far and near, from many parts of this country and from Eng- land, agents of English noblemen, and even noblemen them- selves. The priees paid for animals were unprecedented, --- four of them netting the sum of $133,200, and the aggre- gate sales amounting to nearly $400,000, a fitting and magnificent tribute to the judgment and eourage of Samuel Campbell.

Mr. Campbell was a Whig, and then a Republican, al- ways a loving son of his adopted home. As supervisor of Whitestown and member of the war committee of Oncida County, as a man and a eitizen, he worked with all his might during the war and for the war.

Nowhere did the proclamation of President Lineoln meet with a heartier response than at New York Mills. The men who carried the musket did not wait for bounties, but met the first shoek of the conflict, governed by the de- sire to save from ruin the land which had given to some of them birth, to all a home, and this was in no small degree owing to the spirit of Samuel Campbell. We have no room for the long list of his good works. He did all that in him lay to strengthen the government in its straits, to braee the soldier in the field, to soothe his anguish in the hospitals, to comfort his dying hours. The soldiers from New York Mills were his especial charge; he eared for them while living, eared for their bodies when dead, and ereeted to their memory an expensive and beautiful monu- ment. The monument was placed by Mr. Campbell in charge of Post Ross, of the Grand Army of the Republie. There is no village where a monument eould more appro- priately be raised to commemorate the services of its chil- dren. It was fitting that the first monument to the soldiers of Oneida County should be planted there. It was equally fitting that it should owe its existence to the patriotism and generosity of Samuel Campbell.

The Union party showed its sense of Mr. Campbell's fitness by sending him as a delegate to the eonvention which nominated Mr. Lincoln for his second terni, appoint- ing him a presidential elector for General Grant, and by two cleetions to the New York Senate. His strong sense soon mastered all the details of his duties. He had many hard tasks to do, especially as chairman of the railroad eom- mittee, but he did them in an effective, if in a quiet, unob- trusive way. There was no man in the Senate who did not like to do him a kindness,-not one who did not honor him. Sinee his retirement from the Senate he has uni- formly refused to become again the recipient of publie honors.

Mr. Campbell married in 1833 Agnes Sinelair, whose virtues and pleasant ways eheered him in his years of toil, and who remains the bright companion of his advaneing

years,-the mother whom his children worship, the woman who gets without an effort the respect and the love of all who come within her sphere. Around them have grown up a large family of sons and daughters.

Physically, Mr. Campbell is of commanding presenee. He has a fine head, white hair, flowing beard, keen eyes, bright cheery face, broad shoulders, and a stalwart frame.

His residenee is on an eminenec some distance from the road, in the midst of fine variegated grounds, and overlook- ing a wide and lovely landscape.

There are very many pleasant things in Mr. Campbell's life, but there is nothing more pleasant than that his ample fortune has been won by honest labor of head and hand, without a stain on his character or reputation, and with a full discharge of all his duties.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

SKETCHI OF BARON STEUBEN.

As this distinguished individual oeeupies a prominent niehe in the temple devoted to the American Revolution,- contributing as he did in the highest degree, by his exten- sive and profound knowledge of military organization and discipline, gained during more than twenty years' serviee under the most renowned commanders of the eighteenth eentury, to the success of those ennobling principles for which our fathers contended, and, moreover, as he was a citizen not only of the State of New York, but of Oneida County, within whose borders he owned a large tract of land, where he spent his last days, and where his ashes re- pose,-it seems eminently proper that a brief outline of his life and services should be included in this volume.

The materials are largely drawn from Frederick Kapp's thorough and excellent work, "The Life of Frederick William von Steuben," published by Mason Brothers, New York, 1859. We have also drawn some important items from Hon. P. Jones' " Annals of Oneida County."

The services rendered the eause of American Independ- enee by this brilliant soldier are very imperfectly understood by the great mass of the American people, and Mr. Kapp has performed not only a pleasant duty-a " labor of love," -but has brought to light an immense amount of informa- tion, drawn from the most authentic sourees, and presented it in such a masterly and interesting manner as to entitle him to the thanks of every student of American history.

Frederick William Augustus Henry Ferdinand von Steuben* was born at Magdeburg, a Prussian city on the Elbe, Nov. 15, 1730. He belonged to a noble and mili- tary family whose reeord is proudly written on the face of

# Commonly known to the American people as Baron Steuben. It is said by some of the old residents of the neighborhood where Steu- ben passed the latter years of his life that he was a great admirer of the French people, and particularly of Voltaire; and he carried this admiration so far as to change his signature from Von Steuben to De Steuben, and adopted the French pronunciation and accent. This statement is supported by the belief of ex-Governor Horatio Seymour and other intelligent and and reliable parties. [ED.]

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Europe. In his childhood he accompanied his father to the Crimea against the Turks, while he was in the service of Russia. He subsequently returned with his father to his native country. He received his education at the Jesuits' colleges of Neisse and Breslau, at that time the best in the province of Silesia, then lately conquered from the Austri- ans. He was an apt scholar, and particularly distinguished himself in mathematies. While a mere boy of fourteen years, he served with his father as a volunteer, and was present at the siege of Prague.

At the age of seventeen (1747) he entered as a eadet the famous infantry regiment Von Lestwich, afterwards Von Tauenzien. He was promoted to ensign in 1749, and to lieutenant in 1753. In 1755, at the commencement of the famous "Seven Years' War," he was made first lieutenant. He was present at the great battle of Rossbach, in Novem- ber, 1757, and in the following year beeame adjutant- general on the staff of General Von Mayr, one of Frederick the Great's most conspicuous commanders.

Frederick was then in the zenith of his glory as a mili- tary commander, and the wonderful exploits of the Prus- sian army were the theme of every tongue. After General Mayr's death Steuben served in the same position on the staff of General Von Hülsen, another of Frederick's dis- tinguished commanders. He probably took part in the bloody battles of Kay and Kunersdorf, in July and August, 1759, for he was among the wounded in the latter aetion, which nearly annihilated the Prussian army. He subse- quently served on the staff of General Knobloch, and was the offiecr sent by that commander to negotiate terms with the enemy when compelled to surrender his division at Treptow, on the Rega, in October, 1761.

Steuben, in company with his brother offieers, was sent to St. Petersburg. In 1762, Peter III., the successor of the Empress Elizabeth on the throne of Russia, eoneluded an armistice with Frederick of Prussia. The new monarch endeavored to persuade the young lieutenant to enter the Russian service, but he declined. He was soon after ap- pointed on the personal staff of the King of Prussia as aid- de-eamp, with the rank of captain, and in this capacity served at the siege of Sehweidnitz, near the elose of the Seven Years' war. He was a favorite with the king, who treated him with the highest consideration. He was one of six officers chosen by the king for the purpose of re- eeiving his personal instruction in military science; and at the end of the war, in 1762, he presented Steuben with a lay benefice producing an annual income of 400 thalers.

Soon after the conclusion of peace, Steuben left the Prussian service, for reasons not very clearly set forth. He petitioned for his discharge from the army, and visited various places, and formed among other acquaintances that of Count St. Germain, then in the serviee of Denmark, but afterwards the French minister of war.

In 1764 he was tendered the position of grand marshal of the court of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Heehingen, which he accepted, and filled with distinguished ability for a period of ten years. Steuben was a nominal follower of the Protestant teachings of Luther, and this led him into difficulty with the priests at the court, who were zealons Catholies, and he resigned his honorable position. He with-

drew to the court of the Margrave of Baden, at Carlsruhe, who had bestowed upon him the cross of the order " De la Fidelité" in 1769.

Having plenty of leisure, Steuben traveled quite exten- sively, and visited Baron Von Waldener at his residence in Alsace, where he renewed his acquaintance with Count St. Germain. He also visited Montpellier, in the south of France, and formed the acquaintance of the English Earls of Warwick and Spencer, and the French Prince de Mont- barey, subsequently minister of war.

Tiring of his inaetive life, Steuben, during the year 1776, had determined to re-enter the military service, and it would appear that he made application to enter the Ger- man army ; but the obstacles were found too formidable to be overeome, and Steuben determined to visit England, and set out in April, 1777, traveling via Paris, where he arrived in May.

At this time the excitement in France over the Ameri- ean war pervaded the ranks of the nobility and the court, and he found Count St. Germain greatly interested, although the government had not yet taken any decided steps towards assisting the struggling colonies.

Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin, the agents of the Americans, were then in France endeavoring to interest the government in the struggle, but the king and his minis- ters, while manifesting the most lively interest, were too wary to risk the chances of a war with England without due deliberation ; and, therefore, while every facility for supplying the Americans with the sinews of war through private sourecs was allowed, the court dexterously avoided an open declaration of war.

Steuben met the American commissioners, who were ex- ecedingly anxious to engage his serviees, but at the same time declared their inability to make any satisfactory guar- antecs. The Count St. Germain urged him to go to Amer- ica, and endeavored to show him what a magnificent field was open to him; but Steuben was wholly disinclined to adventure, and made arrangements to return to Prussia. He made a farewell visit to the Count St. Germain, and while there the Spanish ambassador eame in, to whom the count introduced Steuben. On the same day he visited the Prince De Montbarey, and found him, like the others, greatly interested on the side of the Americans.

He finally departed for Germany, and on his arrival at Rastadt met Prince Louis William, of Baden, and also found a most persuasive letter from M. de Beaumarchais, who stated that Count St. Germain expected his immediate return to Versailles. He also stated that funds would be furnished him, and that a vessel was ready at Marseilles to depart for America. This letter was accompanied by one from the count, who strongly urged his return. In this dilemma he resolved to consult Prince Louis William, of Baden, who, to his surprise, told him he considered there was no room for hesitation, and advised him to proceed at once to America. This determined his course, and arrang- ing his business and obtaining permission from the King of Prussia, he returned to Paris in August, 1777.

Here he conferred with Prinee De Montbarcy, Count St. Germain, and the Count De Vergennes, the French minis- ter of foreign affairs, and having made all necessary ar-

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History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 170

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 932

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932