USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878 > Part 70
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Of the State Agricultural Society he was an ethcient officer and unwavering friend. His mission in life was business. His enterprises were undertaken for material profit, and, while they were successful as such, they proved at tho same time of great public advantage.
Much of what has been accomplished of recent years in developing the re- sources of the neighborhood, and in making Utica what it is, bears the impress of his organizing genius and restless enterprise. For these were the qualities which marked his character. He owed nothing to scholastic education, and it may be doubted whether books could have better fitted him for his career as & man of action and a promoter of material undertakings. Nor had he that de- gree of intelligent foresight which enabled him in advance of others to con- ceive of the possible good wrapped up in an untested scheme. He was prompt to avail himself of the inventiveness of others. A scheme unfolded, and what it could accomplish once exhibited, he was quick to note its bearings and re- moter tendencies, and ready in plan and action to grasp success while as yet practicability was talked of. This success he achieved by careful insight and minute attention to detail, wherein he was aided by a memory wonderfully retentive, by a strong aud enduring will, by the contagious influence his de- termination exerted upon others, bearing them along in the current of his own enthinsinsm, and by an energy that was balked by no obstacle, and never asked for rest. These it was-untiring activity, undannted persistence, rigid super- vision and control over others-which formed the chief source of his supcri- ority, and fitted him to do so much in associated as in private works.
Such confidence had Mr. Butterfield inspired by the generally prosperous results of his operations, so accurate was deemed his insight in his peculiar field, and so many were the instances in which his advance led on others to the improvement of their fortunes, that his approval and co-operation in a scheme were apt to be deemed conclusive of its merits. His reputa- tion was extended, and his relations intimate with capitalists in distant parts of the country, who were glad to avail themselves of his capacity and energy.
In politics Mr. Butterfield took but little part, and was never an officc-seeker. By the Republicans of 1865 he was elected mayor of Utica, and in the same year was the unsuccessful candidate of the Democrats for the office of senator of the county.
In October, 1867, he was stricken with paralysis in New York city, and after a little was bronght home the wreck of his former self. He died November 14, 1869. The large attendance at his funeral indicated that the loss sustained had not been felt most by any particular class. The representatives of wealth, intelligence, business circles, and labor gathered side by side. He had been brought in contact with all of them, and toward all was courteous, kind, and faithful. Leaders in material development valued him and were depend- ent on him, yet few men of his position could number among his personal friends so large a number of the laboring class.
Mr. Butterfield was married when about twenty-one, and left, besides his widow, six surviving children,-three sons and three daughters,-viz. : Theodore F. and John, of Utica: Daniel, major-general, and late assistant treasurer the United States at New York ; Mrs. James B. Van Vorst and Mrs. Alex- ander Ilolland, of New York; and Mrs. William M. Storrs, of Utica, New York.
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Joseph removed to Cayuga County. John was eonstable and collector, and afterwards deputy sheriff, and his shriev- alty extended to the St. Lawrence River, and he once visited Ogdensburg to serve a summons. He afterwards removed to Trenton, where he owned mills. Parley was by trade a carpenter, and in 1817 was living on Broad Street.
Thomas Norton, who resided here for a short time, and kept a publie-house, was a son-in-law of Stephen Potter, and had been a sca-eaptain. He afterwards returned to his seafaring life.
Dr. Samuel Carrington was quite a noted personage, though, according to Dr. Bagg, it is not certain that he was a regularly educated physician. He was a druggist, and had a considerable trade, as we infer from an advertisement published in 1800, wherein he announces his determination to henceforth do only a cash business. Hc succeeded John Post as postmaster April 1, 1799, and continued in that capacity until probably about 1802. Hc was one of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church. About the last-named year he started on a journey to the east, where he was to be married. The ceremony was performed presumably at the residence of the bride, but the next morning he disap- peared, and was never afterwards heard of in this region. The cause of this mysterious disappearance was never ex- plained. His brother, John Carrington, came to Utica and settled up his business, and was for a time in partnership with Dr. Mareus Hitchcock, who had succeeded Dr. Car- rington as postmaster, and to whom he finally sold out the stock of drugs belonging to his brother.
Aaron Eggleston was a cooper, and carried on his busi- ness for many years. He died in 1828. John Hobby was a blacksmith, and one of the first to pursue that calling in the place. His shop stood near the site of the present Cen- tral Railroad station. He had two brothers who bore the curious names of Epenctus and Elkanah. John died in 1812. Thomas Jones was also a smith, and a very skillful workman. He occasionally worked for Hobby. The Brooks were braziers, who lived and worked at their trade on Whitesboro' Street, and subsequently removed to Seneca Street.
Moses Bagg* eame with his family from Westfield, Mass., in the autumn of 1793, and stayed through the following winter at what was called the " middle settlement," and ar- rived at Old Fort Schuyler in March, 1794. He purchased four acres of lease land, and opened a blacksmith-shop on what is now Main Strect, a little east of Bagg's Square. His house was built of logs, or, according to one authority, of " hemlock boards nailed to the stubs of trecs," and stood on the corner. This primitive dwelling served as a tavern for some time. Hc soon afterwards erected a two-story frame building on the same site, being the same now oeeu- pied by the well-known " Bagg's Hotel." His son subsc- quently moved it across the street, where, in connection with the farm-house of Mr. Ballou, it constituted the late North- ern IIotel, which has recently given place to Ballou's Block. Mr. Bagg continued in the hotel business until his death, in September, 1805, his wife having died in March preecding. James, his eldest son, removed to Denmark, Lewis Co.,
about 1809. Moses remained in Utica, and also continued and enlarged the hotel business begun by his father.
About the same time of the arrival of the Bagg family came one John House, who also opened a publie-house on the southeast corner of Genesee Strect and the public square. He did not remain long, but his tavern was continued by other parties.
One of the most prominent eitizens and business men of Utica, who arrived and settled in 1794, was Jason Parker. Mr. Parker was a native of Adams, Mass. He married, in 1790, Roxana Day, of Wilbraham, and the same year migrated to Oneida County, and settled at New Hartford, where he purchased and cleared up two farms; but the labor proving too much for his health, he abandoned his original calling, and in 1794 removed to Utiea, where he commeneed business as a post-rider between Canajoharic and Whitestown. The journey was sometimes made on foot and sometimes on horseback, and his wife frequently assisted him by making that portion of the trip between Utica and Whitestown. The contract for the transporta- tion of the mail had been let in 1793 to one Simeon Pool, whom Mr. Parker soon after bought out. This was the beginning of the mail service in this region, and it is prob- able that John Post was appointed postmaster in the same ycar-1793.
The mails of that day were carried twiec each week, and were not remarkable for their bulk, though it is related that at one time the Great Western Mail, from Albany, brought the enormous number of six letters for the inhabitants of Old Fort Schuyler. This unheard-of occurrence created no little excitement in the quiet hamlet. This incident reminds us that when mail facilities were first established between New York and Philadelphia, under the administra- tion of Benjamin Franklin, postmaster-general, the mail was transported once a week on horseback.
In August, 1795, Mr. Parker put on the first stage be- tween Canajoharie and Whitestown, which made the trip twice per weck, leaving Whitestown every Monday and Thursday at two o'clock P.M.f This business Mr. Parker prosecuted with great tact and energy, sometimes alone and sometimes in company with others, during the whole of his active life. In addition to this rapidly-growing business he was engaged at various times in the business of milling and merchandising, and was also a member of the board of village trustecs.
Under his excellent instruetions such men as T. S. Fax- ton, John Butterfield, and S. D. Childs became prominent eitizens and successful business men, and Mr. Butterfield eventually became his suceessor in the business of transpor- tation, and in later years was the most famous stage propri- etor and " Pony Express" man in the Union.
Mr. Parker, upon his first arrival in Utica, dwelt in a log house on Main Strect, west of First Street. From this he removed to the south side of Whitesboro', near Seneca Street, where he had his stables, blacksmith-shops, cte. In after-ycars hc built a house on the opposite side of the street, which, since his day, has been rebuilt and occu-
+ For a more extended account of the early stage operations see Chapter XVI., " Internal Improvements."
* Grandfather of M. M. Bagg, M.D., and M. D. Bagg, Esq. 34
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
pied by E. M. Gilbert, lately deceased. According to Mr. Jones, Mr. Parker died on the 28th of September, 1830. Dr. Bagg states, on page 44 of " Pioneers of Utica," that he died in 1830, and on page 502 that his death occurred in 1823. He had seven children.
Dr. Bagg thus sums up his characteristics : " Remark- able for his business eapacity, his energy and his skill in dealing with others, Mr. Parker was not less noted for his unswerving integrity, and his kind and liberal disposition. Well do I remember the benevolent features of the old man, as they kindly beamed upon the children of his ac- quaintance, as well as the quaint attire in which he ap- peared abroad,-the broad-brimmed beaver, the 'spencer' worn outside his coat, and the long church-warden pipe, only laid aside when he took the reins for a drive in his chaise." Mrs. Parker died also in the same year with her husband.
The most prominent arrival of 1795 was that of Judge Apollos Cooper, a native of Southampton, L. I., where he was born Feb. 2, 1767. He had learned the trade of a carpenter, and settled in Oneida County in 1790. He had also lived at Johnstown, and was at one time in the employ of Mr. Scriba, at Oneida Lake. On the 11th of April, 1795, he purchased of James S. Kip 117 acres of great lot No. 96, where he built a residence and engaged in farming, mostly giving up his trade. It is said that he was the architect of the second bridge across the river on Genesce Street, which, if true, would have made him a resident in 1794.
This bridge is said to have been approached on the south through a long covered way resting on trestle-work, and extending back half-way to Main Street. This circum- stance would indicate that the land was originally very low at that point, and probably wet and at times impassable. Mr. Cooper was also the superintending builder of Ham- ilton Oneida Academy, since sueceeded by Hamilton Col- lege.
He was a popular man in the community, as indicated by the numerous civil offices which the people called upon him to fill; among which were those of eounty judge, sheriff, representative in the Legislature, etc. Mr. Cooper died, after a long and painful illness, on the 2d of March, 1839.
Prominent among those who established themselves in and around Utica in the closing years of the last eentury was William Inman, a native of Somersetshire, England, and a former clerk in the employ of Sir William Pul- teney.
His first visit to America was in June, 1792. " He soon after was entrusted with the interests of certain Europeans, prominent among whom was Patrick Colqu- houn, high sheriff of London, for whom he purchased, in trust, the tract of land called ' Inman's triangle,' ineluding the towns of Leyden and Lewis, in Lewis Co., N. Y. The following year he returned to England, but ere long was again in this country." *
" In 1793 he obtained of Rutger Bleeeker two lcases of land in lot No. 104, containing in all one hundred and fifty-
three acres, and not long after came to reside in Oneida County (then Herkimer). He lived at first in the house that is situated on the north side of the Whitesboro' road, opposite the bridge over the canal. But, disgusted with the ' Yankee dust' which reached him from the neighbor- ing highway, he built the large house that stands quite back from it on the south side, and which has been of late years known as the Champlin House. Possessed of ample means, he hired laborers and lived upon his farni as a pri- vate gentleman. 'He had considerable knowledge of Eng- lish literature, was fond of books, and exhibited in his conversation the superiority which results from culture and from intercourse with refined society. His handwriting was handsome; he was accurate and methodical, under- standing well his own interests, and apt in drafting all legal papers relating to his property and dealings.' He conse- quently maintained a high social standing, and participated in the best society which the neighborhood afforded. He rode in a heavy English carriage, and wore powdered hair, with short-elothes and knec-buekles."+
About 1804 he, in company with Edward Smith and Aylmer Johnson, ereeted a brewery and commenced the business of brewing under the firm-name of E. Smith & Co. This appears to have been the first establishment of the kind in the place. In April, 1805, the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Inman conducted the business for some time in his own namc.
He also built himself a dwelling on the cast side of Broadway, a little above Whitesboro' Street.
Mr. Inman was one of the most prominent members of Trinity Episcopal Church, and one of its founders. About the year 1813 he removed to the city of New York and engaged in the mercantile business, but met with serious reverses. About 1825 he again removed to Leyden, Lewis County, where he died in 1843, at the age of eighty-one years. His wife died in 1829, aged fifty-six.
Mr. Inman's sons were William, John, Henry, and Charles, of whom the first three named achieved consider- able distinction, though in widely different paths.
William rose to the rank of commodore in the American navy, and died in 1874. He served on the lakes during the war of 1812-15 ; commanded a boat in an encounter with a piratieal craft on the coast of Cuba in 1823; was in command of a steamer on the lakes in 1845; a steam frigate of the East Indies Squadron in 1851, and was in command of the African Squadron in 1859-61.
John commenced business life as a teacher in North Carolina, visited Europe, studied law, and subsequently achieved considerable distinction in connection with the press. He was editor at various periods of the Standard, the Spirit of the Times, and the New York Mirror. He was subsequently editor of the Commercial Advertiser and the Columbian Magazine, and was a frequent contributor to other periodieals. He died Aug. 30, 1850.
" Henry, born at Utiea Oct. 28, 1801, early manifested a taste for art, entered the studio of Jarvis, and at first devoted himself to miniature painting, but afterwards turned his talents to good advantage in portrait, landscape, and
# Hough's History of Lewis County.
+ Pioneers of Utiea.
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
genre painting, and attained sueh distinetion as to be chosen vice-president of the National Academy of Design. He visited England in 1844 and painted portraits of Words- worth, Chalmers, Macaulay, and others. He afterwards undertook a series of pictures for the national Capitol illus- trating the settlenient of the West, but did not live to aeeomplish the first of them. Among his last efforts are his portraits of Chief-Justiee Marshall and Bishop White, his ' Rip Van Winkle waking from his Dream,' ' Mumble the Peg,' and ' Boyhood of Washington.' He was one of the most versatile of American artists. IIe possessed the choicest social qualities and the finest sensibilities. His conversational qualities were of a high order, and he had a large fund of aneedote and wit. He died in New York Jan. 17, 1846." * (Drake's " American Biography.")
Watts Sherman, from Newport, R. I., came to Utiea about 1795. He was a carpenter by trade, but subsequently gave up the business and beeame a prominent merchant.
In 1802 he formed a partnership with Arnold Wells, but it did not continue long. He was an enterprising man, and was among the foremost of a company which established the first glass-manufactory at Vernon, and was a director of the company. In 1813 he entered into partnership with Henry B. Gibson and Alexander Seymour, under the name of Sherman, Gibson & Co. Mr. Sherman remained in Utica, while his partners established themselves in New York, and they all prospered. He died about 1820.
The earliest appearance of a tailor in Utica seems to have been in the person of one Daniel Banks, who, according to Dr. Bagg, lived alone in Whitesboro' Street, and who came to a tragic end in this wise: Being sick with fever, and, according to the custom of medical practice in those days, denied the use of water, he became delirious, left his bed when the attendant was away for a moment, and being missed, search was made, and his lifeless body found in all adjoining well. This occurred in 1799, and the epitaph on his tombstone in the old burying-ground is the oldest one legible in the place. Among other settlers of the year 1795 were Samuel Jewett and Lewis Crandall.
The year 1795, aeeording to the Western Centinel, the first paper published in the county, was sickly beyond any previous experience. It says, " Scarcely a family eseapes, and numbers of whole families labor under the infliction. The diseases most prevalent are the lake (or Genesee) fever, and the intermittent, or fever and ague. We have authority to say that the lake fever is not confined wholly to lake towns, but is frequent in the most inland ones."
The prominent arrivals of the year 1796 were Ezekiel Clark, Dr. Alexander Coventry, and Talcott Camp.
Mr. Clark at first opened a small store in Bagg's tavern. IIe resided in the place for many years, and alternately pursued the calling of a merchant, innkeeper, baker, eooper, and merchant a second time. In 1817, at the date of the publication of the first directory of Utiea, he was doing business in a store located at No. 40 Genesee Street.
Dr. Coventry at first began business in Utica as a mer- ehant, but having been educated for a physician he soon opened an office in obedience to his own natural tastes and
the demands of the community, and practiced during the rest of liis life. His mercantile experience began as a partner with John Post. About the year 1804 he was in the medical practiec with Dr. David Hasbrouck. Soon after this he purchased a farm in Deerfield and removed thither with his family. Here he pursued the calling of a farmer with great assiduity, and beeame quite famous as a fruit- grower. In 1817 he formed a partnership with Dr. John McCall, who was also a resident of Decrfield, and the firm oceupied an office in a small frame building on the north- west corner of Broad and John Strects. From the time of his removal to Deerfield to his death his time was divided between his farm and his profession. His son, Dr. Charles B. Coventry, practieed with him as a partner during the latter years of his life. He was one of the principal pro- moters of the County Agricultural Society, organized about the year 1817, and was its seeretary and most efficient member.
Dr. Coventry was a native of Hamilton, Scotland, where he was born Aug. 27, 1766. His father, Captain George Coventry, had been an officer in the service of George II. during the French war. The doetor was educated at the schools of Glasgow and Edinboro', and came to Ameriea in July, 1785. He settled at first at Hudson, where he prae- tieed his profession, and also busied himself in agricultural pursuits. From thence he removed to Romulus, on Seneea Lake, but left that locality on account of sickness, and came to Utica (or Old Fort Schuyler), as before stated, in 1796. He died of influenza on the 9th of Deeember, 1831. His wife, Elizabeth Butler, of Brantford, Conn., had died some years previous. His family consisted of seven sons and four daughters, of whom only one son made a permanent residenee in Utica.t-
" Talcott Camp was born in Durham, Conn., March 14, 1762, and was the son of Elnathan Camp and Eunice Tal- cott, daughter of one of the original proprietors of the town."} He was at college in New Haven when the war of the Revolution broke out, and entered the army, serving during the greater part of its continuance in the commis- sary department. He settled after the war in Glastonbury, in his native State, where he was engaged in the mercantile business, and also in the manufacture of iron. At this place he was married, in 1785, to Nancy Hale, and here all his children, save the youngest, were born.
Upon his arrival at Old Fort Sehuyler he continued the mereantile business for some years, but eventually disposed of his wares and engaged in the purelase and sale of lands. In 1809 he was chosen president of the village couneil, and held the office for five successive years. The latter years of his service covered a portion of the war with Great Britain, during which many hundreds of soldiers and re- eruits passed through Utica, on their way to and from the frontiers. The position was an onerous one, but he bore himself with such good sense and sound judgment that many difficulties were avoided and the peaee was rarely broken. He was a prominent trustce of the Presbyterian Church, and one of the original board at the founding of
t For a further account of Dr. Coventry, sce article in Chapter XVIII., upon the Medical Society.
# Pioneers of Utiea.
į Dr. Bagg.
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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
the Utica Academy, in 1814. He also filled the position of magistrate, and was greatly esteemed for the upright and honorable course which he invariably pursued. " He was a man of intelligence and integrity, of sterling sense and judgment, of marked and dignified appearance and courte- ous manners, who always commanded respect, and in his later years veneration." *
He lived on Whitesboro' Street, near Mr. Burchard, and subsequently on Main Street, on the same lot where the village school-house stood.
He died Sept. 3, 1832, aged seventy. His wife died Aug. 31, 1806. They had eight children.
The heaviest general merchants in the place in 1797 were Clark & Fellows, whose store was situated on Whites- boro' Street, or road, near what is now Division Street. John Post's trade was mostly with the Indians. William G. Tracy at this time kept an extensive stock of merchan- dise at Whitesboro', which was still the most important point in this vicinity.
The nearest market for grain and potashes, then import- ant commodities, was at Canajoharie, where Messrs. James and Archibald Kane kept the largest stock of goods to be found west of Seheneetady, and were doing a very extensive business.
On the 4th of July, 1797, Bryan Johnson, the grand- father of the late Judge Alexander S. Johnson, arrived in Utica. He was a native of England, and had heard such pleasing accounts of America from a brother who had been in the country, that he determined to emigrate and cast his fortunes in the " New World."
France and England were then at war, and the vessel upon which Mr. Johnson had taken passage was captured by a French ship, which took off a portion of the pas- sengers, and put a small prize-erew aboard the captured vessel. Mr. Johnson remained on board the prize, and in an unguarded moment the passengers recaptured the vessel from the French crew and sailed for New York, where they arrived in safety. Mr. Johnson proceeded up the river to Albany, and thence to Old Fort Schuyler, where, as before stated, he arrived on the 4th of July, while the people were celebrating the anniversary of independence. A grand dinner was given on that day in the rear of where the York House was afterwards erected, and Francis A. Bloodgood, Esq., a young lawyer, delivered an oration. Mr. Johnson had intended to locate in Canada ; but being well pleased with the place and its people, and believing it a good point for trade, he concluded to make it his home.
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