History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 124

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 124

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SAINT MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, CLINTON.

Rev. William C. Coughlin made his first professional visit to Clinton on the 6th of January, 1851, and cele-

brated mass at the house of John Reilly on the 14th of the same month before a congregation of 16 members. The present church edifice was begun in May, 1852, and finished and dedicated Oct. 25, 1854, Bishop McCloskey, of Albany, officiating. Rev. Edward Bayard succeeded Rev. Mr. Coughlin, and remained one year ; and the third pastor, Rev. Father Peter O'Reilly, came in 1863, and still remains in charge. The present parochial residence on Marvin Street was built in 1871-72, under his care, and cost, in- cluding the lot on which it stands, $15,000. The church has also been enlarged, and is valued at about $12,000. The congregation now numbers, young and old, about 1500 members. The pastor is the Superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has an attendance of abont 200, with 30 teachers and classes. A good library is possessed by the school, containing about 300 volumes.

ST. JAMES' EPISCOPAL CHURCH, CLINTON.

During and after the year 1841, Bishop De Lancey, when visiting parishes in adjacent towns, held occasional services at Clinton. In 1854 a Sunday-school was organized, which held its mectings in Odd-Fellows' Hall. Throughout the year 1855 regular services were held, Rev. Wm. T. Gibson, D.D., of Grace Church, Waterville, officiating frequently. Services were also held in 1856 by the rectors of St. Paul's Church, at Paris Hill, Calvary Church, Utica, and Zion Church, Rome, and by Rev. H. A. Neely,-since Bishop of the Diocese of Maine. Services were discontinued in 1858, and not resumed till 1862, in Jannary of which year Rev. Henry Stanley, of Whitesboro', preached here, and others officiated at different times, the use of the Masonic Hall, over Mr. Owston's wareroom, being secured. The parish was organized in May of this year, at the end of which time there were two male and ten female communicants. The corner-stone of the present edifice was laid by Right Rev. William H. De Lancey, D.D., on the 5th of June, 1863. The building was completed in March, 1865, and the first service held in it on the 16th of that month. The church cdifice was consecrated in January, 1869, by Bishop F. D. Huntington. The rectors of this church have been Revs. Mr. Saunders, H. R. Pyne, I. B. Robinson, R. A. Olin, H. H. Loring, Rev. Mr. Hibbard, and John Bayley, the pres- ent incumbent. The church edifice cost, including lot, $7000, and the parsonage adjoining, built a few years afterwards, cost $3000. The communicants numbered 87 in May, 1878, and there were 51 families belonging in the parish. The reotor is the Superintendent of the Sabbath- school, which has 50 scholars, 6 teachers, and a library of 275 volumes.

ORGANIZATION OF TIIE TOWN.

The town of Kirkland was formed from a part of Paris, April 13, 1827, and named in honor of Rev. Samuel Kirk- land. Marshall was taken off in 1829; a part was annexed to New Hartford in 1834 ; and a part of Paris was added in 1839. An act was passed by the Legislature, Nov. 22, 1855, entitled " An Act to annex parts of the towns of New Hartford, Whitestown, and Westmoreland, in the County of Oneida, to the town of Kirkland in said county." Section one of this act reads as follows :

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" All these parts of the towns of New Hartford, Whitestown, and Westmoreland, in the County nf Ooeida, and State of New York, lying between the present boundary of the town of Kirkland and the fol- lowing lines, to wit : Beginning in the centre of the dwelling-house of Ezra Clark, being oo the line between the towns of New Hartford and Kirkland, aod running thence north twenty-two degrees and fifteen miontes west, one hundred and six chains to the centre of the Oriskany Creek ; thenee at said creek twenty-three chains ; thenee southerly to a large poplar-tree in the road by Mr. Whipple's dwel- liog-house forty-seven chains; thence sonth one degree east, forty-five chains to the southerly line of the town of Westmoreland, shall be and the same hereby are set off from said towns to the town of Kirkland."

The early records of this town have been misplaced or destroyed, and it is impossible now to give a complete list of its officers. Among its first supervisors was Jesse Curtiss, who held the office twenty-eight consecutive years. Those since 1866 have been the following persons, viz. : 1866-67, Charles Kellogg ; 1868-69, Henry S. Armstrong; 1870-72, Elliott S. Williams ; 1873-74, Silas T. Ives ; 1875, An- thony N. Owston; 1876, Henry N. Gleason ; 1877-78, Heury C. Earle. The remaining officers for 1878 are : Town Clerk, C. H. Goodfellow ; Assessor, Henry Roberts ; Justices of the Peace, Delos White, H. W. Mahan, James Blackstone, David Anderson, A. S. Taylor ; Commissioner of High ways, Bernard Duress ; Overseer of the Poor, John J. Neese ; Town Auditors, I. C. Miller, Elias Stanton, W. S. Williams; Collector, John M. Nettleton ; Constables, E. G. White, William P. Slocum, J. Q. Adams; Gume Constable, J. M. Nettleton ; Inspectors of Election, Dis- trict No. 1, Lorenzo House, David Mannering, George E. Norton ; District No. 2, Prescott Lawrence, Charles Trowbridge, L. N. Brockway ; District No. 3, Charles Mitchell, B. C. Tarbox, Noah Ashley ; Excise Commis- sioner, E. Gruman.

THE KIRKLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

was formed in the winter of 1861-62, and has held very successful fairs, at which addresses have been made by many of the distinguished men of the county and State. Its first president was Thomas J. Sawyer.

MANUFACTURES AND MINING .*

The clothing worn by the early settlers was home-made. Early in the present century merino sheep were introduced into this country from Spain, and some of them soon found their way to this town; the first specimen said to have been brought in at a cost of $1000. The raising of fine- wooled sheep now became a specialty. The Messrs. Sher- rill, of New Hartford, had at one time a flock of 900, and they were soon numbered by the thousands on the hill-sides of Kirkland. Associations were formed in many places for the manufacture of woolen cloths, and one was organized at Clinton, called the "Clinton Woolen Manufacturing Company." Their building was erected in 1810, and is still standing, much enlarged, and known as the Clinton Factory, owned by the proprietors of Clark's Mills. For a few years this enterprise was successful, and then ceased to be profitable. During the war of 1812 its broadcloths sold for $12 a yard, and its satinets at a corresponding figure.

The same may be said of the various other factories in ex- istence at that time. Peace, however, brought with it the products of the English looms in such quantities that the home manufactures came down to $2 a yard. It finally went out of existence as a woolen-factory, and for many years the building lay idle. It has since been operated with good success as a cotton-mill.

Amos Kellogg built a fulling-mill previous to 1810, on the east side of Oriskany Creek, on College Street, in Clin- ton. He took the cloths made in the neighboring farm- houses, and put them through the processes of dyeing, fulling, and shearing, thus fitting them for market and for use. He finally sold to Clark Wood, who moved his ma- chinery to the north side of the road to make room for a carding-machine. which was put up on the same site by Owen & Bennett.

Near the site of the present grist-mill, on College Street, a nail-factory was established about 1813 by Silas Buttrick and others. The process of nail-making was too slow to make the business profitable, and the factory was soon closed. The head of each nail was formed by hand.

Asa Marvin started a hat-factory about 1833-35 on the west corner of College and Franklin Streets, and the busi- ness was kept up for some years.

Scythes were made quite early in the history of the town by Woodruff & Kinney, whose factory stood near the present Farmers' Mill. The constant rattling of their trip-hammer is said to have been easily heard for several miles. They undoubtedly did a good business, for it was before the days of mowing-machines.

Timothy Barnes, who cast the first church-bell in Clinton, used to manufacture clocks, also their alarm-bells. Sylvester Munger was the repairer and regulator of the village time- pieces, and dealt in a small way in silver-ware.

The first pottery in town was established by Erastus Barnes, in the rear of the residence of the late Rev. Charles Jerome, on College Street. An excellent quality of clay was found on the Gleason farm, near Manchester, and the business of Mr. Barnes was quite lucrative. He was suc- ceeded by John B. Gregory, a devout Methodist, who always sang while at work. The latter carried on the busi- ness several years.

The first bricks manufactured were made by Dr. Abel Sherman, on Utica Street, who furnished the bricks used in the construction of the old school-house on the east side of the green, the chimney of the first school-house in Deans- ville, and many of the first chimneys in Clinton. Bricks were also made in an early day on the John Kirkland and David Comstock farms.

An ashery was established about 1820, and potash manu- factured in considerable quantities for a year, when the work was suspended. The factory stood on the strcam, on Utica Street, near the tannery of Bangs & Dillow, and Dr. Noyes was the superintendent. Another establishment of the kind near Manchester was on a larger scale, and lived longer.

Numerous tanneries have been established,-one by The- ophilus Redfield, near the foot of College Hill ; another by John Shapley, in the hollow east of the village; one by Rufus Hayes, on the farm now owned by Seth K. Blair, and another by Bangs & Dillow, on Utica Street.

# Principally from Gridley's History of Kirkland.

465

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The building of the first grist-mill, by Captain Cassety, has been mentioned. It stood on the east side of the Oriskany, just above College Street. Simon Nelson erected one at a later day, on the site now occupied by William Healey. A flouring-mill was also erected forty or fifty rods above the present Farmers' Mill. It was afterwards moved down stream and rebuilt under the name of Hart's Mill, and finally received its designation, "Farmers' Mill." About 1800 a small grist-mill was built a short distance east of Manchester, by one Sherman. It was run by water from the Oriskany, which was carried to it in a long raceway. This mill was not of much importance. Mr. Parks, an early settler, began the erection of a mill below Manchester, and expended a considerable sum on a raceway, but the Thompsons-Nathan and Ebenezer-ruined his calcula- tions by erecting a mill about 1802-3, at Clark's Mills. They also had a saw-mill and a carding. machine.

The first saw-mill in town was put in operation by Bronson Foot, in 1788. Another was built a few years later near the upper end of the Dug-Way ; another, by Mr. Bliss, where the chair-factory of S. P. Landers .was established, in 1861 ; and another by Ralph W. Kirkland, a short dis- tance below the present Franklin Iron-Works.

" In 1794, a deed was made by Mr. Bliss to Woodruff & Kinney, for a dike to be cut from his mill-pond (near Mr. Landers' present factory) through his land to the present location of the shop. The water-course having been dug, a trip-hammer-shop was built for making scythes, hoes, and for common blacksmithing. After a few years Manross & Wicks became the proprietors. They sold one- half of the shop to Charles Faber, who made nail-hammers. The next proprietors were Porter & Kelsey, who made hay- forks. After them came Mr. Wells, who made staves. The next proprietors were Biam and Hiram Davis, who manufactured sash, blinds, and doors. The next owner was James Stewart, who made Excelsior shavings, and carried on the business of upholstery. During its occupancy by Colonel Stewart, Mr. M. H. Jones manufactured axes to some extent. Succeeding Colonel Stewart came Messrs. Cooke & Case, who, during the war of the Rebellion, when cotton was high, dressed flax. Soon after this they turned their attention to the making of cotton batting. The same man- ufacture is still carried on by C. O. Jones, the present pro- prietor."*

Rev. Mr. Landers, in a note to Rev. Mr. Gridley com- municating these facts, observes, " The dates of these sev- eral changes and transfers cannot now be learned with accu- racy without reference to the county records; but for the variety of business done within its walls, I think no build- ing in the town of Kirkland can equal the old trip-hammer- shop."

A small factory was established about 1830, by a Mr. Hurd, on a stream between Clinton and Deansville, for the making of German-silver spoons. A legitimate business was, however, too slow for Mr. Hurd, who soon ventured, secretly, to coin money, which he circulated through his agents in other parts of the country. He was ere long sus- pected, and suddenly took himself out of the country. The

settlement where he lived received the title of " Bogusville," and has since retained it.

On the stream known as Sherman Brook, near the cross- road on the eastern limits of town, was once a saw-mill owned by Judah Stebbins and Zadock Loomis. Farther down stream was a grist-mill owned by Timothy Barnes and his sons. This property was after a few years sold and converted into a distillery. The proprietors of the latter began business with the avowed purpose of making " a pure whisky that would not intoxicate !" Tradition says that the water in their mill-race was used for more than a single purpose, which perhaps explains the secret of the process of manufacturing.

Still farther down stream was the saw-mill of John Bird ; and below that one owned by Thomas Parmele. These have all disappeared except a few traces of a dam or foun- dation wall.

Two furnaces for working up scrap-iron were quite early established in Clinton,-one by Lewis Pond and the other by Andrew Pond ; neither was of long duration.

In 1815 a entton-factory was built at Manchester, the company being chartered as the " Manchester Manufacturing Company." Its capital stock was $100,000. The works were put up on contract by Thomas R. Gold, Theodore Sill, and John Young, and such machinery as was then in use was put in place. The weaving was done by hand in pri- vate families, the power-loom being then unknown. Eight cents a yard were paid for weaving, and some was sent as far away as twenty or thirty miles. Upon the introduction of the power-loom and other improvements the cost of manufacturing was reduced so much that in a few years the cloth was sold for six and eight cents a yard. The factory was enlarged in 1831, and 96 looms and other new ma- chinery added. It was destroyed by fire in 1854, and has never been rebuilt. The "Clinton Iron-Works" were built on the site in 1873.

Franklin Iron- Works .- Iron ores are found in various parts of Oneida County, the deposits crossing it in north- west and southeast lines, and cropping out first in the town of Verona, near Oneida Lake. The richest beds are found in Kirkland, and were discovered early in the history of the town, on the farm of the late James D. Stebbins; it lay so near the surface that it was turned up by the plow. Since then it has been found in many places along the cast- ern and western slopes of the town. For many years it was dug in small quantities and carried to Taberg, Constantia, and Walesville, where it was worked into pig iron. The bus- iness of mining did not flourish, however, until the Frank- lin Iron-Works went into operation in 1852. The ores of the town of Kirkland, " when properly sorted," says Mr. John E. Elliott, " and melted with charcoal, will make about fifty per cent. iron ; melted with anthracite coal, from forty to forty-five per cent. The Westmoreland ore will not make over thirty to thirty-five per cent .; the Verona ore still less. In New Hartford, on the west side of the Sauquoit Valley, it would probably be about twenty-five per cent. On the east side of the valley it is as rich as the Kirkland ores."

" The ores of this region, when used alone, make the finest of castings for ornamental purposes; in their molten

# History of Kirkland, page 167.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

state they flow like water, and fill up every part of the mould with perfect nicety. A large portion of the iron made in this town is used for stoves, and other castings re- quiring a high finish. It is not suitable for making railroad iron or wrought-iron bars, beeanse it laeks in strength ; but when mixed with other ores, it is valuable for such purposes. At Poughkeepsie it is used for making pig iron in about equal proportions with the Lake Champlain and hematite ores. At Buffalo it is mixed with the Kingston magnetic and the Lake Superior ores, and makes an excellent grade of railroad bars, chairs, spikes, etc. The Kirkland iron is largely used in the manufacture of the famous Fairbanks scales."* The product of the several mines reaches more than. 35,000 tons annually.

In the year 1850 a company was formed in Kirkland for the manufacture of iron, with a capital stock of $16,- 000. Its members were Lester Barker, Mills & Parker, S. P. Landers, Miss L. M. Barker, H. H. Kellogg, Henry L. Barker, Thomas J. Sawyer, Rollin Root, Frederick Tut- tle, Morris S. Wood, John E. Elliott, John R. MeConnell, and John Owston. It was resolved to build a furnace with a capacity for making from six to ten tons of iron per day, and the construction of the works was accordingly commeneed in January, 1851, and continued through the year. Jonas Tower, of Crown Point, a man well skilled in the manufacture of iron, was employed to superintend the work, and he soon advised the company to build a larger furnace than they had at first projected. The original stockholders were unable to furnish the necessary capital for this enterprise, and a new company was formed early in 1852, with Alfred Munson, of Utica, and Mr. Tower as additional stockholders; the capital stock was increased to $32,000, the work of construction resumed, and carried forward to completion. The works have since been greatly enlarged and improved, and this furnace has made one blast of four years and ten months, besides many of a shorter duration. In 1864 the property passed into the hands of a new corporation, whose officers were O. B. Matteson, President; E. B. Armstrong, Vice-President ; Delos De Wolf, Treasurer ; H. S. Armstrong, Managing Trustee; C. H. Smythe, Secretary. The capital stoek was then increased to $100,000.

The first staek produced 100 tons of iron per week. In 1869-70 a new stack was built, with a capacity of 160 tons per week, using about 350 tons of ore and 240 tons of coal for the same. This stack was construeted with an iron casing resting upon six columns ; it was 55 feet high and 14 feet in diameter at the base. The old stack was rebuilt in 1871, and made of the same capacity as the new one, and put in operation in 1872. Both staeks have closed tops. The waste-gas is brought down to the ground, and used for making steam and heating the blast. When the works were visited, in May, 1878, they were not run- ning, but preparations were being made for resuming opera- tions in a short time. A store at the furnace is owned by the company, and there is also a post-office, with William Brockway as postmaster.

Clark's Mills .- " In the summer of the year 1846 a cot-

ton-factory was established on the Oriskany Creek, near the northern line of the town, by Messrs. Ralph Clark, Eneas P. Clark, and A. B. Clark. This factory, as well as the settlement which grew up around it, was styled Clark's Mills. The corner-stone of the main building was laid June 16, and the brick-work was finished November 14. It was four stories high, 275 feet long, 70 feet wide, with a wing in the rear of about one-half the dimensions of the main building. One hundred and eleven looms were set in place in April, 1849. Spinning began in April, and card- ing in May. Subsequently the woolen-factory at Clinton and the Peekville Mills were purchased,-the first being at the time thoroughly repaired and enlarged, and the latter rebuilt. A mill for making batting and rope was estab- lished at Clark's Mills by the company. In the year 1873 the factory changed its proprietors. . . . The capital stock of the corporation is $500,000."+

The central mill now contains 188 looms and 7428 spindles, and furnishes work to 160 employees. The mill at Clinton has 60 looms and 3236 spindles, and employs about 90 hands .. 2400 bales of cotton are used annually at both mills, and 3,016,000 yards of 30-, 36-, and 60-inch cloth are manufactured annually. The general superin- tendent of the works is James Campbell. The mill at Peckville is not now used, the machinery having been removed from it.

The Clinton Iron Company was organized in November, 1872, with a capital of $100,000. Its officers were Theo- dore W. Dwight, President; S. A. Bunce, Viee-President ; Theodore Avery, Secretary and Treasurer; B. S. Platt, Superintendent. The furnace was built in 1863, at Man- chester, on the site of the old cotton-factory. A stack was constructed with a capacity for making fifteen tons of iron daily. The furnace is connected with the Rome and Clin- ton Railway by a switch one-half mile in length. Work was begun in 1874, and suspended in 1876, since which the works have been idle.

Cheese. Factories .- The first company organized in this town for the manufacture of cheese was that at Manches- ter, in 1862, which started with a capital of $2000, and afterwards increased to $3000. Its first officers were Ben- jamin Barnes, President; George W. Pixley, Secretary ; and E. C. Lewis, Treasurer. Another was built by a stock company in the Chuckery district, in 1864, and another at Franklin, by Thomas T. Sawyer, Jr., in 1866. The prod- ucts of these three factories varied from about 240,000 pounds of cheese to twice or three times that amount. These factories have used the milk of from 300 to 650 eows each, which has been a considerable source of ineome to the farmers in their vieinity, as well as a great relief from the labor of caring for the milk. Butter is also made.

CLARK'S MILLS SETTLEMENT.

This place contains two stores, a millinery-shop, a shoe- shop, a blacksmith-shop, a post-office, a church, and the Clark's Mills Manufacturing Company's works. The post- office was established about 1852, and the first postmaster was H. W. Bettis. He was succeeded by F. D. Clark, and

Gridley's Kirkland.

t Ibid.

HORACE BARTLETT.

Photos. by Williams.

MR. W. S. BARTLETT.

MRS. W. S. BARTLETT.

WILLIAM S. BARTLETT.

The Bartlett family were originally from Connecticut. About 1813, Abram Bartlett emigrated from Guilford, Conn., and settled on Paris Hill. Two years subsequently, Horace Bartlett, our subject's father, came from the same place and settled in the immediate neighborhood. He was a farmer, hardy, energetic, and successful, and for many years one of the most prominent, enterprising farmers in this portion of the county. He was a native of Guilford, Conn., where he was born Dec. 30, 1792. He was pos- sessed of that vigor, both physical and mental, that has always been characteristic of Connecticut people.

In 1868 he removed to Clinton, where he now resides. He was married, about 1813, to Miss Clarissa Seward, of his native town, who was three days the senior of her hus- band. They reared a family of five children, William S. being the eldest. He was born in Guilford, Conn., March 9, 1815. His early life did not differ materially from that of most other farmer boys; he was early taught those lessons of industry and frugality which were the founda- tion of his practical education. He graduated at the Guil- ford Academy, at Guilford, Conn.

In 1842 he commenced his operations in the lumber trade, and has since dealt extensively in hard wood lumber. His first purchase was a single boat load, and his standing to-day as a business man is evidence of what may follow small beginnings, and that the inevitable result of energy and persistent effort is such. Mr. Bartlett has been promi- nently identified with Clinton and vicinity in all its material interests. He has been prominently connected with the Rome and Clinton Railroad from its inception to the present;

he has been president of the company since its organization, and the fact that the road has never changed hands and is out of debt, is no doubt due largely to his excellent ad- ministration of the affairs of the company. He has been a director in the City Bank of Utica since 1865. Jan. 1, 1878, he was made president of the New Hartford Manu- facturing Company, and is a member of the Wayne County Mining Company.

Mr. Bartlett is emphatically a self-made man, and his success in business attests his energy, thrift, and executive ability. In his political affiliations, Mr. Bartlett is a Re- publican. He has always avoided rather than sought political preferment,-the cares of his extensive business demand- ing his entire attetnion ; he has, however, filled several posi- tions of trust with credit to himself and to the entire satis- faction of his constituents. For three terms he was super- visor of the town of Paris, and for several years represented the town of Kirkland, and officiated as chairman of the board for one term. Socially he is genial and courteous, winning and retaining the regard of all with whom he comes in contact. Liberal in all matters, he freely con- tributes from well-won means to all benevolent and public enterprises. Mr. Bartlett is justly entitled to the enviable position he holds among the representative men of Oneida County, having conquered success in all departments of life.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 124

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920