History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 130

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 130

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BROTHERTOWN INDIANS

will be found elsewhere in this work, therefore it will not be necessary to enter into lengthy details in this connection. None of them remain in this locality, the last ones having removed about 1848-50. Some of this brotherhood settled here previous to the Revolutionary war, among them being David Fowler, Elijah Wampy (ar Wampe), and John Tuhi, grandfather to one of the same name who was exe- cuted in 1816. Those, however, wha located at that time left soon after the war began, through fear of the Indian tribes which had espoused the royal cause, and returned to New England. They planted potatoes before they went away, and left them growing in the field, and on their return some six years later found them still producing. In 1831 a portion of them sold out and emigrated to Green Bay, Wis. During their sojourn in what is now Mar-

485

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

shall they acted under a regular township organization. Their town clerks from 1795 to 1843 were Elijah Wampy, David Fowler, Jr., William Coyhis, Christopher Scheesuck, Thomas Crosley, Jacob Dick, William Dick, Jr., James Fowler, Jr., Daniel Dick, David Toucee, R. Fowler, James Kiness, Simon Hart, James Wiggins, and Alexander Fow- ler, some of whom held the office a number of years, and James Kiness the longest term of all. By an act of the Legislature the people of Brothertown were to meet on the first Tuesday in April of each year to elect their town offi-

cers. The peace-makers presided at these meetings, and were authorized to give notice of special meetings. The elective officers were a clerk, two overseers of the poor, two marshals, three fence-viewers, a poundmaster, and overseers of highways. The office of peace-maker corresponded with that of justice of the peace, the possessor being entitled to affix " Esquire" to his name. These officers were appointed by the Governor and Senate. The following persons served as superintendents of the Brothertown Indians, viz. : Samuel Jones, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Zina Hitchcock, William Floyd, Thomas Eddy, Bill Smith, Thomas Hart, Henry McNiel, Uri Doolittle, Asahel Curtis, Joseph Stebbins, William Root, Nathan Davis, Austin Mygatt, Samuel L. Hubbard, Elijah Wilson, Samuel Comstock. Prominent among the peace-makers from 1796 to 1843 were the Fowlers, John- sons, Scheesucks, Tuhis, and Dicks. In 1809 the Brother- towns sent John Tuhi, Sr., John Schecsuck, Sr., Jacob Fowler, and Henry Cuchip as delegates to treat with the Western Indians. In a few instances marble slabs were placed at the graves of the Brothertowns by their friends. The inscriptions on two of these are the following :

"John Tuhi, Esq., died December 14, 1811, aged 65 years."

" Esther Pouquinal, A Member of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians, A Practical and Exemplary Christian, aged 96 years."

Asa Diek, Esq., and his brother, members of the Nar- rogansett tribe, were influential men among the Brother- towns. Dickville, just above Deansville, was named for the former, who built a mill there, and founded a settle- ment, which grew to quite respectable proportions, but upon his death lost its prestige, and is now but a suburb of Deansville. The old red grist-mill at Dick ville was built about 1807-8, and has long been removed. The incident of the capture and escape of Colonel Heinrich Staring is related in the history of Kirkland. The colonel was ap- pointed first judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Herki- mer County upon its organization, and many laughable inci- dents are related of him while holding that office.

The first settlement by the whites in the town of Mar- shall was made on that part of the Brothertown tract which was sold to the State. David Barton, who removed here from Connecticut in 1793, is believed to have been the first settler. He was soon followed by Warren Williams, who took up the farm afterwards owned by Horace H. East- man, Esq. Mr. Williams soon sold out to Elder Hezekiah Eastman, the latter receiving his deed from the State in 1795. This deed was acknowledged before Judge Hugh White, and recorded by Jonas Platt, then clerk of Herkimer County. Captain Simon Hubbard and Levi Barker were also very early settlers in the town. The first white child

born on the Brothertown tract was Colonel Lester Barker, who afterwards became sheriff of Oneida County.

Dr. Levi Buckingham, now of Deansville, where he has resided since 1853, is the oldest man in town, having reached the age of eighty-seven in February, 1878. He came to this town from Saybrook, Conn., in the fall of 1816, and set- tled first at Hanover (Marshall Post-office), afterwards locat- ing at Forge Hollow, and finally coming to Deansville. He was the first town clerk of Marshall (in 1829); was super- visor of the town for four years ; represented his district in the Assembly in 1833, and again in 1837; and practiced medicine in the town for more than thirty years.

Isaac Miller, Esq., the first supervisor of Marshall, set- tled about 1794-95. His son, Isaac, born in 1791, was then a child of three or four years. Mr. Miller was from the State of Connecticut, and located at Hanover, where he spent the remainder of his days. His grandson, Isaac Miller, is now a resident of the town of Kirkland, owning a farm a short distance north of Deansville. The maternal grandfather of the latter, Joel Green, was an early settler of Marshall, and located on Hanover Green, a short dis- tance north of Isaac Miller, Sr. He and his father both served in the Revolutionary war, the latter bearing the rank of captain.

The soil in this town is quite fertile, and equals, in aver- age quality, probably that of any town in the county. The surface is hilly and rolling. Extensive quarries of lime- stone have been worked in various parts, their products being excellent for building purposes. Portions of the town, along some of the public highways, have been planted with maple and other trees, and there is a general appear- ance of thrift and enterprise. The culture of hops is largely engaged in, the principal market being at Water- ville, which is the centre of the hop trade for a large extent of territory.

ORGANIZATION OF TOWN-FIRST ELECTION, ETC.

A " meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Mar- shall convened at the house of George Tinker, in said town, on the first Tuesday in March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, pursuant to the Act of the Legislature entitled ' An Act to divide the town of Kirkland, in the County of Oneida,' passed February 21, 1829 (the first section of said Act), in the words fol- lowing :

"'The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :

"'2 1. From and after the passage of this Act, all that part of the town of Kirkland, in the County of Oneida, south of a line beginning at the southeast corner of lot No. 86 in the seventh division of Coxe's Patent; thence westerly the course of the southerly line of said lot to the easterly line of the town of Augusta, shall he and is hereby erected into a separate town by the name of Marshall, and the first town-mecting shall be held at the house of George Tinker, in said town of Marshall, on the first Tuesday of March next.'"#

At this meeting the following officers were elected, viz. : Supervisor, Isaac Miller, Esq .; Town Clerk, Levi Buck- ingham ; Assessors, Charles Smith, Jared J. Hooker, Thomas Lyman ; Overscers of the Poor, Silas Hanchett, James Cawing; Commissioners of Roads, Joseph Page, John Lapham, Horatio Burchard; Commissioners of Schools, Calvin Parker, Lorenzo Rouse, Henry L. Hawley :

# Town Records.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Inspectors of Schools, Truman E. Lyman, Ichabod R. Miller, Joseph P. Eastman; Constables, Bernard Banker, William W. Bulkley, Pardon Tabor; Collector, William W. Bulkley ; Pound-Keeper, Isaac Miller, Esq .; Fence- Viewers, Hosea Addington, Hamlin D. Corbin, Zadock Cutler, Seth Bass, Jr.

The following persons have held the office of Supervisor in this town from 1830 to 1878, inclusive : 1830, Isaac Miller, Esq. ; 1831-33, Levi Buckingham ; 1834, Eliphas B. Barton; 1835, Thomas Lyman ; 1836, Levi Bucking- ham ; 1837, Anthony Peck ; 1838-39, Marinus Hubbard ; 1840-42, Thomas Dean ; 1843, Joel K. Greenslit; 1844- 46, John Dean ; 1847-49, Horace H. Eastman; 1850, Ashby K. Northrup; 1851, Eliphas B. Barton ; 1852-53, James J. Hanchett ; 1854-55, Silas Clark; 1856-57, Oscar B. Gridley ; 1858-59, Charles B. Wilkinson ; 1860- 64, Lorenzo Rouse; 1865, John S. Mowrey; 1866-67, Seth W. Peck ; 1868, R. Wilson Roberts ; 1869, Seth W. Peck ; 1870-74, Joseph F. Barton ; 1875-76, R. Wilson Roberts; 1877-78, Spencer F. Tooley. The remaining officers for 1878 are :

Town Clerk, A. D. Van Vechten ; Justices of the Peace, Orris J. Hart, Solomon Hitchcock, William S. Hathaway, Myron Keith; Assessor, Charles A. Gridley; Commissioner of Highways, G. W. Hadcox; Overseer of the Poor, Alonzo L. Brooks; Collector, Arthur Wilmott; Constables, Frank Van Vechten, Arthur Wilmott, George Landon, George Collins; Town Auditors, Robert Hadcox, J. H. Montgomery, J. H. Day; Inspectors of Election, T. L. Hills, M. W. Terry, Charles R. Hewitt; Excise Commis- sioner, Edgar A. Gallup.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The Congregational Church in Marshall was organized June 14, 1797, and was the first religious society formed in town. It was at that time in the town of Paris, and early received the distinctive title of the " Hanover So- ciety," heing located at Hanover. It was constituted with fourteen members,-seven males and seven females,-and was afterwards increased many fold. It eventually began to decline, however, and the society was finally disbanded, and no meetings have been held for quite a number of years.

The Hanover Church and Society erected their first house for public worship in 1801, and forty years later it was rebuilt. Its early pastors were Revs. John Eastman, from about 1809 to Jan. 8, 1822 ; Ralph Robbins, installed May 9, 1827 ; Richard M. Davis, installed July 2, 1833, and dismissed in May, 1835; and Pindar Field, who began his labors in October, 1846, and was installed Feb. 23, 1848. ..

The Baptist Church of Paris, afterwards known as the First Baptist Church in Paris, was organized in the present limits of Marshall, July 6, 1797, being but twenty-two days later than the organization of the Congregational Church, as above. Elder Hezekiah Eastman had preached here as early as 1796, and possibly earlier, and when the church was constituted he became its pastor. He con- tinued his labors till 1809, when he was dismissed, and be- came pastor of the Sangerfield Church. On the 22d of September, in the latter year, he set out on a missionary

tour to the Holland Purchase, in the western part of the State. The other pastors of this church were John Beebe and John G. Stearns. Its records close Jan. 16, 1832, about which time it was disbanded, a part of its members uniting with the Baptist Church in Clinton, then recently formed.

Methodist Episcopal Church, Deansville .- As early as 1803 the Methodists had a class in this town, which was supplied with preaching once in two weeks by the West- moreland circuit ministers. In 1828 a society was organ- ized, and steps taken towards the building of a house of worship at Deansville. Nothing further was done until 1837, when the efforts were more successful, and the present church edifice in Deansvillewas begun and made ready for occupancy in 1842, its site being donated by Thomas Dean, Esq., long the agent for the Brothertown In- nians. The present pastor of this church is Rev. E. C. Brown, and the membership about 75. Miss Almira Burr is Superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has about 60 members, teachers, and officers, and a library of 176 volumes.

The Universalists had for many years a church at Forge Hollow, but it has become extinct.

The Congregational Church at Deansville has a mem- bership of ahout 40. It employs no regular pastor at present, although meetings are held and preaching sus- tained by supplies. The Sabbath-school is superintended by Miller I. Kinney.

HANOVER-MARSHALL POST-OFFICE.

Marshall post-office, the first one in town, was established at this place about 1823-24 ; Dr. Levi Buckingham was the first postmaster, and held the office during his residence in the place. The present incumbent is John Collins.

The first hotel at Hanover was probably opened by New- man Gridley, about 1813-15. Dr. Buckingham, on his arrival at the village in 1816, built a store on Hanover Green, and went into business with Henry Hawley, who had previously traded at Forge Hollow. The doctor finally sold his interest to his partner, and the latter continued the business for many years, a portion of the time in the old tavern. The first store in town was opened by Isaac Miller, Esq., about half a mile east of Hanover Green.

FORGE HOLLOW

is located southeast of Deansville, and was so named from the fact that a forge for the manufacture of iron was erected here in 1801, by Daniel Hanchett, John Winslow, Thomas Winslow, and Ward White, who made iron from the ore. Several smaller establishments of the kind were afterwards built, which worked only on scrap-iron, manufacturing fur- nace castings, etc. The earliest settler here was probably a man named Putnam, and Elder Tremain and Timothy Burr were also among the early arrivals. The place has at present but little business. It is located on the east branch of the Oriskany, the valley of which is here quite narrow and shut in by rugged hills.

DEANSVILLE

is the most important village in the town, and occupies a position in its northwest corner, on the Oriskany. It con-

LITH BY LH EVENTS. FHILADA

RESIDENCE OF CHARLES A. HOVEY, DEANSVILLE, N. Y.

OLD HOMESTEAD OF THOMAS DEAN.

This place is rendered historic from the fact that for many years it was the home of Judge Dean, the founder of the village of Deansville. It was erected by him in 1800, and was his residence at the time of his death, which occurred in 1846. An extended sketch of his life

can be found on another page of this book. The place came into the possession of the father of Mr. Charles A. Hovey, who made extensive improvements, and upon his decease it passed into the possession of its present occupant.

UTH BY L H. EVERTS & CO PHILA, PA

FARM & RESIDENCE OF MRS. IRA MELVIN, MARSHALL, ONEIDA CO.,N. Y.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tains three stores, two hotels, a tin-shop, a millinery and dress-making establishment, a meat-market, a Lodge of Good Templars, a harness-shop, two blacksmith-shops, a wagon- shop, a post-office, and one physician (Dr. E. M. Somers). Main Street is shaded by rows of fine maples. The place has been mostly built up since the construction of the Che- nango Canal.

William Northrup, now living in the village, came here in 1833. His sons, George B. and Orville B. Northrup, are in the mercantile business, in the building erected by John Wilmott about 1833, and occupied by him as the first store in the place. Mr. Northrup's brother, Royal M. Northrup, kept a hotel in the winter of 1849-50 on the Utica, Clinton and Waterville Plank-Road, which was finished in the fall of 1849 (chartered 1848). This hotel stood half a mile north of Deansville, in what is now the town of Kirkland.

The second merchant in Deansville was probably George Barker, who built the store now occupied by Fairbank & Van Vechten, on the opposite (north) side of the street from the one erected by Wilmott.

The old grist-mill at Deansville was built by Asa Dick, Esq., about 1835-38. It was afterwards operated for some years by a stock company as a distillery, but has been re- converted into a grist-mill, and is now the property of Mr. Foote.

The Deansville post-office was established about 1832-33, with Thomas Dean, Esq., as first postmaster. The present . incumbent of the office is George Northrup.

The first hotel in the village was probably kept by Wil- lard Northrup. A Mr. Pixley and a Mr. Curtiss were also early, and possibly Mr. Pixley may have been the first. The old building stood on the ground occupied by the present " Hamilton House," and was destroyed by fire. The latter building was erected by its present proprietor, William Hamilton, in 1875-76. The building now known as the " Deansville Hotel" was originally erected for a store about the time the canal was in process of construction. It was first opened as a hotel by Harvey Curtiss (above mentioned).

The Deansville Cemetery Association was organized about 1860, and owns a fine tract of about three and one- half acres in the town of Kirkland, just north of Deans- ville, which has been laid out with excellent taste.

Among those who have furnished us information, are Dr. Levi Buckingham, Isaac Miller (of Kirkland), Wm. Northrup, members of churches, and numerous others.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

IRA J. MELVIN,

one of the prominent and successful farmers of the town of Marshall, was born on the farm where he spent his life Oct. 1, 1805. He was the son of James and Sybil Mcl- vin, who had a family of five children. Ira lived with his father until his decease, in 1840, when the property came

into his possession. In 1846 he married Miss Polly Cutter, who is a native of the town of Marshall, where she was born April 4, 1820. They were blessed with four children,-Emily R., born Nov. 20, 1847, died Sept. 27, 1854; Sarah J., born July 28, 1852 ; Adis A., born Jan. 12, 1857 ; Ira E., born April 11, 1858. Sarah was mar- ried December 7, 1875, to Mr. Sanford Crandall, of Mar- shall. We call attention to a view of the residence to be seen elsewhere in this volume.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

NEW HARTFORD.

BY an act passed April 12, 1827, entitled " An Act to Divide the Town of Whitestown, in the County of Oneida," the town of New Hartford was formed, including the south part of the territory then belonging to Whitestown, and being the last town taken from the latter, whose area once comprised the entire western portion of the State. The name New Hartford was applied to the village founded by the early settlers, and was retained as a fit title for the new town when erected. The following act was passed by the Legislature April 26, 1834, increasing the amount of ter- ritory in New Hartford :

"¿1. All that part of the town of Kirkland, in the county of Oneida, beginning at the southeast coroer of the town of Kirkland; thence westerly on the Paris line to the centre of lot No. 40; theace through the centre of lots 40 and 39 to lot No. 38, meeting the line of New Hartford, be and the same hereby is annexed to the town of New Hartford."

Previous to 1855 the village of Clark's Mills lay partly in each of the four towns of New Hartford, Kirkland, Westmoreland, and Whitestown ; but by an act passed November 22, 1855, portions of New Hartford, Westmore- land, and Whitestown were annexed to Kirkland, including the aforesaid village, which is now entirely in the latter town.

The present area of New Hartford is 16,941 acres, and its population in 1875 was 4397. The surface is diversi- fied by hill, plain, and valley, and many picturesque loca- tions are found. The timber has been mostly cut away, and the hill-sides in many places are seamed by gullics which have been worn by water since the timber was de- stroyed. Owing to the same cause, and the consequent decrease in the rain-fall, the average volume of water is much less than formerly in the streams, and it has been necessary to introduce steam in the various manufac- tories.

The town is watered by the Sauquoit Croek and its branches, the stream flowing in a northerly course nearly through the centre, and being lined with various manu- facturing establishments. The advantages of water-power offered by this stream were early utilized, although some of the first settlers, with rather an inexcusable lack of judgment, declared that there was not power enough to run a saw-mill. The error of such a statement was very soon made manifest by actual experiment, and it was found

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

that the Sad-agh-que-da, or Sauquoit, was one of the best streams in the State of its size.

The Chenango Canal and the Utica and Clinton Division of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railway cross side by side the northern part of town, passing north of the village of New Hartford ; and the Utica and Chenango Division of the same railway follows up the valley of the Sauquoit, having a station at New Hartford. The old Seneca Turnpike Road (incorporated in 1800) was built through the village of New Hartford, off from the more direct route, through the influence of Judge Jedediah Sanger ; and in consequence a large trade sprang up at the village, and continued until the construction of the Erie Canal gave the precedence to Utica, which soon became a thriving place.

EARLY SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH.

In the month of March, 1788, Colonel Jedediah Sanger, who had purchased a thousand acres of land lying on both sides of Sanquoit creek, the tract being about equally di- vided by that stream, arrived and began making improve- ments. His purchase included the whole of the site of the present village of New Hartford, and he contracted to pay fifty cents an acre for it. Before he had lived here a year, he sold the portion on the east side of the creek to Joseph Higbee, for one dollar an acre, thus clearing himself and leaving nearly half the land as profit. Higbee's portion was subsequently surveyed, and found to contain six hundred acres.

From the foregoing it is seen that Colonel Sanger was the first, and Mr. Higbee the second, settler within the present limits of the town. The settlement and develop- ment of the country immediately around progressed rapidly under the management of Colonel Sanger, and the pioneers were all intelligent, persevering men. In March, 1789, a year from the time he made his first improvements, Colonel Sanger brought his family to his wilderness home, and the same year he erected a saw-mill. In 1790 he built a grist- mill, which is still standing, the property at this time of John McLean. The barn built by the colonel is also standing, as is his second house. The latter was his first substantial dwelling, the first residence being a temporary structure of logs. The saw-mill built by him has long since been removed.

The following sketch of Colonel (afterwards Judge) Sanger is taken from Jones' " Annals of Oneida County," the best authority we have found. Judge Jones was well acquainted with him, and they were warm friends.

Colonel Jedediah Sanger was born in Sherburne, Mid- dlesex Co., Mass., Feb. 29, 1751,* " consequently he had a birthday but once in four years." His parents were Richard and Deborah Sanger, who had ten children, he being the ninth. He received a common education, worked upon a farm, and afterwards kept a small store. In May, 1771, he was married to Sarah Rider, by whom he had four children. In 1782 he removed to Jeffries, Cheshire Co., N. H., where he purchased a large farm. In his dwelling, which was also a tavern, he kept a small store.

In 1784 his dwelling, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire, including a large quantity of groceries which had arrived only the evening before. This disaster ren- dered him bankrupt, and he soon afterwards heard of the " Whitestown country," to which he determined to emigrate as soon as he could arrange his business. In 1788 everything was ready, and he pushed forth to the new field, arriving on the site of New Hartford in March, as pre- viously stated. Prosperous in his new home, he afterwards paid the full amount of his indebtedness to his creditors in the East with interest.

"In 1796 he erected the first grist- and saw-mills on the outlet of Skaneateles Lake, now in the beautiful village of Skaneateles, Onon- daga County. He was one of the active and leading partners in the Paris Furnace, which was erected in 1800, and went into operation in 1801. In 1805 he was engaged in the manufacture of cotton. He spent eleven winters in Albany as a member of the Senate and As- sembly, to each of these bodies baving been elected by the people. He was the first supervisor of Whitestown, and held the office for three successiva years. He was appointed first judge of Oneida County upon its organization, and held the office until 1810, when be resigned, as by the constitution and laws his age (sixty years) dis- qualified him from bolding that office."

His first wife died Sept. 26, 1814, and on the 31st of August, 1815, he married Sarah B. Kissam, who died April 23, 1825. His third wife, Fanny Dench, to whom he was married Oct. 3, 1827, survived him some years, and died in May, 1842. Judge Sanger's death occurred June 6, 1829. Upon his monument in the village cemetery was -

placed the following inscription :

"Sacred to the memory of HON. JEDEDIAH SANGER, who died June 6, A.D. 1829. The founder of New Hartford. His charities are widely extended, and his munificence has reared and supported several edifices devoted to the service of his Maker. His virtues are indelihly impressed upon the hearts of his countrymen."

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 130

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