History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 158

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 158

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

DANIEL G. DORRANCE,

son of the late Dr. John Dorrance, was born at Peterboro', Madison Co., N. Y., March 13, 1811, of New England parentage. His early life was spent upon a farm and as clerk in a store in his native village. At the age of nineteen he entered Cazenovia Seminary, and for about two years pur- sued medical studies, with a view to practice as a physician.

In 1832 he became a resident of Florence, Oneida County, N. Y., and was engaged as clerk for J. S. T. Stranahan and the late Gerrit Smith. In 1837 he was married to Ann Sparrow, of Florence, N. Y., and commenced business as a country merchant, remaining engaged therein until 1859. He was the land-agent of Hon. Gerrit Smith from 1840 until his removal from the town ; has since 1840 been a large dealer in lands, and is now owner of a large quantity situ- ated in several counties in this State, and also in Western States. In 1859 he removed to Oneida Castle, town of Vernon, N. Y., where he now resides. The grounds occu- pied by him as his residence may be considered almost classi- cal, or, at least, historical, as a portion was occupied by the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, a missionary to the Oneida Indians who came among them in 1766, and the old mission-house formerly stood near a corner of his garden.

Mr. Dorrance's public positions have been postmaster, supervisor, member of Assembly in 1846 from Oneida County in the Legislature of the State of New York, and he represented the same county in the Senate in 1854 and 1855. . He was one of the original corporators and directors of the Fort Stanwix Bank, in Rome, N. Y., in 1848, and has continuously been in the direction of that institution ; is also president of the Oneida Savings Bank, at Oneida ; vice- president and director in the Oneida Valley National Bank, and is the senior member of the banking firm of D. G. & J. G. Dorrance, of Camden, N. Y.

His success in life, pecuniarily, is the result of industry, economy, close attention to business, and the adoption in early life of the rule (which is so sadly neglected by many at the present day) of living within his income, or in spend- ing less than he earned.

CHAPTER XLIII.

VERONA.

THIS town lies on the central western border of the county, and has an area of 41,796 acres. Its western boundary is formed by Oneida Creek and Oneida Lake, and its northern by Wood Creek. It is also watered by Stony Creek and various smaller streams, each having a tortuous course, and finding its way ultimately into some one of the two tributaries of the lake. The town is within the Oneida Reservation, the lands of which were sold at auction in August, 1797. The portion of Verona south- east of the Erie Canal is generally undulating, but hardly rising to the dignity of hills, while the northwestern por- tion is very level, with barely sufficient slope towards Oneida Lake to admit of drainage. The latter part bears unmis- takable evidence of having been at one period covered by the waters of the lake. It has a deep, rich, alluvial soil, and was originally covered with a dense growth of beecli, maple, elm, oak, ash, and hemlock, with some cedar and pine. The New York Central and Hudson River Railway passes across the southern part of the town, having a station at Verona Depot. The dairying interest in this town is large, there being nine or ten cheese-factories in operation. The first one erected in town was at Verona village; it has

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.G. Dorrance

HON DANIE! 2 DORRANCE

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

since been considerably enlarged, and is now the most ex- tensive in the town. The second was built at New London.

This town was formed Feb. 17, 1802, from a part of Westmoreland, and at that time contained 102 families and 439 inhabitants. A very good quality of iron ore is found, also an excellent building-stone. In the southeast part of town is exposed for some distance a fine outcrop of the Oneida Conglomerate. In the same vicinity are located the noted

VERONA SPRINGS.

This locality was well known to the Indians, who discov- ered the spring. The place was also a famous " deer-liek," from the salt which abounded, and an old squaw once told Dr. Hunt that " Indian climb hemlock-tree and shoot deer," which came to the spot for salt. The spring was known to the Indians as the " medicine spring," and is the only one of the kind known in this country. A water-cure was established here by Dr. Seymour Curtiss in 1850. The spring was first brought into general public notice about 1830. The channel of the creek in which it was discovered was turned aside, and a bathing-house built over the spring. A large boarding-house was erected a few rods distant. The present proprietor is Dr. Nelson Hunt, who, with his wife, Mrs. A. A. Hunt, M.D., are both graduates of a medical col- lege, and attend to all cases which the water of this spring is recommended to cure. The establishment is filled with boarders every summer, the season beginning June 1 and lasting till about the 1st of November. At one time it was kept open till January 1. Most of the boarders come prin- cipally as patients, although many spend the season here for mere pleasure, who have formerly been patients and have acquired a relish for the water. The following is an analysis of the water of the Verona Mineral Spring, made by Prof. Peter Collier, of the Vermont University :

Sulphate of lime.

63.189 grains.

Carbonate of lime ..

38.473

Chloride of calcium.

82.609

Chloride of magnesium.

27.109

Chloride of sodium

562.891

Chloride of potassium

4.057

Chloride of lithium

2.375

Silicie acid

.588

Grains in one imperial gallon 781.291

Uncombined Acids or Bases.

Silicie acid

.588 grains.

Sulphuric acid.

37.170

Chlorine.

418.411

Carbonic acid

10.047

Hydro-sulphuric acid ..

9.870

Lime.

89.271

Magnesia.

11.424

Potassa

2.562

Soda ...

298.487

Lithia.

.838

Total

878.668 grains.

Gases in Solution .- Sulphuretted hydrogen, 25.55 cubic inches.

Professor Noyes, of Hamilton College, who made an early analysis of this water, said of it, " From what I have seen of its salutary operation, I am confirmed in the opinion I first formed of its medical properties, especially in scrofula, diseases of the skin, and many discases of the stomach. It is very similar to the Harrowgate water, England." It is said to be very beneficial in many forms of disease not ne- cessary to repeat here. Dr. Hunt is always found willing to

furnish information concerning his spring, and is consider- ably enthusiastic over it, as he can well afford to be. There is also a chalybeate spring, of great efficacy in cases of debility.

THIE "ROYAL BLOCK-HOUSE,"

which stood on the south bank of Wood Creek, near its entrance into Oneida Lake, was built about 1722 (?), on a slight elevation. It was about eight rods square, and sur- rounded by a ditch ten feet deep. The entire fortification has now disappeared, the ground having been undermined by Wood Creek and fallen into that stream.

THE SETTLEMENT

of this town was begun in 1791. On Christmas eve of that year George A. Smith-better known by his Dutch sobri- quet of " Yearry Smith"-arrived with his family at the tavern of Judge James Dean, in Westmoreland. The next day they started for their new home in the wilds of Verona, through a deep snow, and over swamps and through thickets. Their progress was so slow that they did not reach their destination until Jan. 1, 1792, although they were in the town in the last days of 1791. Mr. Smith was quite prom- inent among the pioneer settlers of the town, and died about eleven years after he located. His daughter, Eve, born March 25, 1795, was the first white child which saw the light in the town.

The second settler was Asahel Jackson, of Berkshire Co., Mass., who located at the mouth of Wood Creek in May, 1796, and built a house near the old " Royal Block-House." Very soon after he opened a public-house for the accommo- dation of boatmen. Mr. Jackson only lived about ten years after his arrival, and after his death his widow kept the tavern another ten years, when she married a man named Eggleston. The construction of the Erie Canal was a death- blow to the prosperity of a tavern in the locality where this one stood, and that business was soon given up. When Mr. Jackson settled he had no neighbor within eighteen miles except Mr. Smith, above mentioned.

The next, or third settler in the town was a Frenchman named La Whiten de Wardenou, who arrived either in 1796 or early in 1797, and made his home at a place called " Oak Orchard," on Wood Creek. He and his wife were descendants of French families of considerable rank. The following short sketch appeared at one time* in the Rome Sentinel, and, as fiction, was really interesting, especially to the inhabitants of Verona and the vicinity of Oneida Lake. We reproduce it here as worthy of preservation :

"[From the American Lady's Album.] "CELESTE: A ROMANCE OF ONEIDA LAKE.

"BY J. M. T. TUCKER.

[Suggested by remarks of H. Baldwin, Esq., at the Plank-Road Cele- bration, Brewerton.]

"CHAPTER I.

" They flee !

But see! Why turn they now to gaze Upon the gloomy, reddening sky ?'

" Early in the evening of a pleasant day in April, 1793, might have been scen in a richly-furnished parlor in Havre a young lady of mod-

* A few years previous to 1850.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

erate stature and mederate personal attractions. A elose examina- tien, however, revealed a mind whese pewers were developed in ene of the mest intellectual pairs of eyes ever placed beneath a brew. These, although not the only tokens of intelligence, never failed te im- press the observer, when they mst his own, with the superiority ef their possesser. Connected with these were streng developments of benevolence, and of a noble and generous heart. She was a being to he loved for herself-for her amiable qualities-hy ene whose mind was not enslaved by sensual passiens.

" As we introduce her, she was sitting by a windew, apparently awaiting the arrival of some one. She leaves the windew and pro- ceeds te her roem, and presently returns to receive the message of her father requiring her te prepare fer a jenrney te London in twenty- feur hours. With n pals and agitated countenance, and with a trem- hling hand, she indersed the message,-

"'I will be ready to depart. CELESTE.'

Handing it te the servant, she erders him to retire, and again takes her place, weeping, at the window.

"The cleck had struck the hour ef twelve. All was still in the mansion ef the rich merchant La Farge. A dull taper was burning in the reom ef Celeste, which revealed equipage for a journey in readiness, and a male servant armed and in disguise. The lady was still at the windew. A carringe appenred at a distance in the street leading from the mansion. Presently one of the windows is closed, as if hy accident. Instantly, with a still and cautiens tread, the Indy leaves the windew, and in a mement is moving toward the street from a rear entrance. The carriage is muffled,-the watch allew it te paas at a signal from its occupant, and turn away smiling as the shining metal dazzles in the lamplight upon their palms, whispering as they meet, ' Fine fellew that ! Fine operation, b'gar !'

"The lady is in the carringe, and soon all is still again in that mansion and in the streets.

" It is morning scon, and a couple habite'l as travelers, with hag- gage, with male and female servants, appearing to be ef middle age, descend from a hotel and repair to a ship beund for the United States. The wind is fair, and soon they are under way.

" Great excitement prevails in the mansion of La Fargo. The heur of breakfast has come, and the summens dees net hring down the heloved daughter. A servant is dispatched. The father turns pale lest she is sick, and will he unable to perform the journey. Perhaps she has destroyed herself! Ne, she is toe sensible for that. Perhaps-

"'Speak, girl ! Why does net yeur mistress come to breakfast ?'

"'Not there ! Here is a letter I feund addressed te your henor.'

"'Not there! A letter! hand it te me!'

"' HAVRE, 1793, 12 midnight.

"' DEAR FATHER,-I am sorry to leave you ; but regard the separation your departure with me to England would create between myself and him who has long occupied the strongest affections of my heart a great affliction. As a father, you have my love,-will ever have it. As a husband, La Nonresse has . my heart,-must coatrol it. Be not alarmed. Ere breakfast passes to-morrow I shall be on my way to America,-from which place you shall hear from me. "' Affectionately, farewell. CELESTE.'

"" Gene te America! Marry La Nenresse! Never! My car- riage! My pistols ! He, there, De Nair ! Quick, yon blockhend !'

"' De Nair has gene, too, master, and breken the heart of his poer mother.'

"' To the ship, then,-let us nway,-police !'

"'Oh, the ship has gene,-heen gene two heurs !'

"CHAPTER II.

" Four years had elapsed. A gentleman and Indy were seen walk- ing along the heneh of one of the sweetest little lakes in the State of New York, called Oneidn. A convenient leg house, net splendid, like a city mansion, but comfortable, stoed a little distance from the shere. The forest areund them was echoing with the sound of the axe and the falling trees. Out upen the hosem of the lake danced the canes, as the waves sped before the wind. Here and there in the distance around them, inland, the smoke curled as it nrese and parted upen the nir, shewing that they were not altogether alene. Were they happy ? Listen. Said La Nenresse, as he fixed his soft, sxpressive eyes npen Celeste,-

"' Four years have passed since we left eur home in France; tell me, love, are you happy ? De yeu regret our adventure ?'

"' I have hut one answer to give; and as they say the truest lan- guage ef the heart is expressed in song, I will answer yeu.' Then in a voiee melodieus and distinct ns the harp she sang :

"'Let others seek, in wealth or fame, A splendid path whereon to tread ; I'd rather wear a lowlier name, With love's enchantment round it shed.

Famne's but a light to gild the grave, And wealth can never calm the hrenet ; But love, a halcyon on life's wave, Hath power to soothe its strifes to rest.'

"'And have you ne wish to exchange our rude dwelling and these wild scenes fer the gayety er retirement ef your native eity ?'

"'Oh, not the smiles of other landa, Though far and wide our fect may roam, Con e'er untie the genial banda That knit our hearts to home,'

again sang Celeste in the same sweet voice; but added, 'Still I am happier here,' as she gently leaned her head upen the breast ef her husband.

"La Neuresse felt the bloed rush te his face as his heart vibrated te the magic power of that leve which had transplanted the angelic being frem the soil of her birth and culture, surrounded by all the advantages of wealth and distinction, inte n foreign clime, and upon a wilderness seil, subject te deprivation and many hardships. And when he reflected that, in flying from home and a father's stern com- mand, te escape the doom ef a union with a nobleman because she leved an untitled, nnwealthy merchant, he was prond of his seclusion. That heing was a treasure which titles and wealth could net estimate.

"Once Celeste had written to her father. She had painted the scenes in which she moved with all the poetry and remance ef life. She represented her situation with that enthusiasm which it inspired in her own heart. She made her home in the ' American Wilderness' a transcript ef Eden before the expulsion.

"To that letter an answer was sent in full of hitter unforgiveness. It was a severe blow to the gentle heart ef a daughter. But she reasoned correctly that, as to the choice of her life's cempanien, if she had made that life n delight, the complaints of her father, however well designed, were unreasonable: filial love cannot ask the sacrifice of a life to the pleasure of another's will. Life is our own, its happiness eur ewn.

"CHAPTER III.

"Another four years had passed away. It was late at evening. The gentle hrenth of spring, perfumed by the fragrant wild-flowers that adorned the luxuriant openings, and that crept to the very threshold of the happy cettage, was meving across the hesem of the lake, and wildly murmuring in ripples along the shere, while the veice of the night-bird was heard in echees among the forest hills. Upon the floor of the cottage danced a hright-eyed little hoy, whom bis mother, in her fergiving leve, had named La Farge, after his unfor- giving grandfather, and upon the grass-plat in front of the dwelling in many gambels frolicked the degs, who had not yet retired; and withal it was a happy scene.

" A coach is seen far away down the road lending from the Mohawk turnpike, and running fer many miles upon the lake-shere. Nearer it appronches, until, near the house ef La Neuresse, it stopped, and the driver called ent,-

"' Can you direct us te the residence ef a gentleman whose name is La Nouresse, anywhere in these parts ?'

"' I have the hener to be that person,' was the reply.

"In a mement the ceach steed before the deer. A gentleman alighted. He was apparently nheut fifty-five years of age, richly dressed, and wealthy. The darkness ehscured his face, and he was net recegnized by the ewner of the dwelling, who politely invited him to walk in, while himself directed in securing the bensts. A shriek from his wife soen called La Neuresse inte the house again. On entering the door he saw the stranger prostrate upon the floor, and his wife in a sween by his side. The man was dead. He had discovered himself to his leng-absent daughter, and being evercome by the intenseness of his feelings, fell at her feet, uttering the first and the last,-the only words,-' Daughter! Fergive!'

" Deep was the affliction of that little family that night. Leng and tenderly, with tenrs, sat Celeste by the celd form of her father. That sweet werd 'daughter,' and the sweeter werd ' forgive,' were oft proneuneed amid the disturbed slumbers of the night.

583

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" The last tribute of respeet had been paid to the departed father. Upon examining bis papers, a will, prepared previous te bis de- parture from France, was found duly sttested, making Celeste the heir of one million francs and all his estates at Havre. Besides this, among his papers addressed to his daughter, which he had prepared previous to leaving, nod during his voyage, to provide against sud- den death, was a full expression of his entire approbation of the marriage of Celeste with Ln Nouresse, and an account of the great injury done him by the nobleman who had won his confidence, and through where influence he had, hy misguided ambition, been in- duced to attempt her compulsory union with a villain, instead of being united to the worthy person of her heart's first choice.

" Five years more had passed. La Nouresse had disposed of his property in America nod was among the wealthiest, most respected merchanta in Havre. One of his daughters is the happy wife of an American merchant, a son of a New England mechanie, whe resides io New York. That merchant with his Indy visited the shores of the beautiful lake this summer. Such are life's changes and romances."

This pleasant little fiction was not without foundation in fact, for, after " Celeste" and De Wardenou had exchanged vows of eternal constancy, she was confined by her friends in a convent, to prevent her marriage. She, however, es- caped ; the twain were married and sailed for America. He had invested a large fortune in merchandise, and brought it to New York City, where misfortune fell to his lot, and he lost nearly his whole property, after which he moved to the vicinity of Oneida Lake. Their first-born child sickened and died in 1797, to the great sorrow of its parents. This was the first death in town. As the necessary coffin could not be procured, the child's cradle was substituted in its place. When the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was erecting a structure at the " Oak Orchard," a few years later, they disinterred, in digging for a foundation, a cradle containing the skeleton of a child, which was undoubtedly all that remained of the loved babe of De Wardenou and his wife. The second death among the settlers was that of a daughter of Josiah Newland, named Abigail; the precise date of her decease is unknown.

In the spring of 1798 the southern part of town was settled by numbers who had the year previous bid off at auction various tracts in the Oneida Reservation, for the purpose of becoming " actual settlers" thereon. Among the arrivals this year were the following, viz .: Russell Brooks, Martin Langdon, Noah Langdon, Samuel Avery, Joseph Eames, John Bosworth, Oliver Pomeroy, Ithamiar Day, Eleazer Ellis, Fisher Ellis, Jedediah Phelps (from Rome, where he had settled in 1784), Stephen Benedict, Jabez Loomis, Jonathan Warren, John Tilden, John R. Todd, Levi Skinner, Lieutenant Billington, Peter Whelan, Robert Robbins, Rodman Clark, Caleb Clark, Solomon Bishop, and Moses Brown.

Others who located in this year (1798) and later were Simeon Parsons, Joseph Couch, Benjamin Blackman, Achus Rathbun, Artemas Brewer, Nahum Joslin, Elias Cagwin, Daniel B. Cagwin, Dr. Alexander Whaley, Joseph Green, and Gideon Todd. The first framed house in town was built by Robert Robbins.

Previous to 1805 two men were killed in the north part of town, at a barn-raising, one of the bents being left in an insecure position and finally falling, causing the instant death of one of the men, and fatally injuring the other, who lived but a few days.

- The most virulent typhus fever broke out in this town in August, 1805, and carried off many of the citizens, the first being Miss Elizabeth Day, daughter of Ithamar Day. Captain Oliver Pomeroy, one of the pioneers of the town, died with this fever, Oct. 9, 1805.

With the exception of its northern aud northwestern portions, Verona was settled and improved very rapidly. The parts mentioned began to be filled up faster upon the completion, in 1820, of the middle section of the Erie Canal.

As provided in the act creating the town of Verona, the

FIRST TOWN-MEETING

was held at the house of Martin Langdon, on the 2d day af March, 1802. This house stood about half a mile west of what is now Verona village. The following officers were chosen, viz .: Supervisor, Jedediah Phelps, Esq. ; Town Clerk, Eleazer Ellis; Assessors, Martin Langdon, Peter Whelan, Caleb Clark ; Collector, Stephen Benedict ; Poor- masters, Jonathan Warren, Noah Langdon ; Commissioners of Roads, Isaac Weld, John Bosworth, Alexander Enos ; Constable, Stephen Benedict; Overseers of Highways, Reuben Langdon, David Shed, George Seton, Simeon Par- sons, Isaac Weld, Thomas R. Clark, Eleazer Ellis, Squier Holmes, Eliel Nichols, Park Adams; Fence-Viewers, Jede- diah Phelps, Caleb Clark, Jabez Loomis ; Pound-Keeper, Joseph Eames.

Among those living in the town in 1802-4 were Eli Whelan, Eleazer Ellis, Alexander Beebe, John Bozworth, Oliver Pomcroy, Keeler Starr, Dan Bozworth, Noah, Joseph, Martin, and Reuben Langdon, Daniel Hall, Nathan Ellis, Thaddeus Wilson, Calvin Giddins, Robert Robins, Thomas G. Day, Ebenezer Loomis, Jabez Loomis, Simeon Parsons, Obed Williams, Enoch Hitchcock, Richard Brown, Thomas R. Clark, James Bewel, John Gray, Joseph Eames; and in 1805, Stephen Clark, Ephraim Robbins, Samuel Pratt, Achus Rathbun, Constant Bozworth, Samuel Whaley, Dr. Alexander Whaley, Elias Cagwin. These had mostly set- tled several years previous.

The Supervisors of Verona, from 1803 to 1878, inclu- sive, have been as follows : 1803-6, Jedediah Phelps, Esq .; 1807-19, Stephen Benedict, Esq .; 1820, Joseph Grant, Esq. ; 1821, Stephen Benedict; 1822-23, Joseph Grant ; 1824-25, Stephen Benedict; 1826, Alexander Whaley, M.D .; 1827-31, Nathaniel Fitch ; 1832, Ichabod Hand ; 1833, Alfred Patten ; 1834-37, James J. Carley ; 1838, De Witt C. Stephens ; 1839, James O. Gates ; 1840-41, Justus E. Gillett ; 1842-43, Alfred Patten ; 1844, no rec- ord ; 1845-46, James S. Whaley ; 1847, Willet Stillman ; 1848-49, Thomas G. Halley; 1850, Archibald Hass ; 1851, James S. Whaley ; 1852, no record ; 1853, Solomon P. Smith ; 1854, Calvin Bishop; 1855, no record ; 1856, Martin Tipple; 1857-58, Orson Foote; 1859-60, Salmon Tuttle ; 1861-62, George Benedict ; 1863-64, J. Platt Goodsell ; 1865-66, George H. Sanford ; 1867-69, Henry S. Stark ; 1870, Willard H. Bennett ; 1871-73, Henry S. Stark; 1874, Delford Patten; 1875-76, William Williams; 1877-78, Henry S. Stark.

The remaining officers for 1878 are: Town Clerk, Josiah Andrews; Justices of the Pcace, Ezra Mansfield, O. Elmer,

584

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

J. S. Hyatt, W. M. Reynolds, Josiah Andrews ; Collector, Frederick Eisch ; Commissioner of Highways, M. V. B. Warner; Assessor, George Hoffman; Overseers of the Poor, William H. Sheffield, John McMahon ; Constables, Martin S. Crossett, Delbert Peckham, David Doty, James McMahon ; Town Auditors, Newell Hall, Francis Mills, N. Warner Fitch ; Inspectors of Election, District No. 1, George H. Kline, Theodore Cagwin, N. Warner Fitch ; District No. 2, James Drummond, John Rant, John Mar- cellius; District No. 3, Hermon Roberts, Alfred Briggs, Michael Murphy ; Excise Commissioner, William B. Nel- son ; Game Constable, Josiah Walrath.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 158

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