History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 170

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 170

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nad no small potatoes anywise. I think it equal to any in Mr. Cat- lin's gallery. The remains of one Indian have been found in this vicinity with portions of a blanket, which, together with the hair, seemed quite souad, though the sketcton was a good deal decomposed, yet not appearing as old as those I have been describing. I have span the yarn long enough.

"KROGAN REX."

In the year 1811, the aspect of affairs with Great Britain having become serions, a number of prominent and philanthropic gentlemen, urged by patriotie motives, were induced to start the enterprise of manufacturing woolen goods, and thereby " render their country inde- pendent of England for a supply of clothing." Among the gentlemen who embarked in this enterprise were Seth Capron, Jonas Platt, Thomas R. Gold, Newton Mann, Theodore Sill, Nathan Williams, William G. Tracy, De Witt Clinton, Ambrose Spencer, John Taylor, and Stephen Van Rensselaer. The "Oriskany Manufacturing Company" was incorporated in 1811. Buildings were crected at the village of Oriskany, near the subsequent location of the Erie Canal. Gerrit G. Lansing was long the president of this company. " The satinetts made by this company sold readily at $+ per yard, and their broad- cloths from $10 to $12 per yard; but, to counterbalance these prices, for the first four years after they commenced operations they paid an average of $1.12 per pound for their wool."} The machinery used consisted of eight sets of cards, with a proportionate number of spindles and looms. Over 100 hands were employed, and the manu- factures amounted to more than 100,000 yards annually of 6-4 goods,- broadcloths and tweeds. After various re- verses and successes, the company finally closed business about 1856-57, after which the buildings were purchased by A. B. Buell, of Utica, and transformed into a furnace. He afterwards inserted machinery for manufacturing cotton goods. The cotton-factory became the property of Thomas Wood, and now belongs to his son-in-law, Dr. Clark. Woolen machinery has been replaced in it, but the factory is only occasionally in operation.

A tobacco-factory was built by the Oncida Manufacturing Company about 1833, but has long been out of use. It occupies a portion of the same ground with the main build- ings of the company.

The furnace established by Mr. Buell is still in operation, manufacturing malleable iron, and composition and brass castings. It does a considerable business.

A frame school-house was built in the settlement as carly as 1812 to 1815, having an old-fashioned four-sided roof. A man named Sumner was an carly teacher, and David Wood taught in this building in 1816.

A post-office was established previous to 1821, with Colonel G. G. Lansing as first postmaster. The present postmaster is Luther G. Williams.

The village contained in February, 1878, three stores, a grist-mill, two blacksmith-shops, a foundry, a wagon-shop, three hotels, three churches, a district school building, a post-office, two tin-shops, a broom-factory, and a population estimated at from 500 to 600.

# See history of Utica.

t Aborigines, original iahabitants of a country. It is not at all probable, therefore, that theso wera "aborigines." The finding of the medal dated 1731, and the fact of the remains being so well pre- served in the soil, to say nothing of the "medicine-bag," etc., would show that they were Indians, and of a much later race than tho people who originally occupied this region.

# Joncs.

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IIISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

PLEASANT VALLEY.

This name was given to a former small manufacturing settlement, a mile above Oriskany, on the Oriskany Creek. It was the site of the large factory of the "Dexter Manu- facturing Company," which commenced operations in 1832. The main buildings were of brick and stone, and the fac- tory was 200 feet in length, containing seven sets of cards, with the requisite number of spindles and looms. Very fine long shawls, broadcloths, and tweeds were manufac- tured, and over one hundred hands employed. The factory was burned within the past year or two, and the once busy settlement now wears much the aspect of Goldsmith's " De- serted Village." The location in the beautiful valley of the Oriskany gave rise to the most appropriate title, " Pleasant Valley," Nature here, seemingly, having outdone herself in arranging combinations of her rarest beauties.

COLEMAN'S MILLS

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

WALESVILLE

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

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

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BENJAMIN S. WALCOTT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Engraved by Samuel Sartain. Phil"

X Campbell

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

" Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Waleott we lose a pattern of an honorable, noble-minded, energetie business man, one who held justice, honesty, integrity, and morality to be of more consequenco than the mere accumulation of property, and whose governing prin-

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

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

" Resolved, That the prosperons villages, of which he may be pro- nouneed the parent, will remain enduring monuments of his worth, and his life and example will ever be remembered and cherished hy us."

SAMUEL CAMPBELL.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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

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

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

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

Mr. Campbell married in 1833 Agnes Sinclair, whose virtues and pleasant ways cheered him in his years of toil, and who remains the bright companion of his advancing

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER XLVIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

SKETCH OF BARON STEUBEN.

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

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

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

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

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

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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

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

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

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

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 170

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