History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 42

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

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The duke appointed a Governor and Council, and gave the colonists the right to eleet representatives from among the frecholders of the colony and the freemen of the cor- porations ; and these were to form a General Assembly, which was to frame laws for the government of the province, sub- ject to the approval of the Governor and Council and the confirmation of the duke and the king. The first Assem- bly met in October, 1683, Thomas Dongant being Gover- nor, and M. Nicolls Speaker of the Assembly. The first Assembly consisted of sixteen members.

In November of this same year the Assembly divided the province into twelve counties, as follows : New York,

# The city of New York was ealled New Amsterdam, after the commercial capital of Holland.

t The duke was a brother of the king.

# Written nlsu Dungan.

158

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Westchester, Ulster, Albany, Dutchess, Orange, Richmond, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Dukes, and Cornwall. Albany County, which included the present territory of Oneida, was bounded in this wise: " To conteyne the towne of Al- bany, the Colony of Renslaerswyck, Schonecteda, and all the villages, neighborhoods, and Christian habitacons on the east side of Hudson's River, from Roeleffe Jansen's Creeke, and on the west from Sawyer's Creeke to Sarraagh- toga." The country west of Schenectady was at that time virtually a terra incognita.

It would appear that most of the legislation of the first Assembly was repudiated by the duke and king, and the second Assembly, which convened in 1691, proceeded to draw up another charter similar to the first one, but it was repealed by the Crown in 1697.

The colonial government at this date was composed as follows : Henry Sloughter, Esq., Governor and Commander- in-Chief; Joseph Dudley, Frederick Phillipse, Stephen Cortlandt, Chidley Brook, and Gabriel Monville, Council ; and the following members of the Assembly : City and County of New York, James Graham (Speaker), William Merrett, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, Johannes Kipp ; City and County of Albany, Direk Wessels, Levinus Van Schaick ; Ulster and Dutchess, Henricus Beekman, William Der- niere; Westchester, John Pell; Richmond, Elias Duksberry, John Dally ; Suffolk, Henry Pierson, Mathew. Howell; Queens, Daniel Whitehead, John Robinson ; Kings, Nicholas Stillwell, John Poland ; Manor of Rensselaerwyck, Killian Van Rensselaer .*

Notwithstanding the repeal of the Charter of Liberties, the Assembly remained intact and continued to legislate for the colony until the year 1773, the last year of its recorded proceedings.

. .

On the 12th of March, 1772, the Assembly erected a new county from a portion of Albany County, and named it Tryon, in compliment to the Royal Governor, William Tryon, Esq. Ou the 24th of March, they divided the new county into five districts. The eastern took the name of Mohawk district ; the south western, Kingsland; the north- western, north of the Mohawk River, German Flats; the centre one, north of the Mohawk, Stone Arabia ; and the one south of the Mohawk, Canajoharie. The Mohawk dis- trict was bounded on the east by the west boundary of Schenectady district, in Albany County ; on the west by a north and south line drawn from the pass in the mountains called " Anthony's Nose," continued to the north and south bounds of the county; on the south by the south boundary of the colony and the county of Albany ; and on the north by the bounds of the province. Stone Arabia lay next west of the Mohawk district, the west line being a line drawn north from Little Falls to the north bounds of the province; and Canajoharie district was the corresponding one south of the Mohawk. German Flats was the north- western district, bounded west and northi by the bounds of the colony, and Kingsland, the south western one, was simi- larly bounded south and west.

On the 8th of March, 1773, the name Stone Arabia was changed to Palatine, and German Flats and Kingsland

exchanged names. On the same day two market-fairs were ordered to be held at Johnstown annually, and the repre- sentatives in the Assembly from Tryon County were allowed twelve shillings per day while in attendance on the same, and in going to and returning therefrom.

February 6, 1773, an act was passed authorizing the authorities of Tryon County to levy a tax sufficient to raise £1600 to complete a court-house and erect a jail at Johns- town, and offering bounties for the killing of wolves and panthers in the county.

On the adoption of the first State constitution, April 20, 1777, the counties previously named were recognized, ex- cept Dukes and Cornwall, the territory of which had been previously surrendered to Massachusetts, and three others, Charlotte, f now Washington, and several others, and Cum- berlandt and Gloucester, t since ceded to Vermont. The convention which framed the constitution gave Tryon County six of the seventy assemblymen of which the lower house was to be composed, and divided the twenty-four sen- ators into four classes and the State into as many dis- tricts ; the western, including the counties of Albany and Tryon, were entitled to six of the senators. The delegates to this convention from Tryon County were William Har- per, Isaac Paris, V. Veeder, John Moore, and Benjamin Newkirk.

Governor Tryon having rendered himself extremely ob- noxious to the people of the colony, the name of the county was changed to Montgomery on the 2d of. April, 1784, in honor of the gallant officer who fell at Quebec in the begin- ning of the Revolution. In 1788 the bounds of the county were defined as follows: " All that part of this State . bounded easterly by the counties of Ulster, Albany, Wash- ington, and Clinton, southerly by the State of Pennsylva- nia, and westerly and northerly by the west and north bounds of .this State." On the 17th of March of the last-named year, the county was divided into the nine fol- lowing towns: Canghnawaga, Palatine, Herkimer, Mo- hawk, Harpersfield, Otsego, Canajoharie, German Flats, and Whitestown. The latter was bounded easterly by a line running north and south to the north and south bounds of the State, and crossing the Mohawk River at the ford near and on the east side of the house of William Cunningham, south by the State of Pennsylvania, and west and north by the bounds of the State. The house of William Cunningham, referred to, stood near the foot of Genesce Street, in Utica.

By an act passed March 22, 1788, the town of Chemung was formed in and from a part of Montgomery County lying on the Owego and Tioga Rivers, with a somewhat ambigu- ously described boundary.

By an act passed January 27, 1789, the county of On- tario was formed and its boundary described as follows :

" All that part of the County of. Montgomery which lies to the westward of a line drawn due north to Lake Ontario, from the mile- stone, or monument, marked 'eighty-two,' and standing in the line of division between this State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, shall be one separate and distinet county, and be ealled and known by the name of Ontario."

# Journal of Colonial Assembly.

t Cumberland in 1766, Gloucester in 1770, and Charlotte in 1772, were formed out of Albany County. The first two and part of the latter since ceded to Vormont.

159

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

On the 3d of March, 1789, a bill was passed by the As- sembly to raise money in Montgomery County to liquidate claims arising therein for the erection of a court-house and jail at Whitestown.

On the 16th of February, 1791, an aet was passed sub- dividing Montgomery County and forming from its terri- tory the counties of Tioga, Otsego, and Herkimer,* and changing the bounds of Ontario County. The county of IIerkimer, which included the present territory of Oneida County, was bounded as follows :

" All that tract of land bounded westerly hy the County of Ontario, northerly by the north bounds of this State, easterly by the Counties of Clinton, Washington, and Saratoga, and southorly by the Counties of Montgomery, Otsego, and Tioga."

'The north parts of the towns of Palatine and Caughna- waga, lying north of a line beginning at a place called " Jersey Fields," on a line between the towns of Herkimer and Palatine, and thence easterly to Saratoga County, were added to Herkimer County.

April 10, 1792, the towo of Whitestown was subdivided, and the towns of Westmoreland, Steuben, Paris, Peru, and Mexico were formed from its territory. Mexico and Steuben included all of the present territory of Jefferson County.

Westmoreland wus bounded as follows : By a line begin- ning at the eastern line of the Oneida reservation, where the line of Steuben crosses the same; thenee southerly and westerly along said reservation line to a point opposite the southwest corner of a traet granted to Abraham Wemple ; thenee along the southern line of Wemple's traet to the "old line of property ;"t thence northerly, at right angles with said line of property, to the Oriskany Creek ; thenee down said creek to the southern bounds of the Oriskany Patent; thebee northwesterly, parallel to the old " line of property," to "Steuben Town ;" thence along the line of Steuben to the place of beginning. First town-meeting to be held at the house of James Dean.

Paris was bounded as follows: Beginning at Stillman's Bridge, oo Oriskany Creek ; thence southeasterly to the house of James Fairwell, on lot No. 80, in the seventh division of Cox's Patent; thence southerly in a direct line until it meets the New Hartford road, where it erosses a ereek a few rods west from the house of Samuel Wells ; thence southerly in a line to the southwestern corner of lot No. 7, in the eleventh division of Cox's Patent; thence due east to the line of German Flats; thence southerly along said line to Tioga County ; thence westerly along the line of Tioga County to the western line of the twenty town- ships; thence northerly to the line of the Oneida reservation ; thenee along the last line to the line of Westmoreland ; thence along the last line to the place of beginning. First town-meeting at the house of Moses Foote, Esq.

Steuben was bounded as follows : Beginning at the mouth of the Nine-Mile Creek, running thence northeast- wardly to the northeast corner of Holland Patent; thence northerly along the eastern bounds of Steuben's Patent to the northeast corner thereof; thence due north to the northero bounds of the State, and also from the place of

beginning due west to the line of the Oneida reservation ; thence northwest along said line to Fish Creek ; thence due north to the northern bounds of the State. First town- meeting at the house of Seth Ranney, near Fort Stanwix.

Mexico included all that part of Whitestown bounded as follows: easterly by the eastern bounds of the Military Truet and a line drawn northward from the mouth of the Connisserago Creek across Oneida Lake to Lake Ontario ; southerly by Tioga County ; westerly by the western" bounds of the townships of Homer, Tully, Marcellus, Ca- millus, Lysander, and Hannibal, of said Military Truet ; and northerly by Lake Ontario. First town-meeting at the house of Benjamin Moorehouse.

Peru was all that part of Whitestown bounded easterly by the town of Mexico, southerly by Tioga County, and northerly by Lake Ontario. First town-meeting at the house of Seth Phelps, Esq.

All the remainder of Whitestown to be and remain a town by the name of Whitestown, and the first town-meet- ing to be held at the house of Jedediah Sanger, Esq.

The county of Onondaga was formed by an act passed March 5, 1794, and included the original Military Traet.t

By an act of March 5, 1795, the town of Cazenovia was formed from Whitestown and Paris, and the towns of Ham- ilton, Sherburne, Brookfield, and Sangerfield were formed from Paris.

By an act of Feb. 26, 1796, the town of Mexico was reconstructed, with different boundaries from those estab- lished in 1792. They were as follows : beginning at the northwestern corner of Fonda's 40,000 aere patent ; thence along the western side of Canada Creek to Wood Creek ; thenee down Wood Creek to Oneida Lake; thience through the middle of Oneida Lake to its western end; thence to the northern shore of Onondaga River; thence down that river to Lake Ontario ; then easterly and northerly along the shore of that lake to the mouth of Black River; thence up that river to the northern corner of 25,000 acres sold by William Constable to William Inman ; thence southerly, 37 degrees 30 minutes west, along the north western bounds of the last-named tract to the northwestern corner of Oothout's patent ; thence southerly, one degree west, along the line of the last-named patent to the place of beginning. First town-meeting at the house of John Myer, " in Rot- terdam, in said town of Mexico."

By an act passed March 4, 1796, the town of Steuben, Herkimer County, was divided, and the towns of Rome and Floyd erected from its territory. Floyd was bounded as follows : beginning at the northwestern corner of great lot No. 36, in Fonda's Patent; thence along the western bounds of that lot and lots Nos. 50, 63, and 71 in Fonda's

# Named from General Nicholas Herkimer.

Boundary of 1768, between the Indians and whites.

# This truet was granted by the Legislature of New York as n gra- tuity to the officers and soldiers of the line, of the State, who served in the army during the Revolution. Its total area was 1,500,000 aeres (exclusivo of water), divided into twenty-five townships, of 60,000 acres each, and was about 57 hy 55 miles square, and bounded as follows: Beginning ut the mouth of the Oswego River, and run- ning thence west to Big Sodus Bay ; thence south to o point a littlo southwest of the southerly extremity of Seneca Lake; thence by an east and west line to the southeast corner of Cortland County ; theoce north along the castero boundaries of the present counties of Cortland and Oneodagn to Oneida Lake; theace down the Queida and Oswego Rivers to the place of beginning .- Doc. Hist.

160

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Patent; thence in the same course to the southern bounds of Steuben ; thence easterly along the same to the mouth of the Ninc-Mile Creek ; thence along the southeastern bounds of Steuben until a western line shall intersect the northeastern corner of great lot 41 in Fonda's Patent; thence along said line and the northern bounds of said lot 41, and lots Nos. 40, 39, 38, 37, and 36, in Fonda's Patent, to the place of beginning. First town-meeting at the house of Samuel J. Curtiss.

The town of Rome was bounded as follows: all that part of Steuben bounded northerly by a line to begin at the northwestern corner of said town of Floyd; thence di- rectly along the northern bounds of great lots Nos. 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, and 83, in Fonda's Patent, to Canada Creek; thence down said creek to its junction with Wood Creck ; thence along the western and southern bounds of said town of Steuben to the southwest corner of Floyd ; thence along the western bounds thereof to the place of beginning. First towo-meeting to be held at the house of Ebenezer Claffin. The town-meeting in Steuben was to be held at the house of Joshna Wells.

By an act passed March 10, 1797, the town of Stcuben, Herkimer County, was divided into three towns,-Steuben, Western, and Leyden. The first town-meetings were to be held-in Steuben, at the residence of Baron Steuben, de- ceased ; in Western, at the house of Ezekiel Sheldon ; and in Leyden, at the house of Andrew Edmonds.

By an act passed March 24, 1797, the town of Schuyler, Herkimer County, was divided; and the town of Trenton formed from its territory. It was bounded as follows: be- ginning at a point in the western line of Schuyler, four miles north in the direction of said western line from Mo- hawk River ; thence northerly on said line to the north- western corner of said Schuyler; thence easterly on said town line to the great falls on Canada Creck ; thence down said creek to the northwestern corner of lot No. 55, Gage's* Patent ; thence on the western line of said patent south to the north western corner of lot No. 18, on said patent; thence westerly in a straight line to the place of beginning. First town-meeting at the house of Thomas Weeks. The re- mainder of the old town of Schuyler to be the town of Schuyler, and the first town-meeting to be held at the house of George G. Weaver (Weber).

By an act of the same date the town of Sangerfield, Ilerkimer County, was divided, and the town of Bridge- water formed from its territory, and bounded as follows : " All that part of the town of Sangerfield lying easterly of the division line between the third and fourth quarters of the 20th township, so called, be and is hereby created into a separate town by the name of Bridgewater." The first town-meeting was held at the house of Thomas Converse, and the first town-meeting in the town of Sangerfield at the house of Ebenezer Hale.

At that time Herkimer and Montgomery Counties con- stituted the Ninth Congressional District.

ORGANIZATION OF ONEIDA COUNTY.

On the 15th of March, 1798, an act was passed divid- ing the county of Herkimer, and forming the counties of

Oneida and Chenango from its territory. The boundaries of Oneida, as then constituted, were as follows :

" All that part of Herkemer County beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Bridgwater, and running thence easterly on the line of said town to the Unadilla River ; thence northerly and easterly on the line of Bridgewater to the town of Litchfield ; thence northerly on the line of Bridgewater and Litchfield to the southeast corner of the town of Paris; thence the same line enntinued on the eastern line of Paris and Whitestown to the southerly line of Cosby's Manor; thenee nortbeasterly in a direct line to the northerly bounds of said Cosby's Manor, at a point where the same is intersected by the divis- ion line between Gage's and Walton's Patents; thence northerly on the line between the said Gage's and Walton's Patent to the West Canada Creek ; thence northerly up the waters of said creek to the forks thereof; thence easterly np the east branch of said creek to the northeast corner of Servis' Patent ;; thence northerly to the northern bounds of this State; thence westerly along the northern bennds of this State to Lake Ontario; thence along the easterly shore of said lake to the mouth of the Oswego River; thence easterly up said river to the Oneida Lake; thence along the southern side of said lake to the Oneida Creek ; thence up said ercck on the eastern line of the County of Chenango to the northern line of the town of Hamilton ; thence casterly along the northern bounds of said towns of Hamilton and Sangerfield to the northwestern corner of the towo of Bridge- water; thence southerly on the western line of said town of Bridge- water to the place of beginning."

These boundaries are somewhat indefinite, particularly in the northeast and the northwest ; but they included all the territory now in the counties of Oneida, Lewis, and Jefferson, and all that portion of Oswego County lying east of Oswego River. It would appear, also, that the terri- tory now constituting St. Lawrence County was nominally included ; but this was provisionally annexed to Clinton County in 1801, and erected into a separate county March 3, 1802. They also included a small portion in the south- west, which was annexed to Madison in 1836. By the de- scription it will be seen that the town of Sangerfield was then included in Chenango County. It was transferred to Oneida County April 4, 1804.

By this act three terms of the courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions were to be held annually in the county, to wit : on the third Tuesday in May, first Tuesday in Sep- tember, and last Tuesday in December, at " the School- House near Fort Stanwix ;" but no Circuit Court was to be held in the county unless the justices of the Supreme Court should " in their judgment deem it proper and necessary."

Oncida and Chenango Counties were to form a part of the district previously composed of Herkimer and Otsego Counties, respecting all prosecutions in the court of Oycr and Terminer. The act also provided that a court-house and jail should " be erected at such place within one mile of Fort Schuyler, otherwise Fort Stanwix, in the Town of Rome, as the Supervisors should designate; also that the County should be represented by three Members in the State Assembly, and that the first meeting of the Board of Supervisors should be held at the School-House in Rome on the last Tuesday in May."

By the terms of the same act all that part of the town of Frankfort included within the new County of Oncida was added to the town of Whitestown ; and all that part of Schuyler included within Oneida was erceted into a new town, and named Deerfield (or, as it was written, Deers-

$ A tract of 25,000 acres, granted Feb. 28, 1769, to Peter Servis and others.

# General Thomas Gage.

161

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

field), and the first town-meeting ordered at the house of Ezra Payne; and all that part of Norway included in the county of Oneida was erected into a new town and namned Remsen, and its first town-meeting was to be held at the house of Samuel Howe.

By the same aet all that part of Whitestown bounded westerly and southerly by the county of Chenango, easterly by Brothertown* and Paris, and northerly by the " soutlı- ernmost Great Genesee Road," was erected into a new town, which was named Augusta. Its first town-meeting was to be held at the house of Timothy Pond, Jr .; and the re- maining portion of Whitestown lying within the Oneida reservation, so ealled, was annexed to Westmoreland.

The counties of Montgomery, Herkimer, Oneida, and that portion of Chenango formerly included in Herkimer, were erected into a congressional district.

The great town of Mexico, sometimes called " the mother of townships," was divided by an aet passed March 15, 1799, and a new town, called Camden, formed from its territory. The first town-meeting was held at the house of Samnel Royee, and " all that part of township No. 2, in Seriba's Patent, t lying east of Fish Creek," was annexed to the town of Rome. The town of Redfield was erected from Mexico, Mareh 14, 1800.

On the 3d of April, 1801, under the revised laws of the State, an act was passed definitely establishing the bound- aries of counties, those of Oneida being fixed as follows :

" All that part of this State bounded easterly hy the County of Herkimer, northerly hy the County of Clinton, and by the northern hounds of this State, from the most westerly corner of the County of Clinton to a place in Lake Ontario where the said northern bounds shall he intersected by the new pre-emption linet aforesaid, continued due north ; westerly by the line last mentioned to the south bank of Lake Ontario; and southerly by the Counties of Cayuga, Onondaga, and Chenango, and the southern hounds of the patent granted to Wil- liam Bayard and others, callod the ' Freemasons' Patent.'?"

An aet was passed -April 7, 1801, dividing the counties into towns, and the following were enumerated and described in Oneida County : Bridgewater, Deerfield, Trenton, Paris, Whitestown, Remsen, Floyd, Steuben, Western, Leyden, Rome, Camden, Redfield, Watertown, Champion, Lowville, Turin, Mexico, Westmoreland, and Augusta.

In " Annals of Oneida County" Hon. Pomeroy Jones states that St. Lawrence County was formed from the ter- ritory of Oneida, March 3, 1802; but from all the facts it would appear that this territory was detached from Oneida in 1801 and provisionally annexed to Clinton, and, as stated, erected into the present county of St. Lawrence the next year, taking small portions also from Montgomery and Herkimer Counties.

An aet was passed Feb. 17, 1802, ereeting the towns of Verona and Vernon from Westmoreland and Augusta.

The first town-meeting for the former was to be held at the house of Martin Langdon, and for the latter at the house of David Tuttle.

By an act of April 1, 1802, the towns of Leyden, Watertown, and Mexico were divided, and the towns of Adams, Brownville, and Rutland formed from their terri- tory.

Again, Feb. 22, 1803, the towns of Mexico, Turin, Lowville, and Champion were divided, and the towns of Ellisburgh, Harrisburgh, | and Martinsburgh formed from their territory ; and by an act of the same date all such parts of Baron Steuben's patent as were previously in- eluded within the limits of Trenton and Remsen were annexed to the town of Steuben.

On the 24th of March, 1804, an act was passed dividing the towns of Mexico and Adams, and forming the towns of Harrison, { Malta, and Williamstown therefrom.

Feb. 16, 1805, the town of Camden was divided, and the town of Florence erected, in which the first town- meeting was held at the house of John Spinning.

SUBDIVISION OF THE COUNTY.

The question of dividing the county and forming one or more new ones began to be agitated about this time. The region of the Black River valley had filled up so fast by immigration, and the inconvenience of attending to county matters over the then almost impassable roads was so severely felt, that it was determined by the people of that section . to ereet at least one new county. Accordingly inectings were called, and three delegates ehosen from each town interested in the project, who met on the 20th of November, 1804, at the house of Freedom Wright, in the town of Harrisburgh (now Denmark). Upon comparing notes, it was found that the local interests of no less than six different points contending for the location of the new county-scat could not well be reconciled, and it was finally determined to apply for the ereetion of two new counties instead of one. Application was accordingly made to the Legislature for two new counties, and the names of the chief magistrates of the nation and the commonwealth, Jef- ferson and Lewis, ** were suggested as appropriate titles to be bestowed upon them.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 42

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