History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 69

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 69

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Captain Potter was a very religions man, and was named as a member of the committee which drafted a constitution for the "United Society of Whitestown and Old Fort Schuyler," organized in 1793, and was subsequently dea-

# This old relic of the early days stands in front of the hardware- store of Mr. Roberts, on the corner of Broad and Genesee Streets. It is a massive affair of cast iron, weighing 410 pounds, and dates back to 1796. Mr. Jones states that this fire occurred in 1806 or 1807. According to Mr. Jones, John Post was the first regular mer- chant in the place, but according to Dr. Bagg, Peter Smith preceded him.

262

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

con and elder. He was a peculiar and very plain-spoken man, as the following anecdote from Dr. Bagg's work illus- trates :

"Mr. Heary Huntington, of Rome, had a lawsuit against Ahel French, for failure to perform a contract for the sale of some land on the hills south of the Mohawk, two or three miles from Utica. The question was what damages he should recover. He regarded the land as valuable, and wanted the difference between the contrnet price and the current value, and called Deacon Potter as a witness to prove its value. The latter was a warm friend of Mr. Huntington. When sword and asked if he knew the land, he said, ' Yes, every foot of it.' ' What do you think it worth, Captain Potter?' The old man pansed a moment, and then slowly said, ' If I had as many dollars-as my yoke of oxen-enuld draw-on a sled,-on glaze ice,-I vow to God -I would not give a dollar an aere for it!' There was some noise in the court-room on benring the answer."

The captain died in 1810, and his wife two years after- wards. They had five children : Lucinda, Sarah, Matilda, Mary, and William Frederick. The first married Benja- min Plant; the second, Thomas Norton ; the third, Stephen Ford and William Alverson ; the fourth, Mary, remained unmarried. The son occupied and cultivated the home- stead long after the city had grown up around it.

Matthew Hubbell was from Lanesboro', Mass., where he was born in 1762. At the age of fifteen years he was drafted into the army, and was present at the battle of Bennington, in August, 1777. He had removed in 1789 to a part of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, in Ontario County ; but his wife being discontented he sold his lands for a small advance on their cost, and came via the outlets of Canandaigua and Seneca Lakes, the Seneca River, Oneida River and Lake, Wood Creek, and the Mohawk to Old Fort Schuyler, arriving in December. He bought the in- terest of Hendrich Salyea in the River Bend farm, and subsequently obtained a deed of the same from the heirs of General Bradstreet. Here he lived until his death, in October, 1819, which was brought on by exposure at Sacket's Harbor, to which place he was carrying supplies during the war.

Benjamin Ballou was a native of Rhode Island. He lived upon a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres, on lot No. 92, which was leased from the Bleecker family in 1797. He cultivated this farm and also carried on the tanning business. He is described in Dr. Bagg's work as " a tall, lank person, wearing a velvet suit much worn, and a hat that lacked at least a third of its brim." He died March 2, 1822.

The only chronicled arrivals for 1791 were Peter Bellin- ger and Thomas and Augustus Corey, from Rhode Island. They were cousins, and purchased two hundred acres of lot No. 95, upon which they erected a frame dwelling, re- markable, among other things, for being shingled on the sides as well as the roof. It stood on the northeast corner of Whitesboro' and Hotel Streets. The Coreys did not remain very long, for we find them selling out in 1795 to Messrs. Boon & Linklaen, the agents in Utica of the Holland Land Company, and removing from the place. Thomas was a surveyor and came west with the intention of pursuing his calling, but afterwards returned to his native State, where he became prominent in civil affairs.

In 1792 we find new merchants locating in Utica. These were Joseph Ballou and his sons. He was a brother

of Benjamin, from Exeter, R. I., and settled upon lot No. 94, where he cultivated quite an extensive farm. In the month of August, 1800, he and his sons purchased lots on Main Street, near the present John Street, upon which they built a house and store. The dwelling stood fronting the square, but when John Street was subsequently opened, it was faced around upon that street, and made part of a pub- lic-house, long known as Union Hall. The site is now occupied by the Ballou Block.

Mr. Ballou died in 1810. His sons were merchants, and occupied the store mentioned above. The sons were named Jerathmel (or Jerathmael, as Mr. Jones writes it) and Obadiah. They continued in trade for a number of years, when Obadiah retired from business, and about 1834 removed to Auburn. The first named was for several years one of the village trustees. He died June 29, 1817. His son, Theodore P., still lives in Utica. Sarah, the daugh- ter, was afterwards the wife of Ebenezer B. Shearman. She died February 7, 1877, aged ninety-six years.

The summer of 1792 is noted in the annals of the town for the erection of the first bridge over the Mohawk .* The necessity of such a structure had been seen undoubt- edly for some time previous to any action being taken, and the principal obstacle in the way of its erection at an earlier date had been the want of the necessary means.

At length it was resolved to petition the Legislature for assistance, and the following document was drawn up and signed by probably nearly every voter in the village and vicinity. The petition and names of signers are from Dr. Bagg's work :

" To the Honorable the Legislature, etc., etc. :

"The petition of the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the County of Her- kimer, Respectfully sheweth : That having for a long time endured the inconveniences and dangers of fording the Mohawk River at Old Fort Schuyler, did some time past associate, and by voluntary sub- seription attempt to raise money to ereet a bridge across the river at snid place, but, after their most strenuous exertions, find themselves, on account of the infant state of the adjacent settlements, incapable of effecting said purpose ; and your petitioners beg leave to state that in addition to the inconveniences of fording said river (which at some seasons of the year is very dangerous), the public in general are highly interested in the erection of a bridge nt said place, as it is one of the greatest ronds in the State of New York, heing the customary, und, (in consequence of the erection of bridges over the Canada creeks helow,) the most direct, route from the eastern to the west part of the State. In this situation, while the more interior parts of the State are enjoying liberal donations from the State for building of bridges, your petitioners earnestly implore the Legislature to extend a helping hand to those who, having but recently settled in almost a wilderness, have devolved upon them a very heavy burden in making roads and building bridges. They therefore pray the Legislature to grant them the sum of Two Thousand Pounds towards defraying the expense of erecting a bridge at the place above mentioned, as it will require acarly doublo that sum to complete the same. And your petitioners will ever pray.

" HERKIMER COUNTY, October 24, 1792.

Elias Kane.

Thomas R. Gold.

Jeremiah Powell.

Thomas Hooker.

Asa Kent.

Asa Brunson.

Claudius l'olcont.

Robert Bardwell.

Archibald Bates.

Peleg Ilyde.

John Cunningham.

Edward Johnson.

Joseph Harris.

Ezra Hovey.

Samuel Wells.

Jacob Hastings.

# According to a statement in a Utica Directory for 1829, this was the first bridge ercoted on the Mohawk River at any point.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

fried rieg bauman.

Uriah Sayles. Jacob -. (illegible). John Whisten. Daniel Camphle. Isaae Brayton. Caleb Austin. Nathan Smith. George Doolittle. Daniel Reynolds. Just's Griffetb. Benjamin Johnson. Philip Morey. Henry Chesebrough. George Staples. Solomon Harter.

Augustus Sayles. George Wever. Samuel Griffith. Thomas Scott. William Alverson.

Samuel Barnes. William baile. Elizur Moseley. Galus Morgan. Phillup Alesworth. John Lockwood.

Aaron Bless. John Foster.

John Richardson. Noah Kent. Shadrach Smith. Daniel Follett.

Oliver Trumbull. Ab'm. Bum (Boam ?) Daniel C. White. Matthew Hubbell. Selemon Wells. David Andrew. John Post.

John Bellinger.

John Christman. John D. Petrye.

Jeremiah Read.

Nath'l Griffeth. John H. Pool.

Silvanus Mowry.

Abr'm Braer. William Sayles. Nathaniel Darling. John Crandal. Sam'l Wilbur. Jacob Christman. Obadiah Bullou, Ellis Dety.

The names in italics are settlers at Old Fort Schuyler (Utica).

This petition was favorably considered and finally granted by the Assembly.

The people went on, however, and constructed the bridge without waiting the action of the Legislature, and the work was well advanced before the result of their prayers was known.

The bridge was built at the foot of Second Street, two blocks below its present location, and a little above the site of Old Fort Schuyler. It is said that the raising of the structure took place on Sunday, in order to enable more people to take part in it without interfering with their farm and other labor.

The necessity which could induce the staid, Sabbath- observing people to break over their ordinary respect for the day must have been very urgent indeed.

In speaking of this circumstance Dr. Bagg relates the following incident :

"There was living in Deerfield a few months sinee a man who, when a child, was present at the raising. This was Elder George M. Weaver, who was born " January 15, 1787," and was then in his sixth year. "An incident which he related as connected with the event must have contributed to fix the fact in his memory. On the way over with his parents from Decrfield they spied a hear in a tree hy the side of the road. While Mrs. Weaver bravely remained at the foot of the tree with her young son and another child in arms, keep- ing watch of the bear, the father returned home, procured a gun, and shot the animal, after which they continued their course to the river."

This bridge had the honor of being inspected, about a

year after its construction, by a gentleman who afterwards became the most celebrated engineer of his time, Markt Isambart Brunel, who stayed at John Post's, in Utica, in November, 1793, while on a journey from New York to the French purchase on Black River, known as " Castor- land." In the morning, young Brunel, probably by request, went out and inspected the bridge, of which the inhabit- ants were undoubtedly not a little proud. The following is the account of the examination, taken from the files of their journal, and which, if made known to the people, must have been received as anything but complimentary to the judgment and skill of the mechanics of the Mohawk Valley :

"This bridge, built after the English manner, is in the arc of a eirele, with a very moderate curve, and is supported by beams placed like a St. Andrew's eross, and covered with plank. The bridge has already bent from the curve intended and inclined to the oval, an effect due as much to the framing as to the quality and smallness of the timbers, which are of pine and fir. The main support, which they have put in the middle, would rather tend to its entire destruc- tion when the iee is going off. The ahutments are of timber, and also settled from miscalculation of the resistance, the one on the south side being built upon ground that is full of springs.

" This bridge has been built but a short time, and was erected by a country earpenter. We asked Mr. Post why, when they had such a work to execute, they did not employ an engineer or architect to draw a plan and the details, which a carpenter might then easily execute. Ile replied that this was not the custom, and that ne carpenter would be willing to work after the plans of onother man. He, however, appeared mortified at the probable fate of his bridge which we pre- dicted."

The bridge was soon after destroyed by a flood, and a new one was erected in 1794. We continue our extracts from Dr. Bagg :

"From the preceding list of signers we gather a few additional names. They represent farmers who lived near rather than within the settlement, and some actually outside of the limits of Utica, as de- termined by the first village charter. These limits renched from the eastern line of lot No. 82, on the cast, to the western bounds of No. 99, on the west. On or near the upper end of the former lot, and in the vicinity that is called Welsh-bush, lived Nathan Darling, Jere- miah Powell, and Joseph Harris.

"Somewhat nearer, though at quite n remove from the central set- tlement, were John D. Petrie, Frederick Bowman, and Henry Staring. Petrie occupied the farm next east of Matthew Hubbell, afterwards well known as the High School Farm, until 1802, when he sold it to Alexander Cairns, who resold it to Solomon Weleott. Below him again, and at the end of the plain of Broad Street, just where the road begins to descend to the hollow of the ereck, was the house of Frederick Bowman. Staring was his next neighbor on the east, if net at the date in question certainly within a short time afterwards. Petrie, Bowman, and Staring were all of German origin, and the names of all occur among the patentees of the town of German Flats. Bowman's is the only family of which there are representatives still left in Utien and vicinity. Westward were found Claudius Wolcott, a little west of Nail Creek, # on the present Court Strect; Archibald

# Dr. Bagg says January, 1788, but we have it from members of the family as given above .- HISTORIAN.

+ Written also Marc. Mention of the exploring party, of whom Brunel was one, is made on a previous page.

# Mr. Jones gives the following regarding the origin of this name :

" By the Bleecker map Nail Creck is named 'Nogal Kill.' Some twenty-five years ago (written in 1851) Mr. Joseph Masseth, a Ger- man, established a ' deg-nnil-factory,' as it was called, on the banks of Nail Creek, for the manufacture of wrought nails. His bellows were blown hy two dogs, who, in turn, ran in a wheel after the manner of medern dog-ehurns, and a description of his factory (at first a mere shanty ) went the rounds in most of the newspapers of the United States." . . . " It is very generally believed that Nail Creek received its name from these circumstances. But 'Nagal Kill' is German and Dutch,

William Sayles, Jr. Theodore Sprague. Benjamin Carney. Abram Jillet. Solomon Whiston. Peleg Briggs. Townsin Briggs. Seth Griffeth. Henry Fall.

David Stafford.

Francis Guitcau. Samuel Stafford."

263

RESIDENCE OF THE LATE JOHN BUTTERFIELD, UTICA, N. Y.

LITH. BY L. H. EVERTS & CO. PHILA, PA .

RER

JOHN BUTTERFIELD was born at Berne, in the Helderberg, near Albany, November 18, 1801. In early life we find him in the employment of Thorpe & Spragne, of that city, ss a driver, and through the solicitation of Mr. Theodore S. Faxton came to Utica, where he for a time was omployed in picking up passengers from the tnverns and boats for Parker's stagee. After a time he started a livery with Lut small accommodations, and such were the beginnings of a life of great activity and enterprise, and which was bound up with most of the different kinds of transportation now practiced; for in svery means undertaken to increase the facilities of travel and intercommunication, Mr. Buttorfield was for a generation one of the foremost of the citizens of Utica. llis connection with Parker & Co. continued so long as they were still in bnei- ness, and was succeeded by important lines of his own, wherein he was a lead- ing manager in the State until staging wes superseded by railroads.

He was interested nnd had hie share in the packet-boats sod in the stenm- boate on Lake Ontario, and gave his earnest personel efforts to create the companies and raise the funde required for the construction of some of the plank-roads leading out of the city, and was the originator of its street rail- roads. His labors were arduous in stirring up the people to the importance of roads to the north and to the sonth; and to him is Utica largely, if nut princi- pally, indebted for the Black River and both of the southern railwaye. Hs was smong the first who realized how a lucrative business could be formed by the rapid transportation of such articles ne could afford to pay express charges ; and he became an early director in the exprese company. To him as much as to any other individual, sey the resolutione of the board, was due the high repu- tation which this company obtained in commercial circles throughout the country, as well as the success that has attended it. In that organizetion he remained a directing power until the close of his life, and renped from it s large pecuniary profit. He was also among the first to appreciate the capaci- tiea of the electric telegraph, and immediately upon the practical adoption of the invention, he joined with Messrs. Faxton, Welle, Livingston, and others in the establishment of the New York, Albany, and Buffalo Telegraph Company. His faith followed upon his sagacity, and he steadily urged and nided in the extension of linee and companies.

He assisted likewise in putting in operation the overland mail route, the precursor of the Pacific Railroad, and which did much to demonstrate the im- portance of s continuous connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific States. Having long been a meil contractor, he hed the experience and practical knowledge essential for the execution of the work.

Mr. Butterfield was n director in the Utica City National Bank, and was interested in other etock companies and business undertakings. He Invested largely in city property, while his cultivated lend in the vicinity covers no in- considerable space. The Butterfield Honse and the Gardner Block are among the handsome edifices which he planned and built, and which have added materially to the city of hile residence. On taking possession of the land on the New Hartford road, on a portion of which his late residence uuw stande, he extended his operations in farming, already carried on to a limited extent on Pleasant Street. And until the time when he was etricken down by disease, he conducted them with the same unflagging spirit that characterized all his transactions, and with a liberality in the menne expended which surprised by its results.

Of the State Agricultural Society he was an efficient officer and un wavering friend. His mission in life was business. His enterprises were uodertaken for material profit, and, while they were successful as such, they proved at the same time of great public advantage.

Much of what has been accomplished of recent years in developing the re- sources of the neighborhood, and in making Utica what it is, Lears the impress of his organizing genius end restless enterpriss. For these wors the qualities which marked his character. Hs owed nothing to scholastic education, and it may be doubted whether books could have better fitted him for his career as a man of action and a promoter of material undertakings. Nor had he that de- gree of intelligent foresight which enabled him in advance of others to con- ceive of the possible good wrapped up in an untested scheme. He was prompt to nvail himself of the inventiveness of others. A scheme unfolded, and what it could accomplish once exhibited, he was quick to note its bearings and re- moter tendencies, and ready in plen and action to grasp success while as yet practicability was talked of. This success he achieved by careful insight and minute attention to detail, wherein he was aided by a memory wonderfully retentive, by a strong and enduring will, by the contagione influence his do- termination exerted upon othera, bearing them along in the current of his own enthusiasm, and by an energy that was belked by no obstacle, nod nover asked fur rest. These it was-untiring ectivity, undaunted persistence, rigid super- vision and control over othere-which formed the chief source of hie snperi- ority, and fitted him to do so much In associated as in private works.

Such confidence had Mr. Butterfield inspired by the generally prosperous results of his operatione, so accurate was deemed hie insight in his peculiar field, and so many were the instances in which his advance led on others to the improvement of their fortunes, that his approval and co-operation in & scheme wers apt to be deemed conclusive of its merits. Hie reputa- tion was extended, and his relations intimate with capitalists in distant parts of the country, who were glad to avail themeelves of his capacity end energy.

In politics Mr. Butterfield took but little part, and was never an office-seeker. By the Republicnns of 1865 his was elected mayor of Utica, and in the same year was the uusuccessful candidate of the Democrats for the office of senator of the county.

In October, 1867, he was stricken with parelyeis in New York city, and after n little was brought home the wreck of his former self. He died November 14, 1869. The large nttendance at his funeral indicated that the loes sustained had not been felt most by any particular class. The representatives of wealth, intelligence, business circles, and lahor gathered side by side. He had been brought in contact with ell of them, and toward all was courteous, kind, and faithful, Leaders in material development valned him and were depend- ent on him, yet few men of hie position could number among his personal friends so large a number of the laboring class.

Mr. Butterfield was married when about twenty-one, and left, besides his widow, six surviving children,-three cone and thres daughters,-viz. : Theodors F. and Joho, of Utica; Daniel, major-general, And late assistant treasurer the United States at New York ; Mre. James B. Van Vorst and Mrs. Alex- ander Holland, of New York; and Mrs. Williem M. Storrs, of Utica, New York.

265

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Joseph removed to Cayuga County. John was constable and collector, and afterwards deputy sheriff, and his shriev- alty extended to the St. Lawrence River, and he once visited Ogdensburg to serve a summons. He afterwards removed to Trenton, where he owned mills. Parley was by trade a carpenter, and in 1817 was living on Broad Street.

Thomas Norton, who resided here for a short time, and kept a public-house, was a son-in-law of Stephen Potter, and had been a sea-captain. He afterwards returned to his seafaring life.

Dr. Samuel Carrington was quite a noted personage, though, according to Dr. Bagg, it is not certain that he was a regularly educated physician. He was a druggist, and had a considerable trade, as we infer from an advertisement published in 1800, wherein he announces his determination to henceforth do only a cash business. He succeeded John Post as postmaster April 1, 1799, and continued in that capacity until probably about 1802. He was one of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church. About the last-named year he started on a journey to the east, where he was to be married. The ceremony was performed presumably at the residence of the bride, but the next morning he disap- peared, and was never afterwards heard of in this region. The cause of this mysterious disappearance was never ex- plained. His brother, Johu Carrington, came to Utica and settled up his business, and was for a time in partnership with Dr. Marcus Hitchcock, who had succeeded Dr. Car- rington as postmaster, and to whom he finally sold out the stock of drugs belonging to his brother.

Aaron Eggleston was a cooper, and carried on his busi- ness for many years. He died in 1828. John Hobby was a blacksmith, and one of the first to pursue that calling in the place. His shop stood near the site of the present Cen- tral Railroad station. He had two brothers who bore the curious names of Epenetus and Elkanah. John died in 1812. Thomas Jones was also a smith, and a very skillful workman. He occasionally worked for Hobby. The Brooks were braziers, who lived and worked at their trade on Whitesboro' Street, and subsequently removed to Seneca Street.

Moses Bagg* came with his family from Westfield, Mass., in the autumn of 1793, and stayed through the following winter at what was called the " middle settlement," and ar- rived at Old Fort Schuyler in March, 1794. He purchased four acres of lease land, and opened a blacksmith-shop on what is now Main Street, a little east of Bagg's Square. His house was built of logs, or, according to one authority, of " hemlock boards nailed to the stubs of trees," and stood on the corner. This primitive dwelling served as a tavern for some time. He soon afterwards erected a two-story frame building on the same site, being the same now occu- pied by the well-known " Bagg's Hotel." His son subse- quently moved it across the street, where, in connection with the farm-house of Mr. Ballou, it constituted the late North- ern Hotel, which has recently given place to Ballou's Block. Mr. Bagg continued in the hotel business until his death, in September, 1805, his wife having died in March preceding. James, his eldest son, removed to Denmark, Lewis Co.,

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 69

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