History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 72

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 72

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This fine hotel was opened on the 2d of December, 1799, or twelve days preceding the death of Washington at Mount Vernon. The first landlord was Philip J. Schwartze, de- scribed as a " fat Dutchman," who had been in the employ of the company as steward or cook, and had accompanied Mr. Linklaen, one of their agents, on a trip to Cazenovia in 1793. Mr. Schwartze, upon taking possession, announced to the public that " the hotel in the village of Utica was open for the reception of such ladies and gentlemen as chose to honor the proprietor with their patronage."

A few weeks after this announcement a grand ball was given in honor of the event, to be followed by a series of entertainments, as the following card announced :

Whitestown Dancing Affembly.

THE HONOR OF 's

COMPANY IS REQUESTED AT THE HOTEL ASSEMBLY ROOM, IN UTICA, FOR THE SEASON.

B. WALKER, W. G. TRACY,

J. S. KIP, C. PLATT, Managers.

A. BREESE, N. WILLIAMS,

DEC. 20, 1799.

About a year from the opening, a new street was opened leading from opposite the hotel to Genesce Street, or road, in the south part of the village, with the object of bringing the travel from the west directly to the house. It was named Hotel Street.

Mr. Schwartze did not long continue to be landlord, for within a year he was succeeded by Hobart Ford, from Nor- wich, Conn., who also only remained a short time, for he died on the 1st day of December, 1801. Mr. Schwartze became landlord of the House tavern, on the corner of Genesee and Main Streets.

As an evidence of the necessity for hotel accommoda- tions in Utica, we quote the following statement regarding the travel through the Mohawk Valley, from " Annals of Albany." In the winter of 1795 twelve hundred sleighs, loaded with furniture, and with men, women, and children, passed through Albany in three days ; and five hundred were counted between sunrise and sunset of Feb. 28 of that year. All of them were moving westward.

Among the landlords enumerated as keepers of this hotel previous to 1825 are David Trowbridge, in 1803-6; Thomas Sickles, in 1808; Henry Bamman, from 1814 to 1818; Seth Dwight, in 1818; Samuel Gay, in 1820, and Henry E. Dwight, in 1823-24. The latter was a man of immense proportions, weighing 365 pounds. He died in 1824. The " York House" is still in a remarkable state of preservation, and a conspicuous landmark of the early days. It is occupied as a dwelling.

The prominent arrivals of 1799 were Nathaniel Butler, a watchmaker and jeweler, who continued in that business until 1815, and went into general merchandising and specu- lating in real estate. He afterwards removed to Madison County, and later to Oswego County. John Smith, a Scotch merchant, who remained until the troubles with Great Britain appeared about to culminate in war, when he removed to Canada ; and John Bissell, who opened a trad- ing establishment on the corner of Genesee and Whites- boro' Streets. In 1802, Bissell removed to Bridgewater, subsequently to New Hartford, and afterwards returned and re-established himself in Utica. In 1812 he removed to New York.

1800.

This year is said to have furnished the earliest tax-list of which there is at present any knowledge. It probably shows about the total names of resident property-owners at

* The company also owned lands nearer Utica on the north and on the southwest.

t The map of Utica in 1825, given in Dr. Bagg's work, locates this hotel directly opposite the foot of Sencca Street, whereas it is on the corner of the alley opposite the foot of Hotel Street.

274

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

that time. The total tax levied is so ridiculously small as to lead to the belief that it was some special assessment for repairing the town-pump, building a culvert, or for some other unimportant purpose; but as it is entitled the " Utica Village Tax-List for 1800," we are forced to the conclusion that it was the regular annual tax on the assessed property. It is as follows :

Silas Clark.

$0.50

Nichols, Bagg's

J. D. Petrie ...

.25

Honse. $0.75

Matthew Ilubbell ..

.25

James Bagg. .12}

Benjamin Walker, Esq ...

1.00

Moses Bagg. 1.00

J. Bocking.

.25

Worden Hammond.

.50

Peter Smith, Esq.

.75

Jobn Smith .87}

Benjamin Ballon.

.25

Bryan Johnson.

1.00

James S. Kip, Esq ..

.75

Adm'r of Daniel Banks .. Clark & Fellows.

.87}

Barnabas Brooks ..

.50

Proprietors of Hotel

1.00

J. Bissell

,25

Stephen Potter.

Jobn Bellinger.

.62}

Ramsey & Co.

1.25

John C. Hoyt. Samuel Rugg.

.25

Francis Bloodgood.

1.00

Barnabas Coon.

.124

William Halsey.

1.00

John Cooper ..

.124

Nathaniel Butler.

1.124

Jephtha Buell

.25

William Williams.

.75

Samuel Carrington.

1.12}

Peter Cavender

.50

Sylvanns P. Dygert

.374

Jun. Garrett.

.25

Samuel Foreman ..

.37}

Jonathan Foot.

.25

--- Clark.

.37}

Simon Jones,

.124

Jobn Curtiss.

.37}

Joseph Peirce.

.25

John Hobby ..

1.124

G. Boon's House.

.25

Benjamin Ballou, Jr.

.37}

Apollos Cooper.

.25

Jere. Cowden.

Gurdon Burchard

.25

Richard Smith

1.12}

William McLenn.

.75

Joseph Ballon.

.75

James P. Dorchester.

.50

O. & J. Ballon.

.874

Samuel Hooker.

.87}

John House

1.00

Watts Sherman.

.50

John Post

2.00

Erastus Clark.

.50

Daniel Budlong

1.25

Erastus Easton.

.374

William Pritchard

.124

Van Sykos .. .124

Total

$40.00

John Post must have been considered a millionaire, and such fellows as Colonel Walker, Dr. Currington, John Hobby, Daniel Budlong, Moses Breg, Lawyer Bloodgood, and Bryan Johnson as among the "rich men" of Utica ; while the Van Sykes' and Jones' were only in moderate circumstances. It is more than probable that such a list, exhibited among the real-estate owners of the present day, would create the impression that the assessor was " clean daft." The average property-owner of to-day pays more than the total footings of the above list. Think of running a village corporation upon forty dollars ! And yet, there was no doubt grum bling in these days about heavy taxation.

An English traveler, John Maude, made a visit to the Falls of Niagara in 1800, passing through and stopping overnight at the York House on his way. We make a few extracts from his journal published in London in 1826 :

" Utica (Fort Schuyler), ninety-six miles. Schwartz's Hotel; cx- cellent house and miserably kept ; built by Boon & Linklaen (agents for the Holland Land Company), the proprietors of a considerable number of the adjoining building lots. Those east of these are the property of the Bleecker family, on which the principal part of the present town is built,-built, too, on short leases of fourteen years, after which the houses become the property of the owners of the soil, to the certain loss and probable ruin of the present residents. Utica is in the township of Whitestown, and contains about sixty houses. No genteel family, save Colonel Walker's, and he resides at a small distance east of the village. The great Geneseo rond turns off nt this place. An act bas lately passed for making it a turnpike road to Genesee and Canandaigua, a distance of one hundred miles and np- wards ; the expense is estimated at $1000 per mile, the road to be four rods in width. The inhabitants of Utica subscribed to finish the first mile. They formed twenty shares of $50 ench. These sbares they afterwards sold to Colonel Walker and Mr. Post for forty-four

cents the dollar, who have finished the first mile. Thirty miles, it is expected, will be finished before the winter sets in." Bridge here over the Mohawk; the river narrow, clear, und shallow ; no fish ; seven boats at the wharf ; heard a bullfrog; groves of sugar-maple, a tree very common here."

During the year 1800 an attempt was made to inaugurate a system of water-supply, and Samuel Bardwell, Oliver Bull, Colonel Benjamin Walker, and Silas Clark constituted the " Aqueduct" Company. They brought water from two springs-one on the Asylum Hill, and one near where now stands the Oneida Brewery-in pump logs, and distributed it to the citizens, the latter paying a small quarterly tax therefor.

A notable arrival in Utica during the year 1800 was that of Charles C. Brodhead. The following items are con- densed from Dr. Bagg's " Pioneers." The Brodheads were originally from Holland, whence they emigrated to York- shire, England, and from whence one of the family came to America in 1664, along with Colonel Richard Nieolls, the first Governor of the colony under the Duke of York. The grandfather of C. C. Brodhead removed from Marbletown, in Ulster Co., to Northampton, Pa., in 1737. His son, Charles, was an officer in Braddock's army, and was engaged in the terrible conflict on the Monongahela, in July, 1755. He afterwards was in command at Fort Pitt (on the site of Fort Duquesne) and defended it against a desperate attack of the Indians. He espoused the side of the colonies upon the breaking ont of the Revolution, though his conscientious scruples led him to decline the offer of a colonelcy made by the government. He removed to New Paltz, Ulster Co., N. Y., just before the war, and here, on the 10th of Novem- ber, 1772, his son, Charles C., was born, the fourth son of eight children. One of his brothers was afterwards a mem- ber of Congress from Ulster County. Charles learned the business of surveying with one W. Cockburn, an eminent surveyor, of Kingston, in his native county.

In 1793, Messrs. Desjardines and Pharoux, the agents of the French Castorland Company, who had purchased an ex- tensive tract of land (210,000 acres) in the Black River region, employed him to survey and lay out the tract. This appointment was highly complimentary to a young man in his twenty-first year; but the fidelity and good judgment displayed by him in the prosecution of the work abundantly justified the confidence reposed in him, and so well pleased were the company, that, in addition to the fixed remunera- tion agreed upon, they presented him with a valuable lot.

His experience was varied and sometimes exciting, and even dangerous, while engaged in this work. He was one of the unfortunate party who attempted to cross the Black River, near the falls, in what is now the city of Watertown, through a mistake, thinking they were farther up the stream, when the raft upon which they had embarked was carried over the falls, and Mr. Pharoux and others were drowned. Mr. Brodhead, being a good swimmer, escaped, though he was taken senseless from the eddy below by an Indian be- longing to the surveying party. t

* See Chapter XVI., " Internal Improvements."

t Dr. Bagg erroneously locates this accident at tho High Falls, in Lewis County, but the company's land did not cover that locality. It wns at Watertown. Sco Castorland Journal, " History of Jefferson County."

.62₺

Widow Dawson ( Murphy) Nathan Williams

.25

.75

-- Remsen.

.50

Gurdon Burchard.

.75

275

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Subsequently, Mr. Brodhead was employed as a deputy by Hon. Simeon De Witt, surveyor-general of the State, who confided to him many important surveys and negotia- tions. He was also prominently connected in several treaties with the Indians, in which he conducted himself with great ability, winning the respect and esteem of all parties. The St. Regis Indians adopted him as a member and honorary chief of their tribe, and. bestowed upon him one of the characteristic names for which the Indians were so noted. It was significant, both of his remarkable qualities and of the honors conferred by the savages.

Mr. Brodhead appears to have made his residence at this period in Whitesboro'. In the year 1800 he was appointed by the council of appointment to the office of sheriff of Oneida County, and soon after removed to Utica. It is said that Governor John Jay objected to his appointment because of his being a bachelor, remarking that he " dis- liked a man that did not boil his own pot." In August, 1801, he officiated in person at the execution of a Montauk (Brothertown) Indian, who was hung for the murder of his wife. On this occasion Rev. Saml. Kirkland, the famous missionary, was the officiating clergyman, and spoke in the Oneida language.

In 1816, upon the commencement of work upon the Erie Canal, Mr. Brodhead was put in charge of the portion extending from Albany to Rome. He made a preliminary survey and a report, after which he retired from the work. His survey was deviated from in some particulars, but it is worthy of remark that, when the canal was subsequently straightened and enlarged, it was mostly located upon his original line. He was one of the commissioners who estab- ished the town lines of Utica when it was set off from Whitestown in 1817. The other commissioners were Judge Morris S. Miller, E. S. Cozier, William Jones, and E. S. Barnum.

For about thirty years of the latter part of his life he lived quietly by himself, engaging in none of the busy oc- cupations of life. Previous to the war of 1812-15, he was in the mercantile business with William B. Savage in Utica, and at Ellisburg, in Jefferson County. The closing of the war caused such a decline in prices that the firm dissolved and went out of business, losing quite heavily ; but subsequent operations, judiciously managed, in real estate made Mr. Brodhead comparatively independent. He was also an extensive stockholder in a line of boats on the canal. He united with the church in his later years, and was an ardent supporter of the cause of religion. He died at the National Hotel, in Utica, Sept. 10, 1852, aged eighty years.

In this year was established the mercantile house of Kane & Van Rensselaer, which for years took a leading place in that branch of business, and was known far and wide. The members of the firm were Archibald Kane and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Jr. Mr. Kane never lived in Utica, the business being managed by Mr. Van Rensselaer.

Both the Kanes and Van Rensselaers were among the most respectable and wealthy families of the colonial days, and well connected. The Kanes and the Kents, who were closely connected by marriage, were located, previous to the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, in what is now

Putnam County. The Cullens, also connected with the Van Rensselaers, were living in the same neighborhood, and all were prosperous, some in trade and some upon farms, and others oceupying prominent positions in the professions.

The Revolution seattered them in all directions, and swept away their business and property. Some of theni espoused the cause of the colonies, and some supported the king. John Kane adhered to the fortunes of the crown and thereby forfeited his possessions, for which he was in part remunerated by the British government. After the war he removed to New Brunswick, but subsequently returned and settled in New York City. His sons engaged in commerce-John in New York, James in Albany, Charles in Schenectady, and Archibald, in company with Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, established a branch house in Canajoharie, in 1795.

Mr. Van Rensselaer was descended from the Greenbush branch of this noted family. His father was General Robert Van Rensselaer, an officer of the Revolution, who resided at Claverack. When a boy, Jeremiah lived with his uncle, the celebrated General Philip Schuyler, who undertook to make the young man an engineer; but his tastes did not incline to mathematics, and he left his unele and returned to his father's house, and in process of time turned his attention to the mercantile business.

At Canajoharie their business, under judicions manage- ment, soon grew to large proportions, and became in time the most extensive in the central part of the State. But within a few years they found their trade largely diverted to the new and growing settlement at Old Fort Schuyler, and finding it impossible to keep it at their present location, they, in 1800, as before stated, established themselves in Utica.

Among the numerous employees of this firm were James Van Rensselaer, John Cullen (both relatives), and Fortune C. White, of Whitestown. Their establishment was located on the east side of Genesee Street, a few doors north from Broad Street, and sported an eagle for a sign.

The firm carried on an extensive wholesale and retail business, selling to country merchants, and purchased and shipped the products of the country. Bryan Johnson, as before mentioned, kept up a brisk competition, and the two enterprising firms probably did more than all others com- bined to bring in and concentrate business in Utica.

Mr. Van Rensselaer erected an elegant mansion, in the midst of extensive grounds, on the block bounded by Genesee, Devereux, Charlotte, and Carnahan (Bladinana) Streets. Here for many years he lived in almost princely state, and only rivaled by Colonel Walker in his style and hospitality. But the great change in values, brought about by the reaction succeeding the war with England, carried down all the great houses with which this was con- nected, and as a consequence the once conspicuous firm of Kane & Van Rensselaer, and the grand family establish- ment, succumbed before the storm. About 1825 Mr. Van Rensselaer removed from Utica to Canandaigua, where a son-in-law, Mr. Granger, resided. In that place he was for some time secretary for a fire insurance company, and his wife was in charge of the Ontario Female Seminary. They both died in 1828.

276

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Mr. Van Renselaer occupied many responsible and hon- orable positions during his residence in Utica. He was a member of the first board of village trustees under the charter of 1805, and two years president. He was a mem- ber of the board of directors of the Ontario Branch Bank ; president of the Capron Woolen Factory ; one of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian Church, and president of the first board of trustees of the Utica Academy. He was also at one time one of the trustees of Hamilton College. He left a numerous family.

Another settler of the year 1800 was Jesse Newell, from Coleraine, Mass. In company with George Macomber he established the business of painting and glazing, which was among the very first of its kind in the place, and which, according to Dr. Bagg, is still carried on by descendants of the original firm .* The firm of Macomber & Newell con- tinued business for twenty-eight years. Mr. Macomber settled on a farm at Sauquoit, in 1828, where he died in 1861, at the age of eighty. His wife was a daughter of Jason Parker. Mr. Newell continued the business until his death in 1843.

We have not space to notice all the early settlers of Utica. The foregoing list embraces most of the more prominent ones. Subsequent notices will necessarily be confined to a few of the more conspicuous. (See Dr. Bagg's " Pioneers of Utica.")

Among the more prominent arrivals of 1801, or about that date, were Captain Aylmer Johnson, who had been an officer in the British army, and who was for some time private secretary to Colonel Walker; Martin Dakin, a brother-in-law of Francis H. Bloodgood, who was deputy county clerk, 1802 to 1808, a soldier in the war of 1812, and in his later years editor of the Charleston Courier (S.C.), in which city he died; James Ure, a brewer ; Bela Hubbard, a tanner, who afterwards (in 1809) removed to Adams, Jefferson Co. Francis Dana, a boatman on the Mohawk ; Dr. Francis Guiteau, Jr., a descendant of the Huguenots, and a skillful and eminent physician ; Dr. Edward Bain- bridge, a brother of the celebrated Commodore William Bainbridge, of the United States navy; Captain James Hopper, an officer of the English merchant service, who was captured by the French and afterwards exchanged for Marshal Junot ; a new mercantile firm, Belin & Thomas ; Ebenezer B. Shearman, a successful merchant and manu- facturer, and a civil officer of prominence; Miss Mary Flagg, of Tower Hill, R. I., a celebrated nurse; Elisha Capron, a brother of the celebrated Dr. Capron ; James Brown,-the two last-mentioned blacksmiths by trade ; John Clitz, a hair-dresser, and said to have been one of Bur- goyne's Hessian soldiers ; Levi Thomas, wbo kept a tavern on the New Hartford road; David Slayton ; Gott Witt, a mechanic ; and several Welsh immigrants, who formed the first Welsh Church the same year with twenty-two members.

The most prominent arrival of 1802 was that of John C. Devereux, who was born at Enniscorthy, County Wex- ford, Ireland, Aug. 5, 1774, the son of Thomas and Catha- rine Corish Devereux. Mr. Deverenx's family sympathized with the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and James, a son, was

killed at the battle of Vinegar Hill. The overthrow of the rebellion broke up the family. Thomas, the father, was thrown into prison; Walter, after a close pursuit, escaped to the East Indies ; and their parish priest was shot down at the altar. John C. appears to have left his early home before the breaking out of the difficulties, and came to America about 1796 or 1797. He had been brought up as a gentleman, and was without a trade or profession ; but being skilled in the art of dancing, he earned a livelihood for a time by giving instructions at Middletown and Nor- wich, in Connecticut, Pittsfield, in Massachusetts, and at Troy, in New York.

Having accumulated sufficient means to give him a start in business, he made a journey up the Mohawk Valley as far as Rome,-then called Lynchville,-where Mr. Domi- nick Lynch, the proprietor, desired him to settle, and offered to lease him land, but refused to give him a deed of any. This offer did not suit Mr. Devereux, and he returned to Utica, where, in November, 1802, he commenced business as a merchant in " the store lately occupied by John Smith."

It was an unlucky day for Rome when her proprietor drove Mr. Devereux from her borders, for had he located there his fine business capacity and energy might have built up a great business centre, and probably made Rome the principal town in the upper Mohawk Valley.

The location of Mr. Devereux's store was upon a part of the site of the present Bagg's Hotel. He afterwards changed to a lot nearly opposite and midway between Whitesboro' and Water Streets. When the line of Genesee Street was straightened to its present location, he built a new brick store a little in the rear of the other.

Mr. Devereux was a pleasant, persuasive, and polished gentleman, and made a most capital salesman, though it was an entirely new business to him. His trade grew apace, and he became well known far and near, and his sales in a short time are said to have run up to $100,000 a year, which was certainly an enormous sum for those days, and would be a very respectable business for a whole- sale house at the present time.

One after another his brothers, Luke, Nicholas, and Thomas, became clerks and eventually partners in his busi- ness, and under one name or another the firm was a con- spicnous one in the mercantile circles of Utica for years. In 1821, npon the partial completion of the canal and the change of business localities incident thereto, two of the brothers purchased the property where the Devereux block now stands, where they erected a large warehouse and store; and here Nicholas continued, with various partners, an extensive business, John C. lending his name and credit as required. John C. also had an interest in the brewery conducted by his brother Thomas, and with Jolin O'Connor in the tobacco business. Some years later, when a branch of the United States Bank was established in Utica, Mr. Devereux was made its first president, a position he con- tinued to hold as long as the institution continued in exist- ence. He was also interested in many other matters which contributed to the growth and prosperity of his adopted home ; among others the Utica Savings Bank and the various churches and charitable institutions. Towards the construction of St. John's Catholic Church he contributed,

# N. C. Newell & Son, 111 Genesee Street.

Photographed by L. B. Williams, Utica,

Hiram Gunman

DER

Photographed by L. B. Williams, Utica.

Silas & Greenmany

277

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

according to Judge Jones, upwards of $12,000. He was elected mayor of the city in 1840, under the first direct election by the people, and held it several years previously by appointment of the Council. He died December 11, 1848, at the age of seventy-four years, and was buried in the grounds of the Sisters of Charity in the rear of St. John's Church. Mr. Devereux was a strict and consci- entions Catholic, and a pillar of strength to his chosen church.

James Delvin was another son of the "Emerald Isle" who came in 1802. He was a mechanic and engaged in the manufacture of wrought nails by hand, and subse- quently, in company with others, in the tin and copper- smith business. He acquired considerable property by the lucky location of land adjacent to the canal. Mr. Delvio died in 1825, at the age of sixty years.

Benajah Merrell, who had been living for several years in New Hartford, also came to Utica in the same year. He was perhaps the first regular auctioneer in the place. He became deputy sheriff, and in 1807 was appointed sheriff of the county, and in 1810 held the office a second time. He removed to Sacket's Harbor in 1819, and died there in 1831.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 72

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