History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 75

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 75

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A more successful enterprise was put in operation in the course of the years 1809-10. This was the cotton-mill of Messrs. Walcott & Co., in Whitesboro', the nucleus of that immense business which has since grown up in and around Utica .* From an advertisement which appeared in the Whitestown paper of Nov. 13, 1809, it would appear that the following parties were interested in the new enterprise : B. Walcott, Theodore Sill, Thomas R. Gold, Newton Mann, Asher Wetmore, Seth Capron, William M. Cheever, Ben- jamin S. Walcott, Jr.

In 1810 another stock company was formed for the pur- pose of establishing manufactories of cotton, wool, and iron on the Oriskany Creek, near the house of Colonel Lansing, with a capital of $200,000. $38,500 was taken in Utica, the balance by people of Whitesboro' and Eastern capital- ists. This company put a large woolen-mill in operation, according to Dr. Bagg and Judge Jones, in 1811, which is claimed to have been the first woolen-manufactory in the Union.

Mr. J. Mellish, an English traveler who visited the United States in 1810-11, reported trade and general business in a drooping condition, and gave what he con- sidered good reasons for it, to wit: increased mercantile facilities in the more western settlements, "a change in the current of the market, which had begun to traverse the lakes and the St. Lawrence, forsaking the tedious channel of the Mohawk, and excessive overtrading throughout the State, due to the indulgence of too free credit both in New York City and in England." In speaking of the citizens of Utica, he says, " They have already begun to avail them- selves of the advantages to be derived from the new order of things, and a good deal of the surplus capital of Albany and New York has been invested in manufactures in and about this place, for which they are already getting, in some respects, a handsome return." His predictions regarding the future seem to have been prophetic, for he says, " There are three branches that are likely to flourish in an eminent degree,-glass, woolen, and cotton,-and they will all be of

# See history of Manufactures, farther en.

t Sec artiele by Hon. Horace Capron, p. 243 of this work.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

great importance to Utica. The cotton trade will, I think, flourish here beyond every other."

Mr. Mellish goes on to give a sort of summary of the place, which, though in some respects considerably exag- gerated, is mainly correct :

" Utien is the capital of Oneida County, and consists ut present of about four hundred houses, containing two thousand inhabitants. It began to settle about twenty-three years ago, but it has been princi- pally built since 1796, and two-thirds of it since 1800.

" The buildings are mostly of wood, painted white, but a good many bave lately been built of brick, and some few of stone. The public buildings are four places for public worship, two of them elegant, an academy, clerk's office, etc., and there are six taverns, fifteen stores, and two breweries. There are three printing-offices, viz., one for books and two for newspapers, one bindery, two morocco-factories, and one manufactory of musical instruments, three masons, and a number of brickmakers and carpenters, four cabinet- nud chair-makers, two coopers, sevea smiths and nailers, two tinsmiths, one coppersmith, four silversmiths and watchmakers, three tanneries nad curriers, one furrier, six butchers, two bakers, three hatters, four tailors, four painters, and four druggists.

" The village lots are from fifty to sixty feet froot and one hundred to one hundred and thirty deep, and sell for from two hundred to one thousand dollars. The out lots contain twelve acres, and five hundred dollars is asked for them. House rent for mechanics is about sixty to one hundred dollars ; wood, one dollar and twenty-five cents per cord ; flour, eight dollars per barrel ; potatocs, two shillings per bushel; tur- nips, thirty-one cents ; cabbages, four cents each ; beans, sixty-two cents per bushel; onions, sevcaty-five cents; beef, mutton, and veal, five cents per pound; venison, four eents; fowis, nine cents cneh ; ducks, two shillings; gecso, four shillings; turkeys, five shillings ; butter, one shilling; cheese, seven ceats ; lard, six cents ; heer, five dollars per barrel; whisky, forty-five cents per gallon ; boarding, two dollars and fifty cents per week.

"The government of the village is vested in a board of five trustecs ohoseo anoually by the inhabitants. There are five schools, in which are taught all the various branches of education, which is pretty well attended to; and there is a very good seminary for young ladies.# The expense of teition is from two to four dollars per quarter. The commerce of Utiea consists of dry goods, groceries, crockery, hard- ware, nad cotton, imported ; und of grain, flour, provisions, ashes, etc., exported. The chief part of the commerce is with New York, but it is said a considerable smuggling trade has of late been carried on with Canada. Wheat is one dollar and twelve eeats per bushel, cora forty-four eents, barley seventy-five cents, ashes nominal, cotton twenty-one cents, horses fifty to one hundred dollars, eows fifteen to twenty dollars, sheep two dollars to two dollars and fifty cents. Lands on the turapikes in the neighborhood sell for from fifty to one hundred dollars ; further off, forty to fifty dollars ; but the lands in both village and country have greatly depreciated in money value."

Among the new-comers of the year 1811 may be men- tioned Thomas E. Clark and Charles M. Lec, attorneys ; Dr. Amos G. Hull, a prominent physician ; Colonel Richard M. Malcom, John Williams, Joseph S. Porter, and Jona- than Hedges.

During the year 1812, and the succeeding years of the war with Great Britain, Utica was alive with soldiers and munitions of war, going and coming on the great thorough- fare which had been for centuries the war-path of savage and civilized (?) nations. The place furnished a consider- able number of men for the army and navy, but we have not succeeded in finding reliable data concerning them. Dr. Bagg says that a company of about sixty volunteers was re- cruited in Utica, in February, 1813, a number of whom were members of its independent light infantry company. They were attached to the 134th Regiment, and com-

manded by Captain William Williams. John Grove was orderly or first sergeant, and John George and T. S. Fax- ton were members. The company only remained a few weeks in the service.

Another company of the 134th Regiment was known as the Silver Grays, and was under command of Captain Na- than Seward, of New Hartford, and among its members was Thurlow Weed, of Utica. Nathan Williams seems to have been major, Nicholas Smith adjutant, and John E. Hin- man quartermaster. This regiment was called out in Sep- tember, 1814, on the occasion of the descent of Sir George Provost upon Plattsburg, but after continuing one month under arms was dismissed without seeing active service .. Benjamin Ballou was captain of one of the companies, and Nicholas N. Weaver orderly-sergeant. The latter was sub- sequently promoted captain. Thomas Skinner, of Utica, was captain of a battery in a regiment of artillery, com- manded by Colonel Elijah Metcalf. Several citizens of Utica had volunteered at Buffalo, and served at the time of the British invasion in December, 1812.

The following young men, then residing in Utica and its neighborhood, enlisted as midshipmen in the navy : Samuel Breese and William Inman, of Utica ; John G. Young and Edward and Benjamin Carpender, of Whitesboro', and An- till Lansing, of Oriskany. There was a recruiting station established at Utica, under the charge of Captain P. Mills, of the 23d United States Regiment ; and a temporary hos- pital was located on the Kimball farm, under the charge of Dr. Solomon Wolcott.

In June, 1812, the first local bank in the place received its charter under the title of The Bank of Utica, and com- menced business on the 8th of December following. t The prominent bankers of that date were Montgomery Hunt and A. B. Johnson, both eminent in their profession, and long residents of the place. In addition to Mr. Johnson's great business abilities, he was finely cultivated, and a writer upon various subjects. Mr. Hunt died in the West Indies Feb. 24, 1837, and Mr. Johnson, on the 9th of September, 1867, at Utica.

Mr. Jones gives the following list of business firms in 1811-12 : General dry goods and variety stores .- Talcott Camp, A. Van Santvoort, S. Wolcott & Co., Stalham Wil- liams, Jolin C. Devereux, Kane & Van Rensselaer, John E. Evertson, James Van Rensselaer, Jr., A. Hitchcock, Watts Sherman, Henry B. Gibson, Alexander Seymour, Dwight & Sherman. Trunk and harness-maker, James Dana. Edge tools, Oliver Babcock. Cabinet-makers, Smead & Cable. Drugs and medicines, D. Hasbrouck, M. Hitch- cock, Guiteau & Watson. Paints, oils, etc., Macomber & Newell, Charles Easton. Tobacco, segars, etc., Robert Todd, Jr., John A. Bury & Co., W. Fleming. Morocco- manufactory, Amos Camp & J. Downing, Henry Clark. Utica Museum, Erastus Row. Copper-factory, Daniel Stafford & Co. Fur store, J. C. Neunhoeffer. Painting and glazing, John C. Bull, Z. B. Clark. Gunsmithing, Castle Southerland. Hutters, and stock and trimmings, Samuel Stocking, Cozier & Whiting. Merchant " tayler," B. Paine. Tailor, John C. Hoyt. Hides, leather, etc.,

# A private or seleet school.

t See under head of Banking.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

David P. Hoyt, Perley Harris. Brewery, Thomas Harden. Distillery, Thomas Devereux. Stone, Thomas James. Cotton goods, glass, and scythes, E. B. Shearman. Soap and candles, John Roberts. Lamp oil, etc., Nicoll & Dering. Boot and shoe makers, John Queal, Levi Com- stock, Ezra S. Barnum. Auctioneer, E. Spurr. Groceries, James Hooker. Stone-cutting, Cross & Danforth. Mili- tary goods, Barton & Porter. Lottery tickets, Asahel Seward, Thomas Walker, S. Wolcott & Co.

Lotteries were at that time authorized by law for various purposes.

Another prominent citizen at this time was Richard R. Lansing, an attorney, and partner at various periods of Morris S. Miller; G. J. Mills, John H. Ostrom, and Abra- ham Varick. He held the office of clerk of the District Court of the United States during his residence in Utica, which was continuous from 1812 to 1829. He afterwards removed to New York City, and engaged in the wholesale liquor business, but was ruined financially by the great fire of December, 1835. Subsequently he removed to Michi- gan, where he became interested in lands and in copper- mining on Lake Superior. He resided at Lansing, now the State capital of Michigan, for a few years, and had the honor of giving the place its name. He died in Detroit, whither he had removed, Sept. 29, 1855.

The principal excitement of the year 1813 would appear to have been the new market building, which had been erected, at an expense of $300, on Bagg's Square, two years previously. Some were in favor of removal, and some were for selling the building at auction ; but its friends rallied in force, and it was allowed to stand for another year, when it was ordered removed to the corner of Division and Water Streets, at an expense of $75; and thenceforth marketing was free to everybody who chose to engage in it.

It was in this year that Hon. Joseph Kirkland became a resident of Utica, though he had been a resident of the county at New Hartford from before its organization, and was one of the original attorneys admitted to practice upon its organization in 1798. In 1801 he was a candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. In 1803 he was elected on the Federal ticket to the Assembly. From February, 1813, to February, 1816, he was district attor- ney for the Sixth district. From 1818 to 1821 he was again in the Legislature, and in the latter year was elected to Congress. In 1825 he was again elected to the State Legislature. He was the first mayor of Utica in 1832, and was re-elected in 1834. He was conspicuous through the terrible visitation of the Asiatic cholera, in 1832, for his unremitting attention to the duties of his office, and to the sick and suffering around him, never leaving his post, though great numbers of the citizens deserted the plague- stricken city ..

Mr. Kirkland was prominently connected with many of the important enterprises of his time. In the establishment of Hamilton College, the Utica Academy, the Presbyterian Church, the Ontario Branch Bank, the Oneida Glass-Fac- tory, the New Hartford Manufacturing Society, the Far- mers' Factory, the Paris Furnace Company, and other insti- tutions, he was an earnest laborer from their beginning, and was also interested in the building of the Seneca Turnpike.

The celebrated Dr. Samuel Kirkland was his father's brother. He figured quite extensively in military affairs, and rose to the rank of general in the State militia. His death occurred Jan. 2, 1844. Hon. William J. Bacon married a daughter of General Kirkland.

Other prominent men of this period were Dr. Ezra Williams, James Platt, a brother of Judge Jonas Platt, Barent Bleecker Lansing, Alexander Seymour, Thomas Rockwell, John Welles, and Amos Gay, the last- mentioned two innkeepers. Mr. Gay was also, for a time, a manufac- turer of pottery.

Ezra S. Barnum, before mentioned, who had come to Utica with Levi Comstock, in 1809, became a partner of the latter in December, 1813. He continued through life to be a conspicuous trader and public officer in the place. In 1817 he filled the several offices of constable, collector, and coroner, and at one time was, in addition, police officer and deputy-sheriff. But his greatest honors came as an officer of the Masonic fraternity. Beginning with 1817, at which date he became a member of Utica Lodge, he rose rapidly, and filled many offices in the gift of his brethren, and finally reached the highest position attainable in this country. He also filled nearly every office in the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State, and served for twenty-one years in the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, of which body he was, at the time of his death, Past General Grand Captain- General.

He was a prominent member of the Universalist society in Utica, having been connected with it since 1825. He was one of the original subscribers to the fund for the Clinton Liberal Institute, and held the office of trustee of that institution for forty-five years. He was also a director of the Oneida Bank. Mr. Barnum died within the past year.

The year 1814 witnessed the first attempt to construct regular sidewalks in Utica. On the 23d of May an ordi- nance was passed " for the better improving the streets of Utica, and making the sidewalks in said village." This ordinance required the walks on both sides of certain por- tions of Genesee, Whitesboro', and Main Streets to be constructed within ninety days in the manner described, subject to a fine of $20 for non-compliance, and an ad- ditional one of $2.50 for every month thereafter. Those on Genesee Street were required to be fifteen feet in width, to be constructed of smooth or cobble stone from Whites- boro' to Catherine Street, except between the stoops, where the owner might use gravel at his option. On all other streets the walks were to be ten feet in width, and con- structed of smooth or cobble stone, or good, clean gravel, at the owner's option. The outer border of the walks was protected by timber and a line of posts, except where passages were required to reach outbuildings.

In September additional walks were ordered on the north side of Liberty Street, " from Joseph Kirkland's office to the Presbyterian mecting-house, and on the south side of Broad Street from James Van Rensselaer's store to the Episcopal Church." In October cross-walks of flag- ging, stone, and gravel were ordered laid down on all the principal crossings.

287

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

On account of the scarcity of currency caused by the war, the board of trustees, having obtained a promise from the officers of the Manhattan Branch Bank to redeem their issues, passed the following resolution :

" Resolved, That corporation bills, not to excood five thousand dol- lars, be issued, signed by the president, and made payable at the Man- hattan Branch Bank."

The issues were entirely of fractional currency, and of six different denominations, ranging from three to seventy- five cents. They were issued during 1814, 1815, and 1816.

Another important enterprise was put in operation dur- ing 1814,-the Capron cotton-factory, at New Hartford. About one-third of the stock was taken in Utica, the heaviest subscribers being Jeremiah Van Rensselaer and Asahel Seward .*

Prominent among those who made Utica their place of residence in 1814 was Wm. H. Maynard, who bore a con- spicuous part in the political field from that time until his death, which took place from cholera in New York City, Aug. 28, 1832.

Mr. Maynard came of an excellent and prominent New England family, and graduated at Williams College, Massa- chusetts, in 1810. Soon after he located in New Hartford, Oneida Co., where he read law with Hon. Joseph Kirk- land, and in 1814 he removed to Utica, where he rose rap- idly to distinction as a brilliant advocate and politician. He was appointed attorney for the corporation in January, 1815, and soon after law officer of the Utica Insurance Company. He was admitted to practice before the Su- preme Court in 1818.

He was elected to the State Senate by the Anti-Masonic party in 1829, and served until 1832, and was editor of the Utica Patriot, and one of its principal contributors from 1811 to 1824. His law practice was extensive, and among his partners were Samuel A. Talcott, Ebenezer Griffin, and Joshua A. Spencer. In the State Senate he was called the leading intellectual light, and this, too, with such men around him as William H. Seward and John Young, both subsequently elected to the gubernatorial ohair. Mr. Maynard was an officer of Hamilton College, and a liberal contributor to its upbuilding.t

Another prominent citizen of the period of which we write was John H. Ostrom, who filled many offices, both civil and military,-village attorney, trustee and assessor, and chief-engineer of the fire department. In the military line he rose through the successive grades to that of major- general, and was likewise clerk of the county from 1826 to 1832. General Ostrom died in Poughkeepsie, Ang. 10, 1845, at the age of fifty-one years.

Another individual, for many years connected with various enterprises in Utica,-mercantile, religious, and charitable,-was Nicholas Devereux. He came to the United States in 1806, and in May, 1814, became a partner with his brother John. In May, 1816, this relation was dissolved, and another formed with Geo. L. Tisdale, a for- iner clerk, under the name of N. Devereux & Co. Among his other partners were Horace Butler, James McDonough,

and Van Vechten Livingston. He was for some time agent of the New York Life and Trust Company, and in this capacity traveled extensively in the newer portions of the State, and this led him into an extensive land specu- lation. In company with several New York parties he purchased of the Holland Land Company, in Allegheny and Cattaraugus Counties, 400,000 acres of wild lands, which he turned to good account in after-years. He took an active part in the organization of the Utica and Schenec- tady Railroad, the first that reached Utica. He was largely interested in early banking operations, in manufacturing, and as a manager in the New York State Asylum for the Insane.

He was the leading spirit among the Catholics of Utica, and contributed largely to the upbuilding of that organi- zation as founder of the Orphan Asylum and the Brothers' School, and also in introducing the first edition of the Douay Bible into Central New York. About two years previous to his death he visited Rome, in Italy, where he had a flattering interview with the Sovereign Pontiff. Mr. De- vereux died Dec. 29, 1855, leaving a name and a memory which will long be cherished.

At the annual election for village officers, in the spring of 1815, Jason Parker was elected one of the trustecs. He failed to qualify in season, and was promptly fined twenty- five dollars for neglect.

It would appear from correspondence between Judge Morris S. Miller, and John R. Bleecker, of Albany, that the bridge at the foot of what is now Park Avenue, over the Mohawk, had quite recently been carried away by a flood. The judge urges the rebuilding of the bridge, the opening of new streets, and extension of old ones, and the improve- ment of the public square, now Chancellor Square. These improvements, Dr. Bagg says, were probably entered upon the following year, 1816.

There was great rejoicing in Utica over the proclamation of peace between the United States and Great Britain in the spring of 1815. Their support of the war had perhaps not been altogether enthusiastic, especially among the New England element, and the cessation of hostilities was hailed as the harbinger of better times, for the war had pressed heavily upon all classes, save a few contractors and a portion of the manufacturing community.

The news was brought from Albany by an individual who came on horseback, and arrived four hours in advance of the mail coach. The town was illuminated . that same evening, and again in the course of a few days, when it was made universal, and there was a grand display of fire-works.

An enterprise which has had a marked influence for good on the history of Utica was inaugurated about this time. This was the Utica Academy. The initial steps were taken in 1813, but the building was not completed and ready for occupation until the summer of 1818. It was a substantial, two-story building, of brick, and cost $8000. Its dimen- sions were about fifty by sixty feet, and it was located on the site occupied by the present elegant and costly academy building, fronting on Chancellor Square, erected in 1867- 68.1

#See article by Hon. Horace Capron on Early Manufactures, Chapter XIX. He gives this date as 1812.

t See Early Bar of Oneida, Chapter XVIII.

# See farther on, history of Schools.

288

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Among the new-comers of 1815 were Judge Ezekiel Bacon, prominent in political circles, who filled various offices,-judge of the Court of Common Pleas, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821, etc.,-and was a prolific and able writer, who died Oct. 18, 1870 ; William Green, a prominent business man and polished scholar ; Captain William Clarke, a banker, president of the village board, and prominently connected with the insane asylum and the Reformed Dutch Church ; Ephraim Hart, John H. Handy, Robert Shearman, merchants; Joseph Bunce and Horace Wadsworth, gold-beaters and looking-glass makers ; William Black wood, brass-founder ; William Bell, a plater ; and Abraham H. Stephens, a gunsmith.

The year 1816 witnessed the organization of an institu- tion which has since grown to important proportions, and exerted a marked influence in society ; this was the Utica Sunday-school. The prominent parties interested were five young ladies, viz., Alida M. Van Rensselaer, Mary E. Walker, Sarah M. Malcom, Elizabeth and Catharine W. Breese. The Welsh Bible Society was also organized in December of this year.

Among the prominent arrivals of this year was Samuel Austin Talcott, who was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1789. He received his education at Colchester Academy and Wil- liams College, graduating from the latter in 1809, at the age of nineteen years. He soon after married Miss Rachel Skinner, and removed to Whitesboro', Oneida Co., where he began the study of the law with Thomas R. Gold. He practiced at first in Lowville, Lewis Co., as a partner of Isaac W. Bostwick, but in 1816 removed to Utica and en- tered into partnership with William H. Maynard. In Feb- ruary, 1821, he was appointed attorney-general of the State, when he removed to Albany, and from thence he went to New York, where he died, in March, 1836 .*

The following description of Utica, in 1816, is from Dr. Bagg's work :

"In order to form some conception of it and its surroundings, Iet as approach it from the north.

"Standing on the Deerfield hill, four or five miles away, the country below you seems like a level swamp covered with forest, the clenrings being scarcely discernible.

" Beyond the river you perecive the houses on the hill at Utica, and an extensive opening in the vicinity, one strip nseending southerly to the height of land in Freemason's Patent. Directly scoth and west nearly one-third of the country is denuded of wood. To the southeast there are only small patches of clenring.

" Coming down towards the plain, you discern the more coospicuous features of the village.

"Two church steeples enliven the scene, the Presbyterino and Epis- eopnl, which stand like sentinels guarding the approaches on the west and the cast, the latter rejoicing in a pointed spire, the former equally happy in its rounded cupola. As you cross the dyke you see plainly before you, and towering above their fellows, the imposing York House on the right, and its closely-contesting rival, Bagg's Hotel, directly in front. Having passed over the bridge, you are at once within the heart of the settlement, the very focus of the towo. For the limits of Utica, at the time I treat of, were mostly confined between the river and the Liberty Street road to Whitesboro'; from the square as a centre, they spread westward along Whitesboro' Street to Potter's Bridge, and eastward along Main and Broad to Third Street.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 75

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