USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 43
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Skaneateles in 1838 by Luther Pratt. In 1840 it was removed to New York, and soon after discon- tinued.
The Citizens' Press was published six months at Onondaga Hollow in 1832, by E. Russell Webb and James S Castle.
The Fayetteville Times was published at Fayette- ville in 1836 by Henry DePuy.
The South Cortland Luminary was removed to Fayetteville in 1839, by Hon. Wesley Bailey, and its name changed to
The Fayetteville Luminary. It was published about three years Its name was afterwards changed to the Methodist Reformer and removed to Utica.
The Fayetteville Gazette was started by J. E. N. Bachus, about 1859, and subsequently sold to T. E. Hitchcock, but it was short lived.
THE FAYETTEVILLE RECORDER was established in 1866 by F. A. Darling. In 1874 it passed into the hands of the Recorder Printing Association, under whose management it still continues.
The Communist was started at Mottville, Novem- ber 27, 1844, by John A. Collins, as the organ of the Skaneateles Community. It was continued about one year.
The Weekly Southern Onondaga was published at Tully by Frank P. Hale in 1868-9.
The Baldwinsville Republican was commenced in 1844 by Samuel B. West. In October, 1846, it passed into the hands of C. M. Hosmer, and was changed to
THE ONONDAGA GAZETTE. In 1848 it was pub- lished by Sheppard & Hosmer, and afterwards by J. M. Clark, for many years, who sold it to J. B. Davis, and repurchased it, and in 1869 sold it to .X. Haywood, who enlarged the paper. In 1871, it was purchased by George S. Clark, the present proprie- tor. It has been recently changed to The Bald- winsville Gazette.
The Fordan Tribune was started in 1849 by P. J. Becker. In 1853 it was changed to
THE JORDAN TRANSCRIPT. It was subsequently published by Nathan Burrell, Jr., and by Charles B. Park, who was followed by H. P'. Winsor, who has continued the paper ever since. It is a weekly, in- dependent, and well patronized.
The Pearly Fountain (monthly) was published by Park & Cheal, John G. Cheal, editor, for a short time at Jordan.
THE JORDAN INTELLIGENCER was established in December, 1876, by Louis B. Lathrop, present edi- tor and proprietor. It is a weekly, strictly inde- pendent in politics, and has a good circulation.
Haraca white .
LAW
DENICE
WHITE BUILDING
THIRD
NATION
39 HENRY LOTTJE HAIR
-39 EDWARD D. PRICE
D. VALENT
P.J BRUMELKAMP
AS A MEMORIAL OF HORACE AND HAMILTON WHITE, THIS BUILDING REPLACING ONE IN WHICH THEY WERE ENGAGED IN BUSINESS FOR MANY YEARS, IS ERECTED BY THEIR CHILDREN.
199
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ASA WHITE.
Asa White was born in Monson, Mass., in the year 1774. His educational advantages were such as the common schools of his native State afforded. He early exhibited those traits of character which peculiarly distinguish business men.
Inheriting the energy and active habits of his father, he soon learned to rely upon his own efforts for self-advancement in the world, and thus by persevering industry, economy and a just appreci- ation of a good reputation, he became the artificer of his own fortune and the moulder of his own character. In 1798, he emigrated to Homer, N. Y., and in 1800 married Miss Clarissa, daughter of Caleb Keep, who had also settled in that town in 1798.
HORACE WHITE.
The subject of this sketch was born in the village of Homer, Cortland county, N. Y., April 19, 1802. He was the eldest of five children of Asa White and Clarissa Keep.
When about fourteen years of age he went from home and became a clerk for Horace Hill, of Auburn, N. Y. About two years afterward he was engaged in a similar capacity in Albany in a store where his father had an interest. Subsequently he held the same situation with Jedediah Barber, of Homer, where, during the ten years of his stay, he acquired a reputation for business talent unusual for so young a man.
His health, however, failed and he retired to a small farm on which he labored for two or three years. About this time, and when he was thirty years of age, he became acquainted with the wor- ship and doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church. They commended themselves to his understanding, and on the 12th of April, 1835, he united with Calvary Church, Homer, N. Y. Rev. Henry Gregory, then missionary at that place, be- ing pastor. At the next visitation of the Bishop he received the Apostolic Rite of Confirmation and was admitted to the Holy Communion. From that time through his subsequent life he was steadfast in profession and practice.
In the year 1838, Mr. White removed to Syra- cuse where he at once began to take an active part in business, and in connection with others, estab- lished the Bank of Syracuse, of which he was Cashier until his declining health compelled him to
resign. In the year 1839 he was made a Vestry- man of St. Paul's Church, and in 1848 a Warden, a position which he held at the time of his decease.
His career as a man of business was marked by almost uninterrupted success. He was connected with important enterprises for advancing the inter- ests of both the city and the State. In all moneyed transactions, it is the testimony of those best quali- fied to judge, that he was actuated by strict Chris- tian integrity. Nor did he content himself with this negative virtue. His munificence was widely directed. Hobart College and other less conspicu- ous institutions were recipients of his gifts, while the missionary and the needy received his earnest attention.
Mr. White gave largely from his means for the support of church interests, and any enterprise looking to the advancement of education among the rising generation, and the establishment of good society. He was liberal because he loved to be, and because he seemed conscious of the perils of riches, and recognized Who it was that gave him power to get wealth.
He was one of the thirteen Directors of the con- solidated Central Railroad Company and associated with Erastus Corning, at that time the head of the railway men of America.
The Courier and Enquirer at that time speaks thus of him :
" Horace White, of Syracuse, is a banker, with keen sagacity, extending and enlarging his opera- tions till he finds himself acknowledged among the front rank of financiers. He will give the Direction, the careful and far-seeing counsel of a man who has rigidly looked at the passing events and distinguishing the flash of the moment from the steady and the enduring light. Himself and his brother have made good use of their wealth. They are of those citizens of our Western counties, who emulate the liberality and the enterprise of those men who in the great city are teaching the world that wealth appreciates intellect, admires art, and has its leaning of kindness towards the suffering."
In the year 1831, June 29th, he married Miss Clara, daughter of Andrew Dickson and Ruth Hall, the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter a native of Connecticut.
They have two sons, Hon. Andrew Dickson White, President of Cornell University, and Horace Keep White, one of the representative business men of the city of Syracuse. His wife still sur- vives at the time of writing this sketch.
200
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
HAMILTON WHITE.
Hamilton White was born in Homer, Cortland County, N. Y., May 6th, 1807.
Hle was a son of Asa and Clarissa [ Keep White. who were among the early settlers of his native county. During his youth the only opportunities offered him for an education were those of the com- mon schools, which he enjoyed to a limited extent ; but his close attention to books while young, coupled with an unusual self-reliance, enabled him to become a teacher at the age of sixteen, receiving the mea- ger compensation of nine dollars per month and board. After four terms as a teacher, he entered upon a clerkship with Messrs. Randall, at Cort- landville.
Thus life opened before him its rugged path, and bade him rely upon his own energy in surmounting its obstacles and achieving success. These years of clerkship were years of strict economy, of faith. ful devotion to the interests of his principals, and consistent attention to all the duties of his position. In 1836 Mr. White removed to Lockport, Niagara County, where he found in the life and enterprise of that rapidly improving country, a wider field for the exercise of his maturing judgment and his untiring energies. His capital was that only which he had accumulated by his own economy. from his own labor, but integrity and capacity became his ruling characteristics, and his sagacious investments in the course of two or three brief years, laid the foundation of that ample fortune which during the later portion of his life he administered prudently, yet liberally and without ostentation.
In 1830 he came to Syracuse and became Cashier of the Onondaga County Bank upon the retirement of Moses S Marsh. He continued in this position until January, 1854, when the charter of the bank expired. During this entire period, while the Board of Directors contained many of the best citizens of Syracuse, no occasion was ever found by any to criticise his official or personal conduct. After the closing of the old bank Mr. White conducted the business as a private banker.
The enterprise of internal improvement in our own State, as well as in other States of the West and South, engaged his attention. His ripe judg- ment and high character as a man invited him to the confidence and councils of men whose energies were devoted to the construction of important rail- road lines, while his unvarying success afforded him ample means of lending material aid.
The estimate in which he was held by his asso- ciates in such enterprises is manifested by the fact
that for many years previous to and at the hour of his death, he was Director in all the companies constituting the entire line of railways from Albany to Chicago, except the Cleveland and Toledo.
Hamilton White was eminently a man of public spirit, and not only ready to follow but to lead in endowing local and benevolent institutions. He was one of the few who secured to Syracuse, by material and, the location of the State Idiot Asylum, in the prosperity of which he took an active part. He was a liberal patron of the Orphan Asylum and the Home of the Friendless, to the first of which he gave for many years his services as Treasurer, and both of which he remembered in his last hours. He was also prominent in the Association of Oak- wood, in whose retired and beautiful shade his ashes repose. During the rebellion Mr. White was an ardent and generous friend of the government, and his liberality in securing the quota of troops required of his city and district, was unsurpassed, and was uninterrupted even by his absence in Europe, while seeking the restoration of his impaired health.
The church with which he was connected was the recipient of many tokens of his liberality, while with catholic spirit he contributed to the founda- tion and support of other churches and congrega- tions, here and elsewhere. He sought to shun the public eye in all his charity and to do good secretly rather than for notoriety. Mr. White's influence in all the departments of society, and in all associa- tions for business was characterized by the greatest modesty and diffidence, for his judgment (expressed without pretence and generally upon solicitation, ) was almost invariably based upon reasons which demanded and secured concurrence.
But home was the place in which Mr. White dis- played the most attractive and endearing traits of his character. He loved the domestic circle, the society of his wife and the voices of his children. He sought to make home attractive and happy by surrounding it with artificial adornments and by gathering within it the means of study, the instru- ments of recreation and the creations of genius in art. In 1863 he was obliged to abandon business and seek relief abroad. He visited England, France, Italy, Egypt and other foreign countries, and as a careful observer of scenes which lead us back four thousand years in the history of our race, returned with stores of information and incident, the rehearsal of which was delightful to himself and his interested and listening friends.
In 1864 Mr. White, with his wife and elder son, visited the West Indies, returning in June, 1865.
MA Graves
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
This, however, did not restore his failing health, as had been fondly hoped by his numerous friends, but, on the contrary, he gradually grew worse, and died on the 22d of September, 1865.
Mr. White married, in 1841, Sarah Randolph Rich, daughter of the late Gains B. Rich, of Buf- falo, N. Y. For years her home was the center of an elegant hospitality, over which she presided with the rarest grace. Those who have experienced that hospitality, know how perfectly she exemplified in every detail the traits of a refined lady, a Christian, an example worthy of imitation. Her kindness to the needy was a peculiar trait of her character. She was prominently identified with the benevolent institutions of the city, and her charities were as unostentatious as they were free. She died March 29, 1867.
To Mr. and Mrs. White were born six children, whose names are as follows :
Jane Antoinette, now Mrs. Thomas Parish Sher- man ; Clara Keep, wife of Robert L. S. Hall, of New York ; Barrett Rich, (deceased ;) Hamilton Salisbury, Syracuse ; Howard Ganson, Syracuse, and Sarah Aphia, (deceased.)
NATHAN F. GRAVES.
The subject of this sketch was born in Oneida County, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1813.
He was the third child in a family of eight chil- dren of Benjamin Graves and Molly Stark. The former was a native of Lyme, New London County, Conn., and son of Elijah Graves, of English de- scent ; but the ancestry traces its origin back to the Norman Conquest 1066, the first ancestor being physician to William the Conqueror. Molly Stark was also a native of Lyme, Connecticut, named by and connected with Gen. Stark, of Revolutionary fame.
His father was a well to do farmer, gave his chil- dren not only the advantages of the common schools, but educated them in the academies of Oneida County.
When Nathan F. was only 16 years of age he entered the list as a teacher, and spent several years either as a student or in teaching. Afterwards he entered the law office of J. Whipple Jenkins of Vernon, and after a year became a student at law with the Hon. Joshua A. Spencer of Utica, where he remained two years, and was admitted to the bar of the State in 1840 in the class with the Hon, James C. Smith and others who have distinguished themselves at the bar of the U. S.
He entered a law partnership with Timothy Jen- kins, a prominent lawyer of Oneida Castle, with a very large practice, where he remained for five years, and from the beginning, rapidly extending their practice, until the year 1844, when he went to New York and opened an office at 49 Nassau street, where he grew into an extensive practice in the course of a few years, but on account of ill health gave up his practice in that city, came to Syracuse in the year 1849 and opened a law office with Hon. Daniel P. Wood, which partnership continued for some fifteen years, when Mr. Wood retired from the firm. Mr. Graves has continued the practice of his profession until the present time. He was a Director and President of the Burnet Bank from its organization in 1852, till its discontinuance and the Fourth Na- tional Bank took its place, of which he was Presi- dent until that Bank gave place to the " New York State Banking Company," of which he has been President from its organization, and still occupies the same position, having been continuously President of a bank longer than any other person in the city.
He has been for several years a Trustee of the Syracuse Savings Bank, and one of the Trustees of the Idiot Asylum located at Syracuse. In politics Mr. Graves has been a Democrat, and although not solicitous of public office, was elected Mayor of Syracuse in 1874, and has been identified with the school interests of the city for several years as School Commissioner and also President of the Board of Education.
In the year 1873, Mr. Graves with his wife visited the Pacific coast, Japan and several coun- tries of the Eastern Hemisphere, and by land and sea made a trip around the world, and with a ready pen furnished many valuable letters as a correspond- ent of the New York Observer, Syracuse Courier and Northern Christian Advocate.
He has been married twice-first to Miss Helen P., daughter of S. Sidney Breese of Oneida county, June Ist, 1842. His wife died July 20, 1844. For his second wife he married Miss Catherine H., sister of his first wife, November 23, 1845, who now survives, to share with him the results of a life of active business and labor.
Mr. Graves belongs to the class of citizens who give stability to the financial status of our country, and character to society, a liberal supporter of pub- lic enterprise, a safe counsellor, and a judicious manager of his own affairs. He is unpretentious, a man of excellent habits and characteristic in- tegrity of purpose.
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202
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
HON. D. P. WOOD.
Daniel P. Wood was born in the town of Pompey, Onondaga county, N. Y., November 5, 1819. Ilc was next to the youngest in the family of children of Daniel Wood and Sophia Sims. His father, in the year 18oo, came from Berkshire, Mass, and settled in the town of Pompey. Ile was a lawyer and farmer, the latter being his chief occupation. He died in 1838. His mother was also of New Eng- land stock, but the ancestry, some four generations back, came from Jamestown, Virginia. She was a lineal descendant in the fifth generation from Joseph Loomis, born in England about 1590, sailed from London April 11, 1638, in the ship Susan and Ellen and arrived at Boston July 17. 1638. She died November, 1841.
D). P. Wood inherited, and has exhibited through life, the New England traits of character- readiness to labor and to learn, strength of will, forecast and sympathy with those movements which have for their end the well being of the country and for their means the advancing condition of all classes and races. He worked upon the farm of his father dur- ing his earlier years, receiving such education as the district school afforded, and acquiring a vigor of constitution which has since enabled him to endure the severest mental labor. At about eighteen years of age he pursued a preparatory course at Pompey Academy, and at twenty entered Hamilton College, where he not only disciplined his mind by close study, but expanded it by a wide range of reading, graduating from that institution in 18.43.
In 1844 he entered the law office of Victory Birdseye at Pompey, and in 1845 came to Syracuse and studied law in the office of George W. Noxon, and after being admitted to the bar in 1846, (in the last class admitted under the old Constitution of the State) he entered into partnership with Mr. Noxon.
He met the barriers common to young attorney's in competition with older and more experienced lawyers, with that resolution and energy, yet with that integrity of purpose and courteous manner, so characteristic of his whole life.
He was City Attorney for three years, from the organization of the city government till 1853, and in that year and also in 1854, he represented his district in the Assembly of the State.
As Chairman of the Committee on Salt, in which interest many of his constituents were largely en- gaged, and as a member of the Committee on the Code he brought to the discussions of those sub- jects his legal acumen and conscientious industry. In the exciting and able debates on the completion
and enlargement of the canals, and in the impeach- ment of Canal Commissioner John C. Mather by the Committee of Managers of the House, of which Mr. Wood was a member, and took an active and efficient part, his speeches were no slight tribute to his reputation and capacity.
In 1854. as Chairman of the Committee on Col- leges, Academies and Common Schools, he matured and carried through the act creating the Depart- ment of Public Instruction, and was member of the Committee on Ways and Means, in those days the most exacting and laborious committee of the Leg- islature. Mr. Wood attended to his profession dur- ing the three years following. but in 1857. on account of over taxation of both body and mind, his health became so impaired that he went to South Carolina, returning thence on horseback.
In 1865, '66, '67, he was elected to the Assembly as Representative from Onondaga county. In 1865-'66 he was Chairman of the Committee on Canals and a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. and the following year Chairman of the latter,-positions requiring almost ceaseless labor. He defended their interests with honor to himself and usefulness to the State. In 1861, he was one of the party who escorted President Lincoln on his memorable trip to Washington a few days preceding his inauguration, and, in 1865. was Chairman of the Special Legislative Committee to receive the remains of President Lincoln at the city of New York and conduct them through the State.
In politics Mr. Wood was a Whig, but afterwards a Republican upon the formation of that party. During the late rebellion he was an unswerving supporter of the Union cause. He was very active in the organization of the first regiment that went from Syracuse, raised in one week. His patriotism knew no fear nor faltering ; keeping up his patience and hope, speaking words of good cheer all the more when the hours were darkest.
In the fall of 1871, he was elected to represent the 22d Senatorial District, composed of Cortland and Onondaga counties, in the State Legislature. His record was such that at the end of his first term his renomination was made by acclamation, and his election took place without opposition by the Democratic party.
In the Senate Mr. Wood, during his four years service, held the leading and important position of Chairman of the Finance Committee, which re- quired him to act upon the vast fiscal interests, claims and necessities of the State, and gave him great weight in determining its public policy.
203
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
In this capacity he used all the power of his place in enforcing retrenchment, resisting unjust and un- worthy claims, fighting extravagance and prodi- gality of expenditure and relieving the burdens of the people.
In 1874, Mr. Wood was appointed by Governor Dix, with the concurrence of the Senate, Major General of the 6th Division, N. G., S. N. Y., com- prising twelve counties of the State, viz : Oneida, Oswego, Onondaga, Madison, Cayuga, Seneca, Cortland, Tompkins, Tioga, Broome, Chenango and Otsego.
General Wood was one of the organizers of the Onondaga County Savings Bank, and has been a Trustee of the same since its beginning, and is its present President ; he is also identified with the Trust and Deposit Company of Onondaga, and of the New York State Banking Company as Di- rector. He is President and Treasurer of the High-
land Solar Salt Manufacturing Company of Syra- cuse, and is largely interested in the manufacture of salt. He is interested as one of the originators and managers of the Syracuse and Geddes, and the Genesee and Water Street Railways, and is the President and principal manager and largest stock- holder of the Metallic Burial Casket Manufacturing Company of New York city.
In the year, 1848, August 24th, he married Miss Lora Celeste, daughter of Silas Smith and Eunice Bagg, the former from Lanesborough, Mass., and an early settler of the town of Marcellus-the latter a lineal descendant in the fifth generation of Joseph Loomis of Windsor, Conn.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wood have been born six chil- dren, whose names are as follows : Frank, of the law firm of Wood & Stone, Syracuse ; Mary Bagg, (de- ceased,) Fannie Loomis, (deceased,) Mary Clifton, Cornelia Longstreet, and William Sims, (deceased.)
BANKS OF SYRACUSE.
NATIONAL BANKS.
The banking interest of this city is intimately identified with the interests of the city itself, and therefore deserves more than a passing notice. We shall, in accordance with the purpose of this work, give a brief historical review of the various banks, including their organization, present officers and latest official statement of resources, beginning with the
FIRST NATIONAL BANK.
In 1863, when the national banking system was adopted, the Secretary of the Treasury requested certain gentlemen of financial repute to meet him in consultation at Washington. Among these gentlemen were Governor English, of Connecticut, and Mr. E. B. Judson, of this city. The consulta- tion over, Mr. Judson came home, and immediately took measures for the organization of a National Bank in Syracuse. Although this bank is No. 6, owing to certain delays in the transmission of papers, still the fact remains that the First Na- tional Bank of Syracuse was the second one organ- ized in the United States.
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