USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
HON. ELIZUR CLARK.
Mr. Clark was born in the town of Saybrook, Middlesex county, Conn., October 5, 1807.
The Clark family dates back to the early settle- ment of the New England States, and is descended from John Clark, who immigrated to America about the year 1644, and settled first in the State of Rhode Island. The ancestors of Elizur Clark were much noted for longevity ; his grandfather's family, consisting of four sons and four daughters, all lived to upwards of eighty-three years of age, the young- est living to the advanced age of ninety-three years. His father, Beamont Clark, born July 25, 1767, lived to be ninety years of age and was a native of Saybrook, Conn., as was also the grandfather.
His father came with that part of the family which had not preceded him and settled in the town of Cicero, Onondaga county, in the summer of 1823. He was a farmer by occupation and did very much in the early settlement of that town, until 1837, when he removed to Michigan, where he died in the year 1857. His mother, whose maiden name was Nabbe Spencer, lived to be seventy-three years of age, and died in Michigan. She was born January 14, 1770.
The subject of this record was only fifteen years of age when he came to this county with his father and was next to the youngest in a family of eleven children-eight sons and three daughters-all of whom, except one besides himself, are deceased.
Mr. Clark's early opportunities for obtaining an education were limited. On coming to Syracuse he embarked in business for himself, and his sub- sequent successful career has abundantly proved that a practical education is more the result of capacity, energy and self-application than of book- study.
214
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
He spent his time until the year 1834 in such various kinds of business as presented. He leased the Salina mill property of Henry Seymour, and carried on the lumbering business until 1837, when Mr. Seymour died, and Mr. Clark purchased a half interest in the property, the other half being owned by ex-Governor Horatio Seymour. He carried on this business until 1846, when he pur- chased the other half of the property, and sold the same to Hon. Thomas G. Alvord, and in partner- ship Messrs. Clark & AAlvord carried on the lumber business until 1863, when Mr. Clark retired from the firm, and (with the exception of an agency in connection with the party to whom he leased the mill property, which continued until 1870) retired from the active duties of life.
He has been a director in the Salt Springs Bank since 1867, and a trustee of the Syracuse Savings Bank for several years past.
Unlike his father and grandfather, who were closely allied to the Federal party and afterward the Whig, he cast his first vote for General Jackson, and has been an unswerving and consistent mem- ber of the Democratic party ever since. He has never been an active politician and has looked rather to principles than to party interest. He has been identified with the public offices of trust and responsibility in the history of Salina and Syracuse in many instances, and was one of the first Alder- men elected after the organization of the City of Syracuse. representing the First Ward. In 1856 he was Supervisor for the same ward, and in the year 1863, represented his district in the State Legislature. All these public positions have been filled with that integrity of purpose and honest dealing which have characterized his whole life.
Mr. Clark is a plain, unassuming man, having the full confidence of his fellow men, and now at the age of seventy years retains an active mind and business ability apparently unimpaired.
In the year 1825, November 13, he married Miss Jerusha N. Spencer, of Onondaga county. To them were born ten children, of whom Chauncey B., Harriet E., wife of Augustus Avery, of Syra- cuse, John Seymour, of New York City, and Mary D., wife of Edward Manning, of Syracuse, are living.
His wife died in 1865. For his second wife he married, in November, 1869, Miss Augusta M. Peck, daughter of Charles L. Peck, a native of Lynn, Conn., and a descendant of Deacon William Peck, born in England 1601, and came to America 1638 and settled in New Haven, Conn.
CORNELIUS TYLER LONGSTREET.
Mr. Longstreet, the subject of this biographical notice, is a native of this county, having been born in Onondaga Valley on the 19th of April, 1814. He is the youngest son of Cornelius and Deborah [Tyler] Longstreet, who had a family of five chil- dren. His father was a native of New Jersey ; his mother was born at Caughnawaga, now the village of Fonda, on the Mohawk River. The family of Longstreet, or (Longstreth,) comes from three brothers who immigrated from Holland to America, first stopping in New Jersey in the early settlement of that State. One went to Pennsylvania and set- tled ; a second settled in Georgia, and the third (from whom the subject of this memoir is descend- edi remained in New Jersey. Judge Longstreet, of the Georgia branch of the family, was President of Columbia College, of South Carolina, at the time of the breaking out of the late war of the Re- bellion ; he was uncle of Gen. James Longstreet, of the Confederate army, and his family is connected by marriage with some of the most prominent fam- ilies of the South.
About the year 1802, Cornelius Longstreet came to Onondaga West Hill and opened a general store. He was among the first who sold goods in this county. In the year 1805, he married Deborah, daughter of Col. Comfort Tyler. Col. Tyler was one of the first settlers of the county, coming with Gen. Asa Danforth and his son, Asa, Jr., to Onon- daga Valley in 1788. He was then a young un- married man. Col. Comfort Tyler is said to have felled the first tree, manufactured the first bushel of salt, put the first plow in the ground, and built the first ten miles of turnpike in the county. When the subject of this notice was only eight months old, in the year 1814, his father died, leaving a large property for those times, which, however, through the mismanagement of his executors, was nearly lost to the family, except for their use for a few years and until about the time of the death of the mother, in 1826.
Until the death of his mother, Cornelius T. was kept in school, but about one year afterwards he engaged as an apprentice in Syracuse to the tailor- ing trade, and after three years he went to Geddes, where he remained until he was seventeen years of age, when he established business for himself as a merchant tailor, buying his stock of goods in New York. After three years he established his busi- ness in Syracuse, and for the next ten years is said to have carried on the largest business in this line of any man in the State west of New York city. In the year 1846, perceiving that there was a want
1
Elizis Clasky
6.07. Longstreet
215
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK.
in the means of supply of clothing in New York for the northern trade, he removed his business to that city and established a wholesale clothing house, the first for supplying the northern trade. Here his bus- iness increased and the change proved very success- ful. He remained in New York, shipping goods to the Northern and Western States, for six years, when he returned to Syracuse, and for the next three years was engaged in the erection of what is known as " Renwick Castle." In the fall of 1855, he returned to New York for the purpose of establishing his son, Charles A. Longstreet, in the same business which he had himself formerly carried on. He re- mained there until the fall of 1862, (meantime keep- ing his family and home in Syracuse,) when he gave up business on account of ill health, returned to his native county, where he now resides.
Since the organization of the First National Bank of Syracuse, he has been one of the directors. He has been also a director of the Mechanics' Bank since its organization.
His first vote was cast in the Whig party, and
upon the formation of the Republican party he adopted its principles, and has since unswervingly stood firm upon its platform.
At the age of 23 years, he married Miss Mary E. Barlow, of Syracuse, to whom were born four children-Charles A., Juliet, James L., and Edward W .- all deceased.
His wife died in the year 1846. For his second wife, he married, in the year 1847, Mrs. Caroline A. Sanford, daughter of Lewis H. Redfield, of Syracuse.
By his second wife he had five children, viz : Cally Redfield, Alice Meeta, Comfort Tyler, Cor- nelius Tyler, and Cornelia Tyler Longstreet, now Mrs. Poor, of Skaneateles, the only surviving child of the second family.
The only surviving offspring by the name of Longstreet, are the three sons, C. Tyler, Jarvis Dennis, and Guy Longstreet, of Los Angelos, Cal- fornia, sons of the late Charles A. Longstreet, who was the eldest son of the subject of this sketch, and for many years a prominent merchant of New York city.
SYRACUSE MANUFACTURES.
The advantages of Syracuse as a manufacturing city are greater than those of most inland towns, being situated on so many lines of transportation and in easy access to the coal mines of Pennsyl- vania. The time has been when the immense salt interest overshadowed all other branches of manu- facture, and it was hardly thought that Syracuse furnished facilities for making anything else than salt. True, this great interest will doubtless always continue to take the lead ; the salt deposited by nature in vast and inexhaustible quantities under the very foundations of the city, was that which in- vited the original settlers to this spot, and has built up the city and its adjacent villages. The develop- ment of the resources of this immense gift of nature has supported a large percentage of the population, and is to-day the chief interest of this locality ; but the time is coming when Syracuse will be a City of Iron as well as a "City of Salt," when other manufactures will share equally with the great salt interest the time, attention and capital of her enterprising citizens, and when foreign capital will be directed here for profitable invest- ment. Already the manufactures of Syracuse are more numerous and diversified than is commonly supposed, and every year is adding to their number
and variety. It is our purpose in this article to re- port some of the leading manufacturing interests of this city-interests which are part of the history of the city itself, and without which its local record would be very incomplete. We shall begin with the useful rather than the ornamental, and take first the staff of life represented by the
EMPIRE STATE FLOURING MILLS of Jacob Amos & Sons .- These mills are situated on West Water street, and are supplied with the best modern im- provements, with reference to the production of the finest grades of flour. Jacob Amos & Sons are the only manufacturers of merchant flour in the city, and have a high reputation wherever their brands are known. The senior member of the firm, Mr. Jacob Amos, is an old resident of Syra- cuse, having came here in 1839. Without tracing his business operations of one kind and another subsequent to that date, it is sufficient to state that in 1852 he became a miller. In 1861 he bought the property on West Water street recently occupied by the firm, adapted it to milling purposes, put in six run of stone, and until lately the business has been carried on in this building. A seventy-horse power engine supplied steam for the machinery and the capacity of the mills was 100 barrels per day.
216
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
In addition to the manufacture of flour this firm carry on an extensive business in the splitting of peas, the product of which amounts to 40,000 bushels a year. Feed and farina are also manufactured in large quantities There are but few mills for the manufacture of farina in the country, and therefore the business of the firm in this article is profitable.
The old mill till recently occupied by the firm is now being removed to make room for a new and substantial block which will soon be erected. In the fall of 1877, Messrs. Amos & Sons purchased the property known as the J. W. Barker Mills on West Water street, paying therefor $50,000. These mills have a capacity for the production of 1,400 barrels per week.
Besides their mills here, Messrs. Amos & Sons have at Baldwinsville one of the largest flouring mills in the State. It has fifteen run of stone, a capacity of 250 barrels of flour daily, fifty kegs of pearl barley and thirty kegs of farina. The business there is under the charge of Mr. Jacob Amos, Jr.
SWEET'S MANUFACTURING COMPANY, as now organized, was established in 1871, with a capital of $250,000, with William A. Sweet as President ; George W. Harwood as Treasurer, and Henry Clay Barnes as Secretary. Since that time, however, Messrs. Harwood and Barnes have resigned and their places have been filled respectively by J. M. Schermerhorn, Jr .. in 1873, as Treasurer, and Fred. B. Chapman, in 1872, as Secretary. The real be- ginning of Mr. Sweet's connection with the manu- facturing enterprises of Syracuse should date from 1858, when he established a business upon the property adjoining the office of Greenway's Brewery for the manufacture of cutter knives for mowers and reapers. In 1860, he sold this property to Mr. Greenway and purchased that now occupied by George Barnes & Co., and formed the firm of Sweet Brothers & Co., under the style of the Ceresian Cutter Works, for the continuance of the manufac- ture of mowing machine knives and sections, to which business, in 1863, he added the manufacture of steel, under the style of the Onondaga Steel Works, and occupied for that business the part of the block situated on the corner of Wyoming and Otisco streets. In 1864, he formed a stock organization with the whole of this business and property under the corporate name of Sweet, Barnes & Co., and under his management their highest prosperity was attained, as through him the entire manipulation of the metal from its crude state in the bar iron to the steel knives and other articles finished and ready for use, was not only thoroughly superintended, but each one of the various processes was really invented and
1
introduced by him and successfully carried out by his instructions.
In April, 1868, he bought of this company the Onondaga Steel Works and began business by him- self in the manufacture of steel goods, such as springs, tire, crowbars, &c., in which business he was joined, in October, 1868, by George W. Har- wood, forming the firm of W. A. Sweet & Co., which continued till the organization of Sweet's Manufacturing Company, in 1871. In 1870, the works were destroyed by fire, but from the debris arose in forty days new buildings, which, in their extent and appointments, far surpass the old. About two-thirds of an entire block are occupied with brick buildings of a substantial character, and a telegraph instrument in the office, to which lines of wires are attached, connects the works with the Geddes steel mill, (in which Mr. Sweet has an in- terest, ) and also with the general office of the West- ern Union Telegraph Company in the city. This arrangement effects a saving in time which is simply incalculable. By the side of these works, on the corner of West and Marcellus streets, has been added another building, (completed in 1876,) equipped with two additional trains of rolls and other necessary machinery.
Some of the most valuable tools used in these works are entirely new to the steel manufacturing business and are the inventions of Mr. Sweet, for instance, the Gas Furnace for heating the metal for rolling, is his patent, and saves for the company a very large percentage in fuel and time. The Con- verting Oven, which takes the place of the old Eng- lish pottery oven, for the conversion of iron into steel by the cementation process, is another of his inventions, and has been proved successful by many years of use. Finally, the Gas Furnace for melting the steel in the crucible, is an invention of Mr. Sweet's, not inferior in point of importance and utility to the others. These inventions may be said to have created a revolution in the steel man- ufacturing business.
The works now in operation, among other things, have eight trains of rolls, five steam engines of from 25 to 250 horse power each, six pairs of shears, eleven heating furnaces, three converting ovens and three steam hammers.
SANDERSON BROTHERS' STEEL COMPANY, GED- DES .- In August, 1872, Sweet's Manufacturing Company purchased the old distillery property in Geddes and converted it into steel works, and since have operated it in connection with the works in this city, The mill at Geddes has five engines and two trains of rolls, six gas furnaces, two converting
J. AMOS &SONSMILLS
EMPIRE STATEMILLS JACOB AMOS &SONS. MERCHANT-MILLERS
ANEVE LAUNIE CREENWA
IO CIEMPIRE STATE
M.O.T. C. 1885
3 JANUAR SUMS
LAMOS & SONS OFFICE
JACOB AMOS CHAS. L. AMOS.
JACOB AMOS & SONS' EMPIRE STATE MILLS, SYRACUSE , NEW YORK .
217
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY NEW YORK.
ovens, two gas furnaces for melting steel, and other necessary equipments. In 1876 this property was sold to a stock company organized under the title of Sanderson Brothers Steel Company, with a capital of $450,000, all paid in, of which the follow- ing gentlemen are directors : Robert B. Campbell, Samuel William Johnson and Edward Frith, of New York ; and William A. Sweet and J. M. Schermerhorn, Jr., of this city. The company took possession of these works on the Ist of September, 1876, with the following officers : Robert B. Campbell, President ; Samuel William Johnson, Secretary : Edward Frith, Treasurer ; and William A. Sweet, General Manager. It is the intention of this company to manufacture the celebrated brand of Sanderson's best cast steel from the same brand of Swedish iron, in the same kind of crucibles and with precisely the same mixture and manipulation as at the works of Sanderson Brothers & Co., (limited,) at Sheffield, England. In pursuance of which plan, this company have purchased from them all right and title to their peculiar mixtures in the manufacture of steel for use in this country. The history of cast steel making in this country would show from first to last a series of unsuccessful at- tempts to reach the English standard of uniform qualities and tempers ; it will be seen, however, that this company have every facility for making them precisely identical. This is the first time that English cast steel has ever been manufactured in this country under exactly the same methods as those of any existing English steel company, and it is quite remarkable that in the Centennial year of the Sanderson business and in our Centennial year as a country, the beginning of this enterprise should have been inaugurated. Old England is stretching out her hands towards our broad domain as her field for further business expansion, and it is fitting that the citizens of Syracuse should congratulate them- selves that here are found a satisfactory manager and works for the first American fine steel enter- prise.
It is indeed something that Syracuse should make a note of as an era in her history, that upon her borders has been inaugurated the first attempt at the reproduction of English cast steel in America. Who knows but the success of this undertaking will be the means of drawing other English companies to this locality, and not merely the manufacture of the finest steel in the world, but various other English and foreign manufactories will be centered here ? The fact that one such establishment already exists here will bring Syracuse into notice in Eng- land, and companies wishing to locate for manufac-
turing purposes in America will be much more likely to select this place than any other.
The Sanderson Brothers Steel Company had it in contemplation at the outset to carry on the busi- ness on a scale that should place this enterprise in the front rank of the steel manufacturing interests of this country. Accordingly, large improvements on the existing Geddes works were undertaken and completed in the fall of 1876. New rod and plate trains have been put in place, and other enlargements will be made as the exigencies of the business may require.
GEORGE BARNES & Co .- The manufacture of knives for mowers and reapers has become one of the leading interests of this city. Without stop- ing to notice the wonderful progress made in the manner of harvesting both grass and grain as sug- gested by the mower and reaper in contrast with the ancient scythe and sickle, it will suffice for our present purpose to record the progress made in an establishment whose chief business is the manufacture of the most important and particular parts of these machines, viz : the knives by which the grass and grain are cut. It is easy to see that an efficient mower or reaper depends very much upon the character of the knife that is to do the cutting-the stalk of the grass or grain being cov- ered with a silicious coating which very soon de- stroys the edge of an inferior knife. To perfect a knife, therefore, that will hold an edge, has re- quired a great deal of study, practice and experi- ence, and like everything requiring special skill and machinery, it has become a separate branch of in- dustry, a part of the manufacture of the mower and reaper entirely by itself. The beginning of the movement for the manufacture of mower and reaper knives in this city dates back to 1858, when Sweet Brothers & Co. began the enterprise on a small scale. At that time there was only one other establishment of the kind in the United States-the works located at Fitchburg, Mass. This is still true, we believe, as the Fitchburg es- tablishment has been discontinued, and only an- other similar factory exists at Akron, Ohio. In 1859, William B. Cogswell became associated with Sweet Brothers & Co., and in 1860, Mr. George Barnes purchased his interest. Thus Mr. Barnes became interested in the manufactory of which he is now the head. His name did not appear, how- ever, in the firm style till 1864, when a joint stock company was formed under the title of Sweet, Barnes & Co. Meantime the company had en- gaged in steel manufacture also, and in 1868, it sold the steel works to Mr. Sweet, who has since been
28*
218
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
identified with that interest. In 1873, by virtue of an order from the Supreme Court, the name of the company was changed from Sweet, Barnes & Co to that of George Barnes & Co., and such it has since remained.
The employed capital of the company is $416,- 000. The shops of the works have been added to from time to time, and now present an unbroken frontage of 253 feet on Marcellus street, and 175 on Wyoming, the buildings being of brick. two stories in height.
To illustrate the extent of this business, a few facts and figures are here supplied. Let us premise that a " section " is a single V-shaped knife attached by two rivets to a cutter-bar, and that a complete bar contains sixteen of these sections. In 1869, the company made 1,017,361 sections ; in 1870, 1,412,254 sections ; in 1871, 1,517,043 sections ; in 1872, 1,853,263 sections ; in 1873, 2,428,357 sec- tions ; in 1874, 2,910,199 sections. This last figure of 2,910,199 sections is equivalent to 181,888 com- plete cutter-bars of sixteen each, manufactured in a single year. In the manufacture of these about 200 tons of American sheet steel are used. In 1875, the works used up 700 tons of grindstones 2,200 tons of coal, 2,000 bushels of charcoal, 3,000 bushels of coke, 75,000 feet of pine lumber for packing boxes, and paid $115,309 66 as wages to workmen, exclusive of salaries to officers, &c. The product of the works amounted in value in round numbers to $481,000. in comparison with $158,000 in 1868.
The grindstones, which are rapidly worn down, are purchased in lots of three car loads per week. They come into the grinding room great bulky masses, six feet in diameter and twelve inches thick, and are carried out as dust.
We have not space to describe the whole process of manufacture-perhaps the most interesting is the process of tempering the knives or sections. On coming from the cutting machine, they are placed in a reverberating furnace and slightly heated, are then straightened and partly annealed, and thence go to the molten lead baths, of which there are a number. From these baths they are plunged into a brine, and from the brine go to the tempering furnace, la " double ender," ) from which all air is excluded. Here the temper is " drawn out," and, whereas under the old process the loss was fully ten per cent., under this, (the new and improved, it is scarcely one per cent. In fact, scarcely a defect- ive section is ever made. In this tempering de- partment is " the secret of the whole business," and it may well challenge a moment's attention.
The knives of George Barnes & Co. find a market wherever mowers and reapers are made and used, throughout the old world and the new.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.