History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 55

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840

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MRS. ANN M. TREADWELL REDFIELD.

Her paternal grandfather, the Hon. Thomas Treadwell, was born in the year 1743, at Smith- town, Long Island. He graduated at Princeton College and studied law under Chancellor Living- stone. Thompson, in his history of Long Island, says, " He was one of the most useful men of his day, and was almost constantly engaged in public business, was distinguished for firmness and pru- dence, was a member of the Provincial Convention in 1775 and was elected afterwards to the Provin- cial Congress from Long Island (with power to es- tablish a new form of government). He was a member of the first Senate of this State under the Constitution and seems in all respects to have been fitted for the perilous times in which he lived."

Gov. Seward, in his introduction to the Natural History of the State of New York, says. "He was one of the three constituting the Committee of Safety while the Constitution of this State was being formed in 1777, and was for many years the only surviving member of that memorable body."

In 1772-76 he was a representative in the Con- tinental Congress in Philadelphia. In 1775 he was elected to the Provincial Congress sitting in the city of New York. In 1776 he was elected to represent Suffolk County, L. I. In 1778 he was delegated to the convention at Poughkeepsie to

deliberate on the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. He was also appointed during the same year Judge of P'robate for the State of New York, which office he held until Surrogates were appointed for each county.

In 1771 he was elected to represent Suffolk, Kings and Queens counties in the Continental Congress then sitting in Philadelphia, (to fill a va- cancy caused by the death of Dr. Townsend). In 1793 he was again elected to represent these coun- ties, which he continued to do until he removed to Plattsburgh. In 1804 he was elected Senator for the Northern District, and in 1807 he was appoint- ed Surrogate of Clinton connty, which office he continued to hold until his death at Plattsburgh, N. Y., December 25th, 1831.

Her maternal grandfather, Judge Charles Platt, came from "the ancient and honorable family of Platts, who were in great repute in Norfolk, as is con- firmed by a manuscript of those worthies who had Standards of Arms, the first of Edward the Third, King of England, A. D., 1327, then bore for their coat of Armorial party and pale, or and gule, a lion passant. argent, armed, azure, and Christ, a Chaplet of Flowers, the ancient reward of merit bestowed by damsels upon their favorites at their return from a victorious field of battle." (Copied from the Herald's College, London, Eng- land, 1761.) Judge Platt was one of the pioneers of what now is called Plattsburgh, N. Y., named from the family, and came there with his two brothers from Dutchess county, N. Y. He died at Platts- burgh.

Mrs. Ellet, in " The Queens of American Society," says :

"The subject of this sketch is not only noted for . position, but known as the author of a popular work - Zoological Science, or Nature in Living Forms,-a book commended by Professor Agassiz as one that would ' do great credit to a majority of college professors in this department.' She came of a distinguished family. Her paternal grand- father devoted his entire fortune and best energies to the support of American Independence in the great struggle for nationality, and her father obtained distinction in the war of 1812.

" Ann Maria Treadwell was born at St. Andrews, Canada, January 17, 1800, and was second daughter of Nathaniel Hazard Treadwell and Margaret Platt, and passed the earlier part of her life on the banks of the beautiful Ottawa, afterwards residing at Plattsburgh. She was educated in the school of Mrs. Emma Willard, of Middlebury, Vt. Her intellectual culture was softened by native refine- ment and a sympathy that went forth spontaneously toward all who needed it or claimed her tenderness. The mother of a numerous family, she took pains

ann MJ. Redfield

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with the education of her children, who, like her, are prominent in society."

She was married at Clinton, N. Y., February 7, 1820, to Lewis H. Redfield, Esq., a prominent journalist of Onondaga county for many years. Mrs. Redfield is now in her 79th year, with sympa- thies with the present generation as with the past, possessing great intellectual vivacity, and, as in the past, she lives endeared not only to her children, but to her numerous acquaintances.

MILTON H. NORTHRUP.

Milton H. Northrup is a native of Madison county. Born near Peterboro, in 1841, he gradu- ated at Hamilton College in 1860. Going South to engage in teaching, the breaking out of the rebel- lion found him at the head of the preparatory department of Oglethorpe University at Milledge- ville, the then capital of Georgia. Returning North he taught a private classical school at Syracuse for two years. He was admitted to the bar in 1863, but never engaged in the practice of the profession. In the fall of 1863 he was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Onondaga county, and subsequently Clerk to the Supervisor's Bounty Committee, which disbursed the county bounty to volunteers.

In the summer of 1864, he was appointed Aide- de-Camp on the staff of Brigadier-General John A. Green, Jr., who had been charged by Governor Seymour with the defense of the Northern frontier of the State from Wayne county to the Vermont line. The apprehended rebel invasion from Canada did not occur, and the National Guard's services were happily not called into requisition. The years 1865-'6, were passed by Mr. Northrup in the Penn- sylvania oil regions, whence, incidentally, he con- tributed to the World and other papers descriptive letters of life in the " Oildorado" which attracted wide attention. Commencing with the session of 1867 he spent several winters at Albany as legisla- tive correspondent of the New York Express and other papers, and, in 1869, as legislative reporter for the New York Associated Press. He repre- sented the New York Express at Washington in the spring of 1868, during the impeachment trial of President Johnson, and spent the summer and autumn of that year in travel in Europe

After the adjournment of the legislature in 1869, he accepted the position of agent at New York of the New York State Associated Press, which posi- tion he held until he became editor and one of the proprietors of the Courier. During the memorable session of the Forty-fourth Congress, Mr. Northrup

spent most of his time in Washington as editorial correspondent of his paper. By request of Mr. Payne of Ohio, Chairman of the committee, he acted as Clerk to the committee on the part of the House which, in connection with a similar com- mittee on the part of the Senate, prepared and re- ported the bill creating the Electoral Commission which settled the Presidential controversy.

The Syracuse Courier, with which Mr. North- rup is now connected, was founded in 1856, during the Presidential campaign of that year, in the interest of the Democratic party. H. L. Haga- dorn was its first proprietor. In 1858 the paper passed into the hands of Messrs. D. J. Halsted and H. S. McCullom, under the name of Central City Courier. In the Presidential campaign of 1860 the Courier ran up the Breckenridge ticket. Mr. Halsted, who favored Douglas' candidacy, with- drew and started a new paper, the Syracuse Union, which hoisted Douglas' name for President. Short- ly after election, the two papers were consolidated under the name of the Courier and Union, with Mr. Halsted as sole proprietor. In 1869 the last half of the name was dropped and the paper has since borne its present title. In 1870 Mr. Halsted parted with two-thirds interest in the establishment to Mr. Milton H. Northrup, who assumed editorial control, (which position he now fills) and S. Gurney Lapham. In 1873 the property passed into the hands of the " Courier Printing Company," a duly incorporated company, with the above named as the principal stockholders. Hon. Daniel Pratt was made President of the company, S. Gurney Lapham, Secretary, D. J. Halsted, Treasurer and Business Manager, and M. H. Northrup continued as Managing Editor. In January, 1878, Mr. William T. Hamilton was made Secretary of the company, and Mr. Wilber M. Brown, Treasurer and Business Manager ; the other officers remain- ing as before. In addition to the daily, the com- pany publishes the Onondaga Weekly Courier, and and has since 1874 published the Sunday Courier, issued Sunday mornings.

JOHN G. K. TRUAIR,

Senior publisher of the Syracuse Journal, was born in Sherburne, Chenango County, N. Y., May II, 1817. He graduated at Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1838, and at once engaged in academic teaching in the State of New York. He was Principal of Gilbertsville Academy and Collegiate Institute, Otsego County, six years ; of Norwich Academy, Chenango County, two years ; and of the Brockport

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Collegiate Institute, Monroe County, five years. In 1861, he was also connected for one year with the Female College at Elmira.

In the spring of 1855, he purchased the Syracuse Fournal establishment which had been conducted the preceding year by his brother, Thomas S. Truair, and devoted his time and energies for many years to the work of placing the Fournal upon a firm and substantial basis. In 1862, Hon Carroll E. Smith became associated with him in the conduct of the paper, and in 1870 Col. Dwight H. Bruce was admit- ted to an equal partnership in the establishment.

Although Mr. Truair had spent fifteen years in the duties of a teacher's profession, for which he developed an unusual fitness and in which he met with uniform and gratifying success, yet he had always felt a strong inclination to engage in the avocations and excitements of a business life. He entered this new sphere of activity, therefore, with great eagerness and courage, and gradually over- coming the numerous obstacles incident to news- paper enterprises, his efforts were crowned with gratifying success. He had the satisfaction of seeing the fournal steadily advance from year to year in favor with the public, increasing rapidly its circulation and patronage, and widely extending its influence and usefulness.

The business interests of the establishment, which were especially committed to the supervision of Mr. Truair, soon became fixed upon a firm and substantial basis, never losing their hold upon the confidence of the public.

After a laborious service of nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. Truair and his colleagues have the sat- isfaction of knowing that the Journal is moving for- ward in a prosperous and useful career, and securing more and more the confidence and support of an appreciative public.

Mr. Truair was for many years Secretary of the Onondaga County Bible Society and of the Pioneer Society of Central New York. In 1861 and 1862, he was appointed Treasurer of the city of Syracuse and held the same office again in 1864 and 1865. Ile is also a member of the Board of Councillors of the " Home Association," and is Vice-President of that body.

GENERAL JOHN ELLIS.

The history of Onondaga county would be signally incomplete without a sketch of that sturdy pioneer General John Ellis, whose name is most honorably associated with its annals, and who was also largely instrumental in the development of its material resources. A scion of the best New England

ancestry, he was born at Hebron, Conn , 1764, the son of John Ellis and of Elizabeth Sawyer, his wife. While still in his boyhood, his parents moved to the town of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Mass., where they were residing at the opening of the struggle for independence. In 1779, young Ellis, although yet of tender age, caught the fervor of the Revolution and became anxious to join the army. Although too young for regular service, his father consented that his intimate friend, Captain Talcott, should allow the young patriot to become his personal attendant, and, in this capacity, he lived in the Captain's tent and was treated by him in all respects as his son He often accompanied the troops in their expeditions, and exhibited those qualities of courage and of decision which were amply illustrated in his after life. He remained with the army until the close of the war.

At the age of 21 he was working his father's farm summers, and teaching school winters, and by industry and strict economy was enabled to save enough to bring him in the year 1794 to this west- ern country, and to buy land for a homestead. He devoted the first summer to looking over the lands of Onondaga and some of the adjoining counties, in company with General Van Cortland, Judge Geddes and some others. He finally decided upon Onondaga, and located first at Manlius. In 1795 he returned to Pittsfield, and married Submit Olds, also a native of Hebron, and in February of that year they returned to the then western wilderness, in company with Dr. Sturdevant and his young wife and a man Mr. Ellis had employed to drive the third team.

Few of those now living can appreciate the hard- ships and perils attendant upon the journey to this then western country in those primitive days. It was literally a passage through the wilderness, a passage made not less formidable by nature, than by the presence of the red man still retaining much of his olden hostility to the white man. Several adventures with the Indians marked the progress of the young New England couple to their new home. Mr. Ellis had, however, consider- able previous acquaintance with them, had thor- oughly studied their habits and peculiarities, and knew how to manage them, as an incident which occurred during their journey will illustrate. Near Oneida Castle, the sleds became mired, and it was necessary to call upon the Indians for help. Entering one of the largest huts late in the evening, a number of Indians were found wrapped in their blankets asleep. Mr. Ellis directed the women to show no signs of fear, and himself walked directly

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to the fire, raked open the bed of coals and applied fresh fuel. The Indians being aroused showed symptoms of anger, but Mr. Ellis spoke in a com- manding voice, and by making signs, which they understood, induced a number of them to give him the required assistance. The women remained in the hut, not without fear, but the authority of Mr. Ellis was sufficient not only then but ever afterwards, to command the respect and affection of the Indians. By the Onondagas especially he was held in high esteem, and they honored him with an Indian name which was a synonym of bravery. Mrs. Ellis also lost all fear of the Indians, and treated them with unfailing kindness, which was by them cheerfully reciprocated.

The journey already alluded to took about three' weeks to accomplish, and was terminated at Man- lius, where Mr. Ellis fixed his temporary residence, having brought with him a small stock of goods for exchange with the Indians for their furs and for supplying the wants of the few settlers who had preceded him.

During the following year, and while General Van Cortland was on a visit to them, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis's first child was born. General Van Cortland asked permission to name him, but Mr. Ellis replied, the " boy's name is John, but you may add whatever else you please." So the child was called " John Cortland."

Among the many lots of 250 acres each, pur- chased by Mr. Ellis in different parts of the town of Onondaga (in which the county seat was after- wards located) lot 103 was chosen for the family residence, and clearing was began that season, the trees being felled to be burned the following year. During the spring of 1798 General Ellis removed with his family to Onondaga Hill, where he had built a one and a-half story frame house, but owing to the scarcity of brick the chimney could not be completed before October. In September, the second child and eldest daughter, Harriet Byron, was born, and as no fire could be built within doors, the child was dressed out of doors by a log fire, which served the double purpose for cooking and to keep off wild animals.

In the year 1801 General Ellis built a second and larger house, a part of which was used as a store for several years. He kept supplies for the settlers, and for the purpose of trading with the In- dians. In this house were born four daughters, Sophia, Submit, Electa and Laura and the second son, James Madison Ellis.

In 1804 General Ellis built upon the stream run- ning through his farm (where the reservoir of the

Syracuse Water-Works Company now is) a saw mill, and later the same year also built on his farm a small factory for carding and cloth-dressing.

In ISII Mr. Ellis began the erection of a new and quite a large frame house, said at the time to be one of the finest residences in the town. The progress of building was slow, as General Ellis was compelled to send to Massachusetts for mechanics. The family moved into the new home during the autumn of 1812, and before it was quite finished. Here were born the two youngest children, Mary Caroline and George Clinton. At this time (1878) this house and also the second built by General Ellis, are standing in a very good state of preservation.

During the year 1802, General Ellis purchased of General Humphrey, of Derby, Conn., four Spanish Merino sheep-two bucks and two ewes-for which he paid $1,500, and as at that time there was a premium on the first buck brought to each county, he left one of his with Mr. Douglas of Madison county, bringing the rest to his own farm. The following year he was offered $1,500 for his best buck, which he refused, as there were increased difficulties in the way of importing these sheep from Spain. This would seem to be a very high price, but years afterwards single sheep of the same breed were sold for a much larger sum. About this time General Ellis went to Cheshire, Mass., where he bought one cow and thirty calves of their best improved stock, and brought them to Onon- daga. They proved an excellent breed and were distributed among the farmers of the county.

Mr. Ellis was by birth and education a Presby- terian, and one of the organizers of the first Pres- byterian society of Onondaga ; and was ever after one of its chief supporters.

In April, 1799, was held the second annual town meeting of Onondaga, and among the officers chosen was Mr. John Ellis for assessor.

Mr. Ellis was widely known as a military man. His first appointment was in 1797, when he was made Adjutant in Colonel Asa Danforth's regiment of General Taylor's brigade. From this time his advance was rapid to the rank of both Major and Colonel ; July 10, 1811, he received from his per- sonal friend, Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of the State, the commission of Brigadier General of the county militia, and September 15, 1818, he received from Governor DeWitt Clinton the commission of Major-General, and was assigned to the 18th Division of Infantry of the State Militia. During the war of 1812, General Ellis was in command of the Onondaga brigade, which was kept as a reserve force in case of invasion, or trouble on the frontier ;

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and May 6, 1814, when the British captured Os- wego, his brigade was ordered to that point. But upon their arrival at Oswego Falls, they learned that the enemy had evacuated the fort. The troops, however, continued on to Oswego, where they re- mained some time. Again, when the British fleet lay off Sackett's Harbor, the brigade was called out with all speed, the news reaching General Ellis by special messenger at 9 o'clock at night ; and be- tween this and morning he dispatched men on horseback all through the county to notify the offi- cers and men. Early the following morning, General Ellis in command of his brigade and the warriors of the Onondagas led by Colonel Ephraim Webster, Indian Agent, marched for Sackett's Har- bor. They had proceeded as far as Smith's Mills or Adams, when a halt was ordered, as the enemy had disappeared, and a victory had been won at Big Sandy Creek. For six weeks after this General Ellis's brigade was kept deploying, watching the movements of the British fleet.

General Ellis was a man of marked and well- defined characteristics, both of mind and manners. As a politician, he was both active and influential. At first he was a Federalist, but just previous to the War of 1812, he, with Judge Mosely and others, embraced the principles of the Democratic party ; and although an ardent supporter of Jefferson and Tompkins, he was ever the friend of DeWitt Clin- ton. He lived a sober, consistent, and Christian life, and was highly esteemed by all his friends and fellow-townsmen. He died of consumption in 1820, and was buried with military honors in the family lot on the farm at Onondaga Ilill.

Mrs Ellis was well calculated to bear the hard- ships and trials and to meet the dangers of a life in the wilderness ; and she was always in every way, a most valuable help-meet to her husband She was discreet and possessed excellent judgment, as well as every qualification that adorns a wife and mother. She was a woman of great endurance, although slight and delicate in appearance. She was the mother of nine children, of whom only Mrs. Caro- line Hargin, of New York City, and James M. Ellis, of Syracuse, are now living.

General Ellis died leaving a family of children whose opportunities for obtaining an education had been such as the schools of that day afforded. The depreciation in values at the close of the war in 1815, made the large estate left by him of over 1,200 acres of land, of insufficient value to place the family in easy circumstances. James M. spent the nine years following his father's death, at home, as- sisting his mother on the farm. In 1829 his mother

with the younger children, went to Henrietta, Mon- roe county, where she took a house until the follow- ing summer, for the purpose of giving the children better opportunities for obtaining an education. On her return James began work in earnest, and soon paid off the encumbrance on the farm. January 6. 1833. he married Lucy Cudworth, daughter of Nathaniel Cudworth and Lydia Farrar, of Bristol, Ontario County, and who had settled there as early as 1798, and coming by water all the way from Sonet Bay, Mass, to Seneca Lake, and being 31 days on their journey. She (Lucy Cudworth was born Feb S, 1812.

The spring following his marriage, and when 23 years of age, Mr. Ellis bought the homestead ol 250 acres of the heirs, and settled down for life. During the next twenty years he carried on his farm, and was among the representative farmers of the county.

He had special interest and pride in his flock of merino sheep, bred from the flock owned by his father and previously from the stock imported by General Humphrey, Minister to Spain, in 1801. By the appreciation of this flock left him by his father he bred with great care and success until 1854, and was said to have had one of the best flocks in the State. The same stock has been propagated and improved by Davis Cossitt, of Onondaga, whose flock now can hardly be excelled. The sudden death of his only son and two daughters, caused him to give up farming, and in 1854 he moved to the city of Syracuse, where he has since resided. Soon after coming here he engaged in the wool trade, which, with the tanning and hide and leather trade, he, with E. B. Wicks, T. B. Fitch and J. S. Sharp, carried on in Chicago and Syra- cuse, until about the year 1868 in the former, and until 1871 in the latter place.

Mr. Ellis has been Trustee of the Syracuse Sav- ings Bank since 1855. and has also been connected with the Mechanics Bank since its organization in 1851, having been President of the latter since the year 1872. For many years past he has been largely identified with the manufacturing interests of the city.

In politics, Mr. Ellis cast his first presidential vote for Andrew Jackson, and continued an ardent supporter of the Democratic party until the Free- Soil movement, when he arrayed himself against the introduction of slavery into the Territories: and upon the formation of the Republican party adopted its principles, and has since, with little variation, stood unswervingly in its ranks. Although always tak- ing a lively interest in important public questions, he never desired political preferment.

Salhnou

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

In the old military organization of the State Mr. Ellis was Adjutant under Colonel Woodruff in the 147th Regiment from 1833 to 1836. In 1836 he received the commission of Major from Governor Wm. L. Marcy, and on the death of Colonel Wood- ruff, in 1838, he was elected Colonel, and resigned the same year.

Mr. Ellis is a plain, unassuming man, possessing strict integrity of purpose and an unblemished reputation in all his business and social relations.

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 55

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 840

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840