USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 68
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The church has had the following noted supplies : Rev. Dr. Mills, of Auburn, June 3, 1827 ; Rev. Dr. Richards, August 10, 1827 ; Rev. Dr. Nelson, student at that time at Auburn : Rev. G. W. Bas- sett, for three months, 1841; Rev. Dr. Condit, May 3, 1862, to May 11, 1863; Rev. Dr. Hunting- ton, January, 1866.
The following named members have served in foreign missionary fields : Mrs. Betsy Curtis Lyons and Mrs. Bliss, to Sandwich Islands, and Mrs. M. F. True, in Japan.
Among the more prominent members may be mentioned Nathan Munro, Esq., Judge Hiram I. Mather, member of the State Senate, 1829-1832 ; Hon. James Munroe, State Senator, 1851-1853 ; Henry E. Van Vliet, Esq., Bradley Bennet, Esq, Dr. Wheeler and Deacon Levi Clark-all deceased.
The Church at Sennett, Cayuga County, was
Photo, by W. V. Ranger, Syracuse.
JAMES RODGER.
The subject of this sketch is of Scotch parentage, his father, William Rodger, being born in Greenock, and his mother, Elizabeth, in Edinburgh. The elder Rodger was a black and white smith by occupation, and in 1804 emigrated to this country, settling in the city of Albany, where our subject was born April 7, 1805. The family remained in Albany until the year 1818, when they emigrated to Madison county ; here the elder Rodger purchased a farm which he carried on in connec- tion with his trade until 1822, when he sold and removed to Elbridge, and purchased a farm about one and a quarter miles north of the village of Jordan, where he resided until his death, which occurred December, 1822. He was a man of great energy and marked business ability, highly esteemed by all who knew him for his sterling worth and high social qualities. At his father's death James was seventeen years of age, and the cares of the family and the business devolved upon him, which developed those qualities to which his success in after-life is largely attributable.
In 1832 Mr. Rodger went to Wayne county, where he en-
gaged in farming until 1834, when he returned to Jordan; at this time he was in limited circumstances, and for some time worked for Judge Mason by the month. In 1840 he went into the business of storage and forwarding, and also bought grain on commission. This business he has carried on to the present, and also has dealt extensively in coal and lumber. In 1829, Mr. Rodger was married to Miss Olive M. Clark, daughter of Daniel Clark, of Westminster, Vt., where she was born March 15, 1805. Mr. and Mrs. Rodger have had five children born to them, three of whom are living. Mr. Rodger is pre-eminently a self-made man. Beginning life at seventeen, with only his natural resources for his capital and the limited education afforded by the ordinary district school of a new country, he has worked himself up step by step to a point attained by but very few in a generation. With a grasp of perception that could comprehend the details of a large business, and a masterly management over all, he has conquered success in every movement in his life, and stands forth to-day an illustrious example of the capabilities of character and manhood.
Photos, by W V Ranger, Sy The MAC.
TITUS MERRIMAN, 3I.D.
Mits. TITUS MERRIMAN.
TITUS MERRIMAN, M.D.
The subject of this sketch was a native of Meriden, Conn., and was born Oct. 9, 1786. When a child his parents removed to Otisco, Onondaga County. At an early age he evineed a strong inclination to n professional life. He studied medicine with Dr. Beach, of Marcellus. AAsn student he was industrious and unremitting in his studies. In 181 4 he removed to Elbridge, where for fifty years be devoted himself to the practice of his profession, and by the energetic prosecution of the plans of his life he earned an enviable reputation throughout the entire county. In pursuing his profession he never failed to respond to the calls of the sick. Whether in sunshine, storms, late hours, or outside business, for the poor without hope of remuneration, or the wealthy, he was equally ready to devote himself to the relief of suffering and disease. He was associated in counsel with the eminent physicians of his day, was a member of the " Syracuse Medical Society," and is still remembered by the elder members as a useful and skillful physician and perfect gentleman.
In 1814 he was married to Miss Mary Wilcox. She died
March 24, 1823, and in June, 1825, he was married to Miss Polly, daughter of Peter and Ziperah Backer, of Elbridge. who were among the carly settlers of the town. Mrs. Merriman was born in Amsterdam, Montgomery Co., N. Y., May 10, 1805.
Dr. Merriman's services were not confined to his profession. lle was an earnest patron of education, and an uncompromising temperance man both by precept and example. Noted for his hospitality, his house was always the home of the educator, preacher, and temperance worker. Well informed, and extremely social and affable, his hospitality was richly enjoyed by all. lle died May 20, 186t, having seen his county and town develop from almost a wilderness to a beautiful and populons region, by the upward gradations of an energetic people building upon the solid foundations Inid by early residents like Dr. Merriman. lle has gone ; his generation have mainly passed away. In his life he made the best of his situation, enlarged his comforts with opportunity ; then, having seen the fulfillment of his expectations, was numbered with the departed.
303
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
formed chiefly from members of this church, in 1806. Seven of the original members of this society were dismissed to the church at Sennett.
Letters of dismissal were granted to fourteen members in 1829, to form the present Presbyterian Church at Jordan.
Although this is one of the oldest churches in the county, they have never asked nor received any aid from missionary funds. They have at present a fund of $3,400.
The present membership is IO1 ; total member- ship, about 600 ; attendance at Sunday School, 100.
The seventy-sixth anniversary of the church was celebrated October 30th, 1876.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH in Elbridge was organized May 1, 1813, and recognized on the 20th of the same month. The following is the manner of its formation :
The records of the church open with the minutes of a meeting held in the school house near Squire Munro's, by appointment of the church in Brutus, at which meeting "it was agreed that it is expedi- ent, and the church gives full liberty to all then liv- ing in (then) Camillus, to form into church order."
On the 20th of the same month the body of believers was recognized as a regular Church of Christ, by delegates from the First Church in Onon- daga, the First and Second Churches in Marcellus, the church in Aurelius and the church in Brutus. Elder Israel Craw was pastor of the church at the time of its recognition, and in behalf of the church received the right hand of fellowship from Elder Joseph Cornell, of Providence, R. I. Elder Craw continued to be pastor of the church till October 18th, 1817, at a salary of one hundred dollars per year ; and during a portion of this period he preached one-fourth of the time at Nine-Mile Creek. His connection with the church was then dissolved by the withdrawal of the hand of fellowship from him.
On the 4th of December, 1815, the church and society met at the school house near Squire Munro's, their usual place of meeting up to this time, and voted to build a meeting house in the village of Elbridge, and also adopted a platform and constitu- tion.
The first edifice at Elbridge was accordingly erected in 1816. In 1858, it was superceded by the substantial and commodious church edifice now occupied by the society and congregation. Deacon John Munro was the chief mover in, and contributor towards the construction of this church, and it stands as a monument of his liberality and Christian devotion. The cost of the building was $ 14,000.
In 1875. church parlors were added at an expense of $2,500.
Among the original members of the church were Deacon Squire Munro and wife, Ichabod Tyler and wife, and Isaac Hill and wife.
The Baptist Church in Skaneateles was formed by the labors of this church and its ministry from 1830 to 1832. David Bellamy, a member of this church was ordained the first pastor of the church at Skaneateles, December 29, 1832.
About 1835 this church also sent off a colony in the opposite direction, as appears from its vote ap- proving the formation of a separate church in Jordan.
Rev. Jacob Thomas was ordained by this church in 1836 as a missionary to Burmah, and was killed by the falling of a tree just as he had reached his prospective field of labor.
The pastors of the church have been the follow- ing in the order named : Revs. Israel Craw, May 20, 1813 to October, 1817; Sylvanus Haynes, January, 1818, to his death in 1826; Cyrus Fuller, June, 1827, to December, 1838 ; Jeremiah B. Evertts, January, 1839, to December, 1841 ; Isaac Butterfield, January, 1842, to December, 1846 ; John Smitzer, January, 1847, to December, 1848 ; Z. O. Grinell, May. 1849, to March, 1850; was ordained by the church; Alonzo Wheelock, D. D., 1850-'57 ; absent from his pastorate one year ; A. Kingsbury, 1857-'58 ; C. G. Carpenter, January, 1859 to April, 1860; Thomas Rogers, ordained pastor January, 1861, and continues in that relation.
The present membership of the church is two hundred and twenty-six ; attendance at Sunday School, two hundred and eighty.
ELBRIDGE M. E. CHURCH .- At the commence- ment of the Conference Year in 1851, Elbridge became a station and at that time contained fifty members. Previous to this time it had sometimes been connected with Jordan and sometimes with Camillus. The church is situated in the village of Elbridge and the church property is estimated to be worth at present $2,000. The records are so incomplete it is impossible to give a connected his- tory. As far as the record gives, the following are the pastors who have served this charge :
1851-'52, E. S. Bush ; 1853, not known ; 1854, E. M. Cuykendall ; 1855, B. L. Nye ; 1856, Denton Mills ; 1857-'58, Wm. Searles ; 1859-'60, Willianı C. Bowen ; 1861, Alvin M. Lake; 1862-'65, not known ; 1866, Chester Dingman ; 1867, Stephen Cobb: 1868, not known; 1869, Selah Stocking ; 1870, J. F. Brown ; 1871, Moses Lyon : 1872, E. M. Mills, for six months ; 1873, P. J. Bull ; 1874,
304
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
O .N. Hinman , 1875. J. O. Jarman ; 1876, C. W. Lane ; 1877. L. Northway; 1878, J. C. Nichols, present pastor.
Number of members, 53 : Sunday School, 41 ; average attendance, 2.4.
VILLAGE OF JORDAN.
Jordan is situated in the northwest part of the town of Elbridge on the Erie Canal and the Direct New York Central Railroad. It is the most im- portant commercial village in the town. The impulse was given to settlement here by the open- ing of the Erie Canal, although some improvements had been made prior to that event. The first mill (a saw mill) was built in the year 1800. The mill known as the " White Mill" was erected in 1812, and the " Red Mill" in 1824. The act incorpora- ting the village was passed May 2, 1835; it was amended May 3, 1847, March 2, 1857, and January 25, 1861. The village records up to 1845 are missing, but we have been able to obtain the names of the officers for the year preceding (1844). They are as follows : Erastus Baker, Jr., President ; Lyman II. Mason, F. L. Sheldon, H. W. Chad- wick, James McClure, Jr., and F. S. Hover, Trus- tees.
The Presidents of the village from 1846 to 1858, were as follows : Lyman HI. Mason, 1846-'47 ; M. T. Sperry, 1848; Alonzo Case, 1849; R. T. Paine, 1850; W'm. II. Boardman, 1851 : Lyman H. Mason, 1852 '54 ; E. Wheeler, 1855 ; James Rod- gers, 1856; R. S. Sperry, 1857 ; John Dale, 1858. From this date till 1874, there is another break in the records. Charles Kelley was President in 1874; Robert Van Keuren, 1875 ; Robert E. Greene, 1876 ; A. D. Peck, 1877. The Trustees are: Ist Ward, W. H. Rodgers ; 2d Ward, D. A. Sperry. H. Converse ; 3d Ward, C. D. Barnes.
BANKS.
RODGER & Co., Private Bankers, do business in the old office of Westfall & Co. After Westfall & Co. failed, there was no bank in the place till 1870, when R. S. Sperry & Co., opened a private bank. They were succeeded by Rodger & Co. in 18744. The capital stock of this bank is $18,000.
GRADED SCHOOLS.
The present school system of Jordan is the ordi- nary graded one, consisting of three departments : Primary, Intermediate and Academic, held in as many different buildings. The Academic Depart- ment is conducted in the building of the old Jordan Academy, which was added to the school in 1875 by special act of the Legislature.
MANUFACTURES.
PECK & TRACY, Foundry and Machine Shop. Established in 1876. Manufacture hand sleighs, horse powers, steam engines, etc. ; employ twenty workmen ; occupy ground formerly used by James Redfield as a blacksmith shop, afterward sold to Deming Boardman, who used it as a cooper shop and stave factory until 1866, when Mr. Peck came into possession and converted it to its present use. The business was first commenced in Jordan over fifty years ago by Daggett & Thatcher. The ma- chinery was bought by Mr. Peck in 1868, and moved to its present location.
A. D. PECK, manufacturer of wheelbarrows and children's express wagons. Established in 1872; em- ploys fifteen men. Annual production about twenty thousand wheelbarrows and ten thousand wagons.
JORDAN WHITE MILLS. Higgs & Co propric- tors. Employ four hands. Capacity of mill one hundred barrels per day besides custom work ; four run of stones. Mill was built in 1812.
SPERRY & ROCKWELL, manufacturers of wheel- barrows, hand sleds and skates. Established about 1850. Old building burnt in 1870 and present building erected the same year. Employ forty-five hands, and produce about thirty thousand wheel- barrows per annum.
GARRISON & TAYLOR, Bedstead Manufacturers ; were established in 1871, and give employment to ten hands. The present capacity of the works will allow them to manufacture four thousand bedsteads per annum. The present building is located on the site of the old " Red Mill" that was built in 1824.
HARDY & PUTNAM, Proprietors Saw Mill and manufacturers of straw board. Established during 1865. Employ twelve hands, The straw board manufactory is run only during the summer months. Production one hundred and ninety tons. Works are located on canal feeder, Mill street, which gives them an excellent water-power.
I. O. O. F.
Jordan Lodge No. 230 was instituted the 30th of June 1846, with the following officers : W. T. Graves, N. G .; C. W. Upham, V. G .; George W. Green, Secretary ; H. T. Sheldon, Treasurer. From about April 13th, 1859, until June 30, 1869, the lodge was discontinued. At the latter date, however, it was reorganized as Jordan Lodge No. 215, with the following officers : P. Drake, N. G .; E. S. Drake, V. G .; W. C. Orcutt, Secretary ; A. F. Tracy, Treasurer. The present officers are A. F. Tracy, N. G .; L. B. Snow, V. G. ; H. L. Haskins, Treasurer ; W. Baker, Secretary.
Photo. by W. V. Ranger, Syracuse.
YK. Wright,
Preserved Wright, son of Solomon Wright, was born at Wil- braham, Mass., in 1770. He married Jemima King in 1793, by whom he had seven sons and five daughters. One daughter died in infancy, the others all lived to mature age. Truman King Wright, the subject of this sketch, and his twin brother Norman, were the youngest of the twelve children. They were born March 27, 1815, in Rupert, Vt., to which place their father had removed from Manchester, Vt., in 1805.
Their father died when they were eight years old. The mother kept a home for the family for about four years. At that time it seemed best that the two young boys should go to work on a farm ; and a life opened to them which would have appalled less cour- ageous hearts. But with sturdy bodies and determined wills they performed hard labor on a New England farm for three years, at a compensation of four, five, and six dollars a month. Although often weary, lonely, and homesick, they toiled on without com- plaint, hoping for something better in the future. At fifteen, they obtained a more desirable situation, which gave them an oppor- tunity of attending school one term, at Washington academy; Salem, N. Y.
This was the beginning of their efforts for a liberal education. Through the kindness of a friend, Truman K. obtained a chance to work his way for eight months, at Royalton academy, Vt.
In 1833 he entered Burr seminary, then a flourishing school at Manchester, Vt. Here, alternately teaching two winters in his old district and once in an adjoining one, and attending school, he fitted for college. At the age of twenty he entered Middlebury college. The following winter he taught at Rupert, walking, for the purpose of economy, from Middlebury to his school, the dis- tance of forty-five miles, in one day,-something of a feat in those days, when professional walkers were unknown.
The next winter he taught the district school at West Rutland, and during the winters of his junior and senior years he taught the academy in that place. His summer vacations were spent in working on the farm. Throughout his college course, he excelled in all games and pastimes requiring strength of body and presence of mind. He graduated in 1839, among the first in his class.
In the following autumn a request came to the president of Middlebury college, from the trustees of New London (N. H.) academy, an institution just established, for a first-class teacher. The choice lay between him and his twin brother, who had grad- uated at the same time, and was decided by casting lots. The lot fell to Truman. He remained principal of this academy four years. He always referred to his connection with the academy as a bright spot in his life.
Owing to causes growing out of the anti-slavery agitation, he left New London, and went to Durham, N. H., whose academy he taught successfully for three years.
Among valned acquaintances here made was that of Judge Valen- tine Smith, a man whom he came to love for his many virtues and
admire for his high moral principles. President of the board of trustees, he proved a valuable friend and adviser. Although numbering more than his three-score years and ten, his words were wise in council, and his cheerful humor had the freshness of youth. His facetious rendering of the legend of Scylla and Charybdis, by the terms Skilla and Caribogns, could never be forgotten by one who heard it.
In 1846, T. K. Wright was married to Martha Bridgman, of Hanover, N. H., an associate teacher at Durham, and through the influence of his brother, Dr. Rial Wright, of Syracuse, removed with his wife to Pompey Hill, and became principal of the acad- emy at that place. He there remained six years, and, as in all other places where he had lived, he found warm friends and hearty co-operators among his trustees, among whom were Vic- tory Birdseye, Daniel Gott, Ilorace Wheaton, Levi and Asa H. Wells.
In the spring of 1853 he engaged as principal of Jordan acad- emy, where he taught five years, as was sometimes jokingly said, " to the satisfaction of himself and the terror of the surrounding country."
His success at Jordan led the trustees of the Munro Collegiate Institute to invite him to come to Elbridge and take charge of their academy, which for some years had been on the wane. He accepted the invitation, and began his work there April 1, 1858, and succeeded in so establishing the reputation of the school that, in a few terms, the number of the students was increased nearly four-fold. The fund, which in 1858 was but $10,000, increased in the next ten years to $15,000. The chapel also was finished at an expense of $1100, and all things pertaining to the school moved successfully forward until the close of 1865, when the reaction all over the country was felt by this in common with other institutions of learning. The number of pupils steadily decreased for a num- ber of years. It was also financially embarrassed through the loss of a part of its fund. But in 1874 the tide turned once more, and since that time the school has steadily advanced.
If inheriting no wealth but an honest name; if conquering rough fortune by sheer pluck and resolute will; if working one's way through an academic and collegiate course of study by hard hand-work as well as by hard head-work, and obtaining promi- nence in a chosen profession, are marks of self-made men, then is Truman K. Wright such an one. For nearly forty years he has been connected with prominent educational institutions,-over thirty of them in Onondaga County, and twenty of them in El- bridge, where he is now teaching. That his work as a teacher has been a success is easily proved by the love and high regard in which he is held by all who have ever been his pupils. While he does not fear to review his work and meet its results, he bears willing and grateful testimony to the fact that in Elbridge, as in all other places where he has taught, he attributes much"of his success to an able, well-united, and reliable board of trustees.
l'hoto, by Gen, Dygert, Jordan, N Y
JOHN A. STEVENS.
The subject of this sketch is a grandson of Capt. William Stevens, who was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and one of that historie party who threw the tex overboard in Boston harbor. He served with marked ability through the war, and at the close settled in Coleraine, Mass., where he engaged in mercantile pursuits.
In 1793 or 1791 he emigrated to Onondaga County, the government having given him, in consideration of his services in the Continental army, thirty-six hundred acres of land. This land was divided into six hundred acre lots, all of which was located in Onondaga County, excepting two lots. Captain Stevens was evidently a man of culture and refinement and marked busi- ne's ability. He took an active part in all town and county mat - tors, and, in appreciation of his services, his fellow-town-men made him magistrate of the town the year succeeding hi- arrival. From that time on he was regarded as one of the most prominent men in the county, and his name is conspicuous in the carly judicial history of the county, he having been one of the first judges of the court of common pleas.
He did much towards developing the salt interest, and was the first superintendent of the works, the property at this time bring in the possession of the State.
Captain Stevens was an Englishman by birth, and came to this country in company with his two brothers, the best of whom returned to England, and the youngest died soon after their arrival.
Captain Stevens died in Salina, Feb. 22, 1501, leaving the following children,-Betsey, William, Heury, Robert, Thomas, and John, the latter being the father of our salgert.
He was born in Coleraine, Mass., and came to Onondaga County when thirteen years of age. He lived in Elbridge village and Was engaged in milling. Ile inherited from his father an aptitude for military matters. He served during the war of 1512 as colonel of the 16th Regiment New York Infantry. At the close of the war he returned to Elbridge, where he re- sided until his death, which occurred October, 1-1.
He married Miss Anna Tyler, daughter of one of the pioneers of the county. He had four sons, and our subject was the third child and was born in Elbridge, Jan. 25, 1801. He lived with his father until he was thirty one years of age, and was associated in business with him. In 1867 he bought the heirs' interest in the farm now owned by him, and upon which he has since lived.
In 1931 he married Miss Catharine Fornerook, of Charleston. Montgomery Co., N. Y., where she was born July 11, 1811.
Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have been blessed with ten children, all of whom are living but one, John ti., who, in the service of his country, lost his life in the battle of Harper's Ferry.
Another son, Develois, was a member of the 122d Regiment New York Infantry ; William R. and Cyrenus F. are residents of Elbridge village, and are the proprietors of the Munro House.
Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have passed with honor through all the vicissitudes of life, and have lived to see the county of Onon- daga develop from almost a wilderness into one of the finest agricultural district- in the State. They have been successful in life, and are enjoying in their old age a competency, the re- sult of a long life of industry, economy, and honorable dealing.
EZEKIEL SKINNER.
This venerable pioneer was born in the town of Marshfield, Washington county, Vermont, January 12, 1801. He was the son of Giles Skinner and Sally Chapman, and in a family of seven was the fourth child. The elder Skinner moved into Washington county at an early day, and became one of its prom- inent citizens. The boyhood days of our subject were spent upon his father's farm, sharing the hardships and privations of a pioneer family, and receiving as good an education as the in- ferior schools of' that day afforded. When twenty-one years of age he left his home, and with his pack upon his back came to the village of Elbridge. He first engaged in teaching in what is now district No. 11, town of Elbridge, at eight dollars per month, and among his pupils were James Rodger, of Jordan, Calvin MeIntyre, and John Cory. Upon the termina-
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