History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 81

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

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Nicholas Lewis opened the first tavern in Tully Village in 1802. In 1807, he was succeeded by Jacob Johnson, and he, in turn, by William Trow- bridge.

The first school established in the town was kept in Timothy Walker's barn, and taught by Miss Ruth Thorp, in 1801. We see here what is not notice- able in every town, that a school was the first public object to which the inhabitants turned their atten- tion ; thus placing before their children the means of making themselves useful members of society and distinguished citizens. A log school house was erected in 1804 at Tully Village, and was suc- ceeded by a frame one in 1809. Others soon made their appearance in different parts of the town, and education in the common schools grew into an im-

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

portant and well organized feature of the intellectual life of the people.

FIRST IMPORTANT ROAD.

The Hamilton and Skaneateles Turnpike was laid out in 1806, from Richfield through Brookfield, Hamilton and Fabius, to the outlet of Otisco Lake, thence to the outlet of Skaneateles Lake. Samuel Fitch, Samuel Marsh, Elisha Payne, David Smith, Elijah St. John, Comfort Tyler, Samuel Tyler, Thaddeus Edwards and Elnathan Andrews, were the principal movers in procuring the act of in- corporation and obtaining share-holders, and getting the road laid out, worked and finished. This enterprise opened through the town and others in its vicinity, a way of communication which added essentially to the business and prosperity of the country through which it passed. It was not long before its advantage and effects were realized and appreciated. It gave a spur to business, confidence to the community, and the results which have flowed from it have been salutary and satisfactory.

In 1815 the first postoffice was established at Tully ; Nicholas Howell, Postmaster ; W'm. Trow- bridge was his successor. Previous to this, mail- matter had been obtained from Preble Corners. The earliest settlers received their letters and papers at Pompey Hill. Vesper Postoffice was established in 1827, Wm. Clark, Postmaster ; Tully Valley Postoffice in 1836, George Salisbury, Postmaster.

The first grist mill in town was erected by Peter Van Camp, in ISto ; a saw-mill was built at the same time and place about three miles west of Tully village. In 1845, there were four grist mills, five saw-mills, two carding machines and one woolen factory.

The first settlers of this town, Homer, Solon, Cincinnatus, Marathon, and those lying south, had to come to Jackson's, Ward's and Sanford's mills to get their grists ground. They came with drays loaded with wheat or corn, drawn by oxen. These drays were made of the crotches of trees with boards pinned across. Ten bushels was considered a pretty large load to haul twenty or thirty miles on such a vehicle with one yoke of oxen, over such roads as then existed. This method of going to mill was a matter of necessity till mills were built in Tully, and the settlements, at first destitute of them, were supplied nearer home.

At the organization of Tully in 1So3, the first town meeting was held May 1, at the house of Samuel Trowbridge. Phineas Howell was chosen Supervisor ; Amos Skeel, Town Clerk ; Jacob John- son, Samuel Cravath, Solomon Babcock, Assessors ;

Floyd Howell, James Cravath, and Solomon Bab- cock, Commissioners of Highways. At the second and third town meetings, the same were reelected and held their respective offices.

Amos Skeel was the first Justice of the Peace in 1803 : Job L. Lewis and Moses Nash were Justices of the Peace from ISOS to 1812 Mr. Nash after- wards removed to Indiana, where he became a dis- tinguished man.

VILLAGE OF TULLY.

The village of Tully is situated on the Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railway, twenty-two miles from Syracuse. It has a population of about five hundred and is a favorite resort for persons in pursuit of health and pleasure during the summer months, the principal attraction being a number of beautiful lakes in the immediate vicinity, which are well stocked with pickerel, bass and other choice fish. The fine large hotel, the Empire House, managed by M. G. Bennett, is another feature of attraction. The streets are ornamented with beautiful shade trees, and the residences present a cheerful and comfortable appearance, while the business houses are well stocked and seem to be managed in a man- ner that is creditable to the village and profitable to the proprietors.

The village is incorporated, and the present officers are the following : H. C. Tallman, Presi- dent ; Il. V. B. Arnold, Clerk. The Trustees of the corporation are George W. Crofoot, H. B. Scammel and Wm. L. Earle : Treasurer, Judson Wright ; Collector, Daniel Vail.

The first settler in what is now the village of Tully was David Owen, who built the first log house. Nicholas Howell, Timothy Walker and William Trowbridge settled here before ISoo. Seth Trowbridge came here in iSoo, and his son Milo, now living here, was then five years old, having been born in 1795. He is now eighty-three years old, and seemingly hale and hearty. The oldest resi- dent of the village is Salem Baker, being now ninety-two.

Henry F. King came here in ISIS from Suffield, Conn. In the year 1828 he set out a row of sugar-maple trees in front of his residence and grounds, bringing the whole number from the woods on his back. They are now immense in size, and beautiful to behold, affording a grateful shade. Mr. King was postmaster here for more than thirty years. He died in 1853.

Tully as a shipping point for all kinds of produce is not equalled by any other place in this part of the

Photos do Banda & Curtis, Syracuse

TON. SAMUEL. WIL.I.S.

MitS. N. WILLIS.

HON. SAMUEL WILLIS.

Samuel Willis was born in the town of Lake Plen-ant, Hamilton Co., N. Y., in the year 1818. He remained in his native pluee until seventeen years of age, when a desire to better his circumstances induced him to remove to Onondaga County. He arrived in Syra- cuse with a surplus, over and above his traveling expenses, of only eighty cents. This he expended for some small article of clothing, and went on foot to Vesper, in the town of Tully, where he found employment as a farm laborer with Orange Smith, working one year for one hundred and eight dollars. During the year his father visited him, and was induced by young Sammel to remain and purchase a small farm, the latter pledging his your's wages to make the first payment upon the same. The land was purchased of Mr. Orange Smith, and, after the expiration of the first your, Samuel was engaged with his father in improving the new farm.

At the age of twenty-four years he was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Van Wormer, daughter of Issue and Agnes Van Wormer, who were among the early settlers of this county.

Subsequent to his marriage he purchased. upon credit, eighty Here's of the farm on which he now resides. This was no inen- siderable undertaking for a young man in his circumstances, but the responsibility stimulated the exertions of both himself and wife, and by their united efforts, diligence, perseverance, and economy they not only succeeded in paying for their land, but in subsequently increasing it to a farm of one hundred and twenty neres. For many years Mr. Wills has carried on farming on a large scale, having worked from three hundred to five hundred neres of land. He has one of the most desirable home, in the

section of the country where he resides, a sketch of which is shown on the opposite page. For his success in life he attributen no small share of credit to the good judgment and skillful man- agement of his estimable wife, who has ever been ready, by word and dood, to second his efforts and assist him in all his undertakings.

Mr. Willis has served his town in various public and official capacities, having held the office of assessor for sit conventive years, and that of supervisor for seven years, and is now a member of assembly from his district, having been elected in the fall of 1877.

Mr. Willis is the architect of his own fortune. Without the aid of inherited wealth or social prestige, he has made his way from poverty to affluence, and from obscurity to a high position in the gift and trust of his fellow-citizens, by his own energy, industry, and economy. While his oficial duties occupy much of In- time, his laghest pride and enjoyment are in his well-ordered farm, and the associations und comforts of his delightful home at 1 the seriety of his many friends. .

Mr. Willis has had the children, - one san and four daughter The oldest, Ann Eliza, married Erastus Clark, and is living ner her parents; George 1. died at the age of twenty-ane, in Poi; Sophia 1. married Adrian Cummings, and is living about three miles from her father ; Mary La. died May 4, 1876, agel twenty- seven years ; Julia If lives with her parents at home ; graduated at Cortland Normal school ; afterwards beenme one of us ten bert, which place the filled for two years ; has also been a teacher in the academy nt Winsted, Conn.

RESIDENCE OF HON. SAMUEL WILLIS , TULLY, ONONDAGA Co., N. Y.

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

county, it being in the center of a large dairy country, and the towns of Spafford, LaFayette and Otisco sending their products here for shipment.

The churches of Tully are M. E. Church, Bap- tist, and Disciples.

The Commercial and manufacturing interests are as follows : Three dry goods stores, Tallman, Mil- lan & Hoxsie, Bouttelle Bros. and Joseph Fletcher.

Two drug stores, J. W. Wright & Son and W. F. Jones & Co.

Two hardware stores, W. W. Hayford & Son and A. G. Dryer ; one grocery store, L. Gowing ; one furniture and undertaking establishment by W. L. Earle ; one butcher shop, Coughey Bros. ; three cooper-shops, F. A. Vail, George Watson and Ol- ney & Smith; three blacksmith shops, James Williams, Zepheniah Mason and Andrew Strail ; two carriage and repair shops, John B. Hall and Andrew Cately ; two harness shops, Armenius Smith and John C. Davis.

There is one steam and water-power grist mill, built by Timothy Walker about the year 1818. Joel His- cock, uncle to Frank Hiscock, member of Congress from Syracuse, had charge of putting in the ma- chinery. The mill was rebuilt and refitted for steam power in 1874, and is owned and operated by Ellis & Hodges. It has two run of stones. They manufacture flour and do custom work. There are two tailor shops, Henry Arnold and Myron Brown.

Two physicians, S M. Farnham and George W. Earle.

Henry C. Tallman is an attorney here ; H. K. King, insurance agent and notary public.

The present postmaster is M. J. Bouttelle ; he has held the office about two years.

H. C. Scammell and Son are packers and heavy shippers of eggs at this point, shipping as many as one hundred thousand dozen per year.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

From the commencement of the settlement of Tully, religious privileges, as well as schools, occu- pied the attention of the people, who brought with them their New England predilections. Meetings were held in the several neighborhoods in barns, and, in cold, inclement weather, in private houses. It was thought no hardship in those days for a whole family to walk several miles to meeting, the father carrying the baby and the elder children trudging along on foot, aided by the mother in crossing the small streams and muddy places. Rev. Mr. Rid- dle, a Presbyterian Missionary from New England, was the first clergyman who officiated in the town. A large portion of the new settlers were of that

persuasion. Mr. Riddle organized a Presbyterian society in 1804, which was reorganized under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Parsons. The society was kept up till about 1830, when it was discontinued. We believe no Presbyterian society has since been organized in the town,

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF TULLY .- A council of ministers and delegates from the churches of Pompey, Fabius, Homer and Truxton, convened at the house of Uriel Smith, in the town of Tully, on the 28th of February, 1816, and after due consider- ation and examination, gave Uriel Smith, Ziba Palmer, James B. Stroud, Cibbel Smith, Lydia Chapman, John Brown, Aaron Vail, Sarah Hugh- son, Eliza Fuller, Nancy Stroud, Sarah McCollery, Susanna Brown, Hannah Palmer and Elizabeth Van Tassel fellowship as a gospel church. Services were held during a few years following at the school houses in Christian Hollow, Tully Flats and in Vesper Village. The first regular pastor was Elder Squire Abbott, who came in 1818 and re- mained two years ; after whom came Elder Salmon Morton, in 1824; Elder Frederick Freeman, in 1827 ; and Elder Randolph Streeter ; after whom came Elder John D. Hart, Elder R. Winchell, Elder Jeremiah Everts, Elder Supply Chase, Elder Pease, Elder J. Dill, Elder N. Camp, Elder J. La Grange, Elder Herman Powers, Elder B. Morley, Elder J. Webster, Elder D D. Brown, and Elder S. A. Beman. In 1824, under the pastorate of Elder F. Freeman, a church edifice was erected about one mile northwest of Tully Village, at Tully Centre. In 1848 the church building was removed to Tully Village and rebuilt, and $2,500 expended upon the building. During the early history of the church eight ministers were ordained and sent into the West. The present membership is eighty-five ; attendance at the Sunday School one hundred and twenty-two.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF TULLY .- The present church was organized in the village about 1832, and in 1834 they erected their church edifice, incurring quite a heavy indebtedness, which, through the liberality of Mr. H. F. King, in 1837, they were relieved of, and thenceforward the society has prospered. The first class-leader was Silas Aylsworth. Among the earliest members we find Myron Wheaton, Mrs. Gifford, Miss Markham, Esther Johnson, David Bouttelle, Sarah Viall, Mary E. King, Cynthia Arnold and Mary Viall. Most of the time until 1840 the church was supplied by itinerant preachers ; since then this church and that at Vesper have usually employed the same minister. Among the most efficient were : Rev.

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IHISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

J. Atwell, Rev. E. D. Thurston, Rev. Ephraim Hoag, Rev. Mr. Fox and Rev. J. D. Barnard. Under the pastorate of the latter the church in 1862 was rebuilt and rededicated, and also in 1877, under the present pastor, Rev. F. Devitt. The present membership is one hundred and fifty ; Sabbath School, eighty-five. The church received in 1840, from Mrs. Sarah Viall, a donation of a parsonage, which was afterward exchanged for the present parsonage. The church building cost $5,coo ; par- sonage, $3,000. The present Trustees are : Ellis V. King, Moses Schoonmaker and Samuel Willis.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF TULLY .- The first meet- ing was held one mile east of Tully, at the resi- dence of H. A. Chase, on the 9th of May, 1840, and Russell Chase, Mother Fuller, H. A. Chase, Marvin Baker, Amasa Emmons, Amos Hodgeman, Kesiah Wilcox. Lydia Chase, Lydia Lansing, Bet- sey Fuller, Mary Hodgeman, Lola Emmons, or- ganized a church society. Elders Calvin Thomas and Harry Knapp of Pompey, officiating.

In 1845, this society, by the liberal assistance of Russell Chase and H. A. Chase, erected a neat and commodious church in the Village of Tully at a cost of $1,500. The first pastor was Elder J. M. Bart- lett. Elder Hamilton A. Chase, for twenty years Jabored with the charge and has become a very prominent character in the history of this society. Elder J. D. Benedict, J. I Lowell, Elder Milton Shepard, Elder Gardner, W. J. Lathrop, Elder Allen, Elder J. C. Goodrich, and Elder Moore have officiated. Elder O. C. Cutts is now laboring very acceptably for this church

BAPTIST CHURCH OF VESPER-In 1848 the Tully Centre Baptist Church deemed it advisable to divide and establish themselves at Tully Village, and the members residing in the western part of the town withdrew, and in December, 1848, a new Society was organized at the residence of Josiah Smith, among whom were Deacon Uriel Smith, Deacon Joseph Daniels, E. V. B. French, Harry Rowland, Peter Henderson, Allen Palmer, E. J. Daniels, Sarah M. King, Nancy Darrow, Polly Williams, Betsey L. Palmer, Zuriah Rowland, Sally Henderson and thirteen others. At first this church employed a pastor alone. Among those who have officiated as pastors are : Eld. A. Galpin, Elder Thos. Brown, Elder William Jones. In 1860, Eller B. Morley,

of Tully, assumed both charges, and generally since then both churches have employed the same pas- tor. The church building, a fine frame structure,) was dedicated January 18, 1849. It cost about twelve hundred dollars Present membership, 24 ; Sabbath School, forty.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF VESPER - Meetings were held as early as 1820 in the school house under the leadership of Durin Ferris, who was class-leader and circuit preacher. In 1840 the society numbered about thirty-five ; on the 7th of July, 1840, the church was duly incorporated. The class-leader at that time was Levi Highley. Dur- ing that year a church was erected in the Village of Vesper at a cost of about $1,000. Among the most prominent members at that time were Enoch Bailey, Henry Stewart, Aaron Hollenbeck, Zenas Pickett, Asahel Nichols, Sanford Moon, Alvah Hodge, Rueben Aylsworth. This church has ust- ally been under the same pastorate as the Tully church. Among those who have ministered at this place were Revs. Daniel F. Holcomb, D. Fancher, W. White, Ephraim Hoag, J. Foster, L. Bowdish, J. Stowell, A. L. Torrey, W. Fox, L. Nickerson, R. Fox. R. W. Clark, A. Bowdish, J. W. Barnard and the present pastor, Rev. Fred. Devitt.

The present membership is forty, and a very fine Sabbath School is now a useful auxiliary in the church work.

YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION .- On the evening of June 8, 1877, an organization con- sisting of eleven members was formed, W. L. Earll, as Leader ; Joseph Fletcher, Secretary, and J. H. Hoxsie, Treasurer. Their meetings were at first held in different churches, but during the early part of the winter they held a revival in a stable fitted for their meetings and now number one hun- dred and fifty-two members, and are at present the strongest religious organization in the town.

MORNING STAR LODGE No. 636, I. O. of G. T. -Lodge instituted at Vesper, April 30, 1877, with fourteen charter members. Charter officers-W. C. T., A. B. Daniels ; W. V. T, Addie Carr ; W. S., Geo. King. Present membership, thirty-eight. Meetings every Friday evening, at their Hall in Vesper Village. Present officers-W. C. T., Geo. King : W. V. T., Mrs. M. Ripley ; W. S., Charles Barber.

RESIDENCE of MORRIS BAKER, LAFAYETTE, ONONDAGA COUNTY N Y

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

LA FAYETTE.

This town, named after the Marquis de LaFayette, was taken from Pompey and Onondaga and organ- ized April 15, 1825. That portion of the town taken from Onondaga was purchased by the State of the Indians in 1817, and sold to the white set- tlers in 1822. The town contains 28,200 acres of land, of which 6,400 acres, not taxable, belongs to the Onondaga Reservation. The surface of the town is hilly and broken, the high ridge between Butternut and Onondaga Creeks, the two principal streams, having steep declivities and rising from three to six hundred feet in altitude. The valleys on the east and west of this ridge-Sherman Hol- low and Christian Hollow-extend the entire length of the town, and present an unusually rich and beautiful landscape when viewed from the summits. The soil of the town is generally a sandy and grav- elly loam, a portion of it thickly covered with large water-worn pebbles. It is intermixed with vege- table mold and is rich and productive on the highest hills. The rocks abound in shells and other relics of the diluvian age : some specimens of coral and petrifactions are also found. In portions of the town there are deep chasms which appear to have been produced by an earthquake, and many springs emit- ting sulphureted hydrogen gas. In some places this has been collected in a vessel and burned by applying a torch or a match.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

The first white settlement was made a little east of the Indian orchard on Haskin's Hill, in 1791, by John Wilcox, who boarded the surveyors when they laid out the lots in the townships of Pompey, Tully and Manlius. Mr. Wilcox owned the " Indian or- chard" and sold much fruit from it to the settlers. It occupied twenty or more acres of ground ; the trees were planted in regular rows and were very productive. This old orchard was a very great help in the way of supplying the pioneers with fruit be- fore they had raised productive orchards of their own.

The next settler was Comfort Rounds, near the center of the town, in 1792. In the same year came William Haskins, and gave his name to Haskin's Hill; the next year, Solomon Owen and James

Sherman. The latter settled in Sherman Hollow, which took his name. John Houghtaling, Ama- ziah Branch, James Pierce, Samuel Hyatt, Amasa Wright and Reuben Bryan, were all settlers in 1794, and Ebenezer Hill in 1795.

The first white child born in the town was Amy Wilcox, in 179t ; the first marriage was that of Solomon Owen and Lois Rounds, in 1793, and the first death that of Moses DeWitt, in 1794.

Mr. Reuben Bryan had a son who became a noted public man, viz : Hon. John A. Bryan, once a mem- ber of the New York Legislature, Assistant Post- master-General under President Tyler's administra- tion, Charge d'Affaires to Peru, and Auditor of the State of Ohio, to which he removed and became a resident of Columbus, in that State.

In the north part of the town, Samuel Coleman, Clark Bailey, Nathan Park, Zenas Northway and Ozias Northway were first settlers ; so also were John and Archibald Garfield, Graudius Cuddeback, Wm. Sniffin, John Hill and Hendrick Upperhousen. John Hill and Hendrick Upperhousen, were Hes- sians, who had been captured from the British army.

General Isaac Hall, Wm. Alexander, Amos Pal- meter, Jacob Johnson, Jacob Johnson, Jr., Obadiah Johnson, Elijah Hall, Peter Abbott, Rufus Kinney, Abner Kinney, Captain Joseph C. Howe and others, were among the pioneers in the south part of the town.

Michael Christian, a Revolutionary soldier, first settled in Christian Hollow, in 1792, on Lot number eighteen. township of Tully, which gave to the Hollow its name. Daniel Danforth was the first settler in this Hollow within the present town of LaFayette, in 1798.

In addition to those already mentioned in the northern part of the town, was Asa Drake, a Revo- lutionary soldier, Elkanah Hine, Noah Hoyt, Eze- kiel Hoyt, Joel Canfield, Job Andrews, Minnah Hyatt, Ebenezer Carr, Cologius Vinell and Joshua Slocum. Col Jeremiah Gould and Isaac Keeler lived towards Jamesville.

In the vicinity of La Fayette Square, were Thomas, Seth, Erastus and Sydenham Baker, Joseph Smith, Jeremiah Fuller and Dr. Silas W. Park. The latter

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

was a practicing physician and had a wide field in which to pick up his scattering patients. His ride was from Liverpool to l'ort Watson, Cortland County, and from Skaneateles to Cazenovia, Madi- son County. Other carly settlers who lived in this vicinity, were Daniel Share, Caleb Green, Joseph Stevens Cole, Paul and Orange King. Joseph Rhoades, Gershom Richardson, Daniel Cole and John Carlisle, were also among the carly settlers of this town.

The first frame house in the town then town of Pompey, was erected by Col. Jeremiah Gould, in ISoo. In 1801, Isaac Hall built the next. The first tavern was kept by Mr. Cheeney, the next by Orange King, who had his sign nailed to a tree, "() King !" In 1801, the State Road from Caze- novia to Skaneateles was laid out through this town. Colonel Olcott, the Surveyor, was taken suddenly ill while engaged in the survey, and died at the house of Erastus Baker. About this time the in- habitants of this retired country were visited with that dreadful scourge, the small-pox, which in many instances proved fatal.

The first town meeting was held at LaFayette Square in March, 1826. Charles Jackson was elected Supervisor, and Johnson Hall, Town Clerk.

Messrs. Rice and Hill were the first merchants at LaFayette Square in 1802 or 1803.

In 1805, Seth Baker made a settlement adjoining Erastus on the west, and Sydenham Baker located to the north of him. Thomas Baker, in 1803, set- tled a mile and a half southwest of the Square, in Sherman Hollow. The greater part of these lands remain in the hands of the Baker family to this day. Joseph and Lemuel Baker came in 1804, but made no permanent home. Joseph moved to Otisco and died there ; Lemuel went to the far West, and, it is said, was finally killed by the Indians in Texas, while hunting for his cows.

Previous to ISoo, Gen. Isaac Hall came from Great Barrington, Mass., and settled one mile south of the village upon a soldier's claim. He purchased ten or twelve hundred acres of land, and was the wealthiest man in the town of Pompey. as it then was. It is said he brought into town with him half a bushel of silver dollars. He gave his attention to the raising of stock, it being his custom to let cows, sheep, colts, &c., to his neighbors and other citizens, to double. He died in 1830, worth about $70,000.

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 81

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