History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 86

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

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In 1853 he took a contract of the Binghamton Railroad for building the fence from Jamesville to the Summit, being obliged to take his pay in sec- ond. class bonds, which proved as worthless as the Confederate bonds at the close of the late war. He was united in marriage, in June, 1858, to Mary P.

Gould, a daughter of Jeremiah Gould, whose honorable connection with the salt and other inter- ests of the county is spoken of in the general history of the county. Her gran mother was a lineal descendant of General Rufus Putnam After leaving the railroad he went to Michigan, staying two years. Upon returning he worked upon his farm in Pompey until 1863, when he sold it and went to Eagle Village, where he remained till he bought (in 1864) the farm which he occupied till his death, which occurred May 16, 1875, in his forty-third year, leaving at his death four children, named respectively, James E., Addison G., Carrie A., and Robert F. He was a man universally es- teemed by all who knew him, doing in all his trans- actions with the world as he would be done by. His widow and children are occupying the home- stead.

ALLEN H. AVERY.

No citizen of the town of Manlius has a stronger claim on public confidence, or is more universally esteemed for purity of motives and justness of ac- tions, than Allen HI Avery. He was born at Great Barrington, Mass., January 21, 1815, and is a son of Harry and Polly [Chapman] Avery. One of his ancestors, Christopher Avery, a weaver, emigrated from England about the year 1640, settling in Glou- cester, Mass. His grandfather, Miles Avery, was a soldier of the Revolution, and served gallantly dur- ing the seven years of that memorable struggle for freedom. llis parents, when he was a year and a half old, immigrated to Pompey, now LaFayette,) and bought one hundred acres of heavily timbered land, at $10.00 per acre. His father closed his long and useful life December 4, 1872, in his eighty- fourth year.

Although Mr. Avery did not have the educa- tional advantages in his youth that the present day affords, yet so faithfully did he improve his oppor- tunities and leisure hours that he obtained a thor- ough English education, and taught school success- fully two winters. When he was twenty-one years of age his father gave him $1,coo, with which, to- gether with his own savings, he bought a farm of fifty-five and one-half acres, lying in the town of Pompey. He soon after sold it to his brother, Egbert I. Avery, and worked his father-in-law's farm on' shares five years, when he bought a farm adjoining his brother Egbert's, and after five years residence upon it he sold it to his brother. He then purchased his father-in-law's farm, which he still owns. Ilis present wife, Emeline, is a daughter

PHOTOS BY SMITH, FAYETTEVILLE

SEYMOUR PRATT.

NANCY PRATT.

MOTO. BY H. LAZIER SYRACUSE.

BEACH BEARD

FRANCES BEARD

ILLUSTRIOUS REMINGTON.

EUNICE REMINGTON

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of Nathaniel Gillett of DeWitt. His children are named respectively, Mary J., Cora C. and Allen H., Jr., who has received a fine education, having at- tended St. John's School at Manlius, and graduated from Poughkeepsie College.

Mr. Avery is an old Jacksonian Democrat, and has taken a deep interest in political affairs since at- taining his majority. He served as Assessor three years, and won the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens by his equitable adjustment of the assessment rolls. Although his party is in the minority, he made a gallant run when nominated for Supervisor. In the fall of 1871, he was per- suaded to run for the Assembly, but, on account of the large Republican majority, he was not elected. His own town, however, showed their ap- preciation of his worth by giving him one hundred and twelve majority, when the Republican State ticket received one hundred and ninety majority.

Mr. Avery has always been very actively en- gåged in agricultural matters, having been for several years President and Vice-President of the Agri- cultural Societies of the towns of Manlius and Pom- pey, President of the County Wool Growers' Asso- ciation and being, also, a life member and having been Vice-President of the State Sheep Breeders' and Wool Growers' Association.

Although in his 63d year, his step is as firm and elastic as ever and his mind as clear as in the brightest days of his youth. He is passing to the close of his useful life surrounded by kind and lov- ing children and an abundance of means to satisfy his legitimate desires.

J. BEACH BEARD.

In almost every town in the State there are a few aged pioneers, who have undergone the hardships incident to frontier life, and have founded large fami- lies who adorn nearly all the occupations and pro- fessions of life. Of these men J. Beach Beard is a noble representative. He was born at Harwinton, Litchfield county, Connecticut. His parents were David and Mary [Tomlinson] Beard. He received in early boyhood a fair common school education, and in the year 1812, came to Pompey, where he attended the Pompey Academy six months, at the end of which time he engaged in teaching in West- moreland, Oneida County, New York, and taught very acceptably two terms.

In April, 1813, he bought a fifty-acre farm, sit- uated in the town of Pompey, about one mile north- west of Pompey Hill.

In 1815, he disposed of this farm and bought another consisting of seventy-five acres, lying one mile north of Pompey Hill, on the road to Manlius. By subsequent purchases be increased this estate to 500 acres, which he worked for a period of thirty- five years. In the spring of 1832, he conducted a store at Pompey Hill, working on his farm during the day, doing as much hard work as any farm hand he had and in the evening attending to the affairs of his store.

During the summer of 1836, he built a good and substantial stone store at Pompey Hill.

In the spring of 1839, he bought a store at Fay- etteville ; his son, Beach C. Beard, being manager and Ira Beard, clerk. His son, Henry L. Beard, conducted the store at Pompey Hill, assisted by Huntington Beard.

In the Fall of 1850, Mr. Beard moved to Fayette- ville. The previous year he had bought a good in- terest in the famous Ledyard purchase.

In IS51 he built the Spring Mills, at Fayette- ville, which he conducted, with the assistance of his sons, till November, 1877, when he retired.

In 1852 he built the first paper mill in the town of Manlius, which he leased for the first five years and since that time has given the management to his son, Henry L. Beard, and Robert Crouse, the husband of Ellen Beard, his daughter. Mr. Beard and sons are owners of the Beard Block, which con- tains many of the most prominent business firms in the village, which they built in 1852-'53. Mr. and Mrs. Beard, although in their declining years, are enjoying tolerably good health and are surrounded with every comfort which can render their remain- ing years enjoyable.

EDWARD FRENCH.

Edward French was born in the town of Sullivan, Madison County, N. Y., November 28, 1801. His parents, Adin and Chloe (Nettleton) French, emi- grated from the town of Killingworth, Connecticut, in the year ISO1, and settled in Madison County, New York.

At the age of ten years, his father hired him out to a farmer for ten dollars per month during the summer months. In the winter he was occasionally sent to school, but not enough to obtain more than the rudiments of a common school education. When seventeen years of age he was apprenticed by his father to Jonathan Crampton, of East Guil- ford, (now the town of Madison, ) to learn the shoe- maker's and tanning trade. Having mastered his

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

trade and feeling at the age of twenty-one, the want of a good education, he accordingly attended an academy for two months, making such rapid progress as to receive the high compliment from the principal that he had never before had a pupil who " developed such aptness for learning." In the year 1823, he ran a canal boat two trips, and after- ward engaged with a shoe firm in Pompey, remain- ing two years, at the end of which time he rented a farm in Manlius, upon which he worked two years and then bought thirty-four acres of land near the " Green Lakes," which he increased by subsequent purchases, to 140 acres.

At the close of seven years' residence upon this farm, he sold it and bought the place upon which he now lives. He married for his first wife, March 20, 1834, Dora Ann Worden, by whom he had six children, viz : George, Julia, Oliver, Clarrissa, Jonathan and Ellen, of whom only Ellen, George and Julia are living.

In politics, Mr. French is an Independent, hav- ing been for the past fifteen years disgusted with the corruption of parties and partisans ; he has striven in his humble way to put into office the best men, irrespective of party. His youth was passed in a constant struggle for existence. He is now surrounded with every convenience that can make his home happy and his mind contented.

The old adage that the " gods help those who help themselves," has been strikingly illustrated in his life His present wite, Mrs. Elizabeth Tib- betts, is a very estimable lady, and has been his faithful companion for twenty-five years.

ELI A. COE.

El A. Coe, was born at Smithfield, Madison County, N. Y., April 1, 1819. His parents David and Orra (Ellenwood) Coe were both natives of Connecticut. His father, when twelve years of age, came with his parents to Madison County, and devoted himself throughout life to the occupation of farming. Mr. Coe obtained a fair business education, by diligently improving his opportunities for learning.

When twenty-one years of age, he rented a farm adjoining his father's, of seventy-one acres, upon which he lived as lessee five years and as owner two years. In the year 1849, renting his farm, he removed to Oneida Village, where he built a house and a large bakery. At the end of six months he sold the bakery and bought a soap and candle factory, which he conducted successfully

for three years. At the close of eight years' resi- dence at Oneida Village, longing for the quiet rural life of his earlier days, he purchased a dairy farm, consisting of 128 acres, lying in Smithfield, upon which he kept twenty cows.

In the spring of 1865, he purchased and moved upon the farm where he now lives, which he has increased from 116 to 141 acres.

He married for his first wife, February 3, 1846, Nancy, a daughter of Ralph and Emily Ellenwood, of Stockbridge, by whom he had four children, viz : Ralph E., Minnie A., M. Burton, and Milton F. Ralph is married and lives on his father's farm ; the remaining children are at home.

For his second wife he married, January 12, 1869, Mrs. Adelia Wight. In politics Mr. Coe is a Re- publican. In the year 1848, he united with the Baptist Church, and has been a constant and liber- al supporter of church interests since that time. In his domestic relations he is a kind and loving father and affectionate husband. Genial, hospitable and well-informed, his guests find a very attractive and pleasant reception at his home.

There is no man in the town of Manlius who is more highly spoken of and esteemed than he.

DAVID COLLIN, SR.

Among the few carly pioneers of Manlius, still living, is David Collin. He was born at North East, Dutchess County, New York, April 23, 1794, and is a son of David and Lucy [Bingham] Collin. His great grandfather was a French sea-captain. His father was born in Dutchess County and died at Fayetteville, June 2d, 1844. Owing to the new- ness of the country, and the absence of those insti- tutions which accompany civilization, his early edu- cational advantages were quite limited. Like the fathers of most young men of those days, his father required his services on the farm, until he was twen- ty-one years of age, when he gave him 400 acres of wild land, situated within half a mile of the present village of Fayetteville. He commenced the her- culean task of clearing up this immense tract of land with his own hands. The result of his toil can be seen to-day, in the large beautiful fields which meet the passer's gazc.

By a rare combination of business foresight the 400 acres were increased to 1 800 acres, which he has with an unusually fatherly love distributed among his large and respectable family. In the year 1817, he married Anna, a daughter of Ephraim and Mir- iam Smith, of Dutchess County, by whom he had

PHOTO BY W.V. RANGE

PHOTO. BY W.Y RANGER.

MRS. ADELIA W. COE .

E.A.COE.

"LOCUST HEDGE FARM , RESIDENCE OF E. A. COE , KIRKVILLE, ONONDAGA COUNTY, N. Y.

WY MANGER STRA*USE

AANCIM STRACUSE

HENRIETTE BELL

SILAS BELL

You

RESIDENCE OF SILAS BELL , MANLIUS, ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

seven children, viz : Edmund, Lucy, David, Jr., Ira, Harriette, Miriam, and Anna Smith.

In the year 1813, Mr. Collin joined the American army, and served as sergeant for three months. Although he never cared for nor sought political pre- ferment, he has quite frequently been honored with the most important town offices. He has been one of the most public-spirited men that the village of Fayetteville has ever had, being one of the first movers in the erection of the first church and academy in the village. The Water-works Com- pany is indebted to Mr. Collin in a great measure for its existence.

Many men throughout the town and county at- tribute their start in life to the generosity of Mr. Collin. In politics he is a Republican, although his earlier political affiliations were Democratic. Since 1832 he has been an active member and sup- porter of the Presbyterian church of Fayetteville. Mr. Collin is still living at the advanced age of 84 years, enjoying good health.

SILAS BELL.

Silas Bell was born at Glastonbury, Hartford County, Conn., on the 9th of June, 1804. His parents, Aaron and Sally [Olger] Bell, emigrated from Connecticut in the year of 1816, and settled in Fabius, Onondaga County, New York.

His youth was spent in obtaining such advantages of education as the district schools of those days afforded, and in working as a farm laborer. When twenty-one years of age, impressed with the feeling that it was his duty to have a home of his own, he married Hannah Smith, a daughter of Jonathan Smith of Manlius, and bought a sixty-five acre farm in Truxton, Cortland County, N. Y. He met the first payment of one hundred dollars by chopping cord-wood at twenty-five cents per cord. In 1830, he disposed of his farm, and moved to Manlius. The succeeding four years he spent with his broth- ers-in-law and chopped on their farm during that period over a thousand cords of wood. He pur- chased seventy-five acres of land, where he now re- sides, in 1834, which he increased by subsequent purchases to one hundred and thirty acres.

Mr. Bell married for his second wife, September 22, 1863, Henriette, a daughter of Chauncey and Charlotte [Huntley] Arnold, of Sullivan County. Their only child, Nettie Bertha, aged thirteen, is now attending school. By his first wife he had one child, Jasper A., who died in his fiftieth year, the 26th of August, 1877.

In politics Mr. Bell was formerly a Democrat but at present is a Republican.

For over forty years he has been a member of the Universalist Church. Upon first hearing a Uni- versalist preacher, he became thoroughly convinced of the truth of the doctrines of the Universalist church.

Mr. Bell is classed as one of the wealthiest citi- zens of the town of Manlius.

E. W. WOODWARD.

Mr. Woodward was born in Geddes, April 27, 1825. His parents, John W. and Sophia Z. Wood- ward, emmigrated from Unadilla, Otsego County, in the year 1797, and settled in Geddes ; there be- ing no settlement where Syracuse is now situated, except in what is now the First Ward. His father took up Government lands, which he held until 1852, when he disposed of his property and immigrated to the State of Wisconsin, settling near Milwaukee. He afterward moved to Appleton, where he died in 1868, leaving a large estate.

Mr. Woodward spent his youth at home until he attained his 23d year. In 1853 he bought a tract of land in Wisconsin, but in four months returned to Syracuse. The next spring he went to Chicago, where he kept a hotel two years. He subsequently lived alternately in the East and West, until 1865, when he bought the hotel property at Manlius, which he still owns. He married in 1850, Charlotte P., a daughter of Moses Chapman, by whom he has had four children, viz. : Florence, Gertrude, Mabel Blanchard, and Linden Dwight Wesley, of whom only Mabel B. and Linden D. W. are living. In politics he is a staunch Democrat. He has never been desirous of public office, although often solic- ited by his friends to run for different town offices.

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

FABIUS.

FABIUS was erected from Pompey in 1798. It included at that time two military townships- Fabius and Tully-embracing all the present towns of Fabius, Tully, Truxton and Preble, with parts of Spafford and Otisco, being ten by twenty miles in extent. Tully was taken from it in 1803, and in 1 So8, when the county of Cortland was set off from Onondaga, the town of Truxton was taken from the southern part of it.

This town has a general elevation of from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the Erie Canal at Syracuse. The surface of the south half is broken by a series of ridges extending in a north and south direction and separated by narrow valleys. Their declivities are generally steep, their summits rising from three hundred to five hundred feet, South Hill, in the southwest corner being the principal elevation. The streams from the center flow south into the Tioughnioga, a branch of the Susquehanna, and those upon the east and west borders flow north into the Limestone and Butternut Creeks. At the foot of South Ifill lies a small lake known as Lab- rador Pond.

The soil is generally a fine quality of gravelly loam intermixed in places with clay and sand, well watered and adapted to grass and pasturage. From this fact, dairying is the principal occupation of the people. In amount of dairy products, the town is the first in the county and among the first in the State.

FIRST SETTLERS.

The first settlers of Fabius were Josiah Moore and Timothy Jerome, from Stockbridge, Mass., in 1794. They erected their log cabins in the dense forest, and for the first year were entirely without neighbors. The next year was marked by the arriv- al of Col. Elijah St. John, also from Massachusetts, and soon others followed. The settlement was so rapid that in 1810 the population of the town was 1,900, although the immigration commenced at a somewhat later period than that into Pompey, Man- lius and Onondaga.

Josiah Moore settled on the Chenango road. He died April 29, 1802. His son, Charles Moore, was the first white male child born in the town. He was born in 1796, and died in 1862.

The pioneers penetrated into the deep forest ; heavy timber of hemlock, beech, maple, basswood, elm. ash, oak and pine, covered the face of the country. In this unsubdued wilderness they erected their cabins, with no traces to guide them save the marked trees or the curling smoke ascending from their rude chimneys or roofs. In the natural meadows along the valleys of the streams the herds were turned loose and fared sumptuously, the tink- ling bell directing the sturdy woodman to the object of his search, when the obedient ox was needed as an auxiliary to labor, or the docile cow as an in- dispensable aid to sustenance.

The chief means of subsistence to last them through the first two years were brought by the pioneers from the east. Wild plums, blackberries and game were plenty, and these with milk and such stores as they had laid in, constituted the luxu- ries of their board. The first mills to which they had recourse, short of Herkimer. were Danforth's on the Butternut Creek.

TOWN MEETINGS, &C.

The first town meeting for Fabius was held at the house of Joseph Tubbs, April 3, 1798. Timo- thy Jerome was chosen Supervisor : Josiah Moore, Town Clerk ; Benjamin Brown, Timothy Walker, and Elijah St. John, Assessors ; Joseph Tubbs, James Cravath and William Blanchard, Commis- sioners of Highways : Ezekiel Dunham, Constable.

The second town meeting was held at the same place, April 2, 1799 : Timothy Jerome was chosen Supervisor, and Benjamin Brown, Town Clerk.

The seventy-eighth annual town meeting was held February 20, 1877, in the house of Ira Smith, and the following officers were elected : Justices, James HI. Wheelock, Elmore Wheaton, Eli S. Howe, Harance T. Jones ; Town Clerk, Dillie R. Webster : Supervisor, Newel Rowley : Collector. John HI. Sniffin ; Assessor, Elijah Andrews ; Over- seers of the Peor, Ezra Goodrich and Charles W. Miles ; Town Auditors, John C. Bailey, Wm. H. S. Green and W'm. Tibbits ; Constables, John H. Sniffin, George W. Way, Stephen Chaffee, Grant O. Andrews; Game Constable, Ransom Stringham ; Sealer of Weights and Measures. A. W. Salesbury ; Excise Commissioner, Alvin House.

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Timothy Jerome was the first, and for a long time the only, Justice of the Peace in this town, and for the surrounding country.

The first frame house was erected by Josiah Moore in 1800. Others soon followed. The in- habitants were enterprising, and soon supplied themselves with all the comforts and conveniencies of life.

Josiah Moore sowed the first wheat and caused the first farming implements to be brought into the town. The first surveys were made by Hon. Moses DeWitt. (See Town of DeWitt.) Major Joseph Strong built the first barn in 1799. It is still standing.

Among the first settlers were William Clark and Simon Keeney. A daughter of the latter, Miss Lydia Keeney, was married to Mr. Abel Webster in 1798, and this was the first marriage in Fabius.

With respect to the first school in town, authori- ties seem to differ. Clark says : "The first school taught in this town was by Miss Jerome, wife of the late Judge James Geddes." He says it was in a log school house, a year or two before there was any other in the town, but gives no locality nor date. Other local authorities say the first school was taught in Simon Keeney's neighborhood, by Benjamin Brown, in 1802, and give the names of the surviving pupils, as follows : Champion Keeney, Simon Keeney, Jr., and Esther Woodruff. Miss Jerome may have taught a school before 1802, and all the rest of the facts about the school in Mr. Keeney's neighborhood may be correct, except that it was the first school in the town. We suggest this merely as a conjectural mode of reconciliation ; local authorities must settle the question.

Joel Daniels was the first blacksmith. The first store was opened by Morton & Cady. Joseph Simons kept the first tavern within the limits of the present town, though Josiah Tubbs, in 1797, was the first tavern keeper, near Tully, at whose house town meetings were first held.

The first grist and saw mills erected in this town were by Thomas Miles, on Butternut Creek, west of Apulia.

The first postoffice was at Truxton village, (then in Fabius,) established about 1804. At a much later period postoffices were established at Apulia and Franklinville.

Elijah Miles was the first State Senator from this town. The first Member of Assembly was Jona- than Stanley, in 1812.

The oldest native resident of the town is John Keeney, who is now living ; he has attained the good old age of 81 years.

The town contains twenty-three School Districts.

A tannery was constructed by Lyman Smith in 1805. It was in the open air, without any building or even shed to shelter it. The contrivance for grinding the bark was that of a large stone attached to a log or pole and drawn round in a circle by a horse. George Pettit afterwards owned the appli- ances, which were burned in 1812. He immediate- ly rebuilt, and in connection therewith, put up a shoe shop said to have been the first one in town, Prior to this it was the custom for traveling cobblers to go from house to house repairing and making shoes. The above tannery was built on part of Mr. Keeney's farm.

VILLAGE OF FABIUS.

The Village of Fabius is pleasantly situated among the hills which form the most northerly spur of the Alleghany range of mountains. Along its western extremity flows a branch of the Tioughnioga, a beautiful stream whose waters flow southward and mingle with those of the Susque- hanna. The surrounding scenery is pleasing and romantic. It is studded with beautiful groves, fruitful orchards and the neat and substantial homes of prosperous farmers, and is walled in upon every side with hills that swell softly in the distance to a clear cut outline against the deep blue sky. This village had its origin about the year 1812, at which time an ashery and dwelling house were erected near the east end. In the year 1814 a hotel was built and the same now stands, with enlarged dimensions, on the corner of the road, and is known as the Old Cadwell House. In 1816 the Hamilton and Skaneateles turnpike was constructed through this town, and in that year another hotel was erected. Ira Smith is the present proprietor.

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 86

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