USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 87
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The first store was kept by Aaron Benedict & Co., and erected on the corner now occupied by S. H. Corbin, as a fruit yard ; in the same year the turnpike was constructed. The first physician was Dr. Searles. The first Justice of the Peace was George Pettit.
The Baptist meeting-house was built in 1818, and rebuilt in 1870, the present pastor being Rev. Ira Taylor. The Methodist church was built in 1821, was moved to its present position in 1835, and rebuilt in 1860. The Free-Will Baptist Church was built in 1830, moved to the present location in 1845, removed and a new structure placed in its stead in 1868. The Universalist Church, now oc- cupied by the Roman Catholics was erected in 1845.
The completion of the turnpike in 1816, was the signal for the systematical laying out and building
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK
in this central part of the town a village upon this thoroughfare, and Henceforwar l, for forty years, it sustamed uninterrupted growth, prosperity and wealth, and was the scene of stirring business activity. It soon extended three-quarters of a mile along the turnpike, hal one parallel side street and four cross streets, with a population of Goo, with numerous dry. goods, grocery, boot and shoe, and clothing stores, cabinet and wagon shops, with the usual minor branches of business and trade. Prominent among the early land-holders and founders of this place may be mentioned Abijab Ous, Mark and Lucas Andrews, and Aaron Bene- dict, while to Jerry Benedict and John Wilson may be ascribed the original conception of the village and plan of the streets. The opening of the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad in 1854 was a damag- ing blow to the business enterprise of the place. Since that date this avenue has conducted a large percentage of the most valuable trade to the heavy stores and shops of Syracuse. And now the place of the business men of a former day is filled with a laboring class, retired farmers and men of leisure. Still the town is not devoid of life. It has a popu- lation of 500. It numbers 125 dwelling houses, 4 churches, 3 mixed stores, I grocery store, 2 restaur- ants, i tin and hardware store, i hotel, 4 shoe shops, 2 carriage shops, 4 blacksmith shops, i large flour- ing mill, i undertaking establishment and 4 physi- cians, together with one graded school, employing 3 teachers in charge of 100 pupils, in the large and commodious house formerly built for an academy and subsequently converted to the use of a district school, and was recently improved and enlarged by the addition of the edifice formerly occupied by the school of district No. S, which, at the time of this addition with three of the other large districts in the central part of the town, was consolidated with the present district No. y. One of the pres- ent teachers, Miss Mary E Persons, has held a position in this school for the last three years.
The principal store of the place is conducted by Hlotaling & Case. George H. Gallinger, the former partner of Mr. Hotaling has recently retired from the firm. Their sales amount to $35.000 an- nually. The postoffice is kept at this store. O. Hulbert, Postmaster.
The carriage manufacturing and repair shop of Ellis & Barnes has a conspicuous position on one of the corners at the west end of the village.
Among the physicians is Dr. Milford I .. Pine, who has recently established his office in this place.
Rev. C. L. F. Howe has recently entered upon the first year of his services with this people.
Rev. I. H. Beman has charge of the Free Will Baptist church.
Fabius Evergreen Cemetery is an important ad- junct to the village. The Association was organ- ized March 22, 1864. The first Trustees were, O. Hills. H. F. Williams, A. Bramer, J. E. Pettit, S. Cadwell, E. Andrews, L. S. Thomas, H. Adams and D S. Sprague. The present Trustees are H. F. Williams, D. HI Johnson, D. S. Sprague, S. H. Corbin, 11. C. Phillips, E. Wheaton, O. Pope, E. Peck and Lyman Osborn. II. F. Williams was the first President of this Association and has held the position of Trustee since its organization. The cemetery occupies six acres of land near the cast end of the village. Its great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs make it a very attractive rural cemetery.
BAPTIST CHURCH OF FABIUS .- On the 24th of August, 1803, when there were no roads through this town east and west, and it was all forest where the village now stands, the Baptist Church of Fabius was recognized by a council composed of delegates sent from Hamilton, Cazenovia, l'ompey, and DeRuyter. Elder Ashbel Hosmer was chosen Moderator, and Dr. James Pettit, Clerk. This council, composed of six ministers and nine lay- brethren, convened in a barn three miles south of the village, owned by Samuel Webster, and there recognized this little band of disciples, numbering less than twenty, as a " true church of Jesus Christ." Some of the original members were Thomas Keeney, Samuel Stone, Elijah Keeney, Gurden Woodruff and Samuel Webster.
The house of worship of this church was erected at Fabius Village, in the year 1818, and cost about $5,000. This year was an eventful one to the church. They engaged Elder Eliada Blakesly for three years for one thousand dollars, and went with their teams to Connecticut to bring his family and goods ; they built their meeting house, and baptized one hundred and twenty-three converts.
The following are the names of pastors :
Rufus Freeman, 1805 : Peter P. Roots, 1807; John Upfold, 1811 : Salmon Morton, IS15 ; Rufus Freeman, 1816; Eliada Blakesly, 1818 ; Ottis and Bell, 1822 ; Horace Griswold, 1823 ; Wheeler I. Cram, 1831: - Brisbin, 1832 : Jirah D. Cole, 1833 : Oreb Montague, 1834 ; A. Wheelock, 1836; H. V. Jones, 1838; Enoch Dye, 1842; Luke Davis, 1843; Peter P. Brown, 1844 : Walter G. Dye, 1847 ; Lark L. Livermore, 1853; Elijah G. Blount, 1858; J. D. Webster, 1864; - Olney, ISGG: J. M. Tolman, 1867 ; Ira Clark, 1873 ; Crain, 1875 ; Ira A. Taylor, 1877.
The church was incorporated August 24, 1819. At that time the following Board of Trustees was
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
elected : Elijah St. John, Stephen Tripp, Jonathan Stanley, Simon Keeney, Aaron Benedict, John Phelps, Benj. Lewis, Geo. Pettit, Nathaniel Bacon.
Present Trustees, 1877-Lorenzo Heffron, Du- portal S. Sprague, Jr., Albert G. Bacon, Orlando Hulbert, Elmore Wheaton, Dillis R. Webster.
FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH, Fabius Village .- The first meetings of this denomination in the town were held in a school house, near Stephen Tripp's, in October, 1826. In 1827, the church was organ- ized, consisting of David Coats, Charles Moore, Rolen Sears, Joshua Sanders, John Smith, Eliza- beth Coats, Hannah Moore, Experience Sears, Sallie Sanders, Polly Smith, Polly Coats, Celestia Annable and others.
The present church edifice was erected in 1869, at a cost of $5,000.
Elders Waldron and Bates preceded the present Pastor, Rev. I. H. Beman, who settled over the church in the Spring of 1877.
The church has about 75 members and a Sunday school numbering 50.
FIRST M. E. CHURCH, of Fabius. - The earliest meetings were held in a school house. The church edifice was erected in 1821. Among the original members of the church were Anson Cadwell, David Porter, Daniel Porter, Carlson Hodgson, Sallie Cad- well and Catherine Hubbard. The cost of the church edifice was $6,000. The names of the follow- ing pastors have been furnished us :
Rev. Moses Adams, Dr. Luke Hitchcock, Rev. John E. Robie Dr. D. A. Wheadon, Rev. Thomas Harrow, Rev. P. H. Wiles, Rev. C. L. F. Howe, A. M., Ph. D., present Pastor.
Present membership 105; Sunday school, 147.
BRAMER & BENNETT, Foundry, Machine and Gen- eral Repair Shops, Fabius Village. Established in the Spring of 1877. Building of wood, three stories, cost $2,000, erected in 1866. Manufacture lumber- wagons, sleighs and agricultural implements ; busi- ness prosperous.
E. A. FOSMER, Cabinet and Undertaking Rooms, Fabius Village. Business established in 1872. Wooden building-not costly. Mr. Fosmer has made steady progress in building up a good business.
IRVING SMITH, Custom Mills, Fabius Village. Mills started by Oregin & Griswold in 1817. Cost of buildings $5,000. Water-power-14 ft. breast wheel. Capacity, 20 bushels per hour ; two millers employed. Capital, $ 10,000.
ELLIS & BARNES, Carriage and Sleigh Factory, Fabius. Wooden building, erected in 1837. Busi- ness established in 1856.
C. S. CHAFFEE & BROS., Saw and Shingle Mill and Cheese-Box Factory, Fabius. Established in
1837. Water-power ; employs five hands and do a large business.
SUMMIT STATION.
Summit Station is a young but brisk and active village. It is located in the western part of the town, five miles distant from Fabius Village, and on the line of the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad, to which it owes its existence. There was not a building on its site when the road was built in 1854. Since then it has become a center for marketing and shipping the produce from a large surrounding territory, and at the present time a larger tonage of dairy products is shipped from this station than from any other point on the line of the road. It presents a neat and attractive appearance to the traveler, its buildings being new and reared in the style of modern architecture. As the old village of Apulia is dying away, its business and population are accumulating about this point. It now has a population of something over one hun- dred ; and maintains one district school with an average attendance of twenty pupils, one church of the Methodist denomination, Rev. A. D. Webster, Pastor ; two well supported, well appointed and orderly conducted hotels-the Summit House on the western side of the track kept by John H. Sniffin, the Colby House on the east side controlled by O. F. Gilbert ; one dry goods and grocery store, conducted by C. F. Gay & Co. ; one house for the sale of general groceries and farm implements, kept by J. Jay Blaney, who is also Postmaster ; one extensive steam manufacturing establishment, Green & Sturdevant, proprietors. It also contains a cheese factory, one blacksmith shop, one carriage factory and two custom flouring mills. It also has two dealers in farmer's and dairymen's stock and produce. Each year adds new industry, wealth and importance to the place.
GREEN & STURDEVANT'S SAW MILLS, at this village were established in 1871. The manufacture of chairs was added to the saw mill in 1874. employs twelve hands and $8,000 capital.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Apulia Station. Organized in the fall of 1869. The following have served the church as pastors :
Rev. Timothy W. Owen, two years ; Rev. J. Fletcher Brown, two and one half years ; Rev. Edmund M. Mills, two years; Rev. Anthony C. Smith, three years; Rev. Anson D. Webster, present pastor.
The church edifice was built in 1869-'70, at a cost of $2,200. The church has now thirty-nine members and a Sunday School of about thirty.
66*
386
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK
DE WITT.
Di. Wirr was taken from Manhus and erected into a separate town April 12, 1835. It was named in honor of " Moses De Witt, Major of Militia and Judge of the County Courts ; one of the first, most active and useful settlers of the county. He was born on the 15th of October, 1,66, and died on the 15th day of August. 1794." Such is the inscription found upon a marble slab which covers his remains in a small family burying ground about a mile south of Jamesville. The same stone bears the further inscription : " Also of his brother, Egbert DeWitt, born 25th of April, 1768 : died 30th of May, 1793." Moses De Witt was descended from a dis- tinguished family of Holland, which immigrated to New York, and a branch of which settled in Or- ange County. His father was Jacob Rutzen De- Witt, a brother of the mother of De Witt Clinton. The family mansion in the town of Deer Park, on the banks of the Neversink River, in the County of Orange, N Y., had been built as a sort of a castle for defense against the Indians, and during the French War and the War of the Revolution had been strongly fortified. The walls were of stone, of immense thickness, and surrounded by a row of palisades. It was occupied by a garrison during the Revolution.
Moses DeWitt and his distinguished cousin, De Witt Clinton, were in early life schoolmates, un- der the tuition of Thomas White, an English gentle- man of liberal education, who formed a strong at- tachment to Mr. DeWitt, " was with him much of his life, and closed his eyes in death." Moses D. Burnet and Thomas Rose of Syracuse, were rela- tives of Moses De Witt.
Moses DeWitt was associated with his uncle, Gen. James Clinton, and David Rittenhouse, Esq., as one of the surveyors of the boundary line be- tween New York and Pennsylvania, when the former two gentlemen were Commissioners ap- pointed by their respective States, to survey and establish the boundary line-a work which lasted about three years ; and during this time proved himself a skillful surveyor and engineer. When the Military Tract was laid out, the Surveyor- General, his uncle, Simeon De Witt, appointed him as Assistant Surveyor, and with Abraham Harden-
burgh, he laid out and surveyed the several town- ships, and, with the assistance of other surveyors, sub divided them into lots. For this valuable ser- vice the State granted him several thousand acres of land, scattered throughout the Military Tract, and along the southern tier of counties, bordering on Pennsylvania. At the organization of Herkimer County, in 179t, he was appointed Surregate and Justice of the Peace, and was the first man to per- form the duties of that office on the Military Tract. In 1793 he was appointed a Major of Militia, and with Major (afterward General) Danforth, had charge of a battalion. At the organization of On- ondaga County, in 1794, he was appointed Judge of the Courts, Surrogate and Justice of the Peace, and was chosen the first Supervisor of Pompey, in April, 1794. His residence was on Lot No. 3, Pompey, (now northeast corner of LaFayette a lot which had been drawn by his uncle, General James Clinton. In order to secure a valuable water- power on Butternut Creek, on which he contem- plated making extensive improvements, he had pur- chased fifty acres adjoining in the present town of DeWitt. But his untimely death brought all his labors and earthly prospects to a sudden termina- tion. He died at the age of twenty-eight years, August 15, 1794.
The town of DeWitt has a surface of consider- able variety, and in many places the scenery is un- usually beautiful The northern half is level, and the southern broken and hilly. The declivities of the hills are usually steep, and their summits from five to seven hundred feet above the valleys. But ternut Creek, flowing north, divides the highlands into two nearly equal ridges. Upon this stream are several fine mill sites. The falls below Jamesville are somewhat interesting as a curiosity. The water falls about thirty feet perpendicularly, and the breadth of the creek is about forty feet. Its rocky chasm and sublime scenery, connected with the immense beds of gypsum and water-lime, and the extensive works for their manufacture, render this a very desirable place for the rambles of the tourist and the researches of the geologist. There is a tradition, that at the time the French colony, located a little south of Jamesville, were massacred,
l'hoto, by H. V. Ranger, Syracuse.
ROBERT DUNLAP.
Robert Dunlap was born in Albany, N. Y., April 28, 1810, and was a son of Robert and Jennette ( Andrews) Dun- lup. His father was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and emigrated to America in the year 1505, locating at Albany, where he engaged in the brewing and malting business, which he continued till the day of his death, which occurred in the autumn of 1831, in his seventy-fourth year, leaving a large estate.
The subject of this sketch received his education at the Albany academy, and lived with his father until he was twenty- three years of age, when he moved to the town of De Witt,
Onondaga County, and engaged in the milling business, and also in the manufacture of gypsum aud hydraulic cement, which he has followed up to the present time.
He has been supervisor of his town, and was one of the original directors of the Syracuse and Binghamton railroad ; he has been for several years, and is at present, president of the Syracuse and Jamesville plank-road company, and is also trustee of the St. John's school at Manlius.
Energy, prudence, and remarkable foresight are his promi- nent characteristics. A good neighbor, and a kind husband, he is highly respected by all who know him.
RESIDENCE OF ROBERT DUNLAP, JAMESVILLE, ONONDAGA CO., NEW YORK,
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
one escaped and was pursued, overtaken and killed near these falls.
The first gypsum was discovered northwest of Jamesville, on Lot 81, in 1811. The first dis- covered in the United States was in the town of Camillus, in 1792. It had previously been brought from Nova Scotia, and was called Nova Scotia Plaster. Before this it had been brought to this country from France and Germany in limited quantities, under the name of plaster of paris. Dr. Franklin first introduced it into the United States as a vegetable stimulant. Robert Livingston first introduced it into the eastern part of the State of New York in 1805.
Water-lime was discovered in this town in 1818 or 1819, and is now prepared for market in large quantities principally in the towns of Manlius and DeWitt. (See Fayetteville Manufacturers. )
Clark, in his Onondaga, gives the following ac- count of certain caves in the vicinity of Jamesville :
" Nathan Beckwith, in sinking a well, about a mile east of Jamesville, in 1807, discovered a large cavern. It has been explored to some extent in a southwesterly direction from the entrance at the well. The depth at the entrance of the cavern may be about twenty feet ; height of the cavern at the entrance, about seven feet ; width, near five feet. These dimensions continue six or eight rods, when the space becomes contracted to a width just sufficient for a single person to pass through. It soon becomes broader. The size is very far from being uniform, the top in some places being not more than three or four feet from the bottom. Dog- tooth spar, stalactites and stalagmites, are numer- ous. A small stream of water runs along the bottom.
" There is another cave, about two miles west of Jamesville, on the farm of the late Mr. Brown, which is several hundred feet deep and which has never been thoroughly explored. The open- ing from the top is through a fissure about three feet broad by eight feet long. After descending some twenty feet, there is an extensive opening to the great valley below. It is supposed that this cave extends all along the great ledge of limestone rock, from the western part of DeWitt, nearly to Jamesville. The ledge is usually about two hun- dred feet high. The cave itself is a great singu- larity, if not curiosity.
" At the time this cave was first made known to the settlers, tools which had been used for mining purposes were found at its mouth, and also a bar of solid silver two inches square and eighteen inches long, having a point of steel. It is also reported that a kettle of money was found about twenty rods from the cave, which was supposed to have been coined there."
In the southwest corner of the town, about a mile and a half from Jamesville, is a small lake occupying a deep chasm in the rocks. It is nearly
circular in form, about eighty rods in diameter, and is almost surrounded by perpendicular banks from 150 to 200 feet high. This is one of the most singular bodies of water in Central New York. It has no outlet, but upon the eastern side is a low marsh through which the water might flow, but does not. In several places near the center a lead has been lowered three hundred feet without finding bottom, and within fifty feet of the shore the water is over a hundred feet deep. The water drawn from a considerable depth is highly charged with sulphur- eted hydrogen. Another lake of similar character lies two miles east of Jamesville.
MESSINA SPRINGS, three in number and twenty feet apart, are situated about three and a half miles east of Syracuse. The name was given them in 1835 by the people in the vicinity, on account of their contiguity to Syracuse, as the place of the same name is in Sicily. They emerge from a lime- stone rock on the surface of which is found speci- mens of calcareous substances. The temperature is uniformly fifty degrees Fahrenheit. The water is strongly impregnated with sulphur and has consid- erable local notoriety for medicinal qualities.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Benjamin Morehouse, from Fredericksburg, Dutchess County, N. Y., was the first settler in the town of DeWitt. He arrived here, with his wife and three children, following the Indian trail from Oneida to Onondaga, April 26, 1789. His log house was erected on the flats a few yards west of the old church, three and a half miles west of Manlius Village, then called by the Indian name, Kasoongkta Flats. Mr. Morehouse here opened the first tavern kept in the county in 1790, and it became a noted place, no less than its proprietor, who, on account of his dignified deportment, was popularly known and addressed as " Governor." At Mr. Morehouse's tavern was held many of the early meetings, botlı of a civic and military character, for this new region of country. When he first settled here his nearest neighbors were Asa Dan- forth and Comfort Tyler, seven miles distant at Onondaga Hollow. In 1791, he carried a plow- share on his back to Westmoreland, Oneida County, to get it sharpened, and while the black- smith was doing the work he proceeded to Herki- mer, purchased thirty pounds of flour and returned on foot with flour and plowshare on his back. This was the first wheaten flour introduced into his family after their arrival, except a small quantity brought along with them, and it sufficed for their necessities for nearly a year.
3ºS
HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The first settlers, trem 170 to 1800, in James- vile and vicinity, were Meses DeWitt, Daniel Kee'er. Dr. Holbrook, Jeremiah Jackson, William Bends, Stephen Angel, Stephen Hungerford. Jeremiah and James Gould, Roger Merrill, Caleb Northrup, Benjamin Sanford and others. Jeremiah Jackson crected the first frame dwelling house in 1707 . Joseph Purdy opened the first blacksmith shop about the same time. In 1798 Mathew Dum- frie bault a distillery, malt house and brewery, and manufactured the first beer and whisky made in the county. Oliver Owen erected a saw mill in 1795. Mr. Trowbridge kept the first tavern at Jamesville, in 1804 : Daniel Olmstead kept it in 1806, when it was considered the best tavern west of Utica. In 1804, Benjamin Sanford built mills, an | Mr. Hungerford started clothing works about the same time. John Post, from Utica, opened a store of goods, one mile east of Jamesville in 1802 ; Robbins & Callighan, in 1804. and Mr. Keeler, in 1805. Esquire Edgar opened a law office at More- house's Flats at an early day, and had for students Moses D). Rose and Luther Badger. Dr. Ilol- brook, the first physician in the town, located at Jamesville in 1791. The doctor presided at the first public meeting held in this section of the country, convened at Morehouse's tavern for the purpose of taking preliminary measures for the di vision of Herkimer County. John Youngs was the first settler of Orville, in 1791, and kept the first tavern in that part of the town. The settle- ment, on this account, first went by the name of Youngsville. Mr. Youngs erected the first frame house and was for many years Justice of the l'eace -the first in the town of Manlius.
JAMESVILLE.
Jamesville is situated on the Syracuse, Bingham- ton and New York Railroad, and on Butternut Creek, seven miles from Syracuse. It has a popu- lation of about three hundred and fifty inhabitants, and is a thriving village, the amount of business transacted being larger by far than is done in most places of its size. The principal interests being stone, lime and plaster. There are two firms en- gaged in that business, viz : Robert Dunlop and Alvord, Dixon & Weston. Mr. Dunlop is also en- gaged largely in milling, owning and operating two Arist mills, one saw-mill and a pearl barley mill, also extensive lime kilns. There are several parties engaged in the immediate vicinity of Jamesville, quarrying and cutting stone of a very superior quality, which is shipped to all points in Central New York, and very largely to Syracuse, where it
is used in building, many of the handsomest and most substantial structures being entirely or partly built of it.
The commercial interests are somewhat limited at present, owing to the great conflagration which occurred here October 14, 1877, whereby all the business portion of the village was laid in ashes- two hotels, the " Kortright House," and the " Clark House," three stores, kept by Reed & Conkling, Connell & Co., and Daniel Quinlan, Avery's restau- rant and residence, a boot and shoe store kept by Isaac I .. Sherwood, and four dwelling houses, onc church and five barns were devoured by the raging element. The loss by the fire was estimated to be about fifty thousand dollars, an amount certainly sufficient to make the hearts of the citizens of the unfortunate place sink with despair. Rebuilding has commenced with vigor and one block is already up and ocoupied by Daniel Quinlan, who keeps a general stock such as is found in country stores. The " Kortright House " is being rebuilt, and will be ready for occupancy about June 1, 1878. It is to be a large structure, two stories in height with Mansard roof, and will be. probably, the finest hotel in the county outside of Syracuse.
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