USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 89
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arrived at mature age. He died Aug. 8, 1808, in his 62d year, beloved and respected by all who knew him.
PRENTICE KINNE was born October 16, 1773, and passed his youthful days in alternately attend- ing school and assisting his father on the farm. On June 16, in the year 1800, when 27 years of age he married Miss Elizabeth Kinne, of Plainfield, Windham County, Conn., and in the spring of 1801, he settled on the farm in Manlius, given him by his father, upon which he resided till the day of his death. He struck the first blow upon his 100 acre farm, and lived to see it covered with beautiful fields. In his domestic relations he was a kind and loving father, teaching his children by his upright life the value and importance of virtue and inspiring them with the worthy ambition to be men and women, in the loftiest sense of the word. His teachings were not forgotten, but were fully exemplified in the lives of his children.
JULIUS C. KINNE, the oldest son of Prentice Kinne, was born October 19, 1802, in the town of Manlius, now DeWitt. By severe application he obtained a good common school education. Thoroughness and perseverance were prominent characteristics which marked every transaction of his life. He was a close observer of political affairs and often took an active interest in them. In the fall of 1845, he was elected to the State Legislature for Onondaga County, and discharged his duties in such an acceptable manner that he was reelected the following year by a fine majority. While in the Legislature he gained the confidence of Governor Silas Wright, by his honest and able career as a legislator. He left the impress of his pure character upon the town of De Witt too indel- ibly to be effaced by the rude hand of time. In the year 1831 he married Mrs. Rachel Willard, by whom he had four sons and one daughter ; two sons died in childhood ; Howard, the eldest, is mar- ried and resides in Iowa. During the Rebellion he enlisted in an Iowa regiment under General Sully, of the Regular Army, and went to Dakota Terri- tory, where he did gallant service. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge. Ed- mund D. was born Feburary 9, 1841, in DeWitt, Onondaga County, N. Y. He attended the High school at Syracuse, graduated from Cazenovia Sem- inary, Michigan University and Columbia Law School at Washington, D. C., and was admitted to the Supreme Court of that district. In 1867 he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan ; was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of Law. In 1868 he was admitted to practice in the U. S.
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Court. He has been Recorder and District- Attorney, and was Mayor in 1875 and reelected in 1876 In the year 1867 he married Mary C., daughter of Olney Hawkins, and has one son. Few young men can show a finer record or have brighter prospects.
EMERSON KINNE, the second son of Prentice Kinne, was born Feb. 16, 1804 By self-improve- ment, principally at home, he obtained a good edu- cation. Although never secking civil office, yet so well known was his integrity and ability that he re- luctantly accepted the most prominent offices of his town, such as Supervisor three years, one of which was unanimous with the exception of a single vote ; Assessor in the town of De Witt for several years : and Commissioner of Highways, in the old town of Manlius.
Always from a boy up, he took an intense in- terest in military affairs. In 1828, he was com- missioned ensign of a company of infantry, by acting Gov. Nathaniel Pitcher ; and was rapidly pro- moted through all the intermediate grades to commandant of the regiment ; and was subse- quently appointed Brigade Inspector of the 27th brigade of infantry by Gov. William L. Marcy. It is a very rare occurrence that men are so rapidly promoted. As an officer he was pleasant and affa- ble to his associates and rigidly strict in discipline. Politically, he was a Democrat till the close of the Rebellion, when he joined the Republican party. He married Miss Janet Luddington, in the year 1833. Their children are all deceased. In 1831, he united with the Baptist Church of Syracuse, of which he is still a member. During that long and honorable period he has labored incessantly, in his humble way, to advocate the cause of Christ.
MASON P. KINNE, third son of Prentice Kinne, was born in Manlius, (now DeWitt,) Nov. 30, 1808. Hc received as good a common school education as the schools of those early days afforded, and assisted his father on the farm till the death of the latter, when he received a portion of the farm which he still occupies. On Jan. 30, 1840, he married Mary J. Spaulding, of Clarkson, Monroe County. The re- sult of this union was five children, viz : Chas. Mason, Mary E., Ansel L., Porter S. and Arthur B. Mary E. and Ansel L., are deceased. Chas. Mason, was born April 11, 1841, graduated from the Syracuse High School in Jan. 1859, and immediately sailed for San Francisco, Cal , where he was employed in an agricultural ware-house, until 1862, when he en- listed in the "California Hundred," which sailed for Boston, and joined the ad Mass. Cavalry. For his gallantry he was made Captain, and also Ass't
Adj. Gen. of the Regular Brigade, ist Cav. Divis- ion, under Gen. Gibbs, and in July, 1865, received an honorable discharge, with a recommend for brevet Major for faithful services and meritorious conduct. He is now Judge Advocate on Gen. Macomb's Staff ; an honorary member of the First Cal. Guard, San Francisco ; and, also, a life member of the " National Guard," Vice-President of the " Micro- scopical Society," of San Francisco. Porter S., is practicing medicine in Patterson, N. J. Arthur B. is practicing in Syracuse. Mr. Kinne voted the Democratic ticket until 1853. In 1854. he joined the Republican party. He is a consistent Christian and endeavors to live in accordance with his pro- fession.
ELBRIDGE KINNE, fourth son of Prentice Kinne, was born in Manlius, May 26, 1810 On October 17, 1837, he married Sophronia, daughter of Rev. Seth Young, of DeWitt. They have had six children, of whom Theodore Y, who was a surgeon in the army, is now practicing medicine in Patterson, N. J., and E. Olin, who graduated from the Syracuse University in the class of '76, and from the Ann Arbor Medical School in the class of '78.
Mr. Kinne is now living on a portion of the farm formerly owned by his father. He was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican party of which he became a member. He has been Supervisor, Justice of the Peace, and Clerk of the Board of Trustees of De Witt, and also class-leader in the M. E. Church for over forty years.
SALOME K., daughter of Prentice Kinne, was married to De Witt C. Peck, of DeWitt, October 29, 1840, and has had seven children. Herbert D. was Second Lieutenant in Company E of the Twenty-second N. Y. Cavalry, was under General Grant and was captured at Reams' Station. He was paroled from Wilmington Prison March 1, 1865. After the surrender of Lee, (the parole be- coming void) he again joined his regiment and received a Captain's commission.
EMILY KINNE, second daughter of Prentice Kinne, was married to Mr. Curren Elins, and has had seven children, four sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, George, served in the civil war until its close. Their second son, Byron, was two years in the service and was honorably discharged.
Fraternity is written in golden letters over the hearts of these brothers. Their hearts beat in unison with a rythm which the passions cannot disturb. From childhood to manhood, their thoughts, their purposes, their lives, have been devoted to the noble aim of keeping aglow upon the family alter the embers of brotherly love.
MRS D HIBBARD
D HIBBARD.
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RESIDENCE OF D. HIBBARD. POMPEY, ONONDAGA CO , N Y ( P.O. ADDRESS, MANLIUS.)
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Living near one another, they keep up a constant, pleasant, social family intercourse which never has been marred, but is increasing in intensity as the years roll along. They have felt the need of, and placed before their children the opportunities for
obtaining, a liberal education ; and a glance will show that their efforts have not been fruitless. Religious, moral, temperate and humane, they are endeavoring to realize in practice the grand truths inculcated by Christianity.
POMPEY.
POMPEY was originally Township number ten of the Military Tract, and was named with the other townships by the Commissioners of the Land Office. Upon the organization of Onondaga Coun- ty, in 1794, it became one of the original eleven towns of the county, comprising at that date the townships of Pompey, Fabius and Tully and that portion of the Onondaga Reservation lying south of the Genesee Road and east of Onondaga Creek. Fabius and part of Onondaga were taken off in 1798, and LaFayette in 1825.
The town of Pompey is located upon the great dividing ridge from which the waters flow north into the valley of the St. Lawrence and south into the Chesapeake Bay. Its surface is principally oc- cupied by the high, rolling ridge, or rather, series of ridges, which lie between the east branch of the Limestone Creek, on the east, and the Butternut Creek, on the west. The highest summit is in the cemetery ground at Pompey Hill : it is nine hun- dred and six feet above the Butternut Creek at LaFayette Station, one thousand three hundred and forty-three feet above the Erie Canal at Syra- cuse, and one thousand seven hundred and forty- three feet above tide water. The general ridge forming the surface of the town, is sub-divided into three ridges by the two west branches of Limestone Creek. These valleys are from two to three hun- dred feet below the summits and are bordered by steep hillsides. The streams which drain the south- ern part of the town flow in a southerly direction. Pratt's Falls, upon the west branch of the Lime- stone Creek, are one hundred and thirty-seven feet in perpendicular height ; and within a few rods of them are several other fine cascades. Near the north line, upon the same creek, is a cascade of seventy feet fall. Just east of the county line, near Delphi, on the east branch of the Limestone, are two other fine cascades. Carpenter's Pond, in the southeast part of the town, covers an area of about thirty acres.
The soil is rich and productive; chiefly of a clayey loam. It is generally underlaid by the
Hamilton group of shales, with Genesee slate upon the extreme highest portions. Swamps are ex- tremely small and there are but few gulfs and ravines. It has been estimated that out of the original 60,000 acres of the township, not more than one thousand two hundred are unfit for culti- vation. The reduced limits of the present town, together with the improved methods of drainage, render even that proportion too great at the present time.
Although e climate is subject to sudden changes, and is characterized by high winds, which in the vicinity of Pompey Hill often blow with ter- rific violence, yet the average temperature is three and a half degrees less than the general average of the State, and the cool breezes of summer render the locality remarkably pleasant and healthy.
The natural scenery is rarely equaled. The vision, from one stand-point on Pompey Hill, is un- interrupted, being bounded by the horizon at every point of the compass, and embracing views in seven different counties-Onondaga, Cortland, Her- kimer, Madison, Oswego, Oneida and Cayuga.
The first settler in the original town of Pompey (now in LaFayette) was John Wilcox, in 1789. He employed an Indian chief at Oneida to guide him into the country, and settled at Indian Orchard about two miles north of the Village of LaFayette. In 1791, Ebenezer Butler, of Harwinton, Conn., located at Pompey Hill, being the first settler within the limits of the present town of Pompey. He had settled at Clinton, Oneida County, in 1788, whence he came to Pompey Hill guided by marked trees, and erected the first cabin near the spring which supplies the watering-tub in the present vil- lage. Mr. Butler purchased Lot No. 65 of a sol- dier for a horse, saddle and bridle, and in the same year (1791) moved his family, consisting of his wife, four children, father and maiden sister.
In 1792, Jesse Butler, brother of Ebenezer, erected the second cabin a few rods north of the present M. E. Church, having purchased of his brother one hundred acres on the north half of his
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
lot. He brought his family from Connecticut in April, 1793, on an ox sled, in company with the family of Mr. George Catlin. The latter opened the first tavern at Pompey Hill in a house a little south of the one lately occupied by Judge Asa Wells.
The first settler at " Log City," north of Pompey Hill on the Jamesville road, was Jacob Hoar, who moved from Onondaga in the spring of 1793. " Log City " and the Hill were for a time rival set- tlements. It contained at an early time a school house, tannery, turning lathe, shoe shop, and a store and ashery, owned by Justice Fowler, uncle of O. S. Fowler of New York.
The first frame house in the vicinity of Pompey Hill was erected by Judge Ebenezer Butler, Jr., on the west side of what is now the public square, in 1797. The second frame house was erected by the same party for his father in 1798. It stood on the site of the wagon shop long owned and occupied by Joseph Beach. The same year Jesse Butler built a frame house on the site of the present M. E. Church.
Among the settlers in 1793.and 1794, were True- worthy and Selah Cook, the Olcotts, Holbrooks, Jeromes, Hibbards, Hinsdells, Messengers, West- erns, Allens, Burrs, and others-settling in different parts of the town. Sally Hoar was the first white child born in Pompey ; Orange, son of Jesse But- ler, the first male child.
The following are some of the early settlers of Pompey, with dates of settlement : Asa Barnes, Peter Benson, Josiah Holbrook, 1793 ; David Hib- bard, Samuel Clement, 1794; Henry Clarke, Hezekiah Dodge. 1795 : Pundason Avery. Joseph and Rhola Gold, David Green, David Hinsdell, Jonas Hinman, Leman H. Pitcher, Manoah Pratt, Sen., 1796: Noah Palmer, 17 7: Joseph Baker. 1795 : Paul Clapp, father of Paul Clapp, Jr., John Chester and Carlton Clapp, 17 8 ; Stebbins Ball, Hon. Daniel Gilbert, Elijah Wells, Deacon Asa Wells, (then an infant with his parents,) Daniel Wright, 1799; Dr. Silas Paik, Willard Hayden, Daniel Knapp, (father of Harry Knapp,) 1800; Elthu Barber, Col. Ensign Hill, 1801 ; Hezekiah Hopkins, 1802; Addy Anderson, 1803: John Smith, Esq., 1804 : Rev. Artemus Bishop, born in Pompey, Dr. Hezekiah Clarke. 1805; Caleb Green, 1806 ; Victory Birdseye, 1807 ; William C. Fargo, 1809 : Augustus Wheaton, father of Horace, Homer, and Charles A. Wheaton, 1810 ; Luther Marsh, Millard Robinson, 1811 ; Reuben Billings, 1812 : Rev. Joshua Leonard, Preceptor l'ompey Academy, 1814 ; Peltiah Hayden, 1816, Thomas
Rice and family, 1818 ; Samuel Flint, 1819: Amos Rice, Nicholas Van Brocklin, IS21 : Rev. Eleazer Storrs Barrows, 1822.
Timothy Sweet, father of the Sweet family, set- tled in Pompey in 1794; Edward Wicks, in 1816; Joseph Shattuck, with his nine grown-up sons, was one of the early pioneers.
TOWN MEETINGS.
The first town meeting for Pompey was held at the house of Ebenezer Butler. Jr., April 1. 1794. Moses De Witt was chosen Supervisor, and Heze- kiah Olcott, Town Clerk ; Ozias Burr, Allen Beach, W'm. Haskin, Geo. Catlin and Ebenezer Butler, Jr , Assessors ; Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah Gould and John Lamb, Commissioners of Highways ; John Lamb and William Haskins, Overseers of the Poor : John Wilcox, Samuel Draper, and Joseph H. Smith, Constables and Collectors ; Joseph Atwell, Daniel Allen, Peter Messenger, Joseph Bartholomew, Samuel Sherman, William Rin, John Wilcox, Samuel Jerome. Trueworthy Cook, Overseers of Highways : Timothy Sweet, and Elisha Clark, Fence Viewers ; Elisha Clark, Pound Keeper.
At a special town meeting, September 20, 1794, William Haskin was chosen Supervisor vice Moses DeWitt, deceased.
The present Supervisor, Mr. Marshall R Dyer, has held the office since 1873.
LAWYERS.
The first lawyer who settled at Pompey Hill was John Keedar, about the year 1800. Ile located near the site of the Academy. He was succeeded in 1806 by Daniel Wood, Esq. Mr. Wood was a successful practitioner and a man of large influence, till his death, which occurred in 1838. He was ap- pointed first Postmaster at the Hill in IS11.
Samuel Baldwin, Esq, was the next lawyer, in 1806, and Victory Birdseye, Esq., in 1807 ; the latter was a partner of Mr. Wood. Daniel Gott afterwards came. taught school for a while and then commenced the study of law with Wood & Birds- eye. After these were a host of others, either as law students or practitioners ; among the latter may be mentioned Charles Baldwin, Charles B. and H. J. Sedgwick, Lucius Birdseye, LeRoy Morgan, George H. Williams and R. H. Duell, Esqs.
William W. VanBrocklin, Esq., is the only lawyer at the present time in Pompey, and he is also Justice of the Peace.
PHYSICIANS.
Dr. Holbrook was the first physician ; he settled at Pompey Center in 1793. At Pompey Hill, Dr.
Photo, by Austin, Syracuse.
DANIEL GOTT.
Although his name is incidentally mentioned in this volume in several places, this book would fail to meet the expectations of the public without a biographienl sketch of Daniel Gott. For so many years of his brilliant life was he identified with the history, growth, and prosperity of Pompey, that he and his family occupy a large place in the memory and affections of the people. He was born July 10, 1794, at Hebron, Conn., and died July 6, 1864, at Syracuse. Within the measure of those years he acquired wealth, distinction, and fame ; and his memory will grow brighter as years roll round and the asperities of life's conflicts are forgotten. His early education was limited only to enjoying the advantages which the common schools of his native town afforded. At the age of sixteen he commenced teaching, which hecontinued up to and in- cluding the first years of his residence in Pompey, having taught in the west room of the old Pompey academy. At the age of nine- teen he thought to learn the clothier's trade, and for that purpose entered the service of his uncle, Ebenezer Snow. This not being congenial to his taste, he soon entered the office of Lawyer Gilbert, of Hebron, Conn., and commenced the study of law.
About the year 1812 he visited his uncle, Elihu Barber, in Pompey. It was probably then that he resolved to make Pompey his future home, and in 1817 he located permanently on the IIill, and continued his studies with Daniel Wood, and after his admis- sion to practice, became the law partner of Samuel Baldwin, who afterwards located at Pompey, West Hill, now Lafayette. On the 12th of September, 1819, he was united in marriage to the widow of Stephen Sedgwick, of Pompey, a brilliant genius and eminent lawyer. Her maiden name was Ann Baldwin, a sister of Samuel and Charles Baldwin, a lady of large scholastic attainments and fine literary taste. By this union Mr. Gott also became the foster- father of Henry J., John, and Charles B. Sedgwick, the second of whom died when a youth. Charles B. and Henry J. Sedgwick both lived to become eminent lawyers, and they both held high and responsible positions in the State and nation. Henry J. was a State senator from 1844 to 1848, and postmaster at Syracuse under Buchanan's administration. Charles B. was a member of congress for two terms, from 1859 to 1863, and has acquired a brilliant record as a lawyer. Charles B. is the only survivor of three brothers, and his residence is in Syracuse.
Thus we find Mr. Gott at the age of twenty-five with the care and responsibilities of a family devolved upon him, and he assidu- ously applied his energies to the practice of his profession. Being both physically and mentally u man of remarkable power, he soon developed those qualities of indomitable energy, untiring industry,
and persuasive eloquence that won for him wealth and fame, and made him the peer of Noxon, Forbes, Jewett, Spencer, Sibley, and extended his practice through the central counties of New York. In 1828 he became afflicted with sore eyes, which seriously impaired his usefulness for about twelve years. At times, so severe was this affliction, he was obliged to confine himself to a dark room. It was during this time that his powerful and retentive memory came to his rescue, and enabled him at times to continue in a business that otherwise he must have abandoned. In 1840 he became permanently cured, and his practice continued to increase till 1846, when he was elected a member of Congress, which office he held two consecutive terms. When in Congress he was the author of the famous " Gott Resolution" for the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. In 1851 he was nomi- nated by the Whigs for justice of the supreme court, and was defeated by Hon. Daniel Pratt by a largely reduced majority. In 1844 he was on the electoral ticket for Henry Clay. In 1853 he removed to Syracuse, where he resided till his death, continuing the practice of the law in company with his son, Daniel F. Gott. His office was the law school of Pompey, and with the solicitude of a father he watched the progress of the numerous students who sought his instruction ; and prompted by his kind and genial nature, and remembering the obstacles he had encountered and overcome, he was ever ready to counsel, advise, and encourage. Among the large number of gifted and eminent men who entered the legal profession from his office were Seahred Dodge, Charles Mason, John M. Pettit, Harvey Sheldon, Charles B. Sedgwick, Ilenry J. Sedgwick, George II. Williams, Le Roy Morgan, L. H. Iliscock, Charles Foster ; and these and all others who were students in his office bear concurrent testimony to his kindness and anxious solicitude for their welfare and honor. During his residence in Pompey he was trustee of the academy for many years, always laboring for its prosperity. He was a constant attendant of the Presbyterian church.
His children in the order of their ages were Sackett, Ann, Amelia, and Daniel F. The two eldest are dead. Sackett bas never married. Ann married Hon. George H. Woodruff, a grad- uate of Hamilton college, and a lawyer and writer of distinction of Joliet, Ill. He and one child survive. Daniel F. graduated from Hamilton college in the class of 1849; became the law partner of his father in Syracuse ; married Sarah Clary, a daughter of the late Dr. Lyman Clary, of Syracuse ; is register in bankruptey, to which he was appointed in 1867. Amelia married Frank II. Hastings, a nurseryman, of Rochester, N. Y. They have three children.
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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Colton was the first resident physician. About the year 1800, came Dr. Daniel Tibbals, who remained in practice many years, and removed to Erie, Pa. Dr. Jehiel Stearns settled at the Hill as a physician in 1814, and is still living there, and, to some extent, continuing his practice. Hezekiah Clark, who had been a surgeon in the war of the Revolution, settled east of the village in 1805, and practiced medicine in that locality for a great number of years. Dr. Rial Wright and Dr. Stevens were partners in practice for a good many years. Dr. L. B. Wells was the first Homeopathic physician in Pompey.
Dr. J. Deblois Sherman settled at Pompey Hill about 1825, and was a physician of high rank and extensive practice.
HONORABLE MENTION.
Among the persons of note who were either resi- dents or natives of Pompey, may be mentioned the following :
Hon. Henry Seymour, father of ex-Governor Horatio Seymour, was one of the early settlers.
Hon. Horatio Seymour was born at Pompey Hill in 181I.
Hon. LeRoy Morgan, Judge of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, was born in Pompey March 27, 1810. He was a graduate of the old Pompey Academy in 1830. His father, Lyman Morgan, was one of the pioneers.
Hon. Daniel Gott located permanently at Pompey Hill in 1817, and for many years of his brilliant life was identified with the interests of the place. He finished his law studies with Daniel Wood, Esq.
Hon. Victory Birdseye, Member of Congress, Member of Assembly and of the Constitutional Con- vention of 1821, was a lawyer of eminent abilities and an untiring friend and supporter of liberal education. He settled at Pompey and began the practice of law in 1807.
Rev. Artemus Bishop, born in Pompey in 1805, was a distinguished missionary to the Sandwich Islands, where he spent more than thirty years translating Pilgrim's Progress and considerable portions of the Bible into the language of the natives. His father, Sylvanus Bishop, was one of six brothers who settled in Pompey in 1793-'94.
He bought and cleared land in the vicinity of Pompey Hill, and the following year brought his wife and eldest child, then six months old, on horse- back from Kinderhook, Columbia County.
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