History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 9

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

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After another ineffectual attempt to enlist Con- gress in the work, the Commissioners, in March, 1812, made a report " That nose sound policy de- manded that the canal should be made by the State of New York on her own account." The war of 1812 caused a suspension of the project till the ses- sion of the Legislature in 1816, at which time a memorial was presented to the Legislature, signed by more than one hundred thousand persons from New York and the counties through which the pro- posed canals should pass, calling upon its members to pass laws to prosecute the work without delay.

A large meeting of the citizens of Onondaga county was held at the Court House on the 23d of February, 1816. A preliminary meeting had been previously held at which Judge Forman had been appointed a committee to prepare a memorial to the Legislature. This memorial was read by Judge Forman at the meeting, and approved by acclamation A com- mittee was appointed to circulate it throughout the county, consisting of Daniel Kellogg, of Marcellus : Gideon Wilcoxon, Camillus ; Jonas C Baldwin, Lysander: Ashbel Kellogg, Salina ; John Leach. Cicero ; Sylvanus Tousley, Manlius : Barnet Mooney, Hannibal ; Daniel Wood, Pompey : Marcus Adams, Fabius ; Ashel Roundy, Spafford ; Garret Van Hoesen, Tully : and Joshua Forman, of Onon- daga ; adding the chairman and secretary : Signed, James Geddes, chairman : Jasper Hopper, secre- tary. Over three thousand names were subscribed to this memorial The memorial, which was drawn up with great ability, contemplated $10,000,000 for the cost of the canal, covering all possible conting encies. Of this it charged the State of New York with $2,500,000; the United States with $2,500,000 ; the State of Ohio, $1,000,000 ; the City of New York and counties contiguous to the canal, $2,000,- 000 ; and private stock holders, 52,000,000.

The Legislature authorized a loan on the credit of the State of a million of dollars, and the section from Rome to the Seneca River was fixed upon as the first to be commencel.

In 1816, Judge Geddes made another report of the state and general view of the country from Black Rock Rapids to the Cayuga Marshes, and Benjamin Wright, Esq, upon the same subject from the Cayuga Marshes to Rome, and thence through the Mohawk Valley to Albany. The attempt made to enlist Congress in 1817 again failed and the State of New York was thrown upon her own resources A thorough examination was made of the route, and revised estimates placed the cost of the entire canal at five millions dollars. The route was divided into three sections. The levels and surveys of the previous year were reviewed In order to test their accuracy and correctness, Mr. Geddes started from a point near the west end of Oneida Lake, and taking the lake on a still day as a level, carried a line of levels up to the canal line on the long level east of Syracuse, and thence working eastward laid off sections on the canal line. Mr. Wright, starting from a point east for the cast end of Oneida Lake, in like manner carried a level along the line of the canal westward, and the Commissioners remark, that when the level of Mr. Wright had been carried to the place where Mr.

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HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Geddes had terminated his line, the levels of these two engineers, which embraced a distance of nearly one hundred miles, differed from each other less than one inch and a half. This result exhibits in the engineers a degree of care, skill and preci- sion never exceeded.

The first contract was dated June 27, 1817. The remaining part of the middle section was under contract soon after. The excavation was com- menced at Rome with appropriate ceremonies, July 4, 1817. The first contract was given to Judge John Richardson, of Cayuga. " It is perhaps," re- marks Clark,* " a singular coincidence that the first movement in the halls of legislation relative to the Erie Canal, was made by a member from Onondaga, -that the first exploration was made by an engi- neer of Onondaga,-that the first contract was given to, and the first ground broken by a contrac- tor who had been several years a resident of Onon- daga, and all of whom had been Judges of our coun- ty courts and members of the Legislature from Onondaga County."

Governor Clinton, in his annual message of 1820, reported ninety-four miles completed on the middle section from Utica to the Seneca River, including a lateral canal to Salina. By the opening of this por- tion of the canal, the resources of Onondaga County were more fully ascertained and developed. Her salt, gypsum and lime found their way to a ready market, and the produce of the agriculturist an outlet, affording more ample remuneration for labor ; a new and vigorous impulse was given to her advancement and prosperity, which placed her among the first counties of the Empire State-a position she is destined long to enjoy. Notwith- standing these favorable results there were not wanting narrow minded and selfish men actively engaged to defeat the further progress of the work. Many argued that the income of the whole canal would not equal the cost of the part already com- pleted. Local feelings had to be combatted, preju- dices overcome, indignities borne, and every species of contumely and perverseness encountered by the supporters of the enterprise. But with a devo- tion above all praise, the commissioners and advo- cates of the work faltered not, till finally, in Novem- ber, 1825-a period of eight years and four months from the time of beginning-it was proclaimed to the world that the waters of Lake Erie were con- nected with those of the Hudson River, without one foot of portage, through one of the longest ca- nals in the world ; and the cost, according to the books of the Comptroller, including the Champlain

Canal, was $8,273,122.66, and is considered one of the most stupendous and magnificent works of this or any age.

If the canal has benefited the people of Onon- daga, the men of Onondaga were the principal pro- moters of the undertaking in all its incipient steps. It was Judge Geddes, of Onondaga, who traversed the wilderness of Western New York, and gathered all the materials and reported all the facts upon which statistics were based, and Joshua Forman, of Onondaga, who from the beginning was the uncom- promising, unflinching defender and eloquent ad- vocate of the great work ; and it was not until after these men had labored long and faithfully in the cause, that the giant intellect and master mind of DeWitt Clinton was aroused to a sense of the im- portance of this magnificent undertaking. These two men of Onondaga, from the beginning to the end, were intimately connected with the work, in fact, identical with it and indispensable to it .. They labored faithfully and effectually throughout- Judge Geddes as an able engineer, Judge Forman as the unwavering promoter of its utility. These two men furnished more solid information relative to the canal than all others put together. Till they took hold of it, the whole matter was considered by most men but an idle dream, a delusion, a false, unfeasible project .*

The fathers of this stupendous work should be forever venerated for their perseverance in over- coming the opposition they had to contend against, both from individuals and from the infancy of the country they had to penetrate and to depend upon for the means of making the enterprise a success. We must always admire genius struggling against fate, with a lofty and enthusiastic purpose which scorns all defeat, triumphs over all obstacles and conquers even fate itself, in the contest. A few miles of aqueduct constructed by the wealthy east- ern nations in the height of their prosperity have called forth our admiration as a great achievement. But what nation in its youth has ever had the courage to undertake three hundred and fifty miles of canal, without having even an engineer of their own till the event developed and brought him for- ward, equal to the great task ? It has been truly said that great occasions produce great men. And it was so in this case. When the work was to be done, and foreign assistance could not be procured, the men were found, on the spot where the enter- prise was to be undertaken, able and willing to carry it on to its grand consummation.

The first ground broken on the Erie Canal in the

* 2 Onondaga, p. 61.

* 2 Clark's Onondaga, p. 63.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK

county of Onondaga, was hy Mr. Elias Gumaer, in the town of Manlius. Oliver Teall, Esq., took several contracts in the eastern part of the county. Messrs. Northrup and Dexter, and Jeremiah Keeler, built a section or two through Syracuse. Hazard Lewis, of Binghamton, built the locks. The first locks were built of Elbridge sandstone. Commis- sioners, builders and masons had no idea that the Onondaga limestone could be cut for facing stones for locks, so little was this valuable material then understood.

After the water was let in, for a long time it would not flow farther cast on the Syracuse level than the Stone Bridge It all disappeared in a bed of loose gravel. This difficulty, however, was after a while remedied, and all went well. The first boats used were the Mohawk boats, with wide walking boards for poling up the Mohawk River.

Oliver Teall was appointed the first Superin- tendent of the Erie Canal, and Joshua Forman, the first Collector ; office at Syracuse.

The leveling instrument used by Judge Geddes in surveying the Erie Canal was the same one used by Abraham Hardenburgh, under the superintend- ence of William Weston, the celebrated English engineer, when he surveyed the route of the " Old Canal" in 1788 It was made by David Ritten- house, of Philadelphia, and is now in the possession of Hon. George Geddes, of Camillus.

Onė circumstance which greatly facilitated the successful completion of the Erie Canal was the discovery, at an opportune moment, in this locality, of water lime, or American Hydraulic Cement. The first works of masonry on the canal had been done with common quicklime, which proved unsub- stantial on exposure to water, and was, therefore, unsuitable for culverts and aqueducts. A kiln supposed to be of common limestone was burnt and some of the lime delivered to the contractors on the middle division of the canal. To their astonish- ment, they found on experiment, that it would not slake like ordinary quicklime This led to an in- vestigation which resulted in the discovery of the hydraulic properties of the lime, now so famous as an article of export from this county. To Mr. Canvass White, who spent much time and means in testing its qualities, is due the merit of bringing this valuable cement into general use. After 1819, all the mason work on the canal was laid in water limė.

It may be well to record the fact that Mr. Obediah Parker, who resided on the old flat of Lodi, now in the Eighth Ward of Syracuse, received a gold medal from the American Institute for the applica-

tion of water lime to the construction of cisterns about the year 1830.

CHAPTER X.

ORGANIZATION OF COURTS-FIRST COURT OF COM- MON PLEAS-COURTS UNDER HERKIMER COUNTY JURISDICTION-FIRST JUDGES AND OFFICERS- FIRST GRAND AND PETIT JURORS-ERECTION OF COUNTY BUILDINGS,

I N' 1794, after the Military Tract had been set off from Herkimer, and organized into a coun- ty by itself, Courts of Common Pleas and of General Sessions of the Peace were established by law. These courts were ordered to be held alternately on the first Mondays in May and November in each year, at the house of Reuben Patterson, in the town of Manlius, and at the house of Seth Phelps, in the town of Scipio, commencing with the first named. Mr Patterson then kept a tavern at Onondaga Hol- low, which at that time was a part of Manlius. These terms were to be held only for the space of one week.

While Onondaga was included in Herkimer coun- ty, courts were held in the church at Herkimer Village till other provisions were made by the Legis- lature. Col. Henri Staring was appointed first Judge. Ile was a man of remarkable honesty and integrity, though of limited education. Many amusing anecdotes are told of his manner of ad- ministering justice Michael Myers was one of his associates, and filled many offices of note while the Military Tract was a part of Herkimer county.

In 1793, one term of the court for Ilerkimer was directed to be held at Whitestown, at such place as the court should direct. The first court held under this provision was in the late Judge Sanger's barn, Judge Staring presiding, assisted by Judge White. The late Judge Platt was then Clerk of Herkimer County, and the Sheriff, Col. William Colbraith, the first Sheriff who ever served a process in the Mili- tary Tract. He was a jolly, good humored man, and withal a lover of fun. He had seen some ser- vice in the Revolution, but had acquired his title as a militia officer subsequent to that war.

Before a Court House was erected in Onondaga County, civil and criminal prisoners were ordered to be confined in the jail of Herkimer County until a jail could be provided in the County of Onondaga.

The first court held in the County under the or- ganization was in General Danforth's corn house, first Monday in May, 1794. Present, Seth Phelps, first Judge : John Richardson, Silas Halsey and William Stevens, Judges. Moses De Witt, Esq.,

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

was appointed Judge of Onondaga Common Pleas ; not present. Thomas R. Gould and Arthur Breeze were the only lawyers then present, not one at that time having established himself in the County.

The first Court of Oyer and Terminer for the County of Onondaga, was held at the house of Asa Danforth, Esq., (afterwards Reuben Patterson's,) on the 21st of July, 1794. Present, Hon. Egbert Benson, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature for the State of New York, assisted by Seth Phelps and Andrew Englis, Justices of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery for the County of Onondaga. Lawyers were in at- tendance at this court from Whitestown and Her- kimer. The grand jurors were as follows : Comfort Tyler, Isaac Van Vleck, Elias Fitch, Moses Carpen- ter, William Ward, Jonathan Wilkinson, Cyrus Kinne, Sieur Curtis, Victory S. Tousley, Amos Stanton, Henry Moore, James Geddes, Ryal Bing- ham, Reuben Patterson. " Judge Benson made an eloquent charge to the Grand Jury." The only bill of indictment found was against James Fitzgerald for assault and battery with intent to rob Andrew McCarthy. The Petit Jurors on this first criminal trial were: John Brown, William Linsley, Thomas Morgan, Henry Watkins, Benjamin De Puy, Nehe- miah Smith, Isaac Strong, John A. Thompson, Noah Olmsted, Isaac Bailey, William Stevens, and Thomas Ozman, who found the prisoner guilty. He was sentenced by the Court to two months' im- prisonment in the Herkimer jail. The Court fined nineteen petit jurors twenty shillings each, four grand jurors and two constables each the same sum. John Stowell, William Goodwin, Perry Brownell, justices of the peace, were each fined thirty shillings for ab- sence.

The next term of the Circuit Court was held at the house of Seth Phelps in Scipio, 7th September, 1795. Present Hon. John Lansing, Judge of the Supreme Court, Seth Phelps, John Richardson, Wil- liam Stevens, Judges of Onondaga County Common Pleas. The following absent justices of the peace were severally fined thirty shillings : John A. Sheaffer, William Goodwin, John Stowell, Cyrus Kinne, Hezekiah Olcott, Daniel Keeler, Ryal Bing- ham and Ozias Burr. John A. Sheaffer was indicted for forgery. He forfeited his recognizance, and left, (estreated.)*

Hon. Egbert Benson held the next Circuit Court at the house of Reuben Patterson, June 14, 1797, assisted by Seth Phelps, William Stevens, Asa Dan- forth and Comfort Tyler, judges and justices of Oyer and Terminer for the County of Onondaga.

Grand Jury : Ozias Burr, foreman : James Geddes, Ephraim Webster, Bethel Cole, Robert Earll, John Curtiss, Joseph Leonard, Levi Jerome, David Green, John Lamb, William Rice, Jonathan Coe, Joseph Cody, Peter Lawrence, William Cobb, Irad Smith. No bills of indictment found at this term.

Hon. James Kent, judge, held the next Circuit at the house of Seth Phelps, Scipio, June 12, 1798, assisted by Seth Phelps, William Stevens, Seth Sherwood, judges of Common Pleas for Onondaga County.

Cayuga County was set off in 1799. The first Court in Onondaga after this was held at the house of Reuben Patterson, June, 1799. Present, William Stevens, first judge, assisted by Elijah Rust, James Geddes, Orris Curtiss, James Keep and Jeremiah Gould, associates.

Courts were held at different houses in Onondaga Hollow, viz : Asa Danforth's, Reuben Patterson's, Samuel Tyler's and John Adams'-from 1794 to 1805, when the Court House at Onondaga Hill was so far completed as to allow of the Courts being held there with the legislative provision for adjourning to any other house, if the weather was so inclement as to render it uncomfortable at the Court House.

In 1801, Elihu Lewis, Jabez Webb and Thaddeus M. Wood were appointed Commissioners for the purpose of erecting a Court House and Jail for the county of Onondaga. It was determined by vote to locate them at Onondaga West Hill. The Com- missioners commenced by contracting with William Bostwick of Auburn to put up the frame and en- close the house. This was done in 1802, and closed Mr. Bostwick's contract. Previous to raising the house the people of the Hill collected together and made a " bee " for the purpose of cutting away the trees to make room for the new building. The square was at that time covered with a heavy growth of timber. In order to have the use of the Court House, a temporary floor and seats were put in it and the courts held there till the commencement of 1804. The county then began to feel able to finish the court room and jailor's dwelling. The Com- missioners contracted with Mr. Abel House to do the carpenter work inside, leaving out the cells, and with a Mr. Sexton, of New Hartford, to do the mason work; and Mr. Ephraim Webster was to furnish the brick for the chimneys. The court room and dwelling were completed during that sea- son. After a year or two, preparations were com- menced for building the cells of the jail. A con- tract was made with Roswell and Sylvanus Tousley, of Manlius, for the iron work, at a price of two shil- lings per pound. The cells were finished in 1810.

* Clark.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

In 1804 the county of Oneida had completed a jail in the town of Whitesboro, to which the criminals of this county were transferred till the Onondaga county jail was finished, the Legislature having previously passed an act granting this county the right to use the nearest jail.

The ail at Onondaga Ilill was a wooden building fifty feet square, two stories high, with a square roof pitching four ways to the caves. It was not at first painted ; this finishing touch was done by subscription, some years afterwards, by the people of Onondaga Hill. The first story was appropri- ated for the jail and dwelling of the jailor, a hall separating them from each other. The cells were constructed of heavy oak plank, fastened together with wrought iron spikes. The doors were made of like material, having a rhomboidal aperture in the center through which to pass the food, and to give light to the prisoners. In the rear of the cells were grated windows.

The court room was reached by a stairway lead- ing from the hall. The judge's bench was directly in front of the entrance to the court room and was constructed in a circular form. The whole cost of the building was $10,000. This court house and jail were used for the purpose designed till the year 1829 The first jailor was James Beebe, a revolutionary soldier, and father of Mrs. Victory Birdseye, of Pompey. His successor was Mason Butts, father of Horace Butts, who was jailor after the removal of the county buildings to Syracuse. John H. Johnson, Esq., also acted as jailor there for several years.

In 1825, movements began to be made for the removal of the county buildings to Syracuse, which had grown to be the largest village in the county. The people of Onondaga Hill strongly opposed the measure, and in 1825 succeeded in getting a bill through the Legislature for the retention of the buildings at that place. The bill, however, was vetoed by Governor Clinton, but the project did not sleep. In 1827 a law was enacted authorizing the Board of Supervisors to erect a Court House and Jail within the corporate limits of Syracuse. In the summer of 1828, the Supervisors net, in pur- suance of law, at the Syracuse House to take into consideration the selection of a site for the proposed buildings, and to make the necessary arrangements for their erection. At the meeting there was a great deal of discussion and a wide difference of opinion relative to the site of the buildings. This was finally settled by taking a vote, which resulted in placing the county seat midway between the vil- lages of Syracuse and Salina, in consideration of

the village of Salina presenting to the county a full and unincumbered title to the property, consist- ing of not less than three acres, and $1,000. At this meeting the Building Commissioners were ap- pointed : John Smith, Thomas Starr and Samuel Forman ; with power to cause plans and specifica- tions to be made and to contract for the erection of the buildings. The County Treasurer was also em- powered to borrow $20,000, in two annual install- ments of $10,000 cach. In the spring of 1829, the bids were received, according to the plans and specifications of the Commissioners. Mr. John Wall obtained the contract for building the Jail, which was erected by him carly in the year 1829. The cells in this Jail were of the strongest kind. After it was taken down, they were placed in the basement of the new Court House on Clinton Square. L. A. Cheney and Samuel Booth ob- tained the contract for doing the mason work on the Court House, and David Stafford for doing the carpenter work. It was erected and enclosed in 1829. The following year it was finished by Mr. Wall and ready for occupation by the courts. The cost of the buildings was upwards of $27,000.

The Jail was of stone, fifty feet square and two stories high, with a hall and stairway in the center. The south half contained the jailor's dwelling, the north half the cells for prisoners, the second story above these being devoted to cells for debtors, witnesses, &c. The Court House was of brick, sixty feet square and two stories high, fronted on the west side with a row of large columns. The first story was divided by halls into four apart- ments, one in each corner, for the use of grand and petit juries and other purposes. The Court Room occupied all of the second story, except the landing of the stairs and two petit jury rooms. The Judge's seat was on the south side opposite the landing of the stairway.

The Jail was abandoned in 1850, after the erec- tion of the Penitentiary, and the removal of the jail prisoners to that institution. The materials were used in the construction of the work-shops of the Penitentiary and in the new Court House.

NEW COURT HOUSE .- Attempts were made from time to time to change the site of the Court House, but they all failed until after the destruction of the old building by fire, on the morning of the 5th of January, 1856. The expectation that was entertained when the site between the two villages was selected, that business would naturally center around the Court House, was never realized, and hence it was not accessible to the public. The in- convenience, however, was submitted to about

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COURT HOUSE , SYRACUSE, ONONDAGA CO.,N.Y.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

twenty years, before any serious attempt was made to change the site. General Granger submitted a proposition to the Board of Supervisors to the effect that he would build a good court house on any lot in the heart of the city that might be designated, in consideration of the con- veyance to him of the old Court House site and $20,000 in cash. But his offer received little favor at the hands of the Board. During the session of the Board in 1853, the subject was again introduced by Hon. Sanford C. Parker, Supervisor from Van Buren, who proposed a resolution that the county should unite with the city in the erection of an edifice of sufficient dimensions for a Court House, Clerk's Offices, City Hall, &c. But the subject was not further considered till the meeting of the Board in December, 1855, at which time Mr. Midler, Super- visor from DeWitt, moved a resolution to instruct the " Committee on Court House and Clerk's Office to examine and report to this Board the expense of building a new Court House, and what the premises where the old one stands will sell for." This reso- lution was adopted without objection. The com- mittec, consisting of T. C. Cheney, E. A. Williams, and Joel Fuller, proceeded to discharge the duties imposed upon them by the Board, and on the 7th of December submitted their report, recommending the appointment of a committee of three to exam- ine and report upon a suitable site for a new Court House, and plans and estimates for its erection. This report was laid on the table till the 14th of December, when it was adopted by a vote of fifteen to nine of the Board of Supervisors, and the follow- ing committee appointed : T. C. Cheney, Luke Wells and D. T. Moseley. Mr. Wells subsequently declined to serve, and Mr. Patten, of Salina, was substituted in his place. This committee was divided, making a majority and a minority report ; the latter by Mr. Moseley, against a change of loca- tion, being adopted by the Board. Thus the matter stood, when the burning of the old Court House on the 5th of February, set the question of a new build- ing at rest. The Board was called together on the 13th of February, and a committee consisting of T. C. Cheney, George Stevens and William F. Gere was appointed to report at the next meeting. The Board met again on the 14th of April, when a ma- jority of the committee - Messrs. Stevens and Cheney - reported in favor of changing the Court House site and the erection of a new building. Mr. Gere was in favor of the old site, and was sustained by the Board upon the vote being taken. On the following day the Board adopted a resolution offered by Mr. Chapman, of Onondaga, " that if an equal

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 9

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