USA > New York > Oswego County > History of Oswego County, New York, with illustrations and Biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 73
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Isnao Seamons. Ealisted Co. C. 50th Eng .; re-enl'd in same com- pany and regiment ; dis. June 16, 1865.
Uri Sly. Enlisted Co. D, 184th N. Y. V., August 31, 1864; dis. June 29, 1865.
John F. Seram. Enliated Co. D, 184th N. Y. V., Sept. 1, 1864; dis. July 13, 1865.
Elijah J. Smith. Enlisted Co. K, 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 31, 1864; dis. July 12, 1865.
John L. Sage. Ealisted Co. C, 184th N. Y. V., August 18, 1864; died Oct. 31, 1865.
Gilman Sloper. Ealisted Co. B, 184th N. Y. V., August 30, 1864; dis. June 22, 1865.
Peter Scalley. Enlisted Co. - , 193d N. Y. V., April, 1865.
Homer Stillwell. Enlisted Co. D, 193d N. Y. V., April 5, 1865.
Albert Shepherd. Enlisted Co. C, 26th N. Y. V., May 16, 1861 ; taken prisoner 2d Bull Run ; exchanged Oet., 1862; dis. May 28, 1863 ; re-ent'd, July 21, 1863, 14th II. Art. ; dis. July 21, 1865.
William E. Sheridan. Enlisted Co. K, 24th N. Y. V., Dec., 1861 ; dis. Juno, 1862 ; re-eol'd 16th H. Art .; dis. Dec. 1, 1864.
Perry Soufc. Enlisted Co. G, 81st N. Y. V., Oct. 15, 1861 ; wounded at Williamsburg, May 6, 1862.
Charles Shepherd. Enlisted 2d HI. Art., Dec. 8, 1861 ; io battle of Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, North Auna, Petersburg, Weldon R. R., and others; dis. June 1, 1864; re-eni'd same regi- ment and company ; dis. August 7, 1865.
Franklin Shepherd. Enlisted Co. HI, 50th N. Y. Eng., Aug., 1861; in several engagements ; was wounded in face at Fredericksburg; dis. Sept. 20, 1864.
Joseph P. Thomas. Enlisted 'Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 6, 1862; in siege of Port Iludson ; dis. July 20, 1863.
Elijah Thompson. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 5, 1862; dis. Aug. 28, 1865.
William D. Thompson. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 6, 1862; died at Carrolton, June 25, 1863.
Thomas Thompson. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 6, 1862; in battles of Indian Bend, Vermilion, siege of Port Hudson ; dis. Aug. 28, 1865.
William W. Thorp. Enlisted Co. B, 116th N. Y. V., Aug. 6, 1862; in battles Bayou Teche, Port Hudson, Franklin ; diseb. Aug. 28, 1865.
John H. Taylor. Eal'd Co. H, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 9, 1862 ; taken prisoner at Brasher City ; exchanged ; dis. Aug. 31, 1865.
George W. Trumbull. Enfisted Co. G, 3d II. Art., Feb. 11, 1864; in battle Wier Forks ; dis. July 16, 1865.
Emory Towsley. Enlisted Co. K, 14th II. Art., Dec. 21, 1863; waa in seven battles; wounded in Wilderness; furloughed; never returned to duty.
Smith II. Trumbull. Ealisted Co. I, 24th N. Y. V., May, 1861 ; re- calisted 24th N. Y. Cav., 1863; Cold Harbor, Mine Run, Wilder- ness ; was wounded by sharpshooter while on piekot; died in hospital, July 19, 1864.
Harvey C. Taft. Eulisted Co. I, 81st N. Y. V., Deo. 17, 1861; in battles Fair Oaks, Swift Creek, Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor, and others,-twenty-six in all; re-calisted ; was promoted to 1st serg't, March 1, 1865; Ist lieut., July 23, 1865 ; dis. Sept. 16, 1865. Charles H. Treadway. Enlisted 2d II. Art., Feb. 22, 1864; diseh. May 15, 1864.
Hiram Fox Tryon. Ealisted Co. F, Ist L. Art., Feb. 29, 1864; de- serted three times.
Judson Tilapaugh. Enliated Co. F, 184th N. Y. V., Sept 1, 1864 ; deserted.
Patrick Thornton. Ealisted Co. HI, Ist L. Art., Feb. 29, 1864: was in eleven cogagements; slightly wounded at Petersburg; disch. June 19, 1865.
Ebenezer Towsley. Ealisted Co. M, 2d H. Art., Feb. 29, 1864; died at Hart's Island, Oct. 8, 1865.
William Taylor. Ealisted Co. A, 16th II. Art .; dis. for disability ; died at home. Dec., 1864.
Sylvester Taylor. Enlisted Co. M. 2d HI. Art., Dec. 22, 1863; de- serted, and returned to duty under president's amnesty procla- mation.
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HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
William Webb. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Ang. 9, 1862; dis. April 18, 1864.
William HI. Wilson. Enlisted Co. E, 122d N. Y. V., Aug. 13, 1862; in battles South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Ist and 2d ; was wounded at Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864; was captured and taken to Libby prison, from which he escaped ; dis. July 12, 1865. Daniel Walker. Enlisted Scott's 900 Cav., Feb., 1862; dis. Jan. 2, 1863 : re-enlisted 21st N. Y. Cav .; dis. Aug. 2, 1865.
Henry P. Weaver. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug., 1862; in battle Port Hudson ; died at Tortugas Island, April 9, 1864.
A. S. Weaver. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 5, 1862; Bisland, Vermilion, siege of Port lludson, Franklin : disch. Sept. 1, 1865. Jason B. Wright. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 6, 1862; siege of Port Hudson, Franklin, Bisland ; dis. Aug. 28, 1865.
Ira West. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 11, 1862; dis. Aug. 23, 1863.
Edwin Wilmot. Enlisted Co. I, 110th N. Y. V., Aug. 7, 1862; dis. Aug. 8, 1865.
John Wild. Enlisted Co. II, Ist L. Art., Feb. 29, 1864 ; in battles of Spottsylvania, North Anna, Wilderness, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, and others,-eleven in all ; dis. June 19, 1865.
Kellogg West. Enlisted Co. E, 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 26, 1864; dis- charged July 1, 1865.
Aaron Widrig. Enlisted Co. F, 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 24, 1864 ; dis- charged July 14, 1865.
Libons C. Wait. Enlisted Co. K, 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 29, 1864; discharged July 12, 1865.
Richard A. Wakefield. Enlisted Co. E, 189th N. Y. V., Aug. 29, 1864 ; at IIatcher's Run, Five Forks, and Gravely Run; disch. Aug. 4, 1865.
Milo C. West. Enlisted Co. M, 2d H. Art., Dec. 27, 1863; in battle of Wilderness ; died in hospital, Washington ; remains buried on Arlington Heights.
Asa Westcott. Enlisted Ce. F, 147th N. Y. V., Sept. 2, 1862 ; died in hospital, July 25, 1863.
Charles H. Wright. Enlisted Co. A, 16th II. Art., Aug. 10, 1863 ; discharged Aug. 21, 1865.
Allen B. Westcott. Enlisted Co. - , 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 27, 1864 ; discharged July 12, 1865.
Benjamin Franklin Abbott. Enlisted Co. K, 152d N. Y. V., August 29, 1862; in battle Mine Run, and others; was w'd in the Wil- derness, May 7, 1864; dis. July 19, 1865.
Lloyd W. Aldrich. Enlisted Co. II, 16th U. S. Inf .; pro. qr. mr. sergt., June, 1864.
Wilson A. Austin. Enlisted Ce. G, 2d II. Art., Dec. 21, 1863; in battles Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, North Anna, Petersburg, Deep Bottom ; dis. Oct. 11, 1865.
Samuel Babcock. Enlisted Co. L, 10th H. Art., August 8, 1862; dis. September, 1865.
Charles Baker. Enlisted Oct. 7, 1863, in a colored regiment.
Henry H. Baker. Enlisted Co. C, 1st II. Art., Aug. 2, 1863; in bat- tles of Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Aana, Cold IIarbor, Pe- tersburg, Fort Steadman; discharged June 27, 1865.
Chauncey Barnes. Enlisted Co. G, 1st Lt. Art., Sept. 21, 1861 ; died at Union Mills, Va.
Ira Bates. Enlisted Co. K, 110th N. Y. V., August 6, 1862; died at Key West, July 4, 1864.
Horatio Bellows. Enlisted Co. M, 2d H. Art., Dec. 8, 1861 : in bat- tles of 2d Bull Run, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg; was wounded in left foot; discharged Dec. 8, 1864.
James A. Bentley. Enlisted Co. 1, 37th N. Y. V., Apr. 20, 1861; in battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and several others; discharged June 20, 1865. Wm. Blakesley. Enlisted Ce. C, 50th Eng., Sept. 5, 186]; was wounded at Fredericksburg, and died soon after.
David Bonworth. Enlisted Co. D, 24th N. Y. V., Nov. 11, 1861; in battles of Gainesville, 2d Bull Run, South Mountain, Antictam, Southside R. R .; re-enlisted ; second dis. Oct. 5, 1865.
William H. Bortles. Enlisted Co. K, 8Ist N. Y. V .; disch. 1862, dis- ability ; re-enlisted.
Jeha C. Bragdon. Enlisted 24th N. Y. Cav., Jan. 18, 1864; in battles Wilderuess, Spottsylvania, Cold llarbor, Petersburg, and others, thirteen in all ; dis. August 4, 1865.
James Brookins. Enlisted Co. G, 50th N. Y. Eng., Sept. 6, 1861; deserted Sept., 1862.
C. II. Burke, Enlisted 160th N. Y V., musiciao, Aug. 6, 1862.
John Dawley. Enlisted Co. G. 1st N. Y. Lt. Art., Sept. 7, 186] ; in seven days' battles before Richmond, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chan- cellersville, and many other engagements, twenty-four in all ; re- enlisted in same company and regiment, Feb. 11, 1864; disch. June 19, 1865.
Caleb Fogy. Enlisted Co. I, 24th Cav., Jan. 4, 1864; in battles Wil- derness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and others; disch. August 21, 1865.
William II. Fort. Enlisted Co. D, 24th N. Y. V., April, 1861; in several battles ; was w'd at 2d Bull Run; died of w'ds in Wash- ington ; remains buried there.
Jolin Scott Frey. Enlisted Co. K, 81st N. Y. V., Dec. 1, 1861; dis- charged Feb. 17, 1862.
William P. Frey. Ealisted Co. K, 81st N. Y. V., Dee. 1, 1861; dis- charged April 15, 1862.
Jared W. Hathaway. Enlisted Co. M, 2d H. Art., July 7, 1864. Oliver Hovey. Enlisted Co. K, 81st N. Y. V., Oct., 1861; in battles
Fair Oaks, Yorktown ; was w'd and taken prisoner; exchanged ; died at Baltimore, October 3, 1862.
Jobn Lester. Enl'd Co. M, 2d II. Art., Dec., 1864; dis. April 25, '65. John Lewis. Enlisted Co. HI, 16th N. Y. H. Art., August 1, 1863; in battles Malvern Hill, Deep Bottom, Laurel Hill, Fort Fisher, and several others ; dis. Sept. 29, 1865.
Peter W. Loser. Enlisted Co. I, 24th Cav., Feb. 8, 1865 ; was w'd at Sailor's Creek, Va. ; disch. June 8, 1865 ; also served in a Cali- fornia regiment.
Henry W. Lyman. Enlisted 50th Eng., Sept. 5, 1861 ; in battles of Fredericksburg, Yorktown, North Anna, Malveru Hill, White Oak Swamp, Seven Pines, Harper's Ferry ; disch. Sept. 20, 1864.
Shul acl Lyman. Enlisted Co. M, 2d H. Art., Dec., 1863 ; died in hos- pital at Washington.
Harvey Mandigo. Enlisted Co. G, 184th N. Y. V., Aug., 1864; dis. June 29, 1865.
Anson Miller. Enl'd 3d N. Y. Lt. Art., Mareb, 1864 ; dis. July, '65. Titus B. Mitchell. Enlisted Co. I, 24th Cav., Feb. 8, 1865; was w'd at Five Forks ; dis. June 29, 1865 ; also served in a cavalry regi- ment in New Mexico.
Charles F. Mulverbill. Enlisted Ce. B, 110th N. Y. V., August 6, 1862 ; in siege of Port Hudson ; dis. August 28, 1865.
Joseph S. Nichols. Enlisted Co. A, 94th N. Y. V., Feb. 26, 1865 ; deserted ; dis. July 28, 1865.
Franklin Nicholas. Enlisted Co. A, 94th Inf., Feb., 1862; in battle of Bull Run ; dis. 1864.
Reuben Noble.
William H. Paddock. Enlisted Ce. K, 81st N. Y. V., Sept. 10, 1861 ; in battles Yorktown, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Drury's Bluff, and many others; re-enl'd in same company and regiment ; disch. August 31, 1865.
Joseph Pentworth. Enlisted Co. G, Ist Lt. Art., Oct. 4, 1861 ; re- enlisted in same company and regiment, Dec. 17, 1863; was in battles of Wilderness, Autietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Fredericksburg ; discharged June 21, 1865.
Joseph Perkins. Enlisted 24th N. Y. V., May, 186] ; died in service. Henry Pettingill. Enlisted Ce. G, 24th N. Y. V., Oct., 1861; in battle of Chancellorsville; dis. May 17, 1863.
Albert Pickens. Enlisted Co. A, 16th N. Y. H. Art., August 1, 1863; in battle of Malvern ITill, and several others ; died at Wilmington, N. C., April, 1865.
Albert A. Potter. Enlisted Co. C, 110th N. Y. V., Jan. 23, 1862; re- enlisted Feb. 4, 1864; discharged Sept. 30, 1865.
Delavan Preston. Enlisted Co. K, 81st N. Y. V., Sept. 23, 1861; in battle of Fair Oaks; died in hospital, July 30, 1862.
Thomas Purdy. Enlisted Co. B, 110th N. Y. V., Augost 14, 1862 ; in battles Franklin, Camp Bisland, siege of Port Hudson, Ver- milien Plains; dis. August 29, 1865.
Adelbert E. Rich. Enlisted Co. I, 81st N. Y. V., Dec. 6, 1861; in battles of Fair Oaks, Swift Creek, Drury's Bluff, Cold HIarber, Petersburg ; killed Aug. 7, 1864.
Hermon Rich. Enlisted Co. A, 26th N. Y. V., Aug., 1861 ; disch. Jan., 1863 ; re-enl'd in 11th N. Y. Cav .; deserted March, 1864. Isaac Rowell. Enlisted Co. H, 185th N. Y. V., Sept. 6, 1864 ; in hattles Southside R. R .; Gravely Run, seven in all; at Lee's surrender was wounded by a ball in right arm and chcek; discharged June 9, 1865.
287
HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Alfred E. Seamans. Enlisted Co. M, 2d II. Art., Oct. 25, 1863; in battles Cold Harber, Spottsylvania, Potersburg ; taken prisoner at Petersburg : missiog.
Delos S. Seamans. Enlisted Co. M, 2d HI. Art., Oct. 29, 1863; in battles Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg ; missing.
Byron R. Seamons. Enlisted Co. C, 50th Eng., August 28, 1861 ; died Oct. 22, 1861.
William Slaftor. Enlisted Ilth Cav., Doc. 14, 1862; pro. 2d lieut., August 16, 1864; Ist lieut., March 21, 1865 ; discharged April 29, 1865.
llenry J. Smart. Enlisted Co. G, 24th N. Y. V., Nov. 29, 1861; re- enl'd 24th N. Y. Cav. ; dis. July 17, 1865.
Garret S. Sweet. Enlisted Co. D, 193d N. Y. V., April 6, 1865 ; dis. June 18, 1866.
Lansing Tanner. Enlisted Co. F, 184th N. Y. V., Aug. 24, 1864 ; discharged June 29, 1865.
Do Witt Clinton Trumbull. Eolisted Co. G, 3d HI. Art., Feb. 11, 1864; Five Furks ; dis. July 16, 1865.
Georgo Trumbull. Enlisted Co. G, 3d 11. Art., Feb. 8, 1864; disch. April, 1865.
Luke Tryon. Enlistod Co. K, 81 st N. Y. V., Sept. 10, 1861 ; in baltles Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Chickahominy, Malvern Hill, Cold Harbor, and several others ; re-enl'd in samo company ond regt; was wounded, and lost a leg; discharged.
CONSTANTIA.
THE town of Constantia was set off from Mexico, then a part of Oneida county, April 8, 1808, and comprised at that time the present towns of Hastings, West Monroe, and Constantia. Hastings was taken off in 1825, and West Monroe in 1839, reducing Constantia to the limits of the old survey-township of Rotterdam, or No. 11 of Scriba's patent. It is the southeastern town of Oswego County, and is upon the north shore of Oneida lake, to which last fact it doubtless owes its early settlement. The surface is nearly level, though slightly broken in the northern part. A large portion of the town is still covered with hemlock timber, and lumbering is one of the chief occupations of the inhab- itants. The most important streams are Scriba and Black creeks, and the outlet of Vanderkemp pond; all of which afford excellent mill privileges. Although the soil is quite sandy, good erops of wheat and corn are raised in some portions of the town. The southern portion is peculiarly well adapted to sheep grazing.
The early history of Constantia, comprising the fact of its being owned by the Oneida Indians, and the story of the numerous warlike expeditions which passed along its southern bounds during the last century, are to be found in the general history of the county. There, too, will be found a statement that when the Oncidas relinquished their title to the State in 1788, they reserved a tract of half a mile square every six miles along the north shore of Oneida lake. One of these reservations fell within the present limits of Constantia.
As in the case of other towns, we begin the history of Constantia with the first white settler.
The earliest settlement of which we have any account was made in 1791, when the Frenchman, Desvatines, located upon " Frenehman's island," about four miles southwest from the site of Constantia village. Desvatines had come to this country from France several years previous with a considerable sum of money, had been unfortunate in busi- ness, had finally lost his fortune through the treachery of a partner, and had retired with his wife and two children to this island, where another child was born, and there ereeted a comfortable house and cleared several aeres of land. He remained undisturbed until 1793, when visited by
an agent of John and Nicholas Roosevelt, who informed him that the State had sold the island with other lands to the Roosevelts, and that he must leave it. Mr. George Seriba, who had already purchased the Roosevelt traet, though he had not received a patent, and was commencing a settlement at Rotterdam (now Constantia), invited Desvatines to live there, offering him a traet of land for which he might pay at his convenience. The Frenchman gladly availed himself of this liberal offer. It is a little singular that Scriba should have allowed him to be driven from the island, but perhaps that gentleman wanted him to increase the new city of Rotterdam.
A more full description of Desvatines' life on Frenchman's island, about which so many romantie tales have been told, is given in the general history of the county, where will also be found an account of the original purchase of half a million aeres of land by the Roosevelts, and its transference to Seriba. Constantia having been the second town in Oswego County in which a settlement was made, its early annals possess a general as well as local interest, and it is inevitable that much of them should be given in the county history.
Meanwhile, in 1791 or '92, a man named Bruce had built him a cabin on the site of Constantia village, being the first settler on the mainland. He had been a merchant in Connecticut, but appears to have been a squatter on Oneida lake. He was found there in the summer of 1792 by F. A. Vanderkemp, who made a journey to Oswego at that time.
Although Mr. Scriba did not obtain his patent until December 12, 1794, yet he began the settlement of Rotter- dam in the spring of 1793. It is spoken of in the journal kept by the Frenchmen sent from Paris in the fall of 1793, by the " Castorland company," to examine the Black river country, and who visited this settlement on their route. They say : " ... We then took a view of the site of the future Rotterdam. It is upon a moderately-elevated, sandy plateau, with a view of the lake and the islands, and at present consists of a saw-mill and three log houses; but its location is favorable. Mr. Scriba intends to open a road from this place to the Little Salmon creek, which is twenty-
288
IIISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
four miles by land, and will save more than sixty miles by water, as well as the tedious navigation of the rivers. It is probable that this will become the route of trade from the lakes, which cannot fail to give it importance, especially if the Little Salmon creek is navigable, so as to reduce the portage to six or eight miles ; as they assured us could be done. The only trouble is in the landing-place, but some piers would remedy this, and timber is plenty."
In the summer of 1793, while the little colony at Rot- terdam were busy with their improvements, Francis Adrian Vanderkemp, a native of Campen, in Overyssel (one of the United Provinces of the Netherlands), came from Ulster county, where he had been living. He bought a thousand acres of Mr. Scriba, at a point on the lake which he called Kempwick, about five miles cast of Rotterdam. He put up here some fine buildings, which had been framed on the Hudson river. His barn is said to have been eighty by ninety fect. He was a man of wealth, and brought with him a large number of negroes, and in a very short time had a large tract of land cleared and under cultivation. The tract purchased by Mr. Vanderkemp included a large pond in the northern part, in which it is said there were at that time large numbers of fish. Mr. Scriba, becoming aware of this fact, told Mr. Vanderkemp that if he would give up the north half of his land, including the pond, he, Scriba, would give him a deed of the remaining five hun- dred acres free of cost. The offer was accepted, and the arrangement duly carried out. The sheet of water in ques- tion is still known by the name of " Vanderkemp's pond."
Solomon Waring came about this time (1793) and located at the village of Rotterdam, and is said to have opened the first tavern there, in that year, on the site of the present hotel of J. P. Brown. Joshua Lynch was also a settler of 1793. In 1794 Mr. Scriba cut out the celebrated road from Rotterdam to his other city of Vera Cruz, at the mouth of Salmon creck.
In June, 1795, the French duke De la Rochefoucauld- Liancourt visited Rotterdam in his travels through the United States, and published an elaborate account of it, which we transcribe here, as it is the best authority to be found regarding the locality at that time. He says,-
" Rotterdam is a new establishment begun eighteen months (two years) since, by Mr. Scriba, a wealthy Hol- lander, and a merchant, who is the owner of a large tract of land extending from here to Lake Ontario. He has chosen the mouth of Bruce creek as the site of his princi- pal city, and has begun another at Salmon river, two miles from Lake Ontario. Bruce creek is navigable some miles above Rotterdam, and Mr. Scriba has opened a road from here to his new city. At present his establishments amount to but little. A dozen poor log houses, built almost en- tircly at Mr. Scriba's expense, constitute all there is of the city of Rotterdam, so named in honor of the native place of its founder. The dams for the use of the mill that he has built have cost much money, and being always poorly built he has been obliged to recommence them several times. The grist-mill is not yet built, and the dam appears too feeble for the pressure it will have to sustain. Some work and considerable money has been expended at the mouth of the creck to make a landing, but the accommo-
dation is very poor. They estimate that Mr. Scriba has expended over eight thousand dollars here, and if the work had been well applied it would be a profitable investment. Mr. Scriba is now building a fine frame house in which he intends to place a store. In this he will share the profits with two associates whom he has as his agents for all these works. A store is, moreover, in America, the best means for gaining property rapidly in a new settlement, and he can thus regain the money expended on his establishment. He will sell, for instance, a quart of brandy for four shil- lings and sixpence, or if more for three shillings, flour at sixpence a pound retail, or ten dollars a barrel, while it only costs him seven. The profits on other articles are still greater. The land which sold eighteen months ago at a dollar an acre now brings three dollars, and is not consid- ered dear at that price. The present settlers of this place came from New England, and from near Albany. Mr. Scriba's partners in the store are Hollanders like himself, and they have a mulatto in charge. This mulatto is also a doctor and a gardener, and appears to have been well edu- cated ; they say he is a half-brother of Mr. Melth, one of the partners. Workmen get in Rotterdam four shillings a day and board, or six and sixpence when they board them- selves. Boarders pay fourteen shillings per week without liquor. They paid for bread ninepence a pound, the com- mon price being six. Fresh meat is eightpence; but not- withstanding the number of workmen constantly hired by Mr. Scriba, provisions are scarce and uncertain, and the price is always high. The country is also liable to fevers, as is all that through which we have passed."
Mr. John Meyer settled in the vicinity of the village before 1796, and was Mr. Scriba's agent ; perhaps he was one of the partners mentioned by La Rochefoucauld-Lian- court. He was the first supervisor of Mexico (and the first in the present county of Oswego), being appointed by the justices of Herkimer county, in default of an election in the spring of 1797. He was also the first justice of the peace in the county.
On the 11th of April, 1796, occurred that ever-interest- ing event in a new settlement. the birth of the first child, which in this case was George Waring, son of Major Solo- mon Waring.
Mr. Scriba himself did not make his home in Rotterdam until several years later, carrying on his business tbrough his agents. The store mentioned by the French duke was opened within a year or so afterwards. It is said that at one time it contained a stock of goods valued at ten thousand dollars; an enormous sum in those days. There being no other store in this part of the country, an immense business was carried on. The Indians often came here with their furs to trade, from a distance of more than forty miles.
Mr. John Bernhard, from whom Bernhard's bay derives its name, was a native of Holland. He emigrated to this country in the year 1790, and settled upon Staten Island, where he lived until the fall of 1795, when he moved, with his family, to the bay. Arriving late in the fall, he found but one building there,-an old log house, built by a Mr. Dayton two years before, but occupied by him only a short time. It was sadly in need of repair, and, as the season for cold weather had already set in, Mr. Vanderkemp kindly
.
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HISTORY OF OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK.
invited him to spend the winter at his honse. This invita- tion Mr. Bernhard accepted. The following circumstances, tending to show that politieal asperities are no sharper now than in the olden time, are related by Mr. Bernhard's deseendants.
During the winter a political dispute arose between Mr. Bernhard and his host. After a bitter quarrel, Mr. Bern- hard declared that he would not live with such a man, and accordingly moved back into the old log house at the bay. The family endeavored, by fastening blankets and shawls over the larger openings in the wall, to make the place comfortable ; but, with the first night, came the most severe storm of the season. Mr. Bernhard and his family awoke to find them- selves in the midst of a snow-bank. The wind had torn the blankets from the walls, and the snow had drifted mercilessly in upon the inmates.
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