USA > New York > Seneca County > History of Seneca Co., New York, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public building and important manufactories > Part 41
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Incidental and initial events connected with the rise and growth of the place are numerous, and illustrated by type of each, rather than a detail of all, and require a retrogression in time. Attention was early attracted to boat-building from the necessary portage here, and later locks, hence, in 1814, the "Adeline" was built. She was followed by the " Miller, of Seneca Falls," in 1816. Both. boats were in use in 1821 on the Erie Canal. Mr. Haskell, of Geneva, in 1823, built the first canal-boat here on the flat, and named her the "Merchant." Asa Starkweather, in 1838, located a boat-yard on the site of Latham & Osborn's coal- yard. Many hands were employed and direct village growth gained. Thomas H. Kerr and Erastus Partridge succeeded Starkweather in 1841, and built boats for several years, when the business fell into the hands of Mr. Miner, and finally of Joshua Martin, who built the last boat at that yard. Brick was first made at the village where stands the new Wesleyan church.
In 1822, one Calhoun built a patent threshing-machine. It consisted of a hori- zontal wooden shaft, with straight flails each five feet in length, and bearing a resemblance to a coarse comb. The shaft was arranged to bring the flails down upon the grain upon the floor. The first attempt at castings was made by John,
PLATE XLI
RES. OF BENJAMIN MOSES, SENECA FALLS TP., SENECA CO., N.Y.
DOWNS & CO'S IRON WORKS
Downs & Co's Pump Factory & Iron Works Seneca-Falls N.Y
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
son of Peter Miller, at the old blacksmith-shop of John Shriner, standing on the lot next west of the house now occupied by Mrs. James Sanderson, on Fall Street. He made a few rude specimens and then abandoned the effort.
Theophilus Stout, Henry M. Crum, and Reuben Compton, as individual part- ners in hat-making during 1817, occupied No. 2 Mechanie's Hall, where Lathrop now has his store. Ten hands were employed, and, at the expiration of three years, McCrum took the business; was succeeded by Clark & Rogers. D. B. Lum was a hatter from 1827 to 1842, and Crandall Kenyon from 1833, and is now a business man of the village.
In the year 1828, Dr. Moses C. Deming eame here, and kept the first drug-store ever opened in the place. Dr. Farnsworth was here at the time. Drs. Edward Bayard and Daniel W. Foreman, formerly lawyers, introduced homeopathie prac- tice in 1841. Dr. H. H. Heath has been here since 1838; an "old-school" man, but adopting the homeopathie system with Childs, Dayton, Williams, and others. Jedediah Coleman, saddle- and harness-maker, lived at the lake in 1821; came here in 1826, and built the first brick house in the place. John P. Fairchilds, in 1828. was the pioneer jeweler, and kept the first stoek in that line. William Garratt was in the same trade from 1835 to 1840. General Senter M. Giddings kept the first grocery in the place, about 1826. It stood on the corner of Ovid and Fall Streets. Hon. George B. Daniels clerked for him in 1827 or 1828.
Charles L. Hoskins establishing himself here in 1828, still occupies the first loca- tion, upon which he has thrice built to keep pace with the times and business growth. He is probably the oldest merchant in the County. Jeremy Bement and Abram Buckhout, in 1829, built a carriage-shop on Bayard Street, but soon re- moved to the corner of Ovid and Green, where they did a heavy business, employ- ing much capital and many men. The firm increased by Stow's losing their sheps by fire; huilt the stone shop later well known as the pump-factory. The transfer of goods and property gives rise to drayage, and to Andy Gray, in 1830, belongs the honor of running the first cart in the place, beginning with a Canadian pony and a French box-cart.
In August, 1829, O. B. Clark issued the first number of the Seneca Falls Journal, himself editor and proprietor. This, the first newspaper in the village, was continued as an anti-Masonic sheet. In the winter of 1831, Clark sold to W. N. Brown, and a Mr. Catlin took charge of the paper. Then followed the Seneca Farmer, from Waterloo, in 1832; the Seneca Falls Democrat, in 1839; the Seneca Falls Register, in 1835; the Sencca County Courier, in 1837, and the Seneca Falls Rercille, in January, 1855,-the last two being leading and pros- perous papers, under eondnet of able and experienced journalists.
THE OLD MILLS AND EARLY MANUFACTURES.
The lower Red Mill was built in 1807. The mason-work was done by James Piatt. The millwrights were Richard Grooves, James Suylandt, and George Yost, and among the millers were Miles Washburn, D. Wood, Noah Morris, Moses Witham, Elijah Adams, and Philip Dorsheimer, father of our present Lieutenant-Governor. At the dissolution of the company, in 1826, their assets were divided. The old Red Mill and surroundings fell to the heirs of Nicholas Goveneur, the lower Red Mill and property connected therewith to the Bayards, and the bonds, mortgages, and sundries to Colonel Mynderse. One of the Gov- eneurs, whose wife was daughter to President James Monroe, lived in the village a brief period, occupying the house which stood upon the present site of Henry Seymour's dwelling. The Goveneurs gave place to the Ogdens, who ran. the old mill for years, and finally returned to New York City. The old mill property then passed to Anthony Dey and his brothers Charles W. and Samnel, and con- tinued in the family till sold by the administrators of Charles W. Dey, in 1850,' to Jacob P. Chamberlain, at which time Silsby, Race, and others bought the island, paying less than three thousand dollars. The lower Red Mill property passed to William and Samuel J. Bayard, who were residents of the village from 1830 to 1845. Owned by the Messrs. Towar for a time, it fell to Chamberlain, who sold to Messrs. John Shoemaker, George B. Daniels, and Edward Mynderse, who converted it into a distillery. It was burned in 1862, being then owned by George B. Daniels and A. M. Van Cleef, who sold the site to its present owner, John P. Cowing.
The first manufactures for shipment were flonr by Mynderse, potash by Kellogg, whisky by Mynderse, and later by Sackett. In 1827, Isaae Smith built a briek distillery on the upper level, and did a heavy business for the time. At the King- dom, N. P. Lee carried on a large distillery which was known as the Great West- ern, and was burned in 1846. A paper-mill was built, in 1827, by Chauncey Mar- shall, on ground occupied by Cowing's works. D. W. Forman was associated with Marshall, as firm of Marshall & Forman, for a year or two, when the firm was changed to D. W. Forman & Co., the place of Marshall being taken by Charles L. Hoskins and William H. King. The mills ran constantly, employing sixteen hands, and making all grades of writing-, straw-, wrapping-, and printing-paper.
Twenty-seven printing-presses were supplied with their paper in 1833. Writing- and wrapping-paper was sold by Joseph L. Beebe, who, traveling with a team, gave paper and received rags. Jonathan Sackett and Beebe bought the property, and gave their attention almost exclusively to straw wrapping-paper. Beebe sold to his partner, in whose hands the mill was when burned by the great fire of 1853. A sash-factory was established by Dix & Dunning in 1828, on the site of Cowing's works. The same was conducted by Wade & Bristol, then by Partridge & Shaw, among whose employees was Jephtha Wade, now a Cleveland, Ohio, millionaire. Winchester R. Powell and Walter Jones next succeeded, as the firm of Powell & Jones. Jones dying in 1845, Powell assumed and still continues the business. H. P. Westcott, in 1847, did a large sash and blind business. His establishment was in the cotton-factory built by Sackett in 1830. The cotton manufacture had been carried on by Hezekiah Kelly from 1831 to 1844, Kelly having purchased of Sackett; after 1844 the work ceased, and Westcott converted it to the business named above. Marshall & Adams built a clock-factory in 1832; many clocks were made, and large numbers of persons were employed as agents in their sale. Marshall died in 1837, and the result was a discontiouanee of the business.
In 1830, George H. McClary moved to the village, and, in partnership with Halliday, erected a machine-shop and furnace, and carried on business as the firm of MeClary & Halliday, until Henry Seymour bought Halliday's interest. They then commenced manufacturing plows, threshing-machines, and doing mill- work. This was the first machine-shop and furnace built in the place. Business was successful till, in June, 1836, a flood swept away the building, and with it two men, George Stolaker and a Mr. Phaette. In 1837, McClary and Abram Payne erected their stone building, while the Gays-John S. and James-built the east portion for an oil-mill. In 1851 the Island Works were erected, of which we have written elsewhere. Of Birdsall Holly we have spoken. This party, foreman of the works, receiving letters patent for his celebrated pump and engine, begins a reputation new world-wide. In 1856 a steam fire-engine is constructed, the first of the many now standing in leading cities, the safegnard of life and property. In 1840, Ahel Downs began the manufacture of pumps, now grown so vast a business at this point. In 1846, Washburn Race, the inventor and patentee of his famous stave-regulator, united with Seneca Falls business men to carry on his business. In the winter of 1853-4, Downs & Co. built new works, and employed full two hundred men upon pumps. A year later they are asso- ciated with H. P. Westcott in making sash and blinds. Next a knitting estab- lishment is opened, and a contract taken in 1859 to knit eighty-four thousand pairs of stockings for the United States army. A. J. Goffe, of Colocs, the in- venter of a patent knitting-machine, is employed as superintendent.
Fires break eut, and many thousands of dollars are destroyed in the conflagra- tions, which sweep away the mannfactures of the Cowings, the Goulds, and build- ings like the Mynderse Block; but the debris is promptly cleared away, and fine structures rise upon their ruins. A fire sweeps over Chicago, and with generous hearts a car is loaded and thousands subscribed to extend a helping hand; To obtain a railroad they bond heavily; to erect fine churches they subscribe gener- ously ; to save the Union they enlist by companies, and a walk along the avenues of Restvale reveals the sacred regard for the departed.
Seneca Falls Industries .- Additional to the representation of the village in its manufactures are its blocks, its gas-works, its yeast-factory, and its handsome private residences. For forty years the "old stone mill" at the licad of State Street was a landmark, and an institution of Seneca Falls. Its foundations are of solid stone masonry. In 1865, Albert Jewett purchased the property, and in 1867 it became a portion of the property of the "Phoenix Mill Company," of which Mr. Jewett was President. All at once demolition began ; the roof came off; the stone walls came down to the level of Fall Street, and the foundations were brought forward to the line of the street, making the dimensions one hundred by one hundred feet. Upon this foundation went up one of the finest brick blocks in Western New York. On the Fall Street front the block is two-storied, with a mansard roof, and in the centre is an imposing tower, forty feet above the roof, in which is placed one of Fasoldt's astronomical clocks, one of the finest in the country, and visible from almost all parts of the town. Its illuminated dial is a conspicuous object, and a landmark to the evening pedestrian. In 1871 a file- manufactory was condneted on a lower floor of this block, known as ".Jewett's Block," the firm being known as Wilkinson & Co. On the second floor were Miller & Wentworth, manufacturers of water-drawers, pumps, and patent ice-cut- ting snow-shovels. There, too, was Carr's wood-working establishment, manufac- turing scroll-work, brackets, sash, blinds, and doors. In the east end of the build- ing is the Courier office, and in the western portion of the same first basement, in rooms the counterpart of the Courier, is the printing-office of the Reveille. West is the American Express office; east is the Sencca Falls post-office. The changes from the office of Mynderse along up from John Morgan, Postmaster from 1828 to 1841; Isaac Fuller. 1841 to 1843; Josiah T. Miller, 1845 to 1849;
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
then D. C. Bloomer, under Taylor, till 1853; J. T. Miller, under Buchanan, till 1860; Isaac Fuller, till 1868; Simeon Holton, till 1871, when General John B. Murrey, the present Postmaster, was appointed.to the present office, are striking illustrations of progressive spirit. The new post-office is probably the finest in the State, and is elaborately finished in black walnut and oak, with plate-glass box fronts, arched at the top. One' entrance leads to the money-order office, the other to the lock-boxes. Wellnigh two thousand boxes, made of black walnut, and tastefully numbered with white metal figures, were furnished by Horace W. Knight. In addition to these boxes, there are seventy lock-drawers, and a hun- dred boxes, furnished with Yale's patent lock.
The Gas Company's Works are located between Fall Street and the river, in the Second Ward. An addition to the old works, twenty-eight by thirty-two feet, was built of brick in the fall of 1871. Amidst the machinery is a' condenser, consisting of a nest of twenty-four pipes, inclosed in an immense water-tight iron casket, and four large purifiers. A retort-house near the river contains four benches of five retorts each, and the company are able to manufacture and supply their customers full one hundred and twenty-five thousand feet of gas per day. The company have a coal-house on the dock with a capacity for a thousand tons, with a device for unloading from vessels, consisting of two tracks traversed by trucks, which convey the coal when elevated from the vessel to any part of the building. The company have full fifteen miles of main pipe in the ground, be- sides an endless length of service pipe. The holder at Waterloo has a capacity of thirty-five thousand feet, and the one at the works at Seneca Falls twenty- five thousand feet. Fifteen hundred tons of Beaver coal, from beyond Erie, Penn- sylvania, are brought by canal from Buffalo for the works annually.
The National Yeast Company's Works are an extensive industry of the village. The company was organized in July, 1870, Heury Seymour being the projector, and commenced the manufacture of yeast-cakes in the wooden building in the rear of Daniel's Hall. In December, Harrison Chamberlain and Henry T. Noyes became members of the company. In January, 1871, they moved into their brick factory on Fall Street, which was in dimensions sixty-five by thirty-two fuet and five stories high ... Late in the fall of 1871 a front extension was erected, which is fifty-eight by thirty-six feet, five-storied, and with a mansard roof and a tower. In a journey through the manufactory, Que euters the engine- and boiler-room, where is the hop-vat and the mash-tub. Thence into the rolling-room, whence the yeast is brought after a sojourn in the fermenting tubs. Here lying in troughs, it is thoroughly mixed with the meal to the proper consistency. It is then placed upon metal rolling-tables and thoroughly rolled to the desired thick- ness under the pressure of eighty-five-pound metal rollers. Skill and strength are requisite in the employees of this room. When properly rolled, the sheet is cut in squares, and elevated by ear-loads to the drying-rooms above. Thence down- ward to the packing-room, wrapped, packed, and ready for shipping. In 1871, with restricted quarters, fifty tons of meal were used in a montli, and five thou -. sand boxes, containing over one hundred and fifty thousand packages of a dozen cakes each, were filled during the same time. With increased facilities have come greater mannfacture and an ever-ready demand for a staple article.
Prominent citizens are numerous ; a few are mentioned here. There was John Maynard, a distinguished lawyer and member of Congress from this district in 1841. William A. Sackett was a member of Congress, elected in 1848, and Jacob P. Chamberlain was a third from here; he served in 1861. Henry B. Stanton was elected to the State Senate from this Twenty-fifth District in 1851, and served one term. He ran again against J. B. Williams, and, although defeated, held the seat most of the session before the latter obtained the contested right. At Seneca Falls lived Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton from' 1848 to 1861, and here began her work of reform by public speaking and independence in dress. She was a co- worker with Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, a resident from 1839 till 1854, the editress of the Lily, a paper published in the interest of temperance and ladies' dress reform. Dexter C. Bloomer, husband of Amelia Bloomer, came to the village about 1834; taught school and studied law. He became in turn a lawyer, an editor, and a Postmaster. Josiah T. Miller came here a boy in 1833, studied law with John Morgan, and was made editor of the first Democratic paper published in the place. Henry Wells, of express company notoriety, was a Seneca Falls boy, and sou of Rev. Shipley Wells, who was a resident from 1814 to 1825. Harriet Wells, sister of Henry, became a missionary in foreign lands. Her hus- band died at the mission; she returning, is now known as Mrs. Dr. Hale, of St. Louis, Mo .; Frances Willard, a Seneca Falls girl, became a foreign missionary, and died at her.post of duty ; and Mary Dix, prominent in the society of 1830, became the wife. of a missionary, who, with Messrs. Whitman and Spaulding, were the first to make the perilous journey overland to the Columbia River.
Incorporation of the Village .- On the 22d of April, 1831, " An Act to incor- porate the village of Seneca Falls, in the County of Seneca," was passed by the Legislature, and on the first Monday in May following Ansel Bascom was chosen
President of the new corporation. A new charter passed the Legislature on April 24, 1837, and was adopted by the village. The amended charter provided for a President, three Trustees for each of the two wards, a Police Constable, and two Street Commissioners, the other officers being appointed by the Trustees. At the. first election held under the new charter, on the fourth Monday in May, John L. Bigelow was elected President, having received two hundred and thirteen votes, against one hundred and ninety-nine for Sheldon Wood. David B. Lum was elected Police Coustable. The Trustees of the First Ward were Ebenezer Ingalls, Whiting Race, and Asa Starkweather; of the Second Ward, Jeremy Bement, Carlton W. Seely, and Franklin B. Latham; Isaac Smith, Assessor, and George B. Daniels, Street Commissioner, in First Ward; and Gary V. Sackett, Assessor, Theodore Chapin,. Commissioner, for Second Ward. At a tax meeting held at " Washington Hall" on May 30, 1837, seven hundred dollars were voted to be raised by tax for village expenses. F. B. Latham was President of the meeting, and J. T. Miller, Clerk. By resolution of the Board of Trustees, " Messrs. Purdy, Welch, Macomber & Co." were liceused, for forty dollars, to exhibit their "menag- erie of living animals and exhibition of paintings and serpents" in this village, on June 22, 1837. At a meeting of the Board, held July 12, 1837, it was " Resolved, that a fire company, to Engine No. 2, be organized, and that such company consist of forty able and respectable men ;"' and, " Resolved, that William H. Arnett be and he is hereby appointed foreman." Ordinances and by-laws were adopted for the preservation of health and peace, which were published in the Seneca Falls Register, by J. K. Brown & Co. In July, 1837, George H. McClury was ap- pointed Chief Engineer of the Fire Department; Edward S. Latham and George B. Daniels, Assistant Engineers. In Angust, Stephen S. Viele was appointed village Prosecuting Attorney. At the charter election in 1838, General Senter M. Giddings was elected President. Six hundred and seventy-five dollars were voted to be raised at the 1838 tax meeting-two hundred and seventy-five of which were for the improvement of the two bridges which cross the river. The ordinances were published in the Seneca Falls Courier. At a special-tax meeting, by a vote of nineteen to eight, it was determined to raise fifteen hundred dollars, in the First Ward, to grade Fall Street; which sum was reduced to eight hundred. In 1839, Sheldon Wood was chosen President. During this year great improvements. were made in streets aud sidewalks, aud nearly fourteen hundred dollars expended therefor by the Trustees. M. B. Bellows was elected President, in 1840, over John L. Bigelow, by a majority of twenty-eight votes. Stringent measures were adopted by the Board of Trustees during this year to restrain the sale of intoxicating liquors. In 1841, Edward S. Latham was President. The culvert across the ravine west of the "Seneca House" was constructed, the stone-work being done under superiutendence of Elisha J. Davis. Whiting Race was elected President in 1842. A new fire company was organized, and a large number of the most prominent citizens were elected firemen. Reservoirs ou Cayuga and State Streets, at their junetion with Fall, were constructed. William Arnett was elected Presi- dent in 1843, and Matthias B. Bellows filled the same office in 1844. During this year the first steps were taken towards macadamizing the village streets. In 1845, Elisha Foote, Jr., was President, and John Maynard iu 1846, during which year the new bridge on Ovid Street was commenced. J. K. Brown was elected President in 1847; Whiting Race, in 1848; Silas Keeler, in 1849; John S. Clark, in 1850; Edward Mynderse, in 1851; S. D. Tillman, in 1852; Ebenezer Ingalls, iu 1853; C. W. Seely, in 1854; Martin L. Bellows, in 1855; E. F. Thomas, in 1856; John P. Cowing, in 1857; Jacob Shoemaker, iu 1858; and William Arnett, in 1859. In 1860 a new charter passed the Legislature. The village was divided into four wards, each ward having two Trustees. The term of President and Clerk was made to continue two years, and Dr. G. W. Davis was elected to serve during 1860-61 ; Le Roy C. Partridge, 1862-63; William Beay, two terms, 1864-67. A complete revision of the charter occurred in 1865. Hiram Bent was Presideut from 1868-69; G. B. Daniels, 1870-71 ; Pryce W. Bailey, 1872-73; Heury Stowell, 1874-75; and D. E. Partridge to serve 1876-77.
Seneca Falls Fire Department .-.- The organization of a fire company dates from July 12, 1837, when William H. Arnett was Foreman to Engine No. 2; O. S. Latham, First Assistant ; Nathan S. Congdon, Second Assistant; . William E. Starr, Secretary ; and Charles L. Hoskins, Treasurer. The firemen were J. B. G. Downs, J. W. Dickerson, W .- R. Goetchius, J. T. Andrus, W. A. Sackett, HI. Hayden, and E. M. Conklin. George H. McClay, Chief Engineer, E. S. Latham and G. B. Daniels, Assistant Engineers. In 1842, Fire Company No. 3 was organ- ized. William Arnett, Foreman ; G. R. Chase, Second Assistant ; and a company of twenty-three of the leading citizens formed, among whom were Russel G. Noyes, Wasliburu Race, F. V. Chamberlain, D. R. Gould, Edward Mynderse, and G. A. Van Cleef. The Fire Department as now organized consists of two steamers. and one hand-engine. The Chief Engineer is Moses Rumsey; his Assistant is Richard Ridley. No. 1 Steamer Company is paid by the village. The name of. their steamer is the " Le Roy C. Partridge." The engineer is Edwin Medden ;
PLATE
NATIONAL YEAST COMPANY'S WORKS, ESTABLISHED 1870, SENECA FALLS , NEW YORK.
SASH, BLIND & DOOR FACTORY
Westcott. Downs & Gould: Sash, Blind & Door Factory Seneca - Falls, NY
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
fireman, John Urgahart. There are nine hosemen, whose Foreman is Lewis Johnson. The engine-house is located on the north side of Fall Street, between State and Mynderse. The steamer was purchased in 1860 from H. C. Silsby, and has seen and done most excellent service at the fires which have devastated the best industries and finest bloeks in the village. No. 2 is a hand-engine com- pany, manned by volunteers. The " Red Rover, No. 2," is a pioneer cugine, and has been in service many years. The house is located on Chestnut Street, Rum- seyville, at the west end of the town. There are sixty men in the engine com- pany, whose Foreman is Daniel Havens, assisted by George W. Zimmerman. There is a hose company attached, which numbers fifteen men. No. 3 Steamer Company .- The " Phoenix" steamer was purchased in 1868 from the Silsby Manufacturing Company by the village authorities. The house is located on the south side of Bayard, west of Ovid Street. James Desmond is engineer, and John Lefler fireman. To this steamer is attached Rescue Hose Company, No. 3, with a complement of nine men, of whom Henry Churchill is Foreman. The Silsby Manufacturing Company keep an engine ready for fire-duty at any time, with hose supply, and abundant help in case of necessity. A fire-aların is given by the ringing of the workshop- and factory-bells, and the department, men and maebiucry, can be depended upon.
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