USA > New York > Oneida County > Kirkland > History of the town of Kirkland, New York > Part 2
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"Sixthly : And whereas the Oneidas and Tuscaroras
10
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
have adhered to the cause of America, and joined her armies in the late war, and Congress has frequently as- sured them of peculiar marks of favor and friendship, the said commissioners are therefore instructed to reassure the said tribes of the friendship of the United States, and that they may rely that the land which they claim as their inheritance will be reserved for their sole use and benefit until they may think it for their advantage to dispose of the same."
In furtherance of this resolution, a council of the en- tire confederacy was called at Fort Stanwix, October 15, . 1784, at which a treaty was made between them and the United States, by which the Six Nations (the unfriendly Mohawks excepted) had special reservations of land as- signed them, and the boundary line was established be- tween the Oneidas and this State upon " the old Line of Property as fixed by the treaty of 1768." 1
1 The " Line of Property " here referred to was the boundary between the lands of the Indian tribes and the American colonies. Its history was as fol- lows : In consequence of mutual misunderstandings and encroachments, it was determined to hold a general council, at which a definite line should be fixed- and agreed upon by both parties. This council was held at Fort Stanwix, No- vember 5, 1768, and was composed of the chiefs of the Six Nations and their dependents on the one side, and of representatives from the States of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia on the other. The boundary-line then established began at the mouth of the Tennessee River, then ran up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, across the Alleghany Mountains to the east branch of the Susquehanna River, then to the Owego and Delaware rivers, up the latter to the junction of the Unadilla with the Susquehanna, thence up the west branch of the Unadilla to its head, thence in a straight line to the junction of Canada Creek with Wood Creek, "at the west of the carrying-place between it and Fort Stanwix." This was the "Line of Property " in its whole extent ; but the part with which we have chiefly to do is that which lies between Wood Creek and Bridgewater. This line formed the western boundary of Coxe's patent, soon after granted. And since the Revolution, in transactions between the Indians and the whites, and in conveyances of land between the whites themselves, this line has always been referred to as the standard basis of meas- urement. (Vid. N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. viii. p. 135.)
That portion of this line which passes through the town of Kirkland can still
11
EFFORTS TO CHRISTIANIZE THE ONEIDAS.
In the war of 1812, the Oneidas, as well as the Onon- dagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, took sides with the Ameri- can forces, and rendered valuable service. Their bravery at Chippewa and at Lundy's Lane has become matter of history, and the bold daring of Doxtator, an Oneida chief who fell on the latter field, deserves an imperishable record.
Our sketch of this important Indian tribe would be in- complete without some notice of the efforts made by the whites to instruct and christianize them. As we have already mentioned, this part of the State was visited at an early day by Jesuit missionaries from Canada. In the year 1667, a Romish mission was established at Oneida by Father Jacques Bruyas. Between the years 1674 and 1696, Father Millet labored among this people, but both of these men report the tribe as wild and intractable, and indisposed to heed their instructions. About four years later, the English government ordered all French mis- sionaries and traders out of the State.
Soon after the year 1700, several Protestant ministers from the adjoining colonies made occasional visits to the Oneidas, and gave them religious instruction.
In 1712, Rev. William Andrews, sent out by the Brit- ish " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in For- eign Parts," came among the Mohawks, where he re- mained six years, with frequent visits to the Oneidas ; but the fruits of his ministry were so small that he soon afterwards withdrew from the field.
be traced by a person standing on the Astronomical Observatory at Hamilton College. Starting at a point several rods east of the Observatory, it descends the hill near the residence of Prof. Edward North, crosses the road just above the school-house at the foot of College Hill, passes through Mr. Harrington's saw-mill on the Oriskany, and thenee runs up the southeastern slope to the south of Paris Hill, and so on to its termination in Bridgewater. See Map of the Town of Kirkland.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
In the year 1750, while the philosophers and theolo- gians of both hemispheres were beginning to admire the profound treatises of Jonathan Edwards, the Indians of central New York were also beginning to hear of him ; not so much of his genius and learning, as of his piety and benevolence. Around their firesides, the Oneidas and Mohawks and Tuscaroras talked of him and of his mission school at Stockbridge, in Massachusetts, and sev- eral families with their children resolved to go forthwith to New England, that they might sit at his feet and en- joy his instructions. At this juncture, also, several be- nevolent persons in New England were moved to carry the gospel to these tribes, and to set up the institutions of religion and education in their very midst. Accord- ingly, we learn of the Rev. Elihu Spencer dwelling for a season at the village of Oquago (a colony of the Onei- das), then of a new missionary company sent out from Stockbridge, in May, 1753, to follow up the beginning's made by Mr. Spencer. This party consisted of Rev. Mr. Hawley, Dea. Timothy Woodbridge, and Rev. Mr. Ash- ley and wife. Of this company, all except Mr. Hawley returned to New England after a short and discouraging trial of missionary life. Mr. Hawley held the ground until the commotions of the French War rendered his longer stay hazardous and almost useless. In the year 1766, Rev. Samuel Kirkland established a mission among the Oneidas which he occupied during his whole life, in- terrupted only by the disturbances of the Revolution. He was supported at first by the Connecticut Board of a Scotch Missionary Society, and afterwards by the Boston Board of a London society. His labors for the moral elevation of this people were in some degree successful, though the fruits were not so abundant as he had de-
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TUSCARORA AND STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS. .
sired. In the year 1816, a mission was established at Oneida by the Episcopalians, and in 1829, by the Methodists.
But ere long this tribe began to show signs of disin- tegration. Between the years 1822 and 1833, the main body of the Oneidas sold their lands and removed to Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin.1 A portion also migrated to a reservation on the river Thames, in Canada, where about four hundred of them now reside. Smaller parties have since gone westward, so that now only a few families reside in this region. According to the census of 1865, there were one hundred and fifty-five then liv- ing near Oneida Castle, whose occupations were hunting, fishing, weaving baskets, and the practice of a rude agri- culture. At present (1873), there are, of men, women and children, two hundred and twenty-seven.
It would seem that the Oneidas, savages though they were, knew how to exercise the grace of hospitality. For, in the year 1715, the Tuscarora Indians, having been expelled from North Carolina, came to the north, and, on the ground of their common origin, were invited to occupy a portion of the Oneida territory, lying between the Chenango and Unadilla rivers. They were also con- stituted the sixth member of the Iroquois confederacy. On the sale of the Oneida lands to the government, the Tuscaroras removed to western New York, near Lewis- ton, where about three hundred and seventy of them now reside.
It appears also that quite friendly relations had existed for many years between the Oneidas and the Stockbridge
1 In the year 1842, the Oneidas at Green Bay numbered 722; in 1849, they numbered 836. In the census of 1865, they numbered " nearly 800." In 1873, hey numbered 1259.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
Indians of Massachusetts. This latter tribe had lived, since 1735, in the township of Stockbridge, where a territory six miles square had been assigned them by the Legislature. Here they were favored for many years with schools and Christian teachers, among the latter of whom were Rev. John Sergeant, Timothy Woodbridge, Jonathan Edwards, and Dr. Stephen West. During the last French War, they sided with the English, and in the Revolution they declared for the American colonies. At the close of the war, General Washington directed a . grand feast to be prepared for them, in consideration of their valuable services, and an ox was roasted whole, of which men and women partook with great rejoicing. Rev. John Sergeant Jr. and Judge Dean presided at the table.
Previous to this time, the Oneidas had offered them a tract of land six miles square within their borders, but the disturbances of the Revolution prevented their im- mediate removal. After peace was declared, they accepted the proffer of the Oneidas, and migrated to their new home, which they called New Stockbridge. A por- tion came in the year 1783, another in 1785, and the remainder in 1788. Rev. John Sergeant Jr. was ap- pointed to be their minister, and organized a church among them of sixteen members. He continued here until his death, at seventy-seven years of age. This tribe remained within the borders of Oneida and Madison . counties, until the year 1821, when, feeling themselves sore pressed on all sides by the whites, they disposed of their lands and removed to Green Bay, on to a large tract of land which they bought of the Menominee and Winnebago Indians. In their new home they have made considerable progress in agriculture, and, for
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BROTHERTOWN INDIANS.
Indians, are sober, prosperous, and happy.1 In the year 1873, they were reported as numbering two hundred and forty-five.
Another tribe of Indians occupying this region for many years was the Brothertown. It was composed of the remnants of several disorganized and half-decayed tribes in New England, New Jersey, and Long Island, namely, the Narragansetts, Mohegans, Montauks, Pe- quots, Naticks, and others ; and derived its name from the composition of its body. It is not known precisely when this organization was effected ; only it is well ascertained that the Oneidas opened the door of the " Long House " to their eastern cousins at quite an early day, and that several of the eastern State governments assisted in collecting these scattered clans together, and in effecting their removal. They came here at different times, their central village being near the Oriskany Creek, and mostly within the bounds of the present town of Mar- shall. A portion of their reservation extended into the township of Kirkland. As early as 1763, Sir William Johnson reports them as numbering two hundred war- riors, and in all one thousand souls.
The Brothertowns, having no common language, used the English. This of itself did them no harm ; but, hav- ing lost all national pride, their several histories being histories only of defeat, decline, and disgrace, they gave
ยท 1 Tradition among the Stockbridges maintains that their forefathers came from the distant northwest; that, driven by famine, they crossed over great waters, and at length reached the Hudson River, east of which they settled. Their ancestors lived in villages and towns, and were civilized and very numerous. Their dispersion " demoralized " them. On reaching the Hudson River, they saw ebbing and flowing waters which they said was like what they had been familiar with in their native country. President Dwight, in referring to these traditions, thinks that this tribe came from Asia, and that the "ebbing and flowing waters " were what they had seen at Behring's Straits.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
up all ambition and public spirit, and became exceedingly corrupt and degraded.
A better day dawned upon them when they migrated to the West, which they did in company with the Stock- bridges in the years 1822 and 1825. In their new home they seemed to imbibe a new spirit. They adopted many of the customs of the whites, becoming farmers, me- chanics, the patrons of schools, and in a good degree the friends and promoters of morals and religion.1
Within the memory of our present older inhabitants, the scattered members of these several tribes lingered around Clinton. The Brothertowns, especially, on mili- tary training days, and on the Fourth of July, were in the habit of coming to the village to spend the day in shooting with bow and arrow, wrestling, leaping and running, often ending it in drunkenness and fighting.
These brief sketches of the Indian tribes formerly in- habiting this region suggest the old inquiry as to the equity of the treatment which the red men have received from the whites, and as to their ultimate destiny as a race. Probably none will maintain that our dealings with them have in all respects been just and generous. Yet if there ever was a people whose manifest destiny it was to decline and give room to a better race, it was the Indian. Mr. Lewis Morgan, in his book entitled " The League of the Iroquois," thus describes the great central trail of the Indians through the State of New York : " It was from twelve to eighteen inches wide, and deeply worn in the ground ; varying in this respect from three to six inches, depending upon the firmness of the soil.
1 For many years prior to their removal West, Mr. Thomas Dean (after whom Deansville was named) was the Commissioner of the State to manage their affairs. Mr. Dean was the father of Mrs. Professor Catlin.
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DESTINY OF THE INDIANS.
The large trees on each side of the trail were frequently marked with the hatchet. This well-beaten foot-path, which no runner nor band of warriors could mistake, had doubtless been trod by successive generations from cen- tury to century. It was the natural line of travel, geo- graphically considered, between the Hudson and Lake Erie."
And this was all that aboriginal civilization could do ! Its great central highway across this State was a mere foot-path, twelve or eighteen inches wide, and this it had been for centuries, with no prospect of improvement. Its petty commerce was transacted upon the backs of men and women, and in little bark canoes. It subdued no forests, built no cities, turnpikes, canals, railways, or telegraphs ; it established no schools and churches ; it formed no written language, printed no books, cultivated no arts ; it did nothing to advance the race in intelligence and virtue. And even when the lights of learning and religion were offered to this people, they seemed incapable of appreciating the gift and turning it to good account .. Surely, we as the stronger race cannot assume to be clean of all injustice toward them, nor can we withhold tears of sympathy over their melancholy fate, yet we must believe that they were unfit to be the lords of this broad land, and were righteously doomed to pass away. 2
CHAPTER I.
IN the foregoing pages, we have endeavored to present the physical aspects and surroundings of this region of country, with its inhabitants, and some of the leading events which had transpired here before the town became the permanent abode of a civilized community. To a traveller passing through the Oriskany Valley in the year 1785, the country presented all the indications of an un- broken wilderness. His path was an Indian trail. If he ascended the hill on the west, he looked down upon a sea of forests undulating over the knolls and slopes which diversify the valley, and up the amphitheatre of hills which rise on the east and south. Here and there he saw little wreaths of smoke curling up from Indian wig- wams, and perhaps through openings [in the trees he caught an occasional glimmer of the Oriskany. Beyond all were the Trenton hills, as blue and serene as now.
Before the war of the Revolution, Dutch settlers came up the Mohawk Valley from Albany and New York, and established themselves along that river, their western- most towns being Herkimer and German Flats. The fertile banks of the Mohawk contented them ; they saw no star of empire beckoning to the West. But after the Revolution, a new emigration set in, chiefly from New England. During the war, many persons who pene- trated the country as soldiers took pains to observe the character and resources of the land, and its fitness for permanent occupancy on the return of peace. It is
19
EARLY EXPLORERS.
mentioned by Judge Williams in his Historical Address, that " as early as 1776, seven pairs of brothers, from as many different families in the town of Plymouth, Conn., enlisted under the command of Captain David Smith, were marched westward, and during the summer of that year were stationed by turns at Fort Herkimer, Fort Schuyler, and Fort Stanwix. They visited the sur- rounding country, and at the close of the war were ready at once to go up and possess the land."
It would seem, however, that the earliest actual settlers in this region were two enterprising Germans, named Roof and Brodock, who with their families came from German Flats, in the year 1760, and took up their abode at the landing-place on the Mohawk near Fort Stanwix, where they gained a livelihood by transporting produce and goods across the carrying-place from the river to Wood Creek.1 Roof was also an inn-keeper and a trader with the Indians. These men held no title to their lands, but occupied them under a contract for their purchase from Oliver Delancey, one of the proprietors of the Oris- kany patent. They were driven from this post during the war, but on the declaration of peace they returned and took up their abode in their old quarters. This was in reality the first settlement of whites in central New York, yet the regular and systematic work of colonizing the country and filling it with landholders and permanent citizens did not commence until the year 1784. This was undertaken by Mr. Hugh White, who, with his four sons
1 The Mohawk River was navigable from Schenectady to Fort Schuyler for boats carrying twenty tons, and to Fort Stanwix for small batteaux. At the latter place, a portage of a mile and a half was required to carry goods and produce to Wood Creek, which empties into Oneida Lake. Fish Creek connects this lake with Lake Ontario. Thus was formed a thoroughfare between tide- water and the Great Lakes of the West.
20
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
and a daughter and daughter-in-law, came that year from Middletown, Conn., into the region since known as Whitestown. Immediately after the declaration of peace, he had purchased a portion of the Sadaqueda patent, and now, in May, 1784, he came on with a part of his family to take possession. They ascended the Hudson River to Albany, then crossed over to Schenec- tady, and from thence came up the Mohawk in a batteau to the mouth of the Sauquoit Creek. His purchase con- sisted of fifteen hundred acres of land lying on the right of the Indian path between Fort Schuyler and Fort Stanwix, and covered a portion of the present village of Whitesboro. Having erected a log-house and cleared a part of his land, he returned to Connecticut in January following, and brought on the remainder of his family. Next year, his little colony was increased by the addition of several families, and the name 'of Whitestown, which stood for an indefinite region in central New York, was soon known throughout New England.
Two years after this, namely, in the spring of 1787, the settlement of the town of Kirkland was begun. In the autumn of the previous year, Moses Foot, in company with a few other explorers, had visited this neighborhood, inquiring into its suitableness for a settlement ; and in February following, James Bronson also came to look into this valley, and spent a night (February 27, 1787) on Clinton Green, sheltered by the upturned roots of an an- cient hemlock. There is a tradition, also, that Ludim Blodgett was here quite early in the fall of 1786, and showed his faith in the future town by commencing a log- house on what is now the corner of the village Park and Kellogg Street. These visits, however, were only pre- liminary surveys of Kirkland's capabilities.
21
FIRST SETTLERS.
The settlement was actually begun in the spring of the year 1787, by seven or eight families, five of them from the town of Plymouth already mentioned. They had started from New England a few years before, and for some now unknown reason halted at German Flats, which was then the most western settlement of permanent inhabitants. All needful inquiries and preparations having been made at that point, these several families moved onward to this region. At the time of their coming, there were three log-houses at Fort Schuyler (now Utica), seven at Whitestown, three at Oriskany, five at Fort Stanwix (Rome), and three at Westmoreland. These twenty-one rude shelters covered all the population then in Oneida County. Our pioneers followed what was known as " the old Moyer road," which brought them to what is now Paris Hill, and thence turning north, they halted near the site of the present village of Clinton. This was on the 4th of March, 1787. The " Moyer road " just mentioned was a part of the Indian trail leading from Buffalo to the Mohawk Valley, and terminating at a place some distance east of Utica, where a Dutchman named Moyer kept a tavern.
It would seem that the exploring party who came here in the fall of 1786, were not agreed at first as to the best site for the future settlement ; a part choosing the ele- vated plateau one mile and a half east of Clinton, and others preferring the present site of the village, and neither party inclined to yield to the wishes of the other. Committees were appointed on both sides, who met for negotiation on the banks of a small stream midway between the two localities, but separated without com- ing to any satisfactory conclusion. Another set of dele- gates was appointed, by whom at length the eastern
22
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF KIRKLAND.
party was induced to join the western. This happy re- sult was due in no small degree to the tact and persua- sive powers of Moses Foot.
I have said that the settlement was begun by " seven or eight families." There are two historic doubts involved in this subject : the one as to whether those original families were seven or eight in number, and the other as to the names of those families. After much inquiry, I feel confident that the number was eight,1 and that their names were the following : Moses Foot, his three sons, Bronson, Luther, and Ira, his son-in- law Barnabas Pond, James Bronson, Ludim Blodgett, and Levi Sherman. As to the five first named there is no question, but some would substitute Solomon Hovey in place of one of the last two. This at least is certain, that the wife of Mr. Hovey was the first white woman who stood upon this soil.
Moses Foot, as has already been intimated, was the acknowledged leader of this enterprise. And he was well fitted for his position. Endowed with an iron frame and great nervous force, he had also a temperament which adapted him to endure privation and to control and sus- tain others amid the vicissitudes of pioneer life. His companions, too, were charged with Yankee pluck, inge- nuity and perseverance; and so the little colony started into being and form with good prospects of success.
If there is some reasonable doubt as to the names of some of the settlers who came here the first weck in March, it is after all a matter of little consequence. For, during this very month and in April, other men as good and true followed in their steps, so that in early summer
1 See Records of the Congregational Church in Clinton, page 3, at top, dated November 17, 1788. Also, Thanksgiving Sermon, by Rev. Dr. Norton, p. 12.
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HOUSES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.
the settlement contained thirteen families, and before winter it numbered about twenty households. During this first year, we find the following names : John Bullen, Salmon Butler, James Cassety (for whom Cassety-Hollow was afterwards named), William Cook, Samuel Hubbard, Noah Hubbard, Amos Kellogg, Aaron Kellogg, Oliver Porter, Randall Lewis, Cordial Storrs, Caleb Merrill, Levi Sherman, and Judah Stebbins.
And in what sort of habitations did these first families live ? The building of greatest pretension was the log- house of Ludim Blodgett, which, having begun the fall previous, he now finished. It was roofed over with elm- bark, but was destitute of floor, windows and doors. The houses of the other settlers were at first mere huts made of crotched stakes driven into the ground, with poles laid from crotch to crotch, and then sided and roofed over with strips of bark. These certainly were rude accom- modations, but the settlers cheerfully submitted to them.1 Judge Jones mentions that Solomon Hovey, who seems to have been rather luxurious in his tastes, made some special provision for bestowing the table-furniture and wardrobe of his wife. " He felled a large, hollow bass- wood tree, which grew a few feet west of the present Banking-House in Clinton, and, cutting off a piece of the proper length, split and hewed off one of its sides : this, raised upon end, with a number of shelves fitted into it, was found admirably contrived for a pantry, cupboard, and clothes-press."
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