USA > New York > Otsego County > In old Otsego : a New York county views its past > Part 3
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already standing. At one of these, previous non-members were offered a share in the school property upon payment of the proportional cost.
The buildings then were indeed crude and the furnishings uncom- fortable but these schools did accomplish their purpose and the first generation of children reared in Otsego County were a literate group.
It may be appropriate to add that Cherry Valley had an academy as early as 1795. When it was chartered by the Regents the next year Eliphalet Nott became its principal. This is the man who in 1804 began a 62-year term as President of Union College, a record unprece- dented in the annals of American education.
In 1796 the legislature noted that "a disposition for improvement in useful knowledge has manifested itself in various parts of this state by associating for ... social and public libraries and whereas it is of the utmost importance to the public that .. . institutions for that purpose be encouraged and promoted," it forthwith provided for the incorporation of such societies, going into full detail. At least 20 persons, contributing a total of $100 or more, would constitute the original membership, in reality a stock company. Shares were property and transferable. Two-thirds of the members responding to a call for a meeting could there elect a chairman, a treasurer, a librarian, five to twelve trustees and adopt a name. The chairman then returned an affidavit to the county clerk that the conditions of law had been met and received a certificate of incorporation. Trustees met quarterly and by-laws covered admission of later members, assessments, loans, fines and use by non-members.
Otsego had been one of those places where a disposition for improvement had earlier manifested itself but the first corporation of the kind on the county records is the Otsego Library in 1804. Its membership was from the Fly Creek-Toddsville-Christian Hill area. Following in order came these others, with titles differing from their communities given in parentheses: Unadilla, 1805; Exeter (Friend- ship), Cherry Valley, 1806; Worcester, Richfield (Columbian) , Bur- lington (Alexandrian) , 1807; New Lisbon (Harmony), Burlington (Farmers'), 1808; Middlefield, Laurens, Otsego (Washington), 1810; Hartwick, Westford, 1812; Maryland, 1813; Milford, 1814; Hartwick Seminary (Addison), 1817; Louisville, now Morris (Butternuts) ,
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Springfield, 1826; Middlefield Center, Cooperstown (Franklin), 1827; Burlington (Franklin), 1828; Middlefield and Westford combined (Waterville), 1831.
The most prominent professional, political, civic and business figures of the county were among the strong supporters of these enter- prises and served as trustees. Their calibre may be judged from a few familiar names: William G. Angel, William Baker, William Camp- bell, Silas Crippen, Stukely Ellsworth, Sumner Ely, Earnest L. Hazo- lius, Gurdon Huntington, Solomon Martin, Elijah H. Metcalf, Timo- thy Morse, Sherman Page, Robert Roseboom, John Russell, Amos Spencer and Rufus Steere.
Beginning in 1838 the legislature made an annual appropriation of $55,000 to provide libraries in every school district. The state offered to match any sum voted by a district up to $20 a year. Levi Beardsley as a state senator, doubtless recalling how he had benefited from such a facility in his youthful years, was a most active proponent of this measure. Otsego schools promptly embraced this opportunity and soon a library was within easy reach of every family.
OTSEGO IN OHIO
(Acknowledgment is gratefully made to Mr. John C. Pearson, of Cleveland, O., for assistance on this chapter.)
SUCCESS in the Revolution assured the new United States nation sovereignty over the Northwest Territory, an area ultimately carved into five states-Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. A long story could be written about Otsegoans attracted to each one of these regions, possibly most about Michigan. An Otsego County and an Otsego Lake are at one location in Michigan and a village of Otsego at another. In 1860 more than 190,000 native New Yorkers were living in that state. However, Ohio is the nearest to us, was the first to receive eastern settlers and Otsego influence there may be taken as typical of all the rest. Migration thither was quite continuous from before 1800 until the Civil War and well distributed over the state.
Samuel Wilson was among the first to leave for Ohio, going to Worthington about 1798. A Massachusetts soldier of the Revolution with extensive service in this state and a son-in-law of John Adams, Fly Creek pioneer, Wilson had previously helped keep the first store in the present Town of Hartwick from 1792 to 1797.
Abram Garfield, of Worcester, went to Cuyahoga County in 1820. There James A., the future president, was born ten years later. Almost incredible were the series of tragedies that befell the Garfield men. Solomon, the President's great grandfather, and the Worcester pioneer of 1790, was killed in 1807 by a falling tree. Previously the grand- father, Thomas, had succumbed to small pox at the age of 32. The father, Abram, died of injuries received in fighting an Ohio forest fire in 1833 and the President was assassinated within four months after he had entered the White House.
Dwight Jarvis, of Fly Creek, finished his law studies in 1822, then practiced successively at Athens, Canton and Massillon, O. He was active in civic affairs and rose to the rank of Major-General in the Ohio Militia.
At Canton, his law partner was David A. Starkweather, a one- time Cooperstown resident, who had gone first to Mansfield in 1825. Starkweather was prominent in Ohio politics, serving in both branches
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of the state legislature, two terms in Congress, as a Presidential elector and being appointed Minister of Chile in 1854.
Kent Jarvis, a younger brother of Dwight, had engaged in wool carding and dyeing in Otsego and Lewis Counties with indifferent success before deciding to try Michigan in 1844. On the way he stop- ped to see his Ohio brother and remained there. After a time he went into Massillon real estate with gratifying results, thus beginning a marked career in business, public life and philanthropy. He became a trustee of Kenyon College and the Gambier Theological Seminary, and at the outbreak of the Civil War was made a Brigadier-General.
James F. Clark, of Otsego, reached Cleveland in 1833 at the age of 24. After a few years in the hardware business he became identified with Ohio railroads and was also interested in real estate and bank- ing, acquiring a substantial fortune. At his death in 1884 he was President of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Coal Company. He made a bequest of $33,333.33 to Hartwick Seminary, by far the largest gift received by the institution up to that time. His wife was a generous donor to women's education at Western Reserve University.
One of Clark's Cleveland partners was Samuel Potter, his old Otsego neighbor on the River Road between Index and Cooperstown. Potter later became a leading citizen of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Elias and Ralph R. Root, who had lived hard by the Clarks and Potters, became wholesale merchants at Cleveland.
Asahel Clark, older brother of James, also went to Cleveland, he in 1835. He did not live the year out, dying suddenly on a stage coach trip at the age of 36. His wife, Sabrina Loomis, was another of the River Road contingent and their daughter Mary was noted for her good works during the Civil War.
George Worthington, of the well known Cooperstown family, founded at Cleveland the firm which bears his name. Associated with him was his cousin James Barnett, of Cherry Valley.
Richard Fry, born in Hartwick, taught school to earn his educa- tion as a physician then in 1830 began a half century's practice at Cleveland among many who had been his pupils and patrons here.
A host of other persons from many Otsego towns who found various Ohio locations deserve mention, but space must be saved for a final intriguing item.
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The Reverend Solomon Spaulding was preaching at Cherry Valley and teaching at the academy there in 1795. He reappeared at Con- neaut, Ohio, in 1809. He was given to writing historical romances and occasionally read excerpts to his relatives and neighbors. When copies of the Book of Mormon first circulated in Ohio the clergyman's earlier listeners saw a connection between it and Spaulding's produc- tions. The notion took root that Prophet Joseph Smith had secured a Spaulding manuscript and used it for his own purpose. This theory has been exploded by modern research, but it was long in contention by the Mormon Church and its opponents. Spaulding died at Pitts- burgh in 1816. His widow returned to this county, bringing some of her late husband's effects. Hence the search for evidence was eager and thorough here. This whole story is best told in Fawn M. Brodie's life of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History.
NOTABLE NATIVE SONS
OTSEGO COUNTY has been the birthplace of many distinguished persons, so many that some choice among them must be made for mention here. The criterion used for fairness in selection is that the subject must have been given a place in the standard Dictionary of American Biography. Eighteen men who meet this test are briefly identified below and arranged in order of priority of birth. This much will illustrate to some degree the part Otsego's sons have played in the larger world.
John Wells, (1770-1825), lawyer: prominent Federalist; born Cherry Valley; the only survivor of his immediate family following the the massacre there; went to New York City; Princeton 1788; soon had no superior at the New York bar.
George Peck, (1797-1876), Methodist clergyman; born Middle- field, son of Luther Peck, bulwark of early local Methodism; in 1814 removed with his family to Hamilton, Madison County; circuit rider, presiding elder, editor of his denomination's periodicals; prolific writer on religious topics.
William W. Campbell, (1806-1881), jurist, historian, congressman; born Cherry Valley; Union 1827; practiced New York City; Congress 1854-57; then returned to his native village; New York Supreme Court justice 1857-65; best known historical work, Annals of Tryon County.
Parley P. Pratt, (1807-1857) , early Mormon; born Burlington; in youth lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio and western New York; one of the Mormon "twelve apostles" 1835; missionary to many states and to Canada and England; assassinated in Arkansas by the husband of a convert; revered as a martyr by his church.
William H. Bissell, (1811-1860), soldier, congressman, Illinois governor; born Hartwick; Hartwick Seminary, Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia 1835; to Illinois 1836; elected to legislature; switched to law; distinguished for heroism Mexican War; Congress 1848-50; governor 1858 until his death.
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Jesse T. Peck, (1811-1883), Methodist clergyman; born Middle- field, brother of George Peck above; at 1844 General Conference cham- pioned the anti-slavery measure which divided the Methodist Church North and South; president Dickinson College 1848-52; instrumental in establishing Syracuse University; a bishop in 1872 and prominent in church enterprises abroad.
Benjamin F. Angel, (1815-1894) , lawyer, diplomat, agriculturalist; born Burlington; family removed during his youth to Livingston County; prominent Democrat; consul at Hawaii 1853; special envoy to China 1855; minister to Norway and Sweden 1857; president State Agricultural Society 1873.
Isaac N. Arnold, (1815-1884), lawyer, congressman, historian; born Hartwick; attended Hartwick Seminary, to Chicago 1836 and long one of the ablest and most successful lawyers there; a founder of the Republican party; Congress 1860-64, introduced the constitutional mendment abolishing slavery; close political friend and biographer of Lincoln ..
Renselaer R. Nelson, (1826-1904), lawyer, jurist; born Coopers- town, son of Samuel Nelson, later U. S. Supreme Court justice; Hart- wick Seminary, Yale 1846; practiced briefly at Buffalo; to St. Paul 1850; Justice Supreme Court, Minnesota Territory 1857; U. S. District judge 1858-96.
Edward S. Bragg, (1827-1912), lawyer, soldier, diplomat; born Unadilla; Hobart College; removed to Fon du Lac, Wis .; rose to brigadier-general in the Civil War; Consul at Hong Kong; minister to Mexico 1888; replying to a Tammany attack on Grover Cleveland at the National Democratic Convention 1884 he uttered a phrase since often repeated, "We love him for the enemies he has made."
Norman J. Colman, (1827-1911), lawyer, agricultural journalist; born Richfield; removed successively to Louisville, Ky., New Albany, Indiana and St. Louis; there established Colman's Rural World 1865; lieutenant-governor 1874; first U. S. Secretary of Agriculture 1889.
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Eliphalet W. Bliss, (1836-1903) , manufacturer; born Fly Creek; learned machinist trade, special aptitude in sheet metal; to Brooklyn 1866; established E. W. Bliss Company and United States Projectile Company, which have supplied the government with torpedoes, navy shells, etc. ever since.
Lewis E. Waterman, (1837-1901), inventor and manufacturer; born Decatur; removed to Kankakee, Illinois 1853, later to Boston; in 1884 at New York City devised an early practicable fountain pen and headed the very successful company bearing his name which manu- factures it.
George M. Sternberg, (1838-1915) , physician, bacteriologist, epi- dermiologist; born Hartwick; Hartwick Seminary, College Physicians and Surgeons, New York City 1860; Civil War surgeon, remained in that service; Surgeon-General U. S. Army 1893-1902; wrote over 150 books, reports and articles.
Andrew S. Draper, (1848-1913) , lawyer, educator; born Westford; New York State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1886-92; super- intendent Cleveland, Ohio schools 1892-94; president University of Illinois 1894-04; first Commissioner of Education, New York State under unification 1904-13.
Stephen S. Gregory, (1849-1920), lawyer, born Unadilla; family removed Madison, Wisconsin 1858; practiced there and at Chicago after 1874; one of the ablest trial lawyers of his time and retained in many liberal causes, including defense of E. V. Debs in noted Pullman strike of 1893; president American Bar Association, 1911.
Henry E. Huntington, (1850-1927) , railway executive, financier; born Oneonta; nephew of Collis P. Huntington, railroad magnate, and inherited most of that vast estate; founded and endowed the famous H. E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino.
Israel C. Russell, (1852-1906), geologist; born Garrattsville; at age twelve removed with family to Plainfield, N. J .; engaged 1876-91 in government and other geological and geodetic surveys over most of
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the United States, including Alaska; authority on North American geography and glaciology.
Readers will note that these Otsego natives quite uniformly spent most of their lives and achieved their fame elsewhere. A similar list could be compiled for persons meeting the same standard but for whom this county has been an adopted home for some part of their careers.
OTSEGO WRITERS
MORE than fifty persons of literary merit and with some county connection can readily be located. Together they have produced a vast amount of material upon a wide range of topics. Men of this stamp -Isaac Arnold, William W. Campbell, George Peck, George M. Stern- berg and others-were mentioned in the last chapter. Now some other names and samples of titles will receive attention, not as much as they deserve but hopefully enough to indicate Otsego's prominence in this field. Several well known authors who were here for short periods and the writers of some valuable town and village histories are purposely, but regretfully, omitted.
The first name coming to mind in this respect is Cooper, but that names a dynasty, not an individual. William Cooper started it with his Guide in the Wilderness, a most informative book on pioneer- ing in New York. Every generation since has included one or more writers. William's celebrated author-son, James Fenimore Cooper, needs no comment. James' gifted daughter, Susan A., wrote delightfully on country life. Best known is her Rural Hours. A younger James Fenimore contributed Legends and Traditions of a Northern County. (The county is Otsego.) His sons, Paul and still another James Feni- more, G. Pomeroy Keese, Constance (Pomeroy) Woolson and Clare Benedict complete the roster of the Cooper clan to be listed here with the exception of a sixth generation representative, Henry S. Cooper, already on his way.
Next in family numbers may be the Cookes. Joseph B. Cooke, M. D., of Cooperstown, wrote several volumes on his specialty of obstetrics. His wife, Constance Cottin and three of his children, Ursu- la, Joseph C. and Charles H., have seen their productions in print. Charles' The Big Show was Harper's Find of the Year in 1938 and his Piano Playing for Pleasure has been translated into French, German and Japanese.
Jabez D. Hammond, lawyer and public servant of Cherry Valley, wrote the standard History of Political Parties in the State of New York. Seventy-five stories of the pious type once sought for Sunday School libraries appeared under the pen name of "Pansy." The au-
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thor was Isabel M. Alden whose husband was pastor of the Coopers- town Presbyterian Church 1870-73. William W. Lord, rector of Cooperstown Christ Church 1876-83 was a poet of renown. The ex- cellent short stories written by Shelden Stoddard, of Gilbertsville, for The Youth's Companion in the early part of this century amount to a sizable volume. The Country Kitchen, by Della T. Lutes of Coop- erstown, is a classic of its kind. Willard H. Wright, one-time resident of Oneonta, would probably be more quickly recognized as "S. S. Van Dine," the pseudonym used for his many detective stories. He also wrote more seriously on art and the theatre. The volumes of G. E. Kidder-Smith, of Springfield, have dealt mostly with progress of archi- tecture abroad. Jay P. Kinney, now retired at Hartwick from his for- mer positions with the Federal Departments both of the Interior and of Justice, has published much on Indian land tenure, forestry history and law. Thunder Hill, by Elizabeth Nicholds of Fly Creek, is an amusing story of goat raising on a New Lisbon farm. Louis C. Jones, director of the New York State Historical Association, is an authority on American folklore. His Spooks of The Valley is a favorite with the young and his very recent Things That Go Bump in the Night equally so with older readers. John Durant, of New Lisbon, turns out mostly pictorial histories, with emphasis on sports and entertainment.
Our author's thoughts have often turned to Otsego's place in his- tory. Josiah Priest, born in Unadilla, devoted the two decades before 1845 to writing the kind of pamphlets which were as popular a century ago as paper-backs are today. Many topics were treated and the total copies certainly exceeded 100,000 but originals are rare today and command high prices. Most valuable are stories of the Revolution, which if he had not gathered from the lips of survivors would have been entirely lost to history. Several concern this area, one is the cap- tivity of David Ogden, of Otego. (Josiah's talented son, J. Addison Priest, was the pastor of a Cooperstown Church in 1851 to 1854. He also wrote for publication.) Jeptha R. Simms as a young man was with his family at Plainfield but later was station agent at Fultonville where he assiduously collected historical items largely through inter- views with old-timers. These resulted in The History of Schoharie County 1845 and The Trappers of New York 1850, first editions now being collector's items.
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Levi Beardsley, Cherry Valley lawyer, spent his youth in Rich- field. His Reminiscenses (1852) contains an invaluable record of early conditions here. Henry Clarke Wright, clergyman, was an infant when his family arrived in Hartwick in 1801. In mature years he was effectively connected in Massachusetts and abroad with the many reform movements of his day. Human Life, his quaintly termed auto- biography, is another splendid account of Otsego pioneer days.
Minor, but of interest, are The Forest King, the story of Joseph Mayall, famous Revolutionary scout of Laurens, written by Hervey Keyes of Mt. Vision and two Otsego legends woven into verse by James Pitcher of Hartwick Seminary, The Hermit of Moss Pond and the Mystery of Fairy Spring.
Francis W. Halsey, a native of Unadilla, has given us The Old New York Frontier, the most indispensable work on the early history of this area. The best description of Otsego "in a state of nature" is in the 1769 journal of Richard Smith, edited by Halsey and published as A Tour of Four Great Rivers. James A. Frost's Life on the Upper Susquehanna, 1783-1860 covers much of the same territory and some of the same period as Halsey, but with more attention to economic mat- ters. Willard V. Huntington, also of Oneonta, spent many years in gathering from every available source items pertaining to this county up to 1865 and arranging them in a huge chronology called Old Time Notes. Unfortunately this exists only in manuscript form.
No one has yet attempted to assemble our regional history for the period since the Civil War.
GOLD RUSH DAYS
THE California gold discovery in January 1848 resulted in one of the epics of American history. The site was still on Mexican terri- tory at the date but treaty negotiations were already under way and California became United States soil the following March. Naturally the discoverers tried to keep their secret, but the tidings reached New York City in October and excitement was soon extreme throughout the world. Throngs set out for the new El Dorado. It would have been strange if Otsego were not affected. It was-abundantly.
Two local participants prepared from their diaries excellent full accounts long after the event. One, by Dr. Gaius L. Halsey of Una- dilla, appeared in the Unadilla Times during the spring and summer of 1890 and has been reprinted in Francis W. Halsey's Pioneers of Unadilla. The other, by Frederick T. Jarvis of Hartwick, is now at the State Historical Association, Cooperstown, in the files of the Otsego Republican from February 17 through May of 1890. Especially interested readers may find in these far more detail than can be given here.
Usually these gold seekers formed companies, pooling their capi- tal and taking along ample provisions and equipment. This often proved too much for transportation facilities and quantities were discarded on the way.
Several possible routes existed, each with its difficulties: the ear- liest around Cape Horn, a voyage of six or more months duration; overland by animal power, almost equally time consuming; by the Isthmus of Panama, most favored; sometimes by Nicarauga or across Mexico. Otsegoans used them all.
Luck with these ventures varied but much of it was bad. Travel troubles, exorbitant prices and illness caused many to turn back. Those who persevered in their original intention usually found gold, not by the shovelful as advertised, but they had shared in a memor- able episode. Most successful were those who abandoned the "dig- gings," turning to freighting, trading and otherwise catering to the needs of their fellows.
Collis P. Huntington, of Oneonta, was the first of the county's
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residents to grasp the opportunity. In business here with his brother Solon, they sent a cargo of merchandise around Cape Horn in the fall of 1848. Following in the winter by Panama, Collis was held up there three months for lack of further transportation. He improved the period by shuttling over the isthmus in trade, considerably to his ad- vantage. Coming to his goal at last, he continued profitably in busi- ness. He spent one day at the mines, doubtless as an onlooker. He declined an early request from 25 to 30 Oneontans that he lead them to the gold fields. Of his later career in railroading, there is no need to speak. He was an Otsego forty-niner who made a colossal fortune, but not by panning gold in the sluices.
Doctor Halsey went with a company recruited in Connecticut, his wife's native state. This left New York on February 23, 1849. Imme- diate connections had been booked from Panama on by steamboat. It wasn't there, the crew having deserted for the mines on the pre- vious voyage. All were detained until another ship they had seen in New York came around the Horn and picked them up. Three thous- and other United States citizens were in like plight. At Sacramento they found a recently arrived Unadilla contingent which included Vincent Page, Rufus G. Mead, Charles Smith and Henry Wright. Lyman Birch of this party had remained behind at Panama, attracted by the prevalent high daily wages. He fell ill and had to return home. At the same time Edmund B. Birch, Lyman's brother, was making his way overland via Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The doctor would have established a hospital at Sacramento as a better prospect than gold digging, but was bound as physician to his company. When he passed through in May he could have bought lots at $300. In the fall he found the same lots already sold at $13,000. He left the mines in October and was back in Connecticut the day after Christmas, having suffered a most severe illness on the way and nearly losing his small hoard of gold dust.
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