Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 31

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410

USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 31

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Almost the first item of strictly local news in the Palladium was the announcement in June, 1820, of the appointment by the Council of Appointment of John Grant, jr., first judge of Oswego county. Grant was then a partner with Samuel B. Beach, both be- ing prominent attorneys. Robert Cooley and Alfred Mix, tailors, dissolved partnership. in August, 1821, and in the following month Orris Hart and John Bullen, jr., dissolved. In October the firm composed of Wait Mudge and Willett R. Willes (who had been in business near Moore's Mills in the town of Oswego) was dissolved. In March, 1822, " the tavern stand occupied by O. Steele, East Oswego," with one or two lots for a garden; " also the Yellow House near it," were advertised to let. The paper notes the fact that the 4th of July, 1822, was celebrated " in a decent if not superb manner." The editor quaintly adds : "At one o'clock the ladies and gents of this and neighboring villages assembled, and after some time spent in conversation, a procession was formed . by the Marshal and proceeded under the American colors to the Bowery at the half- moon battery near the lake, erected with much taste by the Committee of Arrange- ments." There the Declaration of Independence was read by Judge Grant. Later the the assemblage repaired to Guiteau's Hotel, and over a repast Judge Grant presided, with Judge Hawks as vice-president, and various toasts were given. Other persons of prominence who took part in the proceedings were Alvin Bronson, Col. E. Bronson, Dr. Benjamin Coe, James F. Wight, and Dr. Cole.

William Dolloway and Orlo Steele were among the largest adver- tisers in the Palladium. About this time Dr. William G. Adkins came to the place, where he soon assumed a leading position.

On March 22, 1822, the Legislature passed an act incorporating the "Oswego Bridge Company," to continue in existence until 1855, with a capital of $10,000. T. S. Morgan, Matthew McNair, Alvin Bronson, William Dolloway and Orlo Steele were the incorporators, The pro- visions relative to the details of the bridge to be built were similar to those of the act of 1817, before mentioned. This act also provided that the company might erect a gate at both ends of the bridge and collect tolls, the rates of which are given in the act. No other bridge or ferry could be operated within two miles of this one. The bridge was com- pleted in December, 1822; was situated on Bridge street on the site of the present bridge and was built of wood. It cost $2,000 and was con-

OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.

sidered a wonderful structure; it was certainly a wonderful conven- ience.1

The principal other events that took place between 1820 and the in- corporation of the village in 1828 were the chartering of the Oswego Canal Company in 1823, with authority to build the hydraulic canal on the east side of the river; the inauguration of the first steamboat line in the same year; the building of the first church in 1825 ; the first gov- ernment appropriation for the harbor improvement and the beginning of the work in 1827; and the steps taken towards assuring the con- struction of a canal between Oswego and Syracuse. All of these pro- ceedings are fully treated in the succeeding pages.2

In 1827 legislation was enacted providing for the sale at auction of the remaining State lands in Oswego. The act of April 27, 1827, gave the Commissioners of the Land Office authority to make such changes in the plans of the two villages "as will be for the interest of the State ;" and provided " that the auction sale of lots in said village shall be at Oswego." The sale took place and the principal buyers were Gerrit Smith, Abram Varick and Samuel Stocking. These men subsequently sold portions of their lands at auction and made large profits.3

An act of the Legislature, dated March 14, 1828, incorporated the village with the following described boundaries :

Beginning at the southwest corner of lot No. 2, in the 17th township of Scriba's Patent, Hamilton's Gore, town of Scriba, and running thence easterly along the south bounds of said lot No. 2, to the southeast corner thereof; thence northerly along the easterly bounds of said lot No. 2 and of lot No. 1, to the southeast corner of the reser- vation; thence along the easterly bounds of the said reservation to Lake Ontario ;

1 The contractor for the bridge, whose name was Church, did not entirely finish his work till the beginning of winter. Being desirous of transporting his chains and tools to the northern part of Jefferson county, he put them on board the schooner " Morning Star," commanded by young Captain Tyler, who, at the age of twenty, then made his first trip as commander of a ves- sel. The voyage is noticeable for the late time in the season at which it occurred. Captain T. left Oswego on the 13th of December, proceeded to Ogdensburgh (leaving the tools as he went on the ice, which had already formed along the shore of the St. Lawrence), cut his own way through the ice near that place, and got back to Oswego on the 23d. - [Johnson's History of Oswego Co., p. 147.]

2 The population of the village in 1827 was about 650 and in the following year was given as 1,310.

3 J. C. Ives settled in Oswego in 1827 and during many years was one of the prominent build- ers and masons of the place. He did the mason work on the Varick canal, built the Kingsford homestead, Alvin Bronson's stone warehouse and the stone block corner of Cayuga and Water streets. He died January 24, 1861.

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

thence westerly along the shore of Lake Ontario, including the outer harbor and the piers at the mouth of the Oswego river, to the northwest corner of lot 6 in the origi- nal township of Hannibal (now town of Oswego); thence southerly along the westerly bounds of said lot No. 6 till it comes to that point where the south line of Sagit- tarius street, if extended on the right line, would intersect the said westerly line of said lot No. 6; thence easterly along said extended line of Sagittarius street to the westerly line of the reservation; thence southerly along the westerly line of said reser- vation to the southwest corner of said reservation; thence easterly along the southerly bounds of said reservation to the center of the Oswego river; thence up the center of said Oswego river till it comes opposite to the southerly line of said lot No. 2 in the said town of Scriba; thence easterly to the place of beginning.

The act provided for the holding of the first election on the 2d Tues- day of May, 1828 ; for four fire wardens, two on each side of the river ; for the usual police regulations ; for not to exceed fifty firemen; for the following tax levy : On the east side, tax not to exceed $200 per year, to be increased each year by $50 until $700 is reached; on the west side, tax not to exceed $300, to be increased each year $100 until $1,000 is reached. The village was divided into two road districts, one on each side of the river.

The first village officers elected were as follows : Alvin Bronson, president ; Thomas Willett, treasurer ; John Howe, collector; and Dan- iel Hugunin, jr., George Fisher, David P. Brewster, T. S. Morgan, Na- thaniel Vilas, jr., Joseph Turner and Orlo Steele, trustees-every one a man of ability, integrity and prominence. At the first meeting of the board Edwin W. Clarke was appointed clerk, and John Howe, surveyor. Daniel Hugunin, jr., Joseph Turner and John Howe, were chosen just- ices of the peace. The customary ordinances were adopted and the new village government was inaugurated. One of the consequences of the division of the village by the river was a peculiar method of raising and applying the local taxes. The village as a whole voted viva voce on the amount to be raised for general purposes; but the people on each side ordered how much should be devoted to the special uses of that side. At the first election the sum of $200 was voted for the vil- lage at large, while the people on the west side voted to raise $300 for their district, as against $100 voted on the east side. The population of the west side was much the larger.

In 1828 the Episcopal church was begun on the southeast corner of the west-side public square. Some doubt arose as to the advisability

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OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.

of devoting so much of the park to church purposes, and in the next year the trustees resolved that no more than four churches should be erected there ; these to stand at the four corners of the square, for which lots 98 by 120 feet were reserved. These corners were reserved on the square as it now exists, for in 1829 the board leased the east block of the three public square blocks, and devoted $100 to the improvement of the other two.

A forward movement was imparted to Oswego by the opening of the Welland Canal in 1830, its influence on the commerce of Lake Ontario being especially marked. From this time onward during a period of forty years the progress of Oswego in all of its varied inter- ests was rapid and unchecked, excepting at a few brief intervals. The population of the place was now (1830) 2,116, while in December, 1831, the Palladium gives the number as 2,755. A bank was needed and an act of the Legislature, dated March 14, 1831, incorporated the Oswego Bank and appointed the following commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of $150,000 : George H. McWhorter,1 David P. Brewster, Edward Bronson, (all of Oswego), Gerrit Smith and Stephen Warren.

On the Ist of October, 1830, occurred a destructive fire which burned all the buildings on the west side of West First street from Cayuga to Seneca street, and along Seneca to the corner of Second street. This was then the heart of the village and almost all of the prominent business men were losers. The district was rebuilt, how- ever, and with a better class of structures.

A fair understanding of the business situation in the village in 1831 may be gathered from the advertisements in the local newspapers, the first that can be found after the file of the Palladium from which we have before quoted :

Nathaniel Vilas offered cash for hides, and Bronson & Marshall, West Oswego, were selling potash kettles, white fish, and other goods. George W. Wisner called for pro-

' George H. McWhorter was for many years among the leading citizens of Oswego. He mar- ried a daughter of John Lawrence, one of the three large landholders mentioned in Chapter I, through whom he became wealthy. He was collector of the port, was intimately associated with all public affairs, and a man of education and social refinement. He died June 1, 1862. John Lawrence McWhorter was a son of George H., and born in Canandaigua in 1819, Coming to Os- wego with his father he married a daughter of Alvin Bronson and like his father was among the leading men of the community ; was alderman in 1867-68, and was especially identified with educa- tional affairs. He died August 29, 1887.

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

posals for printing in Oswego a semi-monthly paper called "The Galaxy of Wit," "to be devoted entirely to amusement." H. V. Howard was a jeweler one door south of F. T. Carrington's hardware store; Bronson & Deming would sell 100 cords of red cedar posts ; R. L. De Zeng & Co. (Hiram Reynolds), were in the dry goods trade in the Eagle buildings, West Oswego, and over their store were the law offices of Calvin Sheldon and Hunt & Stansbury ; Denison & Eagle sold liquors; Foster & Archer, and George De Long were hatters; Norman Ormsby, East Oswego, advertised glass, sash, putty, etc .; Miner & Marsh, Stocking & De Long, and Truman Wyman were general merchants in East Oswego ; H. K. Thurber was selling drugs, with superior axes as a specialty, "on Taurus street, 2 doors from Bronson & Deming's corner ;" Henry Shaw and Harmon Stillman had just dissolved partnership ; Aspenwall & Griffing (Edward Griffing) were jewelers; (Chauncey Aspenwall died December 2, 1882, aged eighty years) ; William H. Arnett (nearly opposite the then new Welland House), and Palden & Chapman sold shoes and leather ; the Welland House was kept by U. G. White (died June 5, 1871, aged seventy-nine years) ; N. F. Bruce sold drugs and groceries ; Howland & Punderson had the leading drug store of the place; Denison & Evertsen (Joseph Denison, Abram T. Evertsen) had a new ship chandlery in the "stone store," one door from Walton & Willett; the latter firm advertised "Auburn whisky," among other things; J. T. Trowbridge & Co., East Oswego, were selling mould candles ; Milton Harmon had a stock of groceries, boots and shoes, etc., and had " removed to the middle section of Bennett's Building, two doors south of Fitzhugh & Co.'s stone mill on the canal," East Oswego; the Oswego Hotel was opened in June, 1830, by E. A. Huntley, "late of the Syracuse House;" Herrick & Peck had a general store corner of Seneca and First streets; Samuel Hurlburt sold shoes and leather on First street, West Oswego, and G. & C. Woodruff, also on that side, had a general stock. Henry P. Hardy announced bargains in real estate; Amasa Stowell and Barnes & Warner were grocers, and Bartholomew McGlowe, " late of Utica," was a tailor opposite Fitzhugh's stone mill; Marshall & Arnett had the Oswego tannery ; G. W. Smith and Sloan & Poor sold books ; R. L. Lawrence (died April 12, 1855,) sold drugs in West Oswego, and Thomas Jefferson was a tailor near the Welland House; J. Cooley & Co. (Mr. Cooley died September 20, 1877, aged seventy-seven years) were a prominent hard- ware firm, and Filkins & Turner were making wagons. A theater was advertised at the Oswego Hotel June 1, 1830, at which "Othello" was to be produced. Franklin Gale was teaching a select school.

In the year 1831 the Asiatic cholera ravaged portions of Europe and in June, 1832, the first cases were reported in Quebec and Montreal. The public press had heralded its approach, but no pen was able to depict its horrors wherever it became prevalent. Every port on the St. Lawrence and the lakes was thrown into deep anxiety and in many of them the dreaded malady left death and mourning in its path. A writer in the Oswego papers has recorded that "No one can now realize the panic that preceded the cholera epidemic of 1832." It is a

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fact, however, that Oswego, although a lakeport and therefore es- pecially subject to an early attack of the scourge, escaped almost wholly from its effects. This result must have been due partly to the topography of the village and its resultant excellent drainage, and partly to the prompt and efficient measures adopted by the citizens to ward off the disease. Early in June, when it became apparent that the plague was on its way up the St. Lawrence, the village trustees met and adopted a resolution that a board of physicians be appointed to examine all vessels arriving and to report on their condition to the trustees. Drs. Blake and Moor was appointed for the east side, and Drs. Hard, Howland and Hart for the west side. The village presi- dent was authorized to employ men and boats to detain suspected vessels without the harbor. On June 21 a public meeting was held at the Welland House, over which Joel Turrill presided. A committee of five was appointed to have charge of all matters related to the cholera, consisting of P. D. Hugunin, John Grant, jr., R. Bunner, T. S. Morgan, and P. S. Smith. These and the following citizens were constituted a Board of Health : Joel Turrill, H. N. Walton, G. H. McWhor- ter, Elisha Moor, Joseph Grant, and Ambrose Morgan ; 1 Dr. W. G. Adkins was made health officer. A strict quarantine was established and a general cleaning of the village and removal of all nuisances ordered. Guards were stationed on the harbor piers to pre- vent vessels from entering. Two English vessels came down from Toronto and Kingston, and one of them, the William IV, laden with passengers, showed some inclination to approach the harbor against the warning of the guard. An old cannon, that had seen its best days, had been placed on the bluff and loaded, and a few ardent citizens hurried thither and touched it off. Fortunately it "flashed in the pan," and caused nothing worse than ridicule for the men who were about to inaugurate a war. The vessel rounded to outside of quarantine, as she undoubtedly intended to. Announcements were made to the public through the press of the progress of the cholera in other places and its advent in Oswego was anxiously anticipated. Re- ports were finally circulated that fatal cases had actually developed in the village, only to be promptly contradicted by the Board of Health.

1 Ambrose Morgan died April 27, 1887, aged eighty-three years,

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Strange as it may appear in view of the well known facts that in Salina and Syracuse, in Buffalo, and many other villages and cities, the ravages of the scourge were frightful, Oswego escaped without a single fatal case. ' The greatest suffering caused here by the epidemic was from the temporary suspension of commerce, which was almost total while it continued. But with the departure of the disease from the northern frontier, Oswego quickly resumed its former activity.

In 1831 the population of the village was 2,755. Among its citizens were many men of distinguished character and high attainments. Several of them were conspicuous in public affairs and took an active part in politics. Some of the old campaigns, judging by the columns of the local press, were exceedingly spirited and are not outdone by those of later times. The Palladium was the organ of the Democratic party, while the Free Press championed the Whigs, then just coming into prominence under that name. Alvin Bronson and Joel Turrill were always in the front line of battle in the Democratic party, while Gen. Peter Sken Smith, brother of Gerrit Smith, a leading lawyer of the east side, led the opposition. Anti-Masonry had just swept over the North, but it had not found so much sympathy in Oswego as in many other localities. In the town election in Oswego in 1830, anti- Masonry was defeated by a majority of 60.

In May, 1833, a local paper gives expression to its views of the re- markably prosperous condition of the place; noticed the fact that the population had reached 3,212; that the village trustees had voted $5,000 on each side of the river for street improvements, and $1,500 for the square in West Oswego ; adding :

The population and business of our village continues to increase with a steady and unremitted pace. Extensive public and private improvements are in progress, which will add much to the beauty of the village, and the convenience of our citizens. Our principal hotels are much improved and well patronized by strangers. On the whole the march of improvement was never more visible. A list of mills and shops printed in the same connection gave flouring mills-Fitzhugh & Co., stone, five stories and five runs ; Bronson & Morgan, wood and stone, four stories and four runs; Smith, Cole & Co., stone, five stories and six runs; Fitzhugh & Co., stone, five stories and six runs ; the machine shop of D Hugunin & Co .; cotton factory of the Oswego Cotton Co., to start in June, and a machine shop by the same company ; a mill for sawing and polish-

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ing stone by Cochran & Dunton ; tobacco factory, two tanneries, three saw mills, and the foundry of E. Carrington & Co.1

On September 9, 1835, a local paper said that a census just taken showed an increase of nearly 1,000 in the four months preceding July I, and predicted that in three years the population would be 10,000. Thepopulation in February, 1835, was 3.980, of whom 2,237 were on the west side.

The cholera of 1832 had scarcely passed when began the remarkable period of speculation and inflation which ended with the financial panic and final crash in 1836-7. In the preceding general history the condition of Oswego county, and of Oswego village, have been quite fully stated. As far as the village was concerned, the place was 'ripe for the time. Business was active, commerce was increasing rapidly ; the recent completion of the Oswego Canal and the more recent opening of the Welland Canal, all incited the inhabitants to extravagant effort and enthusiastic hopefulness. How natural, then, that speculation, par- ticularly in land, should follow ! By the year 1835 the fever was at its height and the people were heaping up wealth (or felt that they were), by the mere transfer from one to another of lots and tracts and buildings at constantly increasing prices. A local paper of July, 1835, announced that the farm of ninety two acres adjoining the southern limits of the village, belonging to Mr. Burt, was sold to Abram Varick, of New York, for $19,000. The editor added :

We are gratified to learn that Mr. Varick has entered into contract for the erection of a large cotton factory on his canal. There are now also erecting on Mr. Varick's canal a very large flouring mill and a large building for construction of machinery, all of stone.

1 Edwin Clark Hart was born in Oneida county December 12, 1800, and came to Oswego in 1832. He became a successful merchant and after his retirement lived with his daughter, Mrs. John Dunn, of Syracuse. He was a member of the Legislature in 1852, trustee of the village five years, and a respected citizen. He died August 10, 1892.

John Cooley came to Oswego in 1842 from Massachusetts. He was associated with Thomas H. Bond (the latter died April 9, 1885) in hardware trade and was afterwards alone in business many years. He died September 20, 1877.

Seymour Coe, a native of Granville, Mass., settled in Pompey, Onondaga county in 1808, re- moved to Volney in 1818, and to Oswego in 1831. He died in April, 1877.

Samuel R. Taylor came to Oswego with his father in 1829, when eighteen years old. He be- came a very superior mechanic, and designed and superintended the construction of many of the large Oswego mills. He was county clerk in 1858, and postmaster in 1866-7. He died January 17, 1875.

Sardis Allen, long a successful business man and otherwise prominent, came to Oswego in 1833. He was a native of Vermont, and died July 9, 1875.

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In June, 1835, D. W. Cole, president of the village, offered "by virtue of the act incorporating the village, to sell at auction at the Welland on June 10, sixteen village lots on the southern part of the market ground, between Water and First streets." The announcement states further that " On ground near the above lots is to be erected the present season, a valuable Market House." This sale was made for 999 years, subject to an annual rent of $30. The market house spoken of was erected and is now the old D. L. & W. Hall. Similar buildings were erected in many villages in early years and attempts made to render them profitable to the corporations as well as useful to the people. As a rule they failed to a greater or less extent in both di- rections.

On the 15th of October, 1835, that portion of the State lands in the west village, " partly on the river and partly on the exterior harbor," was sold by the surveyor-general, pursuant to a resolution by the Com- missioners of the Land Office. This territory was divided into " two great sections," the first of which was subdivided into twelve lots 33 by 100 feet ; the second was sold en masse and embraced the tract be- tween First street, the river, Aries street and the harbor, and included nearly three acres. The purchase was made by an association of non- residents. The great lot was struck off according to the newspaper, " to a citizen of our village supposed to act for a number of gents, at $108,850." The twelve lots were purchased by ten persons, five of whom were strangers in the village, and brought $47,842. The editor cheerfully adds that " These are great prices and not a foot that cannot be resold at a great advance." These land transactions are a clear in- dication of the drift of affairs in the village, and so extensive were spec- ulative operations and such enormous advances were made in prices, that the village attracted attention in newspapers throughout the State. This state of affairs continued into 1836, real estate going still higher, and reaching figures that would astonish citizens of the present day. In February the farm of Matthew McNair, containing eighty acres ad- joining the west bounds of the village, was sold to two men from Con- necticut for $250 an acre, and a newspaper of that time stated that a farm of ninety acres, " a mile south of the bridge " (probably the Burt farm), sold two weeks before at $25,000, had just been resold at $40,-

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 31

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1410

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410