Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 42

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

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The Oswego Gas Light Company was incorporated March 23, 1852, through the efforts of Henry G. Ludlow, who became the actual builder of the works and the first secretary. The first Board of Directors con- sisted of Luther Wright, De Witt C. Littlejohn, O. J. Harmon, H. G. Ludlow, and S. B. Ludlow. Mr. Wright was chosen president. The original capital was $65,000, which has been increased to $133,975. The plant was put in operation and gas was distributed in the fall of 1852. In 1869 the works were materially enlarged. Mr. Wright served as president until his death in 1885, when he was succeeded by Thomson Kingsford, who held the office until 1888. He was followed by John K. Post, who died in July, 1889, and was succeeded by James

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Dowdle, the present incumbent. The capacity of the plant has been increased at various periods and is now more than three times the original output. The present (1894) officers are as follows :

James Dowdle, president; John T. Mott, vice-president and treasurer ; Robert G. Post, secretary ; William E. Kingsford, general superintendent. Directors, James Dowdle, John T. Mott, Robert G. Post, Thomson Kingsford, Theodore Irwin, Henry D. McCaffrey, Henry G. Ludlow, Henry S. Wright, and Carrington Macfarlane,

The Home Electric Light Company was incorporated July 26, 1886, by Robert G. Post, Edward P. Penfield, Washington T. Henderson, James D. Henderson, and Sidney Van Auken, the first officers being Robert G. Post, president ; W. T. Henderson, vice-president ; E. P. Penfield, secretary and treasurer. The capital stock was $50,000, and the plant was placed in operation in the fall of 1886. January 1, 1888, the Oswego Gas Light Company purchased the stock and plant of the Electric Light Company, the old board resigned, and the following offi- cers were elected :

John K. Post, president ; Thomson Kingsford, vice president ; and William L. Welsh, secretary and treasurer. In 1890 Robert F. Post succeeded John K. Post as president and afterward John T. Mott became secretary and treasurer in place of Mr. Welsh.

The People's Electric Light aud Power Company was organized December 9, 1890. Their plant, which is situated on the east side of the river, was originally started in the mill of the Standard Yarn Com- pany, by Maitland E. Graves, who, upon the organization of the com- pany, was chosen president. The original incorporators were Max B. Richardson, A. S. Page, A. H. Failing, George N. Burt, and M. E. Graves. The first officers were Max B. Richardson, president; A. S. Page, vice-president ; M. E. Graves, treasurer ; George N. Burt, secre- tary. The capital stock was $75,000 and has remained unchanged. The company has about 190 street arc lamps, forty-five commercial arc lights, and between 1,400 and 1,500 incandescent lights. The present officers are Carlton B. Pierce, president ; Max B. Richardson, vice- president ; George F. Ells, treasurer and secretary ; Frank E. Pritchard, general superintendent.

The Street Railroad .- The first effort made to introduce rapid transit in Oswego was in 1872, when, on May 6, the City and Town Oswego Railroad Company was incorporated by Frederick T. Carrington,

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Luther Wright, John G. Kellogg, John K. Post, Stephen H. Lathrop, Bartholomew Lynch, Gilbert E. Parsons, Robert Gordon, Lewis A. Cole, Alfred B. Getty, Philo Bundy, L. W. Ledyard, Rufus Hawkins, Thaddeus S. Brigham, Tompkins Robinson, Alfred Farnham, and Thomas G. Thompson, who also composed the Board of Directors. Their franchise authorized the construction of a street railroad from the intersection of West Bridge and Second streets along Bridge and Seneca streets to the western limits of the city, thence along the Oswego and Hannibal plank road to Unionville, and thence to the " Rural Cemetery on the farm of Morris P. Pierce." . The capital stock of $50,000 was divided into shares of $50 each. This road or any part of it was never built, and the franchise finally became void.

The Oswego Street Railway Company was incorporated May 5, 1885, with a capital stock of $20,000. The first Board of Directors con- sisted of James O'Connor, James Dowdle, James Sutton, H. D. McCaffrey, Bartholomew Lynch, James D. Donnelly, James McCarthy, F. L. Smith, Richard J. Oliphant, John K. Post, James Macfarlane, James F. Johnson, and Robert G. Post. The first officers elected were : James F. Johnson, president ; Richard J. Oliphant, vice-president ; Robert G. Post, treasurer ; H. L. Hart, secretary. James O'Connor is regarded as the founder of the present street railway system of Oswego. With James T. Johnson, Robert G. Post, and Haynes L. Hart he was instrumental in obtaining subscriptions to the capital stock and in securing the construction of the road. The road was built and placed in operation during the year 1885, the first cars being run regularly August 24. In 1890 the capital was increased to $125,000 and elec- tricity substituted for horses as a motive power. There are now about six miles of track. An attractive feature of the line is the boulevard, which extends along the lake shore to Burt's Point, a distance of about three miles. The present (1894) officers are :

Carlton B. Pierce, president ; F. A. Emerick, vice-president; Michael McGowan, sec- retary ; Fred S. Failing, treasurer ; and Frank E. Pritchard, superintendent. The above officers (except superintendent), together with Max B. Richardson, Lawrence W. Churchill, Boardman C. Frost and Lawrence Clancy, are the present Board of Directors.

The Press of Oswego .- The statement has been made that a news- paper called the American Farmer was published in Oswego prior to

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1807. This is without doubt an error, which may have grown out of the possible circulation in this vicinity of a paper by that name in an Oswego edition ; but there is no evidence that even this is true.

The first newspaper in the place of which there is direct evidence was the Oswego Gazette, published in 1817 by Seth A. Abbey and his brother. It was transferred to Augustus Buckingham, and was discon- tinued in 1819. The material was purchased by John H. Lord and Dorephus Abbey, and on the 12th of November, 1819, the first number of the Palladium was issued under the auspices of John Haines Lord, jr., publisher. We have already quoted liberally from the few early files of this paper now in the Gerrit Smith Library. The first number of the file is missing, but the second number gives the subscription price as $2 per annum; "companies of thirteen or more who receive their paper at the office, one dollar and twenty five cents." It was an ex- cellent paper for that early period, and the fact that it has survived to the present time, making it one of the oldest journals in Central New York and by many years the oldest one in the county, is evidence that it received a fair degree of patronage in early years. John H. Lord was a man of considerable prominence in Oswego and held the office of postmaster in 1840 41. He died September 21, 1858, aged sixty- five years. The Palladium supported the Anti Clintonian, or " Buck- tail " faction of the old Republican, or Democratic party. Mr. Abbey could not have retained his interest in the Palladium long, if indeed he ever had any interest in more than the plant, and Mr. Lord continued sole publisher until 1830, supporting the administrations of Monroe and Jackson, and against that of John Quincy Adams. In 1830 John Car- penter acquired an interest in the establishment and a few months later became sole owner. He added to the title of the paper the words, Republican Chronicle, probably for political reasons, but after about a year and a half the former name was restored. "By this time parties had been organized ; the supporters of Jackson falling heirs to the old name of Democrats, while the opposition was composed of 'Anti- Masons' and ' National Republicans,' soon afterward to be consolidated under the name of Whigs. The Palladium from the first allied itself with the Democratic party, and has ever since remained its staunch supporter except for a brief period in and after 1848." 1 In 1845 Mr.

I Johnson's History of Oswego County, p. 118.

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Carpenter sold out to Beman Brockway, with whom C. S. Sumner was associated for about a year. In 1848 the paper supported Van Buren and Adams and upheld the "Free Democratic," or, as it was called, the " Free Soil " party, until it was absorbed into the Democratic party. In 1850 Mr. Brockway started the Daily Palladium. In 1851 Lloyd Mills acquired an interest in the business and the firm of Brockway & Mills continued a short time. Mr. Brockway 1 then sold his interest to Joseph Hatch and the firm of Mills & Hatch continued the business. In 1853 Dudley Farling purchased the property, but sold out in the following year to T. P. Ottaway, who continued the publication nine years in aggressive and active support of the Democratic party, and in opposition to the Republican party organized in 1855. The publica- tion of the daily was suspended during 1862, 1863 and a part of 1864. In 1864 Mr. Ottaway sold out to Delos De Wolf and Willard Johnson, who remained proprietors until 1870. S. H. Parker, of the Geneva Gazette, came to Oswego in 1864 and resumed the publication of the daily for the owners. This arrangement terminated in 1870, when Clark Morrison and George W. Blair, under the firm name of Morrison & Co., continued the publication for Messrs. De Wolf & Johnson. In 1852 John A. Barry, a music dealer and teacher, settled in Oswego. He wielded a graceful and intelligent pen, and contributed to the local press. In 1867 he took charge of the city department of the Palladium, under the editorship of George Gallagher; the latter resigned in 1870. In 1873 Clark Morrison, John A. Barry and Simeon Holroyd bought the paper and organized the Palladium Printing Company, the present owers and publishers. Mr. Barry was made assistant editor and a year later, when he had developed the fact that he had found his congenial and proper field of labor, was made editor-in chief of the paper. Under his editorial management the Palladium quickly took rank as a first-class newspaper and a strongly influential journal in the interest of Democ- racy in Northern New York. In 1889 Mr. Barry sold his stock to L. L. Sherman and retired from the editorial chair. Under the manage- ment of the company the Palladium has become an established success.

The second newpaper established in Oswego was The Oswego Re-

1 Beman Brockway went to Watertown, where he published the leading paper for many years, the business now being carried on by his sons.

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publican, first issued in 1825 by William W. Abbey. It championed the newly-inaugurated administration of John Quincy Adams, and op- posed the Palladium. In 1827 the establishment was sold to Samuel Osgood, who changed the name of the paper to The Oswego Gazette and Advertiser. In the following year it was transferred to William C. Shope, who dropped the first part of the title of the paper. In 1828- 29 the business was sold to Dr. Burdell, who was mysteriously mur- dered in Bond street, New York, many years later ; he changed the name of the paper to The Freeman's Herald, and continued it about one year, when the enterprise was abandoned. In about the same year Maj. James Cochrane, son in law of Gen. Philip Schuyler, started the Oswego Democratic Gazette, engaging Dr. Burdell to print the paper. It was very short-lived. In' 1832 it was resuscitated as The National Republican, to support the Republican party. About a year later it closed its existence.

Meanwhile, in 1830, when Anti-Masonry had reached its height, Richard Oliphant 1 established the Oswego Free Press and published it as an Anti-Masonic organ until April 16, 1834. Anti- Masonry having died out, he sold out to George G. Foster, who changed the name of the paper to The Oswego Democrat, One year of opposition to the firmly- established Palladium was sufficient to close the career of the younger journal.

In 1837 The Commercial Herald began its brief career under the proprietorship of Hull & Henry. It was especially devoted to com- mercial information, and was issued weekly until 1843. On the Ist of January of the same year the Oswego County Whig was started by A. Jones & Co., with Richard Oliphant, editor. On the 9th of May of the same year Mr. Jones withdrew from the firm and Mr. Oliphant joined with Daniel Ayer, and the firm continued the publication until about the close of the year, when Mr. Ayer withdrew and Mr. Oliphant con -

1 Richard Oliphant was born in London, England, January 23, 1801. He came to America and settled in Auburn when twelve years old and learned the printer's trade, working under the in- struction of Thurlow Weed in Auburn in 1814. In 1823 he set the first type in Syracuse and in the same year established the Auburn Free Press, which he sold to his brother Henry in 1829 and set- tled permanently in Oswego. He was prominently connected with the printing and publishing business in Oswego until his death. He was a vigorous writer, with a fine sense of humor and sarcasm, and his opponents in the newspaper business found him worthy of their best efforts. He died March 8, 1862, leaving five children-two sons, John H., and Richard J., the latter now one of the foremost printers and publishers in Central New York.

John A Place.

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tinued alone until September 27, 1844. He then sold out to Daniel Ayer and permanently retired from the editorial chair. In 1845 Mr. Ayer issued the first number of the Oswego Daily Advertiser, the first daily newspaper in Oswego. In 1847 this passed to C. D. Brigham, who changed the name of the weekly to The Oswego Commercial Times, and that of the daily to The Oswego Daily Commercial Times. Both papers continued in active support of the Whig party. In 1848 Mr. Brigham sold out to James N. Brown, who in 1851 made the paper a morning publication. About this time W. B. Buckhout acquired an interest in the business, but resold to Brown in July, 1853. In the mean time the People's Journal was established, March, 1849, by O'Leary & Dean, who sold it the next year to L. A. Winchester. In 1851 Sumner & Poucher became proprietors and started the Oswego Daily News in connection with the Journal. In 1852 L. A. Winchester again became owner of the establishment and changed the name of the daily to the Oswego Daily Journal. February 16, 1854, the Journal was consolidated with the Times, and James N. Brown retired from the business, to be succeeded by the firm of Winchester & Ferguson. July 23, 1856, the word " Journal " was dropped and the title of the paper became the Oswego Daily Times. September 3, 1857, Winchester & Ferguson sold out to Jonathan Tarbell, who continued the publication until 1860, at about the beginning of the war, with James N. Brown, editor. Early in the war Mr. Tarbell sold out to Mr. Brown and went into the army, rose to be a brigadier-general and afterwards was judge of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. Mr. Brown retained the estab- lishment until 1865. Meanwhile in February, 1864, T. S. Brigham and J. A. Place started the Oswego Commercial Advertiser, with Mr. Place acting as editor. This paper was also absorbed by the Times early in 1865, and the paper given the name of The Advertiser and Times. At the end of a year the names of the papers, daily and weekly, were made The Oswego Weekly Advertiser and The Oswego Commercial Advertiser. In 1870 a stock company started the Oswego Press, daily and weekly, which maintained its existence until 1873 when it, too, was consolidated with the Times, and the whole establishment went into possession of the "Oswego Publishing Company." The names " Press " and "Advertiser " were both dropped, and since that

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time the papers have borne only the title "Times." The publishing company is still in existence. The Times is an ardent and able Repub- lican journal, and both it and the Palladium rank high among the in- land journals of this State.

Besides these living newspapers and those that have been absorbed by them, there have been a few ephemeral journals published here, among them The Oswego Observer, a weekly begun by Bailey & Hawks in February, 1835, and discontinued in the latter part of 1836. A paper called Equal Rights was issued in the village a short time in 1837, printed by Richard Oliphant for unknown publishers. The Oswego Patriot was issued from the Palladium office in the fall and winter of 1838-9, in advocacy of the cause of the so-called "Patriots" who were to invade Canada. The other newspapers of this county are properly noticed in the separate town histories in later pages of this volume.

The Oswego Guards.1-The first meeting for the organization of the old Oswego Guards, now the 48th Separate Company, was held on July 19, 1838. The Hon. William F. Allen presided and C. L. Cole was made secretary. Sidney S. Hurlbut was elected captain ; James Ransom, lieutenant ; and Zadoc Strong Titus, ensign. At the next meeting Myron Pardee was elected permanent secretary ; John Bruce, treasurer ; and Robert Van Horne, warning officer. At the first annual meeting held the first Thursday in August, 1839, the following officers were elected : J. N. Renaud, secretary ; John Bruce, treasurer ; T. H. Blodgett, I. S. Isaacs, D. S. Holden, finance committee ; Z. D. Stevens, I. N. Crolius, R. G. Wellington, court martial ; H. H. Hurlbut, orderly sergeant ; Robert Van Horne, second sergeant; T. Barbour, third ser- geant ; I. S. Isaacs, fourth sergeant ; J. N. Renaud, first corporal ; John Bruce, second corporal ; S. Y. Baldwin, third corporal ; T. H. Blodgett, fourth corporal. The company at this time contained many of the first citizens of Oswego. At the present time (December, 1894) only six of the charter members are living.

On November 16, 1841, the company disbanded and immediately reorganized, so as to allow twenty new members just elected to have a

1 Prepared for this work by Capt. A. M. Hall.

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voice in the election of officers. Among the new members then elected were the following :

Jedediah Sanger, William M. Nichols, Charles King, Thomas Dobbie, W. Aylesworth, Robert Oliver, Charles N. Haggerman, Malcolm Bronson, Timothy Sullivan, J. F. Johnston, Cheney Ames, Chauncey Smith, D. H. Lawrence. Sidney S. Hurlbut was re-elected captain ; John B. Leverich, first lieutenant; John C. Hugunin, second lieu- tenant ; Peter Boyer, standard bearer; Thomas Barbour, first sergeant ; John Fort, second sergeant; Robert Van Horne, third sergeant; John Bruce, fourth sergeant; Edwin Allen, first corporal; Johr Crolius, second corporal; James M. Crolius, third corporal; James McDonald, fourth corporal. At the next meeting Hiram Klock was elected to membership.

The first ball of the company occurred in January, 1842, and was an elaborate affair. On February 2, 1842, Captain Hurlbut resigned, and in May following A. P. Grant was elected captain, with Hiram Klock, second lieutenant. At this time the company came into possession of a cannon, which is now a much treasured relic in the company's armory. In March, 1844, Captain Grant resigned and O. H. Hastings was elected a member and subsequently secretary. On May 30, 1846, the com- pany tendered its services to the State of New York to do garrison duty at Fort Ontario, in event of the removal of the company of United States troops then stationed there, and were accepted by the adjutant- general. On August 8, 1849, by order of the adjutant-general, the company was reorganized as a flank company of artillery and attached as such to the 48th Regiment, in the 22d Brigade and 6th Division of N. Y. S. M. At this time Thomas Barbour was captain ; Hiram Klock, first lieutenant ; and John Fort, second lieutenant. Hon. Will- iam F. Allen, afterward judge of the Court of Appeals, presided at the meeting for reorganization. The first active service of the company was during the Rensselaer rent war, when at the call of the governor the company went from Oswego to Schenectady in sleighs in the dead of winter. The next duty was in 1846, mentioned above. After- wards the company was called out to quell a riot which took place at the foot of West Seneca street on the 4th of July, 1847, between a party of Canadian excursionists and citizens of Oswego. During the war of the Rebellion a large number of members of the company entered the ser- vice and three times during the war under various calls for troops, the company was almost dismembered. It also did guard duty in and

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about Oswego during the Fenian raids. The company finally became company A of the 48th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. and has had a flour- ishing career ever since. The old organization of the Oswego Guards has been sacredly maintained to the present time and all of the records have been preserved. In 1878 the company served with the regiment in the great railroad riots in Syracuse. In 1882, upon the disbandment of the 48th Regiment, the company was continued in the service of the State as the 29th Separate Company. In the same year it saw eighteen days of riot duty on the lumber wharves at Oswego, under Captain Hugh H. Herron. In 1890 the company was called to Syracuse dur- ing the railroad riots of that year. In 1892 the company was consoli- dated with the 38th Separate Company, and became known as the 48th Separate Company. In the same year it saw twelve days of active service at Buffalo during the great switchmen's strike. In August, 1894, the property of the Standard Oil Company at Oswego was placed under guard of the company during a six days' strike of the longshore- men.

The following members of the Guards became commissioned officers during the Rebellion :

Brig .- General S. S. Hurlbut, Col. Timothy Sullivan, Col. Frank C. Miller, Col. Ward G. Robinson, Col. George Hugunin, Col. Samuel R. Beardsley, Col. Augustus G. Ben- nett, Col. E. M. Paine, Col. James Doyle, Lieut .- Col. Hiram Duryea, Lieut .- Col. Robert Oliver, Lieut .- Col. Edward A. Cooke, Lieut .- Col. William P. Mckinley, Major John McAmbly, Major Alexander R. Penfield, Major George Duryea, Capt. Daniel O'Brien, Capt. John Ratigan, Capt. Bellenden Hutchinson, Capt. William L. Yeckley, Capt. Samuel H. Brown, Capt. Leverett C. Adkins, Capt. William S. Morse, Capt. John S. McNair, Capt. John B. Edwards, jr., Capt. Maurice P. Tidd, Capt. Lemonte L. Thorpe, Capt. James A. Mckinley, Capt. N. A. Wright, Capt. John A. Judson, Capt. Joseph Shalkenback, Lieut. Patrick J. Brown, Lieut. Charles H. Peavey, Lieut. Oiville M. Morse, Lieut. Joel H. Warn, Lieut. John Dunn, jr., Lieut. Daniel C. Hubbard, Lieut. Gail Kingsley, Lieut. Orrin M. Sterns, Lieut. John W. Oliver, Lieut. John G. Phillips.

Churches .- Prior to the year 1816 Oswego was wholly a missionary field. Meetings for prayer and praise were, however, frequently held and exerted a beneficent influence on the little settlement long before this date. Occasionally an itinerant preacher found his way to the little settlement and held religious services in some hospitable dwelling or barn or perhaps in the open air, but no concerted effort was made to organize a regular society. Circuit riders of the Methodist faith

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began their labors as early as 1812, and doubtless ministers of other denominations visited the place about the same time or soon afterward. Education and religion developed side by side, yet the former appa- rently had a visible existence several years before the first church organization was effected.

The First Presbyterian Church of Oswego, organized November 21, 1816, was the first religious body formed in the place. It consisted of seventeen constituent members, namely :

Silvanus Bishop, Abram Clark, Rachel Bishop, Janet Clark, Mary Hugunin, Chris- tina Connor, Hannah Smith, Lois Brace, Catharine Shapley, Mary Cooley, Sarah Buel, Martha Miner, Catharine Dubois, Nancy Clark, Lucretia Walradt, Hannah Hall, and Mary Coats. Of these, Catharine Shapley, Mary Coats, Mary Cooley and Hannah Hall received the ordinance of baptism. Silvanus Bishop was chosen ruling elder, and Abram Clark ruling elder and deacon.

At the instance and expense of W. B. Phelps a blue-veined Floren- tine marble tablet, bearing these names, was placed as a memorial in the auditorium of the church in 1890. The last survivor of this little band of worshipers was Mrs. Mary (Cooley) Whitney, who died Sep- tember 1, 1879. The organization was effected in a school house 1 by Rev. John Davenport, of Onondaga, and Rev. David R. Dixon, of Oneida. The first sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered November 24, 1816. February 10, 1824, the society was legally incor- porated. The first board of trustees consisted of Matthew McNair, George Fisher, Joel Turrill, Edward Bronson, John B. Park, and Stephen Brace, all of whom served for several years. The church worshiped in the little school house until 1825, when their first edifice and the first church building in Oswego was erected near the center of the public square on the west side of the river. It was dedicated in 1826, and was occupied by the congregation till October 24, 1841, when it was destroyed by an incendiary fire. It was a wooden structure, 54 by 80 feet, and cost about $6,000; in 1841 twenty feet were added to the west end or rear of the edifice. The bell, which for a long time was the only one in the place, escaped uninjured. The trustees of the

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 42

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