Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 54

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 54

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The village covers an area of about 1,000 acres, or the east half of lots 74 and 75 of the old township of Hannibal and all except the southeast one-fourth of lot 4 of the survey township of Lysander. Mr. Phillips caused a survey and village map to be made of the east part of lot 75 in 1828, but the plan subsequently fell into disuse. This was the first attempt made towards effecting an allotment of the lands within the present corporate limits.

When the railroad was in process of construction in the year 1847, the village was incorporated, but the inhabitants at that time were so few in number that the charter privileges remained unused. About six

527

THE TOWN OF GRANBY.

years later, on October 12, 1853, Hon. R. H. Tyler, county judge, in pursuance of a petition to the court, directed the holding of an election November 19, 1853, to determine the question of incorporation. Of the II0 votes cast fifty eight were in the affirmative. In the fall of that year the following officers were chosen and in the spring of 1854 the same were re-elected :

Peter Schenck (president), Jnmes Parker, William Andrews, John V. Smith, and Holden, trustees; Orrin R. Jaycox, treasurer; Stephen Roberts, collector.

The following have been presidents of the village :

Peter Schenck, 1853-4; John V. Smith, 1855; Peter Schenck, 1856-9; John V. Smith, 1860; Peter Schenck, 1861-2; J. G. Willard, 1863; Peter Schenck, 1864-5 ; Philander H. Wandell, 1866; Erastus Kellogg,' 1867; C. K. Howe, 1868; Ransom G. Alger, 1869; John Wall, 1870; C. P. Dutcher, 1871; F. W. Baker, 1872; James Parker, jr., 1873 ; Edgar M. Baker, 1874; Abram G. Hugunin, 1875; Edgar M. Baker, 1876-7 ; H. C. Gardner, 1878; Edgar M. Baker, 1879-80; T. R. Wright, 1881; Edgar M. Baker, 1882 ; E. Frank Marsh, 1883; Miles Ellis, 1884-5; E. M. Baker, 1886; A. E. Keller, 1887; D. C. Case, 1888-9; J. W. Rigley, 1890; A. C. Culken, 1891; E. M. Baker, 1892; Charles K. Rogers, 1893; A. E. Keller, 1894.

The officers for 1894-5 are :

Amos E. Keller, president ; George Simons, George Reynolds, William Kelley, Pat- sey Casey, George W. Brooker, and Charles E. Clute, trustees; Daniel H. Gilbert, clerk; William H. Cook, treasurer; George North, collector; E. J. Cronyn, police justice ; Dr. W. M. Wells, health physician ; Daniel Mehegan, Burns Case, and James Stevens, (clerk), health officers.

The village charter has been several times amended, notably in 1866 (when the president was made elective by popular vote instead of being chosen by the board of trustees, as theretofore); in 1873 and 1874; and on April 20, 1878, when the street commissioner, clerk, policemen, and jailor were to be appointed by the trustees and a police justice elected for a term of four years.

The post-office of Oswego Falls was established May 11, 1850, with Joseph E. Willard as postmaster. His successors have been as follows : L. G. Watson, appointed Septpmber 16, 1853; Orlin R. Jaycox, February 1, 1856 ; James Parker, September 22, 1856; William R. Warren, June 10, 1858; J. D. Brewer, November 29, 1858; J. Gates Willard, May 31, 1861; W. J. Townsend, September 10, 1866 ; Benjamin R. Howe, April 8, 1869 ; John R. Sullivan, 1884; Charles H. Dexter ; and John R. Sullivan. incumbent.

Among the merchants may be mentioned the names of Benjamin R.

528

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

Howe, who was postmaster from 1869 to 1884, and who died in July, 1888 ; Dr. George G. Whitaker, druggist ; Charles H. Dexter, still in business ; Haynes & Switzer, grocers; J. H. Betts, grocer ; and H. Ballard.

About 1850 George Salmon started a large tannery which was sub- sequently owned by Barnett & Hamburger and later by D. J. Ham - berger, in whose possession it was burned on August 12, 1885, with a loss of about $75,000. At this time it was operated by James Grigson. It was rebuilt and is now owned by Bacon & Nichols.

In 1859 J. G. Kellogg, of San Francisco, and Bradford Kennedy, of Syracuse, owned large landed interests in the corporate limits. In that year Erastus Kellogg came here, and with funds furnished by J. G. Kellogg commenced the erection of Mill No. 1, which now forms a part of the great Fulton Worsted Mills at the upper bridge. He was also assisted in the enterprise by Mr. Kennedy. In 1860 Abram Howe purchased the interest of J. G. Kellogg and with Erastus Kellogg com- pleted the establishment. They leased the upper part to Potter & Hol- royd for a knitting factory and Kennedy & Kellogg occupied the lower stories for manufacturing woolen goods. In 1862 a second mill was erected and Willard Johnson became a partner. The site of this struc- ture was quitclaimed by Mr. Howe to the other proprietors early in 1863. The mills were managed by Erastus Kellogg 1 and army cloth was manufactured. Hoyt, Sprague & Co. finally forclosed a mortgage upon the property and the whole plant passed into their hands. In 1868 Nathan Hodgson came here from England and leased mill No. I and a part of No. 2 for the purpose of manufacturing ladies' cloth waterproofs. The next year D. Ramsden began the manufacture of worsted goods in Mill No. 2. In 1873 Hoyt, Sprague & Co. failed and A. D. Juilliard was appointed receiver, and in his interest the establish- ment, including 500 acres of land, the Broadway House, and other property, was sold in 1876 for $105,000. A stock company was formed and conducted the mills until they were amalgamated with the River- side Mills of Providence, R. I, in 1884 under the firm name of the Riverside and Oswego Mills Company. Mr. Juilliard remained iu

1 Erastus Kellogg died in Skaneateles, N. Y., in 1885. He was a prominent man during his res- idence here, and was instrumental in opening the first stone quarry in Granby.

529

THE TOWN OF GRANBY.

charge and expended about $750,000 in rebuilding the plant. On August 6, 1889, they were closed on an attachment of $412,000 and later Chester A. Braman was appointed receiver. In June, 1890, they were sold to George S. Bullens and Warren Sawyer, of Massachusetts, for $800,000. Soon afterward the establishment passed into the pos- session of Charles Fletcher, the present proprietor, who rebuilt and re- modeled the whole plant as it now exists in 1891, the office building being the only structure of any value left standing. He put in new machinery and enlarged almost every department. About 750 hands are employed and the business aggregates $1,500,000 annually. Worsted cloths for men's wear and yarn for knitters are manufactured. The mills are heated by hot air, lighted by electricity generated in the establishment, and operated wholly by water-power, the raceway for this purpose costing $10,000. This concern has long been the leading manufacturing industry of Oswego Falls. To it more than to any other the village owes its growth and prosperity, and around it numerous business interests have been successfully established.

In 1871 William Waugh began the manufacture of straw paper on the site of the present factory just above the lower bridge. In 1872 he took his brother Edward into partnership under the firm name of William Waugh & Brother, which has since remained unchanged. In 1890-91 the old mill was torn down and the present structure erected on the adjoining site. About twenty hands are employed. At this place the sons of William Schenck had a chain factory for three or four years.

The Oswego Falls Observer, the first newspaper in the village, was started in April, 1882, by Alfred P. Bradt, the president editor and proprietor. In August, 1883, it was enlarged from a folio to eight pages. It is independent in politics and enjoys a wide reputation and large circulation. Mr. Bradt was born in Ira, Cayuga county, May 23, 1851, removed to North Hannibal in 1863, and spent his early life in farming and gardening Here he acquired a taste for newspaper work by corresponding for Oswego and New York papers. In August, 1879, he purchased the Hannibal Reveille and News, which he sold to N. B. & C. B. Brower in August, 1881, and removed to Oswego Falls.

The Fulton Paper Company was incorporated in March, 1889, with a capital of $30,000. The first officers were J. A. Foster, president ; 67

530

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

James Sears, vice-president ; and G. C. Webb, secretary and treasurer. A factory was erected a little above the lower bridge which has a daily capacity of 44,000 pounds of dry pulp and employs from thirty to forty hands. The present officers are A. E. Nettleton, president ; F. S. Taylor, vice president ; and G. C. Webb, secretary and treasurer.

The Eureka Paper Company was incorporated with a capital of $30,- 000 November 17, 1890, and with these officers: R. J. Oliphant, president ; James A. Foster, vice-president; and T. H. Webb, secre- tary, who remain the same except the vice-president, who is James Sears. A mill was built near that of the Fulton Paper Company which gives employment to twenty or twenty-five hands and manufactures about 18,000 pounds of manilla, rope, fibre, and tag paper daily.

The Foster Brothers Company was incorporated February 12, 1891, by J. A. Foster, president ; C. F. Foster, vice- president ; and George C. Chauncey, secretary, the latter being succeeded by George F. Trag- eser, who with the Messrs. Foster compose the present management. The capital is $40,000. About thirty hands are employed and machine knives and butchers' tools are manufactured, the plant being situated near those of the two companies just noted.

Among other manufacturing establishments of Oswego Falls are those of D. M. Mills & Co., pumps ; Charles K. Rogers, feed mill ; John W. Rawson, chenille goods; John McCarthy, brooms; W. D. Edgarton, and A. B. Fletcher, brick ; and David Baldwin, lumber yard and saw mill. Smith Murgatroid formerly had a grist mill and machine shop at the upper part of the village which burned in March, 1886; the Whit- man steel works located here in that year and subsequently moved away.

The village of Oswego Falls has enjoyed its greatest growth during the last twenty years and its business has more than doubled since 1882. It contains several handsome business blocks and many fine residences. A street car line, which is described in the chapter devoted to Volney and Fulton, connect it with Fulton village, and two stations, one oppo- site the upper and another opposite the lower bridge, afford excellent transportation facilities on the D., L. & W. railroad. A well organized volunteer fire department, composed of Baker Hose No. I and Cronyn Hose No. 2, of which John Follan is chief, is maintained. There are about 1,830 inhabitants within the corporate limits.

531

THE TOWN OF GRANBY.

West Granby had its beginning in a saw mill and a grist mill which Seth Camp erected there about 1819. The latter had one run of stone and was the first grist mill in town. A Mr. Fairbanks opened a store three or four years later and shortly afterward built a distillery, which were the first permanent establishments of the kind in Granby. A tav- ern was soon opened and one of its early landlords was Simon Ocka- bock. The place took the name of " Camp's Mills" and gave promise of becoming a thrifty country village. About 1828 Jacob Bakeman, a son of Henry Bakeman and a mulatto, purchased the mills and con- ducted them for many years. A colored property 'owner in those days was a novelty and outsiders long insisted upon calling the settlement " Niggerville." In 1835 the village consisted of a grist mill, saw mill, distillery, store, two taverns, four or five blacksmith shops, and fifteen or twenty dwellings. An extensive travel passed through here, and a lively business was carried on in all lines, but after the financial panic of 1837 it began to wane and eventually decreased into the ordinary pursuits of a quiet rural hamlet. About 1840 Andrew Decker kept tavern in what was facetiously called the " Astor House," and Alfred Higgins at one time owned both mills, the hotel and store. Among the old-time merchants were John Draper and John Bullen. A post- office was established here in 1822, but has long since been dis- continued.

Granby Center is situated two miles west from the lower part of Os- wego Falls and was formerly known as Williams Corners. At one time it contained two steam saw mills and several other industries. It has now about eighty inhabitants, a cheese factory, post- office, etc. The postmaster is Hiram Ballard.

Dexterville is a postal hamlet two miles west of Granby Center and was named from Rodman Dexter, who built a steam saw mill there in 1851. Burned in 1857 it was rebuilt by Erastus Dexter and finally torn down in 1873. Mr. Simon is the postmaster.

Bowen's Corners was so named from the Bowen family previously noticed. It contains a cheese factory, a post-office with Stephen D. Arnold as postmaster, a brick school house, and the usual complement of dwellings and business interests.

South Granby is a post office and station on the D. L. & W. Railroad

532

LANDMARKS OF ÖSWEGO COUNTY.

four miles southeast of Oswego Falls. The postmaster is Harlow S. Sperbeck.

Brook is a post office recently established in the Whitcomb neighbor- hood in this town.

Churches-The first religious organization in town was St. Luke's Episcopal Mission, which was formed at West Granby as early as 1838, under the charge of Rev. G. B. Engle. In 1842 a small church edifice was erected, being the first church building in Granby. From this time until 1861 the parish was connected with that at Fulton, and soon afterward the church was sold to the Methodists and the mission dis- continued.

At a comparatively early day there was a Methodist class at Granby Center and another at West Granby, meetings being held in school houses. About 1852 a small church edifice was built at the Center and in 1861 the Methodists purchased the Episcopal mission at West Granby.

The Reformed Methodists organized a class and instituted services at Bowen's Corners many years ago.

The Congregational Church of Oswego Falls was organized July 1I, 1882, with Benjamin R. Howe (treasurer), Dr. W. W. Wells (secretary), Lewis Johnson, George J. Emeny, Edgar M. Baker, and J. C. Harring- ton as trustees. The first pastor was Rev. A. E. Kinmouth, who re- mained until September, 1883. The corner-stone of the present hand- some brick and stone edifice on the corner of First street and Broad- way, near the upper bridge, was laid by Hon. Peter Burns, of Syracuse, October 16, 1882. This was the first church and society organized in the village limits. The structure was completed at a cost of $14,000 and dedicated May 20, 1884. Rev. F. G. Webster is the present pastor and F. G. Gill is the superintendent of the Sunday school.

St. Paul's Mission was established in Oswego Falls in November, 1883, by Zion Episcopal Church of Fulton.

A Young Men's Christian Association is maintained in Oswego Falls, the officers for 1895 being as follows : S. Edgarton, president ; Harry Rudd, vice-president ; Ralph Hannums, secretary and treasurer.

533

THE TOWN OF HANNIBAL.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE TOWN OF HANNIBAL.

An act passed February 28, 1789 (Chap. 44, Laws of 1789) author- ized the Commissioners of the Land Office to direct the surveyor- general to lay out in the Military Tract hereinbefore referred to, town- ships of one hundred lots of six hundred acres each, enough to satisfy the claims to bounty lands of the officers and soldiers of the Revolu- tionary army from the State of New York, to which they were entitled under the previous action of the Legislature. The direction was at once given to the surveyor-general, and surveys were promptly made, and in 1790 maps of twenty-five townships were filed. The act directed that the first of the townships should begin on the western side of the Onondaga River (as the Oswego River was then called) " at the falls thereof." Two of these townships cornered upon the river at the falls, to the southern of which (township No. I) was given the name of Lysander, and to the northern (township No. 2) was given the name of Hannibal.1 This survey township of Hannibal included all of the present county of Oswego lying west of the Oswego River, except the north thirty-three lots of the township of Lysander, which, when Oswego county was formed, were included in that county, and now form a part of the town of Granby.

When Onondaga county was formed in 1794, the town of Lysan- der was erected which included the three military townships of Han- nibal, Lysander and Cicero. This continued until February 28, 1806, when the military township of Hannibal was separated from Lysander and made a town by the name of Hannibal in the county of Onon- daga. When Oswego county was formed, March 1, 1816, the town

1 The act of February 28, 1789, made it the duty of the commissioners of the land office to give names to the towns to be laid out under that act. They assigned that duty to Simeon De Witt, for half a century (1785-1835) surveyor-general of the State, and it is to him that we are indebted for the names of Roman, Greek and Carthaginian notables that are attached to the military townships of Central New York.

534

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

of Hannibal and the north thirty-three lots of Lysander were taken from Onondaga county and made a part of Oswego county, and the thirty-three lots were annexed to the town of Hannibal, which thereby included all of Oswego county lying west of the river. On the 20th of April, 1818, an act was passed erecting the towns of Oswego and Granby and giving to Hannibal the boundaries it has ever since retained. Its area is 27,786 acres.

It lies in the extreme western part of the county and is bounded on the north by Oswego and Granby, on the east by Granby, and on the south and west by Cayuga county. The surface is gently undulating, and broken into ridges from thirty to fifty feet above the valleys. In the eastern and southeastern parts are several swamps, one of which covers an area of 500 acres; some of these have been partially re- claimed to cultivation by artificial drainage.

The soil, a rich sandy and gravelly loam, is generally well adapted to all kinds of agricultural pursuits. The chief productions are cheese, butter, grain, hay, fruit, tobacco, and vegetables. Considerable atten- tion is also given to stock raising. In early days the dense forests made lumbering the leading industry and gave existence to numerous saw mills. In 1860 there were eighteen of these establishments and several other woodworking concerns in operation, furnishing employ - ment to many workmen. All, however, have given place to purely agricultural pursuits. There are now two cheese factories, one at South Hannibal and another at Hannibal village, both owned by stock companies. A third was formerly conducted in the northeast part of the town by E. S. Tallman. In Hannibal village is a butter factory owned by C. E. Brinkerhoff.

In the northwest corner of the town is a salt spring from which salt was formerly manufactured in limited quantities, and in various other localities indications of brine have been discovered, but none have proved of sufficient strength to render their working profitable. The principal stream is Nine Mile Creek, which flows through the village of Hannibal ; this and several brooks afford excellent drainage and some good mill privileges.

Reliable data respecting the earliest roads within the present limits of Hannibal are almost wholly inaccessible. It is known that many

535

THE TOWN OF HANNIBAL.

of the original surveys were made between 1820 and 1840; yet it is evident that several highways were laid out and opened long before the first named year. On April 3. 1823, the Legislature appointed three commissioners to lay out a road from a point on the west bank of the river below Oswego Falls, " opposite Hubbard & Falley's mill dam, from thence to the village of Hannibalville," and on to Wolcott, Wayne (then Seneca) county. Prior to this, in 1817, a road had been opened from Oswego to Auburn, for which $2,500 were appropriated, and the same year the Sodus Bay Turnpike Road Company was incor- porated. The stage routes between Oswego and Auburn and Oswego and Rochester passed through what is now the village of Hannibal, where horses were changed, it being a regular and popular stopping place. The various thoroughfares of the town have kept pace in im- provement with those of other localities. Substantial bridges and systematic grading have made them passable at all seasons of the year.

From 1798 to 1806 the town of Lysander, which included the military townships of Lysander, Hannibal and Cicero, constituted a single supervisor district. During this period Asa Rice, who came from Connecticut in 1797 and settled at Union Village in the town of Oswego, served as supervisor. In 1798 he reported the number of in- habitants in this territory as fifteen, and its taxable property was valued at $1,500.

The first town meeting for the town of Hannibal was held at the tavern of Matthew McNair in Oswego village on the first Tuesday in April, 1806, when the following officers were chosen :

William Vaughan, supervisor; Edward O'Connor, town clerk; Asa Rice, Barnet Mooney, and Reuben Sprague, assessors ; Ezekiel Brown, collector ; Daniel Hugunin and Peter D. Hugunin, overseers of the poor; Peter D. Hugunin, Barnet Mooney, and Thomas Sprague, jr., highway commissioners; Ezekiel Brown and James Hugunin, constables; David Hugunin and Peter D. Hugunin, fenceviewers; William Eadus, poundmaster ; Joel Burt and Asa Rice, commissioners of gospel lots ; and John Mas- ters (district No. 1), James Hugunin (district No. 2), and Parmenus Sprague (district No. 3), pathmasters. The usual regulations relative to fences and stock were adopted.

The supervisors of Hannibal have been as follows :

William Vaughan, 1806-7; Peter D. Hugunin, 1808-10; Eleazer Perry, 1811; Asa Rice, 1812 ; Eleazer Perry, 1813-14; Barnet Mooney, 1815-16; Samuel Farnham, 1817-21; Daniel Hawks, jr., 1822; John Bullen, jr., 1823-28; Arvin Rice, 1829-30;

536

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

Archibald Green, 1831; Abram Watson, 1832; Jonathan Eastman, 1833; Asa Dudley, 1834; William Bullen, 1835; Jonathan Eastman, 1836-7; Samuel H. Patchin, 1838 ; Isaac H. Ketcham, 1839; Arvin Rice, 1840; James A. Brackett, 1841; Thomas Skel- ton, 1842-3; Josiah Bidwell, 1844; Isaac H. Ketchum, 1845; Huet H. Bronson, 1846; Josiah Bidwell, 1847 ; John L. Kip, 1848; Palmer Ketchum, 1849-50 ; John McClaughry, 1851 ; Benjamin N. Hinman, 1852; Orson Titus, 1853; Giles C. Barnes, 1854; Alfred Rice, 1855; John Forsyth, 1856; William J. Acker, 1857-58; Giles C. Barrus, 1859-60 ; Rensselaer Matteson, 1861-64; Carson Wiltsie, 1865-70; Eli P. Barret, 1871-76; Alexander H. Mitchell, 1877; Varnum P. Hill, 1878; Ezra L. Tallman, 1879-81 ; Eli P. Barrett, 1882-88; Dillon F. Acker, 1889; William R. Wilson, 1890-95.

The town officers for 1894-5 were :

William R. Wilson, supervisor; George C. Cable, town clerk; Willard E. Wilber, George A. Leonard, Jasper Hopper, and Levi Brackett, justices. of the peace; Henry H. Phillips, Elihu Gifford, and Charles Farnham, assessors; William Gault, highway commissioner; Fayette Eldredge, overseer of the poor; Wilber F. Warren, collector ; Eli P. Barrett, Ezra B Tucker, and R. A. Powers, excise commissioners. The town is divided into sixty-five road districts.

The first settlement within the present limits of Hannibal was com- menced on lot 95, in the extreme south part of the town, by Thomas Sprague, who moved thither with his family from Massachusetts in 1802. He built the first house, a log structure, and likewise made the first clearing. The first marriage was that of Daniel Thomas and Pru- dence Sprague in 1803. Carr Sprague, whose birth occurred in 1805, was the first white child born in town; the first death was that of an- other child, a daughter of the pioneer Thomas Sprague, in 1806.

During the years 1803 and 1804 the Sprague family seem to have been the only inhabitants of the present town. In 1805, however, a number of settlers arrived, prominent among them being Watson Earl, Joseph Weed, Israel Messenger, David Wilson, Samuel Barrow, Ster- ling Moore, and Oren and George Cotton, all of whom located at Han- nibal Center. Being a millwright, Orren Cotton, in company with Mr. Earl, built there, about 1806, the first grist mill in town. He was a lineal descendant of Dr. John Cotton, the great Puritan preacher of Boston. Samuel Barrow was one of the first surveyors. For several years settlement was very slow. Doubtless a few more pioneers arrived, but the date of their coming cannot be ascertained, hence their names will be grouped together a little further on.

In 1809 Arvin Rice, a son of Asa the pioneer of Union Village, com-

537

THE TOWN OF HANNIBAL.

menced a clearing on lot 67, near Hannibal village. He set out the first orchard ; brought into town the first iron plow; and raised the first barn without the use of liquor. He married Polly Cotton on March 18, 1812, and became prominent in local affairs. When Granby and Oswego were set off in 1818 it was through his efforts that the name Hannibal was retained for this town. He was justice of the peace in 1829 and served as town clerk, supervisor, etc., several years. Dr. Al- fred Rice was born here in 1817.

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 54

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