Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 80

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 80

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796

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

Charles G. Bacon in 1844, Richard K. Sanford in 1845, Samuel Crom- bie in 1846-52, and G. D. Ball in 1853-55. In 1850 there were nine- teen school districts, attended by 1,252 children, the teacher's wages amounting to $1, 124.36, and library money to $170.48.

The town now has sixteen school districts, and for 1894-95 voted $4,944.68 for school purposes. During the year 1892-93 thirty-six teachers were employed and 1,649 children attended the various schools. The school buildings and sites are valued at $58,550; assessed valuation of the districts, $2,570,755 ; public money received from the State, $4,953 64 ; raised by local tax, $10,861.18. The districts are designated as follows: Nos. 1, 2 and 14 Fulton (consolidated) ; No. 3, Volney Center ; 4, Sixteenth ; 5, Mt. Pleasant; 6, Hawks; 7, Owen ; 8, Ludington ; 9, Pine Woods; 10, North Volney ; II, Weed's ; 12, Bundy's Crossing ; 13, Crosby Hill; 15, Cone; 16, Baldwin; 17, Seneca Hill. The Falley Seminary and Fulton schools are noticed further on in the portion of this chapter devoted to that village.

The oldest cemetery in town is the one at Volney Center, the oldest stone therein marking the grave of Eunice, wife of Joseph Moss, who died in 1815. There is a burial ground at North Volney and another at Hubbard's Corners, the oldest stone in the former indicating the grave of Mrs. Walter Haynes, who died in 1829: The earliest burying ground in Fulton occupied a site a few rods south of the subsequent residence of Gardner Wood. Afterward the remains of the dead were mostly removed from that place to another on blocks 34 and 38. This proved inconvenient, and about 1830 some three acres of blocks 62, 63, 71 and 72 were selected and set aside for burial purposes. On June 2, 1851, the Mount Adnah Cemetery Association was organized with Aaron G. Fish, Henry Broadwell, O. O. Shumway, Sands N. Kenyon, John E. Dutton, Willard Osgood, M. L. Lee, William Schenck and Lewis E. Loomis, trustees. Mr. Fish was chosen president, Henry Broadwell vice-president ; and O. O. Shumway secretary. A plat of thirty- seven acres, bounded on the north by Broadway and on the west by Seventh street, was purchased of James L. Voorhees and laid out by Dr. Lee and Peter Schenck. The first interment was that of D. R. Case September 23, 1853. In 1856 Mr. Shumway was succeeded as secretary by Samuel Crombie, who has held that position ever since.

797

THE TOWN OF VOLNEY AND VILLAGE OF FULTON.

May 5, 1868, an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the re- moval of all bodies from blocks 62, 63, 71, and 72 to. the new cemetery, and the sale of that plat, which is now occupied by residences. Mount Adnah contains about 3,500 graves, a good public vault, and a magnificent gateway, which was built in the fall of 1894 at a cost of $1,000. It is one of the most beautiful rural cemeteries in northern New York. The trustees for 1894-95 are as follows : Willard Johnson, president ; George M. Case, treasurer; Samuel Crombie, secretary ; Willis S. Nelson, Andrew Hanna, Dr. C. G. Bacon, F. A. Gage, F. M. Wilson, and John W. Pratt.

Fulton Village .- This is the largest and most important village in the county. The immense water-power afforded by the Oswego River very early gave it a wide celebrity and attracted hither many settlers of means and enterprise, who interested themselves in the numerous valuable sites. In the distance from the head of Yelverton Island to the foot of Waterhouse Island the fall is, naturally, about forty-five feet, which is increased somewhat by the upper dam. Along most of this course lie many available mill privileges.

Originally the place consisted of the "Upper Landing " and the " Lower Landing," so called, around which clustered quite considerable settlements and the usual business interests, as previously noted. It was also called Oswego Falls, a name first given to the post-office and the village proper prior to 1825. In 1812 it consisted of only twelve buildings exclusive of those at the two Landings, the first one being erected on Oneida street near the east end of the present Nelson mills. The business portion of Fulton properly dates from 1825, when the Legislature appropriated $160,000 for the building of the canal. This act attracted the attention of several enterprising men to the center of what is now the village of Fulton.

In 1797 Broughton White surveyed and divided into farm lots the tract of 1,440 acres, adjacent to the falls, which had been granted to Gerret H. Van Wagenen before the patent to Scriba, and by him sold to William Harper, from whom it has since been known as "Harper's Location." The Oswego Falls State Reservation, containing about fifty acres, was situated on the river bank nearly in the center of this tract. The west part of Harper's Location, including nearly all

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

the river front, finally became the joint property of Ichabod Brack- ett, who owned an undivided half, and of Joshua Forman, and James Lyon, who owned the other half. In 1815 a partition was made be- tween these owners under an order of the Supreme Court, the com- missioners for this purpose being Benjamin Wright, Abram Camp, and Alvin Bronson, who surveyed and plotted the premises and divided the parts adjoining the portage into village lots, the lots being desig- nated by the initial letters of those to whom they were assigned. This was apparently the first practical evidence of the anticipation that the site would eventually become a village. Steen's Location was sur- veyed by Reuben Bristol and a few small parcels along the portage road were sold, but no general plan of a village settlement was then entertained. Norman Hubbard and George F. Falley purchased this tract in 1825 and surveyed a part of it adjacent to the North Bridge into village lots. It was afterward divided, and in 1828, when Mr. Hubbard died, his legal representative procured a more extended al- lotment of the north part of the location, which resulted in a map, bearing date June 10, 1829, of the westerly portion of the tract. Mr. Falley then owned the south half and concurred in the plan. In 1827 William Jerome was commissioned by the surveyor-general to procure a new survey of the State Reservation, which was accepted by the commissioners of the land office, and under which it was parceled out to purchasers. O. W. Jerome, in 1835, at the instigation of Asa Phillips, made a survey and map of the west part of Harper's Location, including the Reservation, but his plan of village lots was finally abandoned. The eastern part of Steen's Location was allotted in 1844 and a new map of the whole tract was made. In 1848 the south part of G. C. Newkerk's Location was surveyed and mapped for M. L. Lee, and afterward the plan was extended over the north part of that tract for Anson Terry. The same year (1848) James L. Voorhees re- modeled the plan of the lots owned by him ; a new map was made and published, and became the basis of the village allotment. In 1854 a map of Fulton, including Newkerk's, Steen's, and the west part of Harper's Locations, the State Reservation, and a portion of lots 29 and 30 of the sixteenth township of Scriba's Patent, was made, printed, and published, and represents the basis of the allotments in the present

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THE TOWN OF VOLNEY AND VILLAGE OF FULTON.

village. All of these surveys and maps, except those of Bristol in 1815, of Lansing in 1823, and of O. W. Jerome in 1835, were made by Peter Schenck. The streets running parallel with the river are num- bered, while those running east and west are named.

Much of the early history of Fulton village has already been given. It is only necessary to commence with the beginning of the second quarter of the present century, noticing such interests as are not pre- viously mentioned, and confining our narrative to the village as it now exists

The first merchant was Lewis Falley, who began business about 1825 in a building that occupied the site of the old Nelson coal office. The next establishment was that of Cady, Case & Co. John J. Wolcott, Oliver Burdick, Charles P. Tucker, the Tousey Brothers, Douglass & Comstock, Messrs. Leonard and Whitaker, and perhaps a few others, became merchants during this year and 1826. On April 15, 1826, the commissioners of the land office were authorized to lease the State mills previously mentioned, with sufficient ground, or sell them; the establishment was subsequently sold.

The Genesee mills were built by Henry and Oliver French in 1832. Later they passed into the possession of Case & Chesbro, were en- larged and in April, 1861, became the property of James A. Baker & Co., who rebuilt them after the fire in 1862. The latter firm was fol- lowed by Baker & Sibley, who were succeeded in 1867 by W. S. Nel- son & Co., the present proprietors, who enlarged the mills as they now stand. Their daily capacity is 800 barrels of flour, and connected is a storage for 100,000 bushels of grain. They have not been operated since shortly after the death of Jesse Hoyt, a member of the firm, about ten years ago. Oliver French, one of the original builders of these mills, subsequently had a blacksmith shop for many years on the site of the present Midland Railroad depot, which was erected in 1886.

In 1834 there were two or three small grist mills in operation and about 600 inhabitants within the limits of what is now Fulton village. During the next four years the place experienced its most rapid growth. John C. Highriter had engaged in trade in 1831 as a member of the firm of Forsyth & Highriter, hatters, whom he afterward succeeded. carrying on quite an extensive business in manufacturing gloves and

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

mittens. He died in November, 1884, aged seventy-six. Charles G. Case, a former resident, returned from the eastern part of this State and purchased two lots on First street and a large tract of timber land in Granby. On these lots he built, during that year, a saw mill, store, and dwelling house, the store being the first brick structure in the vil- lage. He prosecuted a large business, and died December 10, 1875. Almon Tucker, at one time a partner of Mr. Case, built in 1834 a house on the site of the Universalist church on First street and engaged in merchandising with his brothers C. P. and J. C. In 1835 Oliver Burdick erected a block of brick stores on the corner of Canal and Oneida streets ; in 1836 George F. and Lewis Falley built a similar structure on First street ; and in 1837 James Whitaker put up another brick block on Oneida street. About this time many other fine build- ings were either finished or in course of erection.

Meanwhile, April 29, 1835, the village was incorporated, the charter describing the boundaries as follows :

Beginning at the southwest corner of the State Reservation at Oswego Falls; thence along the south and east sides thereof to State street; thence along the public high- way northeasterly to the four corners of the eastern boundary of Steen's Location ; thence along the line of said location to the north line thereof; thence west to the center of the Oswego River ; thence along the center of said river to the place of beginning.

The first village meeting was held at the Fulton House on the first Tuesday in June of the same year and Aaron G. Fish was chosen presi- dent. On April 13, 1837, the boundaries were extended so as to in- clude " subdivision lots thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, and the remainder of lots sixteen and seventeen, of the Harper Location, as surveyed by Broughton White in 1797."

From this time (1837) until 1851 the business interests of the village moved along steadily and prosperously. Harvey N. Sabin opened a grocery store in 1839 on the corner of Second and Oneida streets, and the same year J. W. & C. P. Tucker began' a dry goods trade, a busi- ness to which Tucker & Hulett succeeded in 1859. Mr Sabin died March 27, 1889, aged seventy-two. Edward Nettleton started a boot and shoe business in 1842. In 1844 De Witt Gardner opened a general store and in 1852 took in E. J. Carrington as a partner. The firm of Gardner & Carrington continued until 1855, when Mr. Gardner retired

801

THE TOWN OF VOLNEY AND VILLAGE OF FULTON.

and L. C. Seymour became a member under the name of Carrington & Seymour. In 1845 the population was 1,380.

A volume entitled " Historical Collections of the State of New York," thus describes the village in 1846:

Fulton, incorporated in 1835, is a flourishing place at the Oswego Falls, ten miles from Oswego. It has four churches, an academy, about 200 dwellings, and 1,400 in- habitants. The center of the village is half a mile below or north of the Oswego Falls, on the east bank of the Oswego River, at a point where a dam is constructed for the use of the Oswego Canal. The village limits extend above the falls, and include the State reservation, which has been laid out as a village and partly sold, called " Oswego Falls." The water power is extensive and can be used on both sides of the river at the dam, and also at the natural falls. The fall is about twelve feet at each place.

Henry C. Moody established a barrel manufactory in 1846. In 1848 Comstock & Keeville completed and placed in operation a new flouring mill. June 9, 1849, Hiram Lodge, F. and A. M., was organized with Samuel Dean as master. In July, 1850, T. F. Cory became proprietor of the Fulton House. In 1850 a plaster mill was built near the upper bridge and was subsequently owned by E. P. Ross. At this time the village contained 370 dwellings and 2,350 inhabitants. In 1851 the boundaries of the village were extended and designated as follows :

Commencing at the northwest corner of G. C. Newkirk's location, running thence easterly along the northerly line of said location to the northeast corner thereof; thence southerly along the easterly line of said location until said line intersects the stream of water known as Burdick Creek; thence up said creek along the center thereof until the same intersects the highway known as the Fay Road ; thence westerly along the cen- ter of said road to the easterly bounds of the village as fixed by the acts of 1835 and 1837; thence southerly and westerly along the last mentioned bounds to the center of the Oswego River; thence down the said river along the center to the place of be- ginning.

Since then these bounds have been slightly altered by the addition of small tracts of land to the corporate limits.

August 17, 1851, nearly the entire business part of the place was burned. Every building of any value on block 26, and every struc- ture on the opposite side of the street from the canal bridge to a point opposite the old Presbyterian church, was destroyed, leaving only two or three stores in the village. About fifty families and forty trading establishments, including the Fulton House, were burned out, entailing a loss of over $100,000. With remarkable energy and enter- 101

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

prise the property owners immediately set to work and by December of that year almost every place of business had been rebuilt, and several fine brick blocks besides. A newspaper of July, 1853, enumerates the business of Fulton then in operation as follows : Ten or twelve estab- lishments operating in dry goods, groceries and provisions, four large clothing stores, three drug stores, five or six provision stores, four hard- ware stores, four or five millinery shops, one crockery store, a glass and wooden and willow ware store, three boot and shoe stores, two book- stores, two jewelry stores, two cabinet ware stores, three large flouring mills and another about to go into operation, two large foundries and machine shops, a sash facfory, two cabinet and chair factories, one large woolen factory, several lumber manufacturing establishments, one stave and barrel factory, a tannery, one plaster mill, an oil mill, and two car- riage factories. The year before, in 1852, a company was organized for the purpose of building a temperance hotel, the result being the erection of the Case House, now the Lewis House.

In 1852 Henry Monroe and Charles G. Case erected a small paper mill on the site of the Victoria Mills, capable of turning out 2,000 pounds of paper daily. They were succeeded by R. H. Bullis, Beyam & Bullis, and Beyam & Waugh, in whose possession it burned in 1871. It was rebuilt by a Mr. Van Alstyne and finally passed to Waugh & Ham- mond, who were succeeded in 1880 by the Victoria Paper Mill Com- pany, of which F. G. Weeks was president and E. R. Redhead secre- tary and treasurer. Soon afterward a new pulp mill was built and about 1889 a new paper mill was erected. In 1891 Mr. Weeks retired and E. R. Redhead became president, W. S. Royce treasurer, and J. H. Howe secretary, who constitute the present management. In 1893 the company added to its plant the mills operated by William Barber and later by the Cataract Paper Company, which were built about 1885 and 1892. The company is capitalized at $8,400, employs about 100 hands, and manufactures manilla and rope paper. The plant was par- tially burned August 26, 1882, and again March 13, 1884.

About 1852 Amos J. Thayer began the manufacture of woolen cloth and machinery, having a machine shop in connection with his woolen factory on First street between the canal and river. He still carries on a small wood-carding business.

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THE TOWN OF VOLNEY AND VILLAGE OF FULTON.

By 1854 the milling interests of Fulton had assumed considerable magnitude, there being then in operation the Cayuga Mills of W. S. Nelson with five runs of stone; the Genesee Mills of Case & Chesbro with five runs; the Telegraph Mills of Clark & Pond with six runs ; and the three custom mills of Timothy Pratt, W. S. Nelson, and J. L. Voorhees with three runs each, the whole having twenty five runs of stone. The Cayuga Mills were built in 1826; in 1860 they passed into the hands of Kenyons & Johnson as successors to Robert C. and Sands N. Kenyon. The Custom Mill of W. S. Nelson, erected in 1853, was sold to Gardner & Benedict in 1855. The Genesee Mills passed into the possession of J. A. Baker & Co., in April, 1861.

Among the merchants who started in business from 1850 to 1860 were Charles S. Eggleston (succeeded by F. W. Lasher), Andrew Hanna (succeeded by Hanna & Case in 1860), J. Cooley Tucker, Hiram Bradway, Nathan Cole, jr., Pond & Salmon (succeeded in 1861 by K. F. Salmon), Pettis Brothers (Aubrey and Charles O .; Aubrey died in January, 1890), Michael Farrell (tailor, died August 6, 1888), and Ben- jamin J. Dyer (died January 16, 1886).

In 1856 the Riverside Mills, then known as the Oswego River Mills, were built on the site of Quartus Rust's blacksmith shop by H. H. & H. N. Gilbert, who were succeeded in 1857 by Van Wagenen & Gil- bert. They were burned in 1861 and rebuilt by H. H. Gilbert, who named them the Empire Mills. Afterward they were owned in part by H. N. Gilbert, Rufus Downs, and I. A. Graves, and in 1869 became the property of William G. Gage and D. M. Perine, who were succeeded in 1871 by W. G. and F. A. Gage and E. J. Carrington as Gage, Car- rington & Co., who rebuilt them. In 1874 the firm of W. G. Gage & Co., composed of W. G. and F. A. Gage and Orrin Henderson, was formed and became the proprietors, and the name was changed to the Riverside Mills. W. G. Gage died July 5, 1893, but the firm style re- mains unchanged. This was one of the first flouring mills in the county to discard the old stones and adopt the roller process for grinding. They grind 500 barrels per day, and have an elevator with a storing capacity of 70,000 bushels of grain. William G. Gage formed a part- nership with Chauncey B. Hancock in 1857 and engaged in the grocery business on Oneida street.

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

In 1858 H. N. Gilbert, John J. Wolcott and John Van Buren erected the old Volney Mill on the site of the Victoria pulp mill. It had four runs of stone, was subsequently abandoned, and was finally destroyed by fire.

Between 1860 and 1870 a number of manufacturing and other enter- prises went into operation. The Fulton Gas Light Company was organized in June, 1860, with a capital of $15,900, and continued in existence until 1892, when it was absorbed by the Fulton Electric Light & Power Company. The gas plant and buildings occupied the site of T. D. Lewis's coal yard. Among those identified with the com- pany were L. C. Seymour, G. M. Case, F. D. Rice, Reuben Bradshaw, A. L. Lee, Samuel Case, J. J. Wolcott, D. W. Gardner, A. G. Hull, G. G. Chauncey, and J. C. Highriter. About 1860 Charles Mosher embarked in business and continued until his death in 1888. Octo- ber 4, 1862, a disastrous fire consumed about $250,000 worth of property in the business part of the place, but with the same energy that characterized the inhabitants in 1851, the burned district was soon rebuilt. In 1863 John E. Dutton, Dewitt C. Cummings (who died in December, 1894), R. K. Sanford, Sidney M. Smith, and J. G. Benedict established a foundry and machine shop at the upper bridge. The next year Mr. Dutton disposed of his interests to Sanford & Benedict, and in 1865 Mr. Sanford and W. R. Wasson became sole owners, the firm being Sanford & Wasson. In 1868 the Fulton Manufactur- ing Company was incorporated with a capital of $150,000, and with E. P. Ross as president, W. C. Ruger, secretary, and R. K. San- ford, superintendent. The latter was soon succeeded by William Wasson, and finally the entire concern passed into the hands of E. P. Ross, who also owned a saw mill, and who was followed by E. P. Ross & Co. The establishment was started for the manufacture of the Cum- mings straw cutter, which was invented by Mr. Cummings, who had originally entered the shop of John E. Dutton & Co. as a machinist. The business was finally abandoned, and in 1885 the buildings were oc- cupied by the Howe Ventilating Stove Works, which were sold to the Cortland Howe Ventilating Stove Company in August, 1887. This firm soon removed, and in 1889 the plant was leased to the Dexter Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of newspaper supplies,

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THE TOWN OF VOLNEY AND VILLAGE OF FULTON.

presses, etc. They also removed and the premises passed to the Miller-Tooley Knife Company, subsequently noticed.

In 1864 the present establishment of Taylor Bros. & Co. was founded for the manufacture of planing and moulding knives, etc., the partners being William E. and F. S. Taylor and J. G. Benedict, who continued until 1867, when F. S. Taylor disposed of his interest to Messrs. Benedict and W. E. Taylor, with whom H. L. Taylor became associated in 1872. After the death of William E. Taylor and J. G. Benedict the business passed into the possession of H. L. Taylor and C. C. Benedict, the present proprietors.

In 1865 the plaster mill of Gage, Porter & Co was started, and is now the only concern of the kind in town. It finally passed from a Mr. Terry to Gage, Garlock & Co., to Gage, Sheridan & Co., to W. G. Gage & Co., and to Gage, Porter & Co., the present owners. The daily output is thirty tons of plaster and forty-five tons of cement.

In August, 1866, fire destroyed the Empire, Sabin, and Patterson blocks, Pool's hotel, etc., causing a loss of $15,000. In this year the Fulton mills were built by Horace N. Gilbert for the firm of Gilbert, Smith & Wright, who were succeeded by Gilbert & Wright. In 1871 they came into possession of Perine & Wright, who were followed by Nathan N. Smith and D. M. Perine. In 1886 they passed to Arthur G. Gilbert and Henry E. Nichols (Gilbert & Nichols), the present owners, who substituted the roller process for stones. The capacity, aside from the custom department, is 100 barrels of wheat flour and 150 barrels of buckwheat flour per day.

The Fulton Woodenware Works were started in 1866 by D. E. Mason, the present proprietor. He has had various partners, employs about twelve hands, and manufactures butter packages, pork barrels, etc.

The St. Louis Mills were built by D. W. Gardner and L. C. Sey- mour in 1867, and since then have been twice enlarged. In 1890 the firm name was changed to Gardner, Seymour & Co. by the admission of A. M. Seymour, the master miller, to a partnership interest. The capacity is 300 barrels of flour daily. In 1855 Mr. Gardner purchased of Jackson Fish a small mill just west of the present establishment, which burned about 1864, and was never rebuilt.

In this year (1867) Frank Dilts and James McDonough established

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

the presents Dilts foundry and machine shop, and in 1870 Mr. Dilts be- came sole proprietor, continuing as such until his death a short time ago. Since then it has been conducted by his estate. In 1881 and again on March 31, 1887, the establishment was burned out, but each time it was rebuilt. Another manufactory of about 1867 was the tub and pail factory of Mason & Co., which was burned in 1871, and which was followed by a similar concern together with a planing mill. This firm was succeeded by George J. Emeny.

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 80

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