USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 14
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The relations of Augustine G. Dauby to the press of Utica and his characteristics as an editor will be treated of in the chapter on the press. It remains to contemplate him in his other relations. In 1829 he was made postmaster. His incumbency lasted full twenty years and through the administration of four different Presidents, viz .: From the 22d of May, 1829, to the 17th of May, 1849. It was marked by fidelity to his trust, diligence and attention to his duties, and unfailing courtesy toward those tor whose benefit it was administered. "During much of this period he was a controlling power in the Democratic party of Oneida. His management was dextrous, conciliatory, constructive. He did not care to push himself into prominence, but his will was
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A. G. DAUBY- DR. I. N. MEACHAM.
strong, and of the able men who were his associates all recognized his sagacity and his skill in leadership. As divisions came into the party he stood with his life-long friends, and with Judges Beardsley and Bronson and Mr. Croswell became the champion of the Hards. He was one of those who early won for Utica its political eminence. He distributed prizes ; he did not seek them. He set up men and put them down ; he assisted in constructing policies and parties. He was an ally to be sought and an adversary to be feared." When the scheme was on foot of setting up the Oneida Bank he was zealous in promoting it. It was mainly by his personal exertions that the charter was procured, and when the bank was organized he became its president. As chief officer he was active in ferreting out the robbers who entered the bank the night before the day when it was to go into operation and despoiled it of a portion of its funds ; with another director he went to Canada, se- cured the chief culprit, and brought him to punishment. Though he did not long remain president he was a director from that time to the day of his death and a regular attendant at its board. At the first ap - proach of the attack which terminated his life he made his way to the bank, saying : " If I am to die I want to die there." For long years he pursued no avocation which kept him in business relations with the com- munity, but was able to enjoy the leisure of a modest competence.
Dr. I. N. Meacham came in 1822 from the " limits " at Whitesboro and settled in Utica, confinement for debt being still in accordance with law. Dr. Meacham was then a spruce and showy young man, fond of a good horse and riding him gracefully, fond of his flowers and delight- ing to cultivate them. Sharp and sagacious, acute in diagnosing disease, and bold in the treatment of it he won the public confidence and a good circuit of practice. By many he was thought to be unusually well informed and more than ordinarily skillful, and he knew how, by a wise and unoffending self-assertion, to keep them in this opinion. He was social in his tastes and with his intimates truly companionable. These intimates were not, however, among his fellows in the healing art. Separated from his family he lived some years alone in his office, but died in the New York State Lunatic Asylum. His first wife, Marcia M. Tilden, of Whitesboro, who was a woman of beauty, died February 19, 1835. . His second was a daughter of Todd Dewey, of Walesville. He had one son and one daughter.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
Hiram Greenman was a packet captain and largely interested in the stock of one of the boat companies wherein the bulk of his property was made. He was among the foremost in all public undertakings, had a share in steamboats on Lake Ontario and in the earlier telegraph lines, possessed a remarkable degree of enterprise and energy, and practically knew not the meaning of the word fail. Whatever he turned his hand to was sure to succeed. His success culminated in the possession of a handsome estate.
Owen O'Neil, apprentice and then successor of James Delvin, carried on copper and tinsmithing with general hardware until his death in July, 1875. His interest in whatever aimed at the public good conspired with his accurate and honorable dealings to secure him the favorable re- gard of his fellow townsmen. St. John's Church and all its institutions of charity had in him a devoted friend. He was one of its trustees and its treasurer, and was also a trustee of the Hibernian Benevolent Society. He was a director of the Utica Savings Bank, a director of the Oneida Branch Bank, and among the originators of the Oneida Bank.
The chairmaking of Augustus Hurlburt he removed at this time from New Hartford to Utica. His business excellence had already obtained him a directorship in the Ontario Branch Bank, and this with his ex- cellent sense and irreproachable private character led to his serving two terms in the council. He took to farming and died at Clinton in 1871.
Samuel Thompson, a friendly and many-friended merchant, lively and sociable, had a store that was known by the sign of "the green door and brass knocker," the door being in the front of the second story and embossed with a gigantic knocker in gilt. After the discovery of gold in California he joined the train of the seekers and there he has only recently found his final resting place.
James Murdock and Elon Andrews set up a watchmaking firm that long enjoyed the public confidence, the partners themselves holding it still longer. Thomas F. Field, crockery merchant, remained until the canal was completed, when he imported and sold ware decorated with pictures of navigation thereon. James McGregor accomplished as a mason a good deal in the place, building among other structures the earlier edifice occupied by the Reformed Dutch Society and the public house that succeeded the Burchard Tavern, long known as the McGregor
Tropenar
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PROCEEDINGS OF 1823.
House and now as the Dudley. John Lloyd, wagonmaker, was best known in his later years as the tender hearted but firm and faithful almoner of the charities of the city, esteemed alike by the givers and the receivers of the people's money.
The village trustees of the year 1823 were Benjamin Ballou, James Hooker, Ezekiel Bacon, Daniel Stafford, Thomas Walker, and Jesse W. Doolittle. The assessors were Benjamin Ballou, John Bradish, and Apollos Cooper. John H. Ostrom was clerk and Thomas Walker treasurer and overseer of the poor. The following streets were paved : Liberty from Genesee to the west line of Hotel; Catharine from Genesee to John; Broad from Genesee to John; and Genesee from the termination of the pavement of the previous year, viz., the line of Whitesboro street, to the river bridge. The street lately laid out from Genesee to Nail Creek received the title of Rome street and a new one running southerly from it-the modern Pine-was ordered to be opened. Fourteen hundred and twenty dollars was the sum voted for contingent expenses, $94 for school expenses, and $400 for the support of the poor. Early in January, 1824, the board learned " with deep regret that Ezra S. Cozier, president of the village, had been superseded in office by the act of the governor and Senate of the State." His successor was Capt. William Clarke. However aggrieved the trustees may have been by the " clandestine manner " in which the change was brought about it was the result doubtless of political sympathies and influence, and the agents at work in it were, notwithstanding, most worthy men.
A concert that was given on the 6th day of February was for a purpose unlike to any that influences our modern Utica, and intimates a state of society still primitive and dependent, when denominational differences were subordinate to the actual needs of ecclesiastical exist- ence. It was for the joint benefit of the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches and took place in Trinity. The choir was led by Thomas Hastings and the orchestra by George Dutton, the singing being done by volunteers.
The village was favored in the summer of 1823 by the sojourn of William Dunlap, the historical and portrait painter. He exhibited at the court room his picture of " Christ Rejected," a copy from West, and it was very generally visited. Henry Inman, a native of the village,
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
but now settled in New York, came also in November in the exercise of his profession as a painter of miniatures.
Alfred Munson, coming hither with slender means, worked his way to a leading place among the men of business of Utica, and while enrich - ing himself by his operations he was not unmindful of the public inter- est and accomplished much to enrich and to advance the place of his adoption. For about fifteen years after his removal to Utica in 1823 he was occupied with the manufacture of burr millstones and the sale of these and other articles used in milling. To his pursuit he devoted himself with unceasing industry, enlarging his business by degrees until it came to be the chief dependence of millers throughout an extensive range of country. From boyhood Mr. Munson had been frail of con - stitution and he was much of his time a sufferer from bodily infirmity. But his mind was unusually active and clear. Joined to sound sense and prudence, to a penetrative and discriminating judgment, he had sagacity to conceive and boldness and wisdom to plan. He was not a hasty or inconsiderate man, and his long-sightedness was almost of a prophetic character. His plans, when matured, needed only the will in execution, his most conspicuous and commanding trait to overcome overy obsta- cle and ensure success. Qualities such as these naturally sought a wider scope for their exercise than was afforded by the calling in which he was at first employed. Moreover he was influenced by purity as well as vigor of purpose, and was liberal minded and public spirited in his aims.
The list is a long one of the many public projects in which he par- ticipated as well as of the positions of responsibility and honor he was called to fill. For several years he was engaged in the transportation of passengers by the canal and by steamers on Lake Ontario, and was trustee and treasurer of the Ontario and St. Lawrence Steamboat Com- pany until within a few weeks of his death. He took a prominent part in the building of the Utica and Schenectady Railroad, as he did also in those of the Syracuse and Utica and the Syracuse and Oswego roads. Of the first named he was a director from 1834 until about 1844. He was active in the construction of the Utica and Binghamton, which fol- lowed very nearly the course of the State road that he, as one of a com- mission appointed by the State, had laid out thirty years before. And of this railway company he was president at the time of his decease.
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ALFRED MUNSON.
No one has done more than Mr. Munson in promoting the manufactur- ing interests of Utica. For he was the early and by the application of his means the efficient advocate of introducing and testing the value of steam-power in the making of cotton and woolen goods. And he was called to the presidency of both of the original boards that managed the steam cotton and Globe woolen-mills. Of the Water Works Company, the Mechanics Association, and the Female Academy he was one of the instigators and early managers. Over the Oneida Bank he was summoned to preside when it was suffering from difficulties which it incurred at its opening. For seventeen years he held the office, and to his efforts and supervision that institution has been greatly indebted for its prosperous condition. From the incipiency of the New York State- Lunatic Asylum he was a manager and chief of the Board of Managers ; from 1842 until his decease he was its devoted friend and much relied on by his associates for his discernment and wisdom of counsel. Outside of Utica he was interested in a real estate company whose headquarters were at Baltimore; he was engaged in the manufacture of iron at that place and at Clinton in this county and in the purchase of extensive coal lands in Pennsylvania, which later became very valuable.
Among the benevolent schemes which engaged his later years was the construction of an edifice for the parish of Grace Church, with which he had been for some years connected and of which he was a vestryman. Early in 1851, some three years before his death, twelve. gentlemen of the parish having purchased the lot on which the present edifice stands, he procured plans and elevations from Richard Upjohn, the most eminent ecclesiastical architect of his day and who it was generally understood by the vestry should be consulted. With him Mr. Munson matured these plans with great care, leaving nothing over- looked to make the building complete. Nearly a year and a half before his death he secured and vested in his own name the title to the lot, the gentlemen who had previously held the title with him having relin- quished it because of their discouragement at the delays experienced in the prosecution of the subscription that had been set on foot to build the church. In the meantime and in the course of its circulation Mr. Munson died, though not without making provision for the accomplish - ment of his kind intentions toward the parish. By his will he be-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
queathed $10,000 toward purchasing a lot and erecting a church edifice thereon, $1,000 for improving the grounds, $1,000 for the erection of a Sunday school room in the rear of the church, $500 for a Sunday school library, $1,500 for an organ, $500 for a church bell, and $500 for church furniture, on condition that the parish should, within two years, raise at least an equal amount for like purposes, or, if this were insufficient, such other sum as might be necessary for the completion of the church ac- cording to the plans and specifications of Mr. Upjohn. Another object which received most substantial aid from his generosity was the Utica Orphan Asylum. To it he bequeathed the sum of $5,000 toward the erection of a new and suitable building, and the sum of $25,000 to be securely invested, the income of which should be forever applied to the support and maintenance of the asylum, together with lands in Penn- sylvania valued at $4,000 on condition that the citizens of Utica should raise and apply the sum of $10,000 toward the purchase of three acres of ground within the city and toward the erection of the build- ing. Both of the above mentioned erections were accomplished in con- sequence and by the aid of these munificent gifts, the conditional obli- gations which the testator had imposed having the effect as he desired to stimulate others to perfect the amounts that were requisite. In the case of Grace Church, however, the original legacy represents but a moiety of what it has received from the heirs and representatives of the estate of Mr. Munson. For the parish, finding it difficult to obtain a subscription which should entitle it to the first part of the legacy,-the $10,000, namely, given for the purchase of a lot and the erection of the church according to the specified plan,-relinquished its latter part with the consent of three representatives and afterward received from them a subscription of a like sum toward this church edifice. This, with later gifts from the same source toward the completion of the tower and its equipment with a chime of bells and for other purposes, has raised the whole amount which the church has received from the estate and from its heirs individually to $31,500. The whole amount left by Mr Munson for charitable and religious purposes and in remembrance of remote relations was understood to be not less than $60,000, or fully one tenth of his estate.
To neutralize the zealous efforts of a runner in the service of their
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JOHN BUTTERFIELD.
rivals J. Parker & Co., stage proprietors, engaged John Butterfield. He proved equal to his duties and thoroughly identified himself with the success of the line. After a time he met at the Canal Coffee House a traveler wishing to part with his horse and his one-horse conveyance. These he bought and inaugurated a livery. To it he added as his means admitted, and after his marriage kept also a boarding house.
Such were the beginnings of a life of great activity and enterprise, and which was bound up with most of the different kinds of transporta- tion now practiced. For in every means undertaken to increase the facilities of travel and intercommunication John Butterfield was for a generation one of the foremost of the citizens of Utica. His livery grew until it became the leading one of the place. The connection with Parker & Co. lasted so long as they were still in business and was suc- ceeded by important lines of his own, wherein he was a leading mana- ger in the State until staging was superseded by railroads. He had his share, too, in the packet boats and then in the steamboats on Lake Ontario. He gave his earnest personal efforts to create the companies and raise the funds required for the construction of some of the plank roads leading out of the city and was the originator of its street rail- roads. His labors were arduous in stirring up the citizens to the im- portance of roads to the north and to the south ; and to him is Utica largely if not principally indebted for the Black River and both of the southern railways. He was among the first who realized how a lucrative business could be formed by the rapid transportation of such articles as could afford to pay express charges, and he became an early director in the express company. To him as much as to any other individual was due the high reputation which this company obtained in commer- cial circles throughout the country as well as the success that has at- tended it. In that organization he remained a directing power until the close of his life and reaped from it a large pecuniary profit. He was also among the first to appreciate the capacities of the electric telegraph, and immediately upon the practical adaptation of the invention he joined with Messrs. Faxton, Wells, Livingston, and others in the estab- lishment of the New York, Albany, and Buffalo Telegraph Company. His faith followed upon his sagacity and he steadily urged and aided in the extension of lines and companies. He assisted likewise in putting
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
in operation the overland mail route, the precursor of the Pacific rail- roads, and which did much to demonstrate the importance of a continu - ous connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific States. Having long been a mail contractor he had the experience and practical knowl- edge essential for the execution of the work. Besides his part in the various operations above referred to Mr. Butterfield was a director in the Utica City National Bank and was interested in other stock com. panies and business undertakings. At the same time he invested largely in city property while his cultivated land in the vicinity covers no inconsiderable space. The Butterfield House and the Gardner block are among the handsome edifices which he planned and built, and which have added materially to the city of his residence. On taking posses- sion of the land on the New Hartford road, on a portion of which his late residence now stands, he extended his operations in farming already carried on to a limited extent on Pleasant street. He was prompt to avail himself of the inventiveness of others. A scheme unfolded and what it could accomplish once exhibited he was quick to note its bear- ings and remoter tendencies, and ready in plan and action to grasp suc- cess while as yet practicability was talked of. This success he achieved by careful insight and minute attention to detail, wherein he was aided by a memory wonderfully retentive, by a strong and enduring will, by the contagious influence his determination exerted upon others, bearing them along in the current of his own enthusiasm, and by an energy that was balked by no obstacle and never asked for rest. He took but little part in politics and was never an office seeker. By the Republicans of 1865 he was elected mayor of Utica and in the same year was the un- successful candidate for the office of senator. In October, 1867, Mr. Butterfield was stricken with paralysis in New York city, but lingered until the 14th of November, 1869.
Succeeding to Charles C. Brodhead in the office of village surveyor there was appointed in 1824 Holmes Hutchinson. His professional training he acquired on the Erie Canal, having been appointed an en- gineer in 1819. In this position he acted until the year 1835, when he was made chief engineer, performing the duties of this office during the period of the enlargement of the canal until 1841. He surveyed and made maps for the Erie and Champlain Canals, the Oswego, the Black River,
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HOLMES HUTCHINSON - MILLING.
the Chenango, Crooked Lake, and the Chemung, completing the latter canal for an amount much less than his estimates. His plans of locks on the Chenango were adopted and those he made for the double en- larged locks on the Erie were used as a basis in its construction. He had charge also of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal in Maine and the Blackstone in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and was frequently employed in locating and defining valuable tracts of land in Oneida and other counties of the State. He likewise projected a scheme for the improvement of the harbor of Oswego, and this, though it was deemed impracticable and rejected, was at a later period successfully carried out by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Company. He was one of the directors of the Utica and Syracuse Railroad and remained so until its consolidation with the New York Central; and was, too, a director in the Syracuse and Oswego Railroad, of which company he was some years president. In the Ontario and St. Law- rence Steamboat Company and in the Bank of Utica Mr. Hutchinson had also a managing interest.
An influence of the canal that was manifested near at home here de- serves our notice. The Mohawk River being now abandoned for pur- poses of navigation the thought of making it available for other uses took possession of the public mind. It had been proposed the previous season to construct a dam at Utica and thus create hydraulic power. Some opposition arose and there was a newspaper discussion upon the probable evils that might ensue from interrupting the course of the stream. A public meeting was called of those friendly to the project, though of its proceedings we are uninformed. Despite all opposition an act was obtained from the legislature in 1823, a dam was thrown across the river in September two or three rods below the bridge, and a mill erected for the grinding of flour with three runs of stone. The dam was erected by William Alverson for the proprietors, Messrs. Parker & Sey- mour. The first miller employed not succeeding to the satisfaction of the owners Ira D. Hopkins was at the end of three months engaged to run the mill, and he continued to do so while it was in operation. But ere long parties owning property on the river some miles above complained that their land was flooded by the setting back of the water to the height as they alleged of four feet. A suit was brought against
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
the mill owners, and although it proved unsuccessful it impaired the popularity and custom of the mill so that when a second suit was after- ward begun they anticipated its verdict by giving up their enterprise. This was about 1829.
Michael McQuade held numerous positions, from the collectorship to that of candidate for mayor, but most signalized himself as the long continued alderman of the First ward, wherein matters were accustomed to go much as he directed, his side being in general the winning one.
Horace Butler, an amiable and respected merchant, was in turn doing business in New Hartford, one of the firm of N. Devereux & Co. here, a forwarder as head of Butler, McDonough & Co. and next Butler, Liv- ingston & Co., and later doing forwarding with Samuel Farwell. Charles Morris, another forwarder, made but a limited stay. Jonathan R. War- ner, a diligent and intelligent maker and seller of hats, bore a creditable share in matters of a public nature, amassed property, and was a friend of the Reformed Church, giving to it the bell it now has in use. Chester Griswold was inspector of boats and weighmaster on the canal. Henry White, grandson of the founder of the Whitestown country, superin- tended the interests of the packet boat company.
The trustees chosen in May, 1824, would seem to have been a diligent and enterprising body, and they effected numerous improvements in comparison with some of their predecessors. They were as follows : Benjamin Ballou, James Hooker, Ezekiel Bacon, James Lynch, Thomas Walker, and Nicholas Smith. The assessors were Benjamin Ballou, John Bradish, and David P. Hoyt, and the supervisor was Ezra S. Cozier. Thomas Walker was treasurer and overseer of the poor and John H. Ostrom clerk. Charles C. Brodhead was elected surveyor, but declining to serve his place was filled by the appointment of Holmes Hutchinson. William Clarke continued to be the president. The do- ings of the board in the course of the year were these: Genesee street was paved from the canal to the east line of the Supreme Court clerk's office above Pearl street ; John street from the canal to Main street ; Rome street was widened to its intersection with Genesee by the pur. chase and removal of a building that fronted on the latter street and hindered its width, and in compliment to the distinguished guest of the nation then traveling through the country its name was changed to
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