USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 24
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A published list of the manufactories of the place is as follows : two grist-mills, five iron works, one oilcloth factory, three tanneries, two breweries, one ashery, two saw-mills, with a total manufactured output for the year of $236,811. The population of the city was 12, 190. This list of manufactories is a limited one for so large a place, a fact which doubtless inspired the numerous editorials in the local press in favor of
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LAWYERS, DOCTORS, TEACHERS, MERCHANTS.
the establishment of more manufacturing industries. In October ap- peared a notice of a proposed cotton factory and about $60,000 was subscribed to the stock. The State Fair was held here this year'on the ground east and southeast of Oneida Square; it began on the 16th of September.
Lawyers entering on practice during the years 1843-45 were Francis Kernan (see Biographical Department), Eaton J. Richardson, Richard H. Morehouse, Arthur M. Beardsley, Erastus Clark, Alexander Coburn, still resident; George H. Congar, Matthew D. Bagg (most of whose professional life was passed in New York), deceased; Bradley B. Burt, of Oswego ; William C. Johnson, of Newburyport; James Dalliba, of Marquette ; and Delos Lake, late of San Francisco.
Physicians now first presenting themselves for favor were Erastus Humphrey, soon joined by Frederick Humphrey, the first representa- tives of the homeopathic school of medicine in Utica, and Thomas Scott, whose stay was not protracted.
Teachers were George Spencer, principal of the Utica Academy, a skilled instructor,firm disciplinarian, and most companionable associate ; John G. Webb, employed in the same institution who afterward was a druggist; and Henry J. Turner, a native of France who had been a ship captain, now opened a boarding school where elementary instruction was imparted through the medium of his own vernacular. Peter Clog- her, at this time an assistant in one of the public schools, became ere long an important agent in the conduct of the Steam Woolen-Mills.
Of the dealers in dry goods the one I shall specially notice was D. V. W. Golden. He had already served a clerkship in the place, but in 1844 set up for himself in company with Rugene Swartwout. With him and afterward with other partners, or else alone, he continued many years in business, transferring the popular seat of his own kind of trade from the west to the east side of Genesee street, and by his energy and sagacity, his pleasant manners, his skill in providing, and his honesty in dealing winning a large share of the female preference and custom. He died July 13, 1873.
Other dry goods men were Samuel B. Gaston & Co., Samuel Church - ill, James and Peter Brady, Harrison & Cone, and John B. Wells, of the firm of Bailey & Wells. Other merchants were Miller & Lansing, drug-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
gists and grocers in the old checkered store, of whom John B. Miller, a lawyer by education, became afteward an editor of the Observer and U. S. consul at Hamburg ; Benjamin F. Ray, partner of J. E. Warner, Walker & Clark, grocers and flour dealers ; Richard Lee, grocer ; Abra- ham E. Culver, forwarder.
Urbane Dunning, daguerreotypist, was probably the first of the nu- merous makers of sun-pictures who have since succeeded him in this profession. Other mechanics were George R. Sheldon and Le Grand Moore, Alexander C. Hart, Homer Townsend, and Isaac Whiffen. Of the latter it may be said that his interest in municipal concerns, his energy, straightforwardness, and integrity were admitted by all. So, too, were patent his fondness for manly sports and the pleasure he drew from fellowship with his brothers of St. George. Less known were his rare but unostentatious benevolence and the social enjoyment which in such associations he was better fitted to impart than to imbibe. Ho- mer Townsend, another Englishman, was likewise an esteemed citizen. A foreman in his younger years of the Osceola Fire Company he was afterward one of the most influential of the Exempt Firemen and the Firemen's Benevolent Association; an earnest and honest worker in his political party ; an active member of the Board of Charities; a trustee of the House of the Good Shepherd ; progressive and practical in doing every possible good for the public ; and withal a wonted resource of the needy and afflicted.
1846 .- Officers chosen were as follows: Mayor, E. A. Wetmore; al- dermen, Richard S. Jones, David E. Morris, Gilbert A. Foster, Orville Olcott, Moses T. Meeker, Stephen Thorn, Thomas Hopper, George S. Dana, John Bryan, Stephen Comstock, Thomas R. Walker, Alfred Churchill; treasurer, George J. Hopper; attorney, Erastus Clark ; clerk, George Murphy ; surveyor, L. M. Taylor; street commissioner, Thomas Geary.
The treasurer's report for the fiscal year gave the total receipts as $16,383.35 ; expenditures, $15,571.79. A license election was held in May and a majority of 505 voted against license ; none were granted. The Steam Woolen-Mills, said to be the first in the United States, were started in November. A screw factory under the management of Lewis Lawrence, John J. Francis, and Harvey Barnard was put in opera-
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PROCEEDINGS OF 1847.
tion about this time which made excellent screws. It was continued a dozen or more years, when it was bought out by a rival company of Providence, R. I., which closed up the work here.
Wise, the aeronaut, made two ascensions from the City Garden on Whitesboro street. This garden, situated on the south side of Whites- boro a little east of Burchard lane, was now a popular place of resort, where shows of various kinds were frequently exhibited.
1847 .- Officers chosen for the year were: Mayor, James Watson Williams; aldermen, M. McQuade, R. S. Jones, R. H. Shearman, H. T. Miller, John Dagwell, Stephen Thorn, John Reed, Alfred Churchill, H. Barnard, George Curtiss, Charles S. Wilson, B. F. Brooks ; treasurer, George Tracy; attorney, O. G. Kellogg; clerk, James McIver ; sur- veyor, L. M. Taylor; street commissioner, A. H. Thomas; recorder, Aaron Hackley.
The retiring mayor delivered an address in which he congratulated the city on its financial condition and general prosperity. He said that the city debt was very small when compared with those of other similar cities, but the taxation would soon have to be increased to meet current expenses. The treasurer's report gave the total receipts as $15,850.82 ; expenses, $15.250.62 ; leaving a balance of $600.20. The preceding ad- ministration had been conducted on economical lines, expenditures be- ing limited to necessities. The funded debt now reached almost $8,000 ; this had been increased by the fact that no license fees had been re- ceived in the past year, while there had been some unusual demands on the treasury. It is probable that the loss to the city of about $1, 100 in license fees operated at the license election of the next year to throw the majority in favor of license. In March the mayor was asked to call a public meeting to consider the city finances and how to pay the debt. The meeting was held March 23d and it was resolved that $10,000 be raised: annually by tax thereafter instead of $8,000; and that besides this a sufficient sum be raised in annual installments of $2,000 to liquidate the city debt; that thereafter the council should submit all expenditures of an extraordinary character to a vote of the people and should borrow no money except in anticipation of the annual tax levy; and that no ob- ligation' should be created that was not to be provided for and paid within the same year. These various wise provisions were embodied
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
in charter amendments and a law passed the legislature giving them effect.
A part of the Schuyler farm in West Utica was bought in Septem- ber, 1847, by Nicholas Devereux and was soon laid out in lots and offered for sale. This tract, extending from Court street to Walnut and limited by Hicks street on the east and City street on the west, is now pretty thickly covered with residences.
In a local paper of June 30th it was said that "our city is beginning to feel sensibly the influence of the newly awakened spirit of enterprise which has induced the investment of a portion of the capital of her citi- zens in manufactures, in her present prosperity, and the prospect which is opening for her future advancement in wealth and population." About this time the Steam Woolen- Mills declared a dividend of ten per cent., a fact which, doubtless, quickened the interest in manufactures.
This year saw the beginning of what may be called the plank road era, and before its close a number of those useful highways were either in process of construction or projected. Among them were one between Rome and Utica; one from Utica to Bridgewater; one from Utica to Clinton ; one from Rome to Oswego; and one from Utica to Boonville. The building of these roads at that period, when most country roads were bad, exercised a very beneficial influence upon all trade centers. Some of the roads paid good profits while others did not; but they served to tide over a period when there were few railroads and opened up more active communication between important points. Richard U. Shearman in company with E. R. Colston and R. W. Roberts estab- lished this year the Utica Morning Herald in opposition to the Utica Daily Gazette.
1848 .- The officers of the year were as follows: Mayor, Joshua A. Spencer ; aldermen, Egbert Bagg, Alfred Churchill, Michael McQuade, Richard S. Jones, Henry T. Miller, Robert H. Shearman, George N. Beesley, Abraham Higham, Orville Olcott, Francis Kernan, Richard Lee, Henry H. Fish ; treasurer, George Tracy ; attorney, R. H. More- house; clerk, James McIver ; surveyor, L. M. Taylor ; street commis- sioner, Horace Halbert.
March 3d a report was made to the council that the unencumbered property of the city was valued at $29,901 ; that the unusual expenses
259
PROCEEDINGS OF 1848 - FRESH RESIDENTS.
of the previous year were $2,865, one considerable item of which was for the purchase of two new engines and the erection of a hose tower. The total expenses of the city for the year were $17,883.20. This was the first year in which the sum of $10,000 was raised for the ordinary expenses of the city. March 3 Ist the Utica Water Works were incorpo- rated. The stock was to be not less than $30,000 nor more than $100,000. James Watson Williams, Nicholas Devereux, Alfred Mun- son, Andrew S. Pond, Charles A. Mann, Horatio Seymour, Silas D. Childs, Willard Crafts, and Thomas Hopper were the trustees. A gas company was organized in the latter part of the year. The directors were Nicholas Devereux, Silas D. Childs, J. F. Seymour, H. Spencer, J. W. Williams, George S. Dana, and T. R. Walker.
The improvements of the year consisted of a drain from the canal basin on Catharine street to Genesee, and down Genesee to Main street, and the building of sidewalks in various streets. Sewers were laid in Louisa from Steuben to Leah street, in Leah to Miller, and in Miller to Ballou's Creek, and in Post street.
Candidates for the bar admitted to it in 1846-48 who are now de- ceased or no longer resident were Jonas P. Harris, Montgomery H. Throop, E. J. Stoddard, James W. Bond, Aras G. Williams, Andrew Mel- hinch. Messrs. Harris, Stoddard, and Bond had the longest and best known careers in Utica. Mr. Throop has made a reputation elsewhere.
A physician, acknowledged as a devoted and skillful one, was Daniel P. Bissell. . He was born in Randolph, N. Y., May 27, 1802, and taken by his parents to Ontario County when a child. He was graduated from the Yale Medical College in 1826 and became a partner of his brother, who was practicing at Moscow, Livingston County, N. Y. In 1842 he was made canal commissioner by the legislature and in 1846 was elected to the same office by the Democratic party, holding the office until January, 1848. In the meantime he had removed to Utica and engaged in the duties of his profession, being for some years in company with Dr. Thomas Goodsell and afterward alone. In 1860 he was sent as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in South Carolina. He was a manager of the State Hospital for the In- . sane, and among strictly professional holdings was successively presi- dent of the Livingston County, the Oneida County, and the State Med-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
ical Societies. His life was an active one, and in all positions of trust and honor to which he was elevated he performed his duties faithfully and conscientiously. He was a public spirited citizen, a companionable neighbor, and a kind hearted friend. His standing in his profession was high and its honor he cherished with jealous regard.
Dr. Nicoll H. Dering, who had for twenty-five years carried on a successful business in the city of New York, removed to Rome in 1842 and in 1847 came to this city. His wide experience gave him at once a standing with the profession and caused him to be often summoned in council. His courteous manners, his upright and engaging character, his humanity toward the suffering, and sympathy with every enterprise for the amelioration of his fellows insured him the confidence of the community. For many years a ruling elder in the Brick Church of New York he was elected to the same office in the First Presbyterian Church of Utica. In this office he was active and efficient and was fre- quently chosen to represent the church in the General Assembly. His first wife and the mother of his children was a daughter of Henry Huntington, of Rome ; his second of Henry D. Strong, of New York. He left one son and four daughters.
A dentist of some years' residence was A. H. Colling. A veterinary surgeon fully competent for his work was Arthur S. Copeman. He was a lecturer in the Veterinary College at Boston. In New York city, where he afterward resided, he became wealthy.
A long continued newspaper editor was De Witt C. Grove. He was born in Utica, December 16, 1825. He never attended school after the age of ten, and in his thirteenth year was apprenticed to the printer's trade. Subsequently by his own efforts he gained a sound English and a fair classical education. With the exception of a few months spent in the study of law he was devoted to his trade until 1846, when he in company with Benjamin Welch, jr., became one of the editors and pro- prietors of the Utica Democrat, the organ of the " Barnburners" or rad- ical faction of the Democratic party. When the two factions came to- gether in 1853 the two organs of this city did the same, and Mr. Grove became the principal owner of the Observer, the leading Democratic journal of Central New York. The firm was for a few months only Lyon & Grove, when Mr. Grove bought out his partner and controlled
Wimm. While
26 I
DE WITT C. GROVE - T. O. GRANNIS.
the paper. This control he held for thirty years, covering the period of the Civil war and the growth of modern newspapers. In January, 1867, he formed a partnership with E. Prentice Bailey, who had long been his associate, and some eighteen months later this partnership was merged in the corporation of which Mr. Grove was president. He was an intense partisan and a writer of force. As a man of business he was thrifty and careful and his prosperity steady. In 1860, after four years of service as alderman, Mr. Grove was chosen mayor of the city, was re-elected in 1861, and again in 1862 by an increased majority, retiring at the end of his term with the good will and wishes of his constituents. In the meantime in the autumn of 1860 he was nominated for Con- gress, but was defeated by the candidate of the opposition, Roscoe Conkling, at a time when this opposition was largely ascendant. Mr. Grove was a genial and pleasant gentleman who attached men to him generally and strongly, kind especially to young men, and cordial with all. His wife was Caroline L. Pratt; their children were a son and a daughter.
Timothy O. Grannis had already been for many years a citizen of Utica, having come here with his father, Cyrus Grannis. After a two years' essay in New York as a student of law he returned to this place and served a short time in the office of the county clerk. About 1832 he entered the Bank of Utica as a clerk and from discount clerk became teller. In 1838 the Bank of Central New York was organized and Mr. Grannis was its teller and shortly its cashier. July 1, 1862, the T. O. Grannis & Co. Bank was opened for business. At first under the State charter it soon became a private institution, the successive partners with Mr. Grove being J. Benedict, George Curtiss, and his own son, Charles K. By the latter the bank was continued a short time after the death of his father. In these various positions Mr. Grannis had a long and intimate relation with the business of the city. The only public office he ever held was that of alderman in 1849. He was long con - nected with Trinity Church and, upon its organization, with Grace Church. He was a good citizen, a good husband, and a good father. His death occurred May 19, 1883. Two sons are living.
Among the merchants that should be recorded as beginning about this time are William Stacy, William Willard, Jerome B. Tyler, in dry goods; Uriel H. Kellogg, in drugs; James H. Read, in groceries.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
Samuel W. Chubbuck, a mechanic who came here from Eaton, Madi- son County, was born at Winchester, Va., December 25, 1799. With small advantages from a school education he possessed an active and acquisitive mind, and studied and thought deeply. He was employed in a furnace, but occupied his leisure in the indulgence of a passion for mechanical invention, in the practice of which he exhibited rare ingenu- ity. Throughout the vicinity of Eaton he was known as one who was able to make or mend anything that called for skill, from the parts of a gun to a philosophical or chemical apparatus. Among the contrivan- ces one, which is said to have been devised by him, is now universally used and so simple in character that it seems strange it should not have been invented before. This was the binding post of the magnetic bat- tery, which is a projection of its frame work perforated near its extrem- ity for the passage of one of the wires connecting the poles of the battery, being fixed in its place or loosened therefrom by a thumb-screw, a similar post confining the wire of the opposite pole. Before this time connection had been made through the medium of a fluid contained in a vessel into which the wires were introduced. The reputation Mr. Chubbuck had obtained led Mr. Faxton and others concerned in the New York, Buffalo, and Albany Telegraph Company to bring him to Utica. The possibility of the magnetic telegraph he fully believed in, for he had followed the experiments of Professor Morse, as well as the earlier ones of Professor Henry, with the deepest interest. Here he manufactured the first telegraph instruments ever made. The "sounder," since everywhere used, was his invention. The Montreal line, the Washington and Baltimore line, and many others were indebted to him for their instruments. The making of them formed his chief occupation, though his skill in similar work was in frequent request, it being well understood that no one surpassed him in the execution of difficult or delicate jobs. He made half a dozen inventions, either one of which was worth a fortune to the patentee ; but he patented nothing. One of these was for a lift-bridge, the design of which was freely given to a builder who went away and patented the invention. He was prodi- gal of his talents. It was so easy for him to improve on any instru- ment he was called to make that it did not seem to have occurred to him that his inventions were worth securing by letters patent. In
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S. W. CHUBBUCK - EDMUND MUNSON.
numismatics Mr. Chubbuck was an expert. He made one of the finest collections of coins in the United States, one which was estimated to be worth at least $6,000. He was an excellent mathematician, and the intricate problems of exact science fitted the peculiar cast of his mind. In the discussion of topics of this character professors and scientists delighted to pass their leisure hours in his presence and always came away edified. His shop, slovenly enough in its appearance, was strewn with books intermixed with all sorts of miscellaneous stuff, but whose use and whose place were familiar to him, and which in his hands wrought results that were perfect. His death occurred January 28, 1875.
Edmund Munson, born in Litchfield County, Conn., May 2, 1805, was brought up by his father in all the details of the milling business, and in 1829 built a flouring-mill. with four pairs of French burrstones which were made by himself. In 1835 he came to Utica and engaged with Alfred Munson, his uncle, as superintendent of his mill-furnishing business. Between the spring of 1842 and that of 1847 he was absent at Brownville, still engaged in the construction and management of mills. In the latter year he returned and entered into partnership in mill furnishing with Alexander C. Hart under the firm name of Hart & Munson. This partnership was continued until 1869, when it was exchanged for one with his three sons, and thus continued until his death March 14, 1872. The patents obtained by Mr. Munson were for a turn-table for finishing millstones, an improvement for hanging them, and a portable mill, all of which are of use to the milling interest. Mr. Munson stuck closely to his business and was not largely known outside of it, but unquestionably merited the respect which was gener- ally accorded him.
Another mechanic, at first serving as patternmaker for the casters of stoves, was shortly known as a cutter of portraits in conchiglia. He had learned that he had a talent in this direction which brought him repute. It led him into training for cutting marble, which has since re- sulted in his becoming one of the leading sculptors of the country. · This is E. D. Palmer, author of several much admired pieces.
A miller now engaged in the manufacture of flour was for many years a prominent figure in the politics of Oneida County. This was Charles H. Hopkins, son of Ira D. Hopkins, first conductor of the City Mill.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
Mr. Hopkins had strong qualities and was efficient in work for his party. He was the devoted friend of Senator Conkling and his fidelity and zeal were of great value to that gentleman. Upon his recommend- ation, while a representative, Mr. Hopkins was put into the Utica post- office and held it for some years. Private business he sacrificed to pol- itics, was unwearied in his labors, and enlisted every influence to advance the intense convictions which he cherished. He was positive in his views and aggressive in his hostility as well as in his friendship, and had some enemies while he had many friends. In his church, too, he was zealous and active. He died May 15, 1885, after a tedious illness.
A new comer of this date and who lived some dozen years in Utica, partaking of its social and civil interests, marrying a daughter of one of its older citizens, and who was an instructive companion, was J. Sidney Henshaw. Born in Boston in 1811 he had been twenty years a lieu- tenant in the navy of the United States and during the latter years of
this connection a teacher of mathematics. He had traveled and seen much and had read much in various branches of learning, his chief pleas- ure being in the pursuit of mental philosophy and other abstruse sub- jects. In 1847 he went to Europe on the frigate Macedonian, then car- rying contributions of the United States to starving Ireland, and on his return published a Life of Father Mathew. He wrote articles for the newspapers, published a volume on the duties of American consuls, and at the time of his death was engaged on a work to be entitled " Bible Ethics." His death occurred April 29, 1859. His wife was Jane, daughter of John H. Handy. He had a son and a daughter.
One of the earliest of the now numerous florists of the city was Fred- eric W. Boyce, whose garden was on Oneida street; though he was. not actually the first, William Archer having preceded him and Thomas Annon soon following. William Clark and Thomas McQuade dealt in coal and William P. Battey had a variety of pursuits.
1849 .- The following officers were elected this year : Mayor, Thomas R. Walker; aldermen, M. D. Bagg, H. W. Chittenden, Michael Mc- Quade, R. H. Shearman, J. W. Stevens, John Whiting, Timothy O. Grannis, A. A. Jones, J. S. Kırk, Alvin White, Richard U. Shearman, A. J. Williams ; treasurer, Lewis Jones ; attorney, A. G. Williams ; street commissioner, Hugh Williamson ; clerk, James McIver ; surveyor, L. M. Taylor.
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A NEW CITY HALL- OTHER PUBLIC WORKS.
The project of a new city hall was actively agitated this year and a special election to decide as to its erection was ordered by the council for May 14th, but it was postponed to December 17th and again to February 26, 1850. The first proposition was to raise $27,000 in in- stallments during three years. Before the final election it had been ar- ranged that the city pay $24,000 and the county $12,000, and the Board of Supervisors took action accordingly. A bill finally passed Congress appropriating $12,000 for a perpetual lease of one-third of the building for the United States Courts, the supervisors' action having been found illegal or unauthorized. Out of 506 votes 453 favored the measure. Room for the council meetings was taken in the spring in the Mechan- ics Hall, its late place of assembly having been burned. August 24th a resolution passed the council that the committee on police inquire into the workings of the force, learn its abuses and defects, and report a remedy.
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