USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 3
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Shortly after the arrival of the preceding family came another inn- keeper who opened a house on the southeast corner of Genesee street and the Public Square. This was John House, of whom we know little besides the fact that he was a pleasant man and a popular tavern-keeper. He removed early from the place, and by the year 1802 his house was kept by another. His daughter became the wife of Myron Holley, of Ontario County. William House, his son, was a merchant in Lockport, N. Y. One of Utica's most useful and best remembered citizens ap- peared on its stage when, in 1794, Jason Parker took up his abode therein. He undertook the employment of post-rider between Cana- joharie and Whitestown, and in 1795 began running a stage between Albany and Old Fort Schuyler. A greater part of his life was there- after devoted to that business, either alone or in company with others, as is more fully explained in a later chapter of this work. Mr. Parker also served as a trustee of the village, and was in all ways an active and a public spirited citizen.
Apollos Cooper was born at Southampton, L. I., February 2, 1767, was a carpenter by trade, and had come into Oneida County in 1790. Before coming to Old Fort Schuyler he had lived at Johnstown, and was also in the employ of Mr. Scriba at Oneida Lake. On the 11th of April, 1795, he bought of James S. Kip 117 acres of great lot No. 96, which the latter had bought the year previous. This land consti- tuted a narrow strip extending from the river nearly to the intersection of Genesee and State streets. Early in the fall of 1794 he had gotten
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
possession of the land and built the rear part of the house on Whites- boro street, where he afterward resided throughout his life. The home- stead yet remains while the farm has long since been swallowed up by the encroaching city.
Mr. Cooper does not seem to have long pursued his trade, but when not engaged in official duties he was chiefly busied with farming. The bridge across the river at the foot of Genesee street which replaced the earlier bridge is, however, said to have been the work of his skill. A peculiarity of this bridge consisted in the long covered avenue of trestle work that led down to it, reaching back half way to Main street, a proof, as it would appear, that the river bank was then much lower than at present and the bridge in consequence more difficult of approach. This bridge had a stone abutment in the center, and was of more sub - stantial construction than its more immediate predecessor. . Mr. Cooper was also the artificer of Hamilton Oneida Academy, the precursor of Hamilton College. His early location in the county secured to him an extensive acquaintance and obtained for him no small share of public favor, which was manifested by his appointment at various periods as judge, representative, and sheriff, and by his filling also many subordi- nate stations in the place of his residence. Mrs. E. A. Graham, his daughter, is still a resident.
On a farm next west of Nathan Smith, and half way to Whitesboro, lived William Inman, a gentleman who was in habits of constant inter- course with the people of the settlement, though he did not move into it until a few years later ; but as this farm has by a recent legislative ordinance been included within the domain of Utica we introduce him here. Mr. Inman was a native of Somersetshire, England, and in early life was a clerk of Lord Pultney. He first sailed to America March 13, 1792, and arrived in June. He soon after was entrusted with the interests of certain Englishmen, prominent among whom was Patrick Colquhoun, high sheriff of London, for whom he purchased in trust the tract of land called Inman's Triangle, including the towns of Leyden and Lewis in Lewis County, N. Y. The following year he returned to England, but ere long he was again in this country.
In 1793 he obtained of Rutger Bleecker two leases of land in lot No. 104, containing in all 153 acres, and not long after came to reside in
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SKETCH OF WILLIAM INMAN.
Oneida County. He lived at first in the house that is situated on the north side of the Whitesboro road, opposite the half-way bridge over the canal. But disgusted with the " Yankee dust" which reached him from the neighboring highway he built the large house that stands quite back from it on the south side, and which has been of late years known as the Champlin house. Possessed of ample means he hired laborers and lived upon his farm as a private gentleman. "He had considerable knowledge of English literature, was fond of books, and exhibited in his conversation the superiority which results from culture and in- tercourse with refined society. His handwriting was handsome; he was accurate and methodical, understanding well his own interests, and apt in drafting all legal papers relating to his property and dealings." He consequently maintained a high social standing and participated in the best society which the neighborhood afforded. He rode in a heavy English carriage and wore powdered hair, with short clothes and knee- buckles.
As early as 1804 he erected a brewery on the site of what is now the northwest corner of Broadway and Whitesboro streets, where with Ed - ward Smith and Aylmer Johnson, under the firm name of E. Smith & Co, he commenced business as brewer and maltster. In April, 1805, the partnership was dissolved and the brewery was thereafter for some years conducted by Mr. Inman alone. Mr. Inman was among the fore- most of those who took a part in founding Trinity Church ; he was placed on the subscription and also on the building committee, and while he lived in Utica served either as vestryman or warden. William, his eldest son, became a commodore in the navy of the United States ; John was an editor of New York city, being connected successively with the Standard, the Spirit of the Times, the New York Mirror, the Commer- cial Advertiser, and the Columbian Magazine ; Henry distinguished himself as a painter, excelling in portraiture, in landscape, and in genre painting.
An inhabitant of whom we get the first hint in 1795, at this time a carpenter, but who afterward developed into a merchant as successful as any that Utica has produced, was Watts Sherman. He came from Newport, R. I. He soon obtained the office of constable, and as we are assured manifested unusual zeal in the discharge of his duties, having
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
, on one occasion descended into a chimney in order to seize a silk dress which the party having it determined he should not obtain pos- session of, and so debarred him other entrance into his house.
In 1802 Mr. Sherman formed a partnership in trade with Arnold Wells, another early settler, the latter furnishing the most of the cap- ital. In this new sphere he evinced unusual capacity, for he was un- commonly shrewd and stirring. Being too ambitious for Mr. Wells they separated, while Mr. Sherman enlarged his business and directly took rank among the leading merchants. With others he bestirred himself in the creation of the first glass works of the county, the factory at Vernon, and was one of its directors. Under date of May, 1813, he informed the community that he had taken into partnership Henry B. Gibson and Alexander Seymour under the name of Sherman, Gibson & Co. While the junior member remained in Utica the two former established themselves in New York, where their skillful conduct of trade secured an independent fortune for each of them.
Samuel Jewett was one of the pioneer settlers of New Hartford and used to say that he had helped to raise the first barn, the first frame house, and the first meeting-house that were built in that town. He re- moved hither in 1795 and purchased of Stephen Norton a part of the Potter farm. His late residence on the line of the Seneca turnpike, built before that road had been worked, but not before it was laid out, forms at this day almost the only remaining landmark of its gen- eration.
We come now to the year 1796, in which (or possibly in 1795) Eze- kiel Clark arrived and began a small business as a merchant in Bagg's Tavern. He continued a resident almost, if not quite, until the hamlet became a city, and was by turns merchant, innkeeper, baker, cooper, and merchant again.
Of the new comers one was a merchant, but did not remain long a merchant. With him there was abundant reason for the change : his educational training had been in a totally different direction, and was too complete a one to admit of sacrifice ; this, together with his natural bias and the needs of his neighbors, soon inclined him to pursuits more congenial. This was Dr. Alexander Coventry, whose character and ca- reer deserve a fuller consideration. He was born near Hamilton, Scot-
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DR. ALEXANDER COVENTRY.
land, August 27, 1766, the son of Capt. George Coventry, who had served under his majesty George III. in the old French war. The son attended medical lectures at Glasgow and at Edinburgh, and imbibed the instruction of those eminent teachers, Monro, Cullen, Hope, and Gregory. In July, 1785, he sailed for America and first settled at Hud- son in this State, where he became engaged in agricultural pursuits in conjunction with the practice of his profession. Thence he removed to Romulus, on the east side of Seneca Lake, which place he left in 1796 on account of the sickness of himself and his family, and came to Old Fort Schuyler. At first he entered into mercantile business with John Post, but soon separated from him and opened a physician's office just above, that is to say, on the west side of the Genesee road about two doors above the corner of Whitesboro street. About 1804 he had for a partner Dr. David Hasbrouck; but having purchased a farm in Deer- field he removed thither and once more engaged in agriculture.
The doctor pursued farming, and especially fruit growing, with all the ardor of more modern amateurs, and his grafted apples and other fruit were famous the country round. From this period onward until his death his time and attention were divided between his farm, his books, and the practice of his profession, although during his latter years the demands of his profession were paramount to all besides. He had formed a partnership in 1817 with the late Dr. John McCall, then also residing in Deerfield. In the following year, when the latter came to this place, their office was in a small wooden building on the north- west corner of Broad and John streets, and here joined him his next and last partner, his son, Dr. Charles B. Coventry.
As a family physician and obstetrician Dr. Coventry was eminently distinguished ; and not only in our own but in the adjoining counties he maintained a standing no less respectable as a consulting one. His uniformly courteous and sympathizing manner with the sick, co- operat- ing with his clear and discriminating judgment, obtained for him unriv- aled esteem and affection. Every one felt safe when his skill and experience could be secured. In person he was muscular and moder- ate in height ; in manners without pretence, but affable and engaging ; in tastes, social ; in temper, sometimes irascible.
The public appreciation of the science and standing of Dr. Coventry
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
is shown by the offices he held. Besides presiding for several succes- sive years over the medical society of his own county he was twice elected president of the medical society of the State. He was a trustee of the Fairfield Medical College, a member of the Society for the Pro- motion of Agriculture, Art, and Manufactures, a member of the Albany Lyceum, and a corresponding member of the Linnæan Society of Paris. He was an occasional contributor to the political and agricultural jour- nals of the day, and was also the author of some professional papers for the medical serials. From the period of his studentship to the last year of his life he kept a diary in which he noted at length his medical and agricultural employments, with references now and then to social and other current events of the day. About the year 1817 he led the way in the formation of the first agricultural society of the county, and was its secretary and presiding genius.
While attending a dangerous case of sickness in the family of Nicho- las Devereux he fell a victim to an epidemic influenza and died De- cember 9, 1831. His wife, Elizabeth Butler, of Brantford, Conn., had died some years before. He left a family of seven sons and four daughters. Of these the late Dr. Charles B. Coventry was the only one who made a home in Utica.
A merchant who may be set down as of this date was Talcott Camp, for he visited the place in the fall of 1796, bringing with him a portion of goods, though he returned east for the winter, to come again with his family the following spring. Shortly before the date above named he was in New York city, and a sight he there beheld determined, it is said, his course to the new settlement. This was a barrel or two of silver coin which William G. Tracy, of Whitesboro, had brought down to ex- change for the goods he needed in his trade. Returns like these be- tokened a market that was worth the seeking, and he sought it. Talcott Camp was born in Durham, Conn., and held during the greater part of the Revolution a post in the commissary department. Settling after- ward in Glastonbury he was engaged chiefly in mercantile pursuits, although he was also associated with a partner in the manufacture of iron.
For a few years after his removal to Old Fort Schuyler he devoted himself to trading, and was not at all unsuccessful in the pursuit, though he ere long disposed of his interest and engaged in the purchase and
HON HORATIO SEYMOUR
41
TALCOTT CAMP AND OTHER TRADERS.
sale of lands. But it is as an upright and esteemed magistrate, as he long was, that 'Squire Camp is best known, and tradition recalls the impartial dignity with which he was wont to pronounce " the opinion of the court." In 1809 he was made president of the village, a station which he held for five successive years. This was in part during the turbulent period of the war, when troops were often marched through the village or quartered in the neighborhood, and when aggressions and quarrels were rife. Much responsibility and care were of course de- volved upon him. He was some time trustee of the Presbyterian Church and bore a part as one of the original board in the founding of the Utica Academy. Prominent among those who made honorable the beginnings of Utica he was a man of intelligence and integrity, of ster- ling sense and judgment, " of marked and dignified appearance and courteous manners, who always commanded respect and in his later years veneration."
Before speaking of the new comers of 1797 let us notice a few individ- uals who were already located when the settlers of 1797 themselves appeared. Besides other merchants than those we have mentioned Clark & Fellows kept at this time the largest store in the place, that is to say for the benefit of the inhabitants, Post's trade being chiefly with the In - dians. It was situated on the north side of the Whitesboro road near the present Division street, and was in fact but a mere hut. Silas Clark, the elder partner, was a stirring man and made money. He owned a farm at the eastern end of the settlement ; also a house and lot some- what nearer, besides the house in which he lived on the south side of Whitesboro street and almost opposite his store.
William Fellows, after the death of his associate, formed a connection with Moses Bagg, jr., for the sale of the miscellaneous goods of a country store. This connection was closed in the year 1807, when John Camp, who had been their clerk, purchased Mr. Fellows's interest.
Men of higher mark than these were Nathan Williams and Erastus Clark, the earliest lawyers of the place, who will be noticed in a later chapter. Francis A. Bloodgood, admitted as an attorney of the Su- preme Court, August 5, 1790, made his début before a Fort Schuyler audience on the anniversary of our nation's independence, 1797. His address was delivered in a grove in the rear of the shingle-sided
6
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
house heretofore mentioned, and on whose site was erected the fol- lowing year The Hotel, as it was called, par eminence. Mr. Blood- good was a native of Albany and a graduate of Union College. What headway he made in the practice of his profession we are unable to declare; but two years later he was appointed county clerk, and herein he found what was almost his life work; at least during nearly the whole period of his residence did he hold by successive re-appoint- ments this remunerative and responsible station. His political feelings were strong and his influence, both by means of his pen and by per- sonal efforts, was considerable. Neither was he by any means indiffer- ent to all that related to the interests of the town. He was a village trustee in 1805, and on the organization of the Bank of Utica became one of its trustees. In 1810, as senator, he represented the district at Albany, where he was a zealous follower of De Witt Clinton. He resided on Whitesboro street within a short distance eastward from the office over which he presided.
As notable a person as any we have yet mentioned, conspicuous alike for his past eminent service to the country as for high social position and influence and example in the village he chose for his later residence, was Colonel Walker. Col. Benjamin Walker was born in 1753 in England and it is believed in the city of London, and was a pupil in his youth of the Blue Coat School. He did not receive a brilliant but a solid education, and having afterward passed some time in France he became a mas- ter of the French language. At an early age he entered the service of a respectable mercantile house in London, under whose patronage he came while yet a youth to this country and resided with an eminent merchant in New York. He was still in the service of this gentleman when the Revolutionary war commenced. At the beginning of the contest he entered warmly into the cause of American independence. He was serving in the rank of captain in the Second Regiment of New York when he was appointed to act as aid-de-camp to the Baron Steu- ben. It was at Valley Forge on the 25th of April, 1778, that Steuben took him into his family as his first aid. In this situation he gained the warmest friendship and most intimate confidence of the baron, and was ever after regarded by him with the affection of a son. Frederick Kapp, in his Life of Steuben, informs us that Walker superintended all his cor-
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CAREER OF COL. BENJAMIN WALKER.
respondence and writing from 1778 to 1782. Steuben dictated to hin in French and Walker wrote it out in English. Thus almost all the drafts of Steuben's reforms and plans are written in Walker's neat hand - writing. He accompanied his general to all the inspections and reviews, acted as translator in case of need, and often extricated him from diffi- culties. Even in the most difficult matters Steuben relied chiefly on Walker's sound judgment, and the success of Steuben's reforms is in a great measure due to his able and indefatigable aid-de- camp. In the year 1781-82 Walker joined General Washington's suite and acted as his aid to the close of the war. He was one of the persons so strongly rec- ommended to the patronage of Congress in the letter of Washington accompanying his resignation, and was for many years honored with an epistolary correspondence with that great man. After the con- clusion of peace he was at first secretary to the governor of New York, but soon after established himself in the wholesale hardware and com- mission business in company with Maj. Benjamin Ledyard. He was also naval officer of the port of New York and continued to hold the place until 1797. In the latter year, when he was appointed agent of the Earl of Bath's great estate, a landed property lying chiefly in Madison County, he removed to Old Fort Schuyler, where he resided the remain- der of his life. The management of this estate as well as the care of the lands devised to him by Baron Steuben, and which were situated chiefly in the northern part of this county, occupied much of his atten- tion. He was in 1800 chosen to represent this district in Congress, but could never afterward be prevailed upon to enter on the duties of public life. Although he declined the public services of his country he was by no means inattentive to the welfare of his fellow citizens.
Among those who took part in the organization and erection of Trin- ity Church he was perhaps the foremost. The Bleecker family had promised the donation of a site to the first church of any kind that should be erected in this place. Lady Bath, of England, had also pledged the gift of several hundred acres of her land in Madison County to the first church of an Episcopalian character that should be built in this part of the State. Not only was it through the agency of Colonel Walker that this latter gift was realized, but his name also heads the list of individual subscriptions made for the church, and in association with
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
Nathan Williams and William Inman he was appointed on the building committee.
He built for himself a fine mansion at the eastern end of Broad street which then had a large farm attached. His house was the seat of re- fined and elegant hospitality and he a model gentleman. "He gave much of his time to the society of his friends, to whom his gay good sense, his unassuming manners, his open, generous temper, his independ- ent spirit, and his extensive acquaintance with the world rendered him a most enlivening and instructive companion." For those days his style was considerable ; he kept three slaves, employed several men on his garden and grounds, had a good deal of plate, and was the first inhab- itant who owned a coach. Of Colonel Walker it is said that " it was his peculiar delight to search out merit in distress, to cheer the poor man in despondency, to prove himself a father to the fatherless, and to restore hope and comfort to the breast of the widow. To these benevolent pur- poses he appropriated a large share of his income, and it is confidently - believed that no individual in this part of the country distributed more in charity than he. And yet in all this there was no ostentation of benef- icence." In person he was rather short and fleshy, having a decided English physiognomy and an expression of benevolence coupled with some degree of sternness. He had a fine voice, and when he presided at one time at a meeting of citizens called to express their disapproba- tion of Mr. Jefferson's embargo he addressed them in a loud tone and with a curt, martial air, as he would have issued orders on the field of battle. His death took place on the 13th of January, 1818. His remains, which from that time had lain in the village burying ground, were on the 17th of June, 1875, reinterred with public and befitting ceremonies in Forest Hill Cemetery. His portrait is preserved in the picture of Washington resigning his commission, painted by Trumbull for the rotunda in the capitol.
The next to be chronicled is Bryan Johnson, widely known after- ward as one of the foremost merchants of Utica. He, too, was a native of England, and was born about the middle of the last century. A brother of his had lived some time in this country and was an enthu- siast in all that related thereto. Influenced by his representations Mr. Johnson was induced to relinquish his trade in London and to embark
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BYRAN JOHNSON, AN EARLY MERCHANT.
for America. Leaving his family, then consisting of his wife and one son, to remain until he should have secured for them a permanent home he departed for Dublin, whence he sailed for New York. Proceeding to Albany and thence up the Mohawk on his way to Canada Mr. John- son arrived at Old Fort Schuyler on the 4th of July, 1797. He was so much pleased with the appearance of the place that he decided to re- main here, and soon established himself in a small building on the Whitesboro road near where is now Division street.
His earliest advertisement acquaints the public that he will advance ready cash on all kinds of produce. He kept a good assortment of goods, which he sold at prices unusually low. His ambition for some time seems to have been directed more to the transaction of a large business than to make great gains. To attain his object he sought the reputation of selling goods cheaper than his village competitors and to purchase country produce at higher prices. His greatest compet- itors were, however, outside the village. Messrs. Kane & Van Rens- selaer, a highly respectable and rich firm, were established at Canajo- harie and were transacting a great business, extending far beyond this place. Their store at Canajoharie was near the Mohawk, and as their business kept declining they would hail the boats passing down the river with wheat and potash in order to ascertain to whom the freight belonged. The answer was, "To Bryan Johnson, of Old Fort Schuyler"; and as boats returned up the river loaded with merchandise gave the same answer when questioned as to the ownership of the goods Messrs. Kane & Van Rensselaer resolved to go to the new emporium and to share in the same trade.' The rivalry thus produced continued with un- abated force after Messrs. Kane & Van Rensselaer had established them- selves here and as long as Mr. Johnson remained in business.
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