USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 35
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369
JASON PARKER PETITION'S THE LEGISLATURE.
" The mail leaves Whitestown every Monday and Thursday at 2 o'clock P. M. and proceeds to Old Fort Schuyler the same evening ; next morning starts at 4 o'clock, and arrives in Canajoharie in the even- ing, exchanges passengers with the Albany and Cooperstown stages, and the next day returns to Old Fort Schuyler. Fare for passengers $2.00 ; way passengers four cents per mile, fourteen pounds of baggage gratis ; one hundred and fifty pounds weight rated the same as a pas- senger. Seats may be had by applying at the postoffice, Whitestown, at the house of the subscriber, Old Fort Schuyler, or at Captain Roof's, Canajoharie."
That his experiment was a difficult and doubtful one when left un- aided by the fostering care of the government we may justly infer, and we are not surprised to find him joining with eastern proprietors in a call for legislative help. Their petition, which is dated January 18, 1797, sets forth that " at an early day, and when no other persons could be prevailed on to hazard so precarious an undertaking, they set up a line of stages from Albany to Lansingburg and another from Albany to Whitestown, and for several years ran them at great loss to themselves, in anxious hope and expectation that, by persevering in so laudable an undertaking, they should at some future time receive a compensation, when the population of this new and growing country would admit." Then adverting to the embarrassing and destructive consequences of opposition which had been set up on some of the eastern lines the peti- tioners continue as follows : " The western line must inevitably share the same fate unless your petitioners can obtain the interference of the hon- orable the legislature. And although they are desirous of continuing to prosecute their present concerns in the stages, particularly on the western routes, they dare not flatter themselves in being able to do it unless they can obtain an act of exclusive privilege for a certain num- ber of years." Whether their petition achieved them any good we are unable to say, but in November, 1799, we find that the mail stage be- tween Schenectady and Utica is still run twice a week by " the public's most humble servants," Moses Beal and Jason Parker. In 1802 the public are further informed that, in addition to the above arrangements, "a stage for the conveyance of the mail, and those who wish to travel by stage, will start from Utica for Onondaga twice a week."
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370
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
In March, 1803, Mr. Parker is again before the legislature, in com- pany with Levi Stephens and other associates, suing for the exclusive right of running stages from the village of Utica to the village of Can- andaigua for the term of ten years, and averring that "the present emoluments are inadequate to reimburse the expenses by the proprie- tors." Accordingly an act was passed the following year granting to Jason Parker and Levi Stephens the exclusive right for seven years of running a line of stages, for the conveyance of passengers, at least twice a week, along the Genesee road, or Seneca turnpike, between the above mentioned villages. They were bound to furnish four good and sub- stantial, covered wagons or sleighs, and sufficient horses to run the same. The fare was not to exceed five cents per mile, and they were to run through in forty-eight hours, accidents excepted. They were forbidden to carry more than seven passengers in any one carriage, ex- cept by the unanimous consent of said passengers. If four passengers above the seven applied for passage they were obliged to fit out and start an extra carriage for their accommodation ; any number less than four might be accommodated by paying the rate of four.
By September, 1810, a greater degree of expedition was attained on the eastern route, so that we read of a daily line of stages between Al- bany and Utica, and in September, 181I, of another line three times a week in addition to the daily one. In January of the latter year the route westward had been extended to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Thus he commenced by such humble beginnings a business which, partly alone and partly in association, he prosecuted throughout his life time, and which within that time increased so as to become one of the largest business organizations ever formed in the place. At the time of his de- cease there were eight daily lines of stages running through Utica, east and west, besides twelve daily, semi-weekly, or weekly lines running north and south, in most of which he was or had been interested.
But Mr. Parker's activity was not wholly expended in the running of stages. Besides serving as a trustee of the village, and besides bearing a share in the public undertakings of the day that concerned him equally with his fellow citizens, he also carried on milling and flouring. He also at an early period had an interest with Stalham Williams in mer- cantile business.
Ling by EGMWs BONE
P. D. Child.
371
RIVALRY OF STAGE PROPRIETORS.
T. S. Faxton, S. D. Childs, and John Butterfield, all of whom be- came prominent in the travel and transportation business, as we shall see, were greatly indebted to Mr. Parker for the impetus which started them on successful careers ; the former joined him as his outside assistant in 1813, Mr. Childs as his book-keeper in 1816, and the latter in 1822, at first as a runner and eventually as his successor in the stage and trans- portation business, though he was never, as Messrs. Faxton and Childs were, one of the firm of J. Parker & Co. Mr. Parker died in 1830 in the full enjoyment of the respect of all who knew him.
It is interesting to note some of the legislative regulations imposed upon those early stage proprietors. The more important of these en- actments are recorded on the preceding page. Stage proprietors were regarded then the same as railroad companies are regarded now. They possessed certain responsibilities as public servants and in most cases complied with every requirement of the law. It is interesting as well to notice the comparison between legislative regulations governing transportation companies of that time and similar rules applying to like bodies of to-day.
Joshua Ostrom, son of Judge David Ostrom, began running stages at an early date, and in 1810-II he and his partners were in close com- petition with Jason Parker & Co. A glance at their respective adver- tisements will be of interest as illustrating not only the gradual advance in the business of staging, but showing also the rivalry and strife which then prevailed between the opposing companies. On the 20th of Sep- tember, 1810, Joshua Ostrom, Baker & Swan, and J. Wetmore & Co. announced a new steamboat line of stages which will leave Albany Monday and Friday ; Utica, Monday and Thursday. The competing companies, Powell & Parker, Campbell & Co., "in order to prevent the delay at Utica " in their western line, determined to run their stages. every day. Next Ostrom & Co. ran theirs three times a week, but " without the encumbrance of postoffice regulations." Then on the 2 Ist of January, 181I, we find the following announcement from Parker & Powell : " Eight changes of horses. The mail stage now leaves Bagg's, Utica, every morning at 4 o'clock. Passengers will breakfast at May- nard's, Herkimer, dine at Josiah Shepard's, Palatine, and sup (on oy's- ters) at Thomas Powell's Tontine Coffee House, Schenectady. Those
372
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
ladies and gentlemen who will favor this line with their patronage may be assured of having good horses, attentive drivers, warm carriages, and that there shall not be any running or racing of horses on the line." The rival proprietors, still unencumbered by postoffice regulations, were ready a week later to "go through in one day, unless the extreme bad - ness of the traveling rendered it utterly impossible." Passengers were to " have the liberty of breakfasting, dining, and supping where, when, and on what they please. No more than eight passengers unless by unanimous consent." . Only one further advertisement of Mr. Ostrom and his associates appears, and this is dated April, 1811, for he failed and wound up his affairs.
Under date of May, 1811, appeared the following announcement : " Powell, Parker, Baker & Co., Parker & Powell, Hosmer & Co., and Landon & Co. ran a line of stages from Albany to Niagara Falls. N. B .- The public will observe that this is the only line which reaches the Falls and that the stages of the speculative oppositionists who im- pose on travelers by assuring them that their stages extend to Canan daigua or the Niagara Falls go no farther than Utica; but that the present line of stages will afford them a safe and direct passage either to Utica, Canandaigua, Buffalo, or the Falls, without subjecting the pas- sengers to the trouble of applying to another stage for conveyance. Fare from Albany to Utica, $5.50 ; from Utica to Geneva, $5 ; Utica to Canandaigua, $5.75; from Canandaigua to Buffalo, six cents per mile." In September, 1816, Jason Parker & Co., with half a dozen confederates, in addition to their stages which left Utica and Canandai- gua six times a week and ran through in a day and a half, were running a line three times a week between Albany and Canandaigua, going by the way of Auburn, Skaneateles, Onondaga, Manlius, Cazenovia, Madi- son, and Cherry Valley, and these stages went through in two days.
The English traveler from whom we have already quoted gave a list of the principal taverns and stopping places on the road from Albany to Geneva. Those between Fort Schuyler and Geneva were as follows, with their distances from each other : "From Fort Schuyler to Laird's on the Great Genesee road, 10; Van Epp's, near the Oneida Reserva- tion, 6; Sill's, at the Deep Spring, II ; Keeler's, junior, 12; Tyler's, Onondaga Hollow, 10; Rice's, Nine Mile Creek, 10; Cayuga Ferry, 20; Powell's Hotel, Geneva, 13."
373
THE WEEK-DAY LINE OF STAGES.
The monopoly of staging enjoyed by Parker & Co. after the failure of Joshua Ostrom & Co., in 1812, continued until about 1821, when a new line was started by Peter Cole, aided at Utica by a plausable, super. politic runner named Henry S. Storms. This line was, however, soon overpowered, and the influence of Mr. Storms effectively met by intro- ducing from Albany the energetic, driving John Butterfield, the services of the other runner being transferred to the packets. About 1828 the old line encountered more serious opposition when Josiah Bissell, of Rochester, set on foot a week-day line to traverse the State, and enlisted in its behalf the sympathies and the money of church members along the route. The project caused an intense degree of excitement ; the sin of traveling on Sunday was freely discussed and a fierce war raged within and without the church. It was no long time after the preach- ing of Mr. Finney in the larger towns on the way, and when men's minds were alive to questions of religion. Dissensions in the Presby- terian Church of Utica were especially rife, because it was there that Messrs. Parker, Faxton, and Childs all attended, and the pastor, peace- able as he was and perhaps a little irresolute withal, found it hard to conduct himself to the satisfaction of every one. But the week-day line lacked both capital and skill in its managers, and besides had not the privilege enjoyed by the other of carrying the mail, and so after a contest which impoverished itself, and greatly straitened the resources of its rival, it finally yielded the field. Until 1836 this field continued free ; but when the Utica and Schenectady road, was opened the east- ward route was blocked, and afterward, as the railway was gradually extended, other routes were more and more curtailed, and Parker's with the associate line of stages was brought to a close.
Mr. Butterfield proved equal to his duties and thoroughly identified himself with the success of the line of J. Parker & Co. After a time he met at the Canal Coffee House a traveler who wished to part with his horse and conveyance. These he bought and thus inaugurated a liv- ery. To this he added as his means admitted, and after his marriage he also kept 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 transportation now practiced. For in every means undertaken to increase the facilities of travel and intercommuni-
374
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
cation 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 succeeded by important lines of his own, wherein he was a leading manager in the State until staging was super- ceded by railroads. He had his share, too, in the packet boats and then in the steamboats on Lake Ontario. He gave his earnest personal ef- forts to create the companies and raise the funds required for the con- struction of some of the plank roads leading out of the city, and was the originator of its street railroads.
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 lucra- tive business could be formed by the rapid transportation of such arti- cles 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 in- dividual, say the resolutions of the board, was due the high reputation which this company obtained in commercial circles throughout the
country as well as the success that has attended it. In that organiza - tion 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 appre- ciate 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 establishment 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 in operation the Overland Mail Route, the precursor of the Pacific railroads, and which did much to demonstrate the importance of a continuous connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific States. Having long been a mail contractor he had the experience and practical knowledge essential for the execu- tion of the work. Besides his part in the various operations above re- ferred to Mr. Butterfield was a director in the Utica City National Bank, and was interested in other stock companies and business under- takings. At the same time he invested largely in city property, while
375
BEGINNING OF THE ERIE CANAL
his colorated land in the vicinity covers an inconsiderable space. The Buccerifeld House and the Gardaer block are among the handsome eci-
the city of les residence On taking possession of the land on the Year Hartford road, on a portion of which hi lace residence now stande, be extended his operations in farming, already carried on to a limited ex- sent on Pleasant street
However enterprising the men who Had ever perfe of passengers and be methods could not long encore through a natural resources and growing so rapidly New York For several years before the War of itis the subject of connecting the Hudson River win. Lake Erie by an artificial received a good deal of attention roughout the State T
sion, and as the com by way of Oswego all three
weyed
The War of ilis camsed a suspe leg aladie session of :8r6. lature signed by more than 1000 prosecute and complete the work Excavar
at Rome o so much of it as is included Kalter portion of the middle section, or Between Rome and Utica, mas fr for navigation by the fall of itng, and on the bad of October the first Boat safled on the camal from Rome to U'Sca the channel having been filled from Oriskamy Creek on the previous day, It was a beautiel boat and was called the Chief Engr- Benjamin Wright It was fired up to carry pas- sen gers and oo the { the State and the Board of Commissioners, attended by about seventy ladies and gentlemen of Utica and nitinity: em arked upon it dto Rome The embark- atico took place amid the singing of bels, the roaring of cammon, and the loud acclamations of thousands of spettatore
From one of the papers of Unica of that date we borrow a few phi- ticalars of the event, as follows: "Seldom has there been
eart-felt joy than was manifested on this occasion:
376
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
those who viewed the departure from Utica of this the first boat which the waters of the canal had ever borne bordered on enthusiasm. All the way to the embankment across the Sauquoit Creek many hundreds of spectators followed the boat, and frequently filled the air with their animated cheers. At Whitesboro the arrival was announced by a national salute and by the cheers of people assembled to witness the scene. After a sail of a little more than four hours the boat arrived at Rome. It remained at that place until a quarter past three, when it set out on its return, and arrived at Utica ten minutes before eight. This first trial of the canal was highly gratifying, not only to the commis- sioners, but to all who beheld it; and if ever deep-felt gladness was exhibited it was in universal and full display throughout this excur- sion."
Nathan Williams, as president of the Board of Village Trustees, on the same day addressed a congratulatory letter to the Board of Canal Commissioners : "From Erie to the Atlantic, a distance of 500 miles, more than 300 is to be traversed by this canal. Considering the infancy of the settlements through which it is to pass, and that it is commenced by the efforts and patriotism of a single State, it will be viewed by future generations as a wonderful work. The experience of this day's excursion must do away with all doubt, if any remain, of the practicability of con- structing this 'stupendous artificial river of the west.' It appears now indeed to be rendered certain that they who projected the plan, and they who so faithfully persevere to execute it under the wise sanction of our laws and the patriotic co- operation of our citizens, will be ranked among the greatest benefactors of our country."
In Governor Clinton's message of 1820 he reported ninety- four miles of the canal finished on the middle section, with a lateral branch from Syracuse to Salina. In April of that year a trip was made between Utica and Montezuma, in which a large company joined. On the 20th of May Governor Clinton and the canal commissioners, accompanied by as many gentlemen from Utica and Whitesboro as could be accommo- dated, went on the boats Montezuma and Chief Engineer from Utica to the Seneca River. On the first of June, we are informed by advertisement, that "boats for the accommodation of passengers 100 miles on the canal are now in operation by the 'The Erie
377
ERIE CANAL NAVIGATION.
Canal Navigation Company.' They sail every Monday and Thursday morning from Utica at 9 o'clock and arrive at Canastota (Lenox) at 7 P. M .; proceed next day at 2 A. M. and arrive at Montezuma at 7 P. M. Price of passage including provisions, $4. A small advance to be made when the toll and lockage are established. For passage apply to Doolittle & Gold, or at the stage office." In the weekly chronicle of arrivals and departures on the canal, which began at this time to be published in the papers, we find that five boats departed and two ar- rived on the Ist of July, one each on the 2d, and four departed and one arrived on the 3d; between July 3Ist and August 7th there were twelve arrivals and nineteen clearances; between August 14th and August 25th there were twenty-two arrivals and seventeen clearances. Most of these boats were loaded with merchandise, two only car- rying passengers. The Fourth of July was celebrated on the canal by a large concourse of people from various parts of the Western District. The Oneida Chief from Utica and the Montezuma from Cayuga Lake, accompanied by a number of other boats filled with passengers from the intermediate country, met at Syracuse. His excellency the gover- nor with his secretaries and other gentlemen from New York were of the passengers from Utica.
The interest felt by Governor Clinton in this his favorite project brought him as we have seen often to the interior and western parts of the State. It was in the summer of 1820, while traveling up and down the course of the future canal, that he wrote his well known Letters of Hibernicus. From the mansion at Mr. Greig at Canandaigua, from Au- burn, from Utica, and from other places he penned those classic letters to the Statesman-letters abounding in instruction upon the natural history and resources of the country through which he journeyed, and prophetic of the good to be expected from the completed canal. At the York House in Utica he held a conference with Dr. Barto, of Newport, and learned much of the composition and qualities of water- lime, which had been recently discovered and put in use on the canal by Canvass White, one of the engineers.
With the opening of the season of 1822 the packet boats Montezuma and Oneida Chief renewed their trips and there was also started by Bil- dad and Isaac Merrell a new boat called the Utica Packet. It had already
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1
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
done service on the tiver as the Commodore Ferry, and was dragged thence to its new channel. The canal bad now become so great a curi- osity that by midsummer the public houses were crowded with strang- eis from the East on their way to see it and to ride upon its waters. A new line of post coaches running from Albany to Utica was likewise announced.
The progress of the canal from the time of its beginning until it was neatly or quite completed gave a great impetus to the growth of Utica. At the date under consideration (1822-23) the village was growing rap- idly, its population in the latter year being computed by its citizens at 4,000 The Erie Canal Navigation Company announced in April, 1823, that in addition to their last year's establishment they had incer- porated into their line four new, spacious, and beautiful boats, and that they had commenced running regular trips between Utica and Roch- ester.
"The whole course of the great work from Utica to Rochester ex- hibits," says the Albany Argus, " the bustle and stir of business. The amount and variety of the productions which are constantly passing and repassing upon it till the mind with astonishment. It is the flux and reflux of the great tide of Western wealth and Western enterprise." At a late period in the previous season water had been let into the channel of the eastern district. And now on the toth of June, 1823. we read that " a line of elegant packet boats is preparing and will be ready to ran between this village and Schenectady on the opening of the canal, which it is expected will take place about the 20th inst." This com- pany, of which the trustees were E. Bacon, Ephraim Hart, and E. B. Shearman, started a boat at 8 o'clock every morning which it was ex- pected would arrive at Schenectady at the same hour the following morning. And on the Sth of October was celebrated at Albany with imposing ceremony the completion of the whole eastern section and the ingress of waters to the Hudson. Thus in little more than six years :So miles of this great artery of commerce were opened and its healthful influences already widely felt.
An influence that was at once produced to diminish former more in- convenient modes of transportation deserves our notice. The Seneca Turnpike Company in addition to its usual semi-annual dividend de-
COMPLETION OF THE CURL
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工 二
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380
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
As an evidence of the rapidity with which the canal was brought into use, and of the very great change which it made in the mode of transportation, particularly as regards freight, it may be stated that the number of canal boats which arrived at Albany during the season of 1823 was 1,329; during that of 1824 it was 2,687 ; during that of 1825 it was 3,336; and in 1826 it was about 7,000. The rate for transpor- tation on the turnpike in 1826 was one and one-half cents per mile ; the rate by the canal was five mills. But it should not, therefore, be in- ferred that all passengers deserted the stages for the packet boats. The canal passage was still tedious beside land travel, and was chosen chiefly by those who desired to lessen the fatigue of a journey ; it was avoided where time was of account. Merchants, bankers, and tradesmen bound to or from the metropolis, lawyers in their progress to the courts, and all fulfilling engagements or intent only on business and who must needs go in haste made use of the stages. And though the number of those who then traveled by stage cannot be justly estimated by the multitudes who now daily sweep past on the rail, and though journeying by one's own conveyance, was formerly much more customary than at present, yet it is not difficult to conceive that stage travelers were numerous, and that the business which consisted in finding and regu- lating the means to carry them onward was a large and important one. At the date of the death of Mr. Parker, in 1828, there were eight daily lines of stages running through Utica east and west, besides four lines running north and south, with the departure and arrival of eighty-four stages weekly. And the old stages held their own to a considerable ex- tent even after the railroad had been in operation several years ; and the rivalry between the runners for the packet boats, the stages, and the railroad trains was intense, and often developed into riotous proceed- ings which the police of the village and city were called upon to quell.
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