USA > New York > Oneida County > Utica > Memorial history of Utica, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 9
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99
THE BROTHERS CAMP- JACOB SNYDER.
John Camp & Brothers, and under this name the three Messrs. Camp, John, Harry, and Charles, continued their business until about the year 1834, the period of the death of Charles, when John withdrew. The store which at first had been kept in the building next adjoining Bagg's Tavern on the north was in later years on Genesee street nearly opposite Cath- arine. Mr. Camp continued to act as director of the Bank of Utica the remainder of his days. Of unobtrusive and retiring manners, clear and calm in judgment, and of unblemished private character, no one of the earlier merchants left behind him a fairer reputation than John Camp.
Harry Camp was a clerk and afterward partner of Abraham Van Santvoort. Mr. Van Santvoort was both forwarder and merchant, and during the war held also the office of sub-contractor of supplies for the counties of Oneida and Madison. While in his service, besides his ordi- nary duties of superintending the transportation of goods between Sche- nectady and the West, Mr. Camp was often deputed to go out and meet companies of soldiers destined to or from the seat of hostilities and pro- vide them with the necessaries of subsistence. He once made a journey on horseback to Buffalo in order to carry $2,200 with which to cancel orders for goods supplied to the troops. Not long after the close of the war occurred the failure of the important transporting firm which was epresented in Utica by Mr. Van Santvoort as its head, when this gentle- man moved away from the village and it fell to Mr. Camp to close up its concerns. The latter then joined his brothers, John and Charles, in general trade and formed an important factor in the good name of the honorable house of John Camp & Brothers. After its dissolution in 1834 Harry remained at the old stand and transacted a moderate business for some years longer.
Jacob Snyder made chairs which have not their match in modern times for strength and durability, and in the sale of them he had almost the monopoly of the market until after the War of 1812. Some thirty years before his death he withdrew from business, because, as he believed, it was no longer carried on as honestly as it should be. He was a leader among the society of Methodists and his house a coveted place of rest and refreshment for the traveling preachers of the sect. With a voice like rolling thunder he exercised it often in exortation and in prayer, wherein his language was choice and scriptural. Temperance and anti-
IO0
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
slavery were reforms which were near to his heart and formed themes for his tongue and his pen.
Bildad Merrell kept a livery stable on Hotel street, was godly in life, and head of a respectable family. In the fall of 1814, by direction of Postmaster Hitchcock, he went with men and horses to organize an express system between Sackets Harbor and our army at Plattsburgh. The battle of Plattsburgh soon followed, the enemy withdrew, and but one express was ever carried. After the opening of the middle section of the Erie Canal he drew up a boat from the river and kept it on livery for pleasure excursions. Some time later, when he had gotten together a moderate property, he engaged in staging, running lines north and south of Utica. His conscientious objections to Sunday traveling led him to take a pecuniary interest in the Pioneer line which was run on week days only.
John B. Harrington, butcher, lived until 1852; John B. Gilbert, and his sons after him, made starch just over the eastern border.
In May, 1808, the freeholders met to elect trustees, and for the last time in the old Main street school-house, the furniture of the building having been advertised for sale shortly afterward. The new trustees were Morris S. Miller, Jerathmel Ballou, John Hooker, Nathaniel Butler, and John Bellinger. Morris S. Miller was made president of the board. Of their proceedings there is not much that is noteworthy; the meet- ings were held regularly every month and the assize of bread made out and published. The usual vigilance is evinced with respect to danger from fires and to faithfulness on the part of the firemen, absentees being duly reported and those of them who were unexcused removed from position. An ordinance was passed forbidding the use of firearms, rock- ets, or squibs between the east line of lot No. 92 and the west line of No. 96 and the southern boundary of the village; also forbidding fast driv- ing and ball playing between 90 and 96. A subscription was set on foot to fence the burying ground and another to procure a hearse, and these moneys so subscribed the collector was directed to collect.
The firemen likewise met monthly for practice with the engine, but · did nothing else except to mark the absent ones and assess them with fines the next time they came. During the summer of 1808 an addi- tional street was opened. This was Broad street, which, though laid out
IOI
EMBARGO MEETINGS-ARTHUR BREESE.
and partially worked a little time before, was now extended to Genesee street. Two brick houses were commenced upon it.
A meeting was held this year of the electors of the county to take into consideration the expediency of petitioning the President of the United States to suspend the operation of the embargo. The meet- ing was held at the hotel on the 3d of September. It was a large and exciting one. Resolutions were proposed by Thomas R. Gold and adop- ted, and a petition proposed by Jonas Platt was forwarded to President Jefferson asking for the suspension of the embargo act. The reply, re- ceived six weeks later, gave the petitioners little consolation. They were told they must wait the action of Congress.
It was during this same exciting era that a military company was drafted in Utica to serve in case hostilities should ensue. The drafting took place in the public room of the hotel. Maj. John Bellinger was chosen captain, the second and third officers being Silas Clark and Ben- jamin Ballou, jr. But their military prowess was not then called to the test.
One of the prominent men of Oneida County while the county was yet new was Arthur Breese. As early as 1794 he removed to Whites- boro, where he became a partner in practice with Jonas Platt. He acted also as deputy clerk of the county (Mr. Platt being clerk), was a master in chancery, and in 1796-97 was a representative in the legislat- ure. Upon the organization of the new county of Oneida he was ap- pointed surrogate, and held the office so long as he remained at Whites- boro. But when a clerkship of the Supreme Court was established at Utica in 1808 he was made clerk and removed thither. The building he occupied stood where now stands the office of the county clerk. He soon built for his dwelling a large stone house directly opposite and next above Jeremiah Van Rensselaer's, a site now filled by the Miller or step- ladder row. On the death of its first president Mr. Breese held also for a time the position of president of the Ontario Branch Bank. He left numerous descendants.
A lawyer of standing in his profession and an eminently pure and de- vout man was Walter King. Graduated at Yale College in 1805 he came shortly afterward to Utica and commenced a course of law studies in the office of Erastus Clark. With Mr. Clark he then became a partner
IO2
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
and continued this connection until the death of the latter gentleman in 1825. He subsequently pursued the practice of his profession until the year 1832, a part of the time as a partner of James Dean, and was a good office lawyer. He was for a long period a leading officer in the First Presbyterian Church and a favorite teacher in its Bible class. His knowledge of sacred literature was varied and exact. The Scriptures he studied in their original tongues and by the aid of abundant critical authorities. He prepared and published a Gospel Harmony.
About this time came the first of two brothers Malcom, of most hon- orable connection, and pending their few years' stay their polished and engaging families held a noteworthy place in the society of Utica. They were sons of Col. William Malcom of the Revolution. Samuel B. Mal- com was born in New York, was private secretary of John Adams during his administration, studied law and entered upon practice, but about 1808 removed to Oneida County. His chief employment here was the care and sale of lands in Cosby's Manor, the property of his wife, who was Catharine Van Rensselaer Schuyler, youngest daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler. She is reported to have received at her marriage $100,000 in money and a like value in real estate, situated mostly in this vicinity. Many years later and when she had become a second time a widow she filled the office of postmistress at Oswego.
The freeholders' annual meeting of 1809 was held at the hotel. The trustees who held office during the year were Talcott Camp, president; Solomon Wolcott, John Hooker, Jerathmel Ballou, and John Bellinger. The amount assessed on the inhabitants was but $350. Further meas- ures were adopted to provide by subscription for a public hearse. A lot for an engine-house, situated in the rear of Trinity Church, was given by the Bleecker family through their representative, Morris S. Miller. An attempt to call the inhabitants together to consider the propriety of selling the engine and buying a new one failed of result, inasmuch as few appeared, and no action was taken. The resignation of the clerk and the appointment of a successor seems to have been thought so press- ing a matter as to require the holding of an extra meeting of the trus- tees on a Sunday evening. Occasion for another Sunday meeting was found when the president reported that in compliance with instructions previously given him he had employed three watchmen to serve from
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IMPROVEMENTS OF 1809.
IO o'clock until daylight. A practice so different from the modern one, and apparently so little in accordance with the pious habits, of our fath- ers, is readily explained when we remember that a majority of them were emigrants from New England, where the evening of Saturday, not that of Sunday, was looked upon as a part of the sacred day of rest, and where sundown of the latter day still ushers in the secular duties of another week. Of the watchmen, whom the president now informs the trustees he had put on duty, two were to patrol the streets from Judge Cooper's to Morris S. Miller's, that is, from the westerly end of Whitesboro street to the easterly end of Main street and from the bridge to Arthur Breese's, including the side streets, while the third was to remain as a sentinel at the watch-house.
Broad street, we have seen, was opened the previous summer. On the 27th of February, 1809, it was formally adopted as a street by order of the commissioners of highways of the town of Whitestown, from Genesee street to its intersection with the road leading to Slayton's set- tlement (2,052 feet), that is to say, a short distance east of Third street. At the same time the following were also adopted, viz .: First and Sec- ond streets from Broad to the river, Third street from Main to Broad and from thence to be continued to the intersection of the road to Slay- ton's Settlement, and Water street from First across Genesee to Hotel street.
During the present year Bridge street-the present Park avenue-was laid out and macadamized. This was a great undertaking, and involved much forethought and care as well as a very considerable pecuniary out- lay. It was wholly executed at private expense, being like Broad street the work of Judge Morris S. Miller with the co-operation of his father- in-law and brother-in-law, of Albany. Beginning opposite Mr. Plant's, at the head of Genesee street, it ran in a northeastly direction behind the southern margin of the village, crossed the river, and continued until it intersected the river road in Deerfield. Designed apparently to draw trade and travel from their present course along the Genesee road it failed of wholly accomplishing its object; yet it did much to promote the extension of the village in a southerly and easterly direction.
Meantime the growth of the village was inspiring a feeling of deeper interest in its future and its desirability as a center for manufacturing
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
industries. Stimulated by the offer of co-operation and assistance from Lawrence Schoolcraft, superintendent of a glass factory near Albany, a company was formed in Utica for the establishment of a similar factory in this vicinity. The company was incorporated February 17, 1809, with a capital of 100,000, and was known as the Oneida Glass Factory Company. It carried on a successful business until 1836, when it wound up its affairs.
The necessity was felt, also, about this period for a larger circulation of currency, and particularly the need of bills to take the place of the silver then constituting almost the entire medium. This led to the open- ing of a branch of the Manhattan Bank of New York in Utica and the founding of the Utica Bank in 1812. These enterprises are further alluded to in later chapters devoted to manufacturing and banking.
On the Ist of May, 1810, the freeholders met at Mr. Dixon's school- house and elected as their trustees for the ensuing year Talcott Camp, John C. Hoyt, John C. Devereux, Rudolph Snyder, and Abraham M. Walton, the former of whom was appointed president. The sum voted to be assessed was $500, which after remunerating the treasurer and collector was to be appropriated as follows : First, to the sexton for ringing the bell in the Presbyterian meeting-house ; second, to fencing the lot presented by M. S. Miller and building an engine-house thereon ; third, to digging and stoning a sewer on the east side of Genesee street from the corner of Broad ; fourth, to pay balance due the watch ; fifth, to pay balance due for hearse and other contingent expenses. And these were accordingly the principal matters that occupied the attention of the trustees throughout the year. A new subscription was started to provide for the watch of the current year and also a subscription for the purchase of a new engine, the avails of which being deemed sufficient were put into the hands of Watts Sherman with authority to buy the same. In addition to the foregoing, as also the repairing of the fixtures about the wells, the appointment of a new treasurer (E. B. Shearman), and the discharge of a few small accounts, the only other transaction of the board was the offer of a reward of $150 for the detection of the incendiary who, on the night of the 2d of October, set on fire the new store of Hugh Cunningham.
The Whitestown records inform us that in November, 1810, C. C.
Aprilliame
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GRADUAL EXTENSION OF THE VILLAGE.
Brodhead surveyed and the commissioners of highways adopted the fol- lowing streets, viz .: Part of First from Broad to Rutger ; Broad street extended to the lands of Colonel Walker ; Catharine street from Third street to the Seneca turnpike (Genesee street) ; First street extended to Bridge. Bridge street, which as we have seen was laid out in 1809, was also now adopted. A map made by Mr. Brodhead in 1810 for the heirs of John R. Bleecker exhibited all the streets parallel to Broad as far upward as South, laid down thereon as they now exist. But we have no evidence of the acceptance by authority of any other than Catharine street, and it is certain that most of them were not in use until some years later. By a newspaper advertisement of September in this year we are informed that the house situated on the corner of Catharine and Genesee was for sale and must be removed within ten days of date. It is reasonable to infer that Catharine street was now demanded by the growing necessities of the village, or at least its western end ; further on it remained a quagmire until after the opening of the canal. In this connection and as bearing on the increased value of real estate in Utica we quote a few self-gratulatory words contained in a village paper of this era, and constituting one of those rare occurrences for the era, an item of purely local interest. "We are informed," says the Patriot of October 9, 1810, " that a small triangular lot on the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro streets in this village has been sold after the rate of $300,000 an acre, which same land twenty-five years ago might have been purchased for $1 an acre." Utica contained at this time 1,650 inhabitants and 300 houses. A journalist records that he " counted forty- five houses on the street leading to Judge Miller's."
A beginning was made this year in the construction of two important roads leading north and south from the place, viz .: The Utica and Black River turnpike and the Minden turnpike, known of late years as the Burlington plank road.
Certain citizens of 1808-10 remain to be chronicled, yet with brevity. These were Eliasaph Dorchester, teacher, bank clerk, assistant on the Columbian Gazette, founder of the Utica Observer, and again a teacher ; Rev. David R. Dixon, teacher, favored by the Federal families as Mr. Dorchester was by the Democratic Republican ; Henry B. Gibson, Motgomery Hunt, to appear hereafter among the bankers; Seymour
14
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
Tracy, attorney and notary of the Manhattan ; James Van Rensselaer, merchant, for whom was erected the brick row on the southerly side of Liberty street between Hotel and Seneca; Thaddeus Wakeman, cap - italist, known as the walking bank; Paul Hochstrasser, gentleman ; Daniel Stafford, packet boat captain after his failure in hardware ; Joshua Ostrom, who ran stages in competition with Parker; William Whiteley, who made musical instruments down to 1850, and who in 1811 leased to Trinity Church a barrel organ with three cylinders of fifteen tunes each, agreeing to perform on it at every regular service ; Shubael Storrs, · watch and instrument maker; Robert McBride, mason, who put up the nucleus of the present Bagg's Hotel and had a part in the construction of the Erie Canal; Thomas Thomas, another mason, who besides other buildings erected one of the structures of Hamilton College; William Penniman, tanner; T. H. Nurse, reedmaker; Thomas and Luther Christian, of varied occupations ; Joseph Simon, furrier ; John Bailey, who was the father of the four brothers of the name that are mostly resident ; and John Robinson, blacksmith, father of the notorious Jack Robinson, circus performer and wealthy proprietor.
On the 7th of May, 1811, the citizens convened as usual at Mr. Dixon's school-house. They elected as trustees Jeremiah Van Rens- selaer, Talcott Camp, Frederick White, John C. Devereux, and E. B. Shearman, and as treasurer John C. Hoyt in place of Mr. Shearman, thus exalted to a trusteeship. Nicholas Smith was elected collector. The amount of tax ordered to be raised was $500. Very little was done by these trustees in the course of the year that is deserving of remembrance. They held their meetings regularly, sometimes at the hotel, sometimes at the office of their president, Mr. Camp; delinquent firemen were removed and their successors appointed, watchmen were procured, the ringing of the bell provided for, bills were paid, and the assize of bread determined. The only noteworthy event was the ar- rival in the fall of the new engine for which payment to the manufacturers had been forwarded in the spring. On its arrival the duty was imposed on the captain of the fire company to take it out once a week, and to be careful also to keep the old one in repair. At the same time a commit- tee was appointed to make inquiry for a site for an engine- house near the store of Hugh Cunningham, that is to say near the heart of the village.
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INFANTRY COMPANY - f. MELLISH'S NOTES.
An intimation of the prevalence of a martial spirit at this time, and of a readiness on the part of young men to engage in military duty, would appear from an announcement made early in April. Nathan Williams, captain of the Independent Infantry Company, in a newspaper call in- vites the band of the company to meet with " the members of the band of music " at the hotel, and invites also young men who are inclined to become soldiers in the above company to attend and enroll their names. In the beauty of its uniform, in its discipline and drill, this company, which had probably been organized a year or two before, became the distinguished one of the county. It was at first commanded by Nathan Williams and afterward by William Williams, the bookseller and pub- lisher. With their tight pants and tasselled boots these crack soldiers were wont to parade to the satisfaction of the villagers in front of the hotel; and there they had a public dinner on the Fourth of July, 1812, the tables being arranged under booths which ran along the street. The company went into the public service in the War of 1812 and as an organization was disbanded.
We extract the following from the published notes of J. Mellish, an English traveler :
" Utica is the capital of Oneida County, and consists at present of about 400 houses, containing 2,000 inhabitants. It began to settle about twenty-three years ago, but it has been principally built since 1796 and two-thirds of it since 1800. The buildings are mostly of wood, painted white, but a good many have lately been built of brick and some few of stone. The public buildings are four places for public worship, two of them elegant, an academy, clerk's office, etc., and there are six taverns, fifteen stores, and two breweries. There are three printing offices, viz., one for books and two for newspapers, one bindery, two morocco factories, and one manufactory of musical in- struments, three masons and a number of brickmakers and carpenters, four cabinet and chairmakers, two coopers, seven smiths and nailors, two tinsmiths, one copper- smith, four silversmiths and watchmakers, three tanners and curriers, one furrier, six butchers, two bakers, three hatters, four tailors, four painters, and four druggists.
" The village lots are from fifty to sixty feet front and one hundred to one hundred and thirty deep and sell for from $200 to $1,000. The out-lots contain twelve acres and $500 is asked for them. House rent for mechanics is about $60 to $100; wood $1.25 per cord, flour $8 per barrel, potatoes two shillings per bushel, turnips thirty-one cents, cabbages four cents each, beans sixty-two cents per bushel, onions seventy-five cents, beef, mutton, and veal five cents per pound, venison four cents, fowls nine cents each, ducks two shillings, geese four shillings, turkeys five shillings, butter one shilling, cheese seven cents, hog's lard six cents, beer $5 per barrel, whisky forty-five cents . per gallon, boarding $2.50 per week.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF UTICA.
" The government of the village is vested in a board of five trustees chosen annually by the inhabitants. There are five schools in which are taught all the various branches of education, which is pretty well attended to; and there is a very good seminary for young ladies. The expense of tuition is about from $2 to $4 per quarter. The com- merce of Utica consists of dry goods, groceries, crockery, hardware, and cotton, im- ported ; and of grain, flour, provisions, ashes, etc., exported. The chief part of the commerce is with New York, but it is said a considerable smuggling trade has of late been carried on with Canada. Wheat is $1.12 per bushel, corn forty-four cents, bar- ley seventy-five cents, ashes nominal, cotton twenty-one cents, horses $50 to $100, cows $15 to $22, sheep $2 to $2.50. Lands on the turnpikes in the neighborhood sell for from $50 to $100, further off $40 to $50; but the lands in both village and country have greatly depreciated in money value."
Richard Montgomery Malcom, brother of Samuel B. Malcom already mentioned, had been a merchant in the city of New York and was liv- ing there just before the outbreak of the War of 1812. On the 8th of April, 1812, he received a commission as captain in the Thirteenth Regi- ment of United States Infantry. On the 13th of October following he took part in the battle of Queenstown and was wounded in the thigh by a musket ball. In March, 1813, he was promoted to major and in June of the next year to lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment. In June, 1815, he was disbanded. His family meanwhile were living in Utica from an early period of the war. A few months after leaving the army we find Colonel Malcom announcing in a Utica paper that he " will pro- cure soldiers' bounties," and a year later that he is acting as commission broker and ready to serve any one living out of the village who will make him his agent to execute business at the banks or elsewhere. His residence in Utica continued until about 1823.
The enterprising successor of the Messrs. Wolcott, who in the end was more fortunate than either, was John Williams. Received into part- nership by Dr. W. H. Wolcott when the latter separated himself from his brother he soon became the real manager of the firm of Wolcott & Williams, and remained therein until its dissolution in 1817. He now opened a store of his own at No. 34 Genesee street, where, and at his later store, he carried on for many years a large trade in drugs and groceries. Partly through the steady accumulation of trade, partly by means of the privilege he held of furnishing supplies for the packet boats, and partly by his leading interest in the very productive stock of the Packet Boat Company he gained a large fortune and came to be one of the foremost men of the place.
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