USA > New York > Onondaga County > Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times, being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga, with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswego, Vol. II > Part 7
USA > New York > Oswego County > Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times, being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga, with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswego, Vol. II > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
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last time to behold in the body, the few surviving friends of his earlier years. He could not bid adieu to the world in peace, till this last and greatest of his earthly wishes should be gratified.
On this occasion a public dinner was tendered to him, by P. N. Rust, Esq., of the Syracuse House. A large number of the most distinguished gentlemen of the county were present, together with the few gray-headed pioneers, who still lingered in the land. Nearly all the company were the personal friends of Judge Forman, many of them having been sharers or at- tentive observers of his early and patriotic public efforts, for the social, mental and moral improvement of this county. Few indeed are the instances, where an individual, mantled in the hoary locks of age, after an absence of twenty years, returns to the scenes of his primitive usefulness, with so many demon- strations, on the part of friends and former neighbors, of joy and thankfulness, as in the one before us. It was also a sea- son of peculiar gratification to him. Here he beheld the re- sults of his labors in early active manhood. Here he beheld the progress of a thriving town founded by his fostering hand. Here he received the warm greetings of the friends of his early life, and here he met with them, to bid them a kind, af- fectionate and last adieu.
Moses D. Burnet, Esq., presided on this very interesting occasion. A formal address of congratulation, on account of the great success of his early labors, and the remarkable ful- filment of his hopes and predictions, was made by the Hon. Harvey Baldwin, which was replied to, in behalf of Judge Forman, (he being then unable to articulate distinctly, on ac- count of a paralyticshock,) by his son-in-law, E. W. Leaven- worth, Esq.
Gen. Amos P. Granger, Hon. George Geddes, Lewis H. Redfield, Esq., and several other gentlemen of note, address- ed the party in a very felicitous manner.
The proceedings of this very interesting meeting may be found in the Onondaga Democrat of the 3d of Oct., 1846, and other city papers of that date.
, B 6
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From Syracuse, Judge Forman retired to his mountain home, in the milder climes of the sunny South, carrying with him the most vivid recollections of the kindness and hospitali- ty of his friends ; looking back upon a well spent life, much of which was devoted to the service of his country, without regret ; and forward, without a fear to the hour when he will be called away from the scenes of society and earth.
Judge Forman is still living, (1849,) at his home in North Carolina, having bid adieu to the cares and business occupa- tions of life.
The character of this distinguished man may be summed up in a very few words. His mind was of no ordinary cast, and whether we view him as a fellow-citizen, a neighbor, a legisla- tor, a jurist, a judge, or as a man, we find nothing that we cannot respect and admire. Full of life and energy himself, he infused with uncommon facility the same spirit into others, and wherever he was found, in him was the master spirit of every plan. He possessed a mind of uncommon activity, never wearying with the multiplicity of his labors and cares; it was stored with an unusual variety of knowledge, extending far beyond the boundaries of his professional pursuits, and he pos- sessed a rare felicity in the communication of this knowledge to others. This fund of solid and general information, upon every variety of topic, and his forcible and happy manner of communication, joined with the most social and cheerful dis- position, rendered him on all occasions a most agreeable and interesting gentleman in conversation, and the delight of every cirele in which he moved. He greatly excelled in the clear perceptions of the results of proposed measures of public im- provement, and in a capacity to present them forcibly to oth- ers, carrying along with him individuals, communities and pub- lie assemblies, by his easy flowing language, and a manner at once most clear, captivating and persuasive. Ilis whole life was characterized by the most public spirited efforts for the general good, and the most disinterested benevolence,-al- ways comparatively forgetful of his own private interest, in his zeal for the accomplishment of works of public utility. Through
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the long period of his stirring and eventful life, he sustained a character without stain and without reproach, and now stand- ing on the borders of the grave, is most justly entitled to the admiration and gratitude of his countrymen.
It was the happiness of the author, in his youthful days, to spend several months in the family of Judge Forman, at On- ondaga Hollow, and he takes pleasure in this opportunity of testifying to his domestie virtues and private worth.
CITY OF SYRACUSE .- The ground upon which the city of Syracuse now stands, was originally a part of the Salt Springs Reservation, and at the time the county was organized, in 1794, with all that part of the reservation east of Onondaga Creek and Lake, was included in the town of Manlius.
The first locality which received a name within the limits of the present city of Syracuse, was called Webster's Land- ing, from Ephraim Webster, who kept a few goods for the Indian trade, on the bank of the creek, a little south of its outlet. Mr. Webster was succeeded by Benjamin Newkirk, in 1793; at which time, there was quite a number of In- dian cabins, ranging along the west bank of the creek, enough to form a respectable Indian village. The dark, gloomy and almost impenetrable swamp, now occupied by the city, was then a favorite resort for wolves, bears, wild-cats, mud-turtles, and swamp rattlesnakes. The western portion of the valley about Syracuse, was originally timbered with hemlock, birch and soft maple ; the eastern portion with cedar and pine.
Near the west bank of the creek, was an extensive Indian burying-ground, where skeletons have frequently been disin- terred, and are occasionaly to this day-two having been ex- humed during the past year. At the time the west locks were constructed at Syracuse, in 1819, over one hundred were taken up. In excavating the canal for the red mill, on the east bank of the creek, several skeletons were found. In 1843, one of extraordinary size was disinterred ; one of the lower bones of the leg being set beside the limb of a tall man, reached far above his knee. The skull was comparatively
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large, and the jaws were surrounded with a full set of double teeth, all around. They were perfectly sound, covered with a beautiful enamel of the most perfect whiteness. Such oc- currences are not uncommon, at the several Indian burying grounds throughout the county. In one grave was found a large skeleton, on each side of which was a gun, with flints in the locks, having the appearance of being loaded at the time they were buried. In this grave was also a brass kettle, two pairs of shears, three razors, a tomahawk, and a number of bullets. A large pine tree had recently been cut, which had grown over the grave. In 1842, Mr. Henry Young dis- covered a paint box, seven inches square, around which clay and gravel had firmly cemented, some four inches in thick- ness ; with it was a brush. The box contained a red pig- ment, which from the description, must have been vermilion. The gravel had become firmly attached, and a portion of the box petrified. In 1808, while Mr. Young and others were cut- ting a large hemlock tree, over four feet in diameter, for hew- ing-timber, after cutting in about a foot and a half, they found near a hundred bullets, which had been deposited in a box, cut in the tree. The number of concentric circles from the bark to the bullets, was one hundred and fifty two ; which, taken from 1808, leaves the time at which they were deposi- ted, 1656, at which time the French had established colonies and missionaries at Onondaga.
In 1795, a feud broke out between a clan of the Ononda- gas and another of the Cayugas, which raged violently for a long period, during which, at sundry times, several indi- viduals of both nations were killed. The last one who fell in this deadly strife, was an Onondaga, called Handsome Harry. He had been followed by a party of Cayugas, from Tuscarora and back, and was overtaken at the sand bank now owned by Mr. Henry Young, not far from the Syracuse pump house. When he found his pursuers hard upon him, he made no effort to escape, but quietly kneeled down, bared his bosom, and was instantly shot dead with an arrow. He was counted the handsomest man in the nation. He was bu-
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ried on the spot where he fell, and two favorite sisters for a a long time daily visited the spot, and mourned the death of their brother with the deepest sorrow.
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In 1804, an act was passed directing the sale of two hun- dred and fifty acres of land, of the Salt Springs Reservation, the avails of which were to be expended in laying out and improving a road running from lot forty-nine, Manlius, to lot thirty-eight, Onondaga, cast and west through the reser- vation. Simcon De Witt, the Surveyor General, directed James Geddes, Esq., to locate and lay out the land, and he did so. The land was advertised for sale, with the announce- ment that upon it was a good mill site. Mr. Geddes having ascertained that fact, laid out the land in reference to it. The lot was laid out in rather an irregular form,* and the reason assigned for so doing, was that as much dry land might be secured as possible. But notwithstanding all the precaution of Mr. Geddes, he found it impossible to locate the ground in such a manner as to avoid entirely the swamp, some con- siderable portion of which was covered with water most of the year ; a doleful place indeed, for the site of a future city.
While the subject of this land sale was under discussion, certain persons at Onondaga Hollow, and at Salina, denied the possibility of a water power, and so influenced the Sur- veyor General, that he put a spirit level into his gig and came out from Albany, expressly to examine the premises. He, assisted by Mr. Geddes, took a level of the creek, and found the power even better than had been represented, as made by the imperfect instrument Mr. G. had used in taking the first level.
It is sometimes curious to sce how simple circumstances and events, trifling in themselves, will operate to direct a man's whole life. The knowledge acquired by Mr. Geddes, in the use of this instrument in leveling this mill power, was the in- citing cause by which he became qualified to make the survey and levels on the Erie Canal.
* See old Map of Syracuse at the County Clerk's office.
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The two hundred and fifty acres laid out and advertized, were sold at auction in June, 1804, and bid off by Mr. Abraham Wal- ton, for the sum of six thousand five hundred and fifty dollars, or about twenty-six dollars twenty cents per acre, * and the lot was thereafter called the Walton Tract.
The commissioners to receive and disburse the money aris- ing from the sale of this tract, were James Geddes, Moses Carpenter and John Young. Mr. Geddes was appointed trea- surer, and being absent from home during the construction of the road, Mrs. Geddes became the acting treasurer, and paid out the money, upon the order of the individual who built it. Although the avails of this sale were to be appropriated to- wards the laying out and improving a road, there was a stipu- lation in the terms of sale, that the purchaser should, within a specified time, erect or cause to be erected a suitable build- ing for a tavern, or house of entertainment, for the accommo- dation of travelers. The same season, Mr. Walton laid out lots for a village, and, agreeably to the stipulation, sold to Henry Bogardus, for the consideration of three hundred dol- lars, half an acre of ground, binding him, within a reasonable time to erect a suitable house for a tavern, and to keep or cause one to be kept. Ilis house was erected in 1806. It was two stories high, and thirty-five by forty-five feet on the ground, and stood on the site of the present Empire Block. Mr. Bogardus was succeeded by Mr. Burlingham, in 1808; Joseph Langdon, in 1810; James Ingalls, in 1812; and by Sterling Cossit, in 1815.
At the time of this laying out of a village, it was called, " South Salina," and the tavern the "South Salina Hotel." A Mr. Merrill erected a small frame house the same year that Mr. Bogardus built his hotel, nearly opposite, east, but there was so much sickness in the neighborhood, that he became dis- couraged, pulled it down and carried it away. Before this purchase was made by Mr. Walton, several persons had erect- ed log cabins in the vicinity of the spot where Mr. Bogardus
* MS. of Judge James Geddes.
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put up his hotel. The names given of some of them are, Mr. Hopkins, in 1797; Mr. Butler, in 1799. These were located a little west of the Oswego bridge, north of General Gran- ger's residence, near a spring of fresh water.
In the spring of 1800, Mr. Calvin Jackson came to this place, who lived in a small log house a little south of where the rail-road crosses Genesee street, and there was born Albi- on Jackson, on the 28th of December, 1800, supposed to be the first white child born within the limits of the city of Syra- cuse, out of that part heretofore known as Salina. Mr. Jack- son is still living, near the Indian Reservation, and is a grand- son of Jeremiah Jackson. William Lee and Aaron Cole, blacksmiths, opened a shop in 1805. In 1805, Amos Stanton, father of Rufus Stanton, and Mrs. Wales, now residents of Syracuse, located near the Salina Bridge. Dr. Swan put up a small frame house in 1807. Jonathan Fay settled near the Court-House in 1808. Rufus Stanton kept a tavern near the Salina bridge in 1811-building now standing, and occupied as a public house.
The mills were erected in 1805, by Mr. Walton, James Sayles being the master builder. The first dam was erected where the Seneca Turnpike bridge crosses the creek, and the road at that time passed over it. The dam stood only about a year, when it was swept away by a heavy spring freshet. It was re-built several rods further up the stream, but has recent- ly been torn away on account of the supposed unhealthiness of the mill pond.
The name South Salina, was not received with general ap- probation, and after a time it was changed to " Milan." This name it bore for several years, and marriages, deaths, and other incidents, were announced in the " Manlius Times," then the only paper in the county, as having taken place at Milan.
The Walton Tract, was a portion of it sold to Michael Ho- gan and Charles Walton, and they, with the original proprie- tor, held it in common. After some unimportant changes, it was transferred to Forman, Wilson & Co., in 1814, for about
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nine thousand dollars. From these proprietors, it passed into the hands of Daniel Kellogg and Wm. H. Sabin, in 1818, who sold it in 1823 to Henry Eckford, Esq., the celebrated ship- builder of New-York. In May, 1824, the Walton Tract was transferred to the Syracuse Company, for the consideration of thirty thousand dollars, which Company consisted of Messrs. William James, Isaiah and John Townsend, and James Mc- Bride. The same was deeded in trust to Messrs. Moses D. Burnet and Gideon Hawley, since which, village lots have been extensively sold.
At the time the purchase was made by Forman, Wilson & Co., they erected a large slaughter house in a pine grove, a little in rear of Gen. Granger's dwelling, north of Church street. They continued the business of packing beef and pork on a large scale, till 1817, having had during the war a heavy army contract.
After the transfer of the Walton cstate to Messrs. Kellogg and Sabin, Judge Forman was appointed agent for them, and had the sole management of affairs.
In the spring of 1819, Mr. Owen Forman, a younger brother of the Judge, and John Wilkinson, Esq., then a young law- yer, came down from Onondaga Hollow, under the direction of Judge Forman, to lay out the Walton Tract into village lots. The old survey of a village by Mr. Walton was thrown aside and disregarded. These young men proceeded to the work in the month of June, and such was the indefinite posi- tion of the ancient land marks, that it was with the greatest difficulty that they could ascertain with any degree of cer- tainty, the starting point. Although in possession of an ex- cellent description, made by Judge Geddes, but for a certain wild plumb tree therein mentioned, it is thought doubtful whether the precise lines as originally run could have been traced. After near a fortnight of hard labor, the village was again laid out, so far as related to the Walton Tract ; and what was not included in the village, was laid out into farm lots of from five to ten acres each.
After the survey was completed, Judge Forman named the
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village " Corinth," the name of Milan having been relinquish- ed in consequence of an ineffectual attempt to obtain a Post Office, there being already one of that name in the State. For several years the place went by the name of " Cossit's Cor- ners," after Mr. Sterling Cossit, who succeeded Mr. Ingalls in the South Salina Hotel. Mr. Cossit kept the house from 1815 to 1825, after which it was kept for some time by Mr. Williston.
When this last survey was made, there was but a small clearing in the village of Corinth. The extent of it was from the canal, near Clinton street, south to Fayette strect, and east to Warren street. On the north side of the canal, the clearing extended as far back as Church street, and east to Warren street. The rest of the dry ground was a pine grove inter- spersed with oak bushes.
The first burying ground in Syracuse was on Fayette street, very near where Clinton street crosses it, if any thing a little west. At this spot were buried some fifteen or twenty per- sons, whose remains have never been removed, and hundreds daily pass over them unconscious that in so public a place , lie the remains of individuals who were once as active in life as any now upon the stage. The old burying ground near the west Rail-Road Depot, was laid out by Owen Forman and John Wilkinson, at the time they laid out the village.
Purchases were now somewhat rapidly made, and the busi- ness of clearing went vigorously on. Very much of the pre- sent city was, however, a dreary waste of swamp, approached only by means of "corduroy" and "gridiron" roads. All along where now is located the beautiful park, was then a fa- mous shooting ground for partridges and rabits, and further back, were plenty of wood-cock, snipe, owls and mud-turtles.
In spring, the water did not usually subside sufficiently to allow people to pass with any degree of comfort, till late in May or June, and those going from Onondaga to Salina, were obliged to pass around on the high ground east of Syracuse, over by-roads, which were cut in every direction through the reservation, for the purpose of collecting wood in winter for
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the salt works. A person passing over the present improved roads, ean have no conception of their impassable condition in spring and autumn, at that period. In fact the only time when they were endurable was in winter, when perfectly fro- zen and covered with a good body of snow.
In the fall of 1819, Judge Forman removed to Syracuse with his family, and occupied a house a little west of the Townsend Block. At this time there were but two frame houses in the village, besides the tavern. Log houses, and plank, and slab cabins, were scattered over the dry ground, most of which latter had been tenanted by laborers on the canal. The pasture of the Judge ran baek some fifty rods and east to Salina street; most of it was a pine grove. Another lot of twenty acres commenced where the Syracuse House now stands, and there was a set of bars and passage-way to this lot, where the western front door of that building opens to the street. In 1816, Rufus Stanton raised on this ground an abundant crop of rye. It was afterwards occupied as a pas- ture until 1820. So dense was the forest about Syracuse in 1819, that two young ladies, the present Mrs. E. W. Leaven- wortlı and Mrs. M. D. Burnet, in taking a morning stroll over "Prospect Hill," became bewildered among the thiek brush- wood, and finally rambled about till the day was far spent, when they found themselves in the vicinity of the Lodi Loeks, greatly fatigued with their labors, and not a little rejoiced at the prospect of deliverance from the terrors of passing a gloomy night in the wilderness. Here they recognized fami- liar ground, and returned home in safety, after a day of much anxiety and no little inquietude of mind.
Previous to the arrival of Judge Forman, Sidney Dole and Milan C. Taylor, owned and occupied the mill, and kept a store next west of where the late William Malcolm first kept ; this was in 1814. They were the first merchants in Syracuse. Northrup and Dexter had a job on the Erie Canal in 1817, and set up a store in place of Dole and Taylor, and conduct- ed business till 1821. In 1821, General Amos P. Granger came down from Onondaga Hill, and set up as a dry goods
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merchant, on the north-east corner, by the present Salina street bridge. At this time there was no other store in Syra- cuse, except two or three small groceries. Mr. Henry New- ton opened a store in 1822; Mr. Archy Kasson opened a hardware store in 1822; Kasson and Heermans, dry goods, groceries and hardware in 1823; Mr. G. M. Towle opened a commission and forwarding store in April, 1823; Geo. Davis & Co., in July, 1823 ; Henry W. Durnford, groceries, drugs and medicine, 1823; John Rogers & Co., from New-York, November, 1823; William Malcolm, 1823; Haskell & Wal- bridge, saddlers and furnishers for the trade, 1824. In 1824, J. Vanderheyden, Mead & Davis, A. N. Van Patten, and H. & W. Dowd, established themselves as merchants at Syracuse. Hiram Judson, watch maker and jeweller, 1824; H. Hyde & Co., established themselves as forwarding mer- chants in 1824. Since this period merchants have become so numerous it is impossible to follow their history with preci- sion.
Messrs. Buell & Safford bought the lot where the Syracuse House now stands, and commenced the erection of the "Syra- cuse Hotel." While the building was in progress of erection, Mr. Safford fell from a scaffold, and was killed by the fall ; after which, the property passed into the hands of Mr. Eck- ford, who completed the Syracuse Hotel in 1822. It was three stories high, and the first brick building of any considerable dimensions, erected in town. It was kept several years by Mr. James Mann. After the Syracuse Company came in possession of the premises, the house was rebuilt, and has since been enlarged and improved to its present ample di- mensions and style. It was at the time of rebuilding named the "Syracuse House ;" after which, it was kept by Mr. George Rust; afterwards, by Daniel Comstock and H. T. Gibson ; and for a long period thereafter, it was kept by P. N. Rust, Esq. He was succeeded by Gillett & Knicker- bocker, in 1848.
In 1822, Syracuse had not more than two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and no place of worship; the whole church-going
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community was only from thirty to forty ; no school-house, only two taverns, and the stores before mentioned.
The first physician was Dr. Swan, who located at Syracuse about the year 1807.
Dr. Basset was the physician during the building of the canal, and did a vast amount of medical business ; for, almost every man engaged on the canal was sick. Eye witnesses ob- serve, that the scenes of suffering and distress at that period, were beyond conception. Dr. Colvin succeeded Dr. Basset, and still resides at Syracuse. Dr. Day came in afterwards, and died of Cholera, in 1832. Dr. M. Williams, and other phy- sicians, came in soon after, and the number has become so numerous, that it would be difficult to trace them.
John Wilkinson, Esq., in 1819, was the first lawyer who established himself in Syracuse. He erected an office on the corner where the Globe Buildings now stand, and was heartily ridiculed for setting his office out in the fields. This locality at that time, was quite out of town ; but circumstances, and the advancing prosperity of the place, have brought it into the centre of business.
Alfred Northam, Esq., established himself as a lawyer at Syracuse, in 1824. Messrs. Harvey Baldwin and Schuyler Strong, were the next lawyers who located at Syracuse, in 1826, and were soon followed by Messrs. Wheaton and Davis, E. W. Leavenworth, Esq., B. D. Noxon, Esq., James R. Law- renee, Esq., and others, some of whom came with the removal of the Court House from the Hill.
Mr. John Durnford, established the first printing press at Syracuse. He was induced to locate at Syracuse, from repre- sentations made to him of the growing importance of the vil- lage. He issued the first number of the " ONONDAGA GA- ZETTE," 2d of April, 1823; it was of the Clintonian school of politics. The first number contained but one merchant's advertisement, viz. : Kasson & Heerman's. Other advertise- ments were of "Lee's Billious Pills," "Pomeroy's Razor Strop," "Clark's Commentary," and " Morse's Geography." The name of the paper was changed after the first year, to
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