Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 3

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > New York > Onondaga County > Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II > Part 3

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).

During the greater portion of the period covering the history of Salina as a vil- lage, Thomas G. Alvord was the efficient clerk.

In the foregoing pages attention has been chiefly directed to the vil- lage of Salina, for here the early settlers most congregated. In fact a considerable part of the commercial and manufacturing interests of the entire county centered in this vicinity during the first quarter century of its history. In the chapter devoted to Cicero appears a list of the prominent residents in the towns of Salina, Cicero, and Clay between the years 1795 and 1825, as preserved by Lewis H. Redfield about 1830, and to it the reader is referred for the names of those who by their industry and enterprise were foremost in developing the territory mentioned.

In 1824 Salina village contained about 100 dwellings and sixty salt manufactories. The town, which then embraced the Geddes of that time and Syracuse, contained 1,814 inhabitants, 111 farmers, 362 manufacturers, four slaves, 454 electors, 1,000 acres of improved land, 435 cattle, 172 horses, 297 sheep, a grist mill, one saw mill, an oil mill, two asheries, four school houses, and 484 school children. In that year

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1,414 yards of domestic cloth were made in families. A Gazetteer of 1836 gives Salina village one Presbyterian, one Roman Catholic, and one Methodist Episcopal church, three taverns, nine stores, a bank with a capital of $150,000, and seventy- seven salt manufactories, while Liverpool had two taverns, four stores, and about sixty houses, mostly of wood. The town at this period contained 883 militia, 1,540 voters, 11,407 acres of improved land, 2,423 cattle, 1,239 horses, 2,935 sheep, 3,010 swine, four grist mills, seven saw mills, three iron works, a distillery, two asheries, one tannery, a brewery, seventeen school districts, and 947 scholars. During the year 1835 6,255 yards of domestic cloth were manufactured.

In 1845 the town contained 15,804 inhabitants, 1,864 militia, 3,533 voters, 2,353 school children, twenty-six common schools, 14,012 acres of improved land, four grist mills, four saw mills, four iron works, one trip-hammer, two asheries, two tanneries, churches-one Baptist, three Episcopalian, three Presbyterian, a Congregationalist, six Methodist, three Roman Catholic, one Universalist, one Unitarian, and one Jewish, four wholesale and 103 retail stores, seventy eight groceries, 297 farmers, 130 merchants, 147 manufacturers, 1,003 mechanics, twenty-one clergymen, thirty-three physicians, and forty-one lawyers. These figures took in Syracuse and Geddes as well as the village and town of Salina.

Statistics of 1860, after the town of Salina had been reduced to its present limits: Acres of improved land, 6,560; assessed value of real estate, $802,575, and personal property, $32,900; dwellings, 417; families, 497; freeholders, 274; horses, 333; cattle, 394; cows. 427; sheep, 1,557; swine, 674; winter wheat produced in one year, 1,062 bushels; spring wheat, 44,288 bushels; hay, 1,559 tons; potatoes, 15,550 bushels; apples, 4,021 bushels; butter, 44,732 pounds; cheese, 400 pounds; yards of domestic cloth, 94.

The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the opening of the Os- wego Canal in 1828 contributed materially to the commercial prosperity of this town, and especially to the villages of Salina and Liverpool, which continued to advance until overshadowed by Syracuse in later years. The great salt industry brought into activity scores of other enterprises which gave employment to hundreds of skilled mechanics, but its most extensive auxiliary was coopering, or the manufacture of barrels, which at one time nearly equaled in extent the business that gave it existence. This was largely carried on by Germans, who from their earliest settlement here were noted for their thrift and frugality. Cooper shops of various capacities flourished throughout the town as well as in adjacent territory, and cooperage constituted the chief reve- nue and occupation of the masses. The dense forests long furnished abundant material, and being contiguous to the constantly increasing salt operations were utilized for this purpose to a greater extent than elsewhere in the county. This fact explains the absence of asheries, of which only two are mentioned in the preceding statistics.

The Oswego Canal gave a marked impulse to the advancement of

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THE TOWN OF SALINA.

Liverpool village, which in early days was called "Little Ireland." At an early period, previous to 1800, it was a sprightly hamlet, where considerable bartering was done. It was a convenient shipping point by water, being situated directly upon the shore of the lake, and biit for the miasma which enveloped it in those early years, because of the territory about it being illy drained, it might have continued to con- test with Salina its claim to greatest prominence. It was also ambitious to be the peer of Manlius, but it was never destined to become such.

The site was laid out as a village by the surveyor-general and given the name of Liverpool by the commissioners of the land office. The earliest settlers have already been given. During the first twenty years of this century it was principally a salt manufacturing point, but as settlers took up their homes within its limits the place acquired considerable mercantile activity. The opening of the canal was the signal for a new era of prosperity, and on April 20, 1830, the village was incorporated by a special act of the State Legislature. The first charter election was held in the school house on the 7th of June of that year, Benjamin W. Adams, presiding, and the following officers were elected: Joseph Jaqueth, president; Saul C. Upson, Harvey Kimball, William Wint- worth, Sherman Morehouse, and John Paddock trustees; Ara Gleason, Zenas Corbin, and Reuben Norton, assessors; Caleb Hubbard, clerk; Jonathan P. Hicks, treasurer; Aaron Van Ostrom, collector; Sher- man Morehouse and Samuel C. Godard, constables. The village pres- idents have been as follows:

Joseph Jaqueth, 1830; Samuel C. Upson, 1831 ; James Johnson, 1832; John Paddock, 1833-34; Joseph Hasbrook, 1835; John Paddock, 1836; Jonathan P. Hicks, 1837; John Pinney, 1838; E. Ladanis, 1839; Jared Bassett, 1840; John Mathews, 1841-42; Jared Bassett, 1843; Dr. Charles S. Sterling, 1844; James Johnson, 1845-46; John Matthews, 1847-48; Jared Bassett, 1849; Isaac Sharp, 1850; Edward T. Chany, 1851 ; Henry Clark, 1852; Sampson Jaqueth, 1853; P. Barnes, 1854; Stephen Van Alstyne, 1855; Charles W. Cornue, 1856; A. S. Tracy, 1857; C. W. Cornue, 1858; Dr. C. S. Sterling, 1859; T. B. Anderson, 1860; Jared Bassett, 1861-62; T. B. Anderson, 1863; Joseph Jaqueth, 1864; C. W. Cornue, 1865; J. T. Crawford, 1866; A. P. Burtch, 1867; David A. Brown, 1868-69; J. J. Moscrip, 1870; O. C. Gleason, 1871; Tenant Hinck- ley, 1872; Sampson Jaqueth, 1873; R. R. Claxton, 1874; D. F. Gillis, 1875-76; Will- iam Gleason, 1877; 1878-1884, records lost; William Gleason, 1885-86; Silas Duell, 1887; Edward P. Black, 1888-89; Daniel Mathews, 1890; William J. Cake, 1891 : Silas Duell, 1892; Jacob Smith, 1893; James G. Miller, 1894; Charles G. Alvord, 1895.

Liverpool in 1836 contained the stores of J. & J. G. Hasbrook, L. & J. Corbin, and Joseph Jaqueth ; Drs. Charles S. Sterling and Caleb 120

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ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

Hubbard were physicians, Rev. Phineas Kamp was the local clergyman, and Joseph Malton presided over the school. A somewhat famous school had been established at a very eary day by one Conner, who taught the children and made salt at the same time. His was consid- ered the best educational institution in the county, was denominated " the high school," and was patronized by the residents of Salina and Onondaga Hollow. Schools seem to have kept pace with all other in- terests. In 1846 the present brick school house in the village was erected, to which an addition was made in the rear in 1863. In 1874 the Liverpool Union Free school was organized and still continues. The town now contains eight school districts, in each of which is a com- modious school house.

Joseph and Sampson Jaqueth were for many years leading merchants in Liverpool, and contributed by their enterprise and public spirit to the growth and development of the place. They were both prominent men and left large property interests. Among other merchants were John and Henry Paddock, George and Jared Bassett, John S. Forger, John Acker, Zenas and Justus Corbin, Peter Smith, Israel and Backus Hasbrook, William Manley, Thomas B. Anderson, Aiken & Sons, Lucius Gleason, George H. Russell and his father, George F. Sharrer, Charles Hasbrouck, Moses Folger, Stephen Van Alstyne, Thomas Hand (father of Charles), Miles and Richard Adams; the present ones being Charles Hand, Dinehart & Sharrer, George Shaver, Peter and Jacob B. Smith, William Gleason, and William F. Lee & Son. Among the blacksmiths may be mentioned John Passmore and son William, Peter Moschell, Peter Myers, A. B. Wells, Frank Beuscher, and Henry Beuscher; wagonmakers and undertakers, James Cronkhite, and John G. Boyden; tailors, Tenant Hinckley and Philander Hasbrook (died March 23, 1894, aged eighty-six); shoemakers, Mr. Stilson, George Cockings, and Morris Wintworth; harnessmakers, George Cockings, and Edward Kelly; physicians, Drs. Charles S. Sterling (died Septem- ber 9, 1884, aged eighty), William Seward, J. R. Young, C. S. Hunt- ington, A. B. Randall, and R. A. Whitney. Joseph Jaqueth was an early postmaster, and following him in the office were John S. For- ger, Jasper T. Crawford, Henry Lynn, George Richburg, and Mar- tin Dinehart, incumbent. C. A. Fargo and John S. Forger carried on sash, blind, and casket manufacturing for several years in a building owned by the Jaqueth estate. Hotels and taverns also formed an im- portant part of the village, and among the old-time landlords were

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THE TOWN OF SALINA.

Ambrose and George Ingersoll, brothers, who kept a hostelry about where the Globe Hotel now stands. The old tavern was burned about 1870, and George Ingersoll erected the present house near the same site, of which Silas Duell has been proprietor since 1890. The stone hotel was built by Jonathan P. Hicks, and among its occupants were A. B. Wells, Harvey Batchelder, Oscar Bunzey, Harvey Crawford, and Alonzo Godard, who also kept the Globe for a time.

During the prosperous period of the salt industry many prominent salt manufacturers lived in and around Liverpool. William Forger, father of John S., was one of the earliest, and comnienced his opera- tions with a single kettle. Among others were Lucius Larkin, Jason Leonard, William Manley, Thomas B. Anderson, Joseph and Sampson Jaqueth, Tenant Hinckley, John Paddock, John S. Forger, Henry Wycker, George Shaver, Albert Pierce, Jesse Mckinley, Peter and Jacob Smith, George and Jared Bassett, Thomas Gale, Daniel Mathews, Thomas Murray, Lewis T. Hawley, James Duell, Lucius Gleason, Duncan W. Peck, Stephen Van Alstyne, Anson S. Lacy (father of Henry), John W. Van Alstyne, Nicholas Timmons, Mr. Hutchinson. Salt manufacturing reached the zenith of its prosperity in 1873, when the tariff on foreign salt was reduced; after that it steadily declined, until great blocks with long rows of kettles which were once valued at vast sums of money became practically worthless, while solar salt manufacturing also declined. Operations in the last block were discon- tinued about 1890.

But as the salt business decreased, another industry sprung into ex- istence and spread over nearly every part of the town. This was the raising of willows for baskets. About forty years ago the willow in- dustry was inaugurated on a small scale, principally by Germans, who turned their earnest attention to the cultivation of this now important product and the making of baskets. After about two decades the business was quite generally and exclusively developed, and at the present time it leads in many sections of Salina all other business in- terests. Lucius Gleason was for many years one of the heaviest pro- ducers. Among the numerous manufacturers who were instrumental in developing the willow industry may be mentioned John Fisher, George Miller, Philip and Valentine Bond, Frederick Bauer, John Bond, Adam King, Anthony Shauer, and the Biddell brothers. In 1870 there were produced 8,000 dozen of baskets, in 1892 33,000 dozen, the highest number in any one year, and in 1895 about 28,000 dozen were turned out.

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ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

Another important industry which created considerable activity in Liverpool was the building and repairing of canal boats, which sprung up very soon after the Oswego Canal was opened. R. B. Claxton and Francis Meloling had a dry dock in the village for many years, while Stephen Van Alstyne, John S. Forger, Charles A. Barnes, and others carried on boat building, etc.

At this point it is pertinent to add the names of other settlers and citizens to whose energy is due the conversion of a forest-covered ter- ritory into a fruitful and attractive section. The following list is taken largely from the town records prior to 1840, and includes no doubt many who were living in Geddes and Syracuse, which at that period were within the limits of Salina:

Henry Lake (justice), Stephen W. Cadwell, Benjamin F. Williams (surveyor), George H. Patrick, Thomas Rose, Henry Case, Noah Wood, William and Elijah Clark, Thomas Bennett, Oliver Teall, Sheldon Pardee, Henry Newton, Simeon Spaulding, Samuel P. Smith, James H. Luther, Israel Hasbrook, James Lynch, Saul C. Upson, Alfred Northam, Clark Hebbard, Noah H. and John H. Smith, James Johnson, Alanson Edwards, jr., Charles L. Skinner, Caleb Hub- bard, Thomas Mccarthy, Zenas Church, Henry Lamb, Ralph Bulkley, George Siperly, Ovias Abel, Levi Higby, William Schuyler, Jacob G. Willard, Gershom Brown, Asahel Reed, Charles Kilmer, Hugh Gregg, James B. Jerome, James Beards- lee, Thomas Rexford, James I. Rice, Henry Devoe, Elijah W. Curtis, David G. Montgomery, Heman H. Phillips, John F. Wyman, Jerome I. Briggs, Thomas Sam- mons, Harvey Kimball, Benjamin F. Green (surveyor), James Bates, John W. Wood- ward, George Stevens, John C. Dunham, Ira H. Williams, Darius A. Orcott, David S. Earll (died June 24, 1894, aged over 95), Samuel C. Goddard, Lucius Goddard (born here, and died June 16, 1894, aged 74), John Whitney (died in 1892), Isaac Secor (father of Hulstead), David D. Miller (father of Peter), Willard, Lucius, Will- iam, and Orson C. Gleason (sons of Ara), Julius N. Clark, Robert Furman, Jacob Brewster, Rufus Stanton, Freeman Hughes, Isaac Keeler, Jonathan Baldwin, Ira A. Gilchrist, Roswell Hinman, John Hartshorn, James Keith, Hosea Case, David Bonta, Richard Sanger, jr., Abram Harris, Isaac Lewis, Hugh T. Gibson, William W. Tripp, Horace Bailey, Mars Nearing.

Among the names which appear on the town records between 1840 and 1850 are:

Arthur Ingersoll, Stoddard H. Hinman, Abner Vickery, jr., David Leslie, William Barker, Amos Stafford, Norman Morehouse, Wildman Williams, John H. Johnson, George H. Waggoner, William P. Harris, Joseph Wilson, Elisha Marsh, Tenant Hinckley, Henry Henderson. John Adams, William B. and James C. Garrett, Isaac Sharp, Edward Haynes, Isaiah Sparks, James Duell.

James Duell moved from Dutchess county to the town of Clay in 1842 and came thence in 1847 to Liverpool, where he died in August, 1886. His son, Silas Duell, since May, 1890, proprietor of the Globe

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THE TOWN OF SALINA.

Hotel, was born in Pine Plains, N. Y., October 25, 1840, and served as salt inspector twelve years.

William F. Lee, previously mentioned, was born in 1835 in Liver- pool, where his father, George Lee, from the eastern part of this State, settled in 1802. George was a caulker by trade, served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and died here in 1857, leaving a widow, Kezia, daugh- ter of William Forger, and twelve children, of whom Harry W., Will- iam F., John F., and George W., still survive and reside in this town; of the eight deceased Dorrance B. served in the war of the Rebellion, lost both feet, and died here about 1880. William F. Lee was salt in- spector under Vivus W. Smith and since 1865 has been engaged in the meat and grocery business. His mother was born in Pompey in June, 1803, came to Liverpool with her parents in 1804, and has lived in the village ever since, a period of ninety-two years, being the oldest person in the town. She is a pensioner of the war of 1812. Her brother, John S. Forger, long a prominent business man, merchant, postmaster, farmer, brick and salt manufacturer, etc., died here August 27, 1888, aged seventy-seven.

Lucius Gleason was born in Liverpool village December 8, 1819, and died there January 3, 1893, being the oldest child of Ara and Mary (Flint) Gleason, who became settlers in 1812. He was for many years extensively identified with salt manufacturing, merchandising, the wil- low industry, and various other enterprises, and owned a farm of 250 acres in this town and another of 750 acres in Clay. He was president of the Third National Bank of Syracuse from January, 1871, until his death.

John Paddock was born in Herkimer county in 1805, came to Liver- pool in 1826, and for many years held a prominent place in the com- mercial and moral life of village and town.

Duncan Gillis, born in April, 1801, came to Liverpool with his fam- ily from Washington county in 1839 and engaged in the salt business. He subsequently became a farmer and died in November, 1889. Dar- win F. Gillis, his only child, was born in Sandy Hill, N. Y., in 1838, and has practically spent his life in the village, where he was receiver of salt duties for three years, and where he is now village clerk and a produce dealer. His wife is a daughter of Benjamin Chauncey Brad- ley, whose father, Merrick Bradley, married in 1809 Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Sprague) Colvin, of Skaneateles, who were the grandparents of Mrs. Delia Colvin Hatch. The Bradley family came

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ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

to this town in 1835 and settled on a farm between Liverpool and Salina. B. C. Bradley married a daughter of Elijah Bowen, of Marcellus, and died in 1864, four years before his father, whose death occurred in 1868. Merrick Bradley, besides one son, had one daughter, Mrs. E. A. Will- iams of Syracuse.

During the war of the Rebellion from 1861 to 1865 the town of Salina contributed generously of her brave and patriotic sons to fill the ranks of the Union armies, and the record which her loyal citizens made throughout that sanguinary conflict graces with imperishable brilliancy the pages of local history. Great credit is also due the women-wives and mothers, sisters, and friends of those heroic soldiers-who cour- ageously supported the cause and aided in ameliorating the hardships of those on the field and in hospital.

The years immediately following the Civil war witnessed almost general prosperity. Except in the village attention had for some time been given mainly to agricultural pursuits, which proved both profit- able and congenial, owing to the easy cultivation of the soil. All kinds of grain, corn, vegetables, hay, potatoes, fruit, etc., were raised in abundance, and the proximity to Syracuse and the two great canals afforded excellent markets and cheap transportation. But another thoroughfare of travel was destined to exert a powerful influence upon both town and village. This was the Syracuse Northern Railroad, which was opened November 9, 1871. Soon afterward the Phoenix branch, striking the main line at Woodard, was completed. These roads gave existence to the little hamlet at the junction, which shortly after acquired the privileges of a post-office, where Allen B. Kinney has officiated as postmaster for several years. Liverpool thenceforward lost much of its former prestige and business activity by having its trade drawn to the city of Syracuse.

While sturdy and enterprising settlers were pouring into the town and converting it from a wilderness into a prosperous community the elevating influences of education and religion were not neglected. The former has already been noticed, while the latter, in so far as the sub- ject relates to the old village of Salina, is sufficiently treated in the chapter devoted to Syracuse. The inhabitants of the east part of the town and along the northern border have always enjoyed religious services in what is now the city or in Clay, and the reader's attention in this respect is directed to Liverpool, where the chief interests of the present town center. Here the Methodists held meetings prior to 1820,

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in which year the first M. E. church of Liverpool was organized with such members as William B. Harris, Calvin Turner, Seth A. Cary, Peter M. Cameron, Jesse Pease, M. R. Judd, and Mrs. Bennett, Hinck- ley, Hogan, Bishop, and Keith. In 1826 an edifice was built at a cost of about $1,500. This structure, since repaired and remodeled, is still standing. The Presbyterians held services at a very early day in the second story of the building now occupied by William F. Lee as a meat market, the public school being held during the week on the first floor. This building then stood near the center of Washington Park, and be- ginning in the winter of 1828-29 Rev. Phineas Camp preached two

years. On November 9, 1829, a church was organized with nine mem- bers: John and Martha Dickson, Martha O. Dickson, Nancy Paddock, Eaton E. Griffin, Nancy Hicks, Rebecca Morehouse, Lucinda Sum- merton, and Martha Moschell. Mr. Dickson was deacon for thirty- five years. In 1841 a frame edifice was erected at an expense of $3,000, the builder being James Johnson and the principal financier Jonathan P. Hicks. The present brick structure was built during the ministry of Rev. Chester W. Hawley, cost $11,500, and was dedicated March 4, 1863. Among the pastors have been Revs. Phineas Camp (first), Ezekiel J. Chapman, A. C. Tuttle, Elisha B. Sherwood, Royal A. Avery, R. T. Searle, and H. C. Hazen.

Ascension (Episcopal) church was organized in 1840, and the next year an edifice was erected. The first rector was Rev. George D. Gil- lespie, and the communicants numbered three or four. This church soon disbanded. In 1852 St. Paul's German Lutheran church was or- ganized, and in the autumn of 1853 they purchased the Episcopal edi- fice, which they still occupy. The first pastor was Rev. T. W. Reich- enberg. Among the original nine members of this society were Peter Schmidt, John Bahn, and Martin Weimar. This church was preceded by the Salem church of the Evangelical Associatian of North America, which was organized in 1844 with twenty-four members, among whom were George Miller (in whose house services had previously been held), Charles Werner, Jacob Eberling, P. Wilbert, John Backer, L. Traes- ter, and others. An edifice was built in 1844 at a cost of about $1,000. It is now used as a tin shop, having been superseded by a new frame structure about 1886. In 1890 the Roman Catholics erected a neat, frame church, the parish having been organized as an out mission from Syracuse some years previously.

The village of Liverpool has also maintained since August 26, 1862,

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ONONDAGA'S CENTENNIAL.

Liverpool lodge, No. 525, F. & A. M., which was instituted on that date with nine members: R. J. Chillingworth, W. M. ; W. W. Parker, S. W .; C. S. Wells, J. W .; T. B. Anderson, secretary ; A. B. Wells, James O'Neil, Thomas Drum, R. B. Claxton, and R. Platt. About the same year the construction of sewers was commenced on a small scale, and this public improvement has been continued from time to time until now the village boasts a comparatively adequate sewerage system. Some ten years ago the old fire buckets were replaced by the services and equipment of Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, a volunteer fire organization quartered in a building used also for a village hall.

No less than three efforts have been made since 1875 to found a weekly newspaper in Liverpool. The first two of these attempts re- sulted in the very short life of the Lakeside Press, by Dr. H. E. Van Horn, a dentist, and the Liverpool Times, by John J. Hallock. The Liverpool Telegraph, the first successful journalistic enterprise in the village, was started May 21, 1892, by William F. Brand, who has ever since continued as its editor and publisher, making it a bright and newsy weekly.

In recent years Liverpool has acquired a reputation for its cigar man- ufacture. Chief among those who have developed and carried on the enterprise may be mentioned Thomas Hand and son Charles, Peter Therre, jr., and Alonzo Godard.

In 1880 the village contained 1,350 inhabitants, while in 1890 its population numbered 1,284.

The earliest record in the town clerk's office in Liverpool begins with the year 1831. All records prior to that date have been burned or lost, as diligent search has failed in discovering them. From the books in existence and from other sources the names of supervisors of Salina have been obtained as follows:

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Onondaga's centennial. Gleanings of a century, Vol. II, Part 3

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Bruce, Dwight H. (Dwight Hall), 1834-1908
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1094