USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 16
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place. Bailey Carter came in in that year and settled adjoining the John C. Payne farm, but left the town early. William Payne, from Connecticut, settled in the north part on lot 45, where John Marris for- merly lived and his son, Thomas Marris, now resides. He had sons Bradford and Weston H. Payne, who settled and died in this town. Weston H. Payne was the first white child born in Georgetown terri- . tory; the year was 1805; he died in 1843. Hannah, daughter of Will-
iam Payne, married Daniel Harrison, both of whom passed their lives here. Joseph P. Harrison settled in 1805 in the north part on the farm now owned by Oscar M. Stewart. Harrison's son, Daniel, followed him on that place; the elder Harrison died there in 1814, at the early age of thirty-five years. Calvin Cross, another pioneer of 1805, settled in the northwest part, removing from Hamilton, where he had settled in 1795.
At about this date Capt. Samuel White settled in the northwest part where his grandson, Zelotes A. White, recently resided. Elijah Brown also came in about the time under consideration; he was a son of the Samuel Brown who bought the John C. Payne improvements and came in about the date of that purchase; the father did not settle here. Alfred, brother of the son Elijah, came in a few years later and both they and their wives died on that farm, which is now owned by Herbert Brown. They reared families, some members of which were promi- nent in later years in this section.
Among other early settlers was Ebenezer Hall, who located where Charles Wagoner now lives. He removed into the village late in his life and for a time kept the hotel which he built.
David Parker and Asa West, who came together from Massachusetts in 1808, took up a lot in the north part of the town, and later Parker removed to the village and kept a tavern; he died in 1824. Philetus Stewart also settled early in the north part, where his son Sanford suc- ceeded him, and was in turn succeeded by Philetus, son of Sanford. Zadock Hawks settled in 1815 two miles north of the village where Charles Brown now resides, and where Austin Hawks formerly lived. He was a tanner and shoemaker and worked at the latter trade. There were eight children in the family, four of whom settled in this town and the remainder in the western part of the State. Horace, a son, succeeded to the homestead and died there in 1876. He held the office of member of assembly. Dr. Smith settled on the line between this town and Lebanon, where Luman Fisk and Per Lee Fisk afterwards
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lived, now owned by Scoville Upham. He was a carpenter and mason and worked at those trades in connection with farming. Benjamin Bonney, from Connecticut, settled also on the east line of the town, opposite the Dr. Smith farm, where his son, Loren Bonney, now lives. Reuben Buckingham, a native of Connecticut, settled in Georgetown in 1806, on the south line on a farm of 160 acres, and died there in 1828. This farm was recently occupied by the late George Pease and now by his family.
In this connection and at this point it becomes necessary to refer to the so-called Muller mansion in Georgetown and its somewhat mysteri- ous occupant, though the subject has already been substantially ex- hausted. In 1808 a French refugee of high rank, named Louis Anathe Muller, came to this country, amply supplied with money, and purchased a large tract of wild land in the western part of Georgetown. Accord- ing to statements made by Rev. Matthias Cazier, an educated French minister of Lebanon, this man was the Duke du Barry, and that the name by which he was known here was assumed. Other and probably less reliable authorities believed he was Louis Philippe; others "cousin of the Duke of Angoulême." This point will probably never be defin- itely settled. He was a fine looking man, with graceful manners and a martial bearing. That he stood in fear of the ascendancy of Bonaparte, even to the conquest of America, is true, and he sought the secluded hills of Georgetown as a refuge. He was always armed and usually accompanied in his short journeys about his home by servants. He had a beautiful young woman towards whom he was gallant and duti- ful, and two little sons.
Settling his family in Hamilton he proceeded to establish his home. Selecting three hundred acres about three miles west of Georgetown village and near the center of his great estate he cleared the tract and began the erection of his mansion. The building, which is still stand- ing, was 70 by 30 feet in size, the frame built very heavy of hewn cherry timbers so put together as to form almost a solid wall. The inside finish was good; seven fireplaces were provided; the rooms were large and very richly furnished. The homestead is situated on lots 75, 76, 87, 88, and 89. To the east of his mansion he opened a road run- ning nearly north and south and along the stream which flows in that locality. He bought a part of lot 126 of James McElwain, whereon is a fall ample for water power and there built a grist mill, which long ago disappeared. On the road opened by him and about a mile south-
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easterly from his mansion he founded a small village, where his many workmen and other families resided. He donated land to any person who would erect buildings. A storehouse was built and two stores, with other needed buildings. The first store was opened by two men who came over with Muller, named John Passon Bronder and Modeste del Campo; a little later James C. Winter opened the second store.
ILGA ENG.CO
THE MULLER MANSION.
About two miles east of the homestead Muller built a saw mill which has wholly disappeared. Besides all this improvement, the refugee entered extensively into farming operations, of the methods of which he was quite ignorant. When the mansion was completed he removed his family thither and settled down to domestic life. To the needy or afflicted the family were benevolent and kind, and many stories have been told of their generous acts, as well as of jokes and mild imposi- tions that were perpetrated by the neighbors and their boys at the ex- pense of his ignorance of American life, farming, and business customs. Muller established a large deer park and there confined many deer, rabbits and other animals. To obtain rabbits he paid the boys of the
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vicinity for catching them for his use. After a large number had been caught and impounded, the supply from the boys regularly increased. Muller became suspicious, and marked some of the rabbits for identi- fication, and soon found that he was repurchasing his own rabbits in a ruinous manner. It is said also that he was once induced to scour the neighborhood in an effort to buy a bushel of turnip seed, which a neighbor had told him he would require to sow an acre of ground.
Upon the opening of Bonaparte's Russian campaign Muller foresaw the downfall of the great general and made preparation to return to his native country. In 1814, when Bonaparte was a prisoner, he took his family to New York and leaving them there he sailed for France. His Georgetown property was left in charge of an agent. Returning to this country two years later he found that his agent had sold almost everything movable on the place and fled. Disheartened and sad over the wreck of his wilderness home, he sold the estate in 1816 to Abijah Weston, a New York merchant, for $10,000 and returned to his native land. The Muller mansion, which is all that is left of the once princely domain, is now the property of G. and F. Shaw.1
On the site of the village of Georgetown the first merchants were Messrs. Dudley and Bemis, who began trading soon after the first set- tlement, in the lower story of a building which stood opposite the Methodist church site. They did not continue long, and in 1817 John F. Fairchild came from Sherburne and opened a store on the north- west village corner, now owned by Dr. E. F. Lamb; he also kept a tavern on the site of the present hotel, and was probably the first post- master. The first physician did not arrive until 1810, in the person of Dr. Epaphroditus Whitmore, who practiced here until his death at an advanced age.
The first town meeting for Georgetown was held at the house of John Holmes, on the 5th of March, 1816, where the following officers were elected: William Payne, supervisor; Epaphroditus Whitmore, town clerk: Ebenezer Hall, Daniel Alvord and Pitt Lawrence, assess- ors; Daniel Hitchcock, collector; Elijah Brown and Hanford Nichols,
1 The Hamilton Republican has recently published a short series of articles on the Muller history from the pen of Henry C. Maine, which the reader will find deeply interesting. These articles are condensed from a former article in the Magazine of American History, by the same writer.
Mr. Robert F. Hubbard, of Cazenovia, whose father was attorney for Mr. Muller, has recently made extended researches in this matter, and embodied the results of his investigations in a paper which he read before the Oneida Historical Society. He finds much tending to prove that the mysterious stranger was in reality the Duke de Berri.
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overseers of the poor; Alfred Brown, Asa West and Alexander McEl- wain, commissioners of highways; Daniel Hitchcock and Royce Collis- ter, constables; Robert Benedict, Ira Allen and Samuel White, com- missioners of schools; Robert Benedict, Epaphroditus Whitmore, Daniel Hitchcock, Amos Gere, Elijah Jackson, Menoris Williams, Aaron Shepard, Nathan Benedict, Gad Taylor, Bradley Ladd, John Gipson (Gibson?), John Alderman and Apollos Drake, overseers of highways and fenceviewers.
From the old records of the town it is learned that at the first town meeting it was voted "that hogs that are permitted to run at large in the highway shall be yoked or Wrung." Also, "that rams that are permitted to run at large between the 10th of September and the 10th of November shall be forfeit." The supervisor was authorized to " take charge of the pound money and put it out at interest." It was voted " that cattle, horses and sheep shall not be permitted to run at large from the 1st day of December to the last day of April within 100 rods of any mill, tavern or store, or any place of public meeting on the Sabbath Day, upon penalty of 50 cents." A bounty of fifty cents was voted "for every grown fox caught in the town."
The second town meeting was held at the same place March 4, 1817, and it was resolved, among other proceedings, "that the school agent for the town shall be empowered to sell our school land if he can get two dollars per acre by his taking full and ample security." Restric- tions on stock running at large were continued and under increased penalties, as a rule. A bounty of $2.50 was offered for dead wolves. Ten votes were cast in that year for De Witt Clinton for governor.
On March 3, 1818, $200 was levied for the purpose of improving the roads of the town. The supervisor was directed to levy such sum for the support of the poor as he and the overseers of poor should deem sufficient. There were evidently only very few persons in the the town at that time who were incapable of supporting themselves, for in 1820 the sum voted for the poor was only $15, and in 1830 there was an overplus of poor money in the hands of the overseer of over $900. This was applied to general town expenses. In 1820 the school money amounted to $285.68.
Only one church was organized in Georgetown in very early years, and that probably not until after the erection of the county, the date as well as the identity of the organization being lost. It was of the Presbyterian faith, and the meeting house of the society built in 1824
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about half a mile north of the village was the first one in the town; it was subsequently removed to the village and in 1874 was sold to Tim- othy Brown and made an addition to his famous Free Hall, which is described further on.
We turn now to the consideration of the settlement and formation of Fenner, the last town organized in the county, excepting Stockbridge, and the two created by the division of Lenox in 1896. Fenner is the smallest town in the county in population, and its business interests of late years, aside from farming, are unimportant.
Fenner was set off from Smithfield and Cazenovia on April 22, 1823, and received its name at the suggestion of Col. Arnold Ballou, in honor of Gov. James Fenner of Rhode Island. It lies a little northwest of the center of the county and is bounded on the north by Lincoln and Sulli- van, on the east by Smithfield, on the south by Nelson, and on the west by Cazenovia. It contains about 19,000 acres of land and its present population, as shown by the census of 1892, is 999; the census reports show a gradual decline in the number of inhabitants during many past years.
The surface of the town is mainly a rolling upland, and comprises a part of the ridge that separates the northerly and southerly flowing waters of the county. A branch of Chittenango Creek rises in the eastern part and after a long detour to the southward, flows northerly and forms part of the west boundary of the town. The headwaters of the Canaseraga Creek and a small branch of the Cowasselon find their sources in the north part. These streams are fed by innumerable little springs and brooks which beautify and make productive the slopes of the hills. The beautiful Perryville Falls are situated on the Cana- seraga a few rods north of the railroad station at Perryville. The water there falls 150 feet in a succession of sloping descents into a chasm or great basin which the action of the water in past ages has worn in the rock; this basin is partly filled with drift and surface wash- ings, sufficient to support the growth of small trees. Below these falls a beautiful valley spreads away northward into the town of Sullivan.
The soil is gravelly and clayey loam, fertile and well adapted to mixed farming. Dairying has for many years been an important in- dustry and at one period there were five cheese factories in the town, none of which is now in operation. Hop growing has been followed to a less extent in proportion to area than in many other towns in the county. The Erie, Cortland and Northern Railroad, now a branch of
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the Lehigh Valley, runs through the west part of the town, passing through Perryville.
The New Petersburgh Tract, purchased by Peter Smith, as before described, included most of the territory of this town, and settlements of a permanent character were probably not made until subsequent to 1794, in which year the lease of the Indians to Peter Smith was exe- cuted. Jonathan Munger was a soldier of the Revolution and came here from Connecticut with his son James, locating a mile north of the site of Fenner Corners, on the place subsequently occupied by his grandson, William C. Munger, who was a son of Chauncey; the latter was born in the town in 1802. James Munger married and settled in the town, but in his late life removed to Verona, where he died. Hor- ace Munger, son of James, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and settled in Fenner, but later removed to Wisconsin. Jonathan Munger's settle- ment was made about 1795, and in 1800 he built the first framed barn in the town. Dr. George B. Munger of Perryville was a grandson of the pioneer.
Alpheus Twist, from Connecticut, settled about the same time with the Mungers, a mile south of Fenner Corners, on land now owned and occupied by Orlando Allen; he kept an early tavern there. His chil- dren were three sons and a daughter, Salem, Alpheus, Charles and Clementine. Mr. Twist's wife was the first person to die in the town. None of the family remains here.
John Needham made a journey into this region and purchased a farm upon which he settled about 1798, coming from Ingham, Mass. The farm is situated about a mile west of Fenner Corners, where Aaron Hyatt lived in recent years, now occupied by Frank Hyatt. He had seven children, all of whom were born there. His son John married a daughter of Samuel Root of Farmington, Conn., settled first in Fenner, and removed to Cazenovia and died there in 1852. Bela C. married a sister of John's wife and settled on a farm adjoining the homestead, to which he succeeded when his father died; he subsequently removed to Lowell, Mich. George married and lived with his father for a time, and removed to Kansas.
Thomas Cushing and his sons Enos and Hawks settled near John Needham's place; the father was a surveyor and followed that vocation until his death. David Cook came in from Rhode Island about 1798 with an ox team, bringing his wife and nine children, two of whom were sons. He settled a half mile north of Fenner Corners, his farm
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of 213 acres including all of the site of the Corners lying north of the east and west road. Soon after their arrival his son David opened the first tavern in the town in his father's log house. Mr. Cook was a prominent citizen for many years and, as will be remembered, was the unsuccessful candidate in 1807 for supervisor against Peter Smith; he held also the office of justice of the peace, and in 1806 was appointed one of the associate judges.
Seneca Robinson, a pioneer of about 1799, was a son of Dr. Isaac Robinson, of Stamford, Vt. He brought with him his family of wife and three children-Clark, Orpha, and Francis K. He settled about two miles southeast of Perryville on the farm owned in recent years by Alvin Wells. He cleared in the first year three acres of heavily tim- bered land and sowed wheat. In 1800 he sold his place to Enos Wells, purchased 600 acres on the south line of Lenox, which he sold to vari- ous persons, excepting fifty acres.
Lieut. David Hutchinson, a Revolutionary soldier from Connecticut, settled on the farm now owned and occupied by William Farnham, taking up 120 acres; he kept an early tavern there and reared a family of seven children. Late in his life he went to reside with his son Lor- ing, in Fenner village, and later still lived with his grandson, David Hutchinson, dying in 1853 at the age of eighty-nine years. Most of his children married and settled in Fenner and here passed their useful lives.
John Barber removed from Worcester, Mass., to Oneida, and in 1799, to Fenner, settling on 142 acres on lot 23. In that year he married Lavina Thompson, whose parents had settled in the town of Madison. With the exception of ten years in Cazenovia, he lived on the home- stead until his death and was succeeded by his son, Darlin Barber. Mr. Barber was one of the first to manufacture crude potash in his ashery in this section.
Prominent among the pioneers of Fenner were William, Arnold and George Ballou, brothers, who came here in 1800 from Smithfield, R. I. William married and settled a little north of the present residence of Melvin Woodworth, where he and his wife died. Arnold married Nancy, daughter of David Cook, before mentioned, settled with his brother William, and together they built on the Canaseraga the first saw mill in the town. Arnold afterwards removed to a place about a mile north of Fenner Corners where he died in 1833. He kept an early tavern among his several occupations. George Ballou married a sister of his brother
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Arnold's wife and settled in the south edge of Lenox; later he removed to Quality Hill where both died.
Enos Wells was from Williamstown, Mass., and came on in 1800 with his wife and two children, to settle on lot 6 of the New Petersburgh Tract, a mile and a half northeast of Fenner Corners, where his son Alvin afterwards resided. James Cameron, a native Scotchman, set- tled in Fenner in 1800, on the eastern edge of the town; the homestead subsequently passed to Groton Howard, who married his daughter Catharine. John Douglass, another Scotch citizen, came into Fenner in 1801 and settled in the southeast part, where he took up 110 acres; this farm was divided between himself and his brother Daniel. The two farms were later occupied by John Campbell and Neil Eastman respectively. John Douglass was father of thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to maturity, and married and settled in that locality. Daniel had nine children, all of whom were born in Fenner. There were a number of other Scotch families who settled in that region, among whom was that of John Robertson, who located on the farm afterwards occu- pied by his grandson of the same name; his son Robert, father of the grandson John, succeeded to the homestead. Robert Stewart settled adjoining John Robertson on the south, and resided there until his death.
Guy Hatch, a native of New London, Conn., came on with his broth- er-in-law, William Parsons, in 1801, and each bought seventy-five acres of Peter Smith, in the southwest part of the town; Hatch's farm was in recent years occupied by his son Leroy. The two pioneers made a small clearing and returned in the fall to Massachusetts. In the next spring they came to their settlement and built a log house on the clearing, and soon afterwards Hatch's family of wife and two children, William and Mary, joined him in the Fenner forest. They had six other children born to them in this town, five of whom were sons. Hatch's father-in-law, Gideon Parsons, came with Mr. Hatch in the fall of 1802, bringing his wife and three sons, Gideon, Walter, and Festus. Two of these children subsequently removed to Cicero, N. Y., and died there.
Joel Downer came on from Pownall, Vt., in 1801, when he was twen- ty one years old and in the following year purchased a farm in the east part of the town. He married in 1806 Lavina, daughter of Stephen Risley, a pioneer of Smithfield. He died in 1864. Samuel Nichols, who had located in Cazenovia in 1793, removed in 1802 to a large
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farm on the Mile Strip, where he and his sons successfully tilled the land. Silas Ballou was a cousin of the families of that name, before mentioned, and settled in the town about 1803, in the east part.
The fertility of the soil in Fenner, its natural attractiveness to the eye, its convenient water power, and other causes were sufficient to call in settlers more rapidly after the beginning of the century than in many of the towns of the county. Fenner Corners, being situated near the center of the town, and many of the prominent pioneers having located there, it was easily considered a foregone conclusion that a con- siderable village would eventually come into being at that point. This expectation, as will be learned, was not realized, although considerable business centered there in early years. As late as 1810 there was little else there than a hemlock forest.
Daniel M. Gillet, from Lyme, Conn., settled early half a mile east of the Corners, where he built and operated an ashery and for a time car- ried on a store in company with his brother Martin in district No. 5. He was a man of ability, energy and integrity; served several years as justice of the peace, supervisor, and was elected to the Assembly.
David Baldwin was a settler from Worcester, Mass., coming about 1804; he located about two miles southeast of Perryville on the farm now occupied by William Munger, where he resided until his death. He was crippled by the loss of a leg, and his youngest son, Aaron, worked the farm, while the father employed himself in making rakes. Other children of David were John and David, who soon followed their father hither. The latter brought with him seven children, arriving about 1806. About 1812 he located on his father's farm in Fenner and resided there until his death. He was father of twelve children, all but one of whom lived to maturity and part of whom settled in this county. A daughter, Susan, married Phineas Town, who came with his brothers, Abel and Asa, from Massachusetts and jointly with Abel took up a farm afterwards occupied by the son and daughter of Phineas; Asa settled in the same vicinity and died on his homestead.
A prominent settler a little prior to 1815 was Paul R. Main (the name being now spelled with a final "e") who came from Stonington, Conn., just after his marriage to Lydia Randall, and bringing with him a little money earned in teaching school. He settled on lot 60 of the Mile Strip. He was a lifelong farmer, took a deep and active interest in educational and religious affairs, and was prominent in founding the Baptist church and the early schools. His children were Paul P., de-
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ceased; Franklin P., who died in the town of Sullivan; Asa R., who died in Fenner in 1863; Phoebe M. and Elon G., the latter still living in Fenner. Asa R. Maine was a farmer and a man of prominence in the community. He held the office of inspector of schools, was supervisor two years, and at the time of his death was internal revenue assessor. He had five children, two of whom were sons. Frank L., one of the sons, is publisher of the Manlius Eagle. Paul S. Maine, born in De- cember, 1847, was educated in Cazenovia Seminary, remained at home until 1872, when he was appointed school commissioner to fill a vacancy, and was elected to that office. He purchased a store in Perryville and has ever since conducted the business. He was postmaster there seven years and resigned; was again appointed in 1898. He was supervisor twelve years, two of which he was chairman, and resigned to take the office of county clerk, in which he is now serving.
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