USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 2
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Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger and John J. Morgan applied for Nos. 18 and 20, and the unsold portions of 19, containing 67,130 acres, the first two at three shillings and three pence per acre, and the last at three shillings and one penny, payable as above.
John Taylor applied for the unsold portions of Nos. 16 and 17, con- taining 43,377 acres, at the rate of three shillings and three pence per acre, one-sixth payable in six months, one-half of the remainder in one year, and the other half in eighteen months.
Col. William S. Smith applied for Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9, contain- ing 150,000 acres, at the rate of three shillings and three pence per acre, one-sixth to be paid October 1, 1791, one-half of the remainder on January 1,1792, and the other half January 1, 1793.
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DESCRIPTIVE OF THE SUBJECT.
Alexander Webster, Edward Savage and John Williams applied for No. 1, containing 25,000 acres, at three shillings and three pence per acre, payments the same as in the last foregoing application.
White Matlack and Jacob Hallet applied for Nos. 12 and 13, at three shillings and five pence per acre, payments same as the last foregoing application.
Robert C. Livingston applied for No. 7, containing 25,000 acres, at three shillings and six pence per acre, payments same as in last forego- ing application.
An application was made by Thomas Ludlow and Joseph Shippey for two townships (numbers not given) at three shillings and five pence per acre, payments same as those last above given. No. 6 was then the only township not covered by previous applications.
It will be seen that the applications of Smith for six townships; of Myers, Sanger and Morgan for two and part of another; of Webster, Savage and Williams for one, were all for territory that became part of Madison county; the other applications are here given for usefulness in reference. Some of those who applied did not, however, consum- mate their purchases. Those who did so, as far as relates to Madison county territory, were William S. Smith, six townships; patent dated April 16, 1794; Alexander Webster, Edward Savage and John Williams, one township; Michael Myers, Jedediah Sanger and John J. Morgan, two and part of another townships, the patent for No. 1 dated June 4, 1793, and Nos. 18, 19 and 20, to Morgan, May 3, 1793; Thomas Lud- low and Josiah Shippey, one township, patent dated March 2, 1793, for No. 6, to Thomas Ludlow, jr. Upon the erection of Chenango county, the whole of the Twenty Townships was included in its territory. When Oneida county was erected, April 4, 1804, No. 20 was set off with it; and when Madison county was erected in 1806, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 18, and 19 were included in its territory.
Madison county, according to the census reports, contains an area of 392,290 acres. Its surface, like most of New York State, is widely di- versified. The northern part is low and level, with large swampy tracts bordering upon Oneida Lake. The central part of the county forms the water-shed between the streams flowing north to the lake and south to the Susquehanna River, and is broken and hilly. The south- ern portion, though less elevated, is also hilly and constitutes a part of the rolling highlands of Central New York. The highest summits of the hills range from 500 to 800 feet above the valleys, and from 900 to 1,200 above tide.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
The Chenango, the Tioughnioga and the Unadilla Rivers affect this county to a considerable extent, the two former finding their sources here, and the latter constituting the eastern boundary of the town of Brookfield in the southeastern part. There are many smaller streams which are of greater importance in watering and draining the territory. Chittenango Creek rises in the highlands of Fenner, Nelson and Smith- field, and flows in a circuitous course through Cazenovia and Sullivan, forming for a few miles the west boundary of the latter town and emp- tying into Oneida Lake. Much of the scenery along this stream is beautifully picturesque, and it is far the most important water course in the county in respect of hydraulic power. Between Cazenovia and Chittenango, a distance of about eight miles, the descent is 740 feet, with one fall of 134 feet, affording valuable manufacturing sites at many points.
Oneida Creek forms a portion of the eastern boundary of the county, has its rise in Eaton and Smithfield and in its upper courses furnishes some excellent mill sites. Its valley is rich, fertile, and beautiful, and was a favorite resort of the Oneida Indians. The southern half of the county is drained by the many small tributaries of the Unadilla, Tioughnioga and Chenango Rivers; the principal ones of these are Beaver Creek in Brookfield, and the headwaters of Otselic Creek in Georgetown. Canaseraga,1 Canastota,2 and Cowasselon Creeks are mostly confined to the two northern towns of the county, have little fall and all empty into Oneida Lake.
Cazenovia Lake3 is the principal inland body of water in Madison county. It occupies an elevated basin, 900 feet above tide water and is one of the most beautiful minor sheets of water in the State. It is sit- uated near Cazenovia village, is four and a half miles long from north to south, and its pure waters and picturesque surroundings have at- tracted to its shores many families who have built summer homes. In the southern part of the county are several ponds, which were formerly utilized as reservoirs for the Chenango Canal. The shore of Oneida Lake forms the entire northern boundary of the county. This lake is
1 This name is given by Seaver as Ka-na-so-wa-ga, signifying " several strings of beads with a string lying across." Hough's Gazetteer of New York gives its meaning as " Big Elkshorn."
2 In French's Gazetteer the name Canastota is given as Ka-ne-to-ta, signifying Big Pine. Hough's Gazetteer gives its meaning as "Pine tree standing alone." The name Cowasselon signifies " Weeping Squaw.".
3 This beautiful lake bears the Indian name, Owahgena, written by some authorities, Haw- gena. According to the Spafford Gazetteer of 1824, it was formerly called Lincklaen Lake.
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DESCRIPTIVE OF THE SUBJECT.
about twenty miles long and discharges its waters at the west end through Oneida River to Oswego River and thence into Lake Ontario.
Hatch's Lake is a beautiful minor body of water in the southwest corner of the town of Eaton. Once the headwaters of the Otselic, the construction of the Chenango Canal closed the outlet and took the water through Bradley Brook reservoir to the canal. The lake covers about 136 acres and has no surface inlet, being fed with pure springs, and the scenery thereabouts is charming.
Leland's Lake is picturesquely situated in the town of Eaton at the point of divergence of the Oriskany and the Chenango valleys. The water of this lake was also formerly taken for the canal.
Madison Lake (or Pond) is situated in the southern part of the town of that name and is a charming small body of water, the picturesque scenery around which has made it attractive as a summer resort in re- cent years.
The geology of Madison county, though possessing few of the im- portant characteristics that give some localities an almost startling in- terest, is still worthy of the reader's attention. The rocks of the Clin- ton group are the lowest in the county and border Oneida Lake. The Niagara and Onondaga groups are next above this and the three occupy the low lands of the northern part of the county. The surface rock south of the swamp is composed of the red shales of the Onondaga group, while along the base of the hills are beds of gypsum. On the northern slope of the hills successively appear the water limestone, Pentamerous limestone, Oriskany limestone, and Onondaga limestone. Next above these appear the Marcellus and Hamilton shales, covering more than half the surface of the county. The Tully limestone, Gen- esee slate, and the Ithaca group are found in a limited extent on the tops of the southern hills.
The Clinton group, as found in the northern part of the county, fre- quently comes within plowing distance of the surface, or lies loose on the ground. The soil is occasionally colored red with the iron ore that characterizes this group and is found to a limited extent in this locality, but not, as far as known, in sufficient quantity and purity to make its working profitable. The Clinton group in this region is covered with alluvion.
The Niagara limestone increases in thickness from east to west and in the eastern part of this county is not sufficiently pure for water lime, but in the western part of Sullivan has been successfully burned. It is also quarried in the western part for building purposes.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
1
The Onondaga Salt group makes its first appearance in this county near the Erie Canal in the eastern part. From that point westward the canal was cut through the red shale of the group. It increases in breadth on both sides of the canal proceeding westward and on the north side becomes as wide after a few miles as it is on the south side. The second deposit of this group consists of shales and calcareous slate, green or drab in color, and is seen at favorable points in Lenox. The third, or gypsum, deposit is the most interesting and valuable of the group, both because of its being the source of the brine of the Onon- daga and other salt springs in this section, and for its value as plaster. In Madison county it commences in association with a few other rocks not observed to the east and is found in masses, rather than in layers or beds. Next in importance to the gypsum, from the geological point of view, is the Vermicular limestone, which is essentially calcareous. It is porous, or cellular, perforated with curvilinear holes, and very compact between the holes; these cells vary widely in size and gener- ally communicate with each other. In the plaster quarries of Lenox the structure of the cells confirms the theory of their mineral origin. There are two masses of this rock, an upper and a lower one. The former commences at the ridge west of Oneida Creek and extends on westward; its thickness is about four feet and the cavities are commonly large The lower mass is limited, its greatest thickness being about twenty feet. Fossils are rare in the entire group. The whole of the gypsum in Madison county is confined to the towns of Lenox and Sul- livan, excepting a small section of the northeast part of Smithfield, and o the northwest part of Stockbridge. Of the quarries that have been opened (which are noticed in later town history) some are covered with masses of such thickness as to considerably diminish their profits. The first discovered was known as the old Sullivan bed, near the turnpike gate. The plaster hills range from east to west through the county and extend south from the turnpike from two to four miles.
The water lime group is named from the drab-colored limestone from which nearly all the water lime south of the canal in this section is made. To the west of Oneida Creek the stone burned consists of two layers, the upper one shelly, breaking into thin pieces; this burns with less heat than the lower layer. This rock forms the great mass of the gulf at the falls on Chittenango Creek, showing a thickness of over one hundred feet; there, and at other points in the county, it is quarried and burned. One of the most important localities and one of
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DESCRIPTIVE OF THE SUBJECT.
the very earliest, if not the first, discovered in the State, is about one and a half miles southwest of Chittenango village.
The Pentamerous limestone, which takes its name from a fossil found in it, diminishes in thickness as it extends westward and terminates in Madison county. It is rarely pure and is not valuable.
The Oriskany sandstone is clearly traceable from east to west by its characteristic fossils. The edge of this rock is exposed at a point a little northeast of Perryville, lying immediately below the Onondaga limestone and forming a terrace extending to the village. At the falls at Perryville it is only a few inches in thickness. Boulders of it are common on the hillsides and tops in the towns of Madison, Eaton, Hamilton and Lebanon.
The well known and valuable Onondaga limestone extends across the State, is extensively quarried for building purposes and to burn in many localities, and contains many interesting fossils. It is usually nearly pure and is one of the most valuable of building stones. It is the rock over which, as a rule, the waters flow north, forming the falls, great and small, at the western end of its range, the most noted of which in a local sense, are the one at Perryville and the one at Chit- tenango Falls. At Van Epps, near Perryville, the top of this stone forms a broad and extensive terrace, the mass being about ten feet thick. At Perryville the waters of Canaseraga Creek fall from the rock into a gulf excavated to a depth of more than one hundred feet in the water lime group; similar conditions exist at Chittenango Falls. The Corniferous limestone rests invariably upon the Onondaga lime- stone and is covered by the Marcellus shales. It is seldom pure, con- tains many characteristic fossils, but has little practical importance.
The Marcellus shales are geographically divided into two masses, one of which contains limestone and characteristic fossils, while they are absent in the other. The limestone is very impure and dark in color. It diminishes in thickness east and west from Marcellus, and the pres ence of coal in small quantities along its out-crop has led to many exca- vations for that very useful mineral in Madison county and elsewhere. These shales are well exposed at the falls on Oneida Creek, and are seen at other points along its line.
The Hamilton group takes its name from the town of Hamilton in this county, which contains no other rock. The group includes all the masses between the upper shales or Marcellus and the Tully limestone. It is of great thickness, ranging from 300 to 700 feet and extends from
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Hudson River to Lake Erie. It consists of shale, slate, and sandstone, and their mixtures, and abounds in fossils, but is generally deficient in building material. It covers the whole of Brookfield, excepting a tri- angular projection towards the southwest end where the Ithaca group appears; the whole of Hamilton and Madison, the eastern half of Leb- anon, three-fourths of Eaton, the extreme south part of Stockbridge, the southern half of Smithfield, all of Fenner excepting the north and northwestern parts, the greater part of Cazenovia, and extends into De Ruyter. The most important exposition of this rock in this county is near Hamilton village, where various openings have been made. Quarries have also been opened and worked in many other places in the county, as elsewhere described. The hills around Cazenovia village are largely composed of the coarse shales of the group which, in min- eral character, constitute the greater part of the whole group; they turn brownish in color with exposure, decompose slowly, and are the common building material of their range. The hillside southeast of New Woodstock shows the same sandstone as at Hamilton, and the stone is quarried to some extent. The valley through which the Che- nango Canal passed drains a large part of this group, and the valley of New Woodstock is excavated in the same part of the group.
The Tully limestone is not seen in this county, but it doubtless exists, as it appears a little to the northwest of De Ruyter village, with the shales of the Hamilton group below it, and the Genesee slate above. This Genesee slate is seen along the road from Smyrna to De Ruyter, and in its range through Lebanon. The Ithaca group, while a more useful rock than the group below it, bears little interest in this county. The most northerly point where it is seen is near Nelson Flats, where a mass of about eight feet is exposed.
Of the Quarternary Deposits there are but few points in this section where any striking superposition of layers is seen, owing chiefly to the comparatively few excavations. The best locality for observation is at Chittenango, where three distinct deposits are seen. The lowest mass is a yellow sand in layers; the second consists of round stones and blackish sand, and the third of red earth, apparently derived from the destruction of red shale. The height of the three deposits is about thirty-five feet. The same alluvial exists between Peterboro and Ham- ilton and in other places.
Lake marl, as a product of calcareous rocks, exists in great quanti- ties in the towns of Lenox and Sullivan, and there is a large deposit
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DESCRIPTIVE OF THE SUBJECT.
south of Canastota. The largest quanity is in Cowasselon swamp, which covers more than 10,000 acres. A second source of marl is the calcar- eous alluvion, the product of which, in this county, is found on the high ground northwest of Peterboro.
The well known Chittenango sulphur springs are the most important in Madison county; they are situated in the valley of Chittenango Creek, issuing from a hill of calciferous slate. The analysis of the water is as follows :
Carbonate of lime
0.88 grains.
Sulphate of soda 1.66
Sulphate of lime and magnesia 12.75
Chloride of sodium 0.14
Organic matter
trace.
Besides sulphuretted hydrogen the water contains a small portion of carbonic acid gas. It has been beneficially used in the treatment of sickness.
There is an interesting spring about two miles south of the village in the same valley, from which the water comes with a milky cast which is retained for many hours, becoming clear when boiled; it has a sulphur- ous odor. As the other sulphur springs of the vicinity give limpid water, this one has been given the name of Chittenango white sulphur spring.
There is a salt spring a short distance west of Canastota in a marsh thirty rods north of the canal. A boring was made here nearly forty years ago developing water with a strength of nine degrees salometer; but there was little encouragement in the undertaking and it was aban- doned.
The four northern towns of this county, Sullivan, old Lenox, Fenner, and Smithfield, have loamy soils in predominance, compounded with clay and sand, in which in the swampy regions are great quantities of muck and marl and calcareous gravel on the northern hill slopes. These soils are well adapted to the growing of wheat, which has in the past been one of the principal products. The soil of the southern towns in which clay predominates, intermixed with gravel and shale upon the hills and gravel and alluvion in the valleys, is better adapted for the production of grass. Hops were for many years the large staple agricultural pro- duct of this county; but in more recent years, since prices have been low and uncertain, the dairying interest has increased in magnitude and is now a very important industry. The county long stood second
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
only to Oneida in the quantity of hops produced. The fruit growing industry of the county is somewhat limited in variety, but the apple crop has always been large and the quality excellent. Pears, grapes, and other common fruits are grown, but not in large quantities.
CHAPTER II.
INDIAN OCCUPATION AND EARLY WARS.
When the white European adventurers made their first advent into territory now constituting the State of New York they found it in pos- session of the Five Nations of Indians, to whom the French gave the name, Iroquois. These nations were collectively and commonly called by the English, the Iroquois Confederacy. They were located across the State, beginning with the Mohawks on the east, the Oneidas next, the Onondagas in the central part, the Cayugas next, and the Senecas in the western part. The central council fire of the Confederacy was kept with the Onondagas, and there were held most of their important gatherings and deliberations. Of these uncivilized, war-loving savages the Oneidas were the least barbarous, revengeful and blood-thirsty; this peculiarity was demonstrated in the early wars and especially in the war of the Revolution, when they remained either neutral or loyal to the colonists. The territory of Madison county was part of the domain of this nation, who followed the chase through its primeval forests and rip- pled the clear waters of its lakes and streams with their silently-moving paddles during unknown years before the white man came.
The early discoveries in America and the recognized theory of Euro- pean nations that such discoveries gave valid title to lands found in pos- session of barbarians and savages, led to bloody conflict in the western world. England claimed supremacy here through the discoveries and explorations of Cabot, who sailed in 1697; France, under those of Champlain and others, and Holland by virtue of the coincident voyage of Hudson and the founding of a settlement on Manhattan Island. For many years the French were in the ascendant and it was only through prolonged and sanguinary wars that the western hemisphere was wrested from the impending domination of that nation. In all
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INDIAN OCCUPATION AND EARLY WARS.
the wars for conquest in this country, the records of which the reader may find in many volumes of general history, the Iroquois Indians were a most potent and influential factor. Roaming at will, in pride and power, over the greater part of the continent, wherein they had con- quered one after another of their rival nations; brave and shrewd and savage in their futile attempts to check the encroachments of the white men, they had to be taken into account in every movement for territo- rial acquisition by the three great powers across the Atlantic. It was clearly seen by English, French, and Dutch alike that if either could gain the entire and unfailing fealty of the Iroquois, that power would speedily conquer the others. But in their ignorance of Indian character, their unthinking greed and selfishness, their dishonesty and treachery, neither of the European powers ever succeeded in wholly gaining the confidence and loyalty of the Five Nations-a fact that greatly prolonged the conflict.
As settlement progressed, by the French at the north, the Dutch in New York, and the English in New England, the rich fur trade with the Indians sent golden harvests across the Atlantic, for which the powers were ready to battle, and the struggle began. With the details of those wars, except so far as the Oneida Indians were directly involved, we are not interested in these pages. The early attempts by the French to conquer the Iroquois were even more futile than their later efforts to secure an alliance with them, and when James the II. of England was driven from his throne in the revolution of 1688, open war speedily followed between that country and France. This struggle closed with the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, the English having to a great extent retained the friendship of the Indians during its progress, and securing decided advantages under the treaty, if its provisions had been heeded by the French. They were not. Queen Anne's war followed in 1702 and was ended only after eleven years of conflict by the treaty of Utrecht, April 11, 1713.
Meanwhile, the Tuscarora Indians, a powerful nation of the South, had resisted the encroachments of the Carolina proprietors, who had assigned their lands to the German Palatines, and the Indians were almost destroyed in their fort on the River Taw on the 26th of March, 1713, 800 of them having been taken prisoners and sold as slaves to the English allies. In the year just named the Iroquois made an expedi- tion to the South, during which they adopted the remainder of the
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Tuscaroras, making them the Sixth Nation, and assigning them terri- tory to the west of and in close proximity to that of the Oneidas. 1
Under the treaty of Utrecht the French agreed not to attack the Iro- quois, who were acknowledged to be subjects of Great Britain, and both the English and the French were guaranteed free trade with them. After a period of nominal peace of about thirty years the Eng- lish and French were again at war in 1744, which continued until 1748, when, on April 30, it was concluded by the treaty of Aix-la Chapelle, which substantially renewed the former treaty. At that time, such progress in settlement had been made that the French, stimulated by the zealous and active Jesuits, numbered about 60,000, while the Eng- lish colonists reached over a million in number. In this latter conflict the Iroquois did not engage until 1746. The last named treaty was very imperfect; the old causes of dissension and rivalry remained, and the two countries were again in conflict in 1755, and for a time France gained the supremacy and drew over to her side half or more of the Iroquois. They established a line of forts from Montreal to French Creek in Pennsylvania, and the breaking out of the war found the Eng- lish unprepared to meet the vigorous measures inaugurated by their enemy. Battles were fought in Nova Scotia, in the Ohio valley, at Crown Point, and at Niagara. During this period Sir William Johnson was active in the English interest and acquired an influence over the Indians that was potent in achieving the final triumph. Johnson was wounded in the engagement at Crown Point in 1754 and from that time to the end of the struggle a fierce border warfare was carried on, the details of which form many chapters of the deepest and most terrible interest in American history.
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