USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 22
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On the 28th of July, 1864, a call was issued for 500,000 one year vol- unteers, with a draft to follow on the 4th of September if the number was not raised. The quota of this county was 886, but some of the towns had an excess, so that the number to be raised was only 745. By persistent and active work the quota was filled and the draft averted,
On the 19th of December, 1864, the last direct call for troops was issued, the number being 300,000, but before the quota in the various States was filled the necessity for more soldiers in the field had ceased to exist. The long and bloody conflict was approaching its close. Desperate efforts were at once inaugurated in this county to fill the local quota, which was for the district, 1,522 men. The supervisors met and resolved to offer bounties of $400 for one year men; $500 for two year men, and $600 for three year men. These large bounties were made necessary through the offer of similar amounts in adjoining counties, and the competition in securing volunteers became very active. A draft was to take place on February 15, 1865, for unfilled quotas; this was postponed when that date arrived, as the prospects were that the requisite number would be furnished. The quota of Madi- son county was filled by the payment of average bounties of $700. The county at the close of 1864 had a surplus of 105 men.
With the surrender of Lee and his army at Appomattox the glad news came over the wires northward and the same feeling of exultation was felt in every neighborhood, hamlet, village and city ; the event was appro- priately celebrated in Morrisville, Oneida and other villages in this
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county. The people saw opening before them another era of peace and prosperity.
There are brief and somewhat meagre and fragmentary records ac- cessible relative to the action of towns in the county on war matters which, with the muster rolls deposited in the offices of county clerks, are the only other sources of information on the subject. As a rule the towns of the county were prompt in ratifying the action of the Board of Supervisors, which frequently preceded any action taken by the towns themselves; this was particularly true regarding the bounty matters.
During this great and costly struggle for the maintenance of the American Union and the spread of the cause of personal freedom, the ordinary public affairs of peaceful times were almost wholly neglected unless they imperatively demanded attention. From 1861 to 1865, the proceedings of the supervisors of Madison county show that matters which had been the subject of action regularly in preceding years, were generally left out of consideration. At a meeting held on the 28th of April, 1862, in Morrisville, a company was organized to build a mac- adam road from that village to Peterboro. Gerrit Smith, O. P. Gran- ger and others were conspicuous in the matter and a committee was appointed to examine the route. At a later meeting B. Tillinghast. L. D. Dana, G. E. Cummings, W. F. Bonney and D. Cross were chosen directors, and Mr. Tillinghast president of the company. The route chosen was the so-called eastern or swamp route, and the road was constructed in the fall and winter of 1862-63.
A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held on October 19, 1864, where it was resolved that immediate steps be taken to re- build the court house in place of the one destroyed by fire. A commit- tee of five was appointed to examine the walls of the burned structure and report on their condition, and a committee of three to receive bids for a new building. The bids averaged about $12,000, and the new court house was erected as elsewhere described. The report of the court hoase debt made to the Board of Supervisors in 1868-9 was little over $16,000.
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CHAPTER XIII.
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT IN TOWNS-EATON.
The long march of events described in several preceding chapters in- volved to a large degree the general development, the public welfare and public interest of the county at large, and has been treated from that point of view, with the exception of the action of the separate towns during the war period. But while the county as a whole, was thus making for itself a half a century of general history, the footsteps of the spirit of progress were marked in every town, in every hamlet, in each neighborhood, and around every separate hearthstone. There it was, frequently in obscure places or among the toilers whose names were never to be known beyond their own narrow limitations, that were enacted the deeds of individuals and families, deeds that were, perhaps, trifling in themselves, the story of which is closely interwoven with the more significant and important features of the history of the county. After its formation, as described in earlier chapters, every town contributed its share to the great onward march of devel- opment and growth; every village left its record to form a part of the story of the time; each farm, even, and its occupants, made an im- press, however faint, upon the historic page.
The changes that took place in Madison county during the half cent- ury preceding the Civil war, were chiefly only those which have char- acterized the development of most rural communities in this State. In the following chapters devoted to further account of the growth of the various towns the historian finds little to record, outside of the gradual and steady advancement of each community in the arts of peace. Even in numbers of inhabitants this county saw less change during that half century than most others in the State. With a population of 32 208 in 1820, an increase from 25,144 in 1810,1 we find it with only 39,038 in 1830; this number rose by slight increase during each decade to 43, 687 in 1855, a number that has not since been exceeded. In 1865 it was 42,607.
1 In 1810 Madison county had thirty-five slaves, reduced to ten in 1820.
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In continuing the history of the towns of the county Eaton is taken up first, as it contains the county seat and was one of the five organ- ized in 1807, following the five original towns of the county. The most important event in this town in the early years of the present century was the incorporation of the village of Morrisville. There is no doubt but its selection as the county seat was influential towards this result. The date of its first incorporarion was April 13, 1819. Morrisville is a pleasantly situated village in the northwestern part of this town, on the Cherry Valley Turnpike, and now has a population of about 700. In 1850 the number of inhabitants was 500; in 1855 it was 715; in 1865 it was 650, which is a little less than the present number.
The early records of the village are lost, rendering it impossible to give the names of many of the officers and the proceedings of the au- thorities in early years. The last clerk under the old village govern- ment was Alexander Donaldson, jr., and it is supposed that he carried the records to New York, whither he removed. In 1848 the village was reincorporated under the general law and Abel B. De Forest, Bradley Tillinghast, Franklin T. Maybury, Luman E. Cole and Edward Norton were chosen the first trustees. The assessors were Moses Bick- nell, Albert S. Norton, Elisha C. Topliff; treasurer, A. Scott Sloan; clerk, James Norton; collector, Hibbard Martin; poundmaster, Dwight T. Williams. Abel De Forest was elected president of the village, and subsequently stated that he supposed he was given that honor as a reward for having constructed the first sidewalk in the village. Following is a list of the presidents and clerks from the incorporation to the present time:
Presidents-1849-50, Bradley Tillinghast; 1851, Edward Norton; 1852-57, Moses Bicknell; 1858-59, John Tillinghast; 1860-61, F. F. Stevens; 1862, Lucius P. Clark; 1863, Dwight Cross; 1864-65, Edward Norton ; 1866, Lucius P. Clark; 1867-73, Edward Norton; 1874, Ed- ward Townsend; 1875-77, H. S. Phelps; 1878, T. Foster Petrie; 1879- 80, Edwin R. Barker; 1881, Henry S. Phelps; 1882, William P. Cleve- land; 1883-87, Morris J. Blakeslee; 1888-89, E. G. Richardson; 1890- 91, George S. Tillinghast; 1892-96, Henry B. Coman; 1897-99, F. S. Haywood.
Clerks-1849-57, James Norton; 1858-66, Alexader H. Holmes; 1867, J. S. Stewart ; 1868-79, J. B. Bicknell; 1880-94, George L. Robie; 1895- 99, H. C. Wood.
David Gaston, a prominent early settler, opened the first store at
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Morrisville, or Morris Flats, as it was known for many years. He be- gan business in 1804 at the corner of the Peterboro road. The store continued many years in connection with a tavern at the same place. In 1808 Bennett Bicknell came from Utica, as before stated, and opened a store on the opposite corner and began a career that was destined to bring him honor and leave a marked impress on the place.
The post office was established about 1808 and located in Major Bick- nell's store. When it was subsequently removed to Farwell's public house, at the other end of the street, considerable strife was en- gendered between the up-town and down-town residents. Farwell's was the first regular hotel opened in the village and was kept in opera- tion a number of years from 1815; it was partially burned in 1859, but was later repaired and used for a dwelling. It stood on the site of the new Reidy block. The post-office difficulty was finally amicably set- tled by locating it first about midway on the street, and in 1832 it was settled in the Observer building, where it remained more than half a century and until it was recently removed to the Reidy building. A half mile east of the village still stands the house that was occupied as a hotel long before there was any important settlement on the site of Morrisville; it has long been known as the Runkel place and is now a fine example of the old-time farm home. The house was built by Abiathar Gates.
The schools of Morrisville, succeeding the first one kept by Dr. James Pratt, were those of districts numbered 8 and 17; the former occupied the building now used by the fire department, while the house in district number 17 was ultimately absorbed in a dwelling. The Morrisville Academy was established in 1831 and with its successor, the present Union school, is fully described in Chapter XXIV.
The first lawyer to settle in Morrisville was Andrew S. Sloan, who came from Mansfield, Conn. He was a graduate of Williams College in 1813 and settled in Morrisville in 1819, where he continued to reside until his death in 1857. He was a deserving citizen of high character, held the office of county clerk six years and was first judge of the Court of Common Pleas. With Mr. Sloan was for a short period associated Hugh Halsey, who came from Long Island. He returned to his former home and died there. Epenetus Holmes, another prominent member of the bar, located in Morrisville about the same time with Judge Sloan. He was a native of Amenia, N. Y., born in 1784. He studied in Schaghticoke and after admission to the bar, practiced there for a time.
14
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
His first public office in this county was justice of the peace, and after- wards for ten years he sat on the Common Pleas bench. He died in 1861. His son, Sidney T. Holmes, followed him in the same profes- sion and was prominent in politics, holding the office of county judge from 1851 to 1863, and was elected to Congress in 1865 by the Repub- licans and served two terms. He removed to Bay City, Mich., in 1871. Other prominent attorneys of this town were A. Lawrence Foster, 1827; Otis P. Granger, 1821; William W. Farwell, 1854; Duane Brown, 1845; Alexander Cramphin, Charles L. Kennedy, Nathaniel Foote, father of A. A. Foote, Lucius P. Clark, S. Perry Smith, H. B. Coman, John A. Johnson, and others.
Dr. James Pratt, the first physician in the place, was joined before 1810 by Dr. Isaac Hovey, who continued in practice nearly fifty years and removed to Deansville where he died. Dr. William P. Cleveland came about that time, and had an extensive practice during about forty years; he died February 18, 1844. Other later physicians were Drs. Milton Barnett, F. F. Maybury, M. M. Marsh, Zabina M. Morey, J. R. Wells, Hayes, Curtiss, George S. Loomis, A. A. Mason, Crowell, Phil- lips, Brown, H. P. Mead, D. D. and Lynn Chase, F. D. Babcock, and others.
A burial ground was established sometime previous to 1812 on the site of what became known as the Morrisville cemetery. Thomas Mor- ris donated about three-fourths of an acre of land for the use of the public and families selected therein such small sections as best pleased them. In 1857 the Rural Cemetery Association was formed under the State law, and additional land was purchased on the west and north of the old ground. The first burial in the old cemetery, as far as known, was that of a child whose name cannot now be learned. The second was doubtless James Madison Bicknell, son of Bennett Bicknell, who died March 19, 1814, aged eleven months.
The tanning business was begun at Morrisville about 1814, and was one of the first industries in the place; Alanson Stillwell was the pro- prietor and he also manufactured shoes. He subsequently removed to Manlius where he built another tannery, leaving this one in charge of his son. Clark Tillinghast and his employer, Dr. Isaac Hovey, who had a drug store, bought the building and an acre of ground and estab- lished an ashery. Mr. Stillwell returned later and built another small tannery across the brook. In 1830 Bradley Tillinghast came from Mansfield, Conn., bought the ashery of his brother and began tanning on a larger scale, carrying on the business until comparatively recent
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years. About 1828 one of the Slocum family operated a tannery a short distance up the brook, where a saw mill was subsequently located. Hiram D. Cloyes occupied the site for a time with an ashery. In early years the manufacture of crude potash was one of the principal indus- tries in most of the towns, and was the source upon which the settlers largely depended for cash. The saw mill there was built about 1830 by Abel De Forest, and ten years later he constructed the last dam. In 1861 he sold to William R. Jones; the latter was succeeded at his death by his sons; the property is now owned by Thomas Green. The other mill is now in operation by William Field.
A silk factory was established about 1853 by F. F. Stevens and John F. Gurley and at one time from forty to fifty hands were employed, chiefly in the production of sewing silk. Stephen Coman purchased the buildings, and in the spring of 1862 converted them into a cheese factory, the dairy business having by that date become an important industry. The building was subsequently burned. The town of Eaton has the honor of first introducing the cheese factory and creamery sys- tem, which after 1860 created a most important change in the agricult- ural life of the county. The first cheese factory was built at Eaton village in 1861 by George Morse, and in 1880 there were eight in opera- tion located at Morrisville, Williams's Corners, Hatch's Lake, West Eaton, Eaton, Pecksport, Pine Woods and Pratt's Hollow. The busi- ness has since greatly declined, and large quantities of milk are now shipped to New York by rail. There are now only two factories in the town. The Morrisville factory passed through the hands of H. E. Griswold, Avery & Wadsworth and J. B. Wadsworth in 1880. It is now operated by Hopkins & Champlin. The Eaton factory is con- ducted by Tupper Brothers.
When Bennett Bicknell arrived in Morrisville in 1808 he at once be- gan the manufacture of combs, building the first factory and using horn for the purpose. Jonathan Gurley succeeded to the business, which he continued until 1840. Bicknell, Coman & Norton's distillery was built in 1836 and was successfully operated for some years, the product be- ing shipped to New York. The first firm was succeeded by Bicknell, Palmer & Norton, and they by Bicknell & Son. The business was dis- continued in 1860 and the buildings long ago disappeared.
The grist mill was built in 1830 and still earlier a saw mill was built above the grist mill; this was moved down to the latter in 1855 and ceased operation about the beginning of the war; the mill is now owned by A. F. Cook, A woolen mill was established in 1836 by Nathan
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Shepard, which at one time employed fifty hands; among them was Emily Chubbuck, then a little girl, who was destined to win fame as the authoress, "Fanny Forrester." In 1841 was established the ma- chine shop on the old distillery farm, long known as Torrey's machine shop, the buildings of which were afterwards used as a cooper shop. Saleratus was manufactured here a number years previous to 1840 by Babbitt & Darling. In 1830 Jefferson Cross built a foundry and shop for the manufacture of cast iron plows. Stoves were also made here in early years. Mr. Cross died in 1850 and was succeeded by his sons George and Dwight, who long continued the industry; the property is now occupied by Carlos Bennett.
With the growth of the village mercantile operations were extended to meet the needs of the community. W. P. Chambers opened a gen- eral store in 1850 and is still in business, the oldest merchant in the town. Windsor Coman kept a drug store a number of years and was succeeded by a firm consisting of Dr. H. P. Mead and H. E. Chapin, the latter retiring in 1884 and Dr. Mead continuing the business until the present time. W. R. Kimball began business as a merchant and shoe- maker in 1883, succeeding his father, B. N. Kimball. H. S. Phelps was a general merchant a number of years prior to 1878, when he was succeeded by W. P. Jones. The firm of Storrs & Seymour (C. M. Sey- mour, Otis Storrs) conducted the general store in which Mr. Seymour now carries on the same business. E. N. Dexter is also engaged in mercantile business. Other present merchants are noticed in the later Gazetteer of the town. Edwin Barnard was a former harness maker and was succeeded by John Reidy. George Wilbur engaged some years ago in the furniture business and was succeeded by W. L. Field.
The hotel called the Bicknell House was built on the corner opposite the before described Farwell House. It ultimately became the Burden House, with John Burden proprietor. The old Madison County Hotel stood on the site of the present Barker House and was long kept by Hiram Lewis, by William Morris and Samuel Tucker in partnership. The present house was built by Edwin R. Barker in 1872 and among its landlords have been T. O. Heacock, James Kinney, F. Murtagh and Charles Beekman.
The Exchange Hotel was built for a store by Samuel Shepard and was converted into a hotel about 1826; it has had various proprietors before passing to the present landlord, B. A. Wilbur.
The next church organized in the town after the formation of the
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county was the First Baptist Church of Eaton, located in Morrisville, which was organized in 1809. A small meeting house was soon after- ward erected. In 1829 the society was given a more suitable site for a church building by Bennett Bicknell, and the first structure was re- moved to it and enlarged. In 1848 a new edifice was erected, the old one being sold at auction. With some improvements the building is still in use. Among those who have entered the ministry from this church are Rev. William Dean, D. D., the missionary to Siam and author of the Chinese translation of the Bible; Revs. Joel and Willis Nye, Al- fred Cornell, Henry M., Leonard J., William K. and Delavan D. Dean. Rev. Nathaniel Kendrick, D. D., was settled as pastor over the church in 1817 and resigned in 1820. Later pastors have been Revs. Obed Warren, David Blakesley, Silas Spalding, Nicholas Johnson, Edwin D. Reed, Benjamin Putnam, Simon Davis, Luke Davis, John J. Teeple, John N. T. Tucker, Reuben Winegar, Ira Bennett, Isaac E. Howd, Ed- ward Royce, Norman C. Mallory, Samuel S. Utter, Stillman S. Bidwell, William Ostler, Eugene S. Gardiner. The present paster is Rev. Enoch Powell.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Morrisville was organized Febru- ary 24, 1834, in the court house, by Rev. William Worthing. The trus- tees then chosen were John Pratt, Benjamin Morse, Adolphus Brown and E. C. Topliff. The church edifice was begun within that year on the site presented by Bennett Bicknell. The society was slow in growth for many years, but is now prosperous.
Morrisville, which for many years had only a hand fire engine for protection against fire, and a hose company, established an excellent water system in 1894-95. A Board of Water Commissioners was chosen consisting of Dr. A. M. Holmes, Dr. H. P. Mead, L. B. Burroughs, Sumner Gill and David D. Jones. The number in the board has since been reduced to three, the present members being Dr. H. N. Aldrich, L. W. Burroughs and David D. Jones. Bonds to the amount of $15,- 000 were issued for the purpose and water was taken from springs a little southeast of the corporation. A reservoir was constructed of 7,000,000 gallons capacity, giving an average pressure on hydrants of eighty pounds. There are now located twenty-seven two-way hydrants and private consumption of the water is large. The present fire de- partment consists of Morrisville Hook and Ladder Company, with twenty-two members and a Rumsey truck and the hose company.
Prior to the establishment of the present lighting system of the vil-
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lage several unsatisfactory attempts were made in that direction. In 1897 an efficient electric lighting plant was put in operation which is the property of the D. A. Schuyler estate. For proper lighting of the streets and public buildings the village pays $500 annually.
After the settlement of Joshua Leland and his fellow pioneers at and near the site of Eaton village, or "Log City," as it was for many years popularly known, the place assumed considerable business importance. Pleasantly situated in the midst of a rich farming district, and with a valuable water power, it was thought the place might grow to a large and thriving business center. These expectations were not destined to be realized. With the establishment of the mills by Mr. Leland, how- ever, a number of other industries gathered about and men of enter prise found a field for their labor at that point. In 1800 Joseph Morse, a man of energy and enterprise, employed Theodore Burr, an early millwright, to build a mill for him for $1,200. The stones for the mill were wrought from field boulders, which were ultimately replaced with stones brought from Germany by Col. John Lincklaen. In 1802 Mr. Morse removed to the homestead in Eaton village, and improved the power for his grist mill and saw mill, acquired land and established other industries.
Among the pioneers of the village who came in soon after Mr. Morse, was Nicholas Byer, whose father was one of Burgoyne's Hessians in the Revolution; Nicholas was a blacksmith and had a shop in the place. Another settler there was Elisha Willis, a shoemaker. But there were only about half a dozen houses there in 1806 when the county was formed.
Isaac Sage built the first tavern on the site of Eaton village in 1802; it was situated on the corner opposite the site of the later Exchange Hotel and remained standing a half century or more. Rufus Eldred began keeping a store across the street from the tavern and Robert and William Henry were among the first merchants of the place. The first distillery was built in 1804 by Rufus and Zenas Eldred, on the site afterwards occupied by another and larger distillery operated by Ellis Morse. The first carding machine in that region was set up in 1806, in a building on the creek on the site of the later woolen mill by Heze- kiah Morse and Rufus Eldred. They soon added the manufacture of cloth, introducing spinning machinery and looms. In 1833 that estab. lishment was rebuilt of stone by Alpha Morse and Clement Leach, who had purchased the property. They added to the machinery for making
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woolen goods and did a considerable business for a number of years. The property subsequently passed through various hands and the build- ing was ultimately occupied for other purposes.
A tannery was built in 1808 by Barry Carter which was operated by him and his successors for half a century. Alpheus and Ellis Morse built a small foundry at a very early date and there made some of the first cast iron plows of this section, which found a ready sale and soon displaced the old wooden tools. The business continued a number of years, but was never very extensive, as similar foundries were in oper- ation at many near-by points, where plows, stoves, etc., were manufac- tured. A small powder mill was established in 1806 on the river bank, by James McConnell; but it was soon discontinued as unprofitable.
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