USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 30
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By far the most important event in the history of the old town of Lenox and one that excited interest throughout Madison county, was its division in 1896 into the three existing towns of Lenox, Lincoln, and Oneida. This division was a subject of earnest discussion long before it was accomplished, for which there existed ample cause in the great territorial size of the old town, the existence of two large and thriving villages within its bounds, and other apparent conditions. Agreement on details of division was difficult to reach. In 1895 agitation of the
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matter was renewed with more determination than ever. The princi- pal difficulty arose regarding the railroads running through the terri- tory; it seemed impossible to so equalize taxation on railroad property as to satisfy the conflicting interests. Mr. Hathaway, and others enter- taining his views, proposed a division into four towns, the boundary lines of which are clearly shown on the accompanying map and do not need further description. This plan gave to the Canastota district about two-thirds of the railroad property, and naturally met with oppo- sition from other sections. At a meeting held in January, 1895, a proposition was made by residents of Oneida village and the east part of the town in favor of carrying the proposed west line of the new town of Oneida to the west of Wampsville. This was opposed by many in Canastota and the northern part of the old town, on account of the ex- tent of territory given to the lake district. These two plans became known as the Canastota and the Oneida plans, and they were embodied in resolutions numbered one and two. The result of the vote upon these resolutions was as follows: For resolution No. 1, (Canastota), 1,400; against, 532; majority for, 868. Resolution No. 2, (Oneida), For 463; against, 1,498; majority against, 1,035. Thus the matter was defeated.
The subject was not allowed to rest and in January, 1896, it was pro- posed to obtain a special act of the Legislature which would compel the division, even against the desires of a numerical majority of the inhab- itants. Several meetings were held and an executive committee ap- pointed. The committee selected to draw a bill for presentation to the Legislature reported at a meeting held February 19, with a bill divid- ing the territory into two towns. With this plan Canastota was wholly dissatisfied and a meeting was held there the same night, where a three- town division was proposed, on a basis that would give the new town of Lenox 3,850 population; Lincoln, 1,100, and Oneida, 7,850, with an assessed valuation of fair ratio. A bill embodying this proposition was drawn and pushed through the Legislature as soon as possible. The act provided for the holding of a special town meeting at which each of the new towns should be represented, on May 18, 1893; the meetings were held in Oneida in the village hall; in Lenox in the Canastota vil- lage hall, and in Lincoln in the old Methodist church in Clockville. The bill also provided that the old officers of the town of Lenox should serve out their terms. During the summer of 1896 the accounts of the three towns with the old town were equitably settled, the total claims
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
against the old town amounting to $15,136, which were allowed at about $2,000 less than that sum. The assessed valuation of the new town of Oneida was $2,552,500, real estate, and $234,900 personal. The red lines on the accompanying map show the approximate boundaries of the three new towns. In the settlement of the town accounts a joint meeting of the town boards was held on June 1, with Francis W. Doo-
little in the chair. It was ordered that the three boards be a committee. to audit claims. This committee reported in favor of apportioning the debts of the old town and dividing its property on the basis of the as- sessment roll of 1895. A committee of two from each new town was appointed to carry out this purpose. This committee consisted of Stephen C. Waterman and Menzo Root, for Oneida; F. W. Doolittle and Seward H. Stroud for Lenox; and H. H. Hathaway and George W. Chapman for Lincoln.
At a meeting of the Town Board held April 27, 1896, appointed to supervise and conduct the first town meeting of the town of Oneida there were present Andrew J. French, Allen S. Whitman, Barney Rat- nour and Hiram L. Rockwell. A. J. French was chosen chairman and A. S. Whitman, secretary. The boundaries of election districts, local option, etc., were discussed. A second meeting was held the next day at which a description of the proposed eight election districts of the town was submitted. A third meeting was held the 29th of April, and the election districts before described were adopted. At a meeting held May 2 a survey and maps of the dividing lines of the three towns were ordered. The three town committees met at Canastota on June 20, and the survey was reported finished and proper monuments set.
The first town meeting for Oneida was held, as provided by the act, on May 19, when Stephen C. Waterman was elected supervisor; Menzo D. Root, James Leggett, Myron H. Mason, justices of the peace; Giles Harrington and Cyrus T. McDuffee, assessors; Frank Boyer, constable, and two inpectors of election for each of the eight districts. On No- vember 28 of that year the Town Board ordered 1,000 yards of crushed stone for the Lake road in the north part of the town. On December 16, of that year, among other minor matters, the clerk was directed to obtain from the trustees the boundaries of the school districts of the new town.
At the town meeting of February 9, 1897, Stephen C. Waterman was elected supervisor; Giles Harrington, assessor ; Lewis J. Stisser, collec- tor; Frederick McGraith, overseer of the poor; John C. Myer, Daniel
289
IMPROVEMENT IN TOWNS-LENOX.
Kilroy, John Wimmet, constables, and the inspectors of election. A vote was also taken on the question whether liquor should be sold in the town under a certain section of the existing liquor law; the result showed 618 in favor and 397 against such action. Also voted on sell- ing liquor on physicians' prescriptions, on which the majority in favor was still greater. Also voted on selling liquor by hotel keepers, result- ing 710 in favor and 344 against. During the year 1897 considerable improvement of important roads was made. At a meeting of June 24 election districts 6 and 8 were consolidated into No. 6. In July a reso- lution was adopted to build a stone arch bridge over the Cowasselon on the Seneca Turnpike. The contract was let at $1,279.
The officers elected at the town meeting of 1898 were as follows: Supervisor, Stephen C. Waterman; clerk, Homer L. Bonney; justices, J. Emery Brown, Edward M. Doran; commissioner of highways, Ed- ward G. Hubbard; assessor, Joseph Veling; collector, Calvin McGuin- ness; overseer of the poor, Frederick McGraith; constables, John C. Myer, John Kearns, and John Wimmet. In 1899 Stephen C. Waterman was appointed supervisor ; H. L. Bonney, clerk, to serve until January, 1900, the date of the 1899 election having been changed to November.
In tracing the history of the village of Oneida we must interest our- selves in more modern conditions than in that of any other municipality in Madison county. The village itself is distinctly a result of canal and railroad construction, although in recent years it has shown remarkable thrift in directions not wholly dependent upon facilities for travel and transportation. The canal deviating to the north near Canastota and passing out of this town at Durhamville, had little influence upon Oneida, the site of which remained an agricultural district, with scat- tered farms until the opening of the railroad in 1839.
The land including the site of the village to the amount of several hundred acres formerly and before there was any settlement here be- longed to Sands Higinbotham, a sketch of whose life will be found in another part of this work. His first purchase was made in 1829 from individual owners, and a second in 1830 from the State. He became a resident here in 1834 and from that time until his death he was promi- nent in public affairs and active and zealous for the welfare of the village that found its site upon his property. When Mr. Higinbotham settled here that part of the village site south of the railroad was partly cleared, as well as the valley lands. The railroad was opened on the 4th of July, 1839, with a grand celebration. The track ran through the woods which
19
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
covered its course and in the spring of 1839 a clearing was made for `the erection of the Railroad House. The station was established and from its proximity to Oneida Castle, took the name of Oneida Depot. Mr. Higinbotham built the Railroad House and shrewdly bargained with the railroad company that they could have free right of way across his land, if they would stop every train at the depot ten minutes for refreshments. This was readily agreed to by the company.
Previous to this and preparatory to the settlement of Mr. Higinbotham on his property, he sent Henry Dygert in 1832 to make a clearing. He erected the second frame house in the place. Peter Dygert and Abram Phillips had already built log houses and were here in 1828 when Isaac Morris arrived and also built a log house. Although the village site and adjacent territory was a flat and unattractive region with much of it swampy, settlers came in rapidly through the liberal offers made by Mr. Higinbotham. The canal feeder from Oneida Creek, which ex- tends through the village, was constructed in 1835 and brought many men and families here, most of whom remained and purchased lots or houses on the liberal terms made by Mr. Higinbotham. Mr. Higin- botham was father of Niles Higinbotham who died March 17, 1890; a sketch of whose life is given in another part of this work.
The settlement grew slowly at first, for Oneida Castle, with its stores and shops was near at hand. The first store in the place was built by John B. Cole, who was one of the conductors on the railroad; it was opened by Amos Story, from Fayetteville, about 1842, and was known for some years as the "red store." The next store was kept by George Hamilton, of Verona, on the site of the present Kenyon block; the building was erected by him and Dr, J. H. Hamilton, of Oneida Castle. Newman Scofield subsequently purchased the store and conducted it some years.
In 1847 a small store was opened by the firm of Stoddard & Lype. At about the same time Lyman Morse opened a small general store. The second house was built on the site of what became the Coe house by Charles B. Stewart. The first store of real importance was estab- lished in 1844 by S. H. Goodwin & Co., in a building erected by them- selves, which was burned in 1862 and rebuilt. The elder Goodwin, and later his sons, were in trade many years. An early grocery was established in 1850 by Ambrose Hill, who came here from Lenox Basin, where he had been in trade on the canal bank since 1830. He contin- ued in business alone and later with his son, until comparatively recent
291
IMPROVEMENT IN TOWNS-LENOX.
years. The father of the first Ambrose kept an early tavern at Wamps- ville, locating there in 1819.
The post-office was established in 1841 with Erasmus Stone post- master. He was then proprietor of the Railroad House, succeeding the first proprietor, Henry Y. Steward. Mr. Stone was a native of Homer, Cortland county, and came here from Salina in 1840, and father of John E. Stone, of Oneida. The post-office was kept in the bar room of the hotel. He held the office until 1845 and died in Oneida November 14, 1878. He was succeeded by Asa Smith, an enterprising citizen, who was followed by I. N. Messenger, and he by Ephraim Beck. John Crawford was appointed in 1864 and held the office a long term, being followed in 1881 by Watson A. Stone, who held the office until his death in 1888. His successors have been Walter E. Northrup, to May, 1890; John J. Hodge, to October, 1894; Richard M. Baker to March, 1899; John J. Hodge, incumbent.
The first attorney to settle in Oneida was Isaac Newton Messinger, who died here March 11, 1895. He was a son of Gen. John M. Messin- ger, a prominent early settler of this county, and located in Oneida in 1848. A sketch of his life appears elsewhere in this volume. For a time Mr. Messinger was a partner with Ithamar C. Sloan, and also with James B. Jenkins, both of whom were successful and honored members of the Madison bar.
The first physician in Oneida was Dr. Earl Loomis, a graduate of Yale, who settled here in 1842 and remained in practice many years and until his death. Lewis Joslyn also began practice here in 1842, and in the following year Dr. Benjamin Palmer came in. Among other early physicians were Drs. George Beardsley, Willard R. Fitch, J. W. Fitch, A. G. Purdy, Edward Loomis, Ogden Randall, Stillman Spooner, Ed- win Perkins, and a few others.
The first manufacturing in the village, aside from the few small shops found in all similar places, was a foundry and a machine shop, of which little is now known. It was established as early as 1846 by Gen. John M. Messinger, Heman Phelps, O. T. Burt (the latter of Syracuse) and others; the building is now standing north of the Central tracks and used as a malt house. It was operated under the firm name of H. H. Phelps & Co. This was the only industry of importance in the village until the establishment of the tannery of George Berry, which was built in 1857 on the site of the gas works; this was burned in 1871 and rebuilt by the same owner. A second foundry was built a little later on the
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
feeder at the junction of Elizabeth and Main streets. I. N. Messinger was interested in this enterprise. It finally closed and later the building was burned.
Meanwhile the village was growing, buildings of brick, and of con- siderable dimensions, were erected and a number of prosperous mer- chants began business. Asa Smith, the tanner and currier of early years, built the Empire block which for a number of years was the most pretentious structure in the place. James A. Bennett, in connec- tion with Charles and Joseph Walrath, built the block next to the Em- pire, where Charles I. Walrath carried on a mercantile business. Al- bert E. Coe, long a promient citizen, built the block adjoining the one just mentioned on the south, and next was the Devereaux block, built by Horace Devereaux. The Merchants' Exchange was next on the south, which was built by Timothy G. Seeley. Still going south, the next building was the Walrath block, built by C. A. & D. H. Walrath; then came the Oneida Valley Bank and other buildings. On the east side of the street were the buildings erected by C. A. & D. H. Walrath, afterwards owned by William Lyle, and adjoining that the building erected by Patrick Devereaux. Other blocks were that built by Sam- uel Chapin, where Chapin & Sons were in the jewelry business many years, and that of E. H. Curtis. Farther north was the block built by Ephraim Beck and afterwards owned by Dr. J. W. Fitch; the building erected by Hollis Mannering, in which was Cleveland's drug store; the corner block erected by Newcomb and Charles Field; the Mes- singer block on the north corner of Phelps street, built by General Messinger, who owned all of the buildings between Phelps and Madison streets on the east side of Main, excepting what was the National Hotel, which was built by Frank Gleason. This brief survey gives the situation on Main street in the village center some twenty-five or thirty years ago.
On the north side of Madison street S. H. Goodwin had his store pre- vious to 1862; also the drug store of R. I. Stewart, the cabinet ware rooms of Jones & Hulburt, and the large building owned by L. N. Van Evra, in which were various shops. These were all burned in the fire of 1862. Mr. Goodwin rebuilt the same year and since that time the street has been built up nearly as at present. On the south side of this street Grove Stoddard built a structure which was used for an early clothing store. Where the Kenyon block was erected was formerly a wooden building in which Theodore C. Thompson and Sidney Riven-
293
IMPROVEMENT IN TOWNS-LENOX.
burg carried on mercantile business. The old Bacon Hotel was for- merly the residence of Heman H. Phelps, once superintendent of the Utica and Syracuse Railroad.
In 1870-71 the population of the village had reached about 4,000, in- dicating a healthy growth. There were at that time in the place the following nine dry goods stores, some of which were, however, of a general character: Randall & Barker, C. A. & D. H. Walrath, W. H. Dimmick, A. E. Coe & Son, S. & E. Kenyon, John E. Stone, T. C. Thompson, P. C. Lawrence, and S. H. Goodwin & Son. In the gro- cery trade were Carter Brothers, Douglass & Downing (still in whole- sale business), David Walter, Harry Walter & Co., Stone & Schuyler, A. Hill & Son, William C. Lawrence, and Matthewson & Rivenburg. Farnam & Son were in the hardware business; also A. R. Turner. There were also a few jewelry, clothing and boot and shoe stores, with the usual complement of shops of various kinds.
With these increasing business interests, the establishment of a news- paper, a bank, churches, and manufactures presently to be described, and a population that was to reach almost 7,000 in 1890, the need of extensive public improvements began to be felt.
It may surprise the younger business men of the village to-day to learn that from about 1850 to the breaking out of the Civil war, the gross volume of business in Oneida was vastly larger than it is at the present time, although the population and number of separate stores, etc., was less. As a shipping point the village was then of great importance; it was the center of a large territory from which produce of all kinds came in for transportation to markets. The New York Central was then the only railroad, and it was no uncommon occurrence to see a hun- dred freight cars standing on a siding for loading or unloading. A great deal of this shipping has been attracted to other points by the various railroads since opened. But all of this does not necessarily indicate that the village is enjoying a less degree of prosperity now than it did forty or fifty years ago, through the development of manufacturing, larger retail trade, etc.
Oneida was without a public water supply until the year 1883, when the public spirit of a well known citizen (a sketch of whose life is found in these pages), Judson W. Warner, established a system of water works. The privilege was obtained of taking water from a brook flow- ing from pure springs about two and a half miles south of the village; the stream was dammed and a large reservoir thus created, in which an
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effective filter was constructed. A sixteen inch main was laid from the reservoir to a point where the pressure reaches 100 pounds to the square inch, from which point it is twelve inches diameter. Most of the prom- inent streets of the village are piped and about seventy-five hydrants are set for protection from fire. By efficient management Mr. Warner and his associates soon had the water works on a paying basis, and a stock company was formed, of which John M. Kennedy was president. The subject of the purchase of the water works by the village was pub- licly discussed in 1895 and at the charter election of that year the ques- tion of purchase at a stipulated price was voted on; the result was 704 in favor of purchase, and 246 against. The stockholders of the com- pany met on the 30th of April, 1895, and fixed a price on the works. There was then $146,000 in stock, over $100,000 of which was held in Oneida. A contract for the supply of the village was then in existence with four years to run. The price demanded by the company was par value of the stock and $15,000 in consideration of the existing contract with the village. On June 11 the Supreme Court was asked for the appointment of commissioners to appraise the value of the works. A Board of Water Commissioners was chosen and in July they voted to purchase the works at $148,000. Since the corporation acquired the ownership the system has been substantially self-sustaining and the people have a water supply that is not excelled in the State. The water commissioners are identical with the village president and trus- tees. Albert E. Loomis is the efficient superintendent of the water works.
Closely connected with the water supply is the fire department. In early history of the village the apparatus for extinguishing fire was in- significant and poorly managed. In 1849 there was only one ordinary hand engine in use, and it was ten years later before another was pur- chased. In 1860 the first hook and ladder truck was put in use and in 1873 the steamer was purchased and one hand engine was dispensed with. For a period prior to his death about 1875, E. W. Jones acted as engineer, without official appointment, and by his energy and enthusi- asm greatly improved the effectiveness of the department. He was finally elected chief and was succeeded in 1875 by C. G. W. Stoddard, under whose efficient management the department, as it existed until the installation of the water works, was organized and maintained. In 1883, upon the completion of the water works, the department was re- organized, with Warner Hose Company No. 1, Chappell Hose Company
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IMPROVEMENT IN TOWNS-LENOX,
No. 3, Mechanics Hose Company No. 4, and the German Hose Com- pany, with the Maxwell Hook and Ladder Company. In 1889 the de- partment was incorporated under the State laws. This condition con- tinued until 1895, when the old volunteer system was displaced by a paid department.
With the installation of the water works, the fire engines became practically useless. Under the new charter of 1894 the department is governed by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners consisting of four members. Under them is the chief; this position was held by Laurel E. Meader, succeeded by Wm. H. Plato, who has two assist- ants. The apparatus now in use consists of the hook and ladder truck, three hose carts, the requisite quantity of hose and other minor equip- ment. The pressure on the hydrants is sufficient to more than reach the highest buildings in the village. Present officers of the department are Wm. H. Plato, chief; Wm. Hamill, first assistant; Wm. H. Purdy, second assistant.
The new charter provided for a police force consisting of a chief, a police justice, and four patrolmen, who are under the government of the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. This board for 1899 is as follows: Dr. Martin Cavana, Charles F. Polley (president), Dr. George W. Miles, Allen S. Whitman. The office of chief of police has been held by Daniel P. Sanford since the charter became operative, and Daniel C. Burke was police justice until he was succeeded by James E. Brewer.
A second important improvement for which the village of Oneida is indebted to J. W. Warner is the introduction of electric lighting. Previous to 1888 the village was lighted by gas supplied by the Oneida Gas Light Company, incorporated in 1868, which is still in active exist- ence, with Walter E. Northup, president. In 1888, when electric light- ing in this section was in its infancy, Mr. Warner established a lighting plant in a small building on Vanderbilt avenue, where stands his present four-story industrial building. At a large expenditure he put in a fully equipped Thomson-Houston system, capable at that time of supplying all the wants of the village, both in the streets and for private consum- ers. About seventy arc lights were soon in use by the corporation, and more than 1,000 incandescent lights by individuals and families. Mr. Warner still owns and operates this plant in an efficient and satisfac- tory manner, mainly to supply private consumers.
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