Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York, Part 34

Author: Smith, John E., 1843- ed
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston, Mass.] : Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 960

USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 34

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

held many offices of honor. He was appointed district attorney of the county in 1821, and was adjutant-general on the staff of Governor Yates in 1823, having previously been conspicuous in the local militia. He was member of assembly from this county in 1829-30 and representa- tive in Congress from 1833 to 1837. Late in life he returned to his paternal home in Schenectady, where he died.

Daniel B. Cady came here from Johnstown and was in practice from about 1828 to 1834, when he removed to Columbia county and was there appointed county judge. R. John Everett settled here soon after Cady left for a year or two only. Horatio Gates Warner and Hiram Cum- mings were contemporary practitioners at the bar several years. War- ner removed to Rochester. Duane Brown was in successful practice about ten years, removed to Morrisville and there died. Lorenzo D. Dana practiced here a short time before he was elected county clerk in 1849, when he removed to Morrisville. Later he became cashier of the Morrisville Bank.

William E. Lansing was a prominent member of the Madison county bar. He was born in Sullivan in 1822, read law in Utica with Joshua Spencer and began practice in 1845; he was long in practice with the late Charles L. Kennedy, the firm having a large clientage. Mr. Lan- sing was elected district attorney in 1850, county clerk in 1855, and was in Congress from 1861 to 1863 and again from 1871 to 1875. Mr. Ken- nedy succeeded Lansing as county clerk in 1858 and in 1867 was elected county judge, an office which he honored until his recent death.

Daniel D. Walrath was long in practice in the village; he was a na- tive of Sullivan and studied law with John G. Stower, who came at an advanced age and died here. Joseph J. L. Baker is a native of Nelson, received his education in Cazenovia Sminary and graduated from the Albany Law School in 1860. In that year he began practice here which he has ever since continued.

Charles Kellogg, a native of Madison county and son of Daniel F., was educated in the Yates Institution in Chittenango, read law with William F. Lansing, and began practice in the year of his admission to the bar, 1861.

C. A. Hitchcock was born in Seneca Falls and is a son of Dr. Thomas E. Hitchcock of Syracuse. He was educated in private schools and the Yates Institution in Chittenango and studied law in Syracuse. He was admitted in 1883 and has practiced in the village since that time.

The village of Chittenango was first incorporated when its prosperity

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promised to make it a large business center. The incorporation was under date of March 15, 1842. The first corporation meeting was held on April 19, 1842, when the following officers were chosen:

Robert Riddell, Alfred Bellamy, Daniel Walrath, George K. Fuller and James Crouse, trustees; Abner P. Downer, Edward Sims and Hi- ram Curtis, assessors; George Grant, treasurer; Henry H. Cobb, clerk ; Oren A. Thompson, collector; Daniel F. Kellogg, Joseph B. Plank and Alonzo Bishop, fire wardens. At a meeting of the trustees April 27, 1842, Robert Riddell was elected president.

Following is a list of the presidents and clerks of the village from its incorporation to the present time, excepting 1858 to 1870, of which years there are no records:

Presidents-1842, Robert Riddell; 1843, Abner P. Downer; 1844, Job Wells; 1845, Jarvis French; 1846, George Grant; 1847-48, John G. Stower; 1849, Job Wells; 1850, George K. Fuller; 1851, John Knowles; 1852, P. D. Harrington; 1853, William E. Lansing; 1854, George K. Fuller; 1855-58, Sanford Cobb; 1871, J. S. Atwell; 1872-77, A. H. Downer; 1878-79, M. Billington; 1880-81, John H. Walrath; 1882-83, George Walrath; 1884, M. Billington; 1885, Robert Kennedy ; 1886-87, E. A. Judd; 1888, C. F. Pennock; 1889-90, M. Billington; 1891-92, C. A. Hitchcock; 1893, Luke McHenry; 1894-95, George Walrath; 1896-99, Luke McHenry.

Clerks-1842, Henry H. Cobb; 1843, James Walrath; 1844, Chauncey Shaffer; 1845, Jarvis French; 1846-48, Isaac T. Teller; 1849, Daniel D. Walrath; 1850-51, John C. Clark; 1852, J. P. Olmstead; 1853-54, George E. Downer; 1855, Charles C. West; 1856-57, Peter P. Carl; 1858, D. D. Walrath; 1871, J. J. L. Baker; 1872-75, T. E. Hitchcock; 1876-82, B. R. Jenkins; 1883, C. L. Smith; 1884-86, J. J. L. Baker; 1887-90, C. A. Hitchcock; 1891, M. C. Walrath; 1891-93, Thomas C. Bassett; 1894-95, John R. Costello; 1896, Theodore B. French; 1897-98, J. M. Hubbard; 1899, John V. Flaherty.

On December 5, 1870, the village was reincorporated under the then new general law, making the office of president an elective one and that of clerk appointive; also reducing the number of trustees from five to three. In 1897 the number of trustees was reduced to two.

The post-office in Chittenango is believed to have been established in 1816 through the influence of John B. Yates and William K. Fuller, with Mr. Fuller as postmaster. He was succeeded by Henry H. Cobb, who held the office until about 1835. His successors have been George

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Ehle, Dr. Samuel Kennedy, Benjamin Jenkins, Benjamin D. French, Benjamin Jenkins again, P. D. Harrington, Ambrose E. Gorton, Charles Kellogg, Hobart French, J. J. L. Baker, Hobart French again, and Winfield S. Siver, the incumbent.

Not much, if anything, was done in the village to provide protection from fire, until immediately after the incorporation in 1842. At a meeting held May 30 of that year, the following persons were appointed firemen: Thomas Dickinson, Isaac R. Colyer, Isaac Colyer, E. M. Tobey, D. P. Kellogg, James A. Monroe, Charles A. Warner, B. D. French, M. E. Walrath, James S. Brown, Benjamin Jennings, A. I. Wells, Jonathan Burt, Edward Sims, P. Herrington, James Crouse, William Plank, P. S. Fairchild, Marcus Plank, A. V. Boardman, N. Hem- sted, James Walrath, C. R. Norton, Damon Wells; and the following as a hook and ladder company, Wallace Riddell, E. Henry Cobb, James Jones, A. Beckwith, James Cole, Luke Brissau, Henry Eygenbroat, --- Schoonmaker, W. H. Gale.

In November of that year it was resolved to raise $250 by tax for the purpose of purchasing a fire engine and hook and ladder apparatus. The first engine, obtained in that winter, proved inefficient and another was bought from Lewis Selye, of Rochester, for $325. An engine house was erected in 1843. The company just mentioned was disbanded in July, 1848, and a new one appointed. The membership of the com- pany and other organizations that followed was frequently changing, but usually included many of the best citizens. In later years and after the village was several years without any organized department, two companies were formed-the Hope Engine Company, organized in July, 1880, with thirty members, and Yates Hose Company No. 1, or- ganized at the same time with ten members. The department now consists of an engine company, who have charge of a good hand en- gine; Yates Hose Company and Fuller Hose Company, with a Hook aud Ladder Company. A steam fire engine is owned by Peter Walrath and is kept at his foundry. A part of the village is now supplied with hydrants, from which water is taken by the engine.

This village has always had excellent educational facilities, for a place of its size. The long celebrated Yates Polytechnic Institute, founded by John B. Yates in 1824, is properly described in chapter de- voted to education. The village and considerable adjoining territory now constitute Union School District No. 2, of the town of Sullivan, formed under the law in 1871. This district includes what were for-

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merly districts 2 and 17, with parts of the so-called Hall district, the Springs district and the Anguish district. In September, 1871, the Polytechnic building was taken for the Union school and the Board of Education was authorized to sell the school property in the two districts first consolidated. The sum of $6,000 was appropriated to repair the Polytechnic building, and Prof. Milton J. Griffin was chosen principal of the school. Before the close of 1871 $3,000 more was appropriated to complete repairs on the building. The present principal is Prof. W. M. Fort, who has had charge of the school about three years, succeed- ing Prof. N. P. Avery. Professor Fort has eight assistants.

Following the formation of the religious body that finally became the Presbyterian Church in Chittenango, described in Chapter IV., the next church organized in the village was the First Methodist Church of Chittenango, in the year 1833, when John I. Walrath, Daniel Walrath, J. R. Knowlin, William Metcalf and A. Comstock were elected trustees. Meetings of Methodists had been held long before this date and when the organization took place Rev. Benjamin G. Paddock was in charge. The meeting house was built in 1833-34, which was burned in 1862 and at once rebuilt in its present form. The society is now in a thriving condition. Rev. A. J. Saxe is present pastor.

The Baptist Church of Chittenango was organized in 1841 and re- ceived at once into the Madison Association. In 1842 the membership was thirty-nine and Elder T. Houston was pastor. A house of worship was purchased of the Presbyterian society and in 1844 the society re- ported that it had been repaired and paid for. Some of the early pas- tors were Revs. John Smitzer, L. E. Swan, B. C. Crandall, J. J. Teeple, I. K. Brownson, William C. Hubbard, and H. H. Rouse. In 1859 report was made that preaching could not longer be sustained and that the church had "ripened for division." No report appears after that date. The old church was sold to the Catholics and finally burned.

The First Baptist Church of Chittenango was organized February 5, 1868, with twenty members. The congregation had previously wor- shiped in several places in the village and at this time Rev. William Stigar was supplying the preaching. During 1868 about thirty addi- tions were made to the membership, and before the close of Mr. Stigar's three years' pastorate a lot was purchased and a house of worship erected at a cost of about $7,000. The society has since that time remained substantially free from debt. Rev. J. H. McGahan is pastor.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church was organized in 1855, by Rev. Dr.

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Smith of Cazenovia, who had been holding services here a few years. Sanford Cobb and Joseph Sanger were the first wardens, The small church was built in 1866 at a cost of about $5,000. Rev. James D. S. Pardee succeeded Dr. Smith as rector. The membership eventually became much reduced in numbers by deaths and removals, and in 1879 William S Hayward was established as a missionary to the various churches in this region. There has been no regular pastor of the church since.

St. Patrick's Church (Catholic) was the outgrowth of services held here from about 1851 by Rev. Father Hayes, from Syracuse, in the house of James Stewart and later in Union Hall to about 1859, when the church purchased the edifice of the Baptists for $900. This build- ing was burned and the present one erected. The society owns a cemetery which was donated in 1875 by Mrs. Mary E. Brinkerhoff.

The oldest, although not the most important, village in the town of Sullivan is Canaseraga, situated a little more than a mile northeast of Chittenango, where the Canaseraga Creek crosses the Seneca Turnpike. At the time of the formation of the county in 1806 there were only a few families there. The village is the site of one of the old Tuscarora villages. In 1805 Capt. Timothy Brown settled there, and according to Mrs. Hammond, Isaac Holiburt (?) had been a merchant a little · earlier, but had failed. John Dennie and a Mr. Drake were keeping road taverns, and Mr. Dennie built the first frame house. Solomon Beebe built the second as an addition to his log house. David Burton settled there in 1806 and built a frame house, in which Samuel Chap- man kept the second store. John Klock built a tavern which stood many years. In 1810 the little village was a trade center for a large part of the region to the west of Quality Hill, and public meetings, train- ings, and so on were held here.

A post-office was opened here at an early date, with the name of Sullivan, and on April 19, 1823, the village was incorporated with the same name. Previous to this time the post-office had been removed to Chittenango, and the chief purpose of incorporation was to retain the name of the former post-office. When the office was first removed to Chittenango it carried with it the original name, but it was changed to Chittenango in 1823. The post-office here was abandoned some forty years ago and the place gradually took its original Indian name. The office was established in recent years.

The history of the first mills built here on the creek is lost in the past,

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but they were in operation without doubt before 1805, and continued many years. The present mills were built in 1855 by Simon D. Pad- dock, and passed to Daniel Hull in 1879. Allen S. Scoville was a later owner and upon his death they became the property of his widow, the present owner. There has always been a small mercantile business done here and a store is at present conducted by Frank Cole, who is also postmaster. At Canaseraga station on the Central Railroad is a post office with the old name of Canaseraga.

The Erie Canal passes through this town a little to the north of Chit- tenango village at what has always been known as Chittenango Land- ing. Here there has always been more less business carried on. A dry dock was built which had different owners and groceries have been kept for many years, mainly for the accommodation of boatmen. The dry dock was built at the time of the canal enlargement by John H. Walrath and Hiram Graves, who owned it about five years. It is now the property of R. J. Scott. The place is now important only as the site of the new pottery before mentioned, and the vinegar factory of George Walrath.

East Boston is a hamlet and post-office about three miles northeast of Chittenango, which was originally settled mainly by families from Massachusetts. A small mercantile business and a few shops have con- stituted the business in past years. A saw mill near the settlement was built about 1825 and has had various owners during its existence. The Harrison Brothers established here an extensive vinegar and cider factory, which they removed to near Canastota, as described in the his- tory of that village. The present postmaster is Z. E. Coe.

Chittenango Station is on the Central railroad, centrally situated in the town, and at the present time has three stores kept respectively by George W. Carpenter, A. W. Green and William Hurlburt. The first merchant was J. T. Burton, who opened a grocery in 1856 and in 1866 built a store that was afterwards occupied by his brother, N. J. Burton, with whom he associated in 1875 and to whom he sold out in 1878. The store formerly occupied by Porter & Green, and later by A. W. Green, was opened by the firm about 1858, where they were succeeded by William Cain, George Crispe, Washington Conine, John Cronk, and A. W. Green.

The first postmaster here was William Macomber, appointed in 1863. The present incumbent is George W. Carpenter. There are two hotels, the Webb House, kept by F. L. Webb, and another by Charles P. Eaton. Samuel Levy conducts the milk station.

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In the extreme northwestern part of the town is the village of Bridge- port, on the Chittenango Creek and about two miles from Oneida Lake. In the very early years of the century the point was known as the Chit- tenango Rifts (or Rapids). Isaac and John Delamater settled here in 1802, and John Knowles and John Adams not long after. The im- mense water power found here where the creek has a fall of about ten feet made it a desirable point for settlement. It has always been noted for its fisheries and formerly many boats were built here for lake pur- poses. It is said that Capt. Rosel Barnes was the first settler here and built the first frame house, having previously kept a tavern in a log building. The father of the late Capt. John Rector, was also a very early settler. The hamlet was the site of large cooperage industries in past years, many barrels being made and taken down the creek, through Oneida Lake and thence to Salina where they were used for packing salt. Families who came in at a later date were the Briggs, White, Eastford, Owen, Crownhart, Dunham, Hosley, and other fami- lies.

The business interests of more recent times include a hotel built in 1873 on a site of a former one that was burned in 1867; and another in which John Nichols, Udell Mayo and others were past landlords. The present hotels are the Nichols House, kept by Gilbert Slingerland and the Servis House, by Holden Bushnell.

It is not known how early the Bridgeport Mills were built, and they have had many owners. For many years past they have done only cus- tom work and are now operated by Snyder Bros. (Clinton D. and W. J. )

Lewis V. Conklin, John Nichols, Wallace Billington, and David H. Brown have general stores. Among former merchants were Dunham & Sharpe, John O. Terpenny, Charles Billington & Brother and Horace V. Draper. The latter is still in business in tin and hardware. Eph- raim Andrews and William Moore carry on blacksmithing. The post- master is Richard R. Brown.

About two miles east of Bridgeport is the cheese factory of L. W. Sayles, who bought the property in 1875 of James Vrooman, who moved the building from another site and first operated the factory about 1868. There is another factory a little south of the village oper- ated by John Durst.

There was a Methodist Society here as early as 1835, which belonged to the old North Manlius Circuit, with Rev. Anson Tuller, pastor. The congregation was small and for many years they had only occasional

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preaching. In 1866 the people became anxious for a regular pastor of the Methodist faith and soon afterward Rev. Silas Ball was appointed and remained a year. He was followed by Rev. Gideon P. Jones and in 1868 Rev. Moses Lyon was appointed. In that year was organized the First Methodist Episcoal Society of Bridgeport with Jefferson Hall, O. Sayles, Asa Ames, Daniel Marvin, James S. Prosser, Ozias Osborn, B. D. Auchmoody, J. S. Barnard, and Richard Brown, trustees. In 1869 the meeting house was finished. The society continued to pros- per under the ministration of the various pastors appointed to the charge and is still in active existence.

The Bridgeport Baptist Church was organized in 1845 with twelve members, under the pastoral direction of Henry Shute. The meeting house was built before 1847, and in 1848 Rev. David Pease began a brief pastorate. His successors have been numerous. The society, is still in existence, but is small in numbers.

Lakeport is a small post village about five miles east of Bridgeport on the lake shore: Reuben Spencer was about the first settler in this immediate vicinity, coming from Connecticut. He purchased an ex- tensive tract of land through which ran Spencer Brook, on which stream he built a saw mill. That mill disappeared long ago and he built another later one, which was demolished about 1870. In that he oper- ated a turning lathe. Mr. Spencer passed his long life here. He was father of William R. Spencer. Reuben Bushnell was another early set tler, coming in 1811 to locate on the place occupied in later years by his son, Franklin Bushnell. Another of his sons was William Bushnell. William Williams and Richard Chapman were early settlers. Zina Bushnell also came here early and as early as 1818 built the first brick house in northern Sullivan. making the brick on his own farm. A later saw mill was built about 1850 by W. H. Snedeker, which was purchased by P. W. Tupper in 1858. It is now owned and operated by Charles F. Pennock. The Larkin House was built about 1850 and was then called the Lakeport House. It was remodeled and enlarged and passed to the proprietorship of David Larkin, taking his name. It is still owned by a member of the Larkin family and kept by Edward Jacobs. The Avon House was built in 1877 by John Dempsey, who conducted it a short time and was succeeded by Reuben Coss; the house is now unoccupied.

A store building was erected about 1855 by Perry Edwards, who oc- cupied it about four years and was followed by N. Warner. Edwin C.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Green took the store about 1865 and conducted the business many years. It is now occupied by J. W. Phillips, who is also postmaster. Mr. Green was postmaster a number of years and succeeded David Larkin.

A half mile west of Lakeport was built the Spencer Brook Cheese Factory by John K. Gifford about 1868. Edward F. Sternberg was a later proprietor. The building is now the Spencer Brook House, of which Mr. Sternberg is landlord. Another cheese factory in this vicin- ity is conducted by Charles F. Pennock.

The First Congregational Church of Oneida Lake, including in its charge the territory of the northeast part of Sullivan and the north- west part of the old town of Lenox, was organized in August, 1846, with nineteen members, eleven of whom were women. From that year until 1851 Rev. Josiah J. Ward was pastor. A meeting house was built in 1824, but was partly unfinished until 1846. It was much improved in 1876. The society is still in existence.

The Union Congregational Society in the north part of Lenox and Sullivan, as the record gives it, was organized in 1824 and retained its existence until about 1842, when it discontinued, and the property passed to the society just described. There is a Free Methodist society which built a church about three-fourths of a mile east of Lakeport.

The somewhat celebrated white sulphur springs, about four miles south of Chittenango Station, from which they are reached by an ex- cellent road, have already been briefly mentioned. The first effort to bring these springs into public notice was made about 1825 by Peter Colyer, who purchased the land on which they are situated and opened a road to them. Milton Leach then established a grocery and a shower bathing establishment. Mr. Colyer soon afterwards erected a building for the accommodation of visitors. The reputation of the waters spread gradually and they became noted for their curative properties. A large hotel was ultimately built which was for a period under the efficient management of Josiah Tasker, now living in Syracuse. But for some unexplained causes the springs and the locality could not be made suf- ficiently popular to render the business profitable and the house is now falling into ruin.

Aside from the great railroads, the Central and the West Shore, which cross the town of Sullivan, there was an earlier piece of railroad experience here that has considerable historical importance. When the agitation of the Chenango Canal project was in progress, the sub-

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ject arose of building a railroad from the north line of Madison county to the Chenango, following down the Chenango valley, its northern terminus to be Chittenango. It was thought that freighting from the county of lime, plaster, and other products, with salt traffic from Syra- cuse, with other considerations would make the road a paying invest- ment. But the canal went through and the railroad project died. Very soon afterward, prominent men of Chittenango, Cazenovia and De Ruyter, who felt that a road was needed from the canal to the south - ward, took up the matter with renewed zeal; prominent among these men was John B. Yates; others were Perry G. Childs, Robert Riddell, J. D. Ledyard, John Knowles, George K. Fuller, Benjamin Enos, and others. Meetings were held along the proposed route, which it was desired should extend from Chittenango to De Ruyter, at least, and possibly on southward. A company was formed and $70,000 in stock subscribed, Mr. Yates agreeing to build the first mile at his own ex- pense. Surveys were made and grading begun at Chittenango, when Judge Yates died and the work was abandoned.

Agriculture in this town has undergone the same changes experi- enced in other local regions. The hop industry, once of great impor- tance, has to a considerable extent declined and given place to dairying, the shipment of milk and the operation of creameries, with the grow- ing of such crops as are needed for home consumption. In this con- nection must not be forgotten the extensive operations before described for reclaiming the great area of swamp lands and their preparation for tillage, with the promise thus offered for new crops for this region that are likely to bring in a large revenue. Among prominent farmers of this town, past and present, may be mentioned Ebenezer Pennock, whose son, Charles F., is still extensively engaged in various agricul- tural operations, Franklin Gates, John Hopkins, Myron D. Olmsted, Henry King, Henry Lasher, John Lilly, members of the Walrath fam- ily on the old Walrath farm, Albert Brown, Philip Wager, William Ladd, John H. Anguish, John Burke, and others.

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Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York, Part 34

Author: Smith, John E., 1843- ed Publication date: 1899 Publisher: [Boston, Mass.] : Boston History Company Number of Pages: 960

Author: Smith, John E., 1843- ed
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston, Mass.] : Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 960