Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 28

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > New York > Oneida County > Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York; > Part 28

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On the 2d of September, 1875, the institution was opened as a boarding and day school for boys under the old charter name of Clin- ton Grammar School, and continued its prosperous existence. It was conducted from 1878 to 1890 by I. P. Best and then closed. The building is now occupied for business purposes.

Whitestown Seminary .- In 1827 an educational institution was founded at Whitestown which was at the first called the Oneida Acad- emy, and afterwards the Oneida Institute; it was established under the auspices of the Oneida Presbytery. A farm was connected with it on which the students were required to do manual labor. Among the stockholders in this school, and the donors for its benefit, are found the names of many of the prominent early citizens of this vicinity. The first instructors were George W. Gale and Pelatiah Rawson. Twenty- seven students were instructed the first year, and forty acres of land were cultivated and good crops produced. The institution prospered 35

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and in 1834 had about 140 students. At this time Rev. Beriah Green was called to the presidency of the institute and was an enthusiastic worker ; but ere long during the anti-slavery agitation which prevailed here, he denounced the Oneida Presbytery as guilty of the crime of slave-holding and with three others withdrew from that body and formed the Whitesboro Association ; a new Congregational church was organized under a creed to suit Green, and a wide gulf of alienation opened between the Oneida Institute and its original patrons. A remedy for this state of affairs was at hand. In 1841 the Free Will Baptists opened a denominational school in Clinton, called the Clinton Seminary. It was a prosperous institution and when it finally needed more commodious quarters it removed to the buildings of the Oneida Institute and placed itself under the care of the Regents of the University. The change was made in 1844, and in 1845 a new charter was issued to the school under the name of the Whitestown Seminary. Prosperity followed, the attendance rising from 173 in 1844 to 317 in 1854, and during the second decade increased to 522.

In addition to the amount paid at the original purchase, a subscrip- tion of $25,000 was raised in 1860 and the subsequent years for mate- rial improvement, and it is estimated that the entire amount expended for such purchases, including the generous gift of William D. Walcott, esq., for the erection of Walcott Hall, is more than $50,000

Among the principals of the seminary appears the name of Rev. Daniel S. Heffron, A. M., who was in charge in 1845 and 1846, and a member of the Faculty from 1841 to 1848. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees from 1843 to 1869; eight years the clerk and fifteen years the presiding officer of the board. He was for several years superintendent of public instruction in the city of Utica.

Samuel Farnham, A. M., was principal from 1846 to 1853. Pro- fessor James S. Gardner was in 1848 a senior in college, and at the same time a teacher in Whitestown Seminary. His connection with the institution extended through a long term of years, and his name has become an honored one, both as a teacher and socially.

This seminary continued prosperous until recent years, when the establishment of a higher class of union and graded schools caused its decline.

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EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

Clinton Liberal Institute .- A careful history of this institution was prepared by Rev. S. P. Landers for Gridley's History of Clinton, from which the following is condensed :

The ministers and delegates from the several associations comprising the Universalist Convention of the State of New York met at Clinton May 11, 1831. There a committee consisting of Rev. Stephen R. Smith, D. Skinner and A. B. Grosh, was appointed to fully consider and report on the subject of " establishing a literary institution in this State not only for the purposes of science and literature, but with a particular view of furnishing with an education young men designing to study for the ministry of universal reconciliation."

On the Ist of June following the central association met at Cedar- ville, Herkimer county, when the subject was brought forward and resolutions adopted :

1. Approving the recommendation of the State Convention respecting a literary institution.

2. That it be located at Clinton.

3. That a Board of Trust be appointed.

4. Contains the number and names of said board.

5. That Joseph Stebbins and John W. Hale, of Clinton, David Pixley, of Man- chester, Timothy Smith, of Augusta, and Ezra S. Barnum, of Utica, constitute an executive committe with usual powers.

6. That Joseph Stebbins be treasurer.

7. That sister associations be solicited to unite with us in promoting the objects herein contemplated.

Numerous associations throughout the State responded to the acts of the State convention, pledging themselves to aid in every practicable way the project of establishing such a school at Clinton. One of the principal causes of this effort to found a school on liberal principles in theology was (what seemed to be) the sectarian character and the prose- lyting influences on students made in the various academies and col- leges of our country.

The first report of the executive committee, dated Clinton, Aug. 20, 1831, in explaining to the public the object of the contemplated sem- inary, says, among other things, that "it is not to be sectarian. On the contrary, while it is deemed all important that the young mind should be strongly impressed with the pure morality of the gospel, we wish to leave the responsibility of indoctrination to the natural guard- ians of youth."

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A preliminary school for males was opened November 7, 1831, on College street, which was taught by George R. Perkins, afterwards of Utica. The female department was commenced November 21, 1831, in a house on the east side of the Green, and was taught by Miss Burr; in the following May it was opened in the new building erected for it by Miss Philena Dean. The stone structure for the male department was built in 1832.

The honor of founding this institution is given largely to Rev. Stephen R. Smith, who was many years a preacher in Clinton. Joseph Stebbins made the largest of the first subscriptions and otherwise aided Mr. Smith. At the opening of the school in the stone building, De- cember 10, 1832, the faculty were Rev. C. B. Thummel, principal and professor of languages ; George R. Perkins, professor of mathematics ; E. W. Manley, assistant. In the first year 108 pupils attended. The institution was chartered in 1834 and in 1836 passed under care of the Regents of the University. Mr. Thummel was succeeded in 1838 by Rev. Timothy Clowes, LL.D., and Miss Meech, then preceptress, by Miss L. M. Barker. Rev. J. T. Sawyer was made principal of the female department in 1845, and held the position about fifteen years. The building erected for the female department was made possible largely by his efforts.

Owing to the belief that the school could be more economically con- ducted, and other causes, the institute was removed to Fort Plain, N. Y., in 1879. The buildings were occupied several years by Rev. Mr. Owens, rector of the Episcopal church, and a school called " Richland Hall." Since then they have been given up to other purposes.

Houghton Seminary (Clinton) .- In the year 1854 Miss Louisa M. Barker (before mentioned as at the head of the female department of the Liberal Institute) established the Home Cottage Seminary, in a building standing on an eminence south of Clinton village. She effi- ciently conducted the institution until 1861, when she sold it to Dr. J. C. Gallup. He changed the name of the school to Houghton Seminary, in honor of his wife, Mrs. Marilla Houghton Gallup, the associate princi- pal. The grounds, originally comprising eight acres, were later en- larged to twenty and the school buildings and other facilities improved. In 1880 the seminary passed into the hands of A. G. Benedict, A. M.,

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a man who is thoroughly equipped for his position. The school is pros- perous and worthy of support.

Cottage Seminary (Clinton) .- After retiring from the Home Cottage Seminary, Miss Barker opened this institution as a family or boarding school in 1861 with accommodations for fourteen boarders. She died while conducting this school and it passed to Miss Annie Chipman, who had long been the associate of Miss Barker. This school has always maintained a standard of excellence that places it among the best of the kind in the State. It is beautifully situated, splendidly equipped, and conducted on a plan that renders it an ideal home, morally and relig- iously, for young girls seeking an education. Subjects for study have been so chosen and arranged that those whose school days are com- paratively limited, will secure most valuable helps for the demands of practical life without further study, while others, who are to go to the college or the university, will find here exactly what they need in prep- aration, the certificate of this seminary securing admission to Wellesley, Smith and other similar institutions without examinations. For the past ten years or more the seminary has been conducted by Rev. Chester W. Hawley, assisted by a competent corps of instructors in each de- partment. Its principal is himself a man of thorough education and experience and well qualified for his responsible position.

Young Ladies' Domestic Seminary (Clinton) .- In 1832 Rev. Hiram H. Kellogg founded an institution with this name, in which he proposed giving young ladies who desired it, certain kinds of labor to perform, by which the cost of their education might be reduced. He erected and furnished a building and opened his school in the spring of 1833. The school was full from the first and the building had to be materially en- larged in the first year to accommodate the demand upon it. The full amount charged for board and tuition never exceeded $120 a year, and the school was patronized by many wealthy families, as well as by those who gladly availed themselves of its economical features. In 1841, Mr. Kellogg having been elected president of Knox College, in Illinois, sold his seminary to an association of Free Will Baptists (see foregoing his- tory of Whitestown Seminary). The Baptists continued the school for three years on a different plan, after which it was conducted for a time by Pelatiah Rawson as a private school, and then closed. Mr. Kellogg

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returned to Clinton, when the property came back in his hands, and made some effort to revive the school, but in 1850 permanently aban- doned it.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE CITY OF UTICA.

The site of the city of Utica is a part of Cosby's Manor which is fully described in Chapter X. The original settlement on the site took the name of Old Fort Schuyler from the military work which was con- structed there during the French and Indian war. It was designed to guard the fording place of the Mohawk and was situated on the south bank of the stream a short distance southeast of the present intersection of Second street and the Central railroad; it was an earth embankment surrounded with palisades. The topography of the region around the site of Utica ; the intersection there of the old Indian path from Oneida Castle with the path along the river side leading to the portage at Rome ; the fording place of the Mohawk, and its convenience of access from the outlying settlements in the region, all contributed to make the locality an attractive one to pioneers. Hence, in spite of the absence of water power, of valuable stone to quarry, of rich minerals, and with a wet marshy soil along the river, settlers early chose the vicinity of the old fort as a site for a village. They could not then foresee its later importance. Fort Stanwix (Rome), the head of navigation on the Mohawk, and also Whitesboro, for some years had brighter prospects than Utica, and carried on a larger business in river transportation ; and probably the settlers expected, at the most, to only make it a good landing place whence goods could be easily transported to other near- by points.

In the year 1786 Cosby's Manor was surveyed by John R., son of Rutger Bleecker, and a map was made on which appear two houses near the ford, on what is now the east side of Genesee street, and one on the west side. Some improvement had been made a little farther

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westward and also near the present eastern limits of the city; otherwise the region was covered with an unbroken forest. The occupants of the two houses on the east side of the road were John Cunningham and George Damuth, and on the west side lived Jacob Christian. To these was added, by 1788, Hendrich Salyea. The settler towards the west was named McNamee (of whom very little is known), and the clearings to the eastward were designated as those of McNamee and Abraham Boom. Damuth had leased from Rutger Bleecker 2731/2 acres on lot 94, for twenty-one years, at one shilling an acre yearly, the first pay- ment to be made July 28, 1793. Damuth assigned his lease and prob- ably died before 1790, and Cunningham sold his lease and improve- ments to John Post before 1793. Abraham Boom in 1790 obtained from Gen Philip Schuyler a life lease of the land on which he had set- tled, and after the death of his son William disposed of it to the Christ- mans. Hendrich Salyea, who had a lease from Bleecker on lot 93, of the same date as Damuth's, sold to John Post September 18, 1789, and improvements made by him on a strip adjacent to the other tract he sold to Peter Smith for five pounds on March 15, 1790. He then " squatted " on lot 90 in a log house on the north side of the present Broad street, and in the same year sold out to Matthew Hubbell.

Settlers who arrived in 1788 were Maj. John Bellinger who came in March through four feet of snow. He and two others of his family were in the battle of Oriskany. He built a temporary hut at what is now the corner of Whitesboro and Washington streets and lived in it four months. This was succeeded by a small frame house, and later he built a large one nearly opposite in which he entertained travelers until his death in 1815. According to Jones's Annals there were at this time living there Philip Morey and his sons, Solomon, Richard and Sylvanus, as squatters on lot 97, and Francis Foster on lot 96.

In 1788 Uriah Alverson settled at what is now West Utica, with his son William, then nineteen years old ; and probably in the same year came that remarkable man, Peter Smith, father of Gerrit Smith, He had been in mercantile trade below Little Falls and was still a minor when he settled at Old Fort Schuyler. There he built a log store which stood on or near the site of Bagg's Hotel. He soon built another near the lower end of Main street, and later erected a two-story dwell-

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ing, corner of Main and Third streets. His later residence was on Broad street, beyond the gulf, attached to which was a large farm, and there his son Gerrit was born. Peter Smith removed to Peterboro in 1 806.

In the spring of 1790 John Post and his family came up the river by boat from Schenectady and made the purchases before mentioned. A traveler passing through in the previous summer noted that Post was then finishing his house. This was probably the first frame house built in Oneida county. It stood on the west side of what is now Genesee street, near Whitesboro street. When his house was finished he opened a store in it, entertaining travelers at the same time. In 1791 he built a separate store near his house. As his trade extended he abandoned tavern keeping and became a prominent merchant and shipper, running several of the flat boats so largely used on the river. He also ran three " stage boats," chiefly for passengers, having oil-cloth covers and seats. On July 13, 1792, he purchased 8912 acres which included what is now the heart of the city.

In 1790 there came to the settlement Capt. Stephen Potter, a veteran officer of the Revolution, and his son-in law, Benjamin Plant. Matthew Hubbell also came in 1790 and bought out Salyea, as before stated, for which he paid at the rate of $2.50 an acre. Benjamin Ballou settled here in 1790, with his family of grown children ; he had a lease in 1797 of 126 acres on lot 92.

In July, 1791, Thomas and Augustus Corey purchased 200 acres on lot 95 and resided early on the site of the brick house now standing on the northeast corner of Whitesboro and Hotel streets. In 1795 they sold out and left the place. Peter Bellinger purchased in that year 150 acres on lot 89 in the gulf and there lived until his death.

In 1792 Joseph Ballou, brother of Benjamin, from Exeter, R. I., came with his wife, two sons and a daughter, via the Sound and the Hudson and up the Mohawk. He settled on lot 94 (the George Damuth lot before mentioned). In the summer of that year (1792) steps were taken to build a build a bridge across the Mohawk, through a petition to the Legislature dated October 24, and signed by eighty- three persons. Of these twenty-one are known to have been residents of Old Fort Schuyler, or near by. The bridge was raised the sum-

Afhillary

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THE CITY OF UTICA.

mer preceding on a Sunday, so the settlers would be at leisure to assist.

In 1793 Gurdon Burchard, a harnessmaker, came with his wife from Norwich, Conn., and occupied a lot on Whitesboro street. In 1810 he gave up his trade and opened a tavern nearly on the site of the Dudley House.

The year 1794 saw considerable increase in the settlement. Prom- inent among the newcomers was James S. Kip, long a conspicuous member of society, who bought of the Bradstreet executors lot 96, of about 400 acres, embracing what is now a very valuable part of the the city. He settled, however, on a leased farm on lot 93, including the site of the fort, where he built a store near the eastern end of Main street, made a landing near the mouth of Ballou's Creek, built a pot- ashery, etc.

Joseph Pierce, father of Joseph, jr., John and Parley, lived in 1794 on a part of Mr. Kip's first purchase ; he was a Revolutionary soldier and in 1810 built the covered bridge over the river which succeeded the two earlier ones. He afterward lived in Deerfield. Other settlers of that year were Thomas Norton, who had been a sea captain; Dr. Sam- uel Carrington, who carried on a drug business and was made postmas- ter in 1799; Stephen Ford, a merchant who failed and left the place ; Aaron Eggleston, a cooper; John Hobby, a blacksmith, brother of Epenetus and Elkanah ; Thomas Jones, another blacksmith, and Simon Jones, still another. Moses Bagg, of Westfield, Mass., who obtained four acres of Joseph Ballou, and began blacksmithing on Main street a little east of the corner of the square; his house, or shanty, stood on the corner and small as it was, he opened it to entertain travelers. Soon afterward he erected a two-story frame building on the same site. John House came and opened a public house on the northeast corner of Genesee street and the public square. Jason Parker came in 1794 and began his long career by serving as postrider from Whitestown to Canajoharie ; in the following year he began running a stage from Albany to Old Fort Schuyler. During the remainder of his long life Mr. Parker, alone or with others, carried on a very extensive trans- portation business, as recorded in another chapter. Apollos Cooper, who in 1794 built the rear part of the house on Whitesboro street where he passed his life, bought, April 11, 1795, 117 acres of great lot

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96. William Inman, an Englishman, obtained in 1793 of Rutger Bleecker two leases of lands on lot 104, in all 103 acres, and soon after made his home on the north side of Whitesboro road. He was foremost in founding Trinity church and was father of Henry Inman, the distinguished painter, and of William and John.

Watts Sherman is recorded as a carpenter in 1795, but later he be- came a leading merchant. Dr. Alexander Coventry, a Scotchman who came to America in 1785, settled first as a farmer and physi- cian at Hudson, N.Y., and later lived in Romulus, Seneca county, came to Old Fort Schuyler in 1796. He engaged with John Post in mer- cantile business, but soon gave it up for his profession, at the same time following farming and fruit-growing. He was a good physician and a prominent citizen ; he died December 9, 1831. Talcott Camp, a merchant, came in the fall of 1796. bringing goods ; returned east, and in the next spring brought his family. At this time Fellows & Clark (William Fellows, Silas Clark) were extensive merchants for that time, on the north side of the Whitesboro road; Nathan Williams and Erastus Clark, the earliest lawyers, were established in their busi- ness, and Francis A. Bloodgood delivered the 4th of July address in 1797, and afterwards became distinguished.

Col. Benjamin Walker, born in England in 1753, came to New York while young and warmly espoused the American cause in the Revolu - tion. He became an intimate friend and sort of secretary for Baron Steuben, and was prominent in the founding of Trinity church, and built for himself a mansion at the eastern end of Broad street. He died January 13, 1818.

Bryan Johnson, another Englishman, settled here in 1797, beginning as a merchant on the Whitesboro road. He soon commanded a large trade and later his son, A. B. Johnson, came over and joined him in business. The father retired in 1809, soon after his son attained his majority.

Maj. Benjamin Hinman, a native of Connecticut, and a Revolutionary soldier and officer, settled at Old Fort Schuyler in 1797 or 1798, kept a public house a few years in Deerfield and finally resided on Main street. Rev. John Hammond was living here in 1797 on the square a little below Bagg's tavern. He preached at various places in the vicinity.

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THE CITY OF UTICA.

Samuel Hinman was a carpenter from Barre, Mass., and later from Albany, settled here with his son John, built a brick hotel on Whites- boro street for the Holland Land Company, which was finished in 1799, and made plans for and built Trinity church. Richard Kimball bought, January 2, 1797, seventy acres on lot 96, of Jedediah Sanger. It lay on the eastern side of Genesee hill and was occupied as a farm by Mr. Kimball until 1804.

The time had now arrived when the settlement was to have a regular village organization and the name that it has since borne. It is a tradi- tion that the inhabitants gathered at Bagg's tavern where the subject of a name was discussed, and after a number had been proposed it was agreed to write several on slips of paper from which the first one drawn should be adopted. Thirteen were according written and the first slip drawn bore the name of Utica, which was the choice of Erastus Clark. The act of incorporation was passed April 3, 1798. The records of the corporation for the first seven years are lost, having been burned in the fire of December 7, 1848 ; a like fate also befel the early records of Whitestown. It is known that Francis A. Bloodgood was treasurer in 1800 and 1801, and Talcott Camp in 1802 ; also that the first free- holders' meeting under the charter of 1805, the trustees were present, but who they were cannot be told. There was a fire company in 1804, who were thanked by the trustees for their efforts at the fire in February which burned Post & Hamlin's store.

The founding of the first newspaper in the village took place in 1798, when the Whitestown Gazette, established four years earlier at New Hartford by William McLean, was removed by him and the name changed to the Whitestown Gazette and Cato's Patrol. In 1803 he sold out to two of his apprentices, Messrs. Seward and Williams and went back to New Hartford. In this paper John C. Hoyt announced in November, 1798, that he had begun business as a "taylor, opposite Bagg's Inn, Utica." In 1798, also, Thomas Skinner and Nathan Will- iams were in the village and soon afterward were partners as attorneys.

In relation to the holding of large tracts of land on the site of the village by non-residents, who would lease but would not sell, and the obstacle to rapid settlement thus presented, Dr. Bagg in his history of Utica, quotes an early resident as follows :

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The inhabitants always entertained a very hopeful opinion of their village, and real estate was in more request and at higher prices than in the surrounding villages. This was much induced by the withholding from sale of the Bleecker estate, which covered a large part of Utica.

On November 2, 1795, Thomas and Augustus Corey sold to the Holland Land Company 200 acres on lot 95, a part of which was after- wards commonly known as the hotel lot. Within the next two or three years the company built thereon a large brick hotel, to which allusion has been made. It was not only the first brick house in the village, but the first of its size in the county and probably in the State west of Albany. Its site was on Whitesboro street, in a swampy place. The building was a square three-story structure, with a four-sided roof, and is still standing. It was opened December 2, 1799, by Philip J. Schwartze. Soon afterward Hotel street was opened southward from the hotel.

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 28

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co. Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612