Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 41

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 41

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Mechanics' Hotel. Platt Rogers, a shoemaker, settled about the same time with the others named and was succeeded in his business by Simeon Hayes. The post-office here was opened not far from 1850, with Sterry Hawkins postmaster. A chair factory was built and oper- ated first by Jacob Hilts and Sterry Hawkins ; it has passed through various hands, and is now operated on a small scale. A large tannery was established east of the village in 1852 by William Anderson's sons. For many years it did a large business and was last operated by George Anderson. The first regular store was opened about 1838 by Whitman Buck, though goods had been sold in temporary places before that time. He was succeeded later by D. Hayes. The present merchant is Oscar Hayes. The Union Hotel was built in 1867 by Matthias Munz, who kept it a number of years. The general business of the place has de- clined in late years.

Alder Creek is a hamlet and post-office in the southeast part of the town, with a station about a mile distant on the railroad. The business interests at this point have always been small, and at the present time a store is kept by R. J. Helmer, and another by John McClusky. The hotel is kept by G. S. Thurston.

The first religious society organized in Boonville was called the Con- gregational church of Boonville, which was formed in 1805 through the efforts of Rev. David or Daniel Smith, a missionary. At a later date it took the Presbyterian form. The frame church was built about 1861, previous to which year services were held in the old Union church erected in 1827. The church has been much improved in recent years and is in a properous condition.

The Boonville Baptist church was organized February 3, 1810, by Elder John Upfold, with seventeen members. The first pastor was El- der Timothy Day. Up to 1826 the meetings were held in the village school house or in private dwellings ; in that year a frame church was erected, which was used until displaced in 1866 by the present brick edifice.

The Methodist society at Boonville was organized about 1820 In 1827 a union church was built by the Presbyterians, Methodists and Universalists. Some years later the Methodists disposed of their inter- est to the Presbyterians and about 1836 built their frame church ; this

R. J. HELMER.

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THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER.

was used until 1873, when the present brick edifice was erected. The old church is now in use for stores and a printing-office. There is also a small Methodist society at Langsing Kill.

The German Lutheran church at Boonville was organized in 1869 with Rev. Mr. Heinle as pastor and only five members. The first frame church was leased in 1872, the meetings previous to that being held in halls. A church has been erected in recent years.

Trinity Episcopal church of Boonville was organized as a parish about 1855 by Rev. Edward H. Jewett, who was the first rector. The present brick church edifice was erected within a few years.

There is a Roman Catholic society at Boonville, which has erected a frame church, and another at Hawkinsville which was organized and built its church about 1860.

The German Lutheran church at Hawkinsville was organized about 1860 and its church erected in the next year. The original member- ship was forty with Rev. Mr. Classen pastor.

The Methodist Episcopal church at Hawkinsvillle was organized about 1866, and built a frame church soon afterward.

There is a Presbyterian church at Alder Creek, which has a frame church and has kept up its meetings and been supplied by pastors from Forestport and elsewhere. The church used many years ago by a Bap- tist society here, passed to the Methodists.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER.

Although it is the smallest town in Oneida county, containing only 14,820 acres and containing the least number of inhabitants, its settle- ment in Bridgewater began within five years after Hugh White took up his residence in Whitestown. Bridgewater is in the extreme southeast corner of the county and was formed from Sangerfield March 24, 1797, seven years after the first settlement was made. The accompanying map shows that its eastern portion was a part of the Bayard patent, de-

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

scribed in Chapter X; its western part a portion of town 20 of the Chenango Twenty Towns, while a small diagonal tract in the northern . central part was in Coxe's patent. The headwaters of the Unadilla River flow through the central part of the town and receive numerous tributaries. The valley of this stream is about a mile wide toward the north part, narrowing as it extends southward. The surface of the re- mainder of the town is broken and hilly, the elevations rising in the east and the west to from 500 to 600 feet above the valley. The soil in the east part is rich gravelly loam and in the west is clay. Limestone is quarried to some extent in the northeast part. Cedar swamp exists along some of the streams.

The date of first settlement in Bridgewater is in slight dispute. Judge Jones gives the following version in his " Annals : "

In March, 1789, Farwell, in company with Ephraim Waldo and Nathan Waldo, removed their families from Mansfield, Connecticut, to Farwell's Hill. They came by way of Albany, up the valley of the Mohawk to Whitesborough, and from thence by the way of Paris Hill to Bridgewater. From Paris Hill they were obliged to make their road as they progressed, following a line of marked trees. Their team consisted of a yoke of oxen and a horse, and the vehicle an ox-sled. They arrived on the 4th of March. The snow at this time was about one and a half feet deep, but soon increased to the depth of four feet. They had two cows, which, with the oxen and horse, subsisted until the snow left upon browse alone. Upon their arrival they erected a shanty in the most primeval style. Four crotches set in the ground, with a roof of split bass wood overlaid with hemlock boughs, with siding composed of coverlets and blankets formed the first dwelling-house ever erected in the town of Bridgewater. The three families continued in this miserable apology for a house until midsummer, when two of them, having more comfortable dwellings provided, removed to them, while the other remained for a year. Farwell's home was of logs, built upon the hill where he commenced the previous season. About three years afterwards he erected the first frame house in town.

On another hand, Charlotte Ives made the following statement to the editor of the Evarts history of the county in 1877-78 :

In 1789 Jesse and Joel Ives, cousins, came to this town to look for land, and selected the place northwest of the village of Bridgewater, upon which Miss Ives now re- sides. These men were under 21 years of age at the time and unmarried. In 1790 they came back to their claim and made a clearing upon it of twelve acres, and erected a log house In the spring of the same year Thomas Brown located on the site of Bridgewater village, where he built the first log house in town, and was the first actual settler within its limits. With him came his wife, and Miss Margaret Lines, and Joseph Farwell. In 1791 the first frame houses in town were built by Joel and Jesse Ives. Those erected by the former have long since succumbed to the

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THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER.

beating of the elements: the barn built by Jesse Ives is still standing, and the kitchen of his old house is now the front part of the dwelling of Miss C. Ives. It has been somewhat remodeled. Before the Cherry Valley road was constructed the highway passed between Jesse Ives' house and barn. The last-named person removed to Whitesboro' April 1, 1800, just ten years after he had located on his place in Bridge- water. He retained the old place, and in 1832 removed back to it, but returned to Whitesboro in 1845. He died in 1862, at a ripe old age. Joel Ives died on his place in 1804. His daughter, Mrs. Julia Scott, is now living at the village with her son, Willard J. Scott.

Abner Ives, a younger brother of Jesse, came a year or two after the others had settled, he being married at the time. When the Ives family came they made the trip from Connecticut on sleds drawn by oxen, and were but scantily supplied with the necessaries and comforts of life.

Other residents of the town have asserted that the Waldo families did not come into the town until about 1793, which is directly in contradic- tion of Judge Jones. These differences in dates cannot now be settled any more conclusively.

Ezra Parker settled very early in the north part of the town and opened his house as a tavern. A Mr. Lyman came in about the same time, and a few years later erected a frame structure in which was after- wards kept a tavern long known as Parkhurst's Tavern. The building is yet standing at North Bridgewater.

According to the Annals, Major Farwell in 1790 built a saw mill on the west branch of the Unadilla about three-fourths of a mile below its junction with the Tianadara Creek ; it was doubtless the first saw mill in town. In 1792 Ephraim Waldo built a store and a blacksmith shop on Farwell's Hill, which were also the first of the kind in town. A grist mill was erected the same year by a Mr. Thomas.

As early as 1797 a school house was built a mile north of North Bridgewater, near the tavern of Ezra Parker, where the first school was taught by a man whose name is lost in the past. Schools were also opened very early in the Farwell neighborhood, and elsewhere in the town, as would be expected from a knowledge of the character and former homes of the pioneers. The town has now eight school districts, with a school house in each. So, also, we would look for early churches. The Congregational society was organized March 8, 1798, with thirteen members, which must have included almost the whole settlement. A church was built in 1805 two miles north of the village near the center

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

of the town. Meetings were held there until 1834 when a division took place, as noted further on.

The first town meeting followed closely upon the town organization and was held April 4, 1797, at the house of Col. Thomas Convers, as stated in the records. There the following officers were elected, the list embracing a number of additional settlers who must have located in the town before the beginning of the century :

Supervisor, Thomas Brown, esq. ; town clerk, Aaron Morse ; assessors, James Kin- nee, esq., Eldad Corbit, and William Morgan; overseers of the poor, Ezra Parker, John W. Brown, and Alexander Tackles; road commissioners, Levi Carpenter, jr., Job Tyler, and James Benham, jr. ; constable, John Mitchell; school commissioners, Asher Flint, Thomas Brown, esq., and Jonathan Porter; collector, John Mitchell; fence viewers, Ebenezer Barker, Joseph Moore, Abijalı Babcock.

The usual town laws were adopted for the simple government of the community, among them being one for the building of a pound " near the house of Epaphras Moody. Chose Joseph Moore trustee and com- mittee to build such pound, and likewise pound keeper." The town meeting for 1798 was held at the house of Asher Bull. On the Ist of March of that year the following persons paid $5 each for inn keepers' licenses : John W. Brown, Timothy Andrews, Ezra Parker, and Joseph Farwell. The following list gives the names of all the supervisors of the town from the beginning and, of course, includes many of the early prominent citizens :

1798-1800, James Kinnee, esq .; 1801-2, Job Tyler; 1803, Asher Flint; 1804-6, Peabody Fitch; 1807-13, Daniel Rindge; 1814, Samuel Jones, jr. ; 1815-17, Willard Crafts; 1818, Oliver Brown; 1819-21, Samuel Jones; 1822, Willard Crafts; 1823, Sardius Denslow; 1824, James A. Rhodes; 1825-26, Sardius Denslow; 1827, Willard Crafts; 1828, Samuel Jones; 1829, Peleg Brown; 1830-31, Absalom L. Groves; 1832- 35, Laurens Hull; 1836, Levi Carpenter; 1837. Peleg Brown; 1838, Theodore Page; 1839, John F. Trowbridge; 1840, James A. Rhodes; 1841-42, Peleg Brown; 1843-44, Oliver R. Babcock; 1845, Oliver B. Brown; 1846, Milton Converse; 1847, John South- worth; 1848, Everett Lewis; 1849, Samuel De Wolf; 1850, Elisha Baker; 1851-54, Peleg B. Babcock; 1855, Nehemiah N. Peirce, 1856, Elisha B. Brown; 1857, William N. Southworth ; 1858-60, Peter B. Crandall; 1861-2, Albert A. Steele; 1863-64, Milton Converse ; 1865-6, J. Jerome Budlong ; 1867-69, Nehemiah N Peirce ; 1870-71, Albert N. Bort; 1872, William Foote; 1873-4, A. N. Bort; 1875, Gould H. Parkhurst ; 1876- 77, Newton Sholes; 1879-80, Wm. N. Southwick; 1881-82, Nehemiah N. Peirce : 1883-4; Geo. W. Palmer; 1885, Samuel Williams; 1886-7, David S. Wood; 1888, Geo. N. Greenman; 1889-90, Robert J. Williams; 1891, Henry Robinson; 1892, Chas. D. Woodworth; 1893-95, Henry Sarn; 1896, Wm. Walsh.

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THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER.

Among other early settlers in the town was Frederick Peirce, father of Nehemiah N. Peirce, one of the prominent citizens of the town, who came from Mansfield, Conn., originally, and settled in Bridgewater in 1796. He was then unmarried and accompanied a family named Gurley, with whom he lived for a time ; their home was a little north of Bridge- water village. Mr. Peirce practiced surveying and was one of the early justices of the peace ; he laid out many of the early roads.

Abraham Monroe was an early settler and kept a public house on the place owned in recent years by John Tuckerman. Stewart Bennett, a blacksmith located on the well known Kirkland farm which he sold to Stephen Kirkland, who came from Saybrook, Conn., in July, 1816. There was then a small frame house on the place ; it was occupied long by the two brothers, Asa P. and Nathaniel Kirkland.

Asa and Oliver Babcock, from North Stonington, Conn., wereamong the first settlers on the hill which took its name from them. Asa came in 1797 and located on the farm in the edge of Paris afterwards owned by George Chapman, and adjoining the one in Bridgewater whereon Oliver Babcock settled in 1799. Martin Babcock, a younger brother, came in 1807 and settled on the farm afterwards occupied by his son, C. H. Babcock. Roland Stiles had settled prior and made improve- ments on that farm. Martin and Oliver Babcock served in the war of 1812, the former at Ogdensburg and the latter at Sackett's Harbor.

Major Anthony Rhodes, father of James A. Rhodes, came into this town in the summer of 1791 and purchased of Judge Sanger 500 acres of land, a part of which his son subsequently occupied. After building a log shanty on his place, he returned to his home in North Stonington, Conn., and in the next year made his permanent settlement in Bridge- water. He was a veteran of the Revolution. His son was born in 1790 and passed a long and honorable life in this town.

Major Rhodes' wife used to relate the circumstances which induced her husband and herself to remove to this town. Her brother, Captain Oliver Babcock, came this way at some time during the Revoiution with a small band of Connecticut soldiers. They proceeded from Schenectady to what is known as the " Carr Farm," in Otsego county, and thence up the Unadilla and down the Oriskany to Fort Stanwix. On the way they camped on the very ground which was afterwards selected by Major Rhodes for a home. Captain Babcock mentioned the place to his brother-in law after his return to Connecticut, and the latter came out and bought it, and he and his wife are now buried upon it,

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

On Esquire Rhodes' farm are a number of apple-trees which grew up at the spot where Captain Babcock and his party bivouacked. They probably sprang from seeds thrown down by those men, as they undoubtedly procured apples at the Carr farm. One of the trees is now ten feet in circumference. 1

Major Rhodes was accompanied into the town by John W. Brown and his brother, the former of whom settled on Babcock Hill and the latter at the forks of the Unadilla; and by Dr. Daniel Avery and John W. Collins. John Rhodes, brother of the major became a settler in town soon after his brother came, and purchased a large tract of land.

A little hamlet grew around Babcock Hill and a post-office was established in 1845, with John M. Champion, M. D., postmaster. The mail was brought by carrier from Cassville in the town of Paris. Other early postmasters were David Palmer, Clark Green, Mills Barnet, James Johnson, Lewis J. Tripp, Gould Benedict, John P. Babcock, and others. Edward L. Austin was postmaster in 1894 and had held the position about twenty-five years. A hotel was built on the hill in 1812 by Asa Babcock, who kept it until his death. The first store was kept by P. Mott; there is no store or hotel at the Hill at the present time.

The active growth of the village of Bridgewater began about 1810, after the construction of the Cherry Valley Turnpike, a noted early east and west thoroughfare, which passed through this place. Previous to that time the principal settlement was on Farwell's Hill, half a mile farther south, near the county line. At that point there were at one time two stores, two taverns, a post-office and some shops. Levi Bost- wick built what was later known as the Hibbard House about 1812, and was its landlord a number of years. The building was subsequently greatly enlarged and improved, and finally passed to A. C. Hibbard, who died a few years ago; the house is now conducted by E. F. Saunders.

A brick building opposite was built early for a hotel by Harvey Cur- tis, who kept it many years. Abner Ives was an early merchant on the site of what become Wilson's Hotel. Platt Herrick changed the store to a hotel and occupied it for a period. It finally passed to William Wilson.

Among other past business men of Bridgewater have been A. M. Perkins, deceased ; Frank Mallory, who had a hardware store in what

1 The Everts History of Oneida Co., 1878.

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THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER.

is now the Cottage Hotel. Present merchants are Rising Brothers, Charles W. Stoddard, Thomas Carter.

Bridgewater has had a number of professional men of prominence among whom were John Ruger, De Witt C. Littlejohn, and Leander Babcock, attorneys; and Drs. Laurens Hull and Daniel Avery, who located at Bridgewater village about 1804; Dr. Avery was a settler as early as 1793, in the Babcock Hill neighborhood. Dr. H. P. Whitford has been long in practice in Bridgewater and is the only physician now in the place.

North Bridgewater is a hamlet on the Utica and Chenango division of the D., L. & W. Railroad, where a post-office was established about 1850, with Elisha Baker postmaster. Gould T. Parkhurst kept a tavern here in early years, which house was afterwards conducted by John Golden. There is now no hotel or store at this point.

Among the leading farmers of this town in the past may be men- tioned Frederick G. Bobbins, James Thorn, Elisha Brown, S. Brown, James A. Rhodes. Giles Scott and Alvah Penny, all of whom are dead. Prominent farmers of the present day are Newton Sholes, William Henry Brown, Francis D. Penny, William H. Briggs, Gershom Schaul, James B. Tuckerman and Willard J. Scott.

When the division before mentioned was made in the old Congrega- tional church of Bridgewater, a new society of that denomination was formed at the village, by whom a new church was at once erected ; it was greatly repaired and improved and an organ added in 1876. The church is still fairly prosperous.

The Baptist church of Bridgewater was organized July 12, 1826, with sixteen members, and Rev. Amasa Smith as the first settled pastor ; he remained about ten years. The first church built by the society stood on the hill a little west of the village and was erected in 1826. In 1840 it was removed nearer to the center of the village and extensively im- proved. The building was burned about 1863, at which date it was being used by the Methodists. At the same time a few Episcopalians were holding services in a small building owned by them, and an agree- ment was reached by the three sects under which this building was moved to the site of the burned church for the general use of all three. This arrangement was carried out. An Episcopal society is still main- tained.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

A Universalist society was formed in this town quite early and built a church in 1834 in the south part of the village. The first pastor was Rev. L. D. Smith. This society still exists.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.

This town is situated on the western border of Oneida county, near the northwestern corner, and includes in its present area the whole of township 7 and about half of township 8 of Scriba's patent. (See map herein).

The town was formed from the great town of Mexico on the 15th of March, and then included what was then Florence (set off February 16, 1805), Vienna (set off April 3, 1807) and a part of Annsville which was taken off in 1823, leaving Camden with its present area of 31,438 acres. The west branch of Fish Creek flows through the town towards the south- west and unites with Mad River near Camden village, the latter stream flowing down from the north. Little River forms part of the southern boundary and joins Fish Creek near the southeast corner of the town. These streams are rapid, in many places furnishing excellent water power which has been extensively utilized. Many small tributaries con- tribute to drain the town. The surface is rolling, gradually rising towards the north where it is broken into a hilly region. The soil is a sandy loam, gravelly and stony in some places and generally suitable for grazing. Good building stone are quarried in some places.

The settlement of this town began in 1796-7, probably, with the ar- rival of Judge Henry Williams. Jesse Curtiss had already been in the town and built a saw mill, but he did not permanently settle until later. It is probable that other families came in with Judge Williams or about the same time, but if so they returned for their families, remaining away through the ensuing winter. Among the earliest arrivals were Levi Matthews, Daniel Parke, Seth and Joel Dunbar, Aaron Matthews, Thomas Comstock, Jesse and Elihu Curtiss, Samuel Royce, Noah and

STEPHEN CROMWELL.

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THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.

Andrew Tuttle, Benjamin Barnes, sr., and his son Benjamin, Philip Barnes, Israel Stoddard and a Mr. Carrier. Of these Judge Israel Stoddard came into the town in 1793 and purchased a farm on which was a small house. He then went back to his former home for his family, returning with them in 1799. He was astonished to find a funeral in progress in his house, over the bodies of a Mrs. Bacon and her child who had been drowned while crossing Mad River in a canoe. These were the first deaths in the town. Noah Tuttle, mentioned above, located half a mile southwest of the village site. His son Daniel, born April 22, 1788, was the first white male child born in the town, and the first birth of a white child of either sex was a daughter of Judge Williams. The marriage of Elihu Curtiss and Anna Northrup was the first in town. Mr. Curtiss died in January, 1815, at the age of fifty- nine. Jesse Curtiss erected the first frame house in the town and owned ten acres of land in what is now the heart of the village, and in- cluding the mill privilege on Fish Creek. There he built a saw mill just above the site of the grist mill and made other early improvements. He died in 1821 at the age of eighty eight years. About 1800 Manning Barnes, from Connecticut, settled on the site of West Camden, and built a log house on the site of the later hotel and afterward added to it a frame portion. Being requested to entertain many travelers and settlers, he made his dwelling a public house and kept it as such many years. He was accompanied into the town by his brothers Whiting and Lyman Barnes, who took up farms and afterward brought on their father, Zopher. Other sons of Zopher Barnes were were Zopher, Street and Pliny. The family has been prominent in the history of the town.

Elijah Perkins came from Connecticut in 1803 and settled in the south part of the town where James Nisbet lived in recent years. He brought with him besides his wife, two sons, Elijah and Woodard. The former and his brother Lyman served in the war of 1812. Wood. ard Perkins was a farmer on the road between Camden village and West Camden.

A school was being taught on the site of Camden village in 1803, in a frame building, which was probably built a few years earlier. About 1810 a school house was built in the Perkins district, where Clark Cro- foot taught ; he lived in Florence and a part of that town was included

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

in the district. In Manning Barnes's log house at West Camden a school was kept soon after the war of 1812 by Rachel Hungerford. After this schools multiplied rapidly.

Measures were early adopted by the pioneers to establish a church, which resulted in the organization of the First Congregational church of Camden February 19, 1798, by Rev. Eliphalet Steele, pastor of the church at Paris Hill. The organization was effected at Paris, and in- cluded the following eight members : Benjamin Barnes, sr., and his wife Thankful ; Philip Barnes and Laura, his wife ; Marshal Meriam and Ben- jamin Barnes, jr., all of whom were dismissed from Mr. Steele's church. Rev. Joshua Johnson, of Redfield, preached the first sermon. A little rivalry in early years between the so-called east and west villages led to the withdrawal from the First church of a number of members, and the organization in 1803 of the Second Congregational church in the west village. The two were united in 1815, under the name of the Union Congregational church of Camden. According to the agreement, meet- ings were to be held in the Second church one-fourth of the time. A building was erected and enclosed in 1807, and furnished with rough benches; it was not finished until 1816, was repaired in 1836 and burned in the great fire of June 22, 1867. The present church was erected imme- diately afterward.

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 41

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