USA > New York > Oneida County > Camden > Pioneer history of Camden, Oneida County, New York > Part 4
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Jesse Penfield lived on the corner opposite the school-house; his blacksmith shop stood near by. He was here but a few years. On the corner north of the school-house stood a little house, in which lived a little old woman familiarly known as "Old Granny Chunk." Her maiden name was Smith.
SALMON HUMASTON.
Salmon Humaston, in 1800, owned the place now occupied by John Seubert, and a little later bought and lived just above Gran- ny Chunk's. Here he had a carpenter and joiner shop. All traces of the two houses on this corner are gone. Salmon Humaston died in 1836, Eunice his wife in 1832; they were the parents of Norris and Diadama; Norris died in 1871; his wife in 1885. There are none of the descendants living; they are all buried side by side on the Seventh.
JESSE CURTISS.
Jesse Curtiss came here previous to the arrival of Judge H. Williams. His family did not come until some time after. They were from Litchfield County, Conn. There were four sons, Jesse Curtiss of Clinton, Ambrose, Elihu and Elisha of Camden. Mr. Curtiss was a great land owner. He was in the Revolutionary War, and held several prominent offices. On the stones in Mexico Street Cemetery is inscribed: "Maj. Jesse Curtiss died May 28, 1821, aged 88." Sarah, his wife, died January 19, 1818. aged 81. Deacon Ambrose Curtiss built a log house, and after- wards the frame building known as the Sartwell place, this side of the crossing. His first wife was Lucy Doolittle, half sister of Elisaph; she died May 29, 1815, aged 43. He married for his
54
PIONEER HISTORY OF
second wife Bethena, the widow of Garner Preston, who was the mother of Mrs. Lent Upson. Ambrose Curtiss, Sen., died March 6, 1842, aged 72. There were nine children by the first marriage: Charles, Hastings, Ambrose and Hall; five daughters, Oril, who married Rosetter Preston; Mabel, married Thompson Scoville; Amelia, married George Parks; Lucy, married George White, and moved to Pennsylvania; Sophrona, married John Gamble, and lives in West Camden. Charles Curtiss married Sabrina Rice, sister of Seth, and settled just over the line in the southern part of Florence-it was then Camden. He was a soldier of 1812. He moved down to the Seventh after his brothers and sisters had married, and his father was alone, he remained there until after his father's death. In 1847 he ex- changed places with Samuel Sartwell of West Camden, and re- mained there until his death in 1854; his wife survived him twenty-five years; she died in 1879. There were five children, only two living now. The only descendants in town are Mrs. Harry Goodyear and grand-daughter, Miss Bertha Wood. Hasting Curtiss moved to Central Square about 1820. He was one of the most enterprising men of the county. He held many in:portant offices of both town and county, and when the town of Hastings was formed from Constantia, in 1825, it was named for him. He was the father of the late Hasting F. Curtiss of this village. Hasting F. Curtiss was born in Hastings, New York, in 1830. In early child- hood he lost his parents, and came to Camden, and lived with his uncle Ambrose. He married Britannia, daughter of his uncle. He was a prosperous business man in Camden for seventeen years. The latter part of his life was spent in New York City. He died in Camden January, 1896; his wife died in 1894. Ambrose Curtiss, Jr., was born in Camden four years after his father moved here. He married Polly, daughter of Erastus Sandford, December 29, 1825. Ambrose Curtiss built a home above the railroad crossing, and lived there forty-six years: he was a carpenter and joiner by trade. He moved into the village in 1849; he was first a merchant, and subsequently a banker. Ambrose Curtiss was born March 26, 1803, and died November
55
THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.
7, 1880. Polly L. Sandford, his wife, was born at Hartford, Conn., January 18, 1804, and died December 16, 1863. Byron Curtiss, the only son, and only one living here, carries on the mercantile business that was established by his father. Hall Cur- tiss was a farmer, and a permanent resident here; died in Can- den December 31, 1893. Five children were born to them, Mrs. P. Howland, his daughter is the only descendant in town. His widow lives in western New York. One of the descendants of the Curtiss family has seen a Bible in Clinton once the property of Jesse Curtiss, published in Geneva by John Crespin in 1568. It has been in the family since 1636. Curtiss was taken from the name Tustiss.
Just across the track, on the right, Thompson Scoville built a small tannery, and a shoemaker's shop connected with it. The wing part of his house towards the east, was the old distillery that stood near Mix Hill. Norris Humaston lived on the oppo- site corner, and had a carpenter and joiner shop.
Abel Munson came to Camden from Windham, Green County, N. Y., in 1809. He lived in a house on a knoll, just above N.
Mrs. William Bird.
Humeston's; the barn was burned three or four years ago. In 1820 he moved to West Camden. Mrs. Wm. Bird, his daughter,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
now living, was born on the Seventh, December 1, 1809, and is now the oldest person living born in Camden. There were four sons, Selden, Loverett, Loren and Merritt. More will be said about this family in the settlement of West Camden.
ZOPHAR BARNES.
In 1797, Manning and Street, two sons of Zophar Barnes of New London, Conn., came here and bought wood land in the north half of the township No. 7 of Scriba's Patent. They built a frame house, and made a small clearing,and then returned to Con- necticut for their father and mother and the rest of the family. They were all settled here in 1798, only Whiting, he was already married, and emigrated later. Zophar Barnes' children's names were Whiting, Manning, Street, Lyman, Zophar and Pliny. They had great difficulty in reaching their new home, being obliged to cut their way through the woods. The original frame building which was their home, was standing until 1896, when it was torn down. In 1801 Mr. Barnes was one of the com- missioners of the highway in the town of Camden, before the present towns of Florence and Vienna, and the western portion of Annsville were set off from its territory. To fulfill the duties of this office required considerable traveling over the rough roads of thetown. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes were great favorites with the young and old, and went by the names of "Uncle Zophar" and "Aunt Mary." According to the custom of the times, or the need of dishes, they would have a large dish in the middle of the table, and each one help themselves. Often this couple would have a bowl of bread and milk, and cach a spoon, and sit down together for a good chat, and eat out of the same bowl. Zophar Barnes married Mary E. Barnes of Plymouth, Conn. Zophar Barnes was born at Plymouth in 1759, and died in Camden in 1842. Mary E. Barnes was born at Plymouth in 1764, and died in Cam- den in 1820. Manning Barnes settled in West Camden in 1802. Street Barnes was born in 1782, and was sixteen years of age when he came to Camden. He married Lovina Cowl, sister of Seth Dunbar's wife, and settled on the place now occupied by Horace Peck. There were three children, Caroline, Betsey and
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THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.
Marenus. Marenus H. Barnes died in the West. Pliny Barnes married Rebecca, daughter of Martin Cook, Sen. He settled alove the Humaston place, and lived and died on the farni, within a few rods of where he was born, in December, 1800. Pliny Barnes was an upright and respectable citizen. He held several important town offices with the greatest satisfaction to the community-four children, living-Edwin and Wallace. Mary and Enima. Pliny Barnes died on February 4, 1868, aged 67; Rebecca, his wife, died March 8, 1882, aged 75. Zophar married a Miss Potter, and lived in West Camden. Lyman died many years ago. This whole family are buried side by side on the Seventh, as you enter the gate at your left. Zophar, the father, was a Revolutionary soldier, but we have been unable to find his records.
SHEPHERD MARVIN.
Mr. Pliny Darrow built a house and owned the farm familiar -. ly known as the Marvin Farm. Several tenants lived here before Mr. Marvin bought it, in 1838. He moved on the place in 1840, and lived there for a number of years, then he bought property in the village in 1847, where he spent the last of his days. He was long known in the community as a good citizen and an every-day Christian. His life's pilgrimage was over August 6, 1872, in his Soth year. His wife, Mary Put- nam, died December, 1882. Their sons, Cortland and James. died early in the sixties, in Arkansas. George died at Texarkana, Texas. Henry, the oldest child, died in Grinnell, Iowa, January 7, 1897, and his faithful and patient wife followed him very soon; she died the 24th of the same month. Her maiden name was Hannah Park. Henry Marvin moved to Iowa in 1853. The three daughters of Shepherd Marvin are living-Mrs. L. J. Aldrich of Camden, Mrs. Jay Hildreth of Boston, Mrs. E. Edgett of Newark, N. Y. Ransom Marvin, brother of Shepherd lived near the crossing, they were natives of Alsted, N. H. This is the last farm on the Oswego road, in this district. going west.
There is a great similarity in the lay of the land of the Seventh and our village, with the exception of our natural terrace on the south-west bank of Mad River.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
We will now return to the road that comes out by the railroad crossing on the Seventh. As you go to the left, the first farm you approach was once the home of Joseph Hungerford, who came here in 1800 from Waterbury, Conn. The house he built was burned, and the one now standing was built in 1867. The place is better known as the Loren Cummings place. Mr. Hungerford died in 1835, aged 74; Eunice, his wife, died in 1833, aged 75. They are both buried in the cemetery on the Seventh.
David Brown built the house now owned by Lyman Curtiss; he was a Revolutionary soldier. He is buried on the Seventh. His daughter married Rufus Kinnie, who lived near by; she was left a widow, and married a Mr. Higgins for her second husband. In her old age she went by the name of Aunt Marilla Higgins.
NICHOLAS WOODS.
Nicholas Woods came to this country at the same time that Gen. Wolf set sail from England with 8,000 men, in February, 1759. Mr. Woods came to aid in the French and Indian war. He was garrisoned at Oswego, and was killed and scalped by the Indians. He was the father of
SAMUEL WOODS
Our pioneer, who came to this place with his olde-t son in 1804, and worked one season, then returned to Waterbury, Conn., where he had left his family, and in 1805, made the return journey here with six children. When they ar- rived here they were building the first bridge across the creek, now the pond at Mexico Street crossing. They laid down some timber from trees cut close by, so he could get his team across, consisting of cne yoke of oxen, and a horse in front. After crossing, they were obliged to cut their way, as there was only a footpath where Mexico Street is now, up as far as B. Osborn's. The original road was farther south. It took them from sunset until midnight to go one mile, and then they struck and followed the old road. He first settled on lot No. 19, Seventh township, now owned by Charles Carlton. From there, the following year, he moved on the south half of Lot 33. That is on this Curtiss road, near the crossing on the Seventh.
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THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.
He lived there until he died in 1837. This house has been modernized since Mr. Woods built it. He was a revolutionary patriot in 1775, and was in the 5th Connecticut Regiment under Col. Waterbury. Elizabeth, his wife. died the 27th of July, and
L
Samuel Woods' House.
he the 29th in 1837. They left the world together in the sweet hope of sharing the glorious rest of the righteous. His sons were Thomas, Samuel and Junius Woods, or "Uncle Junia," as he was more familiarly called. His daughters were Betsey, Nancy, Polly and Sally. The living descendants of Samuel T. Woods are Mrs. Marion B. Park, mother of E. B. Park, and her family. His grandson S. T. W. Scoville, and grand-daughter Mrs. B. T. Hinckley. Junius Woods moved from the place now owned by Curtiss Stephenson on Lot No. 33, and bought of Mr. Dennisor. in 1843, and lived in the old house until he built on the opposite side of the road, a place now owned and occupied by Orson Woods, and lived there until his death, March 23, 1865. aged 69. His wife survived him but one year; her maiden name was Deidamia Cook; she died March 6, 1866, aged 66. Their chil- dren were Mrs. N. M. Elden, Samuel T., Mrs. Francis Park, Or- son C., and Junius E. Woods of Camden, Henry S. Woods of Rock Falls, Illinois, and Mrs. E. H. Stevens of Syracuse, N. Y. One of the descendants, Mrs. M. B. Park. Great grandfather
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
Nicholas Woods was in the French and Indian war. Her grand- father, Samuel T. Woods, Sen., was in the Revolutionary War. Her father, Samuel T. Woods, in the war of 1812, and her husband, Short Parks, was shot in the civil war in 1864, at Laurel Hill, May 9.
This indenture is owned by Orson Woods, one that was given to his grandfather on his first coming to Camden, by John W. Bloomfieldd :
"This Indenture, made the 27th day of July, in the year one thousand eight hundred and five, between George Scriba of the City of New York, a merchant, by John W. Bloomfield, his at- torney, duly authorized of the first part, and Samuel Woods of Camden, in the County of Oneida, and State of New York, of the second part, witnesseth: That the said party of the second part doth covenant to pay the said party of the first part, his executors, administrators or assigns, the just and full sum of two hundred and twenty-two dollars and seventy-five cents lawful money of the United States of America, in manner following, to wit, on or before the first day of May, which will be in the year eighteen hundred and ten, with lawful interest from and after the first day of May, in the year eighteen hundred and seven, to be then paid annually. And the said party of the second part doth further covenant, that the said party of the second part, or his assignees, shall and will within the space of twelve calendar months from the date hereof, remove to and actually reside upon that certain piece of land known and distinguished by the south half of Lot No. seventy-one, part of that certain township or tract of land Number Nineteen, surveyed by Benjamin Wright in the year 1795, situated in Scriba Patent, in the County of Oneida, and State of New York, and containing seventy-eight acres and a quarter of an acre, &c. It was signed,
J. W. Bloomfield, Samuel Woods.
Sealed and delivered in the presence of Maria Bullus.
In the old survey book of the town we find the public highway
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THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.
was surveyed from Samuel Woods' due east between Joseph Hungerford and Zophar Barnes' land, and came out on the main road by Ambrose Curtiss'. This was an alteration the old road made null and void.
Camden, July 16th, 1817. Lyman Matthews, Surveyor.
BENJAMIN CURTISS.
Benjamin, son of Samuel Curtiss, of Plymouth, Conn., with his wife, Content Pond, and their children, came to Camden very early in the present century. We find in the history of old Ply- mouth, Conn., that Benjamin and Samuel Curtiss were taxpayers there in 1794. In 1804 he bought of David Smith lot No. 31, consisting of two hundred and twenty acres of wild land. Here. this couple of pioneer settlers established their home, and spent the remainder of their lives. As the sons came to manhood, and were ready to settle in homes of their own, the father secured to each of the four sons a portion of the original farm, thus forming a small settlement among themselves. In time however, three of the sons sold out and located elsewhere. Of a numerous family, the only one to remain in Camden was Ibri, the son, to whom all the remaining land was finally deeded. In 1810 Ibri married.
-
Ibri Curtiss Residence.
Nancy, daughter of Samuel Woods, our pioneer patriot. They were married by Rev. Simon Waterman, a missionary from Con- necticut. Ibri and Nancy Woods Curtiss remained on the old
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
homestead during their lives, and here reared a family of seven children. The four oldest children have passed away. This home is still owned and occupied by the youngest three members of the family. A part of the original place, which has always been in the possession of the family from the time of the purchase in 1804. is the farm of the late Linus Curtiss, now owned and oc- cupied by his son Heman. It was here that the first house in this vicinity was built, a small frame building still standing, but moved aside to give place to a more modern one. Ibri Curtiss' children: Alvro Nelson, who married Clarissa Marsh for his first wife, and after her death married Harriet Spencer: Philomela, married Alfred Mix: Polly Sandford, married Samuel Sartwell: Linus, married Nancy Upson. Nancy, Charlotte and Elizabeth Woods, and William Wallace, live in the old homestead.
In the old survey book we find the road leading to West Cam- den was laid out in 1817, beginning in the middle of the highway between Joel Curtiss' and Ibri Curtiss', and running so as to come out on the south-east corner of Manning Barnes' land, and intersect the State road between there and Miles Spencer's. Now we have gone a little beyond the district on the Seventh. To give an idea of the Seventh and the village, about 1820, we will give a little description :
On the Seventh there was one store, three taverns, one doctor's office, two blacksmith shops, one tin store, four carpenter and joiner shops, two small tanneries with shoe shops attached, beside the homes we have already described. In the village. this side of the bridge, at the lower end of Main Street, on the east side, first was a store and post office, only four houses up as far as the park. "Intre Was a harness shop on the corner of Main and North Park Streets, and a blacksmith shop where now stands the Nelson House. Mrs. J. Smith's house was being built, and also the Priest Smith house at the head of Main Street. The large elm tree that stands there was a little twig. On the west side from the Hildreth House to B. D. Stone's residence it was woods, a few buildings beyond.
CHAPTER IV.
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PLANK ROAD.
We will term the street running from Salmon River to Rome, the "Plank Road," for convenience, though it was not made of plank until 1847. "In seventeen hundred ninety-nine, the nine- teenth day of June, was surveyed a highway four rods wide, beginning at a beech sapling, standing on the south line of Lot No. 20, thence eastward from the south-west corner of lot No. 20; thence south to the bridge over Fish Creek (Seventh town- ship): thence south to the west line of Lot 50; thence south to a
Falls on Fish Creek.
stake standing ten chains and eighteen links south of Samuel Royce's well (E. H. Conant's); thence south to the bridge across Fish Creek (foot of Main Street); thence across the bridge in a southerly course to Abner Matthews' well (corner of Blakeslee Road, opposite brick school house district 5); thence in a south- erly direction to the bridge over the Little River (so called). In 1800 was assessed five hundred and twenty days' work on sixty- eight inhabitants, which days were all worked out. The work
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
on the road this year was building one bridge one hundred feet in length, opening, widening, clearing, leveling and crosswaying the same. The state of the roads in general are in as good re- pair as is common for so new a place, but the full sum that we are allowed to call on the Board of Supervisors for, could be very profitably expended on the same. We further state that the bridge over the west branch of Fish Creek dia at the breaking up of the winter past, go away, and the inhabitants did undertake to build the same by subscription, but could not obtain a suffi- ciency to effect its finish; that together with other necessary in- provements in various parts of the town, beyond what the assess- ment of the present year will accomplish, will probably cost one hundred and fifty dollars." These copies give the date of survey of the highway, and building of a permanent bridge at the foot of Main Street over Fish Creek. The street had been but an Indian trail from Fort Stanwix, designated by marked trees, the usual mode of pointing the way through new tracts, from place to place.
We have no doubt but that the superior facilities which Fish Creek afforded for manufacturing purposes, was the chief cause of business men locating here. Picturesque indeed must the spot have been before the ax of the woodsman disturbed its natural loveliness. The stream has a fall of thirty-one feet. We have to
PENFIELDS POND
2
8:
. 15
DEAD_ LEVEL
thank Mr. W. G. Percival for the accompanying sketch. Before the ingenuity of man had stayed its rapid flow by building dams, it must have dashed with much impetuosity along its pebbly course, seeking its level in the peaceful valley below the present Forest Park. Those who first settled Camden were men of strong char- acter, active in body and mind, seeking a locality where land was
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THE TOWN OF CAMDEN.
cheap, and could be had in large tracts ; willing to toil and endure, to the end, that they might build up for themselves and their families permanent homes. We give a plan of the ground, be-
R. BETTIS
wło
HOUSE
DYE
TANNERY
BUILT 1823
REUBEN BETTIS
HOUSE
Kol. RICE
HOUSE
HOUSE
HOUSE
TIMOTHY WOOD
MECHANIC ST
DRESSING MILL
CLOTH GRIST
HOUSE
L07
MILL
MAIN ST
MAIN ST
SHOP
TANNERY
BARN
POTASHERY
Timorat Woo
HOUSE D. RANSOM
HOUSE
DISTILLERY
OLD DAN
SAW MILL
PRESENT DAN
PRESTON HILL ROAD
BRIDGE
FARM
ELISHA CURTIS
HOUSA
ginning below the bridge, at the left as we go in a southerly course to the Thompson Rice house. The long building close to the stream, gave space for two separate branches of business-the end toward the street being used by Israel Stoddard and Heman Byington as a grist mill. Reese Lobb was their miller for several years, and lived in the mill-house close by, a structure built for two families, the operatives of the grist mill and fulling factory. In 1821 an old school list gives the names of Francis, Floyd, and Daniel Lobb, as pupils of Miss Elima Putnam, later Mrs. Richard Empey. Mr. Lucius Goodyear has memories of play hours with the Lobb children when they fished in the stream below the mill with pin hooks. The east end of the build- ing was used for cloth fulling, carding, &c. The business was carried on by Isaac Wheeler, who owned his interest in it, and the building in part. The structure was erected under the super- vision of Mr. Honuel Gifford, a carpenter, whose services were frequently called for. These were the pioneer business interests
5
U3M07
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PIONEER HISTORY OF
of the kind in Camden, but exact dates can not be ascertained, much to our regret. Previous to the establishment of any business whatever in this locality, parties came to the new town prospecting, with a view to the building and equipping for manufacture of cotton cloth. This particular location was chosen, and arrangements made for its purchase; but later a matter of fifty dollars stood in the way of the consummation of such plans, and Camden lost the enterprise that has been one of the leading industries of our near-by city, the New York Mills Cotton Co., for so many years. An old deed of 1813 is from Isaac and Cynthia Fitch of one-fourth of an acre in one plot, and twenty-one rods in another, to Phineas Tuttle and Heman Bying- ton. We find these same names on the old First Church list as early as 1810 and 1812. To the same parties-Byington and Tuttle-James Sanford and Daniel Northrup deeded land in 1814 in this same locality, but the particular spot we do not know. Further down the stream, a short distance from the fulling mill, stood the dye house used in connection with the cloth-dressing business. Back from the street, a little to the south of the fulling mill, in 1823, Mr. Reuben Bettis built a tannery, about where the office of the Camden Knitting Company now stands. He came to Camden from Westmoreland in 1822, was a practical tanner, and conducted a thrifty business for many years. Direct- ly below the mill house, which was located a little south of the fulling mill near the street, Mr. Bettis built a house for his use in 1823, and placed a row of young maples along the street-front of his land. These now stand with a growth of toward seventy years, monuments to the good taste, good sense and spirit of improvement which Mr. Bettis possessed. A few years later lie sold land to Calvin Wimple upon which to build a house. (This house was built by Joel B. Smith.) Mrs. Adaline Wood was a daughter of Calvin Wimple, and is in the memory of many living at present. This house subsequently be- came the home of the late P. H. Costello for many years-now the property of the Camden Knitting Company. Mr. Andrew C. Bettis built a house below this. The Reuben Bettis house was moved by the Costellos to where it now stands on the west side
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