USA > New York > Onondaga County > Marcellus > The centennial history of the town of Marcellus : delivered in the Presbyterian Church of Marcellus, Onondaga County, N.Y., July 4, 1876 > Part 5
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Mr. Hall was one of those rare men, whose integrity is un- doubted. He visited this place sometimes yearly, and was happy in rambling over the grounds of his boyhood's years, and in call- ing upon the few that were left of that former generation.
He did honor to his beloved adopted father, by placing a valuable monument over his grave.
It is pleasant for us to think that such men as Judge Hall and others, whose individual lives we have been considering, had their birth and early years in this town.
Among the Pioneers was Robert McCulloch. His father em- igrated from Ireland to Pelham, Mass, where his son Robert was born in Oct. 1759. Robert came to this place 1805 or 1806, and finally owned and occupied the farm on which he died at the ad- yanced age of ninety-seven. One strange fact belongs to the life
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of Mr. McCulloch - he never was sick. He used to boast that thus far he never had been laid by a day on account of illness, and that no physician had ever been called to see him, and these proved true to the last; for, he fell headlong down the cellar stairs and was instantly killed. A physician was summoned, yet it was but to look upon his dead body. Mr. McCulloch was temperate in everything, a very pleasant man, scrupulously honest, and desir- ous to perform manual labor every day of his life except on Sunday.
Seth Dunbar , was born in Bridgewater, Mass. He first came here in 1801, and walked, carrying a pack on his back and an axe. Was of Scotch descent, and learned the trade of making spinning wheels, both large and small, for which he served seven years. He first owned the Humphrey Case farm five years, then sold and bought the place where he ever after resided. He died in Dec. 1865. His wife Mrs. Anna Dunbar was born in 1770, and died at the advanced age of 94. She was fully entitled to live to an ex- tremely advanced age, for of the thirteen children that composed her mother's family, twelve of them lived to be over seventy, most all over eighty, and two of them over ninety.
Jesse Kellogg was born in Hartford, Conn. in 1758. In 1800 he came to Skaneateles and bought the mills at that village ; and in 1807 removed on to the farm now owned by Obadiah Thorn. He afterwards purchased the farm called the Loomis farm on our East hill, where he resided until his death in 1811. Fannie Kell- ogg Warren died at Newburgh aged ninety-four. Sylvia Kellogg the mother of William J. Machan lived here and died at an ad- vanced age. Susan Kellogg Chase says that she first went to school in a log school-house south of the gulf, on the road leading to Daniel Platt's.
John R. Kellogg was born in New-Hartford in 1791. After reaching adult years he resided in this village until 1836, when he removed to Allegan, Mich. where he lived to a good old age. Mr. Kellogg possessed an enterprising spirit, and while here did
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much to promote the cause of education, and to sustain religious institutions. After removing to Michigan, he continued to mani- fest the same interest in the public good. He was a member of the Michigan Legislature while it was yet a territory; and lived many years after it became a state, to witness and enjoy its prosperity, which he and other pioneers had long labored to produce.
That part of the town called Shepard Settlement, derived its title from the name of a number of families who were first there. John Shepard located there in 1796, and his brothers - Andrew, Joseph and Hull came several years later. They were enterprising, active farmers, and we are sorry to say that but one family of the name of Shepard now remains in that neighborhood. This is Ed- ward Shepard, a son of John Shepard.
Joseph Taylor who died some twenty years ago, was a mark- ed character in his day. He was a person of strong and well-bal- aneed mind. With but a moderate amount of school education, he nevertheless wielded an influence here, that few educated men .could surpass. Being blunt and rough in his address, his first ap- pearance to a stranger would be somewhat repulsive. But his kind and generous heart would soon win the confidence of even stran- gers, and then his eccentricities would no longer be a source of terror, but often of great amusement. The outlines of his face were very strong. Ilis eyes were bright and penetrating, but very much shaded under long thick eyebrows. There was something about his external appearance that gave him a tiger look, when really he was but a sheep in wolf's clothing.
No man in private life was so extensively known as Joseph Taylor. He was a merchant here for a long period of years, and the earlier part of that time was the main dealer in pork, beef and grain; so that he made this village a market place not only for this but for surrounding towns. He was one of those tradesmen so peculiar in his manners that he attracted customers. When a man came to his store from a distance, or near by he always wanted to see "Jo" Taylor ! And if "Jo" was in town, he would
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have no trouble in finding him, for he frequented his own place of business.
Mr. Taylor won very great popularity as a pettifogger. By his sagacity he was the terror of many a well-read lawyer. In the last years of his life, through misfortune, his property became much reduced, and he accepted the appointment of constable He made a famous collector of private debts. He once informed the writer, that his success in collecting bad debts was owing to his manner of approaching an individual; if he was what was termed a hard individual, he would manage to come upon him so abrupt- ly and bluntly, that the man would be frightened into paying his debt, and these, of course, would be cases that the law could not reach. To another class of men his address would be so accept- able as to lead to no embarrassment.
For several years he was one of the proprietors of the woolen factory in this village. .
Mr. Taylor was sympathizing to those in distress, and never turned the poor away empty.
The township of Marcellus, as it was originally made up of one hundred lots, one mile square, included within its boundaries as interesting a portion of country, for sublimity and beauty of scenery, and fertility of soil as can be found in the state. Its water and land views are not to be surpassed.
One beautiful lake, Otisco, and nearly the whole of another, Skaneateles, are among its possessions. It is a land of hills and valleys, full of springs of water, and besides the two lakes, several creeks and innumerable brooks. The prevailing woods of the forests are Beech, Maple and Oak on the hills, and Hemlock in the valleys. There is no hill-top so high, or valley so low as not to be productive. The township is naturally divided into three great valleys, their general direction being North-West and South-East. Besides the slope of these hills into the valleys, two of the valley's themselves, the Skaneateles Creek valley, and that of the Marcel- lus Creek make a descent in their whole course of several hundred
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feet, consequently the soil over this region is very free from mo- rasses. Skaneateles lake is on an elevation of nearly two-hundred feet greater than Otisco lake.
That portion of Marcellus now called Skaneateles, is "beau- tiful for situation," and in the summer months presents an en- chanting appearance. The land on both sides of the lower two- 1 thirds of the lake, rises from the water's edge in so moderate a slope, to the distance of from a half mile to a mile, as to give to the lake, when calm, the appearance of a sca of silver. The upper part of the lake has bold shores rising to the height of five or six hundred feet giving the water a darker shade.
But Otisco lake nestled in among the hills of a thousand feet in height, is the perfection of beauty and loveliness. These hills slope to its water's edge with a steady descent, giving the lake a very interesting appearance.
A Swiss man by the name of J. R. Hoesli, now deceased, once informed the writer, that when a young man, he came to America and made his residence in New York city for twenty years. Becoming sick of city life, and retaining a strong attach- ment for the scenery of the home of his youth, by the side of a lake in Switzerland, he started in search among the lakes of our Northen States, for one that should bear the closest resemblance to his home lake. After visiting great numbers of them, both in Northern New England and in this State, he finally came to Otisco lake ; and the moment his eyes rested on its waters, with its surrounding scenery, he felt that his strongest desires had been granted him - that here was his sweet Swiss lake. At the time Mr. Hoesli gave me this information, he had already resided on its Eastern shore for nearly twenty years, in possession of several acres of land under the highest state of cultivation; a portion of which was devoted to a vineyard containing twenty- five varieties of grapes in a very fruitful condition, besides trees of Apples, Pears, Peaches and Plums in a high state of perfec - tion.
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Mr. Hoesli was a man of superior endowments of mind and culture. Was a first-class Civil Engineer; having received a medal from one of the crowned heads of Europe, as an insignia of his services in that department. He exhibited a thorough knowl- edge of Chemistry, and particularly as applied to Agriculture. Here on the shore of this lovely sheet of water, in retirement, he gratified the natural taste of his life in reading, writing and pursuing the study of the sciences, and in the supervision of his vineyard.
For a man of such tastes and refinement, originating from that part of Europe most visited by travelers on account of its unparalleled sublimity of scenery; to have made a selection for his home of Otisco Lake, for its striking resemblance to his home lake in old Switzerlan 1; certainly conferred an honor upon that region of country, to say nothing of the romance leading through all his course, that other lakes might well covet.
- His remains with those of his wife are deposited in a little cemetery within sound of the waters of his choice, which are ever murmuring a requiem to their departed.
Otisco Lake with its lofty hills, besides attracting to its shores such a man as Hoesli to spend his latter days, is always exerting more or less influence upon a certain class of minds living in its vicinity in their earlier years. The tendency is to lead them up- ward in their purposes and resolutions.
Such an one was Wyllys Gaylord. Although not born in Otisco, but in Connecticut; still from the age of nine years until nearly the time of his death, a period of forty years, his residence was on a lofty hill two miles East of the Lake. A true son of na- ture, year by year living in its beauty and grandeur, his mind, with these influences and those of the Bible, took on proportions of character and taste, which were in complete harmony with all his surroundings. Although his opportunities for education were nothing more than those which the District school afforded, yet possessing an investigating mind, he sought knowledge in every-
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thing that presented, whether books or nature. Then in accord ance with a great law of nature, constantly receiving must soon- er or later give rise to imparting. Wyllys began to pour forth through the pen, his effusions both in poetry and prose. His con- tributions to all departments of literature, were almost endless. Many times he wrote prize essays and was rewarded by premiums.
Ever after he was twelve years of age, Mr. Gaylord was de- formed, the result of spinal disease; and seldom did he experience perfect health. Always living on a farm, and possessing a great relish for that kind of life, gave him ample opportunities to learn thoroughly the science of Agriculture, and from this mine, he continued to pour forth into the two great agricultural papers of his day, (the Genesee Farmer and Albany Cultivator, ) an amount of practical knowledge which probably contributed more to raise the standard of farming throughout this state to the condition that it is this day, than that of any other writer with the excep- tion of Judge Bradley. He also made valuable contributions to some of the most popular magazines in Europe.
. It was his custom frequently to visit the lake, and sit upon its shores in profound meditation; undoubtedly one of his methods for gaining inspiration to enable him to proceed successfully in his writings. Dr. F. H. Bangs informs me that Mr. Gaylord was a frequent visitor at his office in Amber, and that he borrowed books of him, and became quite accomplished in some depart- ments of medicine. Dr. Bangs used to make a practice of calling upon Mr. Gaylord when in that part of the town, expressly to in- dulge in a feast of soul.
Mr. E. P. Howe whose birth and early years were in Otisco, says that "Mr. Gaylord excelled as a naturalist, and would interest listeners by the day, in recounting the observations he had made upon the habits and modes of development, in a great variety of insects etc. Also he was a natural mechanic, made . palm leaf hats, bound books and made guns. He built an organ upon which he played some time." The writer
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always remembers with joy his being, when a boy, at the house where Wyllys Gaylord lived, and seeing his beaming face when engaged in conversation, and hearing his melodious voice. At that time he had just completed his organ, and played upon it with all the enthusiam of the maker.
Mr. Gaylord was a true and humble christian. A shining light. Beloved by all in life, mourned by all in death, which oc- cured in March 1844, when in his fifty first year. Again we bid adieu to another of old Marcellus' finest sons.
Across the road from Wyllys Gaylord's home, was the birth- place and the home of two other boys - twins - who became em- inent in the literary world. Their names were Willis Gaylord Clark and Lewis Gaylord Clark. Their mother and the mother of Wyllys Gaylord were sisters. They were born in 1810. Mr. E. P. Howe has kindly taken pains to find and furnish me material concerning these persons. He says that "Willis was a poet as well as a prose writer. A distinguished writer speaks thus of his style 'Mr. Clark's distinguishing traits are tenderness, pathos and mel- ody. In style and sentiment he is wholly original, but if he re- sembles any writer it is Mr. Bryant. His poetry in style is gentle, solemn and tender. * * * * * No man however cold can resist the winning and natural sweetness and melody of the tone of piety that pervades his poems.' For several years and at the time of his death, he was Editor and Proprietor of the Philadelphia Gazette.
Lewis was for twenty-five years the chief Editor of the Kuick erbocker Magazine. His biographer questions seriously his gain- ing a single enemy during that whole time. In that period he be- came acquainted personally or by correspondence with the most eminent writers of his own country and Great Britain The broth- ers Clark may be mentioned as examples of amiable as well as gifted men."
Willis died in Philadelphia about twenty-five years ago, and Lewis at Piermont on the Hudson, some five or six years since.
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Here were three great literary men, who alike in their youth- ful years, breathed in the invigorating air of these lofty hills, and we may well suppose they received inspiration for their pen, through their companionship with these hills and lakes, which they could not have obtained from any other kind of scenery.
But I will here introduce still another of those inter- esting intelligences, proving by her very productions, that the hills and lakes had largely to do in giving direction to her thoughts, whose birth and home was by the side of the beautiful waters of the Otisco Lake. This was Caroline Congdon. Her fath- er died when she was quite young, leaving her mother with means so limited, asto require the exercise of economy and industry, to . take care of her little family of five children. At the age of thir- teen, Caroline was laid on a bed of sickness, which resulted in her being permanently disabled for the upright posture. Here on this bed her mind gave forth through the pencil (for she was too weak to hold a pen,) sweet thoughts in poems, from which I will quote just enough to show how completely her soul was woven in with the scenery around her. In speaking of her seclusion she says ;
"I had a lingering wish sometimes, To see the waving woods: I missed the sight
Of all the greenness of our rugged hills, And the pure beauty of the white-waved lake, Which nestles in their arms."
Again in a poem entitled Meame:
"Night on the wild - and lone, and deep ! The wind hath rocked the wave to sleep ; The wolf's stern howl is heard no more, The dark canoe rests on the shore; The stars gaze on the lonely scene, Gleaming the forest boughs between; Through the long aisles, all cold and white, Glitters the pale moon's holy light; And soft and still, the light is shed
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And silence reigns as of the dead.
Yet list! upon the glassy lake, Doth some light oar the stillness break ? Ah swiftly there a small bark glides, Flinging the white spray from its sides; Who comes through pale moonlight and shade ? "Tis Meame, the Indian maid." Again she says: .
" My Country, Oh, my Country, I love thy towering hills, Thy richly waving forests, Laced by a thousand rills."
Undoubtedly there are many persons in such a region, who are incited to lofty thoughts and aspirations by the scenery around them, that are not known outside of their own souls.
It is often a wonder to the writer, when passing over those lofty hills, which enclose such a gem of waters, that all persons whose homes are there, are not in their thoughts led "from nature up to nature's God."
The first settlements of Otisco were made by men of charac- ter and high standing, principally from Massachusetts; and they left their impress on society, as, one by one, they were removed by death. Such men as the Bakers, Merrimans, Cowles, Pomeroys, Barkers, Parsons, Clarks, Hotchkiss, Parent, Danforth, Rust, French, Clapp, Swan, Case, Ross and many others, whose names do not now appear to me, are household words throught-out that town to the present day.
The lives of those men make up the true history of that town, for its first fifty years. The religious society called the Congrega- tional Church, was one of the largest, and perhaps the largest of any in Onondaga County. They were a great church going people, and the influence of that practice was felt throughout the bounds of the town. During the last twenty-five years, the old homes have been changing occupants, and are largely filled by another
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class of inhabitants.
St. John's Episcopal Church of this village, was organized Feb. 8th 1824, and services were held by the church in the upper room of the old School-House, ( which stood in the rear of the old Presbyterian church,) until about the year 1837, when a church was erected on the corner of Main St. and the street leading to the Falls. This building was distroyed by fire in Dec. 1866. A new edifice supplied its place in 1869. The Rev. Augustus . L. Converse was present at its organization in 1824, and the following persons were elected as its officers;
WARDENS.
Harvey Andrews,
Caleb Cowles.
VESTRYMEN.
Dr. Richard L. Davis.
Zebina Moses.
Leonard Blanchard.
David C. Earll.
John Herring.
Gad Curtis.
Zera Shepard. Austin Godard.
The Rev. Amos Pardec was elected as the first Rector, Dec. 1st 1825 and continued for two or three years. He was followed by Algernon S. Hollister in 1829, who filled the office until 1833 when the Rev. Joseph T. Clarke became the Rector. The Rev. Seth W. Beardsley succeeded in about 1836, and afterwards Rev. Joseph T. Clark again took charge of the Parish. About the year 1840 the Rev. Thomas I. Ruger was made Rector, and remained until 1844, when he resigned and removed to the Far-West. IIe was followed by Rev. Charles Seymour, who divided his time be- tween this parish and that of Jordan, for one year. In about 1846, Rev. Beardsley Northrop began to officiate in this church half the time for one or two years. Then followed in 1849 Rev. Spen- cer M. Rice who also divided his time between this and the Jordan Parish. In 1851 Rev. D. F. Warren came and remained one year. Rev. Edward Moises stationed at Skaneateles, officiated from time to time in 1866.
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The Rev. Thomas Ruger was particularly noticeable among
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this list of worthy men. There are many of us who remember him with interest. He was a man of great ability and very acceptable to all classes of people, of every denomination. IIe united with the Rev. Mr. Hall a Methodist minister (eminent for his scholarship) and Rev. Mr. Parsons, in giving a long course of lectures on the evidences of the inspiration of the Bible. These lectures were delivered as a third service, Sabbath afternoons, in the Presbyterian church, and invariably before large audiences. Acting thus together they proved the strength of a three-fold cord. The influence of these lectures was powerful in correcting sceptical views throughout the community.
Mr. Ruger tanght a select school in the upper room of the School-House, to aid him in the support of his family. Being a classical scholar, and a capable and pleasant teacher, he was thoroughly sustained in this department, as well as in the pulpit. When he removed to Wisconsin, this village met with a serious loss.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of this town was organized in 1823, at the house of Stephen Cobb, and was called the First Zion Society of Marcellus. A Methodist class had, however, been formed as early as 1816, and was composed of the following per- sons, viz. David Holmes and wife, Temperance Holmes, Matilda Holmes, Susan Holmes, Thomas Prior and wife, Joseph Gilson, Isaac B. Benham and wife, Polly Shepard, Silas Bush and wife, John Rhoades and wife, and a Mrs. Hawley.
The precise time of the erection of their first church is not known. It was a stone building on the hill West of this village, now used as the Roman Catholic cemetery. It was without a steeple and was called a Chapel. The hill was known as the "Meth- odist Hill" until the Cemetery was laid out upon it. A path ran up through the field on its East side, trodden by those who walk- ed to church from this direction. It was an interesting spectacle when ever the services closed, to see the long procession steady themselves down that steep declivity. About the year 1830 this
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edifice was pulled down; the stones removed down into the village, and rebuilt very much after the same form and manner. Its site was the ground just across the street, South of the present church edifice .. In front of the building, and between its doors stood a large tree, a Balm of Gilead, which Dr. Chapman set out about a quarter of a century before. When the church was on the hill the pulpit stood between the front doors, and also when it was first erected in the village, but after a series of years, on repairing the building it was placed in the opposite end. In 1857 the society built a new church of brick, excepting the basement which was of stone from the old structure. This is the present church.
In Jan. 1819 a third Presbyterian church was organized on the State Road about five miles south-cast of this village. It was called the third church because it was that number in the order of organization. This church in the village was first, the church in Skaneateles village the second, and that on the State Road the the third. ,
Skaneateles did not become a separate town from Marcellus until Feb. 26th 1830. Before that time the name Skaneateles merely applied to the lake and village.
Twenty-six members were dismissed from the Presbyterian church of this village, to form the third church. It was a pros- perous society for about twenty years, when death and emigration to the West, so reduced and enfeebled it, that it expired about 1850. The small number of houses which formerly clustered around the old meeting-house, have since assumed the name of Bumble Bee City.
The Universalists formed a society in 1820; and called it the First Universalist Society of the town of Marcellus. Its trustees were Dr. Bildad Beach, Samuel Johnson and Chester Clark.
Our Irish population, now so numerous, appeared among us in 1834, in the person of John MeNalley. In 1837 three or four families separated themselves from the company who had been engaged in building our Rail-Road Embankment, and located
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. themselves in the North-East portion of our town. There were but few, if any, accessions to their number until about 1848, when emigration from Ireland to this country swelled to a tide on account of the starvation among its poorer inhabitants, and numbers of them found homes in Marcellus. From almost total ignorance and poverty, they have become, through our liberal schools and liberal laws, a very useful and much respected portion of our population. With the exception of a few families, who en- joyed some advantages for education in Ireland, their first life here was in simple shanties, and their board of the most humble fare. Now many of them count among our best and most wealthy farmers, and live in our finest houses.
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